Monster.co.uk recently posted an important security message warning users that Monsters’ “database was illegally accessed” - you can read more about it in this post: Monster Has Been Munched.

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Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Phone: “Ring Ring”
Me: “Hello”
Caller “Hello, I am Blah from Blah Blah Software Security - could you tell me what network security you currently have in place?”
Me: “No”
Caller “Oh, are there any particular areas of concern for your network security?”
Me: “Sorry, I am not going to tell you that”
Caller “Oh, what are the weak areas of your network security then?”
Me: “Sorry, I am not going to tell you that either”
Caller “Er, Um, you are not making this very easy for me are you?”
Me: “Well, I am not likely to give out my network security information to cold callers now am I?”
Caller “Could you at least tell me if

No one ever really wants to be the

Whether or not to allow the use of social networking sites at work is a current meme; I seem to be reading about it here there and everywhere. Is allowing the use of these sites really acceptable at work during work?

As part of our ongoing Internet usage policy review we have been evaluating whether it should be allowable to use social networking sites during work hours; and in doing so to try and assess any potential value or benefits to the business that the use of these sites may offer. As part of this investigation I have been spending some of my own time on these sites to explore what is available.

Certainly there is a lot to do and hours can easily be whiled away adding additional applications, customising profiles and finding out what friends are up to whilst challenging them in quizzes, offering them gifts or buying and selling their photos but so far I am really struggling to find business value in allowing access to these sites from the workplace

Any number of years ago I would hands down have replied Microsoft when asked which company we rely on for the provision of our business applications. Microsoft has and will likely continue to be an important and integral element of everyday computing in our particular environment for some time to come and as such is currently the predominant provider of IT infrastructure and systems in use within our company.

At a passing glance you may think I am leaving my job. My desk drawers are empty, the files on my desk are gone, the various catalogues and magazines that were kept ‘for reference’ have been given a decent send off. The only things on my desk now are a laptop, my pencil case, a memory stick and a phone. Before the collection tub starts getting passed around I should clarify that I am not actually leaving but attempting to go paperless (again). Here we go again. In fact a further point of clarification would be stay that it is not just paperless but clutterless - which involves all those gadgets that have built up, cables that lie around and other items that have been popped down temporarily and ended up staying for a few years.

The project started out of a need to tidy our open plan office in general as it was getting very cluttered from mounds of paperwork that threatened to take over. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the project though - many people still appear to hold the belief that a messy desk is a busy desk; the more paper you have on your desk the less likely you are to be given more. This may be true, only time will tell. However I have found the deconstruction of my immediate working environment and practices somewhat therapeutic and it has helped refocus on projects that have ended up on the back burner for one reason or another - a spring clean perhaps?

If someone approaches me for a work project with a bundle of paper ready to hand over I tell them that, as the project sponsor, they are best placed to keep hold of all their paper work - anything that is essential for me to use during the project can get scanned in and filed neatly in my computer folder. My folders are beginning to fill up and I can’t help thinking that a natural extension of the project would be to reduce the number of electronic documents floating around.

That said, every morning the post arrives and a pile of paper varying from magazines, literature, flyers, catalogues and seminar invitations is dumped on my desk. I give it a quick flick - if it looks dull then it gets binned. Perhaps, if it has a passing interest, I tear out the relevant bit to read about later (some lucky ones get stuck in my journal). Other things including invoices, quotes, etc are duly scanned and sent to the archive - best hold on to them for the time being at least.

The only paper I have left is my daily journal/work planner which I still havent found the nerve to dismiss just yet. It is surprising as there are many tools around me that would perform the job admirably but for some reason I just cant let it go. As I look at my desk now the irritating thing is the number of cables and wires, to which end I have replaced my mouse with a wireless mouse (a Microsoft wireless presenter mouse 8000) and the keyboard is next. I still prefer a wired network connection to a wireless one and there is very little I can do about the phone and various power cables but so far the project is going reasonably well.

From time to time I receive email communications from recruitment agencies telling me something like “Hey, are you looking for a [place your job title here]? - we have this great person on our books and have

We are disappearing in a quagmire of data collection and analysis. It seems to me that time spent collecting information, analysing information, identifying trends and reporting upon information is time that could often be better spent.

I agree that there is a place for data collection and analysis but so often these days much time and effort is expended (and not to mention the cost) duplicating information

Our power problem deepen as

I have just finished restarting the computer system after yet another power outage. I have lost count how many power issues we have experienced with our local on-site sub-station (not to mention the number of hours lost), which apparently when installed was going to bring ‘huge benefits’. I keep telling the powers that be that they are playing with fire as equipment really doesn’t take kindly to regular power failures (and then sudden power startups) but the nagging problems remain and praying the power will only be off for a short time doesn’t seem to work anymore.