At http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/user-blogs/dave-f/987234/my-bank-details-are-on-an-insecure-site.thtml Sharon suggested the banks changing all details for the “lost” child benefit data. I was then worried that if the new details got lost I wouldn’t be able to get at my money either.

This is of course the really secure method - lock the door and don’t give anyone the key.

Coincidentally that’s just what happened here. If we have an electrical fault we need to access the circuit breakers, these are safely locked away but we do have a key. To keep the key safe it’s kept in the safe, to keep the safe safe two clots from the downstairs office take a key each home. I pointed out to them the stupidity of taking keys offsite a while back when I needed some equipment - “Oh, it’s in XXXX’s cabinet and she’s got the key. She’ll be back next week.” but it didn’t seem to bother them - after all it was only me that was inconvenienced.

Anyway, was either key holder in this morning? No. Did the circuits running the servers and my PC both need fixing? Yes. Could I do any work? After daisy chaining extension leads from the landing, neatly across the top of the stairs and finally to my desk in a flurry of Health a Safety travesties - Yes.

If these kind of idiots were organising a drinking session in a brewery I’d take my own bottle opener - and glass. In fact I’d probably just stay at home.

I spent an hour on Sunday shredding all the bits of paper with any personal data on. My wife seems convinced that if it has your name and address on (all junk mail) or any part of a card number (receipts) it must be shredded - that’s what the banks recommend apparently. I keep telling her my name and address is in the phone book (it isn’t as we’re X directory from when I used to work at home) - am I supposed to shred all those too?

I’m just worried my shredder isn’t cross cut so someone (a very patient someone) could glue it all back together (Malcolm did it in an episode of spooks - not actually my shredding you understand).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/21/ndarling521.xml

Anyway I don’t need to worry any more - the government has helpfully passed on my name, address, NI number, bank details and who knows what else to some random address. There should be a law against it - oh, I think there is. Can anyone tell me how many data protection act rules they have broken and what redress I’m entitled to?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7097646.stm

So the mystery of Buster Crabb is solved? I think we guessed his fate was something like that. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t planting a mine though. It would have been a outrageous thing to do and anyway my friend’s father worked for “the government” and he claims to have supplied equipment to sample a ships hull to “certain people” that very week. I understand the ship carrying Khrushchev had an especially advanced hull that our navy was interested in.

The hardware and software I have worked on over the years as gone to some interesting places and I like to ponder on how it has been used and take note if it is / might be involved in news stories. Fortunately, I don’t know how it would feel to be so closely involved in such a tragedy.

Do you consider how your projects are used? Do you worry about it?

 We used to threaten start a drinking game for our conference calls with our US CEO. We reckoned if you had to down your drink every time he said “going forward” no one would be capable of standing by the end of the call. On my US trip I figured it was contagious because even sensible management people were saying it. This morning I heard some government spokesman come out with it on Radio 4.

So having got used to (sort of) “this moment in time” when people mean “now” we have to accept “going forward” for “in the future”? At least it doesn’t generate so many wasted syllables.

I (or my family) have just knackered the 2nd PCMCIA Ethernet connection to my laptop at home. Because it keeps getting moved and no one unplugs it the connector eventually wears or breaks.