rant

Playing with old computers

Submitted by Kai on Wed, 2008-09-03 08:36.
As with many IT-people who are no longer in the 20s, I have been playing around with hardware and software back in the young years. You know, building computers, soldering bits & pieces, hacking code, trying to get Linux running on a MCA-bus IBM...

And as many of my colleagues and peers, I am still getting my hands dirty from time to time. I guess it is the masochist in me.

Last night I was playing around with battered, old computers. Except. They where not that old. One where only 6 months old. And it should not be experiencing hick-ups, halts and driver problems. Usually.

This particular computer was residing in the reception. Many different users - non with any special computer related abilities - would use it over the week. And it had one major, business critical application inside - the booking system.

They had experienced hick-ups over some time now, and although I usually prefer not to get my hands dirty anymore, I decided to step back in time and sniff the dust. And I did the good'ol trick of removing everything (including the mainboard), and blow it all clean. Well, at least I would have if I had had some pressurized air at hand. After giving the components and the box itself a nice clean, the bits and pieces was put back in.

And to no surprise, there where a few things left over. I am a minimalist, and do not believe in using the computer cases as storagerooms, so I removed unused cards and other bits that no longer was of any use.

As I suspected, the computer came back to life, and works a dream. At least for now. Because this very computer was bought by people with no clue when it comes to computers. They had a need, went to the nearest superstore, and just bought a computer. Now, they did decide that this was a business critical computer, and thus made sure not to buy the cheapest one in the store...

But. They had no clue what-so-ever when it came to what makes a good business computer. And as you may have guessed allready, they came back with an overpriced piece of hardware, in combination with Microsoft XP Home edition. I repeat that. Microsoft XP Home edition. For a business critical computer.

I have made them all write one houndred times on a board: "I will never, ever again buy MS XP Home Edition."

And why is that? Why should you not use the home edition for business? It is all in the name. Home is not Business. Not even if you run a home-based business. The Home edition is a cheaper, less reliable and less sturdy OS than its brother XP Pro. Pro == Professional. Business == Professional.

Let me put this into monetary terms for you.

By choosing a cheaper OS like Home Edition, you may save a few bucks. In Norway, you save say 70$. But you buy yourself a large amount of it-related troubles, and will have to rely on an IT-consultant to help sort out all the troubles (face it, if you had the knowledge reqiured in the first place, you would never buy Home Edition. Period). And that IT-consultant does not come cheaply (if he does, he is not worth the money. Another period.). So the calculation I use in Norway is that you save $70, and that will be spent on the first half-hour of your IT-consultant.

By investing in a more sturdy OS, you may have to pay more to get going, but you will save money in the long run as you will not be required to dish out cash to IT-consultants every week.

Particularly when it comes to environments where there are a number of people involved would you do wisely to ensure that you get advises from people who understand the technology, and that can help you make the right decisions. It may cost a bit more to get going, but doing it right the first time is a huge cost and time saver in the long run.

Lets get back to the computer for a second. This computer was bought in February 2008 - so it is what I would call new. But during these months, it has already cost way more to operate and to keep it operating than the cost to buy it. And I have not even considered the cost of lost business when it was not operating, the stress on the not-so knowledgeable users and so on and so forth.

My advice to you if you are considering buying computers for your business are as follows:

  • get someone who KNOWS for real to help you choose the right solution (ie. do not just pop down to the nearest superstore - pay a bit more and use a specialized IT-supplier)
  • Saving up front usually only serves to increase the costs in the long run. See the first bullet...
  • It is not enough to not buy the cheapest thing in the store - you need to understand what you are getting. See bullet 1.
  • Give the users propper training. People who unpluggs the power to get the computer to shut down is a clear indication of the need for training. See bullet 1.
  • Have a backup solution at hand. That means that you need a second computer available so you can use that if the main one decides to die in your hands. See the first bullet. Yes, again.
  • Restrict the computer. That means someone who knows how to deal with computer (see the very first bullet) should enforce system policies (if you do not know what that means, see bullet one. If the people in bullet one have no clue, then you did not read bullet one, and just picked someone you know/from the top of Yellow pages.). The policies should enable the users to do what they need, and nothing more.
  • Before you do this, you need not to worry about virus, spam and other security threats, as you already have your hands full. It will not help to buy a firewall, a nice antivirus solution or a security scanner. You need the basics first. See bullet 1.
  • See bullet one.
And of course - please share your own advices. So many clueless entrepreneurs and people in general are messing around out there, so any advice will be valuable!





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My blog is not your PR-channel, duh!

Submitted by Kai on Fri, 2008-03-28 21:21.

A week or so ago, I was contacted by email by someone working at a company who had developed a game. The game where used as part of the promotion of a security event. They wanted me to put a link from my blog to the game in order to promote the event.

The request was polite, and I decided to take a look. I did try the game, but saw no immediate connection to my blog, and decided against promoting it. And I had the courtesy to inform the someone (above).

I promptly got an answer, with some explanations; and quite a few ways I could implement the game anyway. Now, I am a professional sales guy myself, so I do appreciate a certain level of persistence. And being in the polite mood, I told the someone I would spend a few days to reconsider, and that I just might change my initial point of view.

And I did reconsider.

I thought that ok, I could make a quick post on the game, even sharing with you all how I did not have the patience (or skills???) to complete the game myself.

Unfortunately for you and the game developer, this individual (Jenny is her name), did not have the patience to wait. Or perhaps she thought I would not reconsider.

I do not not know, nor do I care.

So what did she do to piss me off like this? Instead of waiting, and accepting my supreme control of my blog, she decided to post a link in a comment. To me, that is SPAM!

And her actions pisses me off enough to do the following:

1. remove the comment/spam - done!

2. send an email to her explaining the fault - done!

3. write and post this post - done!

Yes, I admit, I most likely overreacted. Yes, it did help. I might have achieved the same calmness by walking around the block a couple of times, but then you would never know, would you?

And yes, I do have a very narrow definition of spam - unsolicited mail/comments. And I am the supreme decision maker when it comes to what I find unsolicited.

So you are selling something, and want me to cover it? Leave it to me to decide whether or not it will show up on my blog, duh!

 

Michael Farnum: No book required - branding is

Submitted by Kai on Thu, 2007-06-28 10:04.

This post is edited - I have made a huge mistake - thinking Michael Farnum to be Marcus Ranum. Wow - that is a mistake not even sleepless nights may explain! I have edited the post to reflect the correct name.

 

--------------------------------

Michael Farnum, a superhero of security, is having a hard time with people not recognizing him as the authority he is. Of course, after around 20 years in a business where whatever he says and does is hailed upon, it must be easy to get cocky. Guess I need to do a Security Profile on him to see if he really is.

So - Michael had a problem with Douglas Schweitzer's blog post describing bots. And as the helper Michael is, he jumps in and immediately explains that Douglas is mistaking, and then describes a bot as it should be. Of course this starts off a fire.

All this was brought to my attention by Michael posting his frustration on his own blog today. It turns out in the post someone posted a comment on the Douglas story, telling Michael to turn away, since he has not

"written any computer security books "

This should get a gun like Michael to laugh out loud. It sure made me do that. Especially since the comment is made on his own blog!

And I did not laugh only because there are people out there who do not know Michael . But to see Michael actually fire up as he does because someone out there actually do not know about him!

So Michael - the lessen for you and the rest of us is simple. It is not about writing a book - it is about branding. You may write a lot of books, and you might not. If no one knows your name, you are nobody. And to David, you are obviously a nobody. And to impress David, it takes a book!

Imo, there is no need to get angry and fire yourself up just because there are people not recognizing you as the security expert you obviously are to many others. It should wake you up - it might be time to revise your marketing and branding strategy to the changes in the market space?

 

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