Oh man I feel for their IT people. Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or to cry when this sort of thing happens.
Posts by hmmm
26 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jun 2009
McDonald's email blunder broadcasts database creds to comedy competition winners
Oh snap: AWS has only gone and brought out its own Backup
All your eggs in one basket
We back up because:
1. What do we do if Amazon ever flick a switch and delete or block our account?
2. Rogue Admin threat. The Admins with access to Amazon don't have access to our backup provider (Security hold the Admin credentials).
Backing up internally doesn't make much sense to me, but then I am the paranoid type.
Cisco security kit wide-open to IKE bug
This should have greater prominence
CVSS score of 10, unauthenticated, remote exploit for a feature typically used Enterprise customers with slow change management cycles - this is one of the worst corporate security bugs I've seen in years, particularly as the finders have published a very detailed description of their findings complete with shellcode.
Twitter hardens two-factor authentication with app-based secure logins
Google+ architect: What was so great about Reader anyway?
VMware and partners to build uber-vCloud to take on Amazon
Obvious strategy is obviously missing
Come on VMWare. Build the service that will allow us move VMs seamlessly between private ESX clouds and a scalable public cloud. Or, allow us to offload processing capability to a public cloud that will give businesses scalability at times of high demand. Put in place an encryption layer underneath the VMs to protect our sensitive data.
This is such an obvious next step for a company that has massive penetration within corporate networks, yet they persist in mucking around with their existing stupid solutions that are no better than existing public cloud providers. If we wanted public cloud functionality and only public cloud functionality, we'd go with AWS. And we probably will if VMWare don't get their act together.
BYOD trend could kill off role of CIO – SCC
What is the Nokia Secret Plan if Windows 8 isn't Windows gr8?
Microsoft hikes volume prices by more than a third
MS on the verge
For the first time our organisation (a fairly old school financial services firm of about 500 people) have given serious thought to moving people away from MS on their desktop. We've toyed with the idea of Linux (and a Java Desktop) in the past, but it hasn't been more than a pipedream. Recently with the price of MS software increasing, the hassle of getting virtual "anything" working with MS licensing, plus our users becoming more familiar with alternatives, leaving MS becomes a real option for a subset of our users.
The problem is still application compatibility, plus the mighty MS office, so we're not going to get there quickly - but every year becomes easier.
iTunes fanbois outraged by Apple's sex-life quiz probe
Security questions are hard
I know it's easy to laugh at Apple, but setting these sort of questions is difficult. I've worked in security, and I've had to set similar questions - particularly now in the era of Facebook and LinkedIn, it's harder and harder to find questions that are
i) Memorable
ii) Not available online or known to your friends
iii) Unique
iv) Won't change in the near future
Give the security guys a break - they don't want to be asking you where your first kiss was, but if people insist on putting the details of their life online what else can they do ;)
Can Windows 8 bag Microsoft 20 more years at the top?
"but you'll get used to it"
Most of the reviews of Windows 8 seem to follow a standard format
1. Describe some key feature that has been removed/destroyed/made inaccessible
2. Talk about how "you'll get used to it".
3. Give some sermon about how change is good, even if it makes your life harder
Sorry, that's a fail.
Android out-runs Windows Phone 7 on price comparison site
Odd marketing target
MS have aimed their ad campaigns at those people who don't like using their phones. Which is an odd choice of market for smartphone phones, it's more a low-end Nokia market. I think most people who have smartphones like using their phones, it keeps them in touch with their social network and they are more than happy to hear that a new message has arrived. I can't understand the MS marketing strategy aiming at the anti-social or technophobic market.
MS drops drive pooling from Windows Home Server
Like Xbox removing gaming functions
In related news, Microsoft will be removing the gaming capabilities in future Xbox 360 releases. "Following extensive consultation with business customers we have decided to focus on the core Xbox social networking functionality" said Microsoft Senior Executive Vice President Mitch M. Mitchkinsonson. "We realise this will be a disappointment to some of our valued Xbox customers, but we feel that re-focussing on the core product competencies will syngergistically leverage our modalities."
Ranting Ohio Republican scares interwebs
Americans demand Twitter-watching police
MoD bod warns of cyber attack risk
Tory MP's email fail stirs up bloggo-fury
Microsoft's Ballmer and Ozzie tag-team on mediocrity
Where's the vision thing
There's no sense of vision there. Everything is seen through the prism of the opposition, it's like Liverpool fans celebrating when they beat Man Utd but lose the league.
I don't much like Jobs but he has a vision and has his company working towards that vision. Microsoft products have some integration, but the only goal seems to be some corporate gobbledygook "we want to enable multifaceted synergistic enhancements to disparate information repositories". They're adrift at the moment.