Missing Link

Unlike a lot of bloggers, I’m going to completely ignore the fact that last week was Thanskgiving here in the United States, a fact which seems to compel many to post about something they are thankful for.   That’s not to say I’m not thankful for anything (I am, quite a few things actually), but rather that I just don’t care to share that with you

Thanksgiving, along with the help of two days of PTO (Paid Time Off, for those who don’t know), allowed me to enjoy a nice six-day weekend.  I did thoroughly enjoy the time off as it allowed me to unwind quite a bit and disconnect myself from work.

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I love technology.

While that’s a VERY broad statement (as ‘technology’ encompasses a very large number of things), it’s generally true.  I’ll try to be a little more specific for you, though, as I can admit that saying ‘I love technology’ is like saying ‘I love things made of matter!’.  I love computers, and computerized gadgets – for example:  laptops, smart phones, ipods, networking equipment, computerized AV equipment, etc.

When I was a youngster, my parents brought home a computer made by Texas Instruments.  I was much too young to know (or remember) the model number of this machine – even though I spent inordinate amounts of time in front of it.  I remember it had a TV for a screen, and sported two 5.25″ floppy drives which were used for everything you wanted to run – including the OS.  Playing a game was an exercise in patience – waiting many minutes for the OS to load, then having to load the game.  After all that waiting you got a game with monochrome graphics that were…. lacking.   Except back then they weren’t lacking – they were awesome and I loved them.  From a very young age I was hooked. (continue reading…)

Information security is a tricky topic when it comes to business.   On one hand, businesses want to be secure to prevent themselves from generating negative headlines or having to tell their customers that they failed to protect their data.   On the other hand, they don’t want to spend a lot of money on something they see no tangible results for, especially when that something often times gets in the way of easily doing business.  Because of this, many companies either ignore information security, or do only the bare minimum to appease clients or regulatory compliance.   As a direct result of ignoring or doing the minimum when it comes to security, many of those companies are breached (easily) and data stolen (also easily).

Some companies strike a compromise – seeking to implement and maintain a secure environment, without necessarily breaking the bank doing so.   They implement policies and procedures that offer a fair degree of safety and security,  but also give the business the flexibility to achieve it’s business objectives.   The smart companies know that no system is every truly fully secure – or else nothing would get done.  The real key is to have a comprehensive, yet sane, global information security program.   The focus should be on maintaining a constant level of security appropriate to the environment through a series of security controls.  This should include an incident response plan that details who the players are in any security incident response scenario,   and clearly defines what their roles and responsibilities are.

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It should come as no surprise to anybody that I am an Apple fan. I use Mac’s almost exclusively (I do have a Windows 7 / Ubuntu Linux dual boot workstation in my home office…. along with a 24″ iMac ) and am sometimes very outspoken about the benefits of using Apple hardware and devices.

The reason for that is simple: for MOST things, and MOST people, Apple’s products just work.  And, when it doesn’t just work, it’s usually fairly easy to GET it to work.  It’s NOT perfect, and I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it can be downright annoying when it doesn’t work. Overall, though, I find myself a whole lot less frustrated with Apple computers than I do PCs.

Apple just released late last week their latest upgrade to their venerable OS X lineup – OS X 10.6: Snow Leopard.  Many of the most important changes to the OS are under the hood and not easily seen by the average user, but will most definitely add significant performance improvements moving forward. There were a couple of things that were changed that had me excited – the most important of them being native support for Microsoft Exchange.

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Since I successfully upgraded the version of Wordpress that powers Missing Link, I’m now able to post updates from my iPhone, allowing me to capture my thoughts as they happen.

It’s pretty cool.

Now Its time fight to stay awake – chocolate covered coffee beans are only sorta working.

Must. Take. Nap.