If it ain’t broken, it’s no fun

One of the reasons I like computers, is because there is so much failure. I enforce some analog superiority over the digital failure to fix it. I like computers because I am capable of fixing them. Fixing problems is very satisfying.

Being a specialist usually means that you are a good problem solver. I have had my share of problems over the years and have developed a methodology to solve problems. My methodology looks extremely simple on the surface. This makes it easy to remember and explain. It does not make it easy to solve a problem, because a good share of domain knowledge is still involved. Yet I am sure that if you follow these steps and are smart enough, you can solve almost any problem.

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categorie(s): work | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Passwords are not safe

I was recently confronted with a new password policy: my password needed to be a combination of 8 to 12 characters with only numbers and letters. And the numbers were not allowed to be at the beginning or end. My solution was a combination of a standard word with my zip code. But I am not convinced that it is a good password. I will not be able to remember it easily, as it differs from all my other password.

The more you work with computers, the more passwords you generate. I have to remember so many passwords that I use a program to store most of them. It is not the best option but I can only remember so much.

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categorie(s): security, technology, work | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Guerilla SOA

Talking freely about SOA has always been a bit embarrassing. I live in The Netherlands and the acronym SOA stands for “Sexual Transmitted Disease” in Dutch. STD translates into SOA. So when I talk about SOA, I immediately know if I am talking to a techie or not. Despite all the buzz talk, SOA has not yet been as viral as expected. SOA has been around for quite some time – some even call it yet another reinvention of an old concept – but it seems very hard to get it implemented. This is mostly because we are taught not to fix something that isn’t broken and the truth is that most point-to-point connections just work. So there is no obvious need to start using a SOA.

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categorie(s): work | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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