Merry Tech Rant 2012

Aloha everyone! Hopefully this message finds you full of mirth and good cheer for the holiday season. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The theme of this missive is the changes we are all faced with daily on a technical level: New requirements, more bad news about the latest security threat, updates, upgrades, etc. ad nauseum. Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus …

It isn’t all that bad, of course. But when it gets in the way of you getting your work done ‘quickly and efficiently’ in the way that you have become accustomed, does it really help that much? Sometimes not so much, initially, anyway.

But, I guess that is beside the point. We don’t really direct the technical stream that affects us and we are always 3 steps behind the people who do lead it, for good or bad. Silent Night, Holy Night…

I would love to put a positive spin on this, right here, right now, so that you would feel confident and assured that we have it all under control. But, it’s really just barely controlled anarchy and chaos, masking a future ‘disaster in the making’. How’s that? Feel better? Joy to the World!

Of course drama, like comedy, uses exaggeration to amplify the intensity of the experience. So of course it isn’t all that bad, but it’s kind of how we feel sometimes, with what we are faced with. As a user, we try to protect you from the harsh reality, and the technical lingo, that we are forced to deal with day in and day out. You’re welcome. J O Tannenbaum….

Take passwords for example. Sure, everyone knows, upper case + lower case + special characters + numbers, etc., the longer the better, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah, but guess what? There is software out there that contains what are called ‘hash tables’, of every possible combination of characters that special computers can use to chew through your best laid plan for a password in hours!

The answer to this, believe it or not, are things like dual-factor authentication and bio-metrics or physical controls to access your systems securely. It’s 007 time. Don’t lose your eyeballs or fingerprints please. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire…

But we keep trying to outwit, outlast, outplay and out think these players by avoiding online banking, or online shopping. But, guess what? The stores you use? The businesses you patronize? The restaurant you just left?

They are under assault as well by the same folks that you think are after you. But in truth, they want the banks, the stores and the data vaults where your information and a million other folks just like you, is stored whether or not you shop online. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

You have the best intent, yet so much of what you try to affect is simply out of your control, through no fault of your own. You are dependent on others integrity, intelligence, intention, thoughtfulness and thoroughness.

That is where we at MB Technologies, LLC really try to excel. To one degree or another we succeed, albeit not always. After all, you can’t make everyone happy all the time and you can’t always prevent bad things from happening to people you care about, but you use the best practices available to you and remain vigilant. The stress is incredible, you have no idea. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

As you may have noticed, my role in the company has changed dramatically as of late, whereby I am more involved in administrative services, accounting, proposals and managing the company while directing our engineers and technicians to perform the requested services instead of performing the actual field work. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear…

Sorry, but it is the evolutionary nature of becoming more successful. Thank you for your support and patronage that has allowed our continued success. But, we all move on and take on different challenges. I consider it a promotion of sorts, but I plan on continuing to visit and communicate with our clients as often as I can. Please, never apologize for ‘bothering’ me or contacting me with your questions or concerns. It’s really what I live for. I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…

Speaking of changes, we have always counseled our users on backing up their data, but even that has changed. Online storage and backup solutions abound for dirt cheap costs these days, so it is almost impossible NOT to have your data replicated somewhere in the cloud. Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells….

Of course, backups are great. But you haven’t lived, (or died a thousand deaths), if you haven’t tried to RESTORE that data while recovering from a disaster. Let’s face it, no one cares much about a document or picture that was backed up 4 years ago, but they do care about the file they were working on 4 minutes ago! You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry…

Not there, is it? That’s right, because unless your active files are stored and accessed in the cloud, through a service like DropBox, Google Drive or Office.365 you probably don’t have that file backed up. It’s the nature of the beast you know. Santa Claus is Coming to Town…

Need advice on what service best suits you and how to protect yourself? Let us know. Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly…

But enough of that. On to updates and the raging need of every program you own to update itself at every turn and every worst moment possible, because it almost always entails the need to restart your computer after it’s done.

Even worse, for so many of our clients, we have had to reduce your user access control to a lower level to protect you from involuntary exposure to malware and the like. So that even when you are alerted to a legitimate update process, it fails because you don’t have the rights to allow it to run! (Think Java, Adobe, Microsoft, Symantec, etc.) Frosty the Snowman!

Oy vey! The huge manatee! Then your vendor of preference, Micro$oft or Apple, comes out with a version upgrade to the latest and greatest OS and you find out that you will end up needing an entirely new computer. Which is GREAT for the economy, but not so much for your credit rating. Just one more notch on the MasterCard I guess. Feliz Navidad…

Like life itself, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thanks for reading, or deleting. It all ends up in the same digital wasteland anyway you know. ;) One thing that won’t change is our dedication to making sure you and your technical needs are taken care of before, during and after the next upgrade/downgrade, problem/solution that you may have to face. Do You Hear What I Hear?....

I will be out of the office from 12/20 -> 12/28. MB Technologies, LLC intends to take two 4 day weekends in a row, (Christmas 12/22 - 12/25 and New Year’s 12/29 – 1/1), but of course we will be available to answer and solve your pressing technical, computing and security concerns whenever you need our help, so please don’t hesitate to call or email us! Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

_______________________
Brian D. Hughes
MB Technologies, LLC
brian@mbtechnologies.com
(808) 383-9986

Simple Reminder: Be the conscious creator of your experience.