According to the Wikipedia article Social engineering “is the act of manipulating people into (…) divulging confidential information.” Now I don’t think that in this case I manipulated Wesley… the following story falls into the category anyway:

Wesley is a new client of mine. I have a very simple assignment: Install Moveable Type on his GoDaddy webspace. To fulfill this task I need his login information. He sent it to me, with an explanation… the password is the name and birthdate of a female whom I accidentally happen to know, not his wife and married to someone else herself.

Secretgeek has shut down his blog.

I have found that the stories around here keep repeating themselves… Well, the names change, but the pattern remains:

• People don’t backup their stuff
• … and blame other people for their own mistakes
• People don’t care about security
• … or confuse it with obscurity
• … and blame other people for their own mistakes
• People “borrow” stuff
• … and blame…

I also lost the fun writing about travel or about other people’s private lives. I will not yet shut down this blog, because it helps me remember that things have always been that way, and always will be. But don’t expect new stories in the near future. Nor in the distant future.

… your certificate becomes useless. Now if only you had a backup…

Although Andrew is gone I’m sure Secretgeek could still put an office linebacker to good use:

Best viral condom campaign, ever. Not really safe-for-work.

Sometimes there are weird people on trains. Today a guy sat across the aisle from me. He had his trolley standing in the aisle, his coat thrown over it, and the entire package clutched with his right arm. His backpack was tightly stuffed between his legs. He wore black shoes, blue socks with toon characters, and the way he was sitting made his pants ride up high, revealing 4 inches of hairless skin. His grey suite jacket was completely buttoned up. His red tie also sported toon characters. His hair was clearly dyed. Throughout the entire ride the guy played some kind of online game on his iPhone. All in all a very funny sight. And although I don’t want to I’ll probably remember this for quite a while.

Andrew has returned the laptop computer. He says, it’s for good.

It has taken me three months (sic!) to convince an HR person at one of our clients, that the systems administrators (with a Microsoft background) will not need two 5-day classes titled ”Linux Fundamentals” and “Unix Fundamentals”. (Well, since CTOs don’t seem to get it, why should HR people?) – Despite the long wait I was pleasantly surprised: since HR had already budgeted 10 days of training the admins will now get to attend both “Linux Fundamentals” and “Advanced Linux”.

The project I was assigned to right before Christmas is going to take even longer. Everybody (co-workers, customer) is blaming everybody else for this. My personal analysis of the situation says: no documentation. Any more questions?

Judy and Miles have had a number of loud arguments in Miles’ office, behind closed doors. – How do I know? Go figure.

Andrew has been ordered to return the laptop. Allegedly he asked a co-worker for a tool to permanently remove his data. – Actually, most people used a different four-letter word than “data” when they shared the gossip.

The Christmas-party was dull. Unlike the year before nobody got anywhere near being intoxicated.

Happy new year to y’all!

I’m finally done traveling for this year. I had just started this post in which I wanted to cheer over being back home for the holidays when Miles came walking in and asked me whether it would be OK to assign me to yet another project… off-site. In a project that is due before the end of this year the project manager realized today that they were in desperate need of another 80 or so man-hours. – I don’t have the time to write about the details, now, for I am getting ready to go… Oh, as an aside, I am supposed to take the laptop.

Germans really have the best Schimpfwörter in the world. I’m messaging with Luke when he tries to send me a file. I tell him that there are 2 firewalls that block this kind of traffic. His cold response:

Angeber

Well, maybe I was showing off. What’s the best term for him, however, when he also proceeds to tell me that he has turned off his personal firewall? German, anyone?

Nicole is expecting. Now Miles is even more (and still openly) frustrated about his inability to knock up Judy.

Supposedly there is another couple around the office. According to Beth they even had sex on someone’s desk. Beth won’t, however, disclose any details; neither who was involved in the activity, nor on whose desk it took place. Frighteningly Beth is over 90% right when she brings up such issues. E.g. she was the first to talk about Miles and Judy.

We’re still hiring.

There’s more. And we haven’t even had the company (pre-) Christmas-party…

Bummer.