Operating Systems

    Posted on by snee

    So, with Windows being slowly moved towards the fully subscription based model, I’ve happily been fully Linux at home for 15 years now. The only app I use Windows at home for (in a VM – see below) is Office, and more specifically, Excel. Up until recently I was an OpenSUSE user, but have just switched over to Fedora – everything was backed up over the past week, and the actual change was done in maybe half an hour Saturday morning with no loss of settings whatsoever. I prefer the KDE Plasma GUI, but have always got a terminal window […]

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    Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 Start Menu updates

    Posted on by snee

    The Register produced this article which shows the level of contempt Microshite has for the users nowadays – can’t just embed the article so will post it in full: The latest changes to Microsoft’s Start Menu are being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. However, users in the European Economic Area have a little longer to wait for the promised Android and IOS device integration. Microsoft previewed these tweaks to the Start Menu in May, and is now rolling them out to Windows Insiders as part of Windows 11 build 26200.5641. “We’re making it easier for you […]

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    Certifications…

    Posted on by snee

    So, was poking around in the dashboard to ensure my installation was as up to date as possible to try to eradicate potential vulnerabilities, and had a read oy my last post. Well, since then I’ve taken and passed the following: Comptia A+ (parts 1 and 2), Network+, Security+, CySA+, and a couple of AWS basic certifications to bolster my cloud knowledge: https://www.credly.com/users/paul-bennett.57dc5ac1/badges I’ve been working for Beckhoff Automation for 18 months now, and will be looking to incorporate my cybersecurity knowledge into our offerings as well as hardening our exposure to potential attack. As we are now halfway through […]

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    IHD3-PPMID

    Posted on by snee

    OK, so I was sold on the idea of a smart meter by my energy company. Truth be told, I was fed up with having to constantly submit meter readings and my inner geek liked the idea of n in home display (IHD) showing current and historical usage. So, the installer was booked, turned up, and installed the gas and electric meters while maintaining social distancing, showed me the IHD and apologised there wasn’t a manual (manual? ha! I SPIT at manuals…), and left. About 3 hours later I noticed the display wasn’t showing the electricity reading So I did […]

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    Chasing unicorns down a tunnel

    Posted on by snee

    At work we had some resilience awareness training yesterday which lasted 2 hours and was actually more interesting than it sounds. However, all we seem to have taken from this is to say “Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.” and the phrase “It’s like chasing unicorns down a tunnel.” The unicorns one was so memorable that we decided to use that – I can proudly announce I am the winner of the inaugural ‘Unicorn Champion’ challenge having squeezed that into 2 phone calls, several emails, and countless conversations around the office.

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    Pwned?

    Posted on by snee

    The other week we had an ‘Information Security Awareness’ week at work – the Polish Cyber-security team were over and spent the week doing workshops and hosting sessions for the whole site – all very interesting stuff, and the live hacking demos were quote frightening with how easy it is to breach the security of a global corporation in minutes (literally). Then, the other day I got an email from a friend (hey Bu’er! 🙂 ) which in turn made me think “I’ve not blogged in a while…”, so imagine my surprise when I found my blog database had been […]

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    A blog post…from me?

    Posted on by snee

    Been a LONG time, but here it is – a new post 🙂 After dinner we were sitting at the table just chatting about the day and Lisa mentioned the amount of overtime I’m doing at the moment. “I know” said Kira, and looked at me, “YOU’RE the reason I wake up in the morning!” Of course, I took it the right way and said “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s said to me.” Do you know just how much a 16 year old can glare? 🙂

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