Thursday 11 November 2021

Podcasting workstation management problems SOLVED!


Introducing the Advanced Podcast Platform™ from DE:CODED.

Our ingenious, hi-tech mobile podcast platform solves all of your workstation management problems.

It's all based on an MDF kitchen shelf, which allows you to clamp the mic wherever you are. But there's more to it than that!

Tuesday 2 November 2021

The Coming Mac Threat (Revisited)

Foreword

The following article was written and published in 2008. The first iPhones were less than six months old and Apple's OS X operating system was just seven years old. The previous year Apple launched a version of OS X that could run on Intel systems. The following year OS X could *only* run on Intel systems. This could have made life easier for attackers, as they faced a familiar underlying system.

A lot has changed since then. According to some statistics the use of OS X (now MacOS) has risen between 2009 and 2021 from below 4% to around 16%. This is clearly a significant rise, but with around 75% of computer users still staring at Windows, the value to an attacker of MacOS exploits is still relatively low.

Attackers have targets and the chances of a valuable one using a Mac is now five times as likely. We've seen news reports of exploits targeted Apple-based devices. NSO's Pegasus spyware is now widely recognised as being a threat that targeted civilians, including journalists.

Friday 8 October 2021

Define: Farcetime

Farce time [/fɑːs/ /tʌɪm/] n. 1. a futile, dispiriting experience combining video conferencing systems; young children and/ or elderly relatives; and unreliable WiFi.

Thursday 7 October 2021

Business Startup Tips: Get and Keep Money

These business startup tips are based on my personal experience. I've tried to make them as generic as possible without falling into the same trap that makes most business advice articles useless.

What kind of business?

Every business startup advice article out there talks about business plans and cashflow. And then the need to find and satisfy customers. The basic advice is right, of course, but it doesn't get you anywhere in the real world. It is too basic to be useful, and it's so obvious! If you needed that advice you might reconsider starting a company.

The following tips are unusual but accurate. You might not have seen them anywhere else because most people who write business startup articles haven't started a business. And those who have are probably keeping this advice to themselves. Selfish!

I hope you find the following 5 business startup tips useful. I wish I'd read them six years ago...

Thursday 24 June 2021

Define: Coming Soon

Coming soon [kuhm-ing soon] adj. 1. A false claim used to reassure website visitors that content will appear before the domain expires.

Friday 14 May 2021

How we made the DE:CODED podcast

When we chose to make a podcast we knew we would have a lot to learn...

This is how we made the DE:CODED podcast

At the end of 2020 we decided to create a podcast.

Five months later we have published the final episode of series one. (We're definitely doing a second series.)

Some information and advice for those wishing to do the same follows...

Wednesday 12 May 2021

12 Security Tips (revisited for 2021)

How much has computer security changed in the last six years?

In 2015, six years ago to the day, I published a 12-point security tips list. The goal was to advise on the most effective ways to improve your computer security, starting from the most important and working down.

How well does that list stand up today?

Do the original tips still stand? Are there any missing?