Parts of the NHS are still down because of the ransomware attack launched last Friday.  I gather it was a worldwide attack and brought low many - all of whom should have known better and should have kept their security patches etc updated.  The fact that so many computers and systems were 'locked up' just goes to show ( Read more... )

There now, Yahoo was hacked back in July last year by 'state sponsored' hackers.  They finally admitted the fact this August, but have only now gotten around to admitting that the breach was a whole lot bigger than they'd first thought.

1. Should you have accounts with Yahoo, Dear Reader, go change all your passwords.  I mean, that was the second ( Read more... )

Regular Readers will know that I occasionally bang on about Security and How To Maintain It.  That's cyber security - you know, passwords, hackers, identity theft and the like.  Should you wish to scare yourself a little, try this article Where in the World is my data and how secure is it?  We've all heard of overworked people leaving important ( Read more... )

You may have heard the Talk Talk saga - how its website was hacked by some nasty person/group, how all the customer details have become available to said hacker(s) and how they are holding Talk Talk to ransom ( Read more... )

This computer is less than ten years old, but that is almost ancient by computer standards.  Pooh, it works, though increasingly slowly, and various websites which have pictures have an annoying tendency to come up with large areas of whitespace where pictures of most excellent knitwear should be.  That and some sites when accessed come up with a ( Read more... )

I know I've banged on probably more than enough about security and passwords, and how not to choose passwords which are too easily guessed, a hacker's dream.  That particular drum will bear another bang though.  Data security is important, particularly when you hear about the cavalier attitude to customer data protection adopted by some Companies ( Read more... )

You know how there is always a certain amount of fuss as to whether certain websites protect their customer data adequately?  You know, so that some passing hacker can't mine it for details of customer names, passwords and, possibly, bank details?  Well and good.  It is up to these sites to keep customer data secure ( Read more... )

I bust one of my favourite knitting needles the other day.  A Symphonie Pro circular 2.25mm, while knitting a sock.  One needle end snapped off at the join between the wooden needle and the cable.  A quick inspection reveals the metal join to be unseamed so unlikely to be openable to remove the snapped off wooden bit and stick in the remaining ( Read more... )

Oh we woke up yes-day mawnin', looked at the clock - the hands were straight up and down.  6am!!!  H attained consciousness, he'd enjoyed the lay in, got up, got ready and left in very short order.  I turned over and went back to sleep.  H stayed late at work to make up for getting in late.  Ah well, the evenings are light now.  Last night he set ( Read more... )

"All is safely gathered in"

OK, the wheat locally was harvested last month, or the end of August.  Corn (that's maize type 'corn') is being harvested.  Some to be silaged, some is appearing in the shops as corn on the cob.  In our yard the french beans finished long ago.  The tomatoes are ready to go to the compost heap - they were delicious, I ( Read more... )