Idlemind - nickcoster.com
Future gazing from a quiet corner of cyberspace.

Well it is about time I updated the new job story. It has been a frantic three weeks so far. I can’t describe how good it feels to work on a new project that has the backing of the whole business and for a business that seems to actually want to work together.

This week I have been running customer focus groups looking at a few of the options for the new development that I have signed on to deliver. As the “business” rep in these sessions it does feel a bit weird being the ’subject matter expert’ when I can still count the day’s that I’ve been there. Thankfully I have been able to come up with enough answers without just making up crap.

It is a good thing that I like doing these focus groups, because it is eating up days and nights. They finish at around nine at night and there will be four this week. That makes the days long. I had hoped to kick off some serious running training this week, but the long days are killing that, but more of that in a different post.

The wait is over. I am free. The weight that has lifted from my shoulders is unbelievable. I am so ready to take on the world again where, until now, I just wanted people to acknowledge me and my ideas and get through each day.

On Friday, after leaving my old job for the last time, I bought a book that I had been eyeing off for a while. ?Re-imagine!?, by Tom Peters. After reading through the first few chapters I felt the same brain rush that I had the first time I saw ?The Matrix? in 1999 and wished like hell I had bought it when I had first seen it months ago.

It was a rush, not because I was suddenly learning new things, but because the ideas that the book starts throwing at you are exactly the same ones that I was failing to get across in the Old Place.

In short it has helped me to believe in myself again with a passion that I haven?t felt in over 2 ? years and that is the feeling that Keanu gave me as he snarled ?My name is Neo? and catapulted himself out of the path of the incoming train. He believed.

Tomorrow I start a new job with this new invigorated feeling. There is a lot about the job that I have no idea about, like the team structure, and other corporate logistic issues but one thing that I am certain of is that I am going to have a great time succeeding at it.

I left work with a bad taste this afternoon, which given that I an counting down the days before my new job should not be entirely surprising. When I arrived home all I wanted to do (aside from setting up afore mentioned wireless network) was to vent to the blog.

However, as you may noticed, some hours of time have passed and with a cooler head I have been able to consider “venting” more carefully. I have become aware that there are more people reading the murmurings of this idle mind than I might even have expected, not that that makes it a lot since my expectations were close to negligible to begin with. But even with a few disparate souls reading what I think, there are some types of thoughts best unshared.

So even if I just write this post as a reminder to myself, then fine. What this has led me to think about is what I want to express here. What I think I have come up with is that the posts must be about me, about my thoughts, my opinions and my dreams.

What I will not write about will be mean or angry thoughts about others, no matter what, because although the feelings may be real and the hurt painful, these words will last longer and that is not the purpose of this place.

So now with a clear conscience I will sleep tonight.

The Problem, the Balloon, and the Four Bedroom House: A List Apart
This article jumped out at me as a repeat of project wisdom that is universally believed in but is hardly ever followed. Everyone seems to want to start doing right NOW and not wait until everything is agreed on.

While at my current job I have been writing for the monthly newsletter under the guise of the E-Genie. This time I thought that I would post my latest creation here as well.

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There have been an increasing number of security threats that use email as their way of getting onto your home computer. These threats have used features and in some cases security weaknesses in the email software to launch their attacks. The software makers have responded to these problems by adding security features to their email readers. This month we will deal with some of the side effects of these features.

Question:
“I received an email that I was expecting and the information I needed was sent as an attachment. When I tried to access this it received a message stating I was denied access to an “unsafe attachment”. Others I talked to received the same attachment with no warnings and no consequences to their system.”

The problem here is that the email program is assuming that the attached file is dangerous and will not allow it to be used. This is based on the file type and not the contents of the file. File types that are considered dangerous include .exe, .zip , .scr, .pif, .bat, etc. Also applications like Word and Excel that can contain macros will also be considered unsafe.

To access these files you will need to change the security settings of your email program. It is best to do this only when there is a particular file that you want and that you are expecting. This way the software forces you to think twice before clicking on a dodgy attachment. For example in Outlook Express (version 6.0) go to “Tools –> Options” then select the Security tab.

Uncheck the box next to “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus”. You should now be able to open the file but don’t forget to re-check this setting once you have opened your file.

All the best from the E-Genie!

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