Blog
General articles and random thoughts that don’t fit into the knowledgebase.
Latest Blog Posts
📖 Posts | 📎 Enterprise, IT Security, Microsoft | 🔖 cyber security, Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Systems, Governance, government, Microsoft, nhs, Office 365, Presentation, Security, Solutions Architecture
Presentation: Security and Governance in the Cloud
Here is a presentation that I did recently for NHS CIO’s and CCIO’s. It is all about how NHS England has followed a journey to cloud services and the IT Security & Information Governance issues we had to deal with along the way. It tries to also show other NHS organisations how they might work towards similar aims.
📖 Posts | 📎 Enterprise | 🔖 Design, government, integration, open data, open source, Planning, proprietary, software
Open Source vs Proprietary in UK Central Government Organisations
NB: This article is incomplete - it was converted from a previous blog site. It is included as a draft. Open source does not necessarily mean that open integration and open data is facilitated The issue of open source vs proprietary applications for organisations related to the UK government comes up regularly. the UK’s Cabinet Office have issued clear guidance that open source is preferred and should always be considered when procuring new systems.
A simple mail filer for Microsoft Outlook (VBA)
Like many people I receive an unmanageable amount of email each day. Many days I get through only around 1/3 of the email I receive. However, the role I am in professionally requires me to retain a large proportion of correspondence. Some because it relates to ongoing projects, other because of security, audit or compliance reasons. In addition, I work across many projects. It isn’t unusual for me to be involved in two dozen or so projects at any one time on top of my day-to-day management work.
Why I Still Don’t Use Bing For Searching
Microsoft continue to reinvent themselves for the 21st Century but Bing lags behind compared to its competition.
📖 Posts | 📎 Development, Home Automation (HA), Internet of Things (IoT), Software | 🔖 Home Automation, Internet of Things, IoT, MQTT, Node-Red, Raspberry Pi, REACT
Mosquitto MQTT Server on a Raspberry Pi
To access an MQTT broker direct from the browser, you need websockets support. On a Raspberry Pi, this used to require a custom build from source. That is no longer required. You can now install direct from the mosquitto.org repository and add a simple config change. This article explains the details.
Switching to Excerpts on the Front Page
Some of my posts are rather long and may have more links that Google really likes. So I’ve decided at last to switch to the Excerpt view instead of a full post view on the front page. The instructions for doing this are taken from: Display Excerpts in Twenty Twelve Theme
A simple mail filer for Microsoft Outlook (VBA)
Like many people I receive an unmanageable amount of email each day. Many days I get through only around 1/3 of the email I receive. However, the role I am in professionally requires me to retain a large proportion of correspondence. Some because it relates to ongoing projects, other because of security, audit or compliance reasons. In addition, I work across many projects. It isn’t unusual for me to be involved in two dozen projects at any one time on top of my day-to-day management work.
No Code Business Solutions in Microsoft SharePoint
Resources to show you how to create code-free business solutions in Microsoft SharePoint
📖 Posts | 📎 Home Automation (HA), Internet of Things (IoT), Software | 🔖 Electronics, FBP, Flow-Based Programming, HA, Home Automation, Internet of Things, IoT, Monitoring, Node-RED, Sensors
Home Automation Hub using Node-Red
The Internet of Things (IoT) comes alive with the help of Node-Red, a Flow-Based Programming (FBP) tool designed to help link together sensors, switches, logic and displays. With hardware magic from Arduino’s, Raspberry Pi’s, low cost sensors and wireless switches. We can easily build a bespoke home automation and monitoring hub.
New Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga
I have the pleasure of trying a new laptop right now as we consider them for work. The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. We have this configured with an Intel i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD with 16GB SDD speed boost, the touch & pen screen. It is a nice laptop with a screen that folds right over so you can use it as a slightly chunky tablet, the keyboard locks in this mode so you don’t accidentally press keys.
Blog Upgrade (Finally!)
It had to happen but has taken far too long. I’ve finally upgraded my WordPress sites to 3.9. Hopefully future upgrades will happen a lot quicker
📖 Posts | 📎 General | 🔖 anti virus, cyber security, Enterprise Systems, patching, Security, security threats, software, threat management, vulnerabilities, whitelisting
Stay Secure! The Latest Recommendations for IT Security
Individuals and enterprises do not understand the value of their Information nor how to protect it. This article attempts to reveal simple and practical ways to protect IT assets and outlines some of the latest thinking and tools from industry experts.
Not a good day to travel!
But a good day to work from home! Freezing fog reduces the M1 to a car park. Outside our house in Sheffield the pavements and roads are coated in layers of ice making it lethal to go anywhere until you get to the main roads. Thank goodness for the remote working facilities provided by the NHS Commissioning Board! Saves me a dangerous journey from Sheffield to Leeds. <dd class="wp-caption-dd"> Great visibility on the M1!
Recommended iPad Apps – 2012-10
Here is my list of recommended apps for business users on the iPad. The iPad is a great business tool but is certainly very limited without adding some additional tools. This is a list of the ones I recommend for day-to-day use. GoodReader – $4.99 This is the best all-rounder. It is a document viewer with good sync and connectivity options including the usual DropBox, etc. but also with SharePoint and custom servers.
📖 Posts | 📎 Enterprise, Microsoft, Software, Windows | 🔖 Access, Enterprise Systems, Excel, Exchange, Microsoft, Office, router problems, SharePoint, Word
Microsoft 64-bit Application Support (lack-of)
Microsoft’s 64-bit support is still sorely fragmented as we find out with a brand new laptop trying to access Microsoft SharePoint.
