Wireless security is always something that I am concerned about. I have written about this before and I continue to come up with new and better ways to protect my network.
Recently, I have taken to completely turning off my wireless access point. I figure, if there is no wireless signal to access, then there is nothing to hack into. I got myself another digital timer just like the one I wrote about in How To Get a 2 Year Old To Wake Up When You Want. Then, I analyzed then I needed to have the wireless on and when it was not being used and I programmed it to be off during those times!
Some of the times that I discovered the wireless could be turned off include:
When I’m working at the office
When I’m sleeping
When I have other things planned
This seems to work well for me about 95% of the time. But, I did find that the on/off button on the timer was very important. It was also very inconvenient because the timer was in the back of my wiring closet which is always a pain to get into.
So, my future plans are to built a Y power splitter for the access point. I will then purchase a switch with a remote contol. I can then plug the timer into one outlet, the remote switch into the other, the Y cord into each device. I would then plug the wireless access point into the Y cord.
Theoretically, I should be able to then have the access point powered by either the timer or the remote control.
Please remember, I am not an electrical engineer and this is only an idea. Don’t go out an electrocute yourself!
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Yesterday, we talked about the first four lessons that we can learn from Wile E. Coyote about project management. To recap, they are:
Poor planning will trump intelligence every time
Murphy’s Law is in full effect
Don’t celebrate too soon
Don’t make a bad situation worse
Today, we are going to move on to the next five lessons. Some of these may be less obvious but they are no less important.
Know Your Limits
One of the constant themes that I have discovered exists in these cartoons is that Wile E. will often come to the conclusion that all he needs is the ability to move as fast as the road runner. Often, he achieves this goal through various means just to realize in the end that going as fast as the road runner is only part of the equation and that there are several other skills which the Road Runner has accomplished which allows him to stay in control while at these speeds. Skills such as the ability to stop quickly,turn at high speeds and control direction of travel are all just as important as getting up to speed. Unfortunately, Wile E. Coyote never masters these skills.
If Wile E. knew that he did not have the skill set to properly travel at high speeds, he could have potentially come up with a different plan or called in some help, saving himself a lot of pain and aggravation. The same can be said for your IT projects. If you know your limitations regarding what is required for the project, you will know exactly when you need to bring in outside help or change your plans accordingly.
Think Through All Possible Outcomes of Your Actions
More often than not, Wile E. has some good ideas. The problem that he runs into is that his thought processes stop at what he believes will work. He does not think about what other things could happen. He never goes to the next step to determine what else might happen.
We all do this. We are so excited that we have finally figured out what we believe will solve that nagging problem which has been frustrating us for what seems like forever that we forget to take it the next step and figure out what the rest of the side effects are. Sure, you may have solved that Word problem but you managed to take down the entire network at the same time. Not exactly a good solutions.
More Complicated Isn’t Always the Answer
Some of the ideas that Wile E. comes up with are nothing if not creative. He will often put together a combination of seemingly unrelated objects to invent something that is truly brilliant.
But, yet again, it does not work. In fact, it is often the shear complexity of the device which causes the problem. Remember the old saying, “The more you fix the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.”
My advice is to follow the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid). There are definitely times when a complex solution is the correct solution. Just take a look at how complex something like the space shuttle needs to be.
But this is IT, not rocket science. If there are two different solutions that will provide you with the same outcome, I highly recommend you go with the simplest because they are easier to implement, easier to troubleshoot, less likely to fail, and generally less expensive.
Don’t Get Trapped by Brand Loyalty
Is it just me or does Wile E. need to start shopping elsewhere? I mean, really! Of often does a company need to send me something that does not work before I start thinking, “Maybe there is an R&D issue at this company,” or “The QA department needs to be replaced!”
The ACME Corporation (which, some people believe stands for American Company that Makes Everything) will apparently provide Wile E. with everything that an enterprising young coyote needs, except for satisfaction. (It appears that there was even a lawsuit filed against ACME by Mr. Coyote at one point!)
While we may find it funny that Wile E. continually goes back to the same company for all of his road runner catching needs, we do the same things! I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard people say things like, “I will only use…”:
Linux
Windows
Microsoft
Apple
Cisco
Open Office
open source software
commercial software
HP
Dell
fiber channel
IP SCSI
Intel
AMD
online stores
brick and mortar stores
local companies
When we make statements like these, we immediately limit ourselves and the creativity of our solutions.
I recently had someone ask me, “Are you a Mac or a PC guy?” My response? “I works with several different operating systems and various hardware platforms and I have come to the conclusion that, while each will often excel in specific areas, there is no one perfect system or configuration that will work the best in all situations. That is why I choose the correct operating system and platform depending on the task that I need to perform. I have no loyalty to any one.”
Spend Your Funds Wisely
From what I have seen of the shows, the primary reason that Wile E. is after the Road Runner is to get a good meal. And it does appear as thought he has skipped a meal or two in his day. But, here is the one thing that has bothered me about this cartoon ever since I was a kid:
If Wile E. has enough money to pay for all of these contraptions that from the ACME Corporation and the time to wait for them to arrive by mail order, why doesn’t he just ORDER SOME FOOD!? I mean, seriously? Has this idea never crossed the mind of our coyote genius? Just pick up the phone and order some KFC, Whitecastle, McDonalds, WHATEVER. The food will come quicker and there is a significantly less chance that a bomb will explode next to you and knock you over a cliff while you are chowing down on a Whopper and extra large fries!
OK. I’m glad I got that off my chest! But, I’ve talked with IT managers who use projects as ways to get “perks” at the office so that they can try out new tech toys or they will buy the first gadget that appears to do the job without performing proper price checking due diligence or seeing if there is a more economical solution.
Part Three Tomorrow
We will finish up this series tomorrow with part three. Hope to see you then.
Critical Project Management Lessons from Wile E. Coyote
I was watching Saturday morning cartoons when an old favorite of mine came on. Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner suddenly graced my television screen and brought a smile to my face. Suddenly, I was seven again and trying to figure out ways for that coyote to catch that bird.
But, it didn’t take long for reality to set back in and it was once again 2009. And my project management hat went on. Viewing that coyote and that road runner from a project management perspective, I soon came to realize that both were making classic decisions that every project manager faces. And the outcomes are often very similar to what some project managers see.
So, I thought that I would present to you some of these project management lessons that I learned the morning from Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.
Poor Planning Will Trump Intelligence Every Time
One of the early episodes, Operation: Rabbit, is one of the few episodes where we hear Wile E. Coyote speak and he is paired up with Bugs Bunny. A lot of the dialog is about how much of a genius Wile E. Coyote is and how Bugs should just give up now and save them all a lot of trouble. Of course, in the end, Wile E. Coyote is without his rabbit stew.
We will often do this as IT people. We are so accustomed to being the person who knows how the systems work, how hardware and software interact, and it is not uncommon for us to receive accolades because of it. The worst thing that we can do is to start believing some of the misconceptions that people have about us. We do not know everything. We can’t just walk into a room and make any problem disappear.
Strong planning is the key. Without it, it is irrelevant how smart you are.
Murphy’s Law is in Full Effect
Sometimes, lack of planning isn’t Wile E. Coyote’s biggest problem. He’s had some pretty well thought out and well documented (something most of us can’t say we do) plans. And still, things go horribly wrong.
No matter how hard you try, how many details you think of, there is always something that is out of your control. The spring on the pistol doesn’t have enough tensile strength or the fuse on the rocket burns faster than it did in testing.
This is why when you are planning your IT projects, it is critical to have a full set of back-out and recovery plans in case things go completely wrong. You can’t think of every single factor that could affect your project so make sure Plan B is ready, just in case.
Don’t Celebrate Too Soon
Wile E. Coyote has a nasty habit of thinking from time to time that he’s actually done it! He’s finally caught that road runner. But, alas, it is too good to be true. And, in the end, he discovers that he is worse off than when he started.
I’ve definitely done this! You just finish a complicated project and everything looks perfect. You are just on the way out after hurting your arm from patting yourself on the back for doing such a great job when the phone rings. Something isn’t working. Then another call. And another. Suddenly you realize that not only did your project fail, you’ve caused a significant amount of problems. Instead of your day winding up, you are just starting a very long and frustrating process of calming people down and troubleshooting unforeseen problems.
Make sure that you have checked over every possible factor you can think of before announcing you are done and even then, be prepared for the unexpected to come back and bite you in the derriere.
Don’t Make a Bad Situation Worse
There is never an end to the things that goes wrong for our friend Wile E. And sometimes he is his own worst enemy. Instead of stopping and thinking through why something went wrong, he charges in, more concerned with fixing the problem than any potential consequences.
I did this one time. I was so focused on correcting the problem with the computer that I had just images that I did not notice when I went to re-image the machine I chose the wrong image name and indicated that I wanted to image to, not from the machine. I had to tell the client that we lost all of the data and that there was not way that I could get it back!
Take your time when things go wrong. Think through your actions. Then act when you have a sound updated plan.
Part Two Tomorrow
That’s it for today. Tomorrow, we will look at some other things Wile E. does that gets him into trouble.
Critical Project Management Lessons from Wile E. Coyote
I am presently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book Outliers and I find it to be interesting just like the rest of his books. While I was reading the chapter The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes, a footnote caught my eye. This footnote had little to do with the rest of the chapter, except that it was about a disaster. It reminded me how easy it is for our IT infrastructure to become a Three Mile Island.
Here is what Gladwell wrote:
The moment that I read this passage, I immediately thought to myself, “This is exactly what happens when IT systems fail!” Rarely is it because a server suddenly goes up in smoke (although that does happen in instances of office fires). Rather, there is usually a series of mishaps, bad decisions, and forgetfulness all mixed together with a liberal dose of Murphy’s Law.
So, what can you do to protect yourself from these small “hiccup”s before they become a Three Mile Island? Here are a few things that I can up with:
Do not neglect your regular maintenance.
Never assume that no news is good news.
As boring and tedious a job as it is, go through your event logs and make sure everything is working fine.
Assume the worst. If you did not get an error alert via e-mail, do not assume that there was no error, rather, assume your e-mail is down.
Track small problems so that you can continue to deal with then then they are small problems.
When big problems do occur, document the small problems that contributed to the big problem.
When a small problem occurs, perform a worst case scenario analysis to see what could have actually happened.
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
As much as is possible and within your budget, ensure that redundant systems are in place at every step of the way. RAID5 hard drives in a system that has dual power supplies connected to two UPS systems connected to separate power companies with a complete failover system to another computer if there is a failure in one of the single points of failure (e.g. motherboard).
As a bit of motivation, here are some Murphy’s Laws that pertain to technology, courtesy of Murphy’s Law Site:
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
Whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition.
Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
The opulence of the front office decor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the firm.
The attention span of a computer is only as long as it electrical cord.
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch to be sure. great discoveries are made by mistake.
Always draw your curves, then plot your reading.
Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.
All’s well that ends.
A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.
The first myth of management is that it exists.
A failure will not appear till a unit has passed final inspection.
New systems generate new problems.
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
We don’t know one millionth of one percent about anything.
A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.
Nothing motivates a man more than to see his boss putting in an honest day’s work.
Some people manage by the book, even though they don’t know who wrote the book or even what book.
The primary function of the design engineer is to make things difficult for the fabricator and impossible for the serviceman.
To spot the expert, pick the one who predicts the job will take the longest and cost the most.
After all is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done.
Any circuit design must contain at least one part which is obsolete, two parts which are unobtainable and three parts which are still under development.
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.
If mathematically you end up with the incorrect answer, try multiplying by the page number.
Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable. Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.
.Give all orders verbally. Never write anything down that might go into a “Pearl Harbor File.”
Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, temperature, volume, humidity, and other variables the organism will do as it damn well pleases.
If you can’t understand it, it is intuitively obvious.
The more cordial the buyer’s secretary, the greater the odds that the competition already has the order.
In designing any type of construction, no overall dimension can be totaled correctly after 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The correct total will become self-evident at 8:15 a.m. on Monday.
Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. And scratch where it itches.
All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.
The only perfect science is hind-sight.
Work smarder and not harder and be careful of yor speling.
If it’s not in the computer, it doesn’t exist.
If an experiment works, something has gone wrong.
When all else fails, read the instructions.
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
Everything that goes up must come down. Corollary: Not always
Any instrument when dropped will roll into the least accessible corner.
Any simple theory will be worded in the most complicated way.
Build a system that even a fool can use and only a fool will want to use it.
The degree of technical competence is inversely proportional to the level of management.
A difficult task will be halted near completion by one tiny, previously insignificant detail.
There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.
The remaining work to finish in order to reach your goal increases as the deadline approaches.
If there is ever the possibility of several things to go wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
If something breaks, and it stops you from doing something, it will be fixed when you:
no longer need it
are in the middle of something else
don’t want it to be fixed, because you really don’t want to do what you were supposed to do
Each profession talks to itself in it’s own language, apparently there is no Rosetta Stone
The more urgent the need for a decision to be made, less apparent become the identity of the decision maker
It is never wise to let a piece of electronic equipment know that you are in a hurry.
Don’t fix something that ain’t broke, ’cause you’ll break it and you still can’t fix it
You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track. Chong Kwong Sheng addition: Only by the splatter of the blood stains The last two laws were sent by Chong Kwong Sheng
Dobie’s Dogma: If you are not thoroughly confused, you have not been thoroughly informed.
A screw will never fit a nut.
Standard parts are not.
When working on a motor vehicle engine, any tool dropped will land directly under the center of the engine.
Interchangeable tapes won’t.
Never trust modern technology. Trust it only when it is old technology.
The bolt that is in the most awkward place will always be the one with the tightest thread.
The most ominous phrase in science: “Uh-oh . . .”
The 2nd worst thing you can hear the tech say is “Oops!” The worst thing you can hear the tech say is “oh s**t!”
Any example of hardware/software can be made fool-proof. It cannot, however, be made damn-fool-proof.
The Rossemblat Graphic Insult Theory: When any technological change is made, we have a graphic insult curve. No mater how high the insult curve climb, the important thing is how long it goes.
Bahaman’s Law: for any given software, the moment you read software reviews and manage to master it, a new version of that software appears. Yakko’s addition: The new version always manages to change the one feature you need most.
In today’s fast-moving tech environment, it is a requirement that we forget more than we learn.
It is simple to make something complex, and complex to make it simple.
Measurements will be quoted in the least practical unit; velocity, for example, will be measured in ‘furlongs-per-fortnight’.
In electronics repair the part with the highest failure rate will always be located in the least accessible area of the equipment.
Multi-million pound technology is worthless in the hands of morons.
The rule of Protection: If you install a 50¢ fuse to protect a 100$ component, the 100$ component will blow to protect the 50¢ fuse.
Karl Imhoff was a German engineer who developed sewage treatment systems in the early 1900’s. His biggest contribution was the Imhoff Tank, which allows sewage to settle. The Imhoff Law relates to bosses everywhere. The law goes as follows: The largest chunks always rise to the top.
High tech man-year = 730 people trying to finish a project before lunch.
An expert will always state the obvious.
The boss is always right. Corollary: If the boss is wrong, refer back to the rule.
On a cruise ship, the one, most important part you don’t have in stock always breaks on a Friday evening, just when you left harbor and the next time you will be in harbor is a Sunday or Christmas eve.
The chance a copy machine will brake down is proportional to the importance of the material that needs to be copied and inversely proportional to the amount of time till the material will be needed.
Maintenance department neglect customer’s complains till it starts installations in customer’s new projects.
Murphy’s Law on HVAC systems: An HVAC (Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning) engineering firm, will invariably lease office space in a building with a lousy HVAC system. All the engineers can do is shiver or sweat and moan about it, and say how they would fix it if the building owner actually gave a damn.
The probability any machine breaks down increases with the importance of expected visit.
if it works in theory, it won’t work in practice. if it works in practice it won’t work in theory.
Research Law: No matter how clever and complete your research is, there is always someone who knows more.
Somers’ Law of Repair: No part ever fails where you can reach it, or where there is enough light to see how to replace it.
Any tool dropped will fall where it can cause the most damage.
Any wire cut to length will be too short.
Equivalent replacement parts aren’t.
When you finally update to a new technology, is when everyone stop supporting it.
Interchangeable parts aren’t
The proposed size of any project is inversely proportional to the size the project will eventually become. Corollary: Any project that can consume more resources before reaching it’s final state will do so. This will happen faster than you think. Also, the investors will not be happy. Sent by Jon Proesel
The less intelligent the idea, and the person stating it, the more likely it will be funded.
A man with one watch is certain about time. A man with two watches isn’t.
The more knowledge you gained, the less certain you are of it.
If you think you understand science (or computers or women), you’re clearly not an expert
Technicians are the only ones that don’t trust technology The last four laws were sent by Jan Wenall
All impossible failures, will happen at the test site. Corollary: All impossible failures will happen on the clients desktop
The more you want to contact someone over an instant messenger is inversely proportional to the chances that they will be on-line.
The more important your email is, the worse your email client will screw it up.
The degree to which a device will function is directly proportional to the number of times it has been bashed and inversely to its cost.
A device having an indestructible component or is user serviceable is deemed unsafe until it’s replaced by an expensive, unobtainable, inefficient component which needs constant servicing.
Assaf’s Laws of Replacement Parts
A failed 25¢ part cannot be replaced by a new 25¢ part, but by a sub-assembly whose cost is equal to or greater than that of the device in need of the part
The cost and availability of a replacement part are in inverse proportion to the cost of the whole system: a $1500 device will fail because of the burnout of a 25¢ capacitor. But the 25¢ capacitor is either
no longer manufactured
manufactured only by a company in Outer Mongolia with an 18-month backlog
available only as part of a $1450 sub-assembly
All things mechanical/electrical will catastrophically fail after the guarantee has expired, unless an extended guarantee has been purchased. Sent by Blair Murray
The Harvard Principle: Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of temperature, humidity, pressure, etc., the organism will do as it damn well pleases.
First Law of Linear Equations: Given any system n linear equations, there will be n+1 unknowns/li>
The disappearance of a nagging error in a system is explicable only in terms of insignificant contribution of the source to that system
The repairman will have never seen a model quite like yours before
Law of Repairmen: The repairman fixes your machine to break down the next day and charges for a new machine.
While technology progresses at the speed of light it’s implementation is filtered through the speed of bureaucracy
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.
Stationary engineering law: never underestimate incompetency
Got a horror story about how one problem just added to another? Have your own version of a Murphy’s Law? Let everyone know in the comments!
Wireless security is always something that I am concerned about. I have written about this before and I continue to come up with new and better ways to protect my network.
Some of the ideas that Wile E. comes up with are nothing if not creative. He will often put together a combination of seemingly unrelated objects to invent something that is truly brilliant.
Is it just me or does Wile E. need to start shopping elsewhere? I mean, really! Of often does a company need to send me something that does not work before I start thinking, “Maybe there is an R&D issue at this company,” or “The QA department needs to be replaced!”
From what I have seen of the shows, the primary reason that Wile E. is after the Road Runner is to get a good meal. And it does appear as thought he has skipped a meal or two in his day. But, here is the one thing that has bothered me about this cartoon ever since I was a kid:
I was watching Saturday morning cartoons when an old favorite of mine came on. 
Sometimes, lack of planning isn’t Wile E. Coyote’s biggest problem. He’s had some pretty well thought out and well documented (something most of us can’t say we do) plans. And still, things go horribly wrong.
I am presently reading 
’s latest book 
and I find it to be interesting just like the rest of his books. While I was reading the chapter The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes, a footnote caught my eye. This footnote had little to do with the rest of the chapter, except that it was about a disaster. It reminded me how easy it is for our IT infrastructure to become a Three Mile Island.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b716ff8a-1433-4a0b-a421-c5d0b7997958)
