David Thacker Blog

So you want to embrace a digital transformation and stop running your file server, mail server etc internally. Running all these systems internally has a cost on the workforce, as these systems age and grow they demand more attention. For us the GDPR caused us to look into all of our systems, understand where and what every bit of data we had and how we should deal with it. It caused us to ask the questions of do we still want to maintain these systems and be responsible for these systems security. Initially we looked into systems like, BOX, Dropbox, Amazon work mail etc.The problem with these systems they are disjointed, and the cost quickly adds up.   Then we looked into Gsuite, Office 360 and Zoho Office. Zoho office was the first one out it didn't seem a great set up for a business our size. Next was Office 360 it was a possibility  but as the Dev team use Linux it probably would not be the best fit. There was nothing wrong and for the windows users of the business it would...

When setting up a computer, especially a Family computer - you may want to block application installs if non admin or similar.  Now looking online this is possible if the application is installed via the windows installer -(  gpedit.msc) see link to use: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-prevent-users-from-installing-programs-in-windows-7 But for applications like Chrome & Mozilla Firefox and many others they do not need access to the windows installer to be installed. But what you can now do in the latest version of Windows 10 is to set up an admin account and enable 'Allow Apps from the Windows Store Only' See this guide on how to enable it : https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-to-permit-block-on-apps-installing-if-theyre-not-from-microsoft-store/ Now when you log into the user account they can only install apps from the windows store. So we are almost there. Finally what we need todo is block the windows store : https://docs.microsoft.co...

About this time last year there was a theft at my house. This can be disturbing and unsettling for many of us! So I decided that I needed some surveillance with the one caveat that I did not want to pay for a subscription. The Netatmo Presence seemed to fit the bill with its built in SD card storage and integration to and FTP server or dropbox. Over the last 12 months the Presence has got better and better with every software update. Beyond that I wanted a camera to keep an eye on my dog while I am not at home, I looked and looked and could not really find a suitable solution without a subscription apart from the Netatmo Welcome. Aesthetically the Welcome was not ideal as it was gold and not as subtle as I would have liked - but Functionally its perfect! in reality the gold is closer to silver than the pictures would lead you to believe at about 200 euro some may feel it is a little expensive but remember that there are no subscription fees so compared to a Nest camera within a year it...

Just a quick post as I have not had that much time to put into the blog.  When I first had a taste of a smart connected device I suppose it would of been the Chromecast I already had a FireTV and other digital tv boxes but never really thought of them as smart, sure the FireTV remote had alexa but i found little use for that 3 years ago. So I had the chromecast, it was cool how you could cast to it off your phone tablet or pc. But honestly it was not that easy to use that was until I got my first smart speaker a Google Home mini. This is where the chromecast came alive! Before I knew it i had a google home in every room! Beyond just controlling the chromecast we use the google home morning day and night. In the morning from waking up with an alarm through to checking up on traffic, news and weather. In the day to listen to my podcasts or spotify and in the evening to control the lights or the TV. Recently Netatmo brought google assistant integration it their security cameras both indo...