I miss the days before the internet sometimes. Especially when dealing with companies. They think they are being efficient dealing with customers only through the web or an app, using AI agents to deal with enquiries and having complex digital complaints procedures.
Once they have your money and you experience problems with their product or service, good luck reaching an actual human to talk to. Or getting your money back.
If you are an IT geek though you might have a chance. I’ve managed to talk to humans and get my money back on several occasions, but it took a bunch of skills that the average person just doesn’t have such as:
– Understanding how web pages work and reading the page source
– OSINT
– How to hack AI
– Side-channels
– Exploiting software bugs
It shouldn’t require a degree in IT in order to get decent customer service but that’s been my experience.
Windows 10 End-of-Life
It’s Microsoft Windows 10’s End-of-Life (EoL) this October (2025). A lot of people with older machines will be impacted by this as their machines will not be able to run Windows 11, even with hardware upgrades.
Over the years I’ve managed to keep my older machines running for as long as possible with various upgrades and modifications. The best upgrade for your money and the return on investment is moving from a disk-based hard drive (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD). I have laptops that are 15 years old that are running Windows 10 just fine but fail the Windows 11 compatibility check.
So what are the options for those of us that can’t afford a new computer?
First, backup your computer. I mean, you are already doing this anyway right? This will ensure that you have access to your data should anything happen to your PC going forwards. Backup both the data and take an image of the drive and store two copies in separate safe locations.
Once your data is backed-up, replace the OS with Linux. There are many flavours available. Go peruse distrowatch to see which one best suits you. If you are still unsure then Ubuntu is popular among those new to Linux.
Once you are up and running you can port your data across. There are Linux applications that are alternatives to Windows applications that can still read your files. Instead of Office you can run LibreOffice for example. There are many open source applications that should be able to help.
If you really need to run Windows and your laptop is powerful enough you can run something like Virtualbox and run your Windows 10 in a virtual machine. Or you can containerise your applications and run them in something like Docker. Or look at WINE, the linux Windows emulator.
Just because Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 10 does not mean that you have to pay for a new machine to use Windows 11. You have options.
Got any other suggestions? Let me know.
Lists 2.0
I’m a big fan of lists. To do lists, checklists, packing lists, you name it I’ve turned it into a list. I recently learned that ChatGPT is great at lists.
Very detailed lists.
Need to plan a vacation? It will generate a list of things you need to take into consideration, in addition to what to pack. Shopping for a new laptop, car, or even a house? It can quickly knock you up a list with indented bullet-points on everything you need. Need to make a plan should a disaster occur, maybe a nuclear war or zombie outbreak? Yep it will create a detailed survival plan complete with supplies list in seconds.
Lists 2.0: create your unique custom lists with AI!
Give me a job
It amazes me how people have specific job titles that they hold on to, especially in IT. For instance they are a Systems Architect, or a .Net Software Developer, or maybe a Project Manager specialising in AWS projects. When out of work they search for jobs using these exact titles.
Who needs a ,Net Software Developer within my area, or remote, paying what I’m asking?
As the markets get worse and roles are thin on the ground and you are competing with hundreds of other applicants for the same roles, they still don’t bend, they remain inflexible, only looking for their particular job title.
In the past we would look for work by seeing who needed help and with what. Did you have the skills to do what was required, and is the pay being offered worth the effort? If the answer to both was yes then you’d apply. The job title didn’t matter. You could figure that out later, as long as you paid me what we both agree I’m worth.
Find someone with a problem that you can solve willing to pay you what you are asking and you have employment. Simple. Yet somehow we seem to have forgotten this basic rule and when finding ourselves out of work we look for job titles not needs. Which companies have a problem that you can help them solve? Forget how they are trying to solve it by advertising for various roles. Look at the bigger picture and see if your skills and experience can help them.
As an example from my own career, I was once asked to meet with a particular client that was advertising for a tester. Several agencies had sent them testers and every one was rejected. One agency asked me if I’d go along and meet with them to find out what was going on. They were based in Cambridge so I took the train figuring out that I could do some shopping and visit a few public houses while I was there. After the usual formalities my very first question was: What are you looking for? It turns out that no one had actually asked them this. They told me that their main software provider issued them with an ultimatum: either fix your system or we will no longer support it. Over the years they had created Frankenstein’s monster. It was a mess of patches and hacks and upgrading it took too long and hit their SLAs hard. They had been told that they should hire a tester and that was what they were attempting. What they actually needed was a consultant to come in and figure things out, not a tester who needs direction and control at the hands of a test manager, which was the type of candidate they were being sent.
Over the course of our meeting I outlined a brief plan for them covering what they needed in terms of skills and experience. I was hired as the consultant overseeing the work.
Look beyond roles. Look at what the company or client actually needs and don’t worry about job titles. You can figure what to call yourself later.
Online job hunting in 2024
Looking for work online, especially in the IT industry is pretty brutal in 2024. Assuming you do find roles that match your criteria, over 100 applicants have probably already applied. Using tried and tested techniques you tailor your CV and cover letter to the job description in the hope of moving to the front of the pile. Fingers crossed!
You hear nothing.
LinkedIn will usually provide information on the agent advertising the role along the lines of “This person generally responds within X number of days”. Yet they never do. You hear nothing despite all the time you took to research the role and craft your application.
It’s not rudeness, it’s a combination of inefficiency, a lack of automation, and unprofessionalism. Don’t take it personally. Assuming the job is real (more on that later) chances are that there were too many applicants and the agent did not have enough time to respond to all. Automation would help here, but not many agents use it, or use it well. Then there’s the unprofessionalism. A lot of agents are young, college graduates, or fell into the role after their intended career path didn’t lead them where they wanted. Recruitment is not their passion. Don’t bother remembering their names, next month they’ll be doing something else. The recruitment sector has a high turnover rate. Combined with mad incentive schemes and recruitment targets it’s all just a fast-paced game that many fail, and you, unfortunately, are just a pawn on the board.
Then there’s the jobs that don’t exist. Or might, possibly, in the future. Some recruiters like to predict market trends and monitor local news to guess who may be hiring and what kind of jobs. So they create fake job profiles to bring in candidates so that they are ready to go should the roles actually materialise. Most don’t and your data has now been harvested into a recruiter database.
You did read the terms right?
Chances are they may put you forward for roles without your permission just to prevent other recruiters from doing the same. It may be worth requesting your data be removed from recruiters that have not successfully sourced you a role. They may even sell your data on. Or if they are swallowed up by a bigger firm your data may be merged into another database that you did not consent to.
Between being ghosted, ignored, and harvested, you may become somewhat depressed. Don’t be. Its just a game and unfortunately in 2024 it’s brutal. But there are ways of taking back control, one of which is to become your own agent. One with a single candidate: you.
Look for potential employers or clients yourself. Tap your network for leads. Promote your candidate at every opportunity. Sell sell sell!
Go give it a try. You might find it fun. You’ll definitely learn what it’s like to be a recruiter, and about self promotion. Just don’t take being ignored, rejection, or being ghosted personally. It’s just a game.
See you in 2025!
Merry Christmas
I miss the Christmas I enjoyed as a kid.
To me it was all about family and being together. It wasn’t about decorations, lights, food, toys and gifts. It wasn’t commercial. I would probably be happy with a lump of (smokeless) coal. As long as my family was there and we were all healthy and happy.
Forget the handing out of (wish)lists and Amazon vouchers. Forget having to deal with packed town centers and inflated prices. Forget having to pay for packs of over-priced postal stamps.
A mince pie by an open fire. Playing family games and forgetting to watch the royal speech. Marking everything you intend to watch in the only copy of the Radio Times you’ll buy this year and then promptly forgetting to watch anything as planned. Having a drink or two after the kids have all gone to bed as the embers die down in the open fire and the Christmas tree lights twinkle. Remembering all the good things that happened this past year whilst ignoring the bad. Making resolutions.
So that’s the Christmas I intend to enjoy this year.
Merry Christmas all!
Whose art is it really?
I found myself at a Christmas craft market recently, and at one stall I stopped to admire some artwork. The stallholder was selling coasters, mugs, canvas bags, and tea towels covered in her art. The colours were vibrant and the art was detailed, almost 3D.
I complimented her on her work. She said thank you then proceeded to tell me how her and her husband enjoy creating these products. Then she said “although he uses a different AI program to me”.
It turns out that she is not an artist but a Midjourney user. This got me thinking: is this therefore her art or someone else’s? Her skills lie not in creating the art itself, but in prompting the AI to create it, refining what it creates, and weeding out any errors such as 6-fingers or too many appendages.
The art was good, very good, and the prices were high, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything. Why? I wasn’t quite sure. Whom am I rewarding for the work? Are real artists losing out?
What are your thoughts on works created by AI?
Museums
I love museums.
My friends and family get bored easily when I drag them around yet another museum or art gallery. But I love them. They transport me back in time into history. They bring what I have read in books alive. I can see the objects, clothes, furniture, and rooms from different periods, cultures, and countries.
I can get lost in a museum. The bigger the better. I’ve spent many hours in the British Museum and The Louvre. I’ve stood beneath objects so big in the Cairo museum, and stared at the small Mona Lisa as tourists walk by, snap a pic, then keep on walking. Did they really see it or did their phone see it for them?
I’ve been in museums in the Americas, Australasia, Africa, and Europe. I’ve been invited into archives and restoration rooms, been to early screenings, grand openings, and closings.
I love museums.
Distances as a kid
When looking for work distance is something that we generally take into consideration. How far do we have to travel to get there each day? How much is it going to cost in time and money? We consider distance when we consider going shopping, collecting something or someone, holidays, and buying a home; how far is the nearest pub, shops, or public transport?
Yet when we were children distance was something to be conquered. The further the better. When I was twelve I cycled on my single-speed Raleigh Tomahawk all the way to my Grandma’s. Eight adventurous miles through dodgy housing estates, parks, open land, and beside busy roads. My folks thought I was still playing in our street until Grandma called to say I had arrived.
In my early teens I once cycled over thirty miles from a caravan site back home on my own after my mate, who had cycled there with me so we could spend the day with family, suffered a bike accident meaning he and his damaged bike had to be collected and returned home. There wasn’t space for me and my Raleigh Phantom so I decided I’d race them home. They gave me a ten minute head start and I got there twenty minutes after them but it was an exhilarating fast ride back! Not a thought entered my head about how far it was or that I’m having to cycle on my own with no one to talk to. Just the drive to get back as fast as possible, just me and my bike against the world.
Half the fun of travelling is the journey.
Don’t be in a rush to get somewhere.
LAN parties of old
About twenty years ago I started attending LAN parties with a bunch of mates. Over the years we would use these LAN parties as an excuse to catch-up, play some games, eat pizza, and drink beer.
Twenty years later and we are still doing it. Still playing the same old games (running in compatibility mode), still eating pizza and drinking beer.
Should it feel strange at our age? No! You are never too old to reminisce over a retro game or two with friends.