You didn't notice thousands of dollars of unexpected transactions on your bank statements? How rich are you?

That's how I picture Americans - if there's something you don't like, shoot it. ;)

@thanksajdotcom said:

"I understand 2014/2015 doesn't look good, but I was born into a religious cult and this was the period during which I escaped. I am now trying to put my life back together." It seems like a sound idea. Thoughts?

I don't like that. I'd never mention "religious cult" in any job application. I also don't like the term "trying to put my life back together", as that implies your life isn't currently together. It might be true, but surely you want to give the impression that the past is the past and you are now completely over it and perfect?

"Travel and personal development" is better. I'm not convinced by it, but something bland along those lines is definitely the right approach IMV.

Came across this shop whilst on holiday in Shropshire earlier this week and thought of this thread:

@ajstringham said:

I had watched his house for him while he was out-of-state

QA=Quality Assurance

I still can't believe how much you slag off your employer on a public forum (and on your blog). I think it's only a matter of time before you get caught and fired.

Dear Carnival Boy

I've used up all of my 5GB iCloud storage. My phone is full of work photos that I need backing up. Please resolve.

Regards

A. User

AFAIK, there is no corporate iCloud option, is there? So my options are:

1. Logon on to his iCloud account and use a company credit card to buy an annual iCloud plan for his personal use.
2. Get him to do it, using his own credit card, and reclaim on expenses.
3. Use an alternative backup system.

On my own phone, I've tried using OneDrive to backup my photos. It started ok. Then hung. Now the app just crashes everytime I open it. Par for the course, with Microsoft apps. I need something reliable, that works in the background.

I'm thinking about using Google Drive. Any good?

The problem is, iCloud is very good. It's reliable and I like the fact that when their phone breaks, I can just restore from iCloud onto their new device and they're away.

Advice please.

A member of my IT tech support team is moving to another part of the country. Rather than losing him, I'm hoping to let him work remotely, with the occasional on-site visit if required (maybe once or twice a month).

Although my company has lots of home and remote workers already, this is the first time I'll have managed one. Do you have any tips on how to make the arrangement as productive and pleasant as possible, in terms of how to manage him, what tools to use to communicate with him (eg slack), and how to keep him motivated and feeling part of the team. I know a number of you work from home, and some of you manage staff remotely (eg @Minion-Queen )

I'm looking forward to it as it'll give us a chance to really utilise a few online tools like Slack, Trello etc etc that are currently under-used because the team is sitting directly opposite each other and so often finds it easier to just open their mouths and talk.

@scottalanmiller said:

People ask me before using them and they don't even need to do that because I license them for certain use.

< considers where to post picture of @scottalanmiller in his pink, fluffy unicorn costume >

One thing I would like to do is have 6 weeks summer holiday when my kids are off and go travelling. But my company doesn't really like anyone taking more than 2 weeks off in a row, and we only have 5 weeks in total for the year.

When I was a kid, my dad was a University lecturer, so had 2 months over summer, and we'd travel round Europe for 4 or 5 weeks every year. Time of my life. Although he seemed to find both the cost and his annoying kids fairly stressful at times....

I think just blaming IT departments is harsh. I know from back when I was running IT departments that there is constant pushback from users whenever security was tightened or new policies rolled out and it is critical to make clear that security is something being pushed from the very top and not from IT. In many companies, senior executives will actively undermine IT when it comes to security - that shouldn't happen.

It's important that when a senior executive moans to the CEO that IT are making his or her life difficult the reaction is "suck it up" and not "I'll have a word and see what I can do to make you an exception".

There were little things that I did like when a memo went out on a new policy I made it sure it came from the CFO and not from IT so (a) people took it seriously and (b) IT didn't get the pushback from necessary but unpopular polices.

There needs to be a culture of "IT are making your data safe" and not "IT are making your life difficult".

I've always found the concept of computers telling me what the weather currently is when I can simply look out of the window really wierd.

The other weird thing is still having weather reports on TV during news programmes. Who doesn't just look up the weather on their phone these days? Who wants to watch a weatherman standing in front of a green screen with a map of the country displayed? Maybe it's more relevant in the US where you have extreme and dangerous weather, but here in the UK we're basically getting told whether there is going to be a bit of light rain later or some snow on the very top of a mountain in Scotland, several hundred miles away from where I actually live.

All I ever really need to know is, I'm walking to a bar soon, do I need to take a coat in case it rains when I walk home?

@pmoncho said in I can't even:

From a marketing perspective, my issue with the email is the perceived bonus you get for having an UNLIMITED account (I have one too). We are not getting any bonus for free, its included in the word Unlimited, at least according to the Oxford Dictionary.

What does the Oxford Dictionary say? The word unlimited doesn't imply anything regarding audio quality.

@dashrender like I asked before, what are they supposed to do?

I want links in e-mails from my subscription providers. I don't want to have to navigate around the portal trying to find something just because some people don't like links.

How is it clickbait? Amazon HD music (CD quality audio) used to be about $5 extra for subscribers, they've now made it free. This is a good thing if you're an audiophile and surely Amazon customers will appreciate getting a heads-up?

It's a sign of healthy competition in the music streaming industry with Amazon, Tidal, Apple, Google and Spotify at each others throats.

What are they supposed to do?

@jaredbusch What's the issue? I don't get it.

@scottalanmiller Nice. Have fun.

@scottalanmiller where are you moving to?

I'm no expert but "Ergonomic Keyboard" has always seems a bit gimmicky to me. Is there genuine science behind the designs? There probably is.

I think the most important thing is to use a wrist rest to lift her wrists higher up. If she hasn't got one already, I'd just get one of those initially.

Again, I'm no expert, but I wonder if wrist pain can be caused by general desk posture - does having the right chair at the right height have an impact? Is she taking sufficient breaks. Or is she hunched over in a bad posture typing away for hours at a time?

I dunno, I just wonder if these ergonomic keyboard were designed by health professionals or marketing teams.

But I'm a big fan of gel wrist rests. They're also great for whacking people over the head.