Just One Of Those Days to BYOD

Ever have one of those days where everything went kind of "wrong"?

When the Jeep needs new U Joints, it sets you off.  It's out of the ordinary so therefore the psychology is set up so that you are then looking for other oddball things to happen.

Perception.  It's a funny thing.

Shrug it off and move on. 

Actually, being someone who is usually an optimist, I find myself looking at all the oddball things that went wrong over the weekend as an opportunity to clear out some chaff and look for new experiences.  I've even contacted one of the companies that I bought stuff from over the internet about "warranty returns".  Too bad the item was next to free it was so cheap, probably have to "eat" that.

These days, you can find Wifi connections at most places you expect to be sitting for a while.  Writing a blog is a fairly mobile task.  You just need something to write with, gather your thoughts and start typing.  Luckily, these days, you can do that on more than just a beast of a box sitting in the corner of a room called a "Desktop" computer.  Laptop, tablet, or phone, it is your choice.

That is the way things are going with life in general.  Since computers became smaller, then more portable, then commonplace, and finally always connected in some cases, you've become expected to have one with you.  In business that is causing a trend.  Where you were expected to sit at your desk and hammer away at what ever it was that you were paid to do, you also were expected to do it well past the "9 to 5". 

Add to that a trend to "Bring Your Own Device" and you're now told you can go home but bring your machine with you.  It's easier for someone to carry their machine with them when it weighs less than 5 pounds than when it was a 20 pound slab of iron bolted to their desks.   Now that you have that freedom, get out of the office and go home to your new office. 

Just make sure you have your comfy chair set up.

It certainly gives you a new approach to things.   The problem is that just because you're sitting at home, it doesn't mean that you are on your home computer.  That psychological wrinkle is giving management and especially IT Management a headache.   The work computer is on the coffee table, so the tendency is to let family members "borrow it" for a quick surf.

Your Significant Other surfs the web, hits a wrong link, and now your machine has a trojan and is serving out spam for a Russian Bot Net.  Your office will love the window to the outside world that that creates while it is serving out all the confidential documents you've been working on like Financial Documents, Social Security and Health information, and the like.

If you have ever wondered how big companies get their email lists and passwords served out to the world, that is just one scenario.

On the other hand, I'll probably be sitting in that large waiting room all morning in a day or three with my trusty laptop going about my usual duties hooked into their public wifi wondering if I'm serving out my own personal documents because someone else bored who is sitting there is trying to see what else they'll find on this 'foreign' network.

I've got this graphics project that is perfect for this kind of situation.  Sitting in a car showroom is usually fairly boring once you get past the tire kicking.  You settle in, put on the headphones to drown out what ever talking head is on the TV you can't escape, and start banging away.

It also gives you something to hide in when the salesmen start wondering if you're ready for a new shiny object in the driveway.

I had a reputation at the Jeep dealer that was nearest to my house back in Pennsylvania.   I'd bring my laptop with a full charge, park myself in a luxury car, recline in the passenger seat and go to town.  They never understood why I didn't find Judge Judy fascinating.  Usually they'll leave you alone if you have on big headphones.   I'll remember to bring my big black noise cancelling "cans" with the tape on the outside to concentrate the bass.  

Yes, duct tape makes the sound better.