Smart FOX IT

End of Smart FOX IT?

2010-11-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

The phone are lines closed down.

The web site has been redirected to sysadminday.co.uk

Is it

the end

of the

line for

Smart FOX IT?....

Well no.

First some history about Smart FOX IT Ltd

I started CBM - Computerised Business Management in October of 1997 with my father.

It was a small business but by 2007 we ran our own hosting, ISP, and online shop.

I was only working 2 days a week and doing volunteering the rest of the time.

In 10 years we had covered many aspects of IT but hadn't really grown.

My father and I had always complimented each other, but I needed to go in my own direction.

In 2007 we decided to part ways.

I kept the name and a 1 day a week customer and my father kept his customers.

On January 2008 Computerised Business Management Ltd was born.

I made many mistakes.

This wasn't the first company that I had been involved in.

At 21 I was a Technical Director

A year later I became a Managing Director of a short lived company.

Now at 29 I finally had my own company - my own chance to win or loose everything

By April my wife and I decided that we should change the company's name.

So Computerised Business Management Ltd became Smart FOX IT Ltd

I did well with a company that I had only started with 3000 pounds (This was my tax money for the next year).

In October of 2008 it was decided that a Global monetary crisis was due.

I really wanted to continue my voluntary work but by December of 2008 it had become impossible.

I had lost my 1 day a week contract. There was nothing to replace it.

In June of 2009 we had to leave our flat.

This was partly due to lack of money but also because our landlord had to sell the house. (Apparently our flat should't have been allowed)

If we zoom forward to now. November 2010

I am contracting for a large Aerospace Company. I will be closing my hosing server.

Soon all of my ISP customers will have been migrated away.

I love running a company and I have learned a lot over the last 3 years.

So Smart FOX IT Ltd will just be my contracting company (Which I'm doing really well at) and maybe it will rise again.

32,000 hits on sys admin day UK site

2010-08-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

We got quite a few visitors on the Friday of sys admin day.
Hopefully we can keep up the numbers of visitors throughout the year.

Below is the graph of visits to the site for the month of July.

Visitors for July 2010

To make next year even better we ask that you tell as many people as possible to appreciate their sys admin.
Next year will be our 12th year!

Sys Adin Day 2010

2010-07-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Another year and another System Administrator Day has passed.
I have had a good day.
Started work at 8:15 AM and finished at 9:30 PM - so a typical short day then.

At least today I had a pat on the back.

This makes sys admin day worth it.

Admittedly I had to buy some cakes - but I was appreciated.

So to all that forgot that there is a UK sys admin day website - please visit us and make next year even better.

www.sysadminday.co.uk

sys admin day Forum

2010-07-19T17:24:00.001-07:00

We have added forums to the UK sys admin day website.

As we continue to improve the UK sys admin day website we will add more content.

Please help us by contributing content to the website.

Job listing for System Administrators

2010-07-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

I have added a job listing on www.sysadminday.co.uk website.
I want to put a free job listing website up at some point, but I need to know if anyone would use it.
Let me know by commenting here or on the sys admin day UK website.

Book review - Clarkson driven to distraction

2010-05-11T14:42:00.001-07:00

I don't read many books. This is mainly because I don't like paying more than 5 pounds for something that lasts less than a day. When I read I read fast and that makes books expensive. I must admit though that Clarkson driven to distraction has given me a reason to spend 15 pounds and not get upset that I have finished it in 2 days. Only now and again does someone say everything you want to say yourself. He probably disagrees with me driving my 4 litre jeep but not my reasons. It only cost 600 pounds and upsets every one I know. So I give Clarkson driven to distraction 4 stars and look forward to reading more.

Cisco Router stuck in rommon

2010-04-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

OK.
A customer of mine sent a cisco back (1801) because they said it was broken.
What they has done was to repower the router too quickly and it was stuck with a romon 1> prompt.

OK. This could mean that the router has a problem and over the phone the IT guy told me that he couldn't get anything when he tried to telnet in.

The stat light on the front was just flashing at him.

If you have this problem you can just try to type in
confreg 0x2102
and then after hitting enter.
reset
The router should then just boot into its normal mode.

If it doesn't then call someone in.

Your WiFi – On and being exploited (first bloged in 2006)

2010-02-28T04:21:00.000-08:00

Intro.
As I have moved bloggs many times over the years, I sometimes republish old articles.
Here is one from 2006 (I hope it's still a little relevant)

You may have heard of war-driving. It’s a phrase that most people may have heard but don’t think much about.
It may hit the headlines now and again when someone is jailed for using his unsuspecting neighbour’s Wireless network. (What’s that man out in the car doing with his laptop and a Pringles tin?)
That though might not be the way your wireless is used by naughty people in the future.
(I use “naughty people” because I’m sick and tired of people confusing “Hackers” with “Crackers”)
You might not realise this, but when you are not using your wireless network, your computer is still trying to access it.
This means that it shouts out “Hey! Does anyone want to connect to me?”
If no one answers it, it shouts out again and again and, well you get the picture.
This can be a problem if someone (a naughty person again?) wants to create an ad-hoc connection with your Wi-Fi card.
This would be bad enough, but it gets worse.
Your Wi-Fi card may have a flaw (It does have a flaw, but I’m trying to be nice) that could allow someone to do things you don’t want them to.
WiFi makes waves at Blackhat is an interesting article that explains it in a lot more detail.

How to fix it?
When a fix becomes available then apply it. Until then, well forewarned is forearmed.

Free wordpress templates

2010-01-28T15:31:00.000-08:00

Although I'm not using Wordpress at the moment.
There are some free templates listed here
http://www.graphicdesignbay.com/wordpress/40-clean-fresh-and-amazing-free-wordpress-themes.html

Enjoy

SEO work on Gwynns.co.uk

2010-01-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

We are currently working on Seach Engine Optimisation for Gwynns Opticians. It should be optimised for Opticians South Wales

What is a firewall?

2009-12-29T02:31:00.000-08:00

A lot of people use firewalls, but what are they?

Perhaps the word firewall is confusing; this is because a firewall is more like a door than a wall.
As you walk down the street and look at front doors, you will notice that some are strong and others weak.
Some doors just need a kick and they will open.
Others are made of thick UPVC with multiple deadlocks.

This analogy is similar to the different types of firewalls that are on the market.

SOFTWARE FIREWALLS.
In my opinion these should NOT be used as your only defense.
They are very easy to bypass and should only be used as a backup measure.
The reason they are not secure is that if the computer is compromised then the first thing to be attacked is the software firewall.

To illustrate how insecure relying on a software firewall can be;
I have been on computers where Norton Firewall has asked if Zone Alarm can access the internet.
Unfortunately Zone Alarm was not installed on the PC.
Some programs pretend to be software firewalls so that they can gain control of the PC.

I would equate a software firewall to an internal door with a lock.
It stops the casual passerby from looking in, but if someone wanted to break in it wouldn't stop them for very long.

HARDWARE FIREWALLS
There are many types of these.
Some cost only a few pounds and others cost thousands.
Why the difference in cost.
The same reason why front doors range in cost.
The more you pay, the better they are.
I would look at paying about £100.
It seems that the £100 mark is usually a safe bet.
I have listed the things to look out for;

NAT - This allows more than one computer to access internet at once and gives basic protection

SPI - Stateful packet inspection - This looks at the information and does basic checks on it

Blocking ICMP - Stops other computers from seeing that you exist on the internet

DOS Protection - Denial of service - This is not so important, but it might stop someone from knocking you offline

This is only a basic explanation of firewalls, but I hope it helps.

My last piece of advice is this.
A good firewall has to be configured to allow internet services to work. If it just works without much setup then it probably has its settings to low.
A good firewall will shutdown connections to the internet when attacked, a bad firewall will open all connections when attacked.

National Limo Hire

2009-12-24T17:17:00.000-08:00

The website for Knights Limos is now up.
If you want National Limo Hire then their site is a good place to visit.

The idea behind the design is to capture the party atmosphere customers enjoy in the specially designed "Starfleet" limo.

Ferrgle.co.uk

2009-12-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

At the moment I am redirecting www.ferrgle.co.uk to this blog.
It means my old blogs still are not available, but it does give me somewhere to post new ones.

The redirection should be set up by December the 25th.

My thoughts about the HTC Hero.

2009-12-23T15:00:00.001-08:00

I have used the HTC Hero for a few days. So far I am impressed with what I am able to do with it. I have used the iPhone and the Android OS has not let me down yet. There maybe more applications available for the iPhone but there are enough for me on the HTC. My initial thoughts then are very positive and big thumbs up.

Temporary Blog for Smart FOX IT

2009-12-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yes I know that ferrgle.co.uk is down.
I would put it back up, but I need to get hold of my database data.

My webserver was attacked and I needed to setup others. (I actually fell back onto my backup servers)

My twitter feed can be read at http://www.twitter.com/SmartFOXIT