Who needs an office?

Some of you may be aware that I practice my trade in the hellhole and perpetual warzone that is Johannesburg where life is cheap and an AK47 even cheaper. (it aint that bad but I have an image to keep up)

Well at present I am on something of a European tour. These happen every year or two and typically take the form of me searching out clients friends or family members whose hospitality I can abuse.

In the absence of a decent sized lottery win or Selma Hayek finally realizing that I am indeed the man for her I find myself having to work.

A handful of SIM cards from different countries. A 3G modem, two cell phones, Skype, a laptop online data storage, online fax details and back up in the form South Africa’s 2nd best investigative genius who I have the pleasure of calling a colleague and a gang of associates that make life easy means the office is wherever I lay my hat.

A landline number diverts to Skype that diverts to which ever mobile I’m using means the phone is connected 24/7.

I hardly ever get post but when I do it can be scanned and uploaded. Printing can be an issue from time to time but most people have a printer at home or in the office, even the technophobe that I call Dad.

It is due to the above that the global headquarters of Aclarado Enquiries is currently based in a rucksack of no fixed abode with a temporary satellite office at my Dads kitchen table.

This is why I find myself writing this from the hypothermia inducing emerald colored beautiful home of whiskey Guinness and the fry up. Yes for a limited time only Aclarado Enquiries is based in Ireland.

By the way, don’t be letting those purveyors of untruths base north of Hadrian’s Wall try and tell you that whiskey is a Scottish invention.

So what’s the purpose of this rambling post? To be honest I was wondering whether any one in Costa Rica required the services of a relatively cheap to run PI.

Failing Costa Rica any where with a beach, sun and cheap local hooch would be an eminently satisfactory second choice. It’s damned cold here!

A Personal Experience Regarding Password Security. Doh!

“Yeah yeah yeah” you say. “We all know that you should have a password containing lower and upper case letters, numbers and symbols”.

Now who actually practices such principles in day to day life? Well I do. Which is precisely why I have not written on this blog since June 10 2009.

I… er, well you see… What happened was… Look I forgot the password ok!

All my passwords are variations of the same theme. A word or two word from a story about an ancient African King, part of a telephone number from youth, @’s in stead of O’s, 1’s instead of I’s and #’s instead of H’s. I do the same with webmail addresses that I do not want spammed.

Now you may all be there saying that putting my password formula out in the public domain is a massive breach of security. In response I ask you, if I cannot decipher my passwords how the hell will anyone else!

So how did I remember this one after a year and a half? Sitting at the kitchen table I had to think up a password for something and thought up one that would do the job. I then thought to myself “I’m sure I have used that one before”. I had and this dear reader is why the “You want what? YOU WANT IT WHEN? Blog is back on line!

A lot has happened over the last eighteen months so I’ll catch up on some of it, tell you about some current stuff, babble about the unimportant, rant about what gets me irate and empty the thoughts of an unusual mind for the delectation, discussion and hopefully amusement of others.

Well that’s all for now folks!