Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have spotted that I’ve recently become disheartened by Mozy.

Until very recently they’ve been a service I’ve been happy to recommend to anyone – whether the free 2Gb account (with extra ¼Gb for every four users you sign up by an affiliate link) or indeed the unlimited $4.95pm account.

However several technical support queries have made me re-evaluate my stance. To the point where I’ve “restored” almost 12Gb of data and I’m seriously considering switching to a competitor.

To me, a service is good so long as you don’t have issues – but when you do you want that issue to be treated with respect, courtesy and in the case of a technical query by people that at least appear to be able to read. OK, so not everyone gets it right first time every time. I know that. I too work in support.

However, I at least take the time to try and understand the issue with 100% clarity before making assumptions.

I also ensure I’ve fully read any call notes and checked my own in-house FAQ or database for similar or common or known issues.

Additionally I try to make an educated insight as to the users state of mind and their actual problem based on the notes – not on what I think the notes say.

Only then do I contact the client and discuss exactly what it is I think they are saying and check if it’s been lost in translation between them logging the issue and the helpdesk operator transcribing it – well then I take the time to ask pertinent questions.

My latest issue with Mozy is that I clearly stated: “In Mozy and in Windows (and yes, I did tell them several times what my precise OS version is) I have the ‘view hidden files / folders’ turned on but I can’t see a particular folder which is usually hidden by the OS“. Additionally I noted that I could right click from Windows Explorer and use the “add to Mozy Backup” option but that the files / folders selected never showed up in any backup / restore.

So the last thing I expect is for them to teach me to suck eggs and

• tell me how to turn on view hidden files / folders in Windows and
• the same for within Mozy

No, I expect them to have worked that out from my carefully worded support ticket which already included that information and much more besides.

Additionally I don’t expect them to then presume they’ve fixed my fault and close my ticket, twice. If I did that in my job I’d expect the verbal rocket I’m almost certainly going to get.

So today, sadly, I have to say I can no longer recommend Mozy.

If you use them and have no issues – then excellent. If however you end up having issues, then lets hope you are capable of fixing it yourself.

Which is what I ended up doing.

• Do you use Mozy or similar?
• Am I being too harsh?
• Am I being too lenient on them?
• Which cloud backup service do you use?

Come on, have your say as it’s only hearing from customers that make companies sit up and take notice.

We’ve been getting a spate of phone calls at home.

The conversation goes something like this:

Me: Hello

Them: Can I speak with Mr. Smith? (name changed, but it isn’t mine)

Me: I’m sorry Mr. Smith hasn’t lived here since 2003.

Them: Is that Windy Way? (also changed)

Me: I’m not prepared to confirm that ….

We then bat back and forth a bit where they are trying to get some details about my address confirmed and I just stick to my mantra of “Mr. Smith hasn’t lived here since 2003″ and / or “I’m not prepared to confirm that”. At which point they have always got nasty or downright rude and it always ends with me hanging up as they try every tactic they can to get me to confirm something. Typically a day or so goes past before I get another one.

This seemingly innocuous approach to getting details is the old ‘social engineering‘ approach – whereby you use a fact (whether true or not) to gather accurate details of your target. The end game being that your or your company’s security gets compromised in some way.

The whole saga reminded me to have another chat with my children.

I’ve covered online dangers many a time with my children but for some reason had overlooked the more obvious direct approach.

My end advice to them was ultimately very simple:

If you don’t know the person then tell them nothing.

And always refer them to mum or dad.

Turns out our regular caller is a debt collection agency based in Scotland and they are known for their rude strong arm tactics in trying to get information so that they can pin a debt on you.

Reminds me that all the dangers aren’t online and we do well to remember that.

• have you any simple safety advice?
• have you fallen foul of social engineering?
• if so, what was the outcome?

The rainbow is considered a sign of God’s promise or covenant to us.

Today I find it an appropriate reminder of a promise I made 24yrs ago today.

Precisely 24yrs ago my very good lady, Kathryn, and I committed our lives to each other. We made the atypical vow of “till death do us part” and so far we’ve done ok.

Don’t get me wrong – like any relationship it’s had bumps and curve balls – but we’re honouring that promise we each made in an age when promises are easily broken or over looked for something shinier.

I want to publicly thank my wife for the fun, the tears, the laughter, the joy, the sorrow – all of which we’ve endeavoured to share together and use to build and make us better people. To make us a better couple, better parents, better friends.

Thank you babes – I Love You with all of my breath.

I’ve been away for a few days – nine in total.

I had precisely two bits of “tech” with me as I was more than happy to shed the need to connect. In reality, I could have reduced the tech to one – my iphone as it has a GPS built in and thus makes my Garmin surplus. Well not yet it doesn’t – that is not until the battery life improves and the accuracy gets locked down.

But I digress.

In the nine days we were away as a family I seriously used my tech once – and that was the GPS when we did a day of geocaching around Saundersfoot and Caldey Island.

Other than the very rare phone call or text message I checked my emails once a day at the most.

We enjoyed, as a family, getting away from the TV, from the computers, the Nintendo DS, the xbox, the … well you get the picture.

It’s good to detach, de-stress and recharge (oh look, a tech play on words).

Whilst I don’t think we need to go as far as committing Seppukoo it is important that we identify the distinction between real life and online.

Equally it’s important we take time to detach ourselves from the addiction that online life can so easily become.

Don’t get me wrong – there is great value in our online personas and one hopes that the person I meet online is the same as the one I’d meet in real life.

There is great value to be had online and great stores of knowledge to be tapped but let me ask this:

For those of you, like me, who are over 40 – how much did you rely on technology as a child?

My fear is not that we over-utilise the tech or get caught up in it (though that is a genuine concern as a parent) but it’s what being online might be doing to our creative selves.

I refuse to let my two youngest (the same for the eldest but he’s an adult now) ‘play’ with or via tech all the time. I make them ((horrid dad that I am) go outside or build something with lego or play a game with cards or … again, you get the point.

I come across so many young children these days that are listless or agitated or hyper or angry or bored or … and whilst I don’t have any facts to back it up (do you?) I do have a very strong belief that most if not all of this is caused by being too connected.

Or as I’ve seen it said – hyper-connected.

Let me ask you this:

• Are we sometimes too hyper-connected?
• Do we not spend enough time away from technology?
• Have you ever passed up opportunities in real-life due to your online activities?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one so please dive in and comment – especially if you are a first time commenter or vehemently disagree with me.

I’m still wandering through the #31DBBB project that OurChurch.com has running and today’s task is to effectively introduce you to one of my readers.

I can think of nobody better than a fellow blogger – Greg Simmons.

Greg has been a loyal reader and commenter at my site almost since it’s inception.

It may be that he’s also a fellow geek (though he’s a self-confessed one and I’ve been labelled one by friends & family) or that he works in the same industry as myself or any number of reasons.

Also, in a similar vein to me he has served his local church for over 20yrs and most of that in some technical capacity.

It may be that my affinity to Greg is to do with the fact that he’s a fan of coffee and getting away to unique locations rather than re-visiting the same old same old.

Greg is also one of my fellow writers at ChurchTechMatters.com.

Whatever the reasons, Greg has made valid and valuable comments to many of my posts that not only enhance the subject but take it in a direction I hadn’t previously considered.

However, right now I feel it is very appropriate to bring Greg to your attention as he is very shortly going to be heading off on a foreign mission. I’ve been on some of these (and hope to again) so I get some of what he’s feeling and going through.

Right now Greg and the rest of the team are in the less than 10 days to go zone and he even has a countdown on his site showing how long is left. They are off to Romania on June 10th and whilst most of their physical and practical needs are already taken care of they would still value your prayers and any donations you can make.

Here’s a little list:

• That their ‘individual testimonies’ are powerful tools
• That flights and journeys go smoothly and without problems.
• Funding – for individuals and the end aim of the mission trip.
• That all paperwork is in order.
• That God gets the glory.

And I’m sure if you ask Greg he’ll happily add any specific requests.

Greg’s personal website is an eclectic mix of everything from technical thoughts to spiritual challenges to ministry opportunities.

Please allow me to thoroughly recommend Greg and TheBetaVersion.org.

I enjoy using twitter, I really do. More than this I love interacting with folks and hopefully getting to know them a little more. I’ve even managed to make a few friends that I would be happy to call upon directly or them me, if needs be but …

… I confess, I really don’t understand what (if indeed anything) I am doing wrong in my usage of twitter.

I took stock of a recent day’s usage and my twitter day consisted of a few RT’s; a few posts of my own thoughts and close on two dozen (I didn’t count that close so it could be more) responses I made to individuals that were of a helpful nature or in a manner to induce a reply or start a conversation.

Now, I accept folks are busy or have a reason to not reply or even don’t see the @’s but then what are they doing on twitter? Anyway, can you guess how many replied, continued the conversation, thanked or even just acknowledged me?

Well, no, it wasn’t quite zero but one!

One person took the effort to respond.

One person took the time to utilise <140 chars to converse with me.

The most stunning aspect (at least to me) is that the one person that did reply is a well known sportsman (in rugby union) and is a man amongst men. He’s a world famous name and probably revered as a god in his own country (New Zealand) – which not unlike mine is fanatical about their rugby. And what’s more, he took time to chat not just reply once.

I’m honoured – but I am thoroughly baffled and confused as to why nobody else could be bothered.

Am I getting it that wrong?

Am I a twitter fail and should just terminate my account?

Any clues folks?

OK, I confess.

I’ve been a Mac fan for years. In fact I probably worked on / repaired Mac’s before I ever worked on and repaired PC’s. The first I ever worked on was an Apple Macintosh – long before it was shortened to just being a “Mac”.

So what has this to do with the deadly sin of lust?

Simply that I am lusting after a modern one. A Macbook Pro or similar will do nicely. I don’t need one but I do want one though I have a problem in that I can’t afford one.

So I’m turning to you folks to suggest ways I can get one. Should I pimp my services in exchange for cash donations towards my Macbook fund? If so, how should I go about it?

Have you any other ideas as to how I can raise the funds?

Let me ask you a few questions:

• Do you protect your data at home with passwords, encryption, etc?
• Do you use different passwords for different sites?
• Are you seen as the computer expert in your household?

Yes?

Then let me ask you one more question:

• How would your loved ones get to the important and necessary data if you suddenly die?

I know. That sounds brutal. But allow me to explain. (more…)