New job update

[iris lilies]

Ransomeware attack at work. Shipping/customs clearance software down. We have email and internet at least. Had to contact Customs to tell them we are unable to authorize duty payments. There is a daily statement. Duties have to be authorized for payment within 2 business days. Otherwise, they’re late and you’ll get a fine. We may be back up Friday. Hopefully if we’re unable to pay today’s by Friday, Customs will work with us rather than issuing fines. I’m sure this has happened with other brokers and they have policies in place. We were proactive and noticed them as soon as we found out this morning.

ack!!!!

[jp1]

Ransomeware attack at work. Shipping/customs clearance software down. We have email and internet at least. Had to contact Customs to tell them we are unable to authorize duty payments. There is a daily statement. Duties have to be authorized for payment within 2 business days. Otherwise, they’re late and you’ll get a fine. We may be back up Friday. Hopefully if we’re unable to pay today’s by Friday, Customs will work with us rather than issuing fines. I’m sure this has happened with other brokers and they have policies in place. We were proactive and notified them as soon as we found out this morning.

Awww dang. That sucks. I hope your company isn’t one of my insureds. 😜

[Tradd]

Work was so boring today. They actually said they didn’t want us on our phones all day but there was precious little to do without having the system to work on. I was on my phone though spacing what stuff I had out.

[Tradd]

We’re sorta back up. Someone clicked on an email they shouldn’t have.

[iris lilies]

My public library system was brought to its knees by ransomware about 2016 or 2017. I was retired by then, thank god. They didn’t pay money. The malware got into the IT system through a very old piece of software running something connected to …I don’t know. But it was an minor opportunistic hole in the entire system.

That system shutdown caused many ramifications, including wiping out old customized code for my department that generated labels for books. It was something I had wanted to be rid of for a long time, but the output was deemed completely necessary by others. So, when that software went kaput, the customized product was no longer around and the library moved to the modern age in this specific thing. Surprise! They WERE able to function after all without that custom code.

[Tradd]

Everything is pretty much back up and running. Everything I had on my computer desktop is gone. At least I had out all my how tos I created in a folder of my own on the public drive that gets backed up. Several people are now following my lead.

[Tradd]

I’ve been spending a lot of time at work lately wrangling with FDA on food imports. One customer brings in oodles of reefers filled with various kinds of frozen food from India. One fruit item has had an FDA import alert for salmonella contamination from the same manufacturer for maybe 5-6 years. Every time this product comes in, it has to be sampled and tested for salmonella by a private lab at the importer’s expense. Maybe $500 for each set of tests. Once you notify FDA you’re going to test, you get an extension of the time required to respond to FDA, 4-6 weeks extra depending on FDA inspector. So response date is yesterday for the frozen fruit. Importer arranged their own testing. I’ve been trying to get a hold of importer for three weeks to get testing update. Crickets. He was ignoring email and voice mail. I left him a voice mail yesterday asking if he wanted his fruit refused by FDA (which means you have to destroy or reexport it). Got a call back damn quick. Turns out the lab he contracted with had never even collected the samples for testing. The groveling email he sent to FDA asking for another extension was very amusing.

[linacapeola]

That is really interesting.

[linacapeola]

A software design document is a valuable tool https://mlsdev.com/services/mobile-app-development. This document sets expectations for the project. Moreover, it is a great way to avoid reworking and modifying software projects. Often, the documents are a single source of truth and should be referred to constantly. Its goal is to improve the quality of the software developed. Its documentation is crucial for the success of a software. This is why it is so important to have a design.

[herbgeek]

A software design document is a valuable tool https://mlsdev.com/services/mobile-app-development. This document sets expectations for the project. Moreover, it is a great way to avoid reworking and modifying software projects. Often, the documents are a single source of truth and should be referred to constantly. Its goal is to improve the quality of the software developed. Its documentation is crucial for the success of a software. This is why it is so important to have a design.

This sounds like software development in the 80's and early 90's where the goal was compliance to specification. No matter that the market changed, or customers changed their minds, we are working per the original document and avoiding all change. Been there, done that. Two to three years developing this monolith, meanwhile more agile vendors are responding to changes in the market, while we ship this expensive product that no one wants.

Iterative development, with frequent customer feedback, is much more effective with less resulting "shelfware" ie software that meets the document, but isn't what the market wants. Change is a given (and wanted). Newer methodologies embrace change and reduce the friction of change.