View from the Hill

Roman Road Closed 9-13 August 2010

2010-08-09T01:41:00.000-07:00

Roman Road will be closed for resurfacing during the period from Monday, 9 August 2010 to Friday, 13 August 2010 inclusive. However, access to premises in the road will be possible.

Tools that we use

2010-06-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

Many customers ask about the tools we use, particularly for making the short, 'custom' training/awareness videos that we create. The main tool we employ is Camtasia Studio from Techsmith. We also frequently use Techsmith's SnagIt screen capture utility which has the extremely useful ability to capture an image that is larger than the visible screen. It does this through automatic scrolling and capturing additional parts of the image as they are uncovered.

We add voice-overs to presentations and product demos using several microphones, but mostly the Microsoft Lifechat LX-3000 headset. Although quite inexpensive, this product gives good results in the majority of cases.

Glasgow City Council - Business Training Support - Skills & Business Growth 2010 - 2013

2010-05-20T03:33:00.000-07:00

Today, Glasgow City Council has formally launched its programme to assist small and medium-sized private enterprises in the city get training support. Up to 50% of training costs can be available to organizations seeking to, for example, get the assistance needed to comply with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or ISO 27001. As one of the City Council's registered trainers, Hillside Software is able to deliver assistance under this scheme. More details can be found on the Glasgow City Council website.

Critical Spares Lists

2010-04-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

One result of the recent disruption of European air traffic by air-borne volcanic ash has been to reduce slightly the flow of electronic goods from the Far East and North America. As the eruptions of the Icelandic volcano decline but show little sign of ceasing completely, it has to be assumed that further interruptions to air traffic could occur from time to time. Organizations that maintain a Critical Spares List for key IT and communications equipment may find it useful to review likely lead times for items and consider increasing holdings of parts that can be difficult to acquire at short notice.

Secure USB Flash Memory Devices

2010-04-20T03:02:00.000-07:00

Following a recent survey of available USB flash-memory storage devices (colloquially known as ‘USB sticks’ or ‘USB memory sticks’) we’ve decided to adopt the SafeStick device from BlockMaster AB as our preferred portable backup device. This is issued to laptop users who may be out of the office for extended periods in remote locations where it may not be possible, or may be highly impractical, to make a VPN connection to the company’s network to backup files. The main features of the SafeStick that make it attractive are:

All information on the device is forced to be encrypted and protected by a passphrase. It is not possible for the user to establish an unprotected or unencrypted partition.
Encryption is managed by an AES-256 hardware ‘module’ embedded within the device itself and this ‘module’ has been independently tested.
The passphrase for accessing the device is forced to be ’strong’.
The device can effectively cause its contents to ’self-destruct’ if it is subjected to a ‘brute force’ attack.
No software needs to be pre-loaded or installed onto the host computer.

The use of SafeStick, together with deploying Whole Disk Encryption on our laptop hard drives, means that we can be confident that data on our portable media will remain confidential if the devices are lost or stolen.

Currently the SafeStick is significantly more expensive than traditional USB ‘memory sticks’. However, we feel that the peace of mind that it brings to corporate users is worth it.

Within the UK, the main distributor is Softek, and the device is also available from retailers including eXpansys.

ICO Gets Enhanced Powers

2010-04-20T02:32:00.000-07:00

On 6 April 2010 the UK's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) was given enhanced powers to fine organizations up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act. The previous maximum fine was £5,000. Fines can be imposed for deliberately or negligently breaching the rules regarding the confidentiality of personal data.