30DISC – What happened?

So it’s been a very long time since the last post in this series, and I’ve had a few emails asking what happened. I think everyone who was following along are owed an explanation of why the radio silence, and more importantly, what the future of the series is.

What Happened?

Essentially it was a confluence of circumstances which lead to first a delay, and then an eventual postponement of the project. The three major factors were:

  • The Good – the business won a major contract which lead to their expansion into a new overseas market. The downside to this as far as this project was concerned was that it meant that Juan was not in Australia for about 6 weeks, and then every alternate week for the past 8 months.
  • The Bad – Priscilla was diagnosed with a serious medical condition in April this year and has been focusing her time and energy on her treatment and I’m pleased to report, her recovery. She has only just recently gone back to work full time.
  • The Worst – unfortunately Juan and Diana have decided to, in the words of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, “consciously uncouple”. Having come to know both of them quite well during this project this news came with both shock and sadness.

The Future?

I’m pleased to report that Juan is now back in the country for the foreseeable future, and Priscilla is keen to get back into the project, having spent a lot of time on social media over the past year and not enjoying much of it at all. So then, where to begin? After discussing it with Juan and Priscilla, we have agreed that we’d do a “weigh-in” to see how much of the Challenge has stuck with them over the past 10 months. After that we’ll pick up where we left off, on Day 21.

So stay tuned, we’ll be back next week with the results of the “weigh-in” and regular updates should follow from then on.

Previous Days Here:
Day 0 – Introduction to the Team
Day 1 – Installing Operating System and Application Updates
Day 2 – Set Up A Standard User Account
Day 3 – Review Privacy Settings
Day 4 – Setup Private & Secure Email
Days 5&6 – Weekend Project #1
Day 7 – Install a Password Manager
Day 8 – Change Your Passwords
Day 9 – Browser Security
Day 10 – Firefox Security Add-ons
Day 11 – NoScript Security Suite
Days 12&13 – WiFi Security Checkup
Day 14 – Virtual Private Network
Day 15 – Two Factor Authentication
Day 16 – Smartphone Security I
Day 17 – Smartphone Security II
Day 18 – Secure Messaging
Days 19&20 – Encrypting Your Data

Written by Geoffrey