Randomalia (56/365)

[white_hart]

Today involved two and a half hours of interviews, plus five other meetings. I was basically in Teams meetings solidly from 9:30 to 12:30 and then again from 1:30 to 5:15, apart from a half-hour window at 3:30. During which I ate cake and tried to make some headway with the two "really sorry this is such short notice, but do you have time to comment on this today?" emails that had popped into my inbox. (Yes, I could have said "no, I don't have time", but that would have meant (a) losing the chance to feed in to a process that will have a significant impact on me and my team and (b) risking the head of department sending inaccurate information in her termly newsletter.)

It also appears that I now count as senior enough staff that someone has set up a random gmail account with the display name set as my name to send spearphishing emails to people I work with. It felt a bit ridiculous and overly self-important sending an email to the entire Faculty mailing list warning them about this (and giving some more general guidance about spearphishing), but people *do* actually read my emails so it's probably worth warning them.

I had also spotted (thanks to nineveh_uk posting about the same thing a few weeks ago) that my driving licence had expired in December, and finally got around to doing the online renewal at the weekend. The new licence arrived today, with the same photo as the old one (so why do the photocards expire after 10 years, anyway?) and a big Brexity Union Jack instead of the old EU flag. Ugh. It's enough to make me never want to drive again.

Comments

[caulkhead]

The photo on my driving licence is, by some measure, the worst photo of me ever taken. I look grumpy and dumpy and generally like a Queen Victoria impersonator having a bad day. But I want the Brexity Union Jack version even less.

[white_hart]

The Brexity Union Jack was not a welcome surprise.

[hilarita]

OK, that just makes me quite glad that my photo driving licence doesn't expire until 2027.

And gosh that they're trying to spearphish using your name. We've only had that for the HoD.

[white_hart]

The HoD has had a couple, and actually there was one purporting to be from me a few years ago too. Presumably because my name is on the website.

[callmemadam]

Even though I've renewed my licence twice, it still shows the photo used when photo licences first came in. It looks nothing like me!

[white_hart]

They never do even when they've just been taken!

[antisoppist]

I renewed mine following nineveh_uk's revelation that one needed to do this only I followed the instructions for "change your address", which I also needed to do and then it asked if I wanted to renew my licence as it only had 3 months left on it, and then it said did I want to use the photo on my passport so I gave it all those details and my new licence came back with my passport photo on it. And a bloody Union Jack.

[white_hart]

I think mine has used the photo on my passport, but the photo I used when I last renewed my passport was another one of the batch I got done for the last driving licence!

[danieldwilliam]

There's been a marked increase in online scams including spear phishing during lockdown.

It took about a week for the new CEO's name to be co-opted.

I used to have a good chuckle about the old CEO whenever I got an email from "him" as they invariably claimed he was away from his desk and couldn't get to the phone. He sat next to me.

[white_hart]

Yes, we've seen an increase too.

[swingandswirl]

Oh, ew, I'm sorry, both about the EU and the phishing thing. Although the latter is at least sort of funny in a weird way?

[white_hart]

It is kind of funny, and the person it was sent to did spot it right away.