If you’ve ever been the victim of a website hacker, you’ll know first-hand how devastating it can be to a business owner. On Tuesday my site was hacked into by, apparently, an Indonesian woman who does this for fun. This insidious violation took place while I was chatting away quite happily on Twitter, oblivious to the fact that my lovingly built website was crashing down behind my laptop screen.
I’m sure it wasn’t this lovely lady, but maybe she knows her?
I imagine her sitting cross legged in her village in the shadow of the Borobudur Temple, this woman, tap tapping away and laughing her Cruella laugh as she ravages yet another small business. Or maybe she causes misery and costly clean-up exercises to countless innocent victims from the sophisticated Skye Bar on the 56th floor of Jakarta’s landmark Menara Building, sipping her Mai Tai and nibbling olives or tofu fingers or whatever it is she’s likely to be nibbling. I’ll never know; I need to stop caring about it.
This disaster came to light because Dieneke posted an article about my social media training on Hidden Art’s website, and the links failed. Hidden Art is amazing resource for British designers, providing a virtual hub of activity for creative people to promote and distribute their work. I’m pleased to say that my link is now intact, along with my sanity. Huge thanks to the helpful and lovely web designers who contacted me with advice and suggestions following my panicked tweet, and to my webhosts, who spent five hours cleaning up Miss Indonesia’s mess.
Tuesday was quite a day for design! Whilst my hacking drama played itself out, I spent the evening at an exhibition of furniture designers. Norman Speller, the creator of beautifully hand crafted furniture, invited us to a private viewing of the most intricate and tasteful pieces at a Tardis-like gallery in Islington. I drowned my sorrows with red wine, then celebrated with more of it when I discovered my web site was restored!
As you may already know, I’m not a modern girl. My range oven and cluttered dresser leave little room for chrome in my kitchen. Although weirdly I do love – and often retweet – photos of post-modernist properties and futuristic landscapes; must be the Trekkie in me! Anyway, the exhibition housed an eclectic array of bespoke designs created from finely honed wood paneling, marquetry and brushed steel. And, I must admit, there were a few pieces that I’d love to make room for.
And so starts another design-orientated week with Britain’s most talented at the London Fashion Week catwalk shows – and probably more red wine! I wasn’t lucky enough to catch Kraftwerk at the Tate this week, although one of my Twitter friends did and the photos looked amazing. So this one’s for you, and thanks for your help this week. She’s a model and she’s looking good, I’d like to take her home that’s understood. She plays hard to get, she smiles from time to time – it only takes a camera to change her mind.
If you haven’t booked your place on my Social Media for Small Business training day, there’s time to change your mind too! (And a few more days to take advantage of the last couple of early bird places.) Hope to see you there. Or here: @WeekendWitch.
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