Blog on Lumen IT

Password managers make life easier

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Have you got too many passwords to remember?

You only really need to remember one. Let a password manager remember the others for you. And it’s probably not as complicated as you think, and it’s definitely safer.

What a password manager actually is

Remember those old password books that used to be sold? A password manager is that, but digital and much more secure. It stores all your passwords in one place, locked behind a single (hopefully strong) master password that only you know.

Why your website is slow (and what to actually do about it)

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I hear this a lot. Someone tells me their site feels sluggish. Their host suggested upgrading to a more expensive plan. A developer mentioned a CDN. A friend recommended a caching plugin. But where should they actually invest their time and money.

Most slow websites aren’t slow because of where they’re hosted. They’re slow because of what’s on them. The host is usually the last thing to fix, not the first.

Security and privacy aren't the same thing

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I hear these two words used as if they mean the same thing: security and privacy.

They’re not.

I get why people lump them together, there is overlap. But treating them like synonyms leads you to make wrong conclusions, the wrong trade-offs, use the wrong tools.

I don’t use Google, Microsoft, or Facebook: that’s a privacy choice, not a security one. Their security is excellent. They spend billions on it. I trust them to keep my data safe from hackers.

You're not worth a hacker targeting. Sorry.

Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I hear this a lot.

“I run a small bookshop …”
“I manage a local parish …”
“I’m a freelance designer …”
“I only use my computer for email and Facebook …”

“… there’s nothing here for a hacker. I’m not worth hacking.”

It’s a reasonable thing to think. You don’t have millions of credit cards on file. You don’t have state secrets. I’m afraid it doesn’t matter.

The automated nature of it all

The first problem is that you’re imagining hackers as people. Serious people with plans. Sitting in dark rooms deciding which organisations deserve their time. That does happen. But it’s probably not happening to your small business right now.

You're writing dates wrong

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Let me start with a confession: for years, I wrote dates like most people do. DD/MM/YYYY. It made sense. In the UK, we read left to right, and day first feels natural. Americans write MM/DD/YYYY. I still don’t know why. However, I stopped caring because both ways are wrong.

The format everyone should use

ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD.

2026-05-11

That’s it. Year first, then month, then day. Separated by hyphens. Four digits for the year, two for everything else. No ambiguity. No surprises.

Allow your content to outlive your website

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve helped more than a few organisations rebuild their websites over the years. In almost every case, hours were spent on colours, fonts, layouts and so on. But when the conversation turned to content management, the client would often barely care.

This is perhaps not surprising. When you’re paying for a website, the bit you feel like you’re paying for is the bit everyone sees. The bit only you and your staff see seems far less important.

Are you still running Windows 10?

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In case you weren’t aware, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 10 on 14^th October 2025 . This means any devices that still run Windows 10 are not going to receive any more updates, including security fixes and updates.

If you are still running Windows 10 at this point, it is probably because Windows 11 is not supported on the hardware you have.

What are your options?

Replace everything with new Windows 11 machines

This works. Each computer will probably set you back somewhere in the region of £500 - £1000 for a reasonably spec’d business class computer. Likely more for higher demand applications. For a small business or charity, that is a significant outlay. Particularly if you have more than one to replace. That being said, it is probably the easiest option. There are some changes, but most users who were comfortable using Windows 10 will be able to use Windows 11.