Revolutionary Information: September 2018

Staying Connected During a Power Cut

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about the 2015 Chennai floods, when I kept online by running my broadband from my MacBook Pro as a hotspot and then shut my office laptop at 30% battery, only to regret it later. I have rewritten it into a guide to staying connected during a power cut, including where I went wrong.

With no electricity, I connected the modem's cable directly to my MacBook Pro, then turned the Mac into a hotspot for my phone and office laptop. I spent the day on social media and YouTube while showing myself as working. By around 4pm, with the rain still heavy, I told my team lead the power had been out a long time and I would not be available, and I closed the office laptop with about 30% battery left. Only later did I realise how valuable that 30% was.

Can you keep broadband running in a power cut?

Only if the whole chain has power: the modem or ONT, the router and, for fibre and cable, the equipment in the street. A small UPS for the router keeps home Wi-Fi alive for a few hours, but during a citywide outage the network itself may go down. Mobile data is usually the more reliable fallback until towers lose power too.

What is the best way to share a connection?

Use the phone as the hotspot: phones use far less power than laptops.
Connect only what you need: each device drains the hotspot faster.
Avoid video: it uses the most data and battery.
Keep one device fully charged and switched off: as a reserve.

Should you tell your manager you are unavailable?

Yes, and honestly. In a real outage, saying so early is the right thing to do, and managers understand. Presenting leisure time as work, as I did that day, is not something I would recommend; it wastes the battery and the trust you may need later.

What would I do differently now?

Keep the office laptop's charge for work that matters, use the phone for news and messages, and treat every percentage point of battery as something to save, not spend.

Keep reading

How to Calculate a Salary Hike Correctly

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about working out my hike percentage from my revision letter, then learning that colleagues had similar or much larger hikes. I have rewritten it into a guide to calculating a salary hike correctly and dealing with comparisons.

As soon as I downloaded my revision letter, I opened the Mac calculator and tried rough numbers, starting low so I would not be disappointed, until I reached what looked like a middling hike. At the office nobody mentioned hikes for a few hours. Then a colleague asked about mine. I gave him a figure slightly below my own and asked about his, and was surprised that his was almost the same. I told myself he must have had a better rating than me.

How do you calculate a hike correctly?

Use fixed pay: new fixed annual pay minus old fixed annual pay, divided by old fixed pay.
Treat variable pay separately: it depends on targets and is not guaranteed.
Check the effective date: a backdated revision changes what you receive this year.
Look at take-home pay: after tax and deductions, on the first new payslip.

Why do colleagues' hikes differ from yours?

Ratings are one factor. Others include where you sit in your salary band, market rates for your skills, retention risk and budget differences between units. Two people with the same rating can get very different hikes for reasons neither can see.

Should you discuss hikes with colleagues?

Many employers ask staff to keep pay confidential. Sharing numbers often causes more upset than insight, especially when the figures are rounded or, as I did, understated. If you want context, market salary surveys are more reliable than office conversations.

What should you do if you feel underpaid?

Collect evidence: your rating, your achievements and market data for your role. Ask your manager how the hike was decided and what would change it. That conversation is more useful than comparing numbers in the corridor.

What did I learn from checking my own numbers?

That a quick calculation done in a hurry can be wrong in either direction. Take the letter home, work it out once with the correct figures, and only then decide how you feel about it.