Recently in personal Category

I've just learned that a quiet pillar in the security community has suffered a massive stroke while attending Hacker Halted and remains in a coma. I first met Brad at Black Hat in 2009, where we immediately got to talking about Montana, his beloved home state, and a place I was proudly able to call "home" for a while. He immediately invited me to participate in his own conference, CIScon, up in Helena, which I immediately agreed to do. He's a good dude who "got it" and was doing everything he could to help others, too. Much of his efforts were employed on a shoestring budget, whether it be providing first aid support to hacker cons, working with various orgs in the Northern Rockies to better secure their environments, or providing top-notch training opportunities and speakers to his local security community.

Please join me in sending positive thoughts, energy, prayers, or whatever your belief system may condone toward his full and speedy recovery. I also encourage you to join me in donating to the fund that Social-Engineer.org has setup to help defray out-of-pocket expenses.

Donate here: http://www.social-engineer.org/bradsmithdonation/

I was cleaning out some old boxes of "stuff" from days gone by and ran into a hard copy of a presentation that I delivered as part of the interview process at CERT/SEI in Pittsburgh back in 1998. At the time, I had been very hopeful to get a job at CERT as they were doing security work that I simply wasn't seeing in the private sector (at least, not in the Midwest). Alas, it didn't work out, but I digress...

What jumped out at me about this presentation is that, in 12+ years, nothing has changed! The same arguments I made back then about needing to be proactive with security, working to integrate it into all aspects of the business in order to make it implicit and inherent are still true today. Perhaps the most interesting bullet in those slides for me was one where I asked "why aren't we teaching calculus and computer science in elementary schools?" I don't think my audience grokked the question back then, and I'd be surprised if people would even get it today.

We just spent a bit over 24 hours in the hospital, the kiddo having come down with a bad case of the croup (complete with stridor). The last time I was overnight in the hospital was also for this kiddo, though for slightly more joyous reasons (aka "birth"), but I digress. When one spends a night in the hospital - particularly one for which you've not planned - it puts you in a position to rely on the hospital staff and facility much more to ensure that your needs are adequately met. Here are some random thoughts from the fray of this latest experience...

btw, the care we received was very good, and so this shouldn't be seen as negative or griping, just observations of various things... the contrast between quality of care and quality of environment were, perhaps, what I found so interesting here...

I'm extremely ticked off tonight, partly at myself, partly at my school, and just overall in general. I've been training in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (Brazilian JJ, generically) since October 2008 - so, less than a year, not a whole long time. I'm a white belt. Some day I would like to earn a belt of color, but for now I'm the level I should be.

So why am I upset? Well, a few reasons. First, I got hurt tonight, doing a move the wrong way, but because I didn't know any better. Second, I'm tired of guys from other martial arts coming in and not training or playing "nicely." Third, I don't feel like I'm progressing at all after a night like tonight, which makes me question why I bother. And, fourth, as per usual, I just can't keep my mouth shut sometimes and it just embarrasses the heck out of me.

Through various conversations and interactions it's come to my attention that I've never really properly introduced myself. By now, if you've read this blog at all, you've probably come to realize that I'm rarely challenged for words. So, forgive this indulgence while I delve into a little bit about who am I, where I've come from, what I've been doing, and so on. In so doing, I hope to give you a glimpse of who I am without providing detailed enough answers that would allow you to bypass passwords on all of my various accounts. :)

Based on Anton's recommendation, I picked up a copy of Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. That Anton found it interesting and useful told me that I would probably also appreciate it. My assumption has been proved correct.

Knowing one's strengths and weaknesses is very important, whether it be in competition or personal life or professional life. For me, I know that one of my weaknesses is tending to be somewhat negative, cynical, and sarcastic. This trait, when combined with my tendency toward incessant questioning, can be terribly off-putting. It also, however, can make it difficult for me to see my own strengths. As a good friend of mine has pointed out on numerous equations, life is generally pretty good, if only I'd look at it that way.

In case you blinked and missed it, I've not been super-active lately. This is because I've just moved from the DC metro area (NoVA) to Phoenix, AZ. This was a lengthy process in order to coordinate with my wife and her job, as well as our kiddo. So, suffice to say, I'm exhausted AND surrounded by boxes. :)

In related news, now that I'm settling into AZ, it's time to leave! :) Yep, Friday night I fly out to San Fran to start pre-RSA meetings, followed by RSA itself (of course). Hope to see you there!

This is a personal note. You've undoubtedly heard about the flooding in Fargo, ND. We're talking water levels of unprecedented proportions, blowing through the previous record (from 1997) last night. They've raised the crest estimate numerous times, with it now in the 42-43' range. If you live anywhere near ND or MN and can get away, I urge you to do so - folks need help.

If you can't make the trip, but would like to help another way, please visit the web site for the Minn-Kota Red Cross

My parents were under mandatory evacuation last night. If the river reaches 42' (previously thought nearly impossible), the water will reach the main level of their house. With the evacuation, they're not able to monitor their basement, so if the power goes out, they're sunk (water table will rise and flood the basement), or if their sump pump dies, their sunk. Not good.

Track current river levels on the NDSU Fargo Flood page.

For news, road closures, and general coverage of the event, see the Valley Flood Watch site, or visit the local newspaper, the Fargo Forum.

A live web cam is available from the Forum at http://www.inforum.com/pages/floodcam - be advised, however, that it has been up and down a lot.

I wish that I could be there to help out. Unfortunately, I'm on the verge of a cross-country move, with the movers coming Mon/Tues next week. It's very frustrating not being able to do anything to help my own parents!

Just a brief note... I was on travel a good chunk of last week, combined with having a newborn in the house and several deliverables due last week, leaving me no time to blog. I have a couple topics lined up, just need an hour to research and write. I realized last week that I never posted an August goals summary. At this point, I think I'll just wait until October first to post a joint August/September retrospective. There's just something about having a newborn in the house that seems to absorb all of one's time. More to come!

Well, goodness, July sure got away from my quickly, and here it is already the 10th of August. Where does the time go? Here on baby watch, Hanna sits 3cm dilated for going on a couple weeks, and we're just wonder WHEN will the little girl emerge? *sigh* It's all about timing! In all honesty, though, the past month went fairly well, and we're now in pretty good position this month for the pending delivery and all the fun that will ensue in the aftermath.

Overall, I think July was a good month, though frankly it went so quickly I can't remember all the details. July 4th was a lot of fun out at Jill's and a good way to start the month. I had a couple work-related trips that were productive, and things have in generally been bopping right along. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the month was getting the baby's room all setup, despite that going against our "no new debt" pledge. Oh, well. More below...