Catching Up

2009 was a busy year, both personally and professionally. Since I can't discuss the details of my professional work, I will do my best to fill you in on the rest of what I've been up to.

In the second half of 2009, I stopped blogging so that I could spend that time contributing to a new SANS course, 565 Data Leakage Prevention. The course debuted last month in New Orleans, and will be offered again in Baltimore (June 2010). I had a great time creating a ton of PowerPoint slides and a couple of the labs used in the course. If you are at all concerned about DLP, this course is for you.

2009 was a challenging year for many families, so I ramped-up the number of machines that I refurbish for give-away. Thanks to street-finds and donations from a growing network of friends and colleagues who heard about the work that I perform, I donated about 8 PC's and laptops in 2009 to needy families (all drives were wiped to former DoD standard).

I just began planning my next project, an annual fund-raiser for our church's soup kitchen, so if you're a fan you should be getting an invitation soon.

Bookworm Frolic

Don't miss the upcoming "Bookworm Frolic Used Book Sale" at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society on August 12-15, 2009. I recently hauled a trunkful of very old Mennonite hymnals, texts in German and other historical books. The lot was a donation from the Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, along with a few of my own thrown in for good measure. The load filled the trunk of Frank Shirk's Buick, below, with more boxes lining the back seat:


Photo Credit: Frank Shirk (2009)

Baby Hawks Fledge

Forget the computer, there are baby hawks jumping around in the nest! Check out what I saw today!

My "Hakin9" Magazine Article

I hope you enjoy my article in this month's "Hakin9" magazine, I stopped by the bookstore today and I noticed it on the stand. You can get it at Barnes & Noble or direct from the publisher.

Mennonite Bytes

One of my relatives picked up computing a bit later in life, in her 80's. I remember cobbling together an old CPU from some spare parts I had in my lab and driving it down to Lancaster, PA to get her started.

Recently, she compiled a daily devotional book with a digital theme. Again, I helped her with some of the technical pieces. I think it's a clever way to incorporate some daily words of inspiration into the diet. Only 6-bucks, get yours here:

H@ckers Take Back Their Name

NYC Resistor was mentioned in "The New York Times" today. My favorite part of the article was where Diana Eng, booted from "Project Runway" because her designs involved electronics, sounded like Charlie, the jack-in-the-box from The Island Of Misfit Toys:

“My designs were too nerdy for ‘Project Runway,’ ” Ms. Eng said with a giggle. “But here they fit right in.”

Check out the full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/nyregion/thecity/28tink.html

Cathedral of ST John the Divine Rededication

What's a Mennonite doing in an Episcopal Cathedral? Filming speakers Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer, what else? The Cathedral Church of ST John the Divine held a rededication today after 7 years of restoration from a devastating fire. What a wonderful service! One of the highlights of the service for me was when Dean James A. Kowalski introduced Senator Clinton by stating, "Will she be our Senator for long, you wonder?" Even for a church, the crowd couldn't contain themselves. My other highlight was when Dean Kowalski made reference to "another great Cathedral that we paid homage to this year, Yankee Stadium!"

Senator Chuck Schumer harkened back to the first dedication of the cathedral which happened on this very date of November 30th, 1941.

Also in attendance were Cardinal Edward Egan, New York's Roman Catholic Archbishop, and I even spotted Bishop Noel Chin, District Superintendent of New York's United Methodist Metropolitan District in the crowd. Former Mayor David Dinkins was there as well.