Steve Holden's Blog

More Information - Three Scammer Alerts

The Internet has good and evil.

Three warnings to review on the evil side:

• Washington Post-
  • She believed she was an FBI ‘asset.’ The scam drained her life’s savings.
  • Enter the ‘ether,’ where scammers weaponize your emotions.
• Wired - 
  
  • Malicious Ads in Search Results Are Driving New Generations of Scams

Time To Listen To "A Christmas Carol" From 1939

I got my yearly reminder:

Time to listen:

Bursting My Balloon - Reflecting On Today's Realties

Image Source: VoodooHammer on DEVIANTART

Here are some post-election podcasts that I've listened to recently. They offer intellectually stimulating perspectives on the 2024 Election.

I still need to re-listen to them and make some notes.

Podcast #1 --

Fareed Zakaria on What Just Happened, and What Comes Next: After a dramatic election, Donald Trump has returned from exile. We hear what to expect at home and abroad — and what to do if you didn’t vote for Trump.

• Host Stephen Dubner (Wikipedia) @ Freakonomics
• Fareed Zakaria
• Age Of Revolutions (Amazon)

Podcast #2 --

Election Analysis From Down Under: Looking for a fresh point of view on the recent U.S. presidential election, Cal Fussman reaches out to his Australian friend, Holly Ransom, who gives leadership conferences around the world as the CEO of Emergent Global. Richard Branson nominated Holly for Wired Magazine’s Smart List of Future Game Changers to Watch in 2017. And you’ll hear why when you listen to this podcast. Bonus: A lot of leadership takeaways!

Podcast #3 --

Tania Israel: The Science of Political Unity on Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast

• Tania Israel
• McConnell's Ice Cream
• AllSides.com
• Beyond Your Bubble

Podcast #4 --

David Farrier's Flightless Bird podcast Election Night

• It's OK to Feel Shitty
• Feedback: [email protected]

Podcast #5 --

Tangible's Never Let Issues Prevent Relationships – Dr. Chad Lakies and President Emeritus Dr. Dale A. Meyer

• "How the Light Shines Through: Resilient Witness in Dark Times" by Chad Lakies (Amazon)

If you have other resources, then please let me know.

Marking This Someday-Maybe Item Done

I was doing my personal Getting Things Done (GTD) Weekly Review today and came across this Someday/Maybe item:

Next time in Las Vegas, try Arts District Kitchen and Able Baker Brewery

Well, I can mark that done:

All Photos From Visit (August 2024)

Current October 2024 Inflation Rates

I am doing some research on inflation, and I turned up this reference:

https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category.htm

This Is Going To Be Interesting To Watch

I haven't formed deep opinions or thoughts at this point. I am just putting down a placeholder.

More information:

• Wikipedia on DOGE
• Wikipedia on Current Appointments (President Trump's 2nd Term)

The Sharon Statement v2.0 (SDH 2024 v1 Revision)

For some odd reason,  I was recently self-motivated to consider rewriting the 1964 Sharon Statement, which has been central to my political and economic thinking since I first read it in 1986.

I used a few Grammarly and Google Docs linguistic and grammar suggestions, plus some of my values and ideas on how I currently see the world in 2024.

Comments, thoughts, etc., welcome.

- - - - - - - 

The Sharon Statement v2.0 (SDH 2024 v1 Revision)

The original version was approved by Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) in 1964 (pdf).

Americans are responsible for affirming certain eternal truths in this time of moral and political crises. 

We, as Americans, believe: 

1. That foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives our right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force; 
2. That liberty is indivisible and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom; 
3. That the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of laws, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice; 
4. That when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish freedom and liberty; 
5. That the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering the government to fulfill its proper role while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power; 
6. The genius of the Constitution — the division of powers — is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the states or to the people in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government; 
7. That the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs; 
8. That when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the United States; that when it takes from one person to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both; 
9. That we will be free only so long as the freedoms of Americans are secure and that history shows periods of freedom are rare and can exist only when free Americans concertedly defend their rights against all enemies; 
10. That the forces of international Communism Authoritarianism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties; 
11. Americans should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with, this menace. 

This criterion must judge any decision: Does it serve the just interests of Americans?

- - - - - - - 

I am lumping the following into Authoritarianism (in no particular order): communism, Nazism, fascism, socialism, monarchies, dictatorships, military juntas, dynasties, regimes, totalitarianism, terrorism, and single-party states (where only one political party is allowed).

 

Links From My M-Conference DEFCON Presentation

I recently presented the following presentation at Manager-Tools.com's M-Conference 2024.:

"From The Dark Web To the Boardroom: Cybersecurity Strategies from 15 years of attending DEFCON" (PDF presentation download)

These are all the links I referenced in my presentation:

• https://www.technewsradio.com/2024/09/defcon-32-2024-notes-references.html
• https://media.defcon.org 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu
• https://www.wired.com/story/russia-gru-unit-29155-hacker-team/
• https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malware-service-top-threat/
• https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/02/02/ddos-attacks-h2-2023/
• https://www.nsa.gov/Podcast/
• https://stpetecatalyst.com/local-cybersecurity-firm-we-hired-a-north-korean-hacker/
• https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malware-service-top-threat/
• https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/02/02/ddos-attacks-h2-2023/
• https://www.hivesystems.com/blog/are-your-passwords-in-the-green
• https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/most-common-pin-codes/
• https://gizmodo.com/google-just-made-entering-passwords-on-desktop-a-thing-of-the-past-200050128
• https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/what-is-amazon-project-kuiper
• DEFCON Examples:
  
  • https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2032/DEF%20CON%2032%20presentations/DEF%20CON%2032%20-%20Lennert%20Wouters%20Ian%20Carroll%20-%20Unsaflok%20-%20Hacking%20millions%20of%20hotel%20locks.pdf
  • VIASAT
    • https://forum.defcon.org/node/246846
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI_ICtX3Gm8&themeRefresh=1 
• https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/satellite-hacking/
• ZERO TRUST
  • https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/Library/CS-Ref-Architecture.pdf
  • https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/Library/(U)ZT_RA_v2.0(U)_Sep22.pdf
  • https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/Library/ZeroTrustOverlays.pdf
  • https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/Library/DoD-ZTStrategy.pdf
• https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-use-poc-exploits-in-attacks-22-minutes-after-release/
• CROWD STRIKE Updates/Patching Issues:
  • https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-windows-outage-crowdstrike-global-it-probems/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/crowdstrike/comments/1e6vmkf/bsod_error_in_latest_crowdstrike_update/?rdt=35791
  • https://x.com/Xaaavier_8613/status/1814180533108400569
  • https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/07/global-microsoft-meltdown-tied-to-bad-crowstrike-update/
  • https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-crowdstrike-outage-cash/
  • https://www.wired.com/story/hospitals-crowdstrike-microsoft-it-outage-meltdown/
  • https://www.wired.com/story/crowdstrike-windows-outage-airport-travel-delays/
  • https://www.wired.com/story/crowdstrike-outage-update-windows/
  • https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/falcon-update-for-windows-hosts-technical-details/
• https://owasp.org/www-project-top-ten/
• https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cybersecurity/2024/09/cisa-review-low-hanging-cyber-lapses-plague-critical-infrastructure/ 
• Bonus:
  • AFCEA's "Cybersecurity in the Boardroom" resource (behind a soft paywall):
    • https://www.afcea.org/signal/resources/linkreq.cfm?id=549
•  Graphics:
  • https://www.iconpacks.net/free-icon/test-exam-document-and-yellow-pencil-17449.html
  • https://www.iconpacks.net/free-icon/winner-podium-7836.html  
• Backup Material
  • https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/07/new-blast-radius-attack-breaks-30-year-old-protocol-used-in-networks-everywhere/
  • https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/08/local-networks-go-global-when-domain-names-collide/
  • https://federalnewsnetwork.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/09/state-dept-looks-to-test-cyber-data-automation-project-by-years-end/
  • https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/generative-ai-fuels-new-cyberattacks/

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc.

I am open to presenting this in other venues if you are interested. Just let me know!

Recommendations For Distracted Free Writing

Wired recently published their recommendations in an article entitled "The Best Apps for Distraction-Free Writing: Focus on your words and not on your toolbars with these eight minimal writing apps for your computer, your tablet, and even your phone.".

I use two of those recommendations:

1. Obsidian (only application open, one tab open using the plugin
2. Google Docs (full-screen mode, only one document open)

Other best practices: turn off all notifications and close all the other applications on your computer or tablet.

These suggestions work well for Chromebooks, PCs, and Apple iPads.

Cal Newport's Five Books Read This Month List

I am a big fan of Cal Newport's Deep Life podcast.

One of his monthly goals is to read at least five books, which he then covers in his podcast.

Fellow podcast fan Bram Adams ([email protected]) has created a database of all Cal has read here: Cal’s Five Books of the Month.

Bram's site also makes fantastic use of Notion.

Thanks, Bram!!