Things....

Location:

So I am sitting in Fado's - Chicago. It's an Irish pub that has free wireless, so I can sit and work all while drinking a pint of Guinness. Very few things can get better than that in my opinion. If you happen to be in the neighborhood of a Fado, I would recommend the the Guiness Stew - good home cooking, and to wrap things up, you guessed it Guinness Ice Cream.

If you get a chance look try to end up in Brie's section - she doesn't own a computer but she really digs bloggers. Yes, I used dig and no, I didn't ask for her number my wife doesn't share well with other children

Now on to other things...

I registered for my CISA exam recently. This should be interesting. If I pass, and I plan to, I will have what the industry is considering the top two certifications going: CISSP and CISA. The next thing I have to figure out is what I want to be when I grow up. If you have any ideas let me know. Registering for the exam cost me a quick 500 dollars and then another 250 for study materials - somewhere I hear warning bells going off. The test is offered once a year, so I had better pass or suffer the abuse for the next twelve months.

And in other news...

Commwarrior.A
Finally we have a virus for mobile phones. Uses bluetooth and MMS messages to replicate itself. I wondered how long this would take, ever since I started using the Audiovox 5600 (the same phone Scoble and crew love so much - side note i had mine before Scoble got his - nanner nanner). It is based on Windows SmartPhone so I know it will be the next platform for attack.

Firewalls' False Sense of Security
I have argued for both sides of this issue. A majority of the time I find that the deployment team behind the firewall believe that they have mitigated all future damage because of their firewall deployment. Conversations then lead to IDS, IPS - I have no idea where it will end - I do know that every time a new stop is added someone will look for a new way to get over the bump.

Now back to my regulary consumed beer.

Squaw - what I would change?

Just got back from an extended weekend at Squaw valley. The resort's village is currently being operated by Intrawest, the same guys who did Whistler.

It was a great trip - a yearly 'boys' trip that has several interesting characters, including: Rick aka 'the Founder', Chuck aka 'Chuckles/Chuckalafucas', Andrew aka 'the Scotsman', Chris aka 'Mr. Goodlookin' and myself Ward aka 'Big Daddy'.

We had a wonderful time, there was good snow - nothing fresh - that didn't show till the last night and we got 7 inches of fresh powder - wanted to extend the trip by one more day for some pow pow but instead I got on the plane and flew back to Denver.

Squaw's new village - looks very similar to Whistler (why change a good thing?) - could use some help. As I said I was there for 5 days - while the mouse is away from the kitty he can play with other mice. We stayed exactly 22 feet from the Squaw one lift, and about 100 feet from the closest bar - yet - the nightlife was horrid.

I have lived in ski towns before - I remember the 1 woman to 12 guy ratio, and this was expected but I grew up in a more lively town smack in the middle of the bible belt - one bar closed at 9 pm on Sunday night. The drive thru liquor store the next county over in North Carolina would have still been open. Needless to say - the experience was repeated night after night for the entire weekend.

So I say to the intrawest guys - figure out beyond copying the buildings, how to create the same nightlife experience you have at Whistler or start preparing yourself for continued disappointment at Squaw.

On a side note - the little breakfast place at the end of the village - two wonderful waitresses (Bunny and ????) and one great owner (Lisa) made the week a little better.

This is great...

I have a new respect for Jon Stewart since he went after the CNN boys and his show continues to bring that liberal perspective forward so well.

Bloggers and the trouble they cause