My kids' Dad

Detroit Grand Prix

Spent two great days at the Detroit Grand Prix. We had a corral for our smart cars and took a lap around the track last night.

New blogger in town

It turns out one of my neighbors is blogging everything sports. Good luck, Jack!

Find him over at The Sports Kid.

Still Alive

I am seriously and painfully out of touch with my blog addiction right now but I am getting closer to the point where I can indulge again.

The GSEC studying is intense, not because I couldn't pass the test if I just had to take it - but the updated material is so good and it is worth the effort to review. It is worthwhile going over the subject matter once every couple years it is surprising how much does get updated that often. The most painful part is that the information is often in the form of prose and there is just so much of it that it takes a lot of time. And for those who have never taken a GIAC test... they seem to relish in some of the technical minutiae that you can only get from a close reading. Perhaps a good sexist comment would be, 'this separates the men from the boys' but you wouldn't often hear that come from my mouth ;)

On a couple other fronts...

The wife's new Apple iBook is truly amazing (as someone who has been familiar with Apple for many years and simply hadn't kept up with OSX) in that it handles very complex functions in a deceptively simple and intuitive fashion. A brief look at the e-mail client seemed to reveal a grossly simple architecture - but when I dug deeper to see if and how it handled digital certificates I was amazed at how easy and well it does. Downloading executable content from the Internet brought simple but effective control in the form of a humanly understandable question. The system easily handles updates - not just to system components but also applications that are savvy. I am still mulling over the need for anti virus - the risk is minimal (and the cost not a real issue) but I am concerned about the impact to the system (in terms of stability and performance). And speaking of performance... My relatively new Dell home system (P4 2.4 GHz) is so much slower than the day I first turned it on. I blame it on all of the MS patches including SP2 as well as the anti virus, and plethora of anti-spyware crap I need to run to keep it 'safe'. Oddly in this regard - the Macintosh tends to get faster with code upgrades as Apple claims that more of the underlying code takes advantage of native code optimized for the processors. The G5's still seem to offer a lot of punch - the iBook will be greatly improved once Apple starts to move to the Intel based systems next year but today's G4 is not a poor performer.

And finally our son had a great time fishing this evening catching about a dozen bass in the Grand River - as Matt promised, the small mouth bass delighted him with their fight. Meanwhile our daughter fell into the Gerald Ford Museum pool and came out quite the 'wet fish' - luckily the evening was hot and it helped more than hurt.

Help Wanted

It looks like we may have a position opening for a senior level security analyst. This is not a job offer but if anyone has an interest send me an e-mail. Even if you don't have an interest these guidelines should be of value to anyone considering a career in corporate Information Technology.

A qualified candidate excels in each of these four areas:

1. Technical skill/competency (see below for specifics)
2. Positive attitude (don't need any young or old curmudgeons)
3. Works as part of a team (lone wolf superstars not needed)
4. Communication skills (know how to interact with wide variety of people and write and speak well)

You should have expertise in two or more of the following skills: PKI design, implementation and management; global policy and standards creation; SAP security; regulatory compliance (SOX, HIPAA, SB1386, EU Safe Harbor); Incident Response Handling; Disaster Recovery planning; Project Management; Security Awareness program management; and security benchmarking and metrics. (If this was an official job posting it would undoubtedly include additional required skills like J2EE, C#, CPU design, super-cooled superconductor research, quantum physics, MCSE certification, PDP-11 programming and 10Base5 troubleshooting.... only kidding!!!!)

Our definition of security engineer or analyst does not include software developers or hardware engineers (Saar - you are first on my list if it were).

The other thing people always have to consider is the location of the job. I happen to love the area - locals enjoy a high quality of life, a city which is not too big or too small and ideal for families, great outdoor recreation, all four seasons (plenty of snow in the winters; green rainy springs; hot summers; and amazingly colorful autumns), affordable living, friendly people, growing diversity of culture, plenty of educational institutions and not too distant large cities (2 hours by car). Makes me sound like the chamber of commerce, hmm? I have lived in plenty of cities and even some places way off the beaten path so I appreciate what I found here. Tolkien fans will appreciate that this area is peaceful as 'the Shire' - not as magical as Rivendell, not as pedestrian as Gondor, not as rural as Rohan and not as nuts as Mordor. OK, maybe Maui would be nicer - but that is so far from everything.

Goodbye Dirk Koning

Dirk Koning, 48, died Thursday after undergoing surgery for an erratic heartbeat.

Dirk was a kind and gentle soul and to use an old cliche, 'a kindred spirit'. He was the type of guy that when you first met him you felt like you had known him for a long time.

My experience with him was an attempt to create a program where computer science students from a local university would intern at local non-profit organizations. This would help students get an understanding of the non-technical issues in working in IT and help non-profits which sorely need technical support.

Dirk worked for the causes of free speech and peace and against the status quo - all issues that are dear to me. Though we did not discuss these issues, we would have disagreed in some of our approaches and reasoning.

He worked hard to provide media access to those without a voice.  I believe strongly in the value of a wide diversity of opinions and the freedom to express them and be respected. I do not support public funding of the media for numerous reasons including government sponsorship of opinions becomes a form of government sponsored propaganda; our success as a nation is founded on limited government; and (especially national) public radio and TV often promote viewpoints which have failed in the marketplace of ideas and are then given disproportionate coverage that gives those proponents the illusion of greater acceptance and unfair advantage.

Here is a great statement displayed at grcmc.org in honor or Dirk:

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." — Albert Einstein

This is a statement we should all take to heart - Thomas Barnett describes how in essence globalization is about the flow of information into societies that want to restrict thought. He aptly balances the need for war making and the need for peace making. Be wary of the wolves in sheep's clothing - the Michael Moores and Ward Churchills who are filled with rage advocate hate but spout off about peace. We are a people of reluctant warriors and that is good. When brutal people go too far (Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein come to mind) it becomes our moral duty to defeat them - even Albert Einstein would agree.

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." — Albert Einstein

To those who disagreed with his politics or positions I say know who your real enemies are, Dirk wasn't one of them. A long time ago men marched off to war on the crusades, many of those they killed along the way and at their destination were friends and potential allies.

Dirk was not filled with hatred but he was concerned about needless suffering. He had a huge heart and I wish I would have used the opportunity to discuss these things with him.

The nicest tribute I read about him is from his niece, Gena, at the GRCMC site, I hope it finds a position of prominence, for now you need to dig through the tributes pouring in. (It was posted Saturday, February 12, 12:41 pm.)

Grand Rapids Event

I am looking forward to this event next week.  The title is not very descriptive of what I believe will be his presentation. I have heard Dr. Mohammed speak and was impressed with his message. As a practicing and educated Muslim he advocates a reformation of the religion. His message is that Islam as it is currently taught is incompatible with the rest of the world.  He understands the origins of Anti-Semitism within the teaching of Islam and clearly presents the historic background.

Born in Guyana, South America, Dr. Khaleel Mohammed is an expert on both Judaism and Islam.  He will present a fascinating lecture to a mixed Jewish, Muslim and Christian audience on a variety of topics centering on the representation of Judaism and Jews in the classical Islamic literature.  Dr. Mohammed is unique in being accepted by both the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam and in the fact that, as an imam and scholar, he actively supports the cause of Israel.

Islam and Judaism - Can they co-exist?
Dr. Khaleel Mohammed
Saturday, January 29, 2005
7:30 p.m.
Temple Emanuel
1715 E. Fulton

Facilitators
Alli Metwalli and
Sheldon Kopperel
$10.00 in advance
$12.00 at the door
$5.00 for students

Sponsored by: Jewish Cultural Council – 616-942-5553

Dr. Khaleel Mohammed is professor of Religion at San Diego State University, and
a specialist in Islamic Studies. Dr. Mohammed was born in Guyana, South America
and is now a citizen of Canada. He has studied at both traditional and Islamic institutions
and Western Universities.
After a Bachelor’s degree in Religion and Psychology (Mexico), and a brief stint in
the Canadian Army, he received a Saudi government scholarship and studied at the
Kulliyat Shariah, Muhammad bin Saudi University, in Riyadh. On his return to
Canada, he received numerous fellowships and awards, completing an MA in Religion
(majoring in Judaism and Islam) at Concordia University, and then his Ph.D (Islamic
law) at McGill. From July 2001-August 2003, he was at Brandeis as that University’s
first Kraft-Hiatt postdoctoral fellow in Islamic Studies. His area of research was on
the imagery of the Jew in classical Islamic literature.
Dr. Mohammed has published books in Arabic and English as well as several articles
in scholarly journals. Dr. Mohammed is truly unique, since he is one of the few
Muslim scholars accepted by both the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.