by Ross Sivertsen | Oct 29, 2010 | Blog, Uncategorized
Singapore: Why Innovate in Utopia? http://pulsene.ws/cR8y
I read this article about Singapore and whether or not the country innovates because of it’s intolerant approach to crime, but I have to say that I disagree. Singapore is one of the cleanest places I’ve visited with some of the most friendly people I’ve met.
Ok, so I have to add that the whole ‘Asia training wheels’ thing might be somewhat accurate. But I really love Singapore, I have travelled to many places in western europe, and Asia, and Singapore is by far my favorite, not for the views, the coate d’Azure has that won hands down.
It’s the people and ease of getting around. I have never met more friendly people. Every cabby I met I wanted to go have a drink with and continue my conversation. Can you say that about New York city cab drivers?
I bought a few trinkets in the temple district for friends on my last trip, a few Buddhist prayer beads. A week after I returned home, the vendor emails me (they had a little guest book for people to sign) asking me if my friends and family enjoyed the gifts and then sent along an explanation of the meaning of the beads so I could tell my family the story of the beads!
Business is really easy to ‘do’ there. Singapore customs alone are a model for excellence, my last trip, i got off my plane went through an airport that was a thin of beauty and efficiency to be met by a customs agent that had a waiting smile and greeted me warmly like I had just come home. I want you to hear that, a smile, from a customs agent… A smile. Do customs agents even know how to smile? And there’s a small bowl of candy at the customs counter. Tom Peters, in his book The Little Big Things (an really good read by the way) writes about the Singapore customs experience.
We have an office in Singapore, it’s a hub for our Asia pacific operations, and let me tell you the last thing you want after a 22 hour flight is hard. Singapore is not hard. I run really early in the morning and I feel safer running at 4:30 in the morning there than I do in my own neighborhood.
Maybe it’s because Singapore has no natural resources, so it makes it’s own through it people and it business/traveller friendly environment. But if that’s not innovation on a national level I don’t know what is? They’re taking the most abundant resource they have, maximizing it and bringing it to the market and people all over the world are buying it.
by Ross Sivertsen | Oct 28, 2010 | Blog, Uncategorized
In this Lifehacker article they cover some of most common security risks around Windows. All very common methods in the information security world; to the folks reading my post probably not so common.
Window is susceptible to attack more than any other environment not so much because if the flaws I the design (though there are plenty of those) but rather because of the fact that there is such a large installed base and such a rich knowledge domain on the subject. In fact research shows that most of the most common exploits used in computer related information theft were developed around the attacks used on Windows.
So this article is more about facilitating protecting your information, especially the information that would make you susceptible to identity theft.
Simply put, if you use Windows ( or any other environment for that matter ) consider using a couple of tools, both are free, and both will help with the 80/20 rule:
Keepass: www.keepass.info – This is a great tool to keep all of your personal information, it’s stores your information in the format of ‘index cards’ the file uses any number of strong encryption algorithms (I prefer AES). And if you use a unique strong password, there is virtually no way any one can get to the information.
There are a lot of eWallet type tools out there, but I really like this one because it’s free (free is good, we like free) and it’s open source. If fact I keep All of my personal information in Keepass on a USB stick on my key chain, and I have no problem advertising that fact, I’m that confident of its security.
Truecrypt: www.truecrypt.org – This is another tool that is always in hands reach for me, again it’s free and open source, so there are no ‘magic’ back doors. This tools isn’t a Rolodex inasmuch as it’s a virtual drive that is encrypted. The tool will create a virtual disk in the form of a file (that you can copy to a USB stick) using a strong encryption method. You use it like any other drive on your system except that when you copy or move files to it, the files are encrypted and nobody can access them without the passphrase.
Combine this with Keepass and two different passwords (one for each), and you’ll have secured your personal information to a level that the best crypto hacks can’t reach, and I don’t mean figuratively either.
So there you go, you just got the benefit of three years of graduate school, two advanced degrees in information security and tens of thousands of dollars of tuition for the price reading his blog post. Go forth and be secure.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
http://pulsene.ws/cHpG
by Ross Sivertsen | Oct 27, 2010 | Blog, Uncategorized
I started reading this article this morning as I was planning my activities for the day. Delegating is a huge issue for me, in part for some of the reasons Kent states in the article, but also in part because I have prided myself at being ‘a working manager.’ I don’t ask my staff or others to do anything that I haven’t done, wouldn’t do, or couldn’t do myself.
The problem with that notion is that as a simply practical matter we can’t, despite our best intentions, do everything. I know that it seems self evident, but for me it continues to be a challenging idea in practice.
And it’s not because I’m a doer either, my wife and father in law are both doers, they can’t sit still. I think in part I fear asking for help, and thus appearing to be weak and needy.
Clearly I am neither, but fear is an interesting thing, and if we aren’t careful about it, we can be manipulated by others as a result. Kevin Mitnick made a career out of it through ‘social engineering’ his book, The Art of Deception, an excellent read, is a seminal work on the subject.
Anyway, delegating to get things done is a practice that I continue to work in and hopefully someday will master.
Read the article don’t delegate it to someone else to read.
http://pulsene.ws/cLs1
by Ross Sivertsen | Oct 26, 2010 | Blog, Current Affairs, Web/Tech
I just finished a meeting where we were discussing the topic of how best to use Facebook to reach the constituency of an organization. I immediately went in to a spiel about needing to do a presentation on how non-profits use social media to extend their reach, blah, blah, blah… I hate it when I do that. I sound like those corporate marketing hacks.
Anyway, someone at the table said something really profound (thanks Matt), resulting in me having one of those V8 moments. He said "we don't need more information, we need people. The problem isn't going to be solved just because we understand the tool. SOMEONE must use the tool."
It hit me right while I was prattling on about the subject when what I should say, and eventually did say is "it's not about the tools or having a 'person' to use the tool, it's about the conversation and always has been."
I was so wrapped up in the use of the technology that I neglected to mention the most important part of social media is THE SOCIAL CONVERSATION. I posted a comment a couple of days ago on the topic of not 'reading yourself in to social media, you just have to dive in and use it (http://pulsene.ws/bRvF).
My point here is about gaining trust through joining the conversation and being in the middle of it. If we want to extend our reach, touch the lives of people and have them want to read what we're saying, we first have to say it. Contribute to the conversation, and natural selection will determine if others read it.
And even if they don't want to read what you have to say, then at least you've said it. Come on in, the water's warm, and there are plenty of people out there that share similar thoughts and feelings as you, but you'll never know it unless you just get out there, be authentic, transparent, don't sell, and simply say what you have to say. You'd be surprised. I know I was.
Many people want to be a writer.
I would say don't try to be a writer.
Write.
