Missing in action...

Yes this is still an active site although you might not be able to tell it.  I have been extremely busy throughout the summer and have not had time to do much writing.  Not really any less busy now, I have the CISSP exam coming up in early October and many projects.

All of us know (or should know) that Cyber Space is a dangerous place.  Hopefully our readers here take precautions by using Anti Virus software, not following links in email but instead searching the link independently in your browser, and guarding your privacy by being careful of what and when you post in the social media space.  Less frequently thought of is the term Cyber War.  I recently read a book by Richard A. Clarke called Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What To Do About It.  This book is likely available in your local library and also at Amazon. 

The primary theme in this book is the vulnerability of more developed countries to Offensive Cyber Attack and to analyze the offensive capabilities of a handful of Nations including the United States, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.  As an active Cyber Security practitioner I can say I didn't read anything truly new or startling. I follow any number of security oriented blogs and news sites so I see daily examples of individual incidents. Worms, virus outbreaks, the latest vulnerabilites, etc.  No the power of this book is the concentration of the accounts in a laser-beam focused analysis of our total vulnerability even in the face of daunting offensive capability.  Several worst case scenarios Clarke presents are in my estimation very plausible and should make the reader think hard about how we prepare (or lack of) for emergencies in life.   It should also give us reason to think about what is important.  So many of the defensive counter-measures that the U.S. could employ are (or could be by some) considered to restrictive of individual freedoms. It's worth thinking about and that is exactly what this book so excels at - shaking us from our everyday concerns of life long enough to consider a wider issue that has really only been considered seriously by Cyber guys, Think Tanks, and National Security Policy gurus. 
This book will scare you.  And it should.  But only long enough to take stock of how you would react, plan, and execute in the emergencies he describes as well as only long enough to pick up pen and paper, or fire up email and write your elected officials.  Real defensive security is possible and where it's not, a sensible separation from the risk is in order.
Cyber War is more than the sum of it parts, it is one of those things in life you come across that you know are important, and you want to share but find it difficult to express easily why.

Take my advice, read it today.

Cisco TAC Security Podcast, a deep-dive into the ASA/FWSM by TAC engineers...

I do a lot of walking so I am on constant lookout for good podcasts and audiobooks to keep my walks from getting boring.  As I have background in Networking and Network Security I was very interested to see that Cisco had a new podcast available called the TAC Security Show Podcast. I checked it out and was very pleasantly surprised because many of Cisco's podcasts are very marketing oriented.  Well I am happy to report this podcast is EXTREMELY technical.  The hosts are Cisco TAC engineers specializing in the Cisco ASA and Firewall Service Module security devices and they take on topics that come up during their week of taking on support cases as well as listener input on topics.
Here is a brief list of recent topics.
  1.) ASA AnyConnect VPN
  2.) ASA version 8.3
  3.) Multiple context mode on the ASA and FWSM
  4.) ASA Advanced Application Protocol Inspection

I have listened to the the context and Protocol inspection episodes twice now they are so rich with information.  If this is the type of thing you are interested in I would highly recommend.

More posts coming...
Believe me more posts are coming. I have been working on a list and developing the research.  In fact I am experimenting with a Notebook/Outlining tool for the Mac called Notebook by Circus Ponies to store and organize the research.

Facebook, Mac tips, and odds and ends...

May 31st is being billed as quit Facebook day.  Privacy concerns, a cavalier attitude toward the customer and numerous poor decisions have a segment of the Facebook using public really pissed off.  I am one of them.  I originally joined Facebook to follow relatives. Soon I added some friends and work friends as well as High School and College acquaintances. Then came Farmville. I never post and have virtually no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on Facebook now but I would like for it to be more - but I can't trust Facebook because they value the Application developers more than my data and privacy.
So now I am left to decide.  Stay or go.

Alternatives are few, there is LinkedIN which I use frequently for business networking, and a startup called Diaspora which is raising funding but not an actual product yet. I would like to hear from others about their ideas on Facebook and privacy.  Write me at indytechtalk (at) gmail (dot) com.

So, for you who might be considering leaving Facebook, or have a significant amount of data on other Social Media sites you might want to consider a site I heard about today on the  podcst
This Week in Tech (TWiT).  The site is called Backupify and they offer an ability to backup Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, etc.  A 2 gigabyte free account is available as well as other options for a fee.  I backup up my Facebook book account.  It works, nuff said.

While at the Optometrist office today I noticed the Doc had a new Macbook Pro on his desk. Of course a conversation ensued and I found out he was a recent switcher and needed some information.  That got me to thinking about posting a few Mac tips and sites in today's blog post.

Mac sites:
My favorite Mac site is not really a tech site but a History site.  Folklore.org is a wiki-like site by
Andy Hertzfeld who was an original and important figure on the Macintosh design team in 1980. The series of contributed stories about that effort are funny, fascinating and illuminating as to what makes the Mac so important to some of us.

For tips and technical information here are my favorite 3:
TUAW  The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Macworld A treasure trove of Mac goodness.
MacOSXHints  Very technical site with lots of applescript and deep dive tips. (subsidiary of Macworld)

Odds and Ends:
Kevin Rose tweeted this week on his new favorite iPad case.  I checked it out and it is the coolest thing I have ever seen and I MUST have one.  It's produced by a company called DODOCase.  It wraps your iPad up in a book binding like material sort of like the Moleskine notebooks and contains a carved bamboo inner case for the iPad.  Words cannot do it justice, if you have an iPad please go check it out.

Object C, iPhone programming and lynda.com

Recently I've had this desire to get back to iPhone programming, mostly because I finally thought of some good app concepts. About the same time a friend of mine gave me a tip on good tutorials at http://www.lynda.com and I must say they are excellent.  You see I have a background in programming from way, way back and still love the creative aspect of it. The iPhone (and iPad) are perfect platforms for expressing myself through programming again - ah but one must conquer Objective C to do it.  Now I have utilized several excellent books, and a Stanford University course on iTunesU before but my focus drifted. My friend Anthony at Developware in Louisville Ky mentioned good Objective C tutorial videos on lynda.com and I tried them and as I said above, they are excellent. I am now well on my way toward the goal of turning out  2 iPhone/iPad apps by the end of 2010.

Now a little more about lynda.com.  This site is subscription-based but reasonable.  A monthly fee of US $25 will get you access to over 800 video tutorials on wide ranging subject. I expect to finish up the Objective C/iPhone SDK section in a week or so and then perhaps the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server training.