Currently, above and beyond my full time job as a Lead Security Engineer, I am also moonlighting as an adjunct university professor for one class a semester at
Boise State University for the Cybersecurity Master’s Degree Program.
I was able to create my own content for the courses I am teaching. I am quite proud of the classes, and I had a great time learning the univerisity’s accredidation process. I look forward to creating even more university courses in the near future.
I also enjoy participating in computer hacking competitions, also called “Hacking Capture the Flag” competitions, or Hacking CTFs. This is one of the few legal ways to hone skills in hacking. The puzzles and mental challenges are very useful in keeping my mind busy and entertained. They are often very well done. If anyone is ever interesting in hacking CTFs, I usually send people to the
CTFtime Website. These CTFs commonly include challenges in:
My son and I have a weekly woodworking channel on YouTube called Friday Workshop. We currently have well over 50 videos online and you can find some of the videos
HERE.
I chose the medium of woodworking originally to bond with my son over a jointly acquired skill. This has been wonderful, and the time that we have spent together has been amazing. This was also originally started to get him over the bordom of coronavirus lockdowns. After the lockdowns have subsided, we still continue to learn woodworking.
We have found a passion for the hobby and really enjoy spending the time together. Not only have we gained the woodworking skills, but also the surprising bonus skills:
graphic artwork
video editing
audio editing
marketing
and other production skills that are required to keep a weekly channel on YouTube going.
We plan to branch out from woodworking into other makerspaces eventually and the plan is to get Friday Workshop involved in the following vocational skills.
I’m currently challenging myself with I call the Brodsky Challenge. I just made it up so I’m not even sure if it existed before this. I’m reading up on the 83 books Joseph Brodsky recommended a person read before they could have a basic conversation.
My assumption is that he meant an intelligent conversation, because this list is quite daunting. I’ll be showing my progress on this site.
The list of books I have chosen for my Brodsky Challenge is located on my website
HERE
Anefo / Croes, R.C. - Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989 Bestanddeelnummer 934-3497
I have studied both modern Olympic style fencing and medeival rapier combat. My modern fencing instruction has mostly been within the Epee tradition. This is a style of Olympic fencing where a touch on any party of the body is considered vaild. It is what I have found to be most like rapier combat.
In rapier combat I have studied single sword combat, sword and shield, sword and buckler, sword and rotella, case (two swords), sword and cloak, sword and dagger, and dagger combat.
My focus has been mostly unpacking the works of Nicoletto Giganti in 1606 and 1622. I have also studied the works of Salvator Fabris, Achille Marozzo, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, Camilo Agrippa, Giacomo di Grassi, and George Silver. Mostly, my focus has been on the Baroque period of swordfighting.
In late 2018, I tore my ACL in my knee in a fencing tournament and I have of late slowed down in the hobby. ACL reconstruction surgey with a cadaver ACL has proven a slow recovery process. I’m not certain that I’ll ever get my knees back up to “fighting shape” unfortunatly.
Giganti, Nicoletto - Scola, overo, teatro: nel qual sono rappresentate diverse maniere, e modi di parare et di ferire di spada sola, e di spada e pugnale. Padua, 1628.
After my fencing injury, I picked up the game of billiards. It was in many ways more similar than I thought it would be. Learning the physics behind the game has been my favorite part, and the book The Science of Pocket Billiards by Jack H. Koehler
was instrumental in my journey. I also spent a weekend with professional pool player Demitrius Jelatis. His mentorship has also helped me rise more quickly in the game than I would have on my own. I play billiards on a pool league whenever I can. My goal is to get better at the game and to learn more about the game of billiards. It’s a slow learning process, but I’m getting better at it.
I have my own pool table, and I play competitivly nine ball and eight ball league and tournaments. I started ranked at a 3 out of a possible 7, and am now currently ranked a 6 out of a possible 7 in the APA amateur pool league handicap system.
In billiards, my current goal is to attain the maximum rank of a 7 in amateur pool. Doing so will require a deeper understanding of play, and a better understanding of the mental game. I plan to read the Inner Game of Tennis, and look a little deeper into sports psychology. At higher levels, the mental game seems to be signifiantly more and more important.
In the future, I’m planning to dive even further into the depths of cybersecurity, and am considering possible PhD programs. I would like to look deeper into technical research, and I believe my current passions could lead to a quality doctoral thesis. Also, I plan to research more into philosophy, writing, political thought, and sailing.
I have multiple cybersecurity classes that I have created for my local university and I will be teaching those on a regular basis.
As I get older, the humanities become more and more interesting to me; I believe this is due to simply having more experience to compare to philosophy. I have a passion and proclivity for cybersecurity, so I will spend some of my free time into researching the humanities that most relate to cybersecurity. I have joined a monthly online meetup that spans across multiple disciplines (and I believe also multiple universities). With these professionals doing humanities research, I plan to leverage help for my research into thinking like an attacker. Not a lot of work has gone into intentionally reproducing this mindset, and much of it is greenfield, but that also makes it interesting.
