Don't give up

Napoleon Hill once said "The majority of men meet with failure because (they don't create) new plans to take the place of those that fail."

I see this a lot: people with big plans who are met with a setback, they get discouraged, and give up. If you feel strongly about doing something - writing a book, changing careers, getting a degree, whatever - don't be this person.

Good info on hardening Windows XP

I've written various articles on hardening Windows XP over the years and am always seeking out new nuggets since XP's going to be around a while. Eric Shultze has a neat list of 5 registry keys you can use to further harden your Windows XP systems that you may not have heard about. Enjoy!

10 Ways to Become Indispensable at Work

Here's a good piece on keeping your job and growing your career:

10 Ways to Become Indispensable at Work

I'd also add network to build your relationships, focus on your communications skills, and always, always - put things in terms of the business - what's in it for them. Here are some IT and security career tips (that can apply to anyone) I've written that dive into these areas and more.

National Archives does it again!

You may recall my appearance on CNN television earlier this year when a hard drive went missing from the National Archives and Records Administration. Well, apparently some lessons don't sink in. This time around the National Archives folks sent an unsecured hard drive containing personal info on 70 million+ veterans to a vendor for "repair and recycling" (huh?). Apparently an employee subverted a policy then had to go on leave and one thing led to another...Interesting story - I'm not surprised at the outcome.

In the spirit of our current govern-by-reaction mentality in Washington maybe a few new laws can be passed to keep this from happening. Oh wait, it's the government failing to listen to itself in the first place. Unbelievable.

My latest security content

Here's my latest information security content. Enjoy!

Are you earning what you're worth in information security?

Understanding the politics of information security

Be sure to check out www.principlelogic.com/resources.html for all of my information security articles, podcasts, webcasts, screencasts, Twitter updates, and more.

This is really cool and really scary

Researchers at Duke University have found out how to use the basic features of cell phones to determine specific traits of the "space" you're in. Big Brother tracking at its finest. Once mainstream, it'll be at this point when I stop using a cell phone.

The deal with my Security On Wheels audio programs

If you've been following me for any length of time you've probably noticed that development of my Security On Wheels audio programs has slowed way down. Let me explain why.

In a nutshell, I'm practicing what I preach: "focus on your highest payoff tasks". With this economic mess we're in I've had to really buckle down and focus on billable work this year to keep my momentum up and ride out this storm. Existing sales are good but I'm striking a balance between time/costs associated with developing and producing new content with the reality that so many people aren't buying much right now. Being self-employed I don't have a choice. That said I will return! I'm putting together my next audio program now.

Mega thanks to those of you who've provided such positive feedback on my existing audio programs. It confirms that I indeed have a good thing going here.

If you're not currently on my Security On Wheels mailing list and wish to be notified of new audio programs and special offers you can sign up on the home page at securityonwheels.com.

If you're interested in trying out either of my existing audio programs, I'm offering a 50% discount on any purchase to get you on board...and get you hooked. Just enter OCT09 as the discount code when checking out. It's good through the end of October.

Thanks for your patience and stay tuned for great new things with Security On Wheels in the near future.

All the best,
Kevin

Great quote to help motivate you

I just came across a great quote by "The Donald" (Trump) that contains a great little nugget to inspire us to do the best we can in our careers:

"As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think big."

Practice this over and over and you'll eventually become what you think about. Sure, small and large annoyances will get in your way (like my rants here and on my Twitter page) but just get them out of your system and move on to bigger and better things. Let the joke be on someone else.