So I had a conversation today that went something like this:

Them: “You have gaps in your resume, the bill rate people won’t like it”

Me: “Well, I screwed electronic components together during this first gap because I just got out of the army and was adjusting to the civilian world after 8 years of wearing a tree suit, then I worked at a chemical plant during this time because it was the dying end of the dotcom era and I needed to eat, and then this last gap I was activated and sent to Afghanistan.”

So while I’m not exactly ashamed of the time I spent pumping chlorine into a large smelter to make other chemicals, I’ve never though much about how that fits into what I do now, so I left it off.  I have enough achievements that do count so that I feel comfortable skipping some of the also-ran jobs I’ve had.

But then again, it’s not that bad to include them.  While my life in the army doesn’t directly relate to my job, except when we need a temporary project manager to fix something that has gone greatly awry.  That’s when the more direct leadership skills come into play.

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• Meerkats Join the Big 4
• Core Belief #3 — Learn Something from the Cavalry
• Simple Thoughts on Simple Rocks
• Data Centers and Hair Driers

I’m always keen for a good Onion article, this one is no different.

“For too long, hands-on, maverick CEOs have devoted their valuable time to strutting around on stage and breathlessly describing the features of their new products, in the process encouraging cults of personality that could have a detrimental long-term effect on their companies…”

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• My 2 Obsessions this Week
• More Tollroad Follies
• Conflict
• Standard Maturity

OK, this is probably one the unknown gems that are out there in the infosec world: CSO: The Resource for Security Exectives.  If you’re a mid-career guy and looking to move up, a senior manager looking for external input, or a junior person looking for some kind of insight, this is the site to look at.
No, this wasn’t paid for.  I love these guys and I think more people need to read what they have to say… their editorial review board “gets it” or is smart enough to hire writers who do.

• An Informal Study on the Literacy Level of Security Blogs–We All Get Pwned by Amrit
• A Little Advice From Mike and Lee
• Milestones
• Cult Crossovers Into Information Security
• Got Training?

OK, this is cute.  Demotivator poster on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Bomb Scare.  “If it’s not an American flag, it’s probably a bomb”.

• Julie Amero Backlash Reaches Mass Media
• My Stalking Spammers
• Enterprise !== Managed Service Provider
• More Vendor Craziness
• My Favorite Conspiracy Theory

Seth Godin with advice on why you should never follow the extroverts (he calls them “noisy”).  Just be sure to follow the shun the non-believers link.

• On Vacation
• Being a PR Wonk is Hard
• The Honor System
• Cult Crossovers Into Information Security
• Business Leadership Training

With all this hostile blog takeover talk today at Rational Security and Still Secure After All These Years, I’ve come to a conclusion:  I’m primed for a buy-out.

In classic Web 1.0 style, I now have value in the amount of eyeballs that I bring.  While relatively a new blog, I do have a sizeable amount of intellectual property built up in the form of numerous well-received articles and a couple of new scoops such as the Future of Metasploit and Bubba the Fisherman’s Primer on Security Metrics.
With the current trend of blog consolidation, I figure it’s just a matter of time before a worthwhile vendor sees my audience as their target audience and decides that I would make a perfect delivery platform for their product pitches.  I’ll even shill compliance solutions for a quick $5Million cash infusion from a well-heeled VC firm.  Like the old Dilbert cartoon says, you can’t spell “compliance” without “liance”.

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• Blog Statistics and Search Strings
• Hack Disaster Relief
• Workin’ for the ‘Counters: an Analysis of my Love-Hate Relationship with the CPAs
• Got Training?