Discovery is a discipline. At Amazon, it was Learn and Be Curious. At Simmons, it’s no different. I try not to ignore or over index on what larger or wildly successful organizations do. Instead I want to build a discovery practice that exposes my team and I to many perspectives and then filters for our context.
When we approach technology decisions as one-time evaluations, we’re at the mercy of whoever is loudest at that moment. That’s usually vendors, “influencers”, or internal advocates with strong opinions. Rarely do we get a balanced view of alternatives, trade-offs, and lessons learned.
Passed the KCNA last night after work.
For my team, I’ve been looking for something lighter than the CKA but with enough meat to dig into the concepts. This hits the mark. 🎯
Multiple choice format keeps it accessible without getting lost in implementation specifics. You need to understand what tools do and when to use them, not how to configure every parameter. Good balance of technical detail with breadth across the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem.
Oftentimes your high-ego, “I’m smart enough not to get hacked” techies are more dangerous than Randall over in Sales. They see a shiny new “PoC exploit” for a spicy CVE on GitHub and think, “I got this. I’ll just test it real quick on my machine.
Well, that’s exactly how the WebRAT malware is spreading right now. Threat actors are spinning up convincing GitHub repos that mimic proof-of-concept exploits for recently disclosed vulnerabilities (high CVSS stuff like Windows RasMan flaws). The repos look legit: AI-generated descriptions, mitigation details, code snippets, etc.
🔧 Weekend Project: Clustering My Digital Chaos. Spent the weekend scratching a curiosity itch: Could I wire together my Hostinger VPS, an Oracle Cloud free tier instance, and a node in my Proxmox homelab into a single container orchestration cluster? Yes. Uncloud made it entirely too easy.
No Kubernetes config nightmares. Just Docker hosts, WireGuard mesh networking, and some weekend tinkering. Surpising simple too. I can now move container workloads between a $4/month VPS, Oracle’s always-free tier, and the old SFF PC humming away in the closet, all talking securely over the public internet."
🇺🇸 Happy 250th to my brothers and sisters, born in a tavern on November 10, 1775, and carried forward today on those yellow footprints. Full of the grit in our teeth when we must overcome whatever obstacle lies ahead. Charge forward, fewer, prouder, forever lethal. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Semper Fi! 🫡 🇺🇸
Don’t rush to tear down a fence just because you don’t see its purpose.
As G.K. Chesterton said: ‘There exists a certain institution or law; let us say a fence across a road. The modern reformer says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the wise reformer replies, “If you don’t see the use of it, I won’t let you clear it away. Go and think. Only when you understand its purpose may you touch it.”
Three years ago, my family and I took a leap of faith, relocating to Northwest Arkansas, a place completely unknown to us. What began in 2016 as a dream to move to Bozeman, MT, evolved into an unexpected journey to Bentonville, AR, and it’s been nothing short of life-changing. Embracing the unknown wasn’t easy. We’ve faced risks before, but this move was a bold step into uncharted territory, filled with both challenges and incredible rewards."
🎧 A must-listen to episode of the Down the Security Rabbithole Podcast that nails the identity crisis we’ve been facing for years. Rafal Los and his guests unpack the risks of the many idp problem, weak observability, and fragmented controls across identity providers. As usual, a great blend of technical and administrative insights.
https://dtsr.buzzsprout.com/2153215/episodes/17018052-dtsr-episode-650-executing-a-human-focused-security-approach*
62 malicious Chrome extensions have found ways around Google’s ban on remote code execution. They’re linked to Phoenix Invicta, Technosense Media, and notably, Sweet VPN. These extensions inject ads and could compromise user data.
Phoenix Invicta, once known as Funteq Inc., has a convoluted corporate setup, with ties to the US, Hong Kong, and operations in Ukraine. They use techniques like manipulating the declarativeNetRequest API to execute remote code, despite Google’s restrictions.
Discomfort isn’t just a sign; it’s the very proof of impending growth. True adaptation and development don’t happen nestled in the comfort zone—they thrive at the edges, where we’re constantly testing our limits.