Showing posts with label ghost in the wires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ghost in the wires. Show all posts

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Daily Thoughts 8/28/2011

Tottering Under The Weight of Knowledge, Atalanta Magazine, 1888 

Daily Thoughts 8/28/2011

Last night I finished reading Ghost In The Wires by Kevin Mitnick.  I found it amazing that someone was willing to break into computer systems to get code simply because they were interested.  I guess this is why I am not a hacker.  I also was amazed that people would buy Kevin Mitnick's books The Art of Intrusion and The Art of Deception after he spent so many years in jail for hacking.

I also read some more Made to Stick.  Right now, I am reading about how to make your ideas more concrete and understandable.  It is useful information, but not particularly exciting.

This morning, I took another course from Lynda.com instructed by Jill Whelan, SEO Search Engine Optimization Getting Started.  I have two months of training for free coming from my job on Lynda.com so I figure that I might as well take advantage while I can for free.

I also spent a bit of time on Facebook and Twitter this morning.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Daily Thoughts 8/26/2011

Portrait of a Woman, Reading A Book, Monogrammed and Dated 1907


Daily Thoughts 8/26/2011


I read some more of Ghost in the Wires.  There is a certain irony in how Kevin Mitnick is acting.  He is a detective at Teletech while he is hacking into computers.  Kevin Mitnick also shows an incredible naivete when he changes his identity, but does not change his hacking habits or his profession.


I spent some more time finishing a webinar on Indesign CS5 which is very different than Microsoft Publisher.  It seems to be a much more professionally oriented piece of software aimed at the publishing market.  


I also did some more training on Lynda.com on using social media.  


There is a storm coming so I went and bought some water and a few things to make sure everything was safe for us in case things got a bit messy.



Thursday, August 25, 2011

Daily Thoughts 8/25/2011

Wagner & McGuigan's Steam Lithographic Print Establishment, No. 4 Athenian Buildings, Franklin Place, Philadelphia Print shows printing plant, printers at work, and symbols of the printing trade and the United States to advertise the firm. Date Created/Published: [between 1850 and 1857]

Daily Thoughts 8/25/2011

This morning, I read a little bit more of Make It Stick.  They are writing about how to catch peoples attention and surprise people.

I also checekd the Twitter account and the Facebook account and made sure the displays were in order.
Today was a busy day, I ended up writing two reports for the library for the web committee.  There are a lot of things which should be changing soon.

Some donations came in.  I added some manga, specifically Deathnote and Claymore as well as a whole bunch of science fiction paperbacks based on the Xbox game Halo.

We are having the second part of the Women's Enterprise Development Center session for First Steps which is an introduction to entrepreneurship.  It runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m. tonight.  I think it will go well.  There were so many people in the room that we had to pull out an extra table for people to sit at.

I am also going to ACBAW Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester tonight for the Mount Vernon Writers Network group. http://www.acbaw.org/

The meeting went quite well.  We had a chance to discuss an event that was going to happen at Lola's Tea House in Pelham, New York on September 29, 2011 in the evening where everyone would read a few pieces of their work, give a brief biography, and discuss why they write. 

A Conference on A Digital Public Library of America
http://unabashedlibrarian.com/ul-conferences/2011-conference

On the way home, I read some more of Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick.  The book is very interesting because of how obviously wrong the hacker, Kevin Mitnick acts.  He pulls exploits then can't stop and get away or plan for more long term actions.  He gets caught repeatedly and often does not come across as being very lucid or cool headed in his actions. It is often an object lession in how not to do these things.

Another fascinating thing about the book is how people are described as too trusting with personal information. Kevin Mitnick hacks into the social security office, the FBI, various phone companies, the Departement of Vehicles, and many other places.  The book reveals how little privacy we have with so much of our personal information.

I have to get a biography of Abraham Lincoln for a Biography Book Club which we are planning for September 20, 4-5 p.m.

Web Bits

20 Celebrities With Stunning Home Libraries
http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/20-celebrities-with-stunning-home-libraries

Kickstarter Project American Commons Photographing Libraries Across the Nation
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1370597130/american-commons-photographing-libraries-across-th