Friday Donuts

 Friends, How do cyber criminals come-up with names? While the good guys have to settle for safe names --names that convey trust and are in good taste-- the bad guys have no such qualms. From organizations (Krypton, Venomous Bear, Fancy Bear, Blind Eagle, Lazarus Group…) to attacks (REvil, Operation Shady RAT, VulcanBOT, Nitro and Blackmatter Ransomware…), threat actors have the cool name market cornered. Still, I think we can do better than Zero Trust, Unified Threat Management and XDR (granted, any name that starts with an “X” must by necessity be cool!).  Then again, perhaps it's for the best. Who wants to hire Dragon's Bane to vanquish viruses with their Ultimate Forcefield  or Funky Phantom to thwart threats by implementing  their  Bot Thingamajig. So, it seems best that the companies that keep your IT infrastructure safe should themselves use safe naming conventions.  Some donut shops, on the other hand, seem unencumbered by that constraint (I'm looking a...

Friends, The early bird catches the worm, however, as the sun rises I’d much rather have a Denver omelet than a diet of worms . Ready to fly the coop, my ducks all in a row, I ponder one more time whether a bird in hand is truly worth two in the bush. Egged-on by my quest to tuck away a nest egg, I’ve decided to change industries and hope that, like the phoenix, my career will also rise from the ashes of change. After all, I’m no spring chicken –my crow’s feet and gray bely my age – however, I have to trust my judgment and believe you can’t catch this old bird with chaff (whether or not folks think me an odd bird for my actions). And so I shall attempt to soar like an eagle, aware that counting my chickens before they hatch would be ill-advised. As I learn to talk turkey in the language of cybersecurity, I will endeavor not to hide my head in the sand, choosing instead to be like a duck – calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath! And while my excessive use of bird-inspired...

Friends, I enjoy jogging without music. No headphones, no earbuds, no boom box… nothing! My wandering thoughts keep me company as I put one foot in front of the other. One moment I’m grateful for the awesome sunrise, which reminds that the instant a star, like our sun, starts fusing iron it’s doomed. Soon I’m pondering another element: carbon. It gets a bad rap as a greenhouse gas, yet it is the main building block of life as we know it. And so it goes. From funny observations to solving work problems, to world hunger, to keeping tempo, to mental math, to thinking about my kids, to prayer, to ... When a great idea comes along, I jot it down – after all, a quarter of the time I can’t remember a third of my half-witted thoughts. I suppose it comes down to learning to live with yourself – and loving it. Or like the donut sign says it’s about “peace, love and donuts” – by the way, if you make it up to Loveland, the little donuts at this shop were amazing! Happy Friday!

Friends, Sometimes, I’d like to stop time, capture a perfect moment and make it permanent. Yet, hard as I try to grab the fleeting and hold on, it’s not possible. Grapes must be harvested, leaves must fall, days must shorten and weather must turn. Snow will fall and, before you know it, make way for green sprouts to blanket the earth once again. Months make years, and decades make a lifetime. Yet, somehow, everywhere is here and it’s always now. Time’s constant churning tills the soil of my experiences and renews life all around me. I may begrudge that perfect moment's passing, but without change, I’d be stuck. I’d never see all the other perfect moments, waiting for me, just a blink away. So, what’s perfection? That’s a loaded question. I have a feeling it may involve a quiet conversation, coffee and a donut. I suppose I'll head-on down to Baked n' Denver and grab me some perfection. Happy Friday!

Friends, This week, my wife scared me half to death. I was so absorbed reading Plato, I had not noticed her sitting behind me. So, imagine my surprise when I turned to find a masked Greek theater performer (or, as it turns-out, my wife wearing her beauty treatment). While my pulse slowly returned to normal, I started wondering why Greek names haven’t caught on. After all, Greece is the cradle of civilization. Then again, perhaps the foreign-sounding appellatives add gravitas to the great philosophers of old. Would Socrates come down a notch if the folks in his dialogues had ordinary names like Bob, Joe or Mike; instead of Euthyphro, Crito or Simmias? Let’s take the phone booth time machine* out for a spin, babble fish** in ear, to the 5th century B.C., where we can be a fly on the wall for a random philosophical discourse: SOCRATES: So, Joe, we agree our senses trick us and don’t let us see the true essence of things. You good with that? JOE: Sure thing, bro! SOCRATES: And Bob, don...

Friends, Every achievement begins with action, a catalyst that precipitates events to follow. Granted, not all achievements are planned — nor are they all of the same caliber. Still, comfort, complacency and routine are often at odds with excitement, discovery and growth. The siren call of the mundane often wins over the small voice calling us to do great things. The couch, snacks and Netflix may have won the battle, but you, my friend, you’re gonna win the war on blah... tomorrow. Mañana, mañana!! And so it goes. Well… not today! (hmmm… that was ambiguous… did JP just say he won’t procrastinate today or does he mean he won’t do it today – i.e. he WILL procrastinate?). What chronic to-do item will you check-off the list today? Or perhaps a good deed is in the cards… if nothing comes to mind, I’m   raising money for ALS   in honor of a good friend who lost his battle to the disease a year ago this week. Whatever you do, take the first step. As for me, before I do, I need to get...

Friends, When my alarm went off at 4 this morning I had a choice: Morpheus or Perseus. On one hand, my soft, warm bed made driving out for a chance to witness a few grains of sand burn-up in our atmosphere seem silly. Besides, the wildfire smoke would surely obstruct my view, and I need my beauty rest. Morpheus has a point! On the other hand, my desire to watch these fleeting, magical lights streak through the sky pushes me forward. A half-hour later, Perseus had won. I’m on a dirt road, feeling silly as I stare at a patch of unclouded sky. As my eyes grow accustomed to the dark, stars grow brighter. Minutes pass. A satellite crosses the sky. No meteors. This is foolish! Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, a shooting star –darn, just missed it! Another satellite. Then, finally an unmistakable bright flash smack dab in the center of my field of vision. Wow! Minutes later, the sunrise begins, but that one Perseid makes the whole experience seem worthwhile. Granted, the deer sighting, ...