Gaming – Page 29 – SECURITY RESEARCH AND DATA PRIVACY

July 25, 2018July 27, 2018

Solo runs

My love for single player games continues; this skillset is particularly fruitful in a real-life Person versus Environment (PvE) situation. This morning I arrive at Gatwick Airport knowing I had just one hour to get to the terminal gate.

Navigating major airport terminals during summer holidays is challenging if you don’t anticipate the delays and have a countermeasure in mind. Also, any Network specialist will tell you that the last ‘hop’ is often the most problematic.

Airport terminal log – target Gate arrival time 11:20

10:30 arrive at Gatwick by train
10:40 arrive at terminal monorail shuttle 
transfer (Primary service)
Delay 1 - (Service failure)Terminal train 
out of service transferred to slow buses.
10:45 arrive at terminal
10:50 Checked-in luggage (I don’t normally do this)
10:55 Arrive at security check
Delay 2 - (Slow Service) Carry-on luggage 
selected for ‘random’ check
11:05 Cleared to proceed to gateway
Delay 3 - Gate allocated at 15 mins walk 
11:10 Arrive at Gate sweating and panting
11:30 Actually boarding plane
Delay 4 - Sitting on runway 
waiting for flight slot
12:14 Flight actually takes off

Flight departure scheduled for 11:55 and there no compensation or anything I can do about it except bitch and blog.

Tom Clancy’s The Division – the downside of Server side gaming

Hazards and delays avoided

Heavy or cumbersome hand luggage 
Travel document misplaced 
Gadgets misplaced 
Fast steady pace walk pass all NPCs 
(In real life - families, groups,tourists, 
airport staff walking the opposite way and 
folk who arrived early)
Shopping queues 
No window shopping 
No phone calls
No App checking
No SMS or VoIP 
No other players
...single player runs are definitely faster

Mission accomplished – Side effects

Elevated blood pressure 
Massive adrenaline surge
No time to think
No last minute detours
Hight chance of verbal conflict

Countermeasure

Arrive 2 hours ahead of time. 
(Problem: 4 out 5 EasyJet flights delayed)

Chaos can raise its head rapidly. Are you prepared?

Winter version is similar with the added bonus of being able to use your coat to conceal a second carry-on bag avoiding the additional fee….whoops, did I say that out loud.

July 22, 2018July 22, 2018

28 Years ago, I should have known better

On reflection, I now crave the simplicity of my life in the 90’s. The flow of data was slower, less widespread and simpler to secure as not many people knew it was there in the first place.

Today, we are swimming in data flows and everyone is their own system administrator. iOS Beta 3 is now available, I can’t see the differences but no doubt the vendor is crunching an exabyte of test device data. I’m still hooked on the Screen Time application.

I’m part of the generation that didn’t realise what it actually meant to push all end-users to be Network-centric and eventually dependent. Now, turn off the Network and all hell breaks loose. The option to live an offline digital life is now cumbersome, awkward and attracts suspicion as to why you are “not online”.

Data availability

28 years ago I knew users would have to be on the network to make data availability work, now I realise that helping to create that dependency was a mistake. And like South Londoner, Michelle Wallen sang so wonderfully as Pica Paris “I Should’ve Known Better”.

Of course, it creates a nice arena for Data Privacy specialist like me.

July 20, 2018January 26, 2019

Planning for the End-game

With many of critical ventures in progress, I’ve decided to backpedal and consider my end-games. What am I actually trying to achieve and when? Painting the end-game has served me well in the past but it’s not quite a routine habit as I’m pulled into new, interesting situations and often move forward on sheer enthusiasm.

Everything that has a beginning has an end

Defining the end is something I think we naturally avoid, end of life for devices is usually clearly identified by the manufacturer. The vendor will have a specific future date when they will no longer support the hardware or software and you are on your own “when” it fails.

End of actual Life is seldom contemplated as we hate to consider our own mortality, and Last Will and Testaments are pushed to the bottom of our do-lists until we are told by a medical professional to “put our affairs” in order.

I haven’t worked out how to face this positively but will give myself some time to look at what I’m doing now and write my end-games by 1-Sept 2018.

Applying an End of life Care approach to Projects

July 15, 2018July 15, 2018

Getting to know you…Getting to know all about you

iOS 12’s new features are perfect for self-analysis. The built-in Screen time feature is just the sort of transparency an users now need. A pure non-technical approach to analytics give you granular control over your downtime, App time limits and content restricts.

My screen time is 77% down from last week and it’s very fitting as I was using social networking frequently with a Loved one.

Here’s some interest stats about me from ScreenTime

I picked up my phone 30 times a day
Once every 35 minutes after 14:00
I get around 13 notification a day

The most obvious use of this new resource is parent control, although I deliberately changed by device usage behaviour based on these stats.

Many of us won’t want to know these statistics. The truth about our device dependency is confirmed and proved.

Ignorance is not always bliss.

July 13, 2018July 13, 2018

Struggling to wake up

It’s been over eight years since I last played HEAVY RAIN™, my PS3 failed for some unknown technical reason and I never finished the game. No saved game back-up, no real motivation to play the game again…until now.

Thanks to PS Plus the game is now free for subscribers and the 30GB+ game now sits nicely on my drive ready to go.

Lately, my fatigue has been getting deeper and longer, I think I’m worrying too much about things out of my control and procrastinating on the core things I need to do. Twinned with growing work, business accountabilities and calendar pressure I find myself in a terrible state of self-care; I’m clearly not in a good place.