Privately flaccid

Do we act differently when we are aware someone is watching? Probably yes, but eventually we ignore it to take advantage of “free” services.

The next chapter in the Life is Strange Universe was touted as “a free game” but today it seems it’s just a free demo that leads into Life is Strange 2 ($39.99).  Fine, I can accept that but more and more the privacy notices have become so upfront that I swear it has an impact on my experience.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
After accepting the privacy notice and actual choice, 
I proceeded to the game wondered around my character’s 
bedroom then kitchen, interacted with a few items 
wondered outside the house in the snow and then 
deleted the game.

It would be curious as to the analytics the publishers get from my underwhelmed one-time gaming experience.

Re-calculating

Every time I jump onto a plane it’s a chance to re-calculate my life choices and look at things from a different angle.  This time around, I’ll be testing out the Google DNS alternative 1.1.1.1 from a technical and personal perspective.

1.1.1.1 for consumers should speed things up a bit and sidestep the monitoring and logging from Internet Service Providers.  Naturally, I’ll start with my PS4 and later on selected routers and servers.

Breaking up is hard to do

Leaving the default settings active is the easier thing to do and creates a nice comfort factor as things just work as expected.  Messing with your settings and configuration can cause you a world of headaches.  As usual, the best practice is backup, backup and then test your backup.  Warning: You can “BREAK” your internet connection by messing with DNS.

In the meantime, check 1.1.1.1 for a non-technical guide to a brand new cleaner Internet experience.

Silos and Bunkers

I’m running around the FarCry5 environment blowing up Silo and searching for bunkers.  Turns out the past 96 hours has been my very own mental bunker.  The great thing about being in a bunker is just having mental space to think but, naturally, you don’t want to be there for too long as the world passes you by.

One of the streamers I’ve followed since Star Wars BattleFront (2015) joined my game and we blew up some heavily armoured trucks to complete one of my missions.

The Co-op feature was fast and seamless and will definitely be useful for harder missions.  As usual, the issue will come down to good communication and agreeing strategies (Stealth or Rampage).

No calls allowed

Judges Chapter 16 verse 17

“And her told her ALL his heart”

Vulnerability management is a rolling issue, untested patches can mess up your IT systems but ignoring “updates” the writing on the wall can be detrimental to your infrastructure. The insider threat is not talked about as much nowadays namely because the definition of what is an insider is foggy.

With all the juicy bits of data, we knowingly share it’s arguable that we are part of our own downfall.

Since biblical times we know that telling ALL to your closest will eventually reveal your tendons for all to see and exploit.

Meanwhile, the first 24 hours FarCry5 hype is over and whilst it is not dominating it is certainly well up in the top games to play.  Now I can settle down to some good side stories and have actually figured out how to catch fish.

Changing focus for April

Day 2 of Family Court action

Excuses to stealth

At age 14, I strategically used Valentines Day to anonymously share my feelings with girls I fancied or admired in class and watch from a safe distant never revealing myself in person.

Today it’s almost impossible to be truly anonymous and successful hiding is actually frowned upon as freakish and creepy.  The same techniques to surprise a Loved One can be used to destroy, mislead or corrupt without trace but It comes down to moral intentions and belief systems. Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to bring out the undetected schemer in you.

Stealth: The ability to reach and/or kill your target without detection.

Stealth mood is one of the most satisfying gaming strategies built into a wide genre of titles, in fact, many games award or punish you based on your stealth skills.  I’m rather addicted to stealth IRL and in my digital playgrounds, the best penetration testers often adopt this mindset to their core.

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”  Kali OS

Make me redundant

In my early career, the word redundancy used to strike fear into my well-being. Decades later it’s a place a comfort and represents resilience.  Backing up the backup and testing the back-up routinely is an easy habit to adopt. Sadly. For  many end users, they simply store all their precious data on a single device with unknown backup status.

Where’s my data?

A family member nearly lost over 5000 images because they critically failed to even grasp the relevance of backup or data management.

The strategy should always be protecting the data first and the end-point device second but unfortunately, we love our shiny phones way too much to think that way.

Zero gameplay or medication today