I finally got to read the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. I have read quite several books on time management and related topics, so I was almost surprised that it took me so long to get to this particular one, which is considered by many as a classic. I got to this book more or less by mistake. A while back I started using a command-line task management tool called TaskWarrior, another old Linux tool that has been known to anyone but myself for decades. This tool referred to the “Getting Things Done” methodology that was taught in the book, so I ended up reading the book as well, out of appreciation for some of the features that were inspired by this book.
I am not going to summarize this book now, nor the GTD methodology. There are dozens of write-ups about it by now. I am also not going to describe that TaskWarrior program, because this would not be the best use of your time or mine. Instead, I will discuss my most important findings: those relatively novel ideas of task management that I adopted from either the book or the software, or even just from my own experience with the two (even if not directly taught by any of these). So it’s not really a book review, but just my own takeaways that were either written in the book or were somehow inspired by the book, or by the software that I am using.
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I recently read a good essay by Alex Gantman titled: “A Corporate Anthropologist’s Guide to Product Security”. It’s a year old, but I did not notice it before, and in any event, its contents are not time-sensitive at all. If you’re responsible for deploying SDLC in any real production environment, then you are likely to find much truth in this essay.
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On July 12th, I was interviewed on Security challenges of organizations deploying IoT. The recorded (and transcribed) video interview can be found here. For those who prefer a written abstract, here is the outline of what I said in reply to a short set of questions about the security challenges with IoT deployment, and the approach followed at Pelion to overcome them.
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I’ve been listening to the Risky Business security podcast for several years now, and mark it as among my favorite security podcasts, if not my favorite one. There are a few good security podcasts out there, but this is the one I listen to most rigorously, i.e., without missing an episode. Here is what makes this security podcast stand out.
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This is a brilliant TED Talk by Niro Sivanathan.
It introduces the dilution effect. Information that is less relevant is not merely discarded, but rather dilutes the impact of the information that is relevant. So next time you bring up arguments for something, remember that your arguments don’t add up – they average out.
TEDTalk: The counterintuitive way to be more persuasive
The book “Permanent Record” is best known for its author, Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who released enormous amounts of secret NSA documents to the press, alleging that the intelligence community in the US violates the rights of citizens for privacy by implementing wide-reaching programs of wholesale surveillance. This is the second book I review that discusses Ed Snowden and his revelations; the previous book I reviewed was “No Place to Hide” by journalist Glenn Greenwald.
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After sitting in my reading list for years, I finally got to read “Data and Goliath” by Bruce Schneier. Overall, this book is as well written as all of Schneier’s books, and is just as scientifically accurate (to the best that I could tell). However, whoever the audience for his book is, they may find it missing essential parts that make it not just a pleasant read, but also a useful one.
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I will be speaking at the GSA Israel Executive Forum on October 14,2015.
The keynote I will deliver is titled: “Security: the Key Challenge to IoT Adoption”.
For more information visit the event website.
Added on 2015-10-15: You can find the keynote slide-deck attached to this post.
TED published an excellent talk: Why Privacy Matters, by Glenn Greenwald.
Seldom do I call an online lecture “a must for all audience“, but the TED lecture by Glenn Greenwald is worth such an enforcement. Glenn Greenwald is one of the key reporters who published material based on the leaks of Edward Snowden. He also wrote a good book about it called “No Place to Hide”; a book on which I wrote a review about 6 months ago.
If you know that privacy is important, but cannot explain why people who’ve done nothing wrong need it, or worse yet, if you really do not see why a surveillance state is bad also for law-abiding citizens, then you must listen to this. It packs hours of social, psychological, and public policy discussions into a few minutes.
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I just finished reading the book “No Place to Hide“, by the journalist Glenn Greenwald. The book talks about the revelations from Edward Snowden on the actions taken by the NSA, as well as about their implications. It is not the book you can’t take your hands off, but it is certainly a worthy read and conveys a very well elaborated message.
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