IT in the D

Episode 102 of our weekly live podcast is in the rear view mirror now, and even though we lost TEKSystems due to an illness, we had some seriously great conversations with our guests from Comcast and SecurityMentor.  We also got some information out about our new podcast network that launched last week, our upcoming events, what's going on with Comcast these days, how to best get people engaged about security in a way that matters, a whole variety of security related topics and stories illustrating the chaos going on nowadays and much, much more...

Like we always do, our first segment dove into the news, events and stories that caught our eye over the past week.  We chatted through the really nasty exploit that showed up on Chrysler vehicles in certain years, our theory about Hulk Hogan and why certain news broke recently, the ridiculousness of the response from AshleyMadison's parent company, where LifeLock has also recently failed people, more about the OPM breach, some hilarity from Palm Beach Country where some local marijuana enthusiasts clearly don't understand how Twitter works and more.

For our second segment, we dove in with Dan Lohrmann, formerly the Chief Security Officer for the State of Michigan, now with SecurityMentor.  He has some outstanding insights to share regarding the chaos with cars getting hacked, what really goes into a data breach, how people can protect themselves, what the company does in order to teach best practices in a fun and engaging manner and more.

In segment three, we chatted with Michelle Gilbert, VP of Public Relations for Comcast Cable Heartland Region.  From what Comcast is doing to improve customer relations out to what's on the horizon with Comcast's services, this was a pretty good discussion if you want to hear how the company some people love to hate actually has going on that might change your opinions.  Really great talk, and super grateful that she came on the air with us.

Segment four was our usual wrap up of topics from earlier in the night, a few news items we hadn't touched on yet, and a little doubling back to make sure we hit all of the topics we wanted to hit.

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Check out SecurityMentor at http://www.securitymentor.com/

Hit up Comcast at http://www.Comcast.net

As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=91763

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD

Episode 102 of our weekly live podcast is in the rear view mirror now, and even though we lost TEKSystems due to an illness, we had some seriously great conversations with our guests from Comcast and SecurityMentor.  We also got some information out about our new podcast network that launched last week, our upcoming events, […]

Despite the fact that we were completely exhausted from the activities starting Thursday and running through the weekend, our broadcast of Episode 101 of our live weekly podcast with Startup Weekend Detroit and Lawn Guru came together nicely with some great conversations, some information about our upcoming events, what our guests have going on in the area and more...

As per usual, we started things off by talking the events of the past week that have caught our attention.  From our event this past Thursday at Blackfinn to our live broadcast from the Converge security conference that was a TON of fun and our first foray into recording live commentary for professional wrestling (long story...) on Saturday, and then of course we couldn't resist talking about what a fail Amazon's Prime Day event turned out to be, the Ashley Madison hack, cosplayers at San Diego Comic Con trying to charge people for taking pictures, the anniversary of the moon landing 46 years ago, why a 33 year old toy is causing some idiot parents to have heartburn, some whacky mayhem in Seattle with...odd things hanging from electric wires and more.

Segment two was all about Startup Weekend Detroit, a place where in 54 hours, thoughts are turned into teams that develop ideas and launch a product.  One of the coaches, Scott Kloustin, joined us in-studio to tell us (and you) all about it.  Startup Weekend attendees’ backgrounds are roughly 50% technical (developers, coders, designers) and 50% business (marketing, finance, law). What unites all attendees is a common interest in entrepreneurship: whether a serial entrepreneur or new to the startup scene, every attendee is interested in working with a like-minded, motivated and skilled team to develop a product or business in one weekend. It's a really cool concept, and a great way to see if your idea has any merit to it, or to keep your skills sharp as a developer, or just to roll up your sleeves and dive in with others in the community.  Check them out at http://www.up.co/communities/usa/detroit/startup-weekend/4904

In our third segment, we chatted with a group of folks who have may just have something for you that'll free up some time on weekends...particularly brutally hot weekends like this past one where you really don't want to go outside but the grass needs mowing.  The guys from Lawn Guru have built an Uber-esque service for your lawn care and snow removal needs.  Download the app, see if any of their service providers are in your area, and if you make a request by 3pm, your lawn will be cut that day...weather permitting, of course, so don't hit them up during a thunderstorm expecting that they'll be there.  They've got a really cool concept going...and growing...so while they're predominantly running on the west side at this time, they're already talking with people and companies to expand their services further East.  Looking forward to having them in my neck of the woods.  Listen to how it all got started, and then check them out at http://lawnguru.co/

Segment four...well, remember how up above it got mentioned that we were exhausted?  Cards on table, it probably showed a bit during segment four.  As we recapped the night's discussions and tackled a few new topics like Amy Schumer's Star Wars based photo shoot...and Disney's reaction to it...it was definitely time to wind down and head home for the night.

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As always, thanks again to our guests for joining us, and we'll see you next week for episode 102 as we're joined by TEKSystems and the former CSO for the state of Michigan.

Our guests from tonight's episode can be found at:

Startup Weekend Detroit: http://www.up.co/communities/usa/detroit/startup-weekend/4904

Lawn Guru: http://lawnguru.co/

As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=91763

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD

Despite the fact that we were completely exhausted from the activities starting Thursday and running through the weekend, our broadcast of Episode 101 of our live weekly podcast with Startup Weekend Detroit and Lawn Guru came together nicely with some great conversations, some information about our upcoming events, what our guests have going on in […]

Wow.  Just...wow.

Ever had a conversation with a guy who compromised bank security...in Beirut?

How about someone who's managed to compromise physical security all over the world...just because scanning and getting into servers is...too boringly easy?

Know anything about a group that's out there dedicated to teaching kids about computer security in a way they'll actually want to learn?

Read and listen on, friends...read and listen on...

We were asked to head down to Wayne State University to hang out at the Converge security conference taking place.

A security conference?  Hackers?  Talking with us?

Needless to say, we went.

So we packed up the remote gear and headed on down for an afternoon of fascinating conversations.

We kicked off by chatting with Wolfgang Goerlich, who was actually a guest on the very first episode of our podcast talking about this very conference two years ago.  He gave an overview of what Converge brought to attendees, as well as what BSides will have going on Saturday.

So if you're wanting to play in a lockpick village, learn about hacking, security or a whole host of topics...there's still time to get down there for Saturday's sessions.

Next, we chatted with Jayson Street and J0hnny Xm4s about an incredible range of topics.  Their own work in security testing, penetration physical and server security, some truly outstanding stories about things they've done in the course of their jobs and more.  We also talked networking, as J0hnny's putting efforts into trying to get more folks in the information security space to do some more in-person networking.  Getting out from behind the code and keyboards to do more interacting with others and building personal relationships as opposed to online.

Seriously, if you never listen to anything else we put out here...you're going to want to listen to that 40 or so minutes of incredible stories and conversations.

After a quick break, we dove in with Dave Schwartzberg (and his son Sam) of Hak4Kidz, a 501c3 non-profit that does something really cool - they teach kids to care about security and privacy by putting it in the context of games and other ways that make it something kids will actually want to learn.  With all of the focus on teaching kids tech, science, code, etc., something like this is a valuable addition to those spaces, and definitely deserves some more attention.

Links from the broadcast:

Converge: http://www.convergeconference.org/main/

BSides: http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/92623290/BSidesDetroit15

Jayson Street: http://f0rb1dd3n.com/

J0hnny Xm4s: https://twitter.com/j0hnnyxm4s

Hak4Kidz: http://hak4kidz.com/

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Wow.  Just…wow. Ever had a conversation with a guy who compromised bank security…in Beirut? How about someone who’s managed to compromise physical security all over the world…just because scanning and getting into servers is…too boringly easy? Know anything about a group that’s out there dedicated to teaching kids about computer security in a way they’ll […]

Episode 100: the night of bad puns, occupancy code violations, Bob being rendered speechless, mayhem with puppets and so, so much more.  Had a really great night for episode 100 of our live weekly podcast, and with a room full of lively guests, we definitely didn't have a lack of topics, voices, opinions or laughter for the occasion...

We were joined by our guests Mark Larson from Falling Down Beer Company, David Lingholm and Garlin Gilchrest II from the city of Detroit, Karen Hubbard from The Corner with K-Hubb Show...and also from our old studio and now her own network, Billy from Social Coop Media, our buddy Jeff Haase, Jer and Patrick from Daily Detroit, and a few other stragglers who wandered in to join us.

As always, our first segment was a roll through the events, news and information that caught our attention over the past week.  From the shrine to the dead raccoon on a sidewalk in Toronto to the mayhem taking out the New York Stock Exchange, United Airlines, missile batteries in Germany and a bunch of other things this week, we had a lot to talk about.  The continuing saga and spiral of Bill Cosby.  The idiot couple who thought having sex in public on a beach at 2:30 in the afternoon was a great idea.  Two separate incidents of people with selfie sticks getting struck by lightning.  All kinds of good stuff.

For our second segment, we dove in with David Lingholm and Garlin Gilchrest II from the city of Detroit to talk about all of the cool stuff going on downtown.  From getting activity back in to the former shopping districts and less active neighborhoods to how an app has been helping them track service requests on potholes, manhole covers, broken lights, etc., to improve quality of life for the city's residents, it was a pretty interesting chat.  They both have great ambitions for what Detroit can be, and it's great that they're both on the inside working to make it happen.

Mark from Falling Down Beer Company was front and center for our third segment.  From their new location opening up in Oxford later this year to an expansion from 8 to 20 taps at their original Warren location, they've got a TON going on.  Not that we're surprised, since this has been one of our favorite places and brands since they first came onto the scene, and we're sure they're going to do great things as they expand not only into new locations, but also into the wine and spirits lines of creation as well.

Oh, and Jeff Haase had way too much fun with our Ruppits (they're puppets, but cooler) during this segment.  We barely kept ourselves from breaking out laughing.

In our fourth and final segment, we hopped in with Karen Hubbard, our original Captain Soundboard and she of the Monday Night Meat Sticks quote from our intro.  She's been having almost as much fun as we have lately, with building out a new network, getting her own show fired back up after a hiatus, recently becoming single again and trying out the dating world...actually, come to think of it, she might actually have more going on than we do these days.  We also touched base with Billy Strawter of Social Coop Media, who always has something new and fun going on with his business as they're moving to a new space and looking to hire someone...like they always are these days.

All that and more in episode 100, so give it a listen and laugh along with us.

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Our guests can be found at:

Falling Down Beer Company: https://www.facebook.com/fallingdownbeer

City of Detroit: http://www.detroitmi.gov/

Social Coop Media: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-COOP-Media-Detroit/

The Corner with K-Hubb: https://www.facebook.com/TheCornerWithKHubb

Daily Detroit: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyDetroit

As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=91763

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD

Episode 100: the night of bad puns, occupancy code violations, Bob being rendered speechless, mayhem with puppets and so, so much more.  Had a really great night for episode 100 of our live weekly podcast, and with a room full of lively guests, we definitely didn’t have a lack of topics, voices, opinions or laughter for […]

We had some great guests in-studio with us for episode 99 of our weekly live podcast, with the conversation going from IT security and risk management all the way out to the maker-based economy, some cool charitable organizations you can get involved with to help others, and tons more.  Thanks to our guests Dan Gregory, Matt Thompson and Dave Glenn from CBI (Creative Breakthroughs Inc), as well as Daniel Dugan from E-Nable, for joining us and hanging out all night for the chats...

Episode 99 was steeped in 1999-themed breaks and an intro, and thankfully that's the last episode we're doing this for and so we'll be back to the semi-regular mayhem from back before episode 80 happened starting next week.  Once the intro wrapped, it was time to dive into the news, events and items that grabbed our attention over the past week.  The chaos on Reddit.  A guy who's owned and used a domain for 16 years getting sued by a startup trying to claim infringement.  Our collective wondering why anyone does a Q&A session on Twitter since they never go well...and the recent ones with Bobby Jindal and the author of 50 Shades of Grey were no exceptions.  How we're all idiots because some guy recording himself playing video games made over 7 million dollars last year.  Facebook's social media experiment with the rainbow photo app.  A new 9% tax on streaming / cloud services...and what that might mean for Detroit.  All that and much, much more.

Dave (left) and Matt (right) from CBI

Big shout out to the folks at Ruppits for doing the puppets of us, by the way.  Go check them out at https://www.facebook.com/Ruppits

For our second segment, we dove in with CBI (Creative Breakthroughs, Inc).  CBI manages IT risk and ensures your data is secure, compliant, and available. No matter your industry, their Subject Matter Experts, tailored assessments and custom solutions help safeguard your organization’s information.  For more than 20 years, their customers have come to rely on CBI as their trusted advisor to meet their unique needs with solutions from the best professionals in the industry.  We covered a whole bunch of topics with them from recent hacks to their impending move downtown. Give it a listen, and check them out at https://www.cbihome.com/ They're also hiring like mad, so check out their careers page at https://www.cbihome.com/careers

They're also heavily involved with the upcoming Converge/BSides security conference downtown...and they announced a discount code that'll get you in the door free while supplies last.

Use discount code CBICC2015GOLDSPONSORSHIP on the registration page at https://convergedet2015.busyconf.com/bookings/new

Dan from CBI (left) and Daniel Dugan (right)

Then we dove in with Daniel Dugan to talk about a whole bunch of topics.  E-nable, the place we met at Penguicon that does 3d printing of prosthetic limbs for children.  Detroit Maker Faire and all of the things you can expect to see at the Henry Ford.  The First Robotics group, and how they're helping get kids engaged in advanced projects.

Needless to say, we had a lot of ground to cover and a whole bunch of interesting topics came up during the course of our chat.

Segment four was our usual wrap up segment, doubling back on a few things from earlier in the night, as well as a few other news items that we didn't get to during the opening segment.

That's all for this week.  Join us next week as we hit episode 100 and we're joined by some old friends to sit around, reminisce, and have a good time talking smack about our first 100 attempts to be somewhat humorous and relevant...

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Links from tonight's episode:

SPONSORS

Squarespace: get 10% off by going to www.squarespace.com and using code IT during checkout

Careeer Academy: get major, major discounts on online courses and training by going to http://vip.careeracademy.com/?itinthed

GUESTS

CBI: https://www.cbihome.com/

CBI Careers: https://www.cbihome.com/careers

Converge/BSides security conference: use code CBICC2015GOLDSPONSORSHIP during checkout at https://convergedet2015.busyconf.com/bookings/new to get in FREE!

E-nable: www.enablingthefuture.org

Detroit Maker Faire: www.makerfairedetroit.com

Penguicon: 2016.penguicon.org

First Robotics: www.firstinmichigan.org

As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=91763

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD

We had some great guests in-studio with us for episode 99 of our weekly live podcast, with the conversation going from IT security and risk management all the way out to the maker-based economy, some cool charitable organizations you can get involved with to help others, and tons more.  Thanks to our guests Dan Gregory, Matt […]