This post features takeaways from an episode of Threat Vector with Sam Rubin, VP and global head of operations at unit 42, discussing his testimony to Congress on the evolving sophistication and speed of ransomware attacks, the changing tactics of threat actors, and the impact on sectors like education, healthcare, and government. The conversation also emphasizes the importance of public-private partnerships in combating cyber threats, the impact on strengthening collaborations, and the significance of preparing the cyber workforce for the future.
This past week I finished up an class from IDEO and Acumen called Design Kit: The Course for Human-Centered Design. I took the class with, what were at the time, three strangers. The class was to take about six weeks and would allow us to go through the IDEO design process end-to-end, and if we finished on-time we would receive a certificate.
One of my predictions for mobile in the next six to eighteen months is heavy cross-over in brand and mobile experiences where integration in mobile apps drives customer engagement.
Since April (2014), I have been creating interactive Customer Stories or Customer Journeys for Salesforce Marketing Cloud (formerly ExactTarget). These Customer Stories have pushed me, and now my team, to dive deep into using iBooks Author, along with Keynote, Photoshop and Illustrator, Google spreadsheets and lots and lots of sketching and experimenting
Reflecting on a year where I’ve chased a fitness goal. More work to do, but proud to make it this far and thankful for help from friends an a little tech from Apple.
The pandemic sent us home, and while there was much we’ve given up in the year+ to stay safe and protect each other, there have been new opportunities. Like many, I took the year to improve my heath and wanted to share my thoughts as I reflect on a year where I was able to swap a commute for a run.
I am finally facing “Goal Writing”.
I have never loved writing and sharing my goals. At Salesforce I struggled to connect with their V2MOM - in hindsight the V2MOM is fantastic. And at IBM my blood pressure has risen every time I’ve opened our Checkpoint tool (until today! It’s finally working right).
About a month ago I watched a video that really helped me understand both how and why to write down goals in a way that spoke to me. I want to share that inspiration and my template. I am finally eager to write goals down and share them with others.
I will try to revisit this post throughout the year to share what I add or take away from this process.
Goal title
State this as a dream or emotional statement.
Date Due: Be S.M.A.R.T. and time-bound the goal 😉
Public: Yes/No (You can share goals in the new IBM tool, and I believe most goals are better shared).
Why:
Why spend time to accomplish this? What will help you know you achieved the goal Include Targets/Measures
How Surprised will I be if I do not achieve this goal?
(No surprise if I fail, 10, sure it will happen)
Top 3 Reasons for failure:
This aligned with the “O'“ in V2MOM… Obstacles have to be acknowledged. Sometimes progress on overcoming an obstacle is more valuable than the goal, esp. when your work unblocks your peers.
Who can help?
One of the smarter questions, never battle alone, have people to help you stay accountable to your goals
How can I stack the deck in my favor?
Action (right now)
In our system at IBM, I want to align with our leadership's goals. I am mapping my goals to our CMO’s goals and noting that with a simple line at the beginning of the description.
Further, I am aligning to the 5 dimensions that we’ve used to guide our goals since I joined IBM. I am using the hashtag for now as there is not a place to input the dimensions.
#ClientSuccess
#BusinessResults
#Innovation
#ResponsibilityToOthers
#Skills
This is the first year I have approached goal writing with a plan that I am excited about and believe can work. If you have ideas, tips, or inspiration you want to share, I would love to hear from you.
I’ve sent this list to new (and old) Mac users and iPhone lovers a lot over the past several years. I think it is time for it to become a story and URL I can send people to and update as needed.
Do you like your simple password? Maybe a variation on a student ID you have… or maybe it’s just that six-character ID you were issued?
iPassword Login Screen
Stop. Right now.
That is an awful plan. Go get 1Password right now. Put it on your phone, your tablet, your Mac (or PC).
This application is amazing. It works on your Mac and integrates with your browsers so that when you need to log in you can with 1 password. It allows me to have really long (50+ characters) passwords for every site & service. I put this on my iPhone and can sync all my passwords from my Mac. So now all my passwords are in my pocket. It’s great. They just released an update that lets you keep separate vaults for work and personal.
This is perhaps my oldest, favorite app. One of the very first things I grab on new hardware.
While you are thinking about protecting yourself, go into your settings. Switch to DuckDuck Go. You won’t pay with your privacy.
— Advertising without tracking, the DuckDuck Go business model vs Google’s business model.
PRO TIP for Apple Notes: Use the #hashtag in your notes.
This “hack” makes searching for a note so much simpler. Adding the octothorp (the hashtag for those of you that are not type nerds) means that you can search for “#apps” and find your note about great #Mac #apps
This is my note title → Great #Mac #apps
Awesome app to markup files, screenshots, etc. It works on your Mac and iPhone. It is free.
This is the upgrade from Caffeine. It keeps your Mac screen on, this is great when you are presenting and you want to make sure your Mac stays awake.
This is a great little utility to create a calming atmosphere from your Mac. You can build a sound profile, think waves + boat = sailing sounds.
Hide your desktop shame with Desktop Curtain. This little app covers up your desktop with clean, custom desktops. Perfect for when you need to share your screen with a customer.
Otter is a voice recording app. It transcribes the voice memo for you. It has decent accuracy, but I am looking into the privacy implications. I am a little worried about that and may just stick with Voice Memo or Just Press Record.
Snapseed (mainly use it on an iPad btw) is a great tool to quickly retouch a photo with decent to great results. I have found that a little goes a long way with photo editing and that it can be easy to over correct in Snapseed. It is also a Google owned tool and that gives me the creeps. I need to find a tool that does red-eye removal on iPad as simply as this. One knock on the app is that it isn’t integrated into the Photos app’s share sheet so the workflow is clunkly.
Polytopia is just a fun as can be turn based strategy game. I have been locked in some epic battles with my youngest son. I suspect I am about to be repeatedly destroyed by him soon. Bring it on youngster!
Originally published at:
https://medium.com/@davidrmoulton/great-apps-that-i-use-b346c239265d
