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Recently, I got to spend a few hours in an airplane for a work related trip.  No internet or email. No kids. No wife.  Just me, and a couple hundred total strangers.  During such trips I like to either read a book or listen to an audio book.  On this particular trip I decided to listen to the book “Decision Points” by former President George W. Bush.  The idea of listening to a recent President discuss some of the most important decisions in his life was fascinating to me.

Rather than writing a typical chronological biography, President Bush took the approach of using each chapter to discuss a particular decision he made.  It was very interesting to hear his rationale, in his own words for many of his important decisions.  This approach made the book easy to follow.

Throughout the book I was reminded that all of our Presidents are human, just like you and I.  They have feelings, emotions, beliefs, and opinions.  Amid the fog of the constant yelling a screaming in the news, it is easy to forget that.  As a Christian, I was reminded that our Presidents need our prayers.

History will be well served by his book.  I enjoyed it very much.  If you are interested in current events, politics, or history I think you would enjoy it too!

Recently, I took a great training program from SANS to sharpen my existing I.T. security skills.  This class specifically dealt with performing network penetration tests.  As of yesterday, I have taken and passed the GPEN certification exam.  So, now I am officially a SANS GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN).  Most of you in the I.T. community are probably familiar with SANS, and possibly familiar with this certification. 

For those of you who are not, here is what this is all about in short.  Most organizations have computer networks that contain sensitive information.  One of the best ways to test the security of those networks is to perform a penetration test.

If you are an I.T. pro considering some I.T. security training, I would strongly recommend SANS.  I have taken a lot of I.T. training, and gathered a lot of I.T. certifications in the past (MCP, MCSE, MCSE+I, MCT, RHCE, etc) and I can say with conviction that this is easily one of the best training programs I have ever taken.  Here are a few reasons why.

• I took this course via the SANS VLive format.  It was perfect for me.  I was able to take these classes in the evenings, which worked great for my schedule.  The class happens live, and you can interact with the instructors and other students via a shared chat session. The live interactions made the class much more engaging than your normal (painfully boring) web based training.  However, if you did need to miss one of the sessions, you could watch the recorded version later.  SANS has this delivery format nailed.

• The instructors (especially Ed Skoudis and John Strand ) are world class subject matter experts.  Learning from these guys was simply great!

• The course content was packed with high value, relevant information which was delivered efficiently.

I would like to thank all of the great folks at SANS who helped to provide such a high quality program!  I enjoyed it very much, and I am confident that I will be able to apply the information to benefit my clients in the future.  Thanks again!