Shirts for Skittles!

It's Destination Imagination time again. My daughter's team has once again qualified for Globals, which means fundraising for them and the other teams from our town. We've got a great selection of t-shirts on sale to help raise funds: 

Those are two I think would be of more general interest. We also have four shirts with more of a town-centric or in-joke feel:

Please take a look at the shirts and buy some for yourself, your friends, and your families! If you can't buy shirts, share them on social media platforms! Links for sharing are available on the site: https://www.bonfire.com/store/bedford-ma-destination-imagination/

You can read more about the Bedford MADI program and our successful run at states this month on the Bedford Citizen!

Doubts

I spoke in church today. Of course I talked about Bruno!

 

Link to to Google Doc

Dr. Strange and the movie leaving madness

My daughter summed up my feelings about Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness when the credits rolled and she proclaimed "that was dumb." I felt let down and betrayed. For the past month we had overloaded on Marvel movies getting my younger two kids caught up so this could be their first MCU movie to watch in a theater. The trailers looked good, Spider Man No Way Home exceeded expectations, and I walked into the theater expecting to share something special with my children. I got this instead:

The @DrStrange movie is what you get when you mix half an Evil Dead homage, half a cameo clip show, and half a marvel movie together in a blender, take out the best parts, and hit puree!

— Nathan Cooprider (@ncooprider) May 13, 2022

I have learned a bit of context in the week and a half since watching the film. My position has softened a bit. Elizabeth Olsen felt like the MCU had cost her too many opportunities and wanted out. The Scarlet Witch from the comics actually goes full crazy. The Darkhold has a rich history of corrupting users. Fans eager to see a "Marvel horror movie" looked to see Sam Raimi unleashed on the screen. If I had thought through it a bit more maybe I could have seen this coming, but I did not. 

My biggest complaint came from the treatment of Wanda. Instead of building off what she "learned" in WandaVision, this movie picks up like that series did not even happen (other than her two kids being the impetus for the entire plot). With little or no transition, she goes from triumphant and repentant hero to villain worse than Thanos. It felt a little tone deaf to take one of the few female Avengers still alive and make her the antagonist. Not just tone deaf: it sounded like a dog whistle to incels. 

I had other qualms besides Wanda's arc. The Illuminati seemed superfluously stupid. This group supposedly defeated Thanos, but then couldn't even go a few rounds with the Scarlet Witch? Reed Richards is the smartest man alive, but he doesn't realize he's hopelessly outgunned? Wanda goes insane using the Darkhold and becomes the bad guy, but Dr. Strange suffers only a weird growth in his forehead and no other consequences? The Wanda variant is not able to fight back and just lets her body get used? For that matter, Wanda and Xavier can't overcome the Darkhold together? 

I think a better exposition and maybe a clearer redemption may have helped with Wanda's story, but the movie would still be a mess. This is easily my least favorite Marvel show or movie so far. I'm saying this is even worse that Fantastic 4. I left wishing I had saved my "first Marvel movie with all my kids" token for Thor. 

My daughter, the illustrator

I'm excited and proud that the book my daughter illustrated is now available for purchase!

Moldyrocks and the Three Bears by Jared Koyle and illustrated by Ada Cooprider. 

While remaining true to aspects of the original story with beds, chairs, and porridge, this unique story offers a delightful twist to the classic tale—Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This is the story of three clever sisters, princesses, who discover that to preserve the kingdom they were forced to leave, they must defeat their own queen. Together, with magical stones from a mysterious hare, the sisters set out on a journey that will reveal their ultimate destiny. Along the way they are introduced to a glassmaker, a wood worker, and a rope maker. The sisters learn that by giving away something personal, they receive more in return. They must also lose their way before they can know the true direction they are to follow. Then, just as it seems the evil queen Moldyrocks will reign forever, the combined patience and ingenuity of friends and family saves the day.

Available for purchase from these fine retailers: 

Alpha Book Publisher: 

Ebook

Paperback

Amazon

Ebook

Paperback

Barnes and Noble 

Ebook

Google Books 

Ebook

Google Play 

Ebook

Learning Python

 I stumbled across what appears to be a great resource for learning Python. It's been over a decade since I've known I need to learn Python. During that time I have taken a Coursera course and written a few scripts here and there, but I still do most of my Python programming by Googling and searching Stack Overflow. That works okay for occasional use, but I have recently found the need to make Python my daily driver. So I went in search of some solutions in the fall. 

I started by looking for something that I could use on my phone. Python Programming: Ultimate guide looked promising, but my enthusiasm for their app waned as I an into some technical difficulties. I should go back and revisit that, though. 

Eventually I found Python Morsels, and I think this is what I need in my life right now. I did the free month-long trial in the fall and I just signed up for a year. The site is created and maintained by Trey Hunner, a Python trainer for teams. I'm still fairly new on my journey there, and he just introduced a new "flexible mode," but the basic structure seems pretty well established. He gives an assignment, reference hints, automated verification, and follow-up discussions of the solutions. I highly recommend it.

The new "flexible mode" sets up a profile that can be made public. Mine's not that interesting, but I expect it will become more so over this next year!

3/11/21 Edit: I just noticed that Trey is a contributor to EditorConfig and his name is on a bunch of the plugins.

My thoughts on the election

We deserve better leadership. Vote Biden on November 3rd. https://www.npr.org/2017/03/17/520435073/trump-embraces-one-of-russias-favorite-propaganda-tactics-whataboutism https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-letter-united-states-election-2020 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-host-confronts-trump-adviser-over-flouting-mask-rules-debate-1536265 https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-constitution/ https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/the-threat-posed-by-the-chinese-government-and-the-chinese-communist-party-to-the-economic-and-national-security-of-the-united-states https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201701/11-warning-signs-gaslighting https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ratatouille#Anton_Ego https://joebiden.com/

Goal setting

I spoke in the Lynnfield ward today. This is my third time speaking in that ward. Previously I spoke on citizenship in the ward and the restoration. Today I spoke on goal setting. It's a little different now that this is my assigned ward and so I know the congregation a lot better. Goal setting is something that has been on my mind a lot recently for a number of reasons, so I appreciated the opportunity to collect and organize my thoughts. I thought things came together okay, although my delivery had some bumps. I made the cardinal sin of going over time, which I felt bad about (especially since I actually had plenty of time). 

Hopefully somebody found the talk helpful. I used Wall-e as a framing device.

Here's the notes, but the formatting is off due to copying and pasting. I suggest you look at the Google doc instead.

Hope in the Latter-days

I spoke today in the Billerica Ward. I had "what does it mean to be a saint in the last days" as my assigned topic. While there's no shortage of material about the last days, I definitely wanted to make sure I stayed applicable and useful for the congregation rather than speculative and sensational. I also didn't have time to binge-watch Good Omens. In the end, and at the suggestion of my wife, the material came together around hope: gaining hope, sharing hope, and nurturing hope.

I didn't write out everything about my talk due to preparation time constraints and that I tend to just read my words when I do that. I did collect various notes, quotes, and scriptures and share the outline below. Most of the main ideas came from Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk titled Preparing for the Lord's Return.

Fundraising ideas for Destination Imagination Global Finals

My daughters got lucky and fell into a great Destination Imagination program at our town. Not everything has run perfectly, but we have been extremely blessed and are now preparing to head to globals for the second time. A large part of that preparation right now is fundraising. The move to Kansas City seems to have made it especially more expensive this year. My daughter's team seems to have had a lot of success with fundraising this year so I wanted to share some tips from what I've seen (mostly from the outside):

• Year-round fundraising. Ideally, fundraising occurs all year round and not just during the month or so between states and globals. The problem with this is what to do with the funds if you don't actually make it to globals? Our town has a non-profit that supports the DI program. Money accumulates with that organization so that it's there when a team does make it to globals. That's the theory, although I realize there's a lot of details in the implementation which I do not know.
• GoFundMe. We got tipped off to this during our first trip to globals and we're using it again. The site does take a fee off the top, but it's worth the cost in the ease of use. A lot of successful fundraising has to do with reducing friction for those who want to donate, and GoFundMe does a great job of that.
• Business sponsorships. Our town has a culture of working with local businesses to provide support for various things. It really does take a village. I realize that demographics and culture might make this a less viable option. Remember that it's a culture that has to start sometime and somewhere, so why not with supporting DI? You can even sweeten the deal by mentioning how you will display your gratitude for the fundraising. 
• Business fundraisers. This is another side of the previous item, but maybe more palatable for businesses. We have a number of restaurants in the area that will do proceed sharing nights. For example, 20% of the proceeds from orders at Ginger during April 23rd were donated to our town teams heading to Global Finals. I admit that the owners of the restaurant have a daughter on one of the teams, but I've seen other organizations do similar things with a local pizza place. It makes sense: you drive traffic to their restaurant and so everybody wins.
  
  
• Bonfire. We did a t-shirt fundraiser for the first time this year and it took off like gangbusters. Part of that came from a particularly popular design by the older sister of one of the team members, but even our less popular shirts did well. Obviously you want some kind of original design that will sell well, but that's a little like saying "buy low, sell high" on the stock market. 
• Cookies. A different organization we participate in uses selling cookie mixes and doughs to fundraise. We are dipping our toes into that a little right now, although I cannot report on the results for us yet. We have noticed success elsewhere with selling cookie doughs or mixes. It takes some time to create and deliver the goods, but the supplies are actually pretty cheap and yield a good return for what you sell. I've seen a similar approach done with pizzas. 
• Share. Share on every social media platform you have, and then do it again. Specifically, I am thinking of Facebook and Instagram. If you use Twitter, tweet early and often. Same with Pinterest. Even go for Reddit, if it fits. I am not sure about LinkedIn as a platform for this, but I tried it. I am not a Snapchat user so I did not use that myself, and the same goes for Whatsapp. I probably should have. Once you have the GoFundMe or Bonfire or whatever set up, market it on social media over and over and over again. 
• Individual emails. Email your family. Email your friends. Email everybody you know. Probably don't email your coworkers, but if they have an off-topic channel or list or forum, put it there. Don't spam people (email them repeatedly), but a single reach out shouldn't bother anybody. Ask for donations, but also ask for them to share with THEIR networks.

While it's great to score a big raise through these efforts, it's really more about eating the elephant: one bite at a time. Good luck and have fun!

Looking for dinner tonight while supporting some great kids?

Looking for a great dinner tonight and a chance to support a great Destination Imagination team? 

Visit or order take-out from Ginger today, Tuesday the 23rd. 20% of the proceeds go to Bedford DI! 88 Great Road, Bedford MA. 781-271-9988.

We have other ways to help support my daughter's  Destination Imagination team, the Skittleworms! They have qualified for and will attend the global competition this year. They attended two years ago and placed third in the world for their event. In addition to the hard work of preparing for their competition, we are all actively fundraising to help finance the trip. You can also help in any of the following ways:

• Visit the GoFundMe site and donate: https://www.gofundme.com/the-skittleworms-take-kansas-city. That's probably the easiest way to make a direct contribution.
• Check out the three awesome t-shirt designs we're selling:
• Women of science: https://www.bonfire.com/women-of-science/
• Bedford, MA: https://www.bonfire.com/bedford-01730/
• Creativity is contagious: https://www.bonfire.com/creativity-is-contagious/
• Interested in facilitating a corporate sponsorship? Please email me and I can get you additional information. 
• Sharing is caring! Please share these opportunities on social media and with your own networks. Most of the sites have sharing buttons: just click and add a few words! Extra points for sharing on networks without buttons (i.e. Pinterest, LinkedIn, email)!

How to Cut Through Vendor Claims & Marketing Hype When Evaluating New Security Tools

I have a new post on the Threat Stack blog.

Check out my other recent Threat Stack posts!

How to Identify Threats Within Your Docker Containers

I have a new post on the Threat Stack blog.

Check out my other recent Threat Stack posts!

The Difference Between Security Trick Plays and Security Fundamentals

I have a new post on the Threat Stack blog.

Check out my other recent Threat Stack posts!

Self-Reliance Redo

I spoke this past Sunday in the Methuen Ward on self-reliance. I used the text of the last talk I gave on self-reliance, only I stripped it down to bullet points so I would not read it. That meant I did not have to talk so fast, but it also means I rambled a bit at times and probably used filler words. Oh well. One poor individual had actually been in Billerica when I gave the talk the first time. He only recognized the first Indiana Jones story and not the rest of the talk. I guess that's good that I use a memorable introduction, right?

You can find the notes I used below, or look at the Google Doc.

The Restoration

I spoke in the Lynnfield Ward today. I received the assigned topic of "the Restoration" and collected a number of eclectic thoughts to put together my talk. For some reason I got really nervous giving this talk. I think the topic ended up coming together in a good way, but my delivery didn't work too well. It happens. I'm copying my notes below.

SLDC, SOC 2, and Other Four Letter Words

I have a new post on the Threat Stack blog based on my presentation last week at SOURCE Boston!

Talk description:

Except for any authors of trojans that may have stumbled in accidentally, we all want to write secure applications. In spite of our sincere desires, vulnerable code gets shipped. Why? What do we do to fix it? What can we do to prevent it from happening? The answers exist in the realm of the software development life cycle, or SDLC. Various compliance vehicles (such as SOC2) exist to help us formulate an effective SDLC, but any security expert knows that checking a box does not typically yield the desired results. This talk describes the SDLC used by the agent team at Threat Stack, while also bringing in outside experiences to supplement. It also goes over pitfalls observed and lessons learned. You might not use the same tools or produce the same product, but the talk focuses on principles to make the resulting product more secure.

Check out my other recent Threat Stack posts!

Slides for SOURCE Boston 2018

You can find my slides from SOURCE Boston below and here. I tweaked them a bit from my presentation SOURCE Mesa-Phoenix.

Slides for SOURCE Mesa 2018

You can find my slides from SOURCE Mesa-Phoenix below and here.

Heading to SOURCE Mesa/Phoenix

This week I'm heading to SOURCE Mesa/Phoenix. While there I will present my talk: SDLC, SOC2, and other four letter words. I'll post the slides for the talk later, but you can read the abstract now:

Except for any authors of trojans that may have stumbled in accidentally, we all want to write secure applications. In spite of our sincere desires, vulnerable code gets shipped. Why? What do we do to fix it? What can we do to prevent it from happening? The answers exist in the realm of the software development life cycle, or SDLC. Various compliance vehicles (such as SOC2) exist to help us formulate an effective SDLC, but any security expert knows that checking a box does not typically yield the desired results. This talk describes the SDLC used by the agent team at Threat Stack, while also bringing in outside experiences to supplement. It also goes over pitfalls observed and lessons learned. You might not use the same tools or produce the same product, but the talk focuses on principles to make the resulting product more secure.

I'm slotted to present on day two, March 1st, at 1:10 pm. So right after lunch. Rob Cheyne interviewed me ahead of the conference to preview my talk, and you can find that on YouTube:

Sorry about the audio. I definitely have some lessons learned there for myself about getting the right equipment and prepping for the discussion a bit better.

I'll be there for both days of the main conference. I look forward to meeting new folks and learning new things!

Overcoming trials of faith

I spoke today in the Revere 2nd Ward. I had President Uchtdorf's talk from a few years ago, Come, Join with Us, as a text with which to start. I think that talk had a lot of great messages inside it, but I struggled over the last few weeks to make it my own. Eventually I decided to leverage the story of Corianton to try and teach some principles.

The previous speaker spoke on lessons from Liberty Jail, and it was not until I heard her talk that things really came together in mind for my own talk. She drew from a number of sources, but probably most directly from Elder Holland's CES Fireside Lessons from Liberty Jail. I found it interesting that she quoted Alma 41:10 from right in the middle of the counsel to Corianton I was about to use as the main mechanism for my talk.

In the end I only had about ten minutes to give my talk, maybe less. As usual, I had over-prepared material for even a full amount of time. So I cut my talk in half and tried to sew it all together on the fly. It didn't go horribly, but I definitely rambled a bit here and there.

Full disclosure: so far I haven't been recycling talks. 

In addition to seeing the text below, you can look at the Google Doc.