In June 2023 I finally managed to finish my four-year degree in Computer Networks and Cybersecurity from University of Maryland Global Campus. This was a massive milestone for me in life, and has been a personal goal for decades.
I sometimes like to joke about the ten years it took for me to finish my two year degree, and now I can joke about the twenty years it took for my four year degree. I can now also joke that I am on my way to being a PhD by the time I am in my eighties.
While I do enjoy a great deal of humor in my daily life, something that I took a break from during the last decade has been writing. I believe this time for respite from writing has come to an end. Over the last several months I have been endeavoring to find my way back to writing, but have failed; until recently that is, to identify How I want to write. The what I choose to write about isn’t going to change much, but I am going to adopt a different method of conveying the message. I will seek to engage in a topic more in-depth than I usually do, and can expect I may write about three to four topics per year.
I’ve always been excellent at writing notes or journals for myself, and this isn’t going to change anytime soon. I’ve also been commended on my capacity to write business-related materials, as well as my detail-oriented nature when writing documentation for my customers. The people closest to me, that have read my writing also have received a fair bit of insight, and I’ve received my fair share of compliments. Each topic I explore in real life, and potentially write about here will now be looked at from each of the following three perspectives:
How this affects me.
I find this topic the easiest to write about, and the most difficult to share. I have dozens of private blog posts, and decades worth of journals that I probably should delete or burn before I die. However, anything related to technology that I am doing, reading, or concerned about rarely has content of concern. I’m eager to write about my decision points for how I thread the needle of whether something should or shouldn’t be posted to the Internet. This perspective will of course be my own, with my future-self being my target audience.
How this affects you as an individual.
I am setting the goal for this section to be most relevant to the regular people in my life that haven’t the time or experience I do with technology that I have. The famous quote most frequently attributed to William Gibson helps drive my belief that this perspective has relevance:
“The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” — William Gibson
I have few records –if any– to identify the number of times I’ve aided an individual person with their technology. There was the time I helped someone resurrect their laptop after it had orange crush dumped on it by their toddler. Or the time I helped teach the Internet basics class at the Lomahasha Library. Potentially the time I volunteered to assemble old PCs at FreeGeek in Chicago. While each of these may be a relatively mundane task, they could have been documented, blogged about, and maybe I would have a few readers. But what I’m really after here, is the why an individual should be more aware of a particular topic. Why is it important to know how to extract the data from a dead machine, and not panic in the process. Or Why it’s important that we make sure the folks in developing countries that are literally just now getting online for the first time, can do so in a safe and productive fashion. Or why it is important to strip out your hard drives before you give your hardware to a good home once you’re done with it.
I feel these conversations aren’t being addressed with the right tone to make a sufficient difference and help individuals be better informed about the future they are being brought into.
How this applies to individuals interacting with technology in a business context.
This perspective builds on the previous two, but adds a few distinct differences. First, this perspective is targeting my own peer group. These are the folks I work with day-in, and day-out. These writings are meant for my customers to understand why I recommend certain activities, policies, strategies, techniques, or technologies. Second, the tool or technology I reference may only have applicability to businesses, and not something an individual would want to seek out. Third, I expect to engage with an audience of technologists and business leaders that are trying to broaden their understanding of a particular topic. I expect these posts will help me stretch my capabilities to convey important insight in an asynchronous format. Finally, I intend these writings to be reflective of my work ethic, technical expertise, and professionalism. I continue to believe that professionals exist in what I call “The Perpetual Interview”
In Summary
I am setting a new tone for my presence on the Internet, and I am filled with hope that my contributions will further my goal of doing good deeds in the world. I believe that technology will solve more problems than it creates, and I want to finally take the time to share how I have come to believe that. In doing so, I intend to help catalogue my own changing perspectives over time. I wish to help individuals make better sense of the technological world they find themselves living in. And I seek to help technologists and organizations of all types to make better, smarter, and more informed decisions within their own context.
I am looking forward to getting started.