I was poking around old folders and found an Excel spreadsheet I’ve kept for years to track work travel. After years as a road warrior, my travel has slowed significantly in a new role. I like the job, but I’ll admit I get a little stir-crazy when I go a month without setting foot on… Read More: Reconstructing a Travel Life with AI »
For the past few years, shortly before the beginning of the school year, I have required my two children to attend what I call “Andrew University.” It is only an hour. We sit down as a family and talk about school, grades, priorities, technology, and some of the lessons I have learned from my own… Read More: Welcome to Andrew University »
If your feed is anything like mine, you have probably been inundated with Black Hat and DEF CON posts over the past week. After five years of sharing my own recaps, I recognize that I am adding one more voice to an already crowded conversation. If you care to keep reading, however, I will try… Read More: Inside My Fifth Black Hat and DEFCON »
A few weeks ago, a viral prompt encouraged people to use AI to create illustrated resume or work profile images from their LinkedIn profiles. They were fun to look at, but they also made me wonder… What if, instead of visualizing your career, you visualized your life? That simple question led me down a surprisingly… Read More: The 40-Milestone Challenge »
I was excited to see Microsoft embrace the OpenClaw concept at Build a few weeks ago with the introduction of a new service called Scout. I finally got around to spending some time with it this past week, and honestly, it’s been a pretty awesome experience. I actually had a blog post sitting in my… Read More: My Top 10 Vibe Coding Tips »
“Goddammit, Donut, quit typing in all caps.” “I AM NOT TYPING IN ALL CAPS, CARL. I AM USING AN AI CODING ASSISTANT. IT JUST THINKS EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT.” That exchange never happened in Dungeon Crawler Carl, but after spending the last year vibe coding, it feels like it could have. Over the past year, I’ve… Read More: The Other 80% of Vibe Coding »
Recently, I found myself thinking about certification exams again. It had been several months since I last sat for a major certification exam, and while reviewing some of Microsoft’s newer AI certifications, I started asking myself a simple question: What should I take next? That led me down a rabbit hole of reviewing Microsoft’s current… Read More: Microsoft Security and AI Certification Roadmap »
I was introduced to the Copilot Earth project late last year, and that got me thinking about how a similar concept could be applied to security. The idea of visualizing activity at a global level, enriched and interactive, felt like something that should exist for a SOC. From there, one idea led to another. I… Read More: Adventures in Vibe Coding »
My oldest child is a game design major. The program is very anti-AI. That reaction is understandable when you are trying to learn the fundamentals of a craft. Nobody wants shortcuts replacing real skill while they are still trying to master the basics. One thing that surprised me is how many students in the program… Read More: Game Design in the Age of Vibe Coding »
I write a lot of prompts. Easily dozens a day at this point. Between experimenting with ideas, vied coding , vibe learning, asking questions, and drafting content, a good part of my day involves typing into some kind of LLM prompt. The odd part is that I have never been a great typist, despite thousands… Read More: Is LLM Prompting Causing Bad Typing Habits? »
I was reminded of something recently that I have been aware of for a long time. The first time it was explained clearly to me was many years ago during a presentation on profit strategies for video game arcades. The core idea is simple. People behave differently when they feel like they are spending money.… Read More: Pricing Misdirection Improves User Adoption »
As we enter the winter months and holiday season, when many of us will struggle to maintain or lose weight due to colder weather, a natural inclination to hibernate, and all those tempting holiday meals, I wanted to share my weight loss journey. This is not my typical post on AI, security, or career, but… Read More: 60 pounds in 7 months on Mounjaro »
What It Really Looks Like to Study Artificial Intelligence Online A decade ago, most universities treated artificial intelligence as a single elective buried deep inside computer science. It was the kind of class you took after surviving data structures, algorithms, and a heavy dose of calculus. That began to change in 2018, when Carnegie Mellon… Read More: Looking for an online AI degree? »
Another Unforgettable Black Hat & DEF CON Week I landed in Las Vegas and checked into Circus Circus, a no-frills spot but close enough to DEF CON to make the walk easy. It felt like the right basecamp for a packed week. My 4th hacker summer camp! Tuesday was about arrivals, badges, and parties. I… Read More: Hacker Summer Camp 2025 »
With so many Large Language Models (LLMs or GPTs) available today, how do you know which one to use? The truth is, there isn’t a single “best” model. Instead, the right choice depends on your specific needs and the tools you have at hand. General-Purpose LLMs Text-based LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot are… Read More: Choosing the Best AI Model »
Vibe Learning is a new approach to education that uses AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to create a fast, interactive, and engaging learning experience. By shifting from traditional study methods to conversational exploration, learners can accelerate understanding, focus on what matters, and build knowledge more efficiently.
I was explaining my career progression to a new mentee recently, someone new to IT, and it got me thinking about how, early in life, it can be unclear how someone might transition through multiple jobs or careers. For many, these transitions are driven by interest, necessity such as being laid off, or a drive… Read More: Thinking Back on Career Transitions »
I’m still recovering from my third year at Black Hat and DefCon. The physical and emotional exhaustion, social overload, and post-event sniffles are all signs of a great conference. This year, I added an extra day for the first-ever Black Hat AI Summit. I was drawn to the topic, the networking opportunities, and my usual… Read More: Hacker Summer Camp 2024 »
I returned from my second Hacker Summer Camp a few weeks back, Black Hat and DEF CON, and I’m excited to share my observations and notes. What is Hacker Summer Camp? DEF CON was started by Jeff Moss (known as Dark Tangent) at the age of 18 in 1993, with around 100 attendees, and it… Read More: Hacker Summer Camp 2023 »
There are many opportunities in our professional lives to provide feedback on peers, managers, company direction, instructors, vendors, etc. You may be tempted to use these opportunities to focus on the negative by providing constructive criticism and negatively weighted responses. I suggest that you consider focusing on the positive. Consider that these feedback requests are… Read More: Providing constructive criticism on professional feedback requests »