Law 32 The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to …
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Category:commentary
integrisure – the business that never was
For a long time I have been interested in real, actual, legitimate security. I am not a fan of the widespread use of security theater in our “post-9/11 world”, as {{Bruce Schneier}} calls it. Integrisure was supposed to be a real-world {{pentesting}} of “secure” facilities, a la Sneakers. In late 2000 / early 2001, I was working on …
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community building is hard
Establishing and building a community around a common interest is hard. After exhausting your network of friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc – the only way of getting new folks into the community is to aggressively campaign and advertise to them. Let’s say you’re a technical user group (like a couple of the ones I’m a part …
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control the options: get others to play with the cards you deal – law 31 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 31 The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make chocies between the lesser of two evils, both of …
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make your accomplishments seem effortless – law 30 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 30 Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of the revealing how hard you work – it only raises …
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plan all the way to the end – law 29 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 29 The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. …
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enter action with boldness – law 28 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 28 If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid. –{{Robert Greene}}, {{The …
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everything with a webui should publish rss
{{RSS}} is far from dead – it’s ubiquitous. What astonishes me, though, is that not all applications that have a WebUI don’t publish feeds via RSS (or {{Atom}} – same difference). OpenNMS and Nagios (via a plugin) will push alerts via RSS – which is fantastic: there’s no reason everyone shouldn’t be able to filter …
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play on people’s need to believe to create a cultlike following – law 27 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 27 People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices …
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keep your hands clean – law 26 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 26 You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement. –{{Robert Greene}}, {{The 48 Laws of Power}} (review)
re-create yourself – law 25 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 25 Do not accept the roles society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, on that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will …
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play the perfect courtier – law 24 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 24 The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to …
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concentrate your forces – law 23 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 23 Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key …
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use the surrender tactic: transform weakness into power – law 22 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 22 When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose to surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other cheek …
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what should a professional services group’s goal(s) be?
Should it be as a revenue stream? Or can it be far, far more? Every place I have worked since getting into professional services back in early 2008 has viewed the goal of the organization as making money by performing services. Whether or not the customer was happy, something useful was delivered, whether a relationship …
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unsales
I am a huge believer in unsales. And not in the pharmaceutical industry sense. Because “shipping is a feature“, and because I intensely dislike the “do it for me, then hand me the keys” mentality, I routinely follow the unsales methodology. What is unsales? It is [almost] only selling what a customer can use today. I …
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play a sucker to catch a sucker – seem dumber than your mark – law 21 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 21 No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, if to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives. –{{Robert Greene}}, {{The 48 Laws of Power}} (review)
there’s never enough documentation | there’s too much documentation
Documentation is vital. There’s never enough. And there’s always too much. In general, these are the areas I find documentation to fail: Not Enough Too Much/Many why-tos (instead of how-tos) tutorials on things you need architecture explanation design philosophy “how we got here” “why we are here” future plans / roadmaps deltas from standards recording …
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the value of face-to-face
I have been working from home for nearly 5.5 years. The benefits are myriad – not least of which is the minuscule commute and savings on fuel, eating out, etc. Sometimes I travel for work. This accomplishes many good things – a chance to put faces to names and voices, get a chance to read …
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new documentation should always augment the status quo
In my line of work, I often need to create documentation for clients. Documentation in general is a Good Thing™. But good documentation’s goal should always be to augment and improve upon what already exists – not to supplant, downgrade, or muddle what already exists. A prime example of this has come up with a …
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do not commit to anyone – law 20 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 20 It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you. –{{Robert Greene}}, {{The 48 Laws of Power}} (review)
know who you’re dealing with – do not offend the wrong person – law 19 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 19 There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive of outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents …
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do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous – law 18 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 18 The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find …
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keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability – law 17 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 17 Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your …
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use absence to increase respect and honor – law 16 – #48laws by robert greene
Law 16 Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. Your must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity. –{{Robert …
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