Dodgers Opening Day

Yesterday was Opening Day in Major League Baseball. The Dodgers infield and outfield has changed since last season. Some key outgoing players were:

• Matt Kemp
• Hanley Ramirez
• Dee Gordon

The Dodgers Acquired:

• Kendrick Morales
• Jimmy Rollins
• Brandon McCarthy

These are some of the key players who came and went, whether by trade or via free agency. I do say I am disappointed to see Kemp and Gordon depart, as they were some of my favorite Dodgers however I understand that as much as baseball is a sports for fans, it is a business. The Dodgers made some sound business decisions to make the franchise stronger. The Dodger outfield went from

• Carl Crawford
• Matt Kemp
• Andre Either/Yasiel Puig 

to

• Carl Crawford
• Joc Pederson
• Yasiel Puig

We will see if this creates better defense and offensive for the Dodgers outfield. Last season our defense was ok and our offense lost itself during the postseason. 

Here is to a new season! Go Doyers! 

What is Def Con?

Lately I have been posting computer related posts, Def Con & Are We that Naive. These posts are related to the security conference I did attend. For those of you reading and wanting to know what is Def Con they have put out a Documentary on what Def Con is all about. Today's post is to educate you on what is Def Con. Enjoy.

Via You Tube

DEF CON is the world's largest hacking conference, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2012 it was held for the 20th time. The conference has strict no-filming policies, but for DEF CON 20, a documentary crew was allowed full access to the event. The film follows the four days of the conference, the events and people (attendees and staff), and covers history and philosophy behind DEF CON's success and unique experience. Written by Jason Scott

Def Con 21

Def Con 21

Photo by Jason Miller - Welcome to DefCon 21 Banner at the Rio Hotel

Photo by Jason Miller - In Human Registration at the Rio Hotel

Last year I told myself I was going to attend Def Con. I was so intrigued by the following subjects: hacking, black hat's vs white hat's, exploits(system or browser), and just all the cool stuff that you can do to a computer. I wanted to feel and see the pulse of the info sec community. Well one thing lead to another and I missed Def Con 20. How heartbroken I was but not this year. Def Con 21 would not be missed. 

This year I made a conserted effort to attend Def Con and it was an amazing first experience. Before I get into my experience I was warned to watch out for people doing bad things at this conference. Watch out for people putting micro cell towers in their pockets, checking email on the secure or insecure wireless networks, turn bluetooth off on your devices, turned wifi off on your devices for that matter, and never let anyone try to use or put a USB stick into your computer. Needless to say I was worried however I also knew that only someone clueless to security would make these types of mistakes at this type of conference. These mistakes are something I didn't make and was glad to see the conference this year.

I decided to attend this conference because I am at a point in my career where I need to decide if infosec is a career I should pursue. I know that infosec is always changing which makes it fun and challenging however I do not know what entails being in infosec. I have been told by family, friends and co-workers that infosec would be a great career choice but I needed to see for myself. I have taken Ethical hacking Classes as well as Firewall and Forensic courses in school, which have been the most interesting. Even though they were the most interesting doesn't always mean it is a great career choice. I am huge enthusiast of hacking/pentesting and I feel it is something I will be good at after some practice. Def Con was the obvious choice to see if this field is for me. Here is my compact two day experience with community of Def Con.

Day 1

I got my badge! There are contest to solve the crypto that comes with the badge but not skills are not advanced enough to solve this puzzle just yet.

Photo by Jason Miller - Human Badge at Def Con 21

I went to the Keynote, Torturing Open Government Systems for Fun, Profit and Time Travel, Backdoors, Government Hacking and the Next Crypto Wars, and Evil DoS Attacks and Strong Defense to name a few. All of these talks were good talks and every interesting. The Keynote was a great intro to the Def Con crowd with numerous interruptions of "Why are you here", "Lies", and "The Government sucks." It was a great time. I met numerous people who were in the security field and who were just "there." Needless to say there were some amazing speakers and some speakers that lacked but overall it was a great intro to the world of security and hacking.

There were also numerous things besides the talks to attend: Hardware Hacking Village, Locking Picking Village, Wireless Village, & Tamper Evident Village. I stopped into some of the Villages but did not stay long. I was on the mission of attending talks versus going to the villages and participating in the extracurricular activities.

Another interesting point of day 1 was seeing the pro ACLU response to privacy rights and the EFF support. I have no followed these organizations closely regarding privacy however people are very passionated about these organizations. It opens my eyes to the organizations fighting for online privacy for all.

Day 1 was a good day.

Day 2

I was worried about the talks of Day 2 because after reading the title of the talks I was left much to be desired. However in retrospect the talks of day 2 turned out to be a intriguing day. Talks ranged from From Nukes to Cyber-Alternative Approaches from Proactive Defense and Mission Assurance, The Politics of Privacy and Technology: Fighting and Uphill Battle, Stalking a city for Fun and Frivolity, and Safety of the Tor Network: a Look at Network Diversity, Relay Operations, and Malicious Relays to name a few. Two talks stuck on my mind after leaving day 2; Tor & Stalking a city for Fun and Frivolity. The Tor Project protects users who want to browse online in privacy. Tor left me thinking about internet censorship and who are we as a people to censor the internet. However when it comes to morale items say "child porn" do we sensor the internet? It was a mixed bag in the room but it does make you think and wonder about internet censorship. Stalking a city for Fun and Frivolity was an amazing talk about how a small $57 device can allow you to stalk anyone you want. You can find out all the digital information you want because people just are not cognitive or care about what they do on public wifi. Like an Ice Cube song says "Today was a good day."

I missed Sunday due to having to catch a flight back home but next year I plan on being in Vegas for the entire conference. As a first time Def Con attendee it provided valuable insight into the hacking world with a chance to test my morale compass. It left me with a thought of Erik Snowden, Bradley Manning, The Jester, Anonymous. Are they doing good for the country and people in general or are they causing more problems. White hat or black hat is the question that I wonder about after attending this conference. This conference has taught me that not everyone is bad and people are breaking stuff but breaking it to fix a vulnerability for everyone as a whole. Def Con has a left an impression on me that can never be undone. Do you think you will ever attend a security/hacking conference?

Are We That Naive?

Photo via: Washington Post

This past weekend I had an opportunity to attend Def Con for the first time (which was amazing) and the hot topic of course was Erik Snowden, patriot or traitor. The people I spoke to at the conference seemed to agree that he wasn't a traitor but they weren't sure what to call him. I wouldn't call Snowden a traitor because he didn't leak US information to foreign enemis. Snowden would not be categorized as a patriot in my eyes. I am unsure of why I do not believe he is a patriot but I do not see him as a US hero. I believe what he did took some real courage however giving up his entire family for every American took some real balls. Snowden to me is what we call a whistleblower!

I understand the reason Snowden gave for running and leaking the Prism information. The data the NSA is collecting is wrong however are American's that naive to the fact that American Government or any government for that matter is spying on their communications. For those people who follow tech news and sometimes mainstream news know that foreign individuals are creating malware and virus to steal data about people. Maybe people just want to think that some form of their lives were private and that the government would not spy on its on citizens. If this was your thought process I feel sad for you. I look at what foreign governments are doing in Arab worlds and I think those governments have regular people just like the US does. At the end of the day these governments believe they are protecting their people and country. I bet many of the people who let Prism happen have the same believe.

If anyone uses a computer at their job, at home, a cell phone, or anything that involves the internet they must know that they have lost privacy. Just look at the free mail services that are offered on the internet. All of your messages are stored on someone else's servers, which means if someone wants to see the subject of your mail and who you are talking to they can. The people who use any cloud services must know their data lives on someone else's servers. People must rely on that companies word that they are securing your data and no one will access it unless it is an emergency. You have given up the right for privacy by using public services that you do not control. Now I know this may sound harsh but it is reality. The current generation over shares in every way. Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Blogger, Wordpress, Pintrest,Instagram, to name a few, are the social networks that people chose to broadcast their lives on. If you choose to share the information that is ok but when you find out about Prism, do not be upset, you have already put the information out in the public space. If you believe that you have set your privacy setting's so no one can look at your private data please know that the setting's are not a guarantee that it will be private. If someone truly wants to find out information about you they can. Exploits in browsers, extensive web searches, or friends who have lax privacy settings will allow unwelcome access to your data. If you want privacy don't post your life online.

Now back to Snowden and what he has done. Something that I find interesting is Snowden has released the information about Prism, which is one part of the NSA surveillance system, but has yet to truly unveil anything else which would help answer questions. Snowden say's he is holding onto most of the information to save his life, just in case the US tries to take his life. I do not see how this will truly aid him because the information needs to come out at some point in time and his asylum in Russia is only a year. Yes he can get asylum in another country but getting asylum may be difficult and getting their will be a challenge as well. If the US really wants him dead I do believe it can happen. Snowden has helped the citizens of the US by leaking tracking information data of NSA however we need more information if we are going to hold the US government accountable for their actions. If they are operating illegally how will we ever know? Snowden has already ruined/sacrificed his life however I would hate for all this information he has to be leaked by a newspaper after something has happened to him. I want to hear his full story of what is going on with NSA before he perishes and before all evidence of this program disappears. Snowden is definitely whistlblower but no patriot. 

My question is how many other American's would do what Snowden did? I do not believe many of us would give up our lives in the same manner as Snowden. I asked that question of myself and I am conflicted. Could you be the next Snowden?

Cassava

Recently my Wife has discovered a new local eatery for us. Normally we only go for breakfast and coffee however this was the last weekend of Cassava's Tasting Menu. It was one of the best dining experiences that I could ask for. Every dish had you looking forward to next. The staff is warm and inviting making you feel at home. If you are ever in the Outer Richmond this is the place to eat.

Menu at Cassava

Amuse Bouche

Grilled Asparagus, Pork Salut, Pickled Jabanero

Parsnip & Pear Soup

Close up Parsnip & Pear Soup

Parsnip and Pear Veloute with Espresso, coco nibs

Parsley and Celery Root Salad

Quinoa, parsley and celery root puree, apples, sunflower seeds, kumquats.

Ravioli & Short Ribs

House made ricotta cheese and rabe ravioli, slow braised short rubs, sugar snap peas
Grana Padana shaving

Intermezzo: Grapefruit Juice

With sage simple syrup, mint, cucumber

Pork Two ways

Pork lion, white nectarine glazed pork ribs, stewed Gigante beans, Sugar snap peas, yellow long beans

Chocolate Mousse

Poached rhubard, fresh strawberry, lemon custard

Open Source is for Me

My Desktop using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

I have recently decided to give up on Windows OS's and Apple OS's as my main OS. I have made the change to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as the OS of choice. I am doing it for a few reasons, one to better understand Linux, even though Mac's are Linux you can not do all the things you do you would do in normal Linux as I have gotten to know it. Another reason is I really want to see how quality Linux is, I've heard it is tough when something breaks so I want to test this. As well I want to use open source software to see what the difference is between Open Source and paid software. I know there are obvious differences like support, updates, and possible features however some open source software offer these same points. 

I have been raised on Windows, learned to love Macs, yet I feel like both systems are starting to become very overrated. With Apple I like the OS but when I look at my  desktop I don't want to see my iphone or ipad. I want to see my desktop and know I am using a computer. In the latest version of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion, I look and all I see is a jazzed up Lion(Lion wasn't that great to begin with). I am tired of buying OS's that do not live up to the billing. Windows is the same way. With Windows 7, my favorite Windows OS thus far, is great but the only problem is the size of Windows after it is updated. It just grows and swells to large for me and just eats up my hard drive space. As well the cost of software for both OS's are too much. Office alone which is an essential app/program when using a computer is through the roof. iWork is the same thing and something that I do not think we should have to pay an arm and leg for. The software period is too much even though there is open source software for both platforms. 

Ubuntu Software Center where you can get paid or free software.

In this day in age where computers and technology are so important, I would think that getting computers in the hands of people would be the most important thing but when the cost of owning and having the computer is through the roof how can you expect people to keep and maintain them. This is why I made the switch I want to see as a power user can I live off Open Source OS's and software? Stay tuned I will post and let you know how it goes!

A Saturday Afternoon

As a child I loved to play soccer, in fact, it was my best sport. Now I am taking the time to teach my son the sport which I still yearn to play. Here is a Saturday in the park with a goal, ball, my son and my fiance taking the exciting shots! These are the days in which to live for!

Donovan and I Putting Goal Together

He Shoots and Scores

Trying to Score

Defense

Empty Net Goal

Trying to be like Uncle Steve and save the day

What a Kick

Little Pele

Tim Howard in the making?

Plums Cafe

On this food adventure in food decided to go to Plum's Cafe in Newport Beach. The food was ok but the service was worst. I do have to say the company was fantastic thanks to Nancy and Donovan!

Oregon Berry Belini & Mimosa

Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Eggs

Coconut French Toast & Oregon Peppered Bacon

Alderwood Smoked Salmon Hash

Milano Pizzeria

Pizza is always a great comfort food for me. I can never get enough and can always go back for seconds. Well on this night I was in for a rude awakening. When you go into a pizzeria I do not expect any over the top service but I do expect to be acknowledged and helped if you are seating me at a table and have a server coming to serve us. Needless to say the service at Milano Pizza was not up to par and neither was food. The only saving grace of the evening were the meatballs Nancy and I ordered. They were delicious along with the meat sauce it came. The pizza was rubbery and had a funny after taste to it. The garlic bread was lacking garlic and was hard as rocks. 

This restaurant was rated on Yelp and Google for 4 stars so that is the reason why we tried it but maybe this just wasn't there night. Try at your own risk.

House Made Meatballs - Photo By Nancy

Garlic Bread - Photo By Nancy

Pepperoni Pizza - Photo By Nancy

Pomelo

Pomelo oh Pomelo

On this night I decided to surprise Nancy and take her to this restaurant called Pomelo. I went to Yelp again for help with this selection. On Yelp this had a 4 star rating and it was in a neighborhood that I had yet to try the food in. When I saw the menu online I was quite intrigued and thought it had a fun and lively menu. This is the adventure of Nancy and Jason at Pomelo.

Upon entering Pomelo I could tell it was a local place to come and eat. You had groups of families and just friends sitting around talking and enjoying their meals. The location on the inside is a little small on the inside but it is just enough for a nice evening out. Nancy and I had the Cabo San Lucas and the Havana.

The Cabo San Lucas consists of two handmade soft corn tacos with grilled pacific snapper, shredded cabbage, mango salsa, chipotle aïoli and house pickled jalapeños. (Descriptions taken off Menu of Pomelo). This appetizer was AMAZING. Never had a taco with this mixture that was so tasty. The chipotle aïoli mixed in with the jalapeños made for the perfect mixture not to mention the snapper was cooked brilliantly. The unsung hero of the plate was also the mango salsa, it was refreshing mix that hit all the right notes.

The Havana cuban style fried rice with black beans, plantains, chipotles, ginger and cilantro, served with grilled skirt steak, sautéed onions and cuban avocado salad. (Description taken from Menu of Pomelo) Normally I am not an avocado person. I have had others make it for me before and had to immediately discard it from my mouth, and have had it other times when I have ate it and gone for seconds. This time is one of the going for second times. The combination of steak, black beans, PLANTAINS, and rest of the items on the plate were just heavenly.

If you are in SF this is a place to stop off and have a meal. It is intimate, food is great, along with personal attention. You can not ask for more than that.

Menu - Photo by Nancy

Jason Reading Menu - Photo By Nancy

Chandelier - Photo By Nancy

Entrance and Chandelier - Photo by Nancy

cabo san lucas - Photo By Nancy

cabo san lucas - Photo By Nancy

havana - Photo By Nancy

havana - Photo by Nancy

havana - Photo By Nancy

Nations

Image via en.wikipedia.org

So on my adventures in the Bay area I was told that there is one place that you should go for burgers. Everyone who comes to the Bay area must try them. NATIONS. Well needless to say I have been to Nations a few times and I thought I would let you know about the burgers and fries. I am from So Cal, Souther California for those who don't know that term, and we are known for our burgers. So I was a bit skeptical about how good these burgers were. Well after many conversations I thought I finally talk about Nations.

I got a Bacon Burger with chili cheese fries and Nancy got a Grilled Chicken Sandwich. The bacon burger had lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup, cheese,  and of course bacon. A Nation's burger is a pretty juicy burger that will fill you up. The burger also is a little sloppy and you must be mindful because the lettuce may cause your burger to slide all over the place. My bun did have grease spots on it probably from the person handling patty or they had the bun to close to the meat while heating it up. It was a little sloppy but still tasty. We also got chili cheese fries, and on this day I was craving these bad, and they seemed a little off of the mark today. Normally when we or I get them to go there is much more of an abundance of chili cheese and fries. Upon receiving our chili cheese fries first it needed more fries and second our slice of cheese had yet to be melted on our chili cheese fries which was a little odd, but they still hit the spot. Even though things seem to be missing the mark when you combine everything together  it flowed in harmony and all tasted good going down.

Overall Nation's is a great place to get a burger. Nations is 50's themed and works well with what you are eating. If you are in the Bay area stopping at Nation's may not be a bad idea.

Our Chili Cheese Fries and Burgers - Image by Nancy

Chili Cheese Fries - Image By Nancy

Bacon Cheeseburger - Image by Nancy

Chicken Sandwich - Image by Nancy

bistro laurent

Front of Building - Image by Nancy

This past weekend I took another trip to LA to go to my son's t-ball game and like always wanted to try a restaurant I had not been to before. I am a avid breakfast eater and LOVE French Toast. While driving around West LA, on Easter Sunday, I decided to Yelp from my Blackberry and look what popped up Bistro Laurent.

Bistro Laurent is located at 3936 Sepulveda Boulevard in Culver City. I put in the address because when I was driving southbound on Sepulveda I actually drove right by the location without realizing it. Now I know you are saying it is a HUGE RED building how could you miss, but it isn't as large or bright red as you think.

Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by the hostess who indicated to sit where ever we wanted, seeing that on Easter Morning at 9:15am not too many people were up and at it that early in the morning. Bistro Laurent had a cozy and modern feel to the space. On the sides of the restaurant there was bench seating, with individual silver chairs on the opposite side of the table. Going down the center of Bistro Laurent were two high brown tables with high seating silver chairs as seen in the picture below. There were individual portraits of people on the walls and a hand written menu near the register. They also had a fresh pastry case which was pretty empty but seeing that it was Easter morning it made sense.

My Fiance, Nancy, and I were really excited upon seeing the menu and whole ambiance of the restaurant. As we sat down and got familiar with the menu a couple next to us just happened to just fly in from France, and were telling us about their meal and what they thought were the delicious plates. They really sold us on the place and the food. So needless to say Nancy and I were thrilled to try the items on the menu. I decided to go with the French toast and Nancy decided to go with the Eggs Benedict with Canadian Bacon. The French toast is not your usual french toast, it was actually made up of three different breads combined into one. The French toast had, Traditional “Pains Perdus” or “Lost Breads”…chopped Croissants, raisins, cranberries in our sweet farm eggs batter(Description taking from their menu.) I was sitting at the table thinking this is going to be really really good or this is going to end up just awful. It was not the traditional way of having French toast and I LOVE French toast. But what the hell you only live once so I decided with the French toast and a side of turkey bacon. Nancy's Eggs Benedict with Canadian Bacon sounds like this A croissant, Canadian bacon or spinach, 2 poached eggs, our Hollandaise sauce (description from the menu.) The last peice of ordering were the drinks. Normally at breakfast I prefer a Mimosa while Nancy gets coffee or some type of juice. But on this journey down Mimosa lane I was told that they do serve Mimosa's but out of a premade bottle and for $10 dollars. I was pretty shocked that they were charging $10 bucks for a premade Mimosa so I passed and ordered a cranberry juice, while Nancy ordered coffee.

While we waited for our food to be cooked and served we received sourdough bread with butter. Normally I am against eating any free bread that is offered before your meal, unless its the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster too tasty to past up on, because I believe bread is used to fill you up so you will not be able to finish your meal. Alas this bread was too soft and too delicious not to eat. It was nice and fluffy and just melted in your mouth. I ate close to four or five pieces before the food arrived. I found out all the bread is baked in house in there own bakery and the loaf was super fresh. I couldn't believe how good the bread was. Most times when you go to restaurant bread is offered and its not terrible but you can tell it was an after thought in the whole menu planning process and I appreciate when you start off my meal on the right foot.

Now that the bread love affair is over its time for the real meat and potatoes of the meal. The French toast and the Eggs Benedict. When our plates arrived I was a bit jealous of Nancy's dish, because it looked composed and well put together. The Eggs were flowing over the Canadian Bacon and Croissant with a small salad placed on the side. Once I looked at my french toast it looked like leftover bread that had just been heated up. Now I know looks can be deceiving so I decided to dive right into my french toast to let my taste buds be the judge of the dish. Upon the first bite I felt that the french toast was sweet enough where I didn't need to add any syrup. The outside edges of it were crisp and delicious. As I worked my self towards he center of the french toast it became too soggy to eat and started to fall apart and not taste like the initial first bites. The entire dish was still pipping hot from the outside edges all the way into the middle of the toast, so I did appreciate even heating. The Cranberries and raisins did add a sweetness to the french toast but the egg soaked batter took away from the french toast. I felt like it needed another 10 or 20 mins to soak up the amount of liquid it had stored in the all the breads made into one. But overall it wasn't a bad tasting french toast just it was one that would leaving me wanting it over and over again. The turkey bacon was the star of the dish. Normally when I have had turkey bacon it is either oven baked or pan fried. Either way it taste's amazing and I love to eat it, but on this day the turkey bacon was GRILLED! I didn't know what to do with it. It had the normally turkey bacon taste with hints of cedar that made all the flavors of the bacon stand out. By far best item on the table. Nancy's Egg's Benedict, was delicious from what she told me. Her only complaint would be to have the side salad on a different plate due to not wanting to mix her Eggs in with her salad.

Overall experience was a good one at the Bistro. I believe the couple next to us hyped us up a bit and had our expectations too high on this Easter Morning but I would be willing to go back and try more items on the menu. The price of all the food is moderately priced and worth your time effort and energy. So until our next food tasting Au revoir et en dégustant votre repas.

Part of Menu - Image by Nancy

Seating in middle - Image By Nancy

Pastry Stand and Menu - Image By Nancy