> When you mean fully patched, do you mean fully updated, fully protected, or something else?

Fully patched. For Linux, this means the latest version of the kernel and the latest version of all critical software (e.g. web browsers, FTP, SSH, etc.)

> So DefCon, in laymen's terms, gives you a cert that allows you to protect yourself from people messing with your traffic and eavesdropping (through microphones and cameras?), and lets you use the secured wifi? This sounds super interesting, but I have no clue how any of it works, haha.

The certificate allows you to do two things: 1.) authenticate the network, so you know for sure that you're on the network you think you are, talking to the router/access point you expect. 2.) Exchange a cryptographic key with that endpoint to ensure that all of your communications are free from tampering and eavesdropping. Key exchange mechanisms and certificate validation are huge topics. If you're interested, a good (though heavy) text to start with would be Schneier's "Applied Cryptography". There are also a number of good introduction to crypto courses, most of which will cover key exchange and cert authentication, available on Coursera and other online lecture sites.

> Are clear-body locks commonly sold/available? If so, they sound right up my ally!

Yep. Easily available on Amazon. Here's a set of 6 different styles for <$40: https://www.amazon.com/MICG-Transparent-Practice-Training-Locksmith/dp/B01H1MM1O2/

Here's the most common kind of lock (basic pin-tumbler) in a padlock form-factor on sale for $10 right now: https://www.amazon.com/BESTOPE-Professional-Practice-Beginners-Locksmith/dp/B00UF76C1Y/

> Is it normal to have stuff fall off and start messing with the internals of the locks?

Not as such, but most lockpicking tools are steal or titanium. Very often the internals of the lock are a copper alloy of some kind which is softer. Harder metal scraping on softer metal leads to flaking and pitting. Over time, the pits lead to binding and the flakes stick in the lock body and gum up the works. So things don't just break usually, but it can mess up the lock over time. If this leads to binding while a tool is in there, then it can be a bad time. Your tools can also sometimes bend or break small springs or other internals on certain kinds of locks.

Other good beginner guides: I like Deviant Ollam's "Practical Lockpicking": https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Penetration/dp/1597499897/

The MIT Lockpicking Guide is also pretty good (available free online). Other than that, if you can get old locksmithing manuals or references, they can really help fill in knowledge once you get the basics. New ones are HEINOUSLY expensive (the economics of rare, valuable knowledge get super weird), but sometimes you can find old ones for cheaper on eBay. Some people have also had lock with going-out-of-business sales for locksmiths or even just walking in and asking if they have any they'd like to get rid of. (Also sometimes works for old busted locks to practice on.) But at least in my area the locksmiths tend to sell their manuals online and junk their old locks for scrap, so I haven't personally had much luck there.

Hacking is a huge topic and means different things to different people. It has a huge number of specialties, so it's hard to get a start sometimes. It also helps to learn by doing. Hackers often develop their skills by doing wargames and "CTFs" that pose hacking related problems. A couple of good intro ones are OverTheWire (especially the "Bandit" set of problems) and HackThisSite.

http://overthewire.org/wargames/
https://www.hackthissite.org/

Expect that when you're starting out, you won't know a lot. Google is your friend. Other hackers are your friend. Most of the WarGame sites have IRC channels, so you can ask questions and get help.

There's also some introduction courses, but be wary of any of them that aren't oriented to hands-on doing. Hacking is about messing with things and breaking them in creative ways. Watching a lecture about hacking is a little bit like reading a recipe when you're hungry: a good start, but it won't do you much good unless you act on it.

A lot of the talks from hacker cons are available for free on YouTube. Search for DefCon talks and just watch a few and try and follow along. Google terms or concepts you're not familiar with. Where you can, try stuff out that you see (learn how to set up a virtual machine to play with so that when you break your box (and you will, if you're doing it right) you can just restore and not actually lose anything important.) Over time you'll learn more. If there's a particular area you get interested in, ask other hackers that you know or people you've met how to learn more.

> Before I forget, I want to thank you for all of your help. This is all really informative and great stuff, and I really appreciate taking the time to answer all of my questions!

Happy to help. I got a ton of help from random hackers when I was getting started and I still do even now. Hacking isn't like other disciplines. It's too chaotic and creative and fast-moving, so you really have to find your own way in it. As a result, hackers (the decent ones anyway) tend to be pretty good about helping each other out.

And if/when you fall down the rabbit hole and learn a bunch and someone else is looking for more information and comes to you with questions, then it'll be your turn to help them out.

> Fully patched. For Linux, this means the latest version of the kernel and the latest version of all critical software (e.g. web browsers, FTP, SSH, etc.)

So you make sure to update your device before entering the con? Is that because hackers have found exploitations in previous versions?

> The certificate allows you to do two things: 1.) authenticate the network, so you know for sure that you're on the network you think you are, talking to the router/access point you expect. 2.) Exchange a cryptographic key with that endpoint to ensure that all of your communications are free from tampering and eavesdropping. Key exchange mechanisms and certificate validation are huge topics. If you're interested, a good (though heavy) text to start with would be Schneier's "Applied Cryptography". There are also a number of good introduction to crypto courses, most of which will cover key exchange and cert authentication, available on Coursera and other online lecture sites.

That makes sense! So it's a security blanket for your device to make sure you're not on an unsafe network where who knows what could happen.

I did learn a bit about cryptography and cert/key exchange mechanisms in an AP computer science class, but forgot most of it, haha.

Is Applied Cryptography meant for those who already have a background/knowledge in cryptography?

> If this leads to binding while a tool is in there, then it can be a bad time. Your tools can also sometimes bend or break small springs or other internals on certain kinds of locks.

Gotcha, definitely gonna use clear locks first so I can at least get a feel for when something is mucking up.

> Other good beginner guides: I like Deviant Ollam's "Practical Lockpicking": https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Penetration/dp/1597499897/

> The MIT Lockpicking Guide is also pretty good (available free online).

I'm curious, do these do a good job of both explaining the mechanisms behind the locks, terminology, and how to pick a lock for beginners? I just want to make sure before I start reading them (or at least when I do start reading them).

> Other than that, if you can get old locksmithing manuals or references, they can really help fill in knowledge once you get the basics. New ones are HEINOUSLY expensive (the economics of rare, valuable knowledge get super weird),

I think I have one locksmith nearby me, so I might stop by and see what they have lying around.

Is there a reason new ones are notoriously expensive?

> Hacking is a huge topic and means different things to different people. It has a huge number of specialties, so it's hard to get a start sometimes. It also helps to learn by doing. Hackers often develop their skills by doing wargames and "CTFs" that pose hacking related problems. A couple of good intro ones are OverTheWire (especially the "Bandit" set of problems) and HackThisSite.

So would these websites introduce me to the world of online/computer hacking (apologies if that's the wrong terminology)? I'm somewhat spoiled/misguided by media sources like Mr. Robot, so I don't know what's true and what's fictitious/common in today's world.

> Expect that when you're starting out, you won't know a lot. Google is your friend. Other hackers are your friend. Most of the WarGame sites have IRC channels, so you can ask questions and get help.

If you don't know the answer to this, totally understandable: are most hackers willing to help out new-to-the-scene hackers? I know some communities (not related to hacking, but in general) are very quick to judge and ridicule newcomers to the scene.

> There's also some introduction courses, but be wary of any of them that aren't oriented to hands-on doing. Hacking is about messing with things and breaking them in creative ways. Watching a lecture about hacking is a little bit like reading a recipe when you're hungry: a good start, but it won't do you much good unless you act on it.

Knowing me, watching a lecture wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I'm fine with watching and learning concepts as long as it's interesting, y'know?

> Where you can, try stuff out that you see (learn how to set up a virtual machine to play with so that when you break your box (and you will, if you're doing it right) you can just restore and not actually lose anything important.) Over time you'll learn more. If there's a particular area you get interested in, ask other hackers that you know or people you've met how to learn more.

I do have a Virtual Box set up for both Linux and Windows 7 (I think), so luckily I already have a playpen set up. I just hope that I can find some way of starting out hacking, since it does seem fun.

> It's too chaotic and creative and fast-moving, so you really have to find your own way in it. As a result, hackers (the decent ones anyway) tend to be pretty good about helping each other out.

When you mean chaotic and fast-moving, do you mean that there's always new techniques and ideas coming out? I'm always a little nervous to step into a fast-moving scene in fear of focusing too much on something that has the potential to be outdated by the time I've finished learning it, y'know?

> And if/when you fall down the rabbit hole and learn a bunch and someone else is looking for more information and comes to you with questions, then it'll be your turn to help them out.

That'll be the day; I'd love to help someone in the future who's in my shoes today.

> It’s hard to consolidate databases theory without writing a good amount of code. CS 186 students add features to Spark, which is a reasonable project, but we suggest just writing a simple relational database management system from scratch. It will not be feature rich, of course, but even writing the most rudimentary version of every aspect of a typical RDBMS will be illuminating.
>
> Finally, data modeling is a neglected and poorly taught aspect of working with databases. Our suggested book on the topic is Data and Reality: A Timeless Perspective on Perceiving and Managing Information in Our Imprecise World.
>
>
>
>
>
> ### Languages and Compilers
>
> Most programmers learn languages, whereas most computer scientists learn about languages. This gives the computer scientist a distinct advantage over the programmer, even in the domain of programming! Their knowledge generalizes; they are able to understand the operation of a new language more deeply and quickly than those who have merely learnt specific languages.
>
> The canonical introductory text is Compilers: Principles, Techniques & Tools, commonly called “the Dragon Book”. Unfortunately, it’s not designed for self-study, but rather for instructors to pick out 1-2 semesters worth of topics for their courses. It’s almost essential then, that you cherrypick the topics, ideally with the help of a mentor.
>
> If you choose to use the Dragon Book for self-study, we recommend following a video lecture series for structure, then dipping into the Dragon Book as needed for more depth. Our recommended online course is Alex Aiken’s, available from Stanford’s MOOC platform Lagunita.
>
> As a potential alternative to the Dragon Book we suggest Language Implementation Patterns by Terence Parr. It is written more directly for the practicing software engineer who intends to work on small language projects like DSLs, which may make it more practical for your purposes. Of course, it sacrifices some valuable theory to do so.
>
> For project work, we suggest writing a compiler either for a simple teaching language like COOL, or for a subset of a language that interests you. Those who find such a project daunting could start with Make a Lisp, which steps you through the project.
>
>
>
> [Compilers: Principles, Techniques & Tools](https://teachyourselfcs.com//dragon.jpg) [Language Implementation Patterns](https://teachyourselfcs.com//parr.jpg)> Don’t be a boilerplate programmer. Instead, build tools for users and other programmers. Take historical note of textile and steel industries: do you want to build machines and tools, or do you want to operate those machines?
>
> — Ras Bodik at the start of his compilers course
>
>
>
>
>
> ### Distributed Systems
>
> As computers have increased in number, they have also spread. Whereas businesses would previously purchase larger and larger mainframes, it’s typical now for even very small applications to run across multiple machines. Distributed systems is the study of how to reason about the tradeoffs involved in doing so, an increasingly important skill.
>
> Our suggested textbook for self-study is Maarten van Steen and Andrew Tanenbaum’s Distributed Systems, 3rd Edition. It’s a great improvement over the previous edition, and is available for free online thanks to the generosity of its authors. Given that the distributed systems is a rapidly changing field, no textbook will serve as a trail guide, but Maarten van Steen’s is the best overview we’ve seen of well-established foundations.
>
> A good course for which some videos are online is MIT’s 6.824 (a graduate course), but unfortunately the audio quality in the recordings is poor, and it’s not clear if the recordings were authorized.
>
> No matter the choice of textbook or other secondary resources, study of distributed systems absolutely mandates reading papers. A good list is here, and we would highly encourage attending your local Papers We Love chapter.
>
>
>
> [Distributed Systems 3rd edition](https://teachyourselfcs.com//distsys.png)
>
>
>
> ## Frequently asked questions
>
> #### What about AI/graphics/pet-topic-X?
>
> We’ve tried to limit our list to computer science topics that we feel every practicing software engineer should know, irrespective of specialty or industry. With this foundation, you’ll be in a much better position to pick up textbooks or papers and learn the core concepts without much guidance. Here are our suggested starting points for a couple of common “electives”:
>
> - For artificial intelligence: do Berkeley’s intro to AI course by watching the videos and completing the excellent Pacman projects. As a textbook, use Russell and Norvig’s Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach.
> - For machine learning: do Andrew Ng’s Coursera course. Be patient, and make sure you understand the fundamentals before racing off to shiny new topics like deep learning.
> - For computer graphics: work through Berkeley’s CS 184 material, and use Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice as a textbook.
>
> #### How strict is the suggested sequencing?
>
> Realistically, all of these subjects have a significant amount of overlap, and refer to one another cyclically. Take for instance the relationship between discrete math and algorithms: learning math first would help you analyze and understand your algorithms in greater depth, but learning algorithms first would provide greater motivation and context for discrete math. Ideally, you’d revisit both of these topics many times throughout your career.
>
> As such, our suggested sequencing is mostly there to help you just get started… if you have a compelling reason to prefer a different sequence, then go for it. The most significant “pre-requisites” in our opinion are: computer architecture before operating systems or databases, and networking and operating systems before distributed systems.
>
> #### Who is the target audience for this guide?
>
> We have in mind that you are a self-taught software engineer, bootcamp grad or precocious high school student, or a college student looking to supplement your formal education with some self-study. The question of when to embark upon this journey is an entirely personal one, but most people tend to benefit from having some professional experience before diving too deep into CS theory. For instance, we notice that students love learning about database systems if they have already worked with databases professionally, or about computer networking if they’ve worked on a web project or two.
>
> #### How does this compare to Open Source Society or freeCodeCamp curricula?
>
> The OSS guide has too many subjects, suggests inferior resources for many of them, and provides no rationale or guidance around why or what aspects of particular courses are valuable. We strove to limit our list of courses to those which you really should know as a software engineer, irrespective of your specialty, and to help you understand why each course is included.
>
> freeCodeCamp is focused mostly on programming, not computer science. For why you might want to learn computer science, see above.
>
> #### What about language X?
>
> Learning a particular programming language is on a totally different plane to learning about an area of computer science — learning a language is much easier and much less valuable. If you already know a couple of languages, we strongly suggest simply following our guide and fitting language acquisition in the gaps, or leaving it for afterwards. If you’ve learned programming well (such as through Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs), and especially if you have learned compilers, it should take you little more than a weekend to learn the essentials of a new language.
>
> #### What about trendy technology X?
>

> (continues in next comment)

Wow, 24 hours and no replies?!

Fine, you know what? FUCK IT!

Alright, first off - While you can concentrate on physical, understanding the basics of the digital side of things will make you more valuable, and arguably more effective. I'll take this opportunity to point you at Metasploit and tell you to atleast spend an hour or so each week working to understand it. I'm not saying you have to know it backwards or inside-out, just get a basic understanding.

But you said you want to go down the physical path, so fuck all that bullshit I said before, ignore it if you want, I don't care. It's just a suggestion.

Do you pick locks? Why not? Come on over to /r/Lockpicking and read the stickied post at the top. Buy a lockpick set. You're just starting so you can go a little crazy, or be conservative. Get some locks (Don't pick locks you rely on!) at a store, and learn the basics of how to pick.

Your fingers will get sore. Time to put down the picks and start reading:

• Social Engineering - The Art of Human Hacking
  
• Practical LockPicking - A Physical Penetration Tester's Training Guide
  
• No Tech Hacking - A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing
  
• Unauthorised Access - Physical Penetration Testing For IT Security Teams
  
• Ninja Hacking - Unconventional Penetration Testing Tactics and Techniques
  
• Metasploit - The Pentration Tester's Guide (OPTIONAL but suggested)
  
• The Basics of Hacking And Penetration Testing - Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Made Easy (OPTIONAL but suggested)
  
• Keys to the Kingdom: Impressioning, Privilege Escalation, Bumping, and Other Key-Based Attacks Against Physical Locks (OPTIONAL but suggested)
  
  That reading list right there gives you over 2000 pages to read. Read. Read More.
  
  Tired of Reading? Have you been listening to the Social-Engineer.org Podcasts? 53 quality podcasts right there. Time to catch up!
  
  Tired of listening? Take a break! And by "Take a break" I mean grab your lockpicks, a lock, and start picking while you relax with a Jayson Street video. He's fun to watch, and will hopefully distract you while you try picking a lock. Also, he highlights how you don't have to be a computer-genius to be good at PenTesting. Go watch more of his videos while you pick locks - It's entertaining at least, and informative/educational at best. Now go watch Deviant Ollam's videos if you're done with Jayson Street.
  
  Sounds like a lot? It's not. You'll spend a bit of money getting started with picks, locks, and books. It's the nature of the game, no good way around it. It's time-consuming. You may have to give up playing your favourite games for a while. But the things you learn and skills you develop will pay more than that game did. By the time you're halfway through any one of those books you'll have a much better idea of what questions you want or need to ask in order to progress further and faster every day.
  
  Go to Security Cons. DerbyCon is awesome, and happens in late September, plenty of time to start saving money and making reservations. Talk to people, ask questions, and make connections. You will learn more in those 4 days than some people learn in months or years and you'll have tons of fun.
  
  If you can swing it, attend Deviant Ollam's "Physical Security Skills for Penetration Testers" class. The things you will learn in that class will make it worth every damned penny, and you'll feel like a bad-ass at the end of it.
  
  Is this what you wanted?

If you like python, I'd double-down on really knowing how to use the language well and to work fluently in it. There is a huge advantage to having a language and toolchain which you feel really comfortable with.

• Work through a book like The Testing Goat Book which will guide you through setting up the dev environment for and building a web project and also teach you some good habits as far as building robust, well-tested software.
  
  
• Get comfortable with pdb and with using it alongside automated testing to be efficient at tracking down bugs. Debugging - 9 Indispensable Rules is a really fun read.
  
  
• Get good at recognising and talking about the difference between good and bad code. 500 Lines or Less is a free a book that focuses on the design decisions and tradeoffs that experienced programmers make when they are writing code. One of the sections in there is on web scraping and you might end up getting an internship at Skyscanner, where they use python heavily and some parts of the org do a buttload of web scraping.
  
  
• Get good at explaining technical concepts clearly. the best way to do this as a fresher in uni is to form a study group where you work on homework assignments together and take turns at the whiteboard explaining tricky concepts to folks who are stuck. In addition to being just a good idea for doing well in uni, This skill will be really useful in interviews.
  
  
• Maybe play around with setting up a webapp on a server. I've been using DigitalOcean and they're pretty great and have well-written tutorials.
  
  
• Learning Git is a good idea. My go-to tutorial is Git for Computer Scientists, but its been like 8 years since I learned so someone probably has a better suggestion.
  
  
• Learn to cook simple meals and keep to a mostly-consistent sleep schedule. This will make you a better student and help you balance the internship search with schoolwork. /r/mealprepsunday and /r/instantpot are good places to start.
  
  
• Consider going there early and enjoying the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

>How many of you guys have had or are working towards a successful career with SQL?

I would generalize and say the majority of this sub are people who work with SQL or want to work with SQL. You may have a few hobbyists or folk who are doing their own thing and need to utilize SQL occasionally as well.

>Is it an rewarding career?

This is going to be a little broad of a question. I would expect most folk who have a career in SQL to enjoy it or at least find aspects of it rewarding. It's not a skill you accidentally build a career out of that you hate, you tend to gravitate to it or it accidentally finds you. Anyone who doesn't enjoy SQL typically gets out of it relatively quickly. (Either on purpose or accident.)

Data is important and valuable. The way many people lose their jobs in data is when they lose data and it is not recoverable. Likewise, if you develop something and it performs poorly and it affects those systems that holds data or perhaps damages the data, you likely won't keep your job.

As a result, you'll find people will either learn just enough to float by and drift or they will continually sharpen their skill-set and move up.

>What other software/tools would you recommend besides learning SQL to have a fun and a exhilarated career for a beginner?

To be honest, I feel like you could spend an entire career learning SQL. There is much more to it than how to write a simple query that returns data. Learning the technology and ideology of the database engine is a massive project and will take a very long time to master. I wouldn't recommend broadening your skill-set too far until you have the pieces down that you need. Once you can complete tasks or work on projects, then I would look at branching out skills.

Software that would compliment your learning in SQL would be business intelligence / reporting software (Crystal reports, SSRS, Power BI, Information Builders, etc.), programming languages (R and Python are very popular with SQL), additional scripting or computer languages like bash / powershell, documentation tools like snagit or Redgate's documentation toolset, quality assurance software, or network and administration software. It all depends on where you want to go, but I'd look at SQL to start if that is your interest and get heavily involved with it until you have a competency that can help you achieve value.

To add some more, here's part of a reply I sent to someone who was asking about getting a career in SQL:



>I would check out the twitter hash code #SQLCareer. A lot of the active SQL Server community (and some folks just active in SQL) blogged about what their day to day is like. This can give you a real world look into what it's like.
>
>There are two books I can recommend as well, the DBA Survivor by Tom Larock and also Data Professionals at work by Malathi Mahadevan.

​

Pretty much anything by Stephen Few. His 2nd edition of Information Dashboard Design is a great start. He's also done some great whitepaper type stuff as well. Google can help you find it.

Edward Tufte is pretty famous in the area as well. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information is a classic and an amazing book on representing data.

To me, telling a story with data is essential to calling something BI. Otherwise, it's just presenting a bunch of data in a different format than it started. You need to guide users to be able to diagnose issues and make decisions. Wireframing out a dashboard that starts big picture and have different paths users can follow to additional focused dashboards is key.

I just did a presentation on dashboard and visualization best practices at my company's conference for the 2nd time, and both times a lot of people told me how it changed their view of how they view analytics, or that they needed their team or boss to see the presentation because they are thinking about things the wrong way. Most of what I know and practice/preach today is a result of the above two gentlemen, plus things learned on the job along the way.

Visualize the data with the best chart type for the data. Not because they are pretty. Not because users want to see it a certain way. Pie charts suck, don't ever use them. I use this tweet in my presentation. Along with an example chart of when to use pie charts. Your dashboard might be KPIs and bar charts, and that's ok.

I could go on forever...

TLDR; Check out a couple of guys who are good at what they do. Tell a story with your data! Pie charts suck. Use the right visual. Feel free to PM me questions.

You can get a really basic pick set from a site like SouthOrd.

My first set was their Pagoda set: http://www.southord.com/Lock-Pick-Tools/Lock-Pick-Set-Pagoda-Metal-Handles-BPXS-12.html

What that made me realize was at my skill level I only really use the short hook and S-rake.

Beyond that I was having issues getting my head around the theory of the inner workings, even with the videos available. I tend to learn really well academically so I picked up "Practical Lock Picking": https://smile.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Penetration/dp/1597499897/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501560843&sr=8-1&keywords=practical+lock+picking

From there I picked up a few padlocks at garage sales, then ordered some specifically tiered towards the belt ranking setup here, and I've found them very progressive and enjoyable.

I actually reached out to some friends about 3D printing gear so I can do tear downs (I've got my Master 931 picked pretty well, I just need to tear it down for my next rank and don't want to lose everything).

Spend what you're comfortable spending (you wont be pick bound for fun or skill initially, at least I haven't been thus far), and follow the progression theories posted here, they've done really well by me.

Most importantly:
Don't fiddle with locks that aren't yours, even if you start realizing how much of the world is barred merely by a Master No3.

Don't fiddle with locks that you rely on for protection.

If you plan on carrying around gear verify your local laws.

Good luck and have fun, I'm really enjoying it so far.

What I'm talking about is pretty basic knowledge. I'd suggest googling for it first and reading through that.

If you're using an IDE (seriously, use an IDE), look for debugging in <your IDE>. It should give you what you need. You should be able to stop execution at a given breakpoint, step into and over method calls, and inspect the values of object and expressions. Bonus points for learning how to "Run to the cursor position" instead of dropping breakpoints everywhere and for figuring out conditional breakpoints. It's more complicated, but being able to debug a remote application is also really useful for most web applications.

After that, if you want to get into more systematic debugging, I recommend looking at Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems

For SQL, again, read the basics and then play around with it in an SQL application. Honestly, for learning purposes, if you have it, MS Access is pretty good. MySQL is probably the most accessible free tool.

Learn how to get data, filter it, order it from a single table. Then how to use grouping and group level filtering with GROUP BY and HAVING. Then learn inner and outer joins.

That's going to put you way in front of most young devs.

If you want to really get into it, I recommend Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties, but that's kind of overkill.

This doesn’t answer your exact questions but I couldn’t recommend this book more: Storytelling with Data - it’s an excellent primer on what makes a good (or bad) data visualization. This book provides tons of dos and don’ts to help you think about how and when to use different types of charts (be forewarned she hates pie charts though) as well as providing before and after examples as inspiration on how to make visualizations better.

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119002257/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qMFQCbDCYBFGC

Another book to consider that’s more specific to Excel (still gives data viz tips but it’s more how to do this in excel technical) is Data Visualization & Presentation with Microsoft Office - this book was a little basic for my needs but still a good resource.

Data Visualization & Presentation With Microsoft Office https://www.amazon.com/dp/1483365158/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vPFQCbQZQ5876

ohh "set things up" is a very very wide term. OBIEE can do a ton of stuff. First do you have a data warehouse? What is the source of your data? I can give you the basics. OBIEE uses a metadata repository its called and RPD this is the source of all queries. You pull metadata from your source and then build out the RPD through a physical -> Business -> Presentation layer. The Business layer can do quite a bit of work for you in terms of combining dimensions and joins but you want as much of a star schema as possible from the source. Read Kimballs book listed below to understand star schema and warehousing concepts.

Inside of the OBI admin tool there is also some user management, user management isa whole nother aspect. Are you using some ldap authentiacaiton or will you be managing users though obiee? There are USERS, GROUPS, & ROLES. This is another aspect to deal with.

There is also the EM web portal, Enterprise Manager from here you do other management of users and roles and the actual services. This is another thing, where is this hosted? Do you already have OBIEE 11g set up on a server? If so you will need access to that box to do services management. Also may need to modify config files here.

Then there is the actual reporting service, OBIEE uses dimensions and a fact to create charts, pivot tables etc. Here you will log into the web front end this would be accessed by going to http://servername:port/analytics From here you log in as your development user by default its weblogic i beileve. And here is where you would create dashboards etc.

This is just one aspect of the tool set, there is also BIP (bi publisher) used to develop reports from various sources by creating a template and filling the template out by using XML.

Oracle offers classes, which if your managment is throwing you into OBIEE they should be giving you at least 1 class. The report building stuff is easy enough to pick up, but if you are responsible for the management of the server, you need a class.. there is just so much to know about it.

I have worked in the RPD and reports/dashboard building side of things for 2 years. and im still learning stuff (usually the limitations of OBIEE). We have a whole nother TEAM(TEAM) of people who manage the databases and server side.

Resources:

Get a subscription to METALINK from oracle to issue service requests and look up bug fixes etc.

https://login.oracle.com/mysso/signon.jsp

Blogs:

http://www.rittmanmead.com/
http://gerardnico.com/

There are also youtube videos to explain simple stuff for setting up and RPD etc. You can also download an entire sample setup of OBIEE 11g from oracle.. its a huge download 50gb or something like that, but it has database, RPD, sample reports. all in a virtual machine. You can spend a week setting it up just to have examples to work from.

There is plenty of resources, but to give 1 generalized resource is difficult, you need to search for specific things you need to do. "Installing obiee11g on linux" "importing meta data into RPD"

If you need books on Data Warehousing and explanations of STAR schema and data denormalization I suggest reading up on kimball method:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Dimensional/dp/1118530802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377213718&sr=8-1&keywords=kimball

and

Inmon

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Data-Warehouse-W-Inmon/dp/0764599445/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377213827&sr=8-2&keywords=inmon

They have different philosophies for data warehousing i personally subscribe to the Kimball method because it supports rapid development better.


I'd like you to know but not discourage you, this is a large undertaking for 1 person. We manage 2 RPD's and 2 sets of dashboards for a custom reporting application we also do the ETL and warehousing. The whole warehouse was set up by a team, then we moved in ETL is handled by another team of people and we have a team doing reporting, then there is management and functional. So building out an OBIEE implementation from the ground up doing warehousing is a huge undertaking. There is another team of people doing server management and upgrades, and migrations.

This is at least a 3 man job, with each person being specialized. Push for RPD traning, Server managment Traning, and dashboard design Training. Warehousing methods and ETL work is another story.

there are a few really great resources that were mentioned already.

I found Tufte books a little bit abstract and more geared toward data visualization philosophy and not as practical as some of the other resources out there in terms of creating interactive, business-focused data visualizations. While I really like them, it may not be the first ones you grab.

I highly recommend books and blogs by these people---all but Stephen Few are active on Twitter (bolding the highest 3 recommendations):

Stephen Few:

• Book: Information Dashboard Design
  
• Book: Show me the Numbers
  
• Blog: Perceptual Edge (really succinct and opinionated articles. you can learn a lot by his support and criticism of visuals or books. Read the comments. He can be abrasive, but usually pretty enlightening)
  
  Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic:
  
  
• Book: Storytelling with Data (already shared but repeating for convenience) Super good at helping draw attention to the point you're trying to make within the visual and ensuring that you're using opinionated titles if in a presentation like Powerpoint or Keynote.
  
• Book: Storytelling with Data: Let's Practice (recently came out and is very hands on)
  
• Blog: StoryTellingWithData
  
  Stephanie Evergreen:
  
  
• Effective Data Visualization: selecting the right chart for the right data
  
  Alberto Cairo:
  
  
• Truthful Art (good followup to his "functional art" book)

Can you explain how I'm being divisive?

I really do appreciate solidarity. My biggest take-away of the election. I'm uncomfortable with it, but I recognize how powerful something like a >50% swing in Republican views based on a changed party stance is.

I voted for Hillary and told friends to. Over 90% of Bernie supports did, too, and considering some of that 10% were probably never-Hillary or conservatives dipping left, that's some pretty good solidarity.

I'm not personally upset about stuff like super delegates. We wouldn't have Trump if the Republican's used them, and Bernie isn't a Democrat. I don't think some of the reactions of Hillary supporters to people that felt disenfranchised by their party are helpful, though. And if things like the leaked "pied piper" strategy are real/impactful the DNC fucked up real bad.


You're right, "neoliberal" isn't a great term. It's got a good amount of drift from its usage in other areas/historical (not that we aren't using roughly the opposite meaning of "liberal" as the rest of the world). Unfortunately I don't have time to write anything with more depth. The flawed shorthand would be the intersection of Bill Clinton/Obama policies and protested Bush policies, primarily the pro-war, pro-big business, pro-surveillance state policies at the cost of social programs.

I think FPTP is awful and we need to do something about campaign finance reform that both parties are disincentivized from doing (especially when in majority). I think (per this book) an unfortunate bit of politics is that when evaluating what platform to adjust to it is more effective to disregard people that are going to vote for you anyway, so you court people that skipped the previous election.

Sorry, won't be able to reply. Cheers

There is a ton of info in the sidebar. The wiki is your friend on free materials.

I highly recommend Lockpicking - Detail Overkill. The Author /u/derpserf used to poke his head in this sub a while back. Really in depth shit. (he would want me to use an expletive)

As far as printed media, I am a huge fan of Deviant Ollam. (Disclaimer: I have hung out with him at Defcon and have a bit of a man crush). He is a super nice guy who is very passionate about teaching what he loves to do. His two books (one about [picking and how locks operate(http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Edition/dp/1597499897) and another on impressioning & bypass methods) are awesome.

Hope that helps.

Edit: added links

Awesome! I kind of fell into the job. I was initially hired as a web developer, and didn't even know what BI was, and then got recruited by one of the BI managers and fell in love. To me, it is one of the few places in IT where what you create will directly impact the choices a business will make.

Most of what I do is ETL work (taking data from multiple systems, and loading them into a single warehouse), with a few cubes (multidimensional data analaysis) and SSRS report models (logical data model built on top of a relational data store used for ad hoc report creation). I also do a bit of report design, and lots of InfoPath 2010 + SharePoint 2010 custom development.

We use the entire Microsoft BI stack here, so SQL Server Integration (SSIS), Analysis (SSAS), and Reporting Services (SSRS). Microsoft is definitely up and coming in the BI world, but you might want to try to familiarize yourself with Oracle BI, Business Objects, or Cognos. Unfortunately, most of these tools are very expensive and not easy to get up and running. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with the concepts, and then you will be able to use any tool to apply them.

For data warehousing, check out the Kimball books:

Here and here and here

For reporting, get good with data visualizations, anything by Few or Tufte, like:

Here and here

For integration, check these out:

Here and here

Also, if you're interested in Microsoft BI (SSIS, SSAS, SSRS) check out this site. It has some awesome videos around SSAS that are easy to follow along with.

Also, check out the MSDN BI Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bi/

Currently at work, but if you have more questions, feel free to shoot me a message!

What you need is a mature thinker. Here's how I've seen this successfully done while maintaining a positive democratic/inclusive culture...

Democratic processes for inception of ideas is fine. But someone has to be designated as the driver or mediator of discussion.

That's a responsibility that can be assigned to different people for different areas of the game or even multiple areas of design spread across multiple people.

The key is that you need someone who everyone knows is the facilitator/owner. Someone who's responsibility is to make sure things don't fall through the cracks for whatever they're identified as the driver for.

Then offset that with a culture of collaboration (ie... Leads don't command people directly, they identify work that needs to be done)

You'll find that generally, the more mature thinkers will be more willing to give up authority/power because they understand the limited importance that has. But they still maintain a strong sense of ownership.

The really key thing is that you want to try and cultivate attitudes that help deter ego attachment to ideas. That is the most common hole designers can fall into because an inexperienced designer will have a lot of insecurity involved eith his ideas which will make it very difficult to accept and process feedback appropriately. Most design dysfunction I've seen at multiple studios has revolved around that central issue.

Over time, mature designers learn to identify this trap and avoid it. But if you don't have this element of culture clearly established, you'll be leaving this open to more random chance than you would otherwise.

I would also recommend reading up on leadership from people like Simon Sinek. Also highly highly recommend the book "managing humans"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1430243147?pc_redir=1409134555&robot_redir=1

A lot of what you're talking about also has to do with leadership and understanding how to impell people and understand what is expected of yourself as a leader. Because you're looking for someone that has those qualities to glue your team and your vision together

I am currently working in a data warehousing and business intelligence role at a bank. Aside from the basics of ETL, SQL and OLAP, I would recommend having at least a basic understanding of financial accounting. I have also found it useful to read The Data Warehousing Toolkit as well as some other Kimball books.

For entry-level work, there are two recommendations of related skill that have served me quite well to get my foot in the door and show added value: Excel and reporting.

Every institution needs reports developed and it amazes me how rare it is to find well-built reports that clearly communicate their intended information. Being able to follow a few simple guidelines for effective layout and design go a long way. Edward Tufte wrote the definitive work regarding this, but I use Stephen Few's work for more up-to-date examples.

Excel has proven itself very useful for quick ad-hoc analysis and manipulations. Also, it is a mainstay application for most financial services companies and being fluent in functions, pivot charts and VBA is quite useful.

Senior Level Software Engineer Reading List

Read This First

1. Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment
   
   

   Fundamentals
   

   
   

2. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
   
3. Enterprise Integration Patterns: Designing, Building, and Deploying Messaging Solutions
   
4. Enterprise Patterns and MDA: Building Better Software with Archetype Patterns and UML
   
5. Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail
   
6. Rework
   
7. Writing Secure Code
   
8. Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries
   
   

   Development Theory
   

   
   

9. Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests
   
10. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications
    
11. Introduction to Functional Programming
    
12. Design Concepts in Programming Languages
    
13. Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective
    
14. Modern Operating Systems
    
15. Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change
    
16. The Elements of Computing Systems: Building a Modern Computer from First Principles
    
17. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
    
    

    Philosophy of Programming
    

    
    

18. Making Software: What Really Works, and Why We Believe It
    
19. Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think
    
20. The Elements of Programming Style
    
21. A Discipline of Programming
    
22. The Practice of Programming
    
23. Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective
    
24. Object Thinking
    
25. How to Solve It by Computer
    
26. 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts
    
    

    Mentality
    

    
    

27. Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
    
28. The Intentional Stance
    
29. Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine
    
30. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
    
31. The Timeless Way of Building
    
32. The Soul Of A New Machine
    
33. WIZARDRY COMPILED
    
34. YOUTH
    
35. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
    
    

    Software Engineering Skill Sets
    

    
    

36. Software Tools
    
37. UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language
    
38. Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development
    
39. Practical Parallel Programming
    
40. Past, Present, Parallel: A Survey of Available Parallel Computer Systems
    
41. Mastering Regular Expressions
    
42. Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools
    
43. Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice in C
    
44. Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book
    
45. The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
    
46. SOA in Practice: The Art of Distributed System Design
    
47. Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques
    
48. Data Crunching: Solve Everyday Problems Using Java, Python, and more.
    
    

    Design
    

    
    

49. The Psychology Of Everyday Things
    
50. About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design
    
51. Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty
    
52. The Non-Designer's Design Book
    
    

    History
    

    
    

53. Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality
    
54. Death March
    
55. Showstopper! the Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft
    
56. The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth
    
57. The Business of Software: What Every Manager, Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and Bad
    
58. In the Beginning...was the Command Line
    
    

    Specialist Skills
    

    
    

59. The Art of UNIX Programming
    
60. Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment
    
61. Programming Windows
    
62. Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X
    
63. Starting Forth: An Introduction to the Forth Language and Operating System for Beginners and Professionals
    
64. lex & yacc
    
65. The TCP/IP Guide: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Internet Protocols Reference
    
66. C Programming Language
    
67. No Bugs!: Delivering Error Free Code in C and C++
    
68. Modern C++ Design: Generic Programming and Design Patterns Applied
    
69. Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#
    
70. Pragmatic Unit Testing in C# with NUnit
    
    

    DevOps Reading List
    

    
    

71. Time Management for System Administrators: Stop Working Late and Start Working Smart
    
72. The Practice of Cloud System Administration: DevOps and SRE Practices for Web Services
    
73. The Practice of System and Network Administration: DevOps and other Best Practices for Enterprise IT
    
74. Effective DevOps: Building a Culture of Collaboration, Affinity, and Tooling at Scale
    
75. DevOps: A Software Architect's Perspective
    
76. The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations
    
77. Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
    
78. Cloud Native Java: Designing Resilient Systems with Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, and Cloud Foundry
    
79. Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation
    
80. Migrating Large-Scale Services to the Cloud

I can't cite an exact source, but data scientist Seth Stephen-Davidowitz (author of Everybody Lies, one of my favorite books of 2017) has pointed out that the two most common Google searches coupled with "how to buy Bitcoin" are "how to get rich quickly" and "what is Bitcoin?." It seems to me that, while likely more valuable than a fiat currency inflated to serve special interests (rant, sorry), Bitcoin could have value as a market-determined currency like gold or silver, but not now. People are looking to get rich and that will cause it to crash.

My introduction to Social Engineering was in "The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security" by the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick.

From the wiki:
All, or nearly all, of the examples are fictional, but quite plausible. They expose the ease with which a skilled social engineer can subvert many rules most people take for granted. A few examples:

• A person gets out of a speeding ticket by fooling the police into revealing a time when the arresting officer will be out of town, and then requesting a court date coinciding with that time.
  
  
• A person gains access to a company's internal computer system, guarded by a password that changes daily, by waiting for a snowstorm and then calling the network center posing as a snowed-in employee who wants to work from home, tricking the operator into revealing today's password and access through duplicity
  
  
• A person gains lots of proprietary information about a start-up company by waiting until the CEO is out of town, and then showing up at the company headquarters pretending to be a close friend and business associate of the CEO.
  
  
• A person gains access to a restricted area by approaching the door carrying a large box of books, and relying on people's propensity to hold the door open for others in that situation.
  
  Honestly, it was a better introduction to and explaination of social engineering than pretty much anything I've caught on this subreddit. Most things on here are more "pick-up artist" tricks than what I would personally consider true social engineering.

I'm no expert in database certification so I won't comment on them, but they sound expensive. I'm sure you could go a long way in improving your skills by working through some free resources and classic texts.

A nice tutorial on fundamentals is:
http://philip.greenspun.com/sql/

A classic introductory to intermediate text is the following. It can get you amazingly far because even advanced topics are explained well:
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~dbbook/

Don't get thrown off by the publication year. The fundamentals of relational databases have barely changed for decades.

An excellent in-depth look at database theory is presented in:
http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Databases-The-Logical-Level/dp/0201537710

For data warehousing and analytical querying (beyond Ramakrishnan et al) this is a great resource:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Dimensional/dp/0471200247

Source: I'm a graduate student in databases.

I'm not a bookseller, but here's a resource for you:

[Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals](
https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals-ebook/dp/B016DHQSM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502990869&sr=8-1&keywords=Storytelling+with+data%3A+a+data+visualization+guide+for+business+professionals)

Learn to tell compelling stories with data. Only about half of the story is numbers and logic, the rest is emotion and intuition. Learn how different stakeholders define value. Play to that definition when driving change. If they define success as what makes them look the best, you have to play into that to drive change.

> Can you read Chinese? If not here is the best recent reference of political intrigue within the CCP.

No, but I'm learning. I read Zhao Ziyang's book - Prisoner of the State.

> http://www.amazon.com/Party-Secret-Chinas-Communist-Rulers/dp/0061708771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302713651&sr=8-1

Hmm, his impression of the PRC is the same as mine

> Starred Review. McGregor, a journalist at the Financial Times, begins his revelatory and scrupulously reported book with a provocative comparison between China™s Communist Party and the Vatican for their shared cultures of secrecy, pervasive influence, and impenetrability. The author pulls back the curtain on the Party to consider its influence over the industrial economy, military, and local governments. McGregor describes a system operating on a Leninist blueprint and deeply at odds with Western standards of management and transparency. Corruption and the tension between decentralization and national control are recurring themes--and are highlighted in the Party's handling of the disturbing Sanlu case, in which thousands of babies were poisoned by contaminated milk powder. McGregor makes a clear and convincing case that the 1989 backlash against the Party, inexorable globalization, and technological innovations in communication have made it incumbent on the Party to evolve, and this smart, authoritative book provides valuable insight into how it has--and has not--met the challenge.

Couldn't have put it better on the problems of the PRC model, though I'm more sceptical it is reformable

> I really think you and everyone else who characterizes China as an expansionist power are completely ignoring the big picture.

Actually I don't go for a characterisation that is as simplistic as that. The PRC could evolve in a fairly benign way to a more liberal society able to compromise with its neighbours. However I don't believe that it is inevitable that will happen. I definitely don't believe that planet wide peace and Liberal Democracy is some sort of pre destined "End of History" along the lines of Fukuyama. It would be good if that were true and it is something to aim for not something we can count on.

I think that the PRC - like the USSR - is essentially enigmatic. The best way to deal with it is to contain it militarily to discourage adventurism until it liberalizes. Having said that I'd say the odds currently favour China liberalizing over turning into some metastasising tyranny like Japan and Germany did in the 30's. But if the PRC thought it could get away with expansionism I suspect that sooner or later leaders will be selected who will pursue that expansionism aggressively.

Even liberalisation is not a panacea - in many ways it opens up even more danger. Imagine in the economy collapsed and with it the CCP's legitimacy and a Fenqing party even more committed to reversing historic humiliations took over and restores a one party system. I.e. China could go from a predictable tyranny to anarchy and to a very unpredictable tyranny rather along the lines Germany did.

In an odd sort of way a Brezhnev-esque ossification of the system with the CCP firmly in control is actually a better bet for China's neighbours and rivals than liberalisation. Brezhnev may have invaded Afghanistan but he sure as hell wasn't going to invade Western Europe. In fact you probably need a fresh and virulent new tyranny to replace the CCP for China to turn expansionist.

Still that could happen - and I think it is in everyone's interests if any Chinese government knows that they will lose badly if they try to pick a fight with another country.

Yes, there's plenty of great reads, e.g., Storytelling with Data.

At a high-level, I emphasize the following to my direct reports & clients:

• The normal English reading order is left to right, top to bottom
  
• 1 in 12 men are colour blind
  
• The colour wheel is your best friend
  
• "The best design is as little design as possible"
  
• Bar/Column charts with fewer than ~8 dimensions make great alternatives to slicers
  
• Your skill as an information designer correlates to the amount of white space in your reports
  
• More than 3 visuals per report (excluding things like cards) should start raising alarm bells

A CIO even in a small business is a business focused strategic position. Your job should be to understand the business strategy and align IT resources to complement it (or in some cases performing adjustments all around to compliment business, informational, and organizational strategy).

So my question to you is, how are your business skills? Having tech skills in a position like this helps but it is a very small part of what you will be doing.

This is pseudo fiction. But it is an easy read and really gives a good picture of what it is like to onboard as a CIO. It might be worth picking up a copy to give yourself some idea of what it feels like to deal with IT from a strategic standpoint. http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-IT-Leader-Robert-Austin/dp/142214660X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347142447&sr=8-1&keywords=%22the+adventures+of+an+IT+leader%22

A lot of the stuff you reference in the first three paragraphs are basically project/milestone dependencies. They are required to start the project or meet the milestone. Those should be identified by the PM but are commonly overlooked so take advantage that you know about the project and spend some time talking with them about expected needs and results. Find the PM, meet with them and talk through their needs "just to make sure you have everything in place".

The most important thing about being a manager is communication and management of the people not the things. Setup a 1 on 1 session with each of your SAs and go through their laundry list. What are they working on now? What will be they working on the next 90 days? What do they have on deck for next year? What would they like to be working on next year? What do we need to fix? What will it take to fix it? Is it something we can plan for now or do we need get budget for it? If so, how much?

After you meet with each of your SAs document the due dates and milestones somewhere visible. A shared calendar. A whiteboard. Something. Let them see it. Review it in every 1-1 just so it is not a mystery as to what is coming.

Outside the 1-1 sessions I use a high level calendar that covers the next 90 days that we review in every staff meeting. How has what milestones/project tasks due and when. This gives the team a high level view of their peers workload. Staff meetings are bi-weekly and agendas are posted the night before for everyone to review. We get in and out of them in 45 minutes.

In addition to Phoenix Project check out this book - Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager. It has focus on Software Devs but a lot of the practices apply across the board. Very easy and amusing read.

I realize you are working with 2010, but you may be able to use the same approach as from SP2016, so I will reference below, but if not, here are some links to 2010 resources:

http://www.harbar.net/articles/sp2010ups.aspx

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/install/create-a-user-profile-service-application

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5199.sharepoint-2010-creating-user-profile-service-application-with-solution-to-most-common-issue.aspx

This snippet is from page 341 of Vlad Catrinescu and Trevor Seward's, Deploying SharePoint 2016, which I recommend getting if you will continue working with SharePoint. It's a great resource I keep next to me.

$sa = New-SPProfileServiceApplication -Name "User Profile Service Application" -applicationpool "SharePoint Web Services Default" -ProfileDBName 'Profile_DB_2013' -SocialDBName 'Social_DB_2013' -ProfileSyncDBName 'Sync_DB'

We then need to create Service Application Proxy by using the following cmdlet.

New-SPProfileServiceApplicationProxy -Name "User Profile Service Application Proxy" -ServiceApplication $sa -DefaultProxyGroup

You can purchase their book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Deploying-SharePoint-2016-Configuring-Maintaining/dp/1484219988

Please note, as with anything like this, the names of service applications, application pools, and databases, are all subjective and will need to be determined by your existing environment.

​

For me, it depends on two things mainly: my current level of focus, and my understanding of the problem I'm trying to solve (actually, it would be better to state that as: my understanding of the solution to the problem).

On focus, sometimes I have a spec'd out system (so I know exactly what I am going to code, often I have good pseudo-code), and I can write 500 lines of code in a couple hours. Other times, I might have the same spec, and it would take me 5 days to write the same 500 lines. I find there are a lot of variables that contribute to my level of focus. I find that I focus much better after vacations, which is why vacations actually make me more productive. I focus much better when my body and mind are in a good state - physically fit, which is why exercising is so valuable, well-rested, sufficient nutrition, how happy I am. Spending a decent amount of time outside each day, even 15 minutes, makes a huge difference for me (could be vitamin-D production). Personally, I focus much better when I listen to music than when I don't (if it's non-vocal music, it drowns out external stimuli). I have two monitors at work, and if I want to get into serious coding, I never have a web browser open in my second monitor. I usually try to keep my IDE occupying both screens, and if I need textual information, I copy it into a blank document in my IDE. If I need to reference a paper, I print it out. Caffeine can give me a temporary boost in focus, but usually results in a longer period of poor-focus.

Sometimes I work on an open-ended problem, where the problem is simple, but the solution is completely unclear. Not "bugs" per-se, but research, often involving somewhat fuzzy math. I might spend 10 days manipulating 50 lines of code. Other times, when a bug crops up, I know exactly what the issue is and I can fix it immediately.

I've heard as a rule of thumb, a good programmer will generate 50 lines of completely correct code in a day. Not sure how true that is, and obviously "lines of code" is a varying metric, depending on language, coding style, and so on.

Others mention debugging as a major factor. This diminishes with experience and learning, although of course it never goes away completely. As you specialize in some domain, you learn techniques for debugging problems in that domain. One of the things I've gotten a lot better at over time is building test data inputs to illustrate bugs.

For debugging, I recommend reading this book. It may not be useful for exceptional, highly experienced programmers, but I've found that it has probably made me 2-4x more efficient at debugging, and it's a super-short read (took me maybe 6 hours, and I'm a really slow reader). The other thing that makes a huge difference is learning clean coding style. As my code has gotten cleaner, I've introduced considerably fewer bugs, and spent less time tracking down the bugs I have introduced. If you haven't already, I recommend learning functional programming and spending some time with literate programming (which is less well-known). Literate programming isn't really that fundamentally different, but it teaches you to think about your program as an expression (explanation, even) of ideas or concepts, and that causes you to write your programs as an expression of the underlying ideas, making them much more clear.

Every single management position on the planet is uniquely specific to the team/group being managed. People are unique and different. The work they're doing may share some things in common with similar groups, but it is also unique and different in meaningful ways.

I don't think it's necessary for every engineering manager to have first been a high-performing 10x-er engineer. I do think there are inherent benefits to having those individuals progress to leadership/management positions within a company, but there's a lot more that goes into what makes a "great manager" than simply being able to finish projects to spec, of quality, on time.

Recommended reading: The Manager's Path and Managing Humans, "A Meritocracy is a Trailing Indicator".

For most time-series analysis I prefer to build star-schema models and use a real time-dimension.

Your typical time dimension contains about 30-40 attributes, has a granularity of hourly or daily, and rolls up hierarchically to days, weeks, months, quarters, years, etc. This dimension has a single surrogate key that you include with all of your facts to make joins easy. Other non-key attributes might include day of week, weekend/weekday flags, holiday flags, ansi vs iso weeks, etc.

You invest the time once to build a nice model, get performance benefits with large data sets, and and development benefits with whatever technology you're working with: SQL, python, ruby, etc.

EDIT: this technique is common to data warehousing. Any media on this topic should provide a basic overview. A few specific things to check out include:

• The best book is probably Ralph Kimball's Data Warehouse Toolkit.
  
• [Stackoverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2507289/time-and-date-dimension-in-data-warehouse
  
• wikipedia
  
• Kimball also has a forum
  
  You should also be able to find some basic source code. I found one project on sourceforge here. No idea if it's any good or not. It isn't hard code to write - just code that nobody should really have to write these days - it's been implemented thousands of times. I can't share my existing solution since it belongs to my employer.

Sr. DBA here. There are actually a few categories of DBA.

The primary ones seem to be Operational DBA and Development/Application DBA. There are of course hybrids, and everyone's role varies depending on the need of their department.

Operational DBA's usually handle the System side of things: Security, backups, replication, etc.

Development DBA's usually handle the code base itself, with some interaction with Security, Backups, replication, Code Repository, and development/tuning. This is the category I fall in (and the one I assume you're interested in as you seem like you want to code).

I'd suggest checking out BrentOzar's site, which has cool blogs and the Office Hours Podcast (which is awesome).

My favorite DBA book so far: Database Administration: The Complete Guide to DBA Practices and Procedures (2nd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321822943/

Microsoft Docs : This page is an excellent resource as well. You can download SQL server developer (AKA Express) and have your personal server on your machine. You can use Brent Ozar's guide to install it, then download the Stack Overflow database from his site. to get some data.

Here's an "Intro to Tableau" Evernote link that has the detail below, but this is what I've put together for our teams when new folks join and want to know more about it.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AKBV30_85-ZEFbF0lNaDxgSMuG9Mq0xpmUM/

What is Tableau?

• What Tableau IS and IS NOT - Interworks/Dan Murry - Blog post - [2p]
  
• A New Approach to Business Intelligence: Rapid-fire BI - Tableau - [Whitepaper - 15p]
  
• What is Tableau - Quora - Forum - [12a]
  
• What is Tableau - Yusheng Huang - Video - [2:26]
  
• Tableau Software Overview - Tableau Software - Video - [2:20]
  
  
  Where do I get it?
  
  
• Desktop latest version - Download Page - Tableau
  
• Previous versions - Download Page - Tableau
  
• Tableau Public - Tableau
  
• Pricing overview - Tableau
  
  Now that I have it, how do I use it?
  
  
• Tableau Starter Kit - Tableau
  
• Tableau Training Videos - Tableau
  
• Data Analysis Fundamentals with Tableau - Pluralsight
  
• Big Data Analytics with Tableau - Pluralsight
  
• Enterprise Business Intelligence with Tableau Server - Pluralsight
  
• Data Visualizations Using Tableau Public - Pluralsight
  
• Data Science and Analytics in Context - edX
  
  
  How do I become involved?
  
  
• Tableau User Groups - Tableau
  
• Tableau Community Forums - Tableau
  
• /r/tableau - Reddit
  
  
  I want to know more
  
  
• Books
  
  • Tableau Your Data! - Dan Murray
    
  • Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals - Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
    
  • The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - Edward Tufte
    
  • Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data - Stephen Few
    
  • Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten - Stephen Few
    
    
• Blogs
  
  • VizPainter - IFTTT
    
  • Tableau Viz of the Day - IFTTT
    
  • Vizioneer - IFTTT
    
  • VizCandy - IFTTT
    
  • Tableau Zen - IFTTT
    
  • Tableau Renders - IFTTT
    
  • Tableau Love - IFTTT
    
  • Viz Ninja - IFTTT
    
  • Paint by Numbers - IFTTT
    
  • Jewel Loree - IFTTT
    
  • Jen Underwood - IFTTT (BI)
    
  • datadoodle - IFTTT
    
    
• Podcasts
  
  • Tableau Wanna Be Podcast - Soundcloud iTunes
    
  • Podcast your data - Stitcher iTunes
    
  • Partially Derivative - Stitcher iTunes
    
  • PolicyViz - Stitcher iTunes
    
  • More
    
    
• Job Market
  
  • LinkedIn
    
  • Indeed
    
  • Monster
    
  • SimplyHired
    
    
• Certification
  
  • Tableau
    

Mitnick's books are indeed mostly anecdotal, but The Art of Deception spends quite some time to explain WHY the attack worked and how it could have been mitigated. If you are to read one of Mitnick's books, this is definitely the one closer to what you want to do

As /u/demonbrew suggested, Cialdini's Influence is an iconic book on how you can use psychology to manipulate others. There are other schools, and you can read more about it in this thesis (as you can see Social Engineering was really popular at my university). My focus was Cialdini's work, my colleagues focused on comparing different psychological frameworks used in Social Engineering.

Carnegie's book is indeed focused in socializing, but the TL;DR of the book is: "How do i make people like me?". If you combine this, with one of the Cialdini principles - "Liking" - you can see how it can help you improve your Social Engineering skills

Pluralsite is pretty great for self serve both admin and dev modules.

Also lot of good content on channel9... ie this whole series with Bill and Brian was great https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Tuning-SQL-Server-2012-for-SharePoint-2013

​

• Dev
  
  • https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/blogs/updated-sharepoint-framework-developer-training-package-september-2019/
    
  • https://www.voitanos.io/
    
    ​
    
    
• Server Admin
  
  • Buy/Read
    
    • 2016 https://www.amazon.com/Deploying-SharePoint-2016-Configuring-Maintaining/dp/1484219988
      
    • 2019 https://www.amazon.com/Deploying-SharePoint-2019-Configuring-Premises/dp/1484245253
      
  • Certs
    
    • TBH this is a shit show for onprem/admin/server admin
      
    • explanation https://www.nigelfrank.com/blog/becoming-a-certified-sharepoint-administrator-what-you-need-to-know/
      
    • overview of last major changes/options https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/205587/mcse-sharepoint-certification
      
    • 2016 admin https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-339.aspx ...aka closest thing to SP specific you can get... else just do win server/sql

For your particular application I would look at OpenStreetMaps. Otherwise...

David Hay's

• [Enterprise Model Patterns][1]. This is a beast of a book, but has some great patterns.
  
• [Conventions of Thought][2]. More stuff on MRP.
  
• [A Meta-Data Map][3] . Haven't read this one.
  
  Len Silverston's
  
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 1][4]. Your main data model patterns.
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 2][5]. Case studies by industry.
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 3][6]. A deeper explanation of Vol 1.
  
  Michael Blaha's [Patterns of Data Modeling][7]. This one has some interesting temporal, graph, and tree models.
  
  Martin Fowler's [Analysis Patterns][8]. This one skims some of the other patterns, but gives accounting a solid treatment.
  
  They are all well-rated, and I have read all but one, and they are all very good. Several of them are available on [safaribooksonline][9].
  
  Also, OASIS's [Universal Business Language][10], schemas
  
  
  [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Model-Patterns-Describing-Version/dp/1935504053/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346950468&sr=1-1&keywords=enterprise%20model%20patterns
  [2]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Patterns-David-Hay/dp/0932633749/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PQPGE4E6T2RPR2XTN80
  [3]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Patterns-Metadata-Management/dp/0120887983/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PQPGE4E6T2RPR2XTN80
  [4]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0471380237/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=08T9TEZJNZM2EMKZV3AB
  [5]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0471353485/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D5TDG7479G7TQMBPNWF
  [6]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0470178450/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=08T9TEZJNZM2EMKZV3AB
  [7]: http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Modeling-Emerging-Directions-Applications/dp/1439819890/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346950554&sr=1-1&keywords=patterns%20of%20data%20modeling
  [8]: http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Patterns-Reusable-Object-Models/dp/0201895420/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346961699&sr=1-1&keywords=analysis+patterns
  [9]: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/search?q=data%20model
  [10]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Business_Language
  

Maybe this table can help some of you to gauge how worth the bundle is.

| | | Amazon | | | Goodreads | |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|---------|--------------|-----------|--------------|
| Tier | Title | Kindle Price ($) | Average | # of Ratings | Average | # of Ratings |
| 1 | Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You | 25.99 | 3.9 | 20 | 4.05 | 40 |
| 1 | Presenting Data: How to Communicate Your Message Effectively | 26.99 | 2.9 | 4 | 4.25 | 8 |
| 1 | Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations | - | 4.0 | 13 | 3.84 | 56 |
| 1 | Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals (Excerpt) | 25.99 | 4.6 | 281 | 4.37 | 1175 |
| 2 | 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization | 22.99 | 4.2 | 70 | 3.98 | 390 |
| 2 | Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design | 25.99 | 4.3 | 39 | 3.90 | 173 |
| 2 | The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions | 31.71 | 3.8 | 43 | 3.03 | 35 |
| 2 | Visualize This: The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics | 25.99 | 3.9 | 83 | 3.88 | 988 |
| 3 | Data Points: Visualization That Means Something | 25.99 | 3.9 | 34 | 3.87 | 362 |
| 3 | Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling | 19.99 | 4.0 | 38 | 3.79 | 221 |
| 3 | Graph Analysis and Visualization: Discovering Business Opportunity in Linked Data | 40.99 | 4.2 | 3 | 3.59 | 14 |
| 3 | Tableau Your Data!: Fast and Easy Visual Analysis with Tableau Software, 2nd Edition | 39.99 | 4.0 | 66 | 4.14 | 111 |
| 3 | Visualizing Financial Data | 36.99 | 4.7 | 4 | 3.83 | 6 |

if they would get rid of the Oracle cert and the second SQL class(r u srs with literally writing out select and insert statements), not focus on teaching JavaFX for Software I and II(and add some heavier programming), add an assembly class( I do like how they cover AArch64 in the computer arch class though), add a "non OO language" class I would say WGU's CS program would match most other online CS programs from regionally accredited, non profit unis

adding a compiler class would make it exceptional among online CS degrees but would make the degree even harder

another class I took at my B&M is a debugging class (they assigned this book and I still quote it to this day), I think that would be really interesting to offer as well

​

as it stands I don't think it's as good as most decent B&Ms or most online CS degrees

​

source: 7 years of experience, was on last year of CS degree at good B&M

Well, we hit the 10000 limit. Reserving this comment for the misc. section.

FREE TIME/FUN/MISC.
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
The Art of War
Steal This Computer Book 4.0: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet
How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace
The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey
Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
Casting the Net: From ARPANET to INTERNET and Beyond thanks sjhill
A Quarter Century of UNIX thanks sjhill
A Reading List For the Self-Taught Computer Scientist thanks zinver
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk thanks segamix
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable thanks AgonistAgent
Snow Crash thanks AgonistAgent
Cryptonomicon thanks Mirple

There's a really good book that delves into this issue, it's called Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. The author talks about how when someone grows up can effect their favorite sports team, and what political party they identify as. People who came of age during Watergate grew up to be more Democratic leaning, while those who came of age under Reagan were more Republican leaning. Basically who was president when you were growing up, and what that president did, will give you either a positive or negative impressive of that president and the party they belong to.

It's a really interesting book, touches on a ton of subjects. Worth reading.

His book looks pretty good too. (I haven't read it, but I've heard from others that it's very helpful, explains things in plain english, and is pretty humorous, which makes sense if you've ever met him or listened to one of his talks):
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Edition/dp/1597499897/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345646056&sr=8-3&keywords=deviant+ollam

Out of the books I read, these were my favorite.

• Meditations
  
• The Effective Executive
  
• Managing Humans
  
• The New One Minute Manager
  
• How To Win Friends and Influence People
  
  I suppose these focus less on "leadership" so much as management. But they are all helpful when it comes to thinking about being a leader.
  
  I also can't stress enough the importance of being introspective, and taking the time for self reflection. It's crucial that you be able to take a look at yourself, and see how your actions affect others. How you make others feel. Things like that. I know that's not particularly helpful, but I guess all I can say is do whatever makes the most sense for you to make yourself a more empathetic human being.

ETL is the process of populating a data warehouse with data from operational systems. While both involve transferring/updating data, your issue isn't really about ETL. There might be some lessons about copying/updating data in the ETL field, though.

Kimball's books are great; I'd add this one to your reading list. Probably a better starting point on data warehouses than the ETL one.

IMO your problem is hardly database related, even if data stored in a db are involved. It's a pure SW development/programming task outside of the realm of database administration.

Start off by looking for off-the-shelf solutions, i.e. check with your POS supplier if they already support this.

Failing that, you need to build your own software for pushing updates to the remote locations. A service installed on every POS that periodically polls the central server for pricing info is probably your best bet (perhaps not ideal, but should be a serviceable solution for the short run). I'd send a JSON document with every local SKU and expect one back containing current prices -- or ask for changes since last update if you have a lot of products. Make sure nothing stupid happens when a SKU isn't found or the request fails.

Make sure you understand every relevant piece of the POS db's schema. Will updating the base price do, or do you need to consider discounts, currency, taxes and whatnot? You also need to be sure you're asking the right server for pricing info (proper authentication, e.g. something PKI based), and that you have instrumentation in place to notice if a remote location isn't asking for price data.

Either this or this make a good starter set.

For books, I highly recommend Practical Lockpicking; Deviant Ollam. Read that cover to cover, and you'll have a strong foundation to start on.

If you want a good re-keyable practice lock, I like this one, personally. Get the 6 pin, non-cutaway, Kwik-set version.

Atrophy and Adaptation is good, but very academic.

This is pretty much the best book. Informative and readable.

http://www.amazon.com/Party-Secret-Chinas-Communist-Rulers/dp/0061708771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300422937&sr=8-1

I would recommend the Continuous Delivery book (https://continuousdelivery.com/) as a starting guide for what you need to do on the CI/CD front.

It doesn’t go extensively into testing, which is basically your safety net. The Clean Code book (https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882) is a good start here.

On the whole Agile Software Development methodologies front, it’s important to understand some principles behind each framework. I’ve found this book useful on that regard: https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Good-Hype-Bertrand-Meyer/dp/3319051547

I know this might sound overwhelming, but so is what you’re describing... : ))
Reading books is an investment that will pay off on this journey you are setting on.

Good luck!

I would recommend picking Master locks to start - Like this They're ridiculously easy to pick, and you'll be able to get a good handle on manipulating single pins and even basic raking.

ITS Tactical generally has some pretty informative posts on lock picking/locksport from time to time. I would recommend these to get started:

• Lock Picking 101
  
  
• How to make an inexpensive DIY lock pick practice set
  
  
• Lock picking as a skill set and its practical applications
  
  Lastly this book is absolutely worth every penny.

One of my favorite not-super-technical books that can give some insights into the thought process and actionability of analytics and machine learning is "Everybody Lies". https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Lies-Internet-About-Really/dp/0062390856

It touches on a concept I really like to rely on data for which is revealed vs. stated intent. People tell you they want what they wish they wanted. Data tells you what they actually want and how they actually behave. There are some good intuitive regression models in there as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Complete-Dimensional/dp/0471200247

The is a highly recommended book for the Data Warehouse industry. Hope you enjoy it and good luck.

It really depends on what niche you're looking on covering. It's difficult, I feel, to brush up on "infosec" to any level of practical proficiency without focusing on a few subsets. Based on your interests, I would recommend the following books.

General Hacking:

Hacking Exposed

The Art of Exploitation

The Art of Deception



Intrusion Detection / Incident Response:

Network Flow Analysis

The Tao of Network Security Monitoring

Practical Intrusion Analysis

Real Digital Forensics


Reverse Engineering:

Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering

The Ida Pro Book

Malware Analyst Cookbook

Malware Forensics



Digital Forensics:

File System Forensic Analysis

Windows Forensic Analysis

Real Digital Forensics

The Rootkit Arsenal


Hope this helps. If you're a University student, you might have access to Safari Books Online, which has access to almost all of these books, and more. You can also purchase a personal subscription for like $23 a month. It's a bit pricey, but they have an awesome library of technical books.

Depending on how deep you want to go, use the following resources:

Learning the basics:

[The Odin Project: Databases] (https://www.theodinproject.com/courses/databases)

Teach Yourself Computer Science: Databases

Teach Yourself CS recommends as an introduction UCBerkeley's 2015 Course: Computer Science 186 - Introduction to Database Systems video recordings.

Going further:

Teach Yourself CS also recommends some further reading and just writing a simple relational database management system from scratch. Which will probably put your understanding well ahead of most junior devs.

Teach Yourself CS continues with the following recommendation:

>Finally, data modeling is a neglected and poorly taught aspect of working with databases. Our suggested book on the topic is Data and Reality: A Timeless Perspective on Perceiving and Managing Information in Our Imprecise World.

Some further readings from the The Architecture of Open Source Applications book series:

Berkeley DB

Dog Bed Database

[SQLAlchemy](
http://aosabook.org/en/sqlalchemy.html)


An introduction to NoSQL, but most importantly an explanation of the cases where SQL and the relational model suit your needs, and others where a NoSQL system might be a better fit.

I got started the same way a lot of people start: Work. I was working in Information Security. The saying goes "It doesn't matter how well you secure your servers, if I can walk out of your data center with them."

I bought Deviant Ollam's book Practical Lock Picking, then bought some cheap locks (Home Depot, etc). I bought my initial tools from www.lockpickshop.com. Good prices, fast shipping.

Like I said, I run a chapter of TOOOL US. There are some amazing lockpickers I can always call on if I have questions. I've gotten good at it, but there is always room for growth.

As for the AMA, there are others in the field who have been doing it for longer. Check out /r/lockpicking

Not sys admin, but security, The_Art_of_Deception.
A great read.
I picked it up cheap at Ollies and have read it front to back. That is amazing for me seeing I don't really read unless forced.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Deception

I believe in the idea of a human element. It is the system has more to do with your actions than you do. Just like walking into an empty diner. They set the tables/chairs etc. And the seat you pick will probably within good accuracy be the first seat the majority sits at. I am really enjoying this book right now by Kevin Mitnick "The Art of Deception". The first few stories had me laughing and cringing.

Perfect fit for this situation: https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1484221575

Great read for anyone in the industry really.

• Practical Lockpicking - highly recommended, covers almost everything
  
  
• Keys to the Kingdom - great book on impressioning
  
  
• Complete Book of Locksmithing - highly recommended
  
  
• Locks Safes & Security - If you want to go off the deep end
  
  These books combined with the eBooks / resources in the stickied post will keep you busy for the next 10 years or so.

I'd recommend this book on agile methodologies by Bertrand Meyer Agile!: The Good, the Hype and the Ugly. I think its a fair evaluation of agile as a method and the different 'flavours' of agile.

Id recommend an agile approach but I don't think there is 'one true way' to do it. Have a read through a few books on different agile methodologies and work with your team to adopt something that works for you.

Debugging by Agans is great on debugging; my last company liked it so much they bought all the devs a copy, and I think that in turn was inspired by a course at the local university requiring the book.

This sub tends to focus on statistical topics that are a bit more math intensive. But there's definitely stuff you can learn about descriptive statistics and visualization that doesn't require a strong math background. I just did a quick query on Amazon and found a couple of well reviewed books you may want to check out.

https://www.amazon.com/Excelling-Data-Descriptive-Statistics-Using/dp/1491029129

https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

There is also good stuff on Khan Academy. Pausing when he introduces a problem and trying to work it out yourself is a good way to go.

What kind of work are you hoping to use some basic stats in?

The error comes from focusing on the wrong filters. The "liberal media" is a thing (in two ways, really, but let's focus on the one people generally refer to) when you look at rhetoric. This can be determined through linguistic data analysis, which Seth Stephens-Davidowitz did in his book Everybody Lies. One of the interesting things he shows there is that the rhetorical bias varies not by ownership, for instance, but mostly through the dominant political leaning of the area in which the paper (which was the focus of the study) is sold. That is, a news outlet's rhetorical bias depends on its audience, not its owners.

This analysis is useful, but there is a glaring problem with it: In focusing on rhetoric, it ignores actual policy advocacy and, importantly, publication bias. And that's where the owners have influence. As long as the policy advocated agrees with the owners (and the media's inherent structural biases, re: the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model), how it is presented (the rhetoric) only matters to the extent that it influences revenue. And anything that is counter to these interests, will be ignored.

So, yes, there is a "liberal media" (and they're actually fairly dominant). Problem is, they are liberal in rhetoric only (and sometimes in actual policy, depending on what you mean by 'liberal'). What the media doesn't tell you is usually much more important than what it does.

The Data Warehouse Toolkit by Kimball and Ross is a pretty good resource. He goes a bit overboard with the complexity in some of his industry examples, but he's probably used to implementing with large teams of programmers. The concepts and methods are great though and should be in the toolkit of anyone developing reporting systems.

I can’t recommend highly enough 3 books on good visualizations in business (and everywhere else)

1. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals buy this, use this
   
   
2. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don'ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures
   
   
3. Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten (the gold-standard usable textbook)
   
   Report format for abstract/methods/etc vs PowerPoint for salespeople varies dramatically from company to company, so I don’t have any good recommendations there. But in the “a picture is worth a thousand words” world, visualizations really matter.

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

This book is really great for getting a surface level understanding of how big data can be harnessed. It also delves into how big data is being used as a buzz word to scam companies out of money.

I listen to audio books, so this might be a little dry for what you're looking for. The narrator was great. He definitely added to my sense or enjoyment

I think an important point to mention here is that these viewers SAY they would cancel Netflix in this instance. It's easy to say whatever you want to a hypothetical poll.

​

This book about Google was an interesting read expanding on how people lie about what they're doing online because we're anonymous on the internet and it's easy:

https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Lies-Internet-About-Really/dp/0062390856/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?keywords=everybody+lies&pd_rd_i=0062390856&pd_rd_r=729c95c5-ba9c-4db4-b452-fa8c605a57e5&pd_rd_w=FB0Em&pd_rd_wg=IdYcs&pf_rd_p=f0479f98-a32d-45cd-9c12-7aaced42b1ec&pf_rd_r=5265D5ZMZNAX0FQW8AP5&qid=1557866692&s=gateway

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals.

This one was super helpful when i transitioned from ops to using that data to create visualization and reports.

Upvoted for mentioning The Art of Deception! That is one of my favorite (technical-ish) books of all time. Another great book by that author is The Art of Intrusion.

If you want to keep attackers out of your organization, you need to learn how they operate. These books provide an intersting insight, as well as having some really interesting stories.

In the book Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz uses Google Trends extensively to research social shifts. It's not a perfect method and it can't paint us a perfect picture, but it's generally a good indicator of how a social trend has progressed.

A search on Google Trends for "jewish jokes" shows a general downward trend since 2004. "jew jokes" went up around 2008-2012 but then fell and is currently at the lowest point recorded by Google. More blatantly anti-semitic searches like "jews in the media","jews control the media","jews did 9/11","jewish elite", and other similar searches are all on a steady downward trend as well.

I'm not an expert at this stuff but it seems to me that anti-semitism is on a general downward trend overall. There are alternative explanations for these trends, like anti-anti-semitism becoming more common and having a chilling effect on peoples' searches, but it seems to me that the simplest answer is the most likely.

I would start with buying Ralph Kimball's book "The Data Warehouse Toolkit".

Beyond that, I have no clue where to tell you to go for resources. Kimballs books teach you concepts and its then about applying those concepts and some interpretation between the verbage of terms like "metrics","measures","dimensions","cubing" and your development tool you are using.

The BI project I'm on now is using SQL Server Analysis Services, Reporting Services and we are using Sharepoint for a frontend. Luckily, setup is well documented and there are lots of tutorials.

You are always welcome to message me with specific questions now or in the future and I'll see if I can point you into the right direction.

I suggest 3 books, all for different reasons.

1. As already suggested, Sophie's World. It's told in a story form but is a great introduction to the history of philosophy in a very practical way to understand. If you read anything from my list, please let it be this.
   
   
2. An introduction to Logic Text Book. The one I have is by William Lawhead, but I believe it is out of print. Any good begineers logic textbook will do. Now here is the kicker if you read this. It's a text book, you HAVE TO DO THE "HOMEWORK". Read the chapter and do the assignments, you won't get a full understanding just by glossing over the subject matter.
   
   The easiest I can explain it is Logic is math with words. You will learn how to form arguments and spot fallacy's. By the end of that textbook you will know how to put together a bulletproof argument and tear someone else's argument to shreds. Its practical philosophy for your ever day life. (And great for arguing on the internet)
   
   I'm a firm believer that logic classes should be taught starting in middle school.
   
   
3. The Art of Deception
   
   Read this AFTER learning the Logic textbook, it will make much more sense. After logic you will be able to put together logically sound arguments. After The Art of Deception, you will become good at putting together fallacious arguments. Because...well, sometimes you need to win even when you are wrong. Also, you will be able to spot people trying to do this too you.
   
   I think these 3 books will give you a good overview of philosophy and logic and you will be able to implement them in a practical way in your life.

The Art of Deception is nominally about protecting you and your company, but it also gives you an idea of his social engineering. Again, it's focused on modern day cons, but I do enjoy reading about all sorts of cons, fictional and nonfictional.

The book, The Adventures of an IT Leader. Great book written like a story which makes it very engaging, but don’t let the style fool you, it’s a great book.

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Leader-Robert-D-Austin/dp/142214660X

The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security

What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People

Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Games People Play: The Basic Handbook of Transactional Analysis

The 48 Laws of Power

If you want to stay in the SQL Server world (T-SQL/SSIS/SSRS/SSAS), I highly recommend reading T-SQL Fundamentals and The Data Warehouse Toolkit (and other Ralph Kimball books) over and over again. These were invaluable to me in my SQL days, as many SQL interviews tend to be less reliant on puzzle games and more reliant upon pure knowledge of the engine you're dealing with. Knowing the SQL Server engine really well will help you with DBA knowledge, also (which tends to focus on optimization and disaster recovery aspects).

Other than that, what do you want to do, specifically? All interviews are going to be different for different jobs.

most hacking is social engineering.

call a random # in a company & request access to X.
they ask for your employee ID #.
you make up an excuse & get off the phone.
Now you know what you need to get access.

Begin plan to get someone's ID
rinse & repeat as you hit each roadblock, all the while staying as random & anonymous as possible.

This is a great book if you're interested in an in depth discussion of this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Deception-Controlling-Security/dp/076454280X

I've attended Cole's 1-day workshop and definitely recommend it to any business who needs to summarize the so-what of their data. The book is good too.

http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/public-workshops/


https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

If you plan to read Kimball, I recommend that you read Inmon as well like Building the Data Warehouse. It will give you another point of view. While Kimball focuses on the usability for queries (front-end), Inmon focuses more on making the clean integration of data sources (back-end).

If you have a lot of time you can look for the Data Vault structure. The approach uses a very granular modelization. My point of view is that it is too much modeling work and slow to query. It seems overkill to me but you can make your own judgment.

The Data Lake notion is probably overkilled as well for you but good to know. The idea is that you dump every data you have in a low-cost data store (Hadoop usually) before processing it.

You can also read my point of view here. It's basically taking ideas from all of those within a simple and agile framework.

There's a post like this every few weeks. Here's a link that links to a lot of other good links.

From personal experience, I recommend:

The Basics to Hacking and Penetration Testing

and since a lot of hacking these days has to do with social engineering, this book:

The Art of Deception

Di ko maia-upload lahat ng books kasi around 7gb sya. :( Though yeah may mga mega bundles ng IT books online gaya ng sabi nung isang reply.

Well anyway, if you're into those books, I recommend The Art of Deception by Mitnick and Simon (si Steve Wozniak nag-foreword sa book na 'to haha) tsaka The Art of Exploitation. Di ko tanda kung meron ako nung books pero afaik may mga online pdf copies naman. Happy reading! :D

Any book that focuses on something else than a specific programming language.

Examples:

• https://www.manning.com/books/grokking-algorithms - very friendly introduction to algorithms and data structures.
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882 - how to write maintainable code, lots of best practices, how to refactor etc
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X - a must read if you have any interest in security. This has nothing to do with code. It however has a lot to do with social engineering and exploiting humans that are often the weakest link.

A little dated at this point, but still the best introduction I've read: https://smile.amazon.com/Party-Secret-Chinas-Communist-Rulers/dp/0061708771/

Sounds a bit presumptuous and close-minded of him, like he's got some 'best practice' design in mind and intends to fit it to your business (or your business to it).

Maybe that will work, but without any real due diligence he runs the risk of it not working, finding himself trying to jam a square peg into a round hole long after the peg has been constructed and paid for.

Which may be the way his consulting company works - use the same cookie-cutter approach that works for 80% of businesses, taking acceptable losses on the 20% where it fails. It just sucks for those 20%.

As for your question #1, the most thorough analysis and abstraction of an organization's processes, data, and metadata I have yet come across is detailed in the book Data Model Patterns: A Metadata Map.

It answers the question of how do you model an organization or system when the things being modeled don't all fit into conventional categories. Here's a paper on it I just found on Google too.

As for question #2, I assume he meant by 'plugging some tables into others' that it will be expandable to accommodate future needs, organizational/process changes, and upgrades. Theoretically, a normalized database that correctly specifies and implements all relations b/t in-scope data and metadata should allow exactly that - incorporation of new data or metadata as the business changes (leaving aside for now decisions about stored procs and business logic).

But the way you relate it, it sounds more like he's using that to justify using his canned solution and leaving you guys to complete it later when he's gone and $100k richer.

Links!

Effective Data Visualization

Storytelling With Data

The Accidental Analyst

Data At Work

Effective Data Visualization and Data At Work are in the driver's seat. I really want to try Data At Work, but I struggle to find enough reviews to convince a purchase. Thanks!

This book is often recommended, though I admit I haven't read it myself

And while not strictly about agile, this recent classic is full of great advice (excerpted pdf linked here)

I'd say both at once. For someone just getting started exploring the DBA role, I'd recommend Craig Mullins book, Database Administration. It's a platform agnostic overview of the role, responsibilities and knowledge needed. It's a great beginners book because it really does outline the stuff you'll need to study without getting into the specifics of platform or version.

https://www.amazon.com/Database-Administration-Complete-Practices-Procedures/dp/0321822943/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1482318494&sr=8-2&keywords=craig+mullins

I see the same problem on StackOverflow on a daily basis - someone posts a chunk of code and says "Help - my code is not working!". I keep a standard response to this on hand, as it's such a regular occurrence:

> Welcome to Stack Overflow! It sounds like you may need to learn how to use a debugger to step through your code. With a good debugger, you can execute your program line by line and see where it is deviating from what you expect. This is an essential tool if you are going to do any programming. Further reading: How to debug small programs.

But the broader problem of course is that colleges simply do not seem to teach students how to use a debugger, or debugging techniques (arguably more important), or even development tools in general. I think the excellent Agans book, Debugging should be required reading for every undergraduate programming course.

Another pet peeve is that students seem to be completely oblivious to the need to (a) enable compiler warnings and (b) take heed of such warnings.

Intelligence – Analysis – Insight

---

> The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security (2003), Kevin Mitnick https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X/

> Red Teaming: How Your Business Can Conquer the Competition by Challenging Everything (2017), Bryce Hoffman https://www.amazon.com/Red-Teaming-Competition-Challenging-Everything/dp/1101905972/

> Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas (2015), John Pollack https://www.amazon.com/Shortcut-Analogies-Connections-Innovation-Greatest/dp/1592409474/

> Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy (2015), Micah Zenko https://www.amazon.com/Red-Team-Succeed-Thinking-Enemy/dp/0465048943/

---



Here are some other news items:^credits ^to ^u-sr33

> NIST Wants To Know How Utility Companies Can Deter Hackers

> Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador To U.N., Is Dead At 64

> Russia's ambassador to U.N. dies suddenly after falling ill in New York City

> Current national defense models don’t work in cyberspace

---

^I'm ^a ^bot ^| ^OP ^can ^reply ^with ^"delete" ^to ^remove ^| ^Message ^Creator ^| ^Source ^| ^Did ^I ^just ^break? ^See ^how ^you ^can ^help! ^Visit ^the ^source ^and ^check ^out ^the ^Readme

I'd recommend reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

http://www.bdbanalytics.ir/media/1123/storytelling-with-data-cole-nussbaumer-knaflic.pdf

and

https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142

​

The graphs don't follow best practices and could use some work to more clearly communicate your goal.

Bar charts should not be center aligned like that, unless 0 on the x axis cuts directly through them (ie if they show positive and negative values simultaneously)

Not mathematical, but Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119002257/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WhB.AbRPZ14ET

Is a good start to communicating results and really easy to understand. Almost mind blowing how much I was missing previously.

The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick. My personal favorite book on the topic, as its both highly informative and entertaining.

After the Pragmatic Programmer, Debugging.

As a starting out programmer, so much of your time is spent debugging, and this very short (can easily be read in day) book will probably cut that time in half if not more. I mean you can read it in 6 hours, and it could easily save a new programmer 100's of hours in a year.

offhand probably not enough to be definitive.

but here are some:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3807005/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/calling-truce-political-wars/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_political_orientation

I can't find the one with the %s but generally 'accepted' fact that in the US there is ~30% liberal and ~30% conservative and ~60% in the "middle" (I'd argue they are really more evenly split than that, but that is the old %s at least.)

Edit: there is some really good books describing how to USE this type of knowledge to your own benefit https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X/ Among many others.

If you decide you want to dive deeper into SQL and consider becoming a DBA, I recommend checking out the book DBA Survivor. That's the book I give to my junior DBAs on day 1, and it has practical easy-to-read advice about how to learn both the technical skills and the non-technical traits that will make you a great DBA. Drop me a line if you have questions and want to learn more.

from information security, Kevin Mitnick The Art of Deception
great stories of early hackers and employees giving away the keys to the kingdom.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Deception-Controlling-Security/dp/0471237124

The Art of Deception is pretty popular and written by famed Kevin Mitnick.

I know a couple of professional pen-testers and they go onsite and plant devices on networks to allow easier remote access often. They're the good guys only mimicking what the bad guys also do.

For a good (but a bit dated) read, of a bunch of examples:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X

Hackers use social engineering and the planting of devices a lot.


https://digitalguardian.com/blog/social-engineering-attacks-common-techniques-how-prevent-attack

Ecco la mia lista/elenco disordinato.

Mi piacerebbe spiegare il perché su ogni libro letto ma sarebbe troppo lungo. Se sei interessato ad un feedback in particolare, fammi sapere in un commento.

In generale: in questo periodo si trova molta letteratura; io consiglio i classici, perché in giro c'è molta bullshit e ho elencato anche tutta una serie di libri per acquisire conoscenza su skills complementari (es. negoziazione, persuasione).

Ho elencato i libri di Codice Edizioni a parte perché uno dei pochi editori che pubblica saggi su argomenti contemporanei come tecnologia e media.

Una parola in più la spendo per i libri di Mari e Munari: sono dei classici che vanno letti. Punto.

LIBRI

UX

• Communicating the User Experience: A Practical Guide for Creating Useful UX Documentation
  
• Sprint
  
• Lean UX : Designing Great Products with Agile Teams
  
  Design e comunicazione
  
  
• 25 modi per piantare un chiodo
  
• Guardare, pensare, progettare. Neuroscienze per il design
  
• Designing for People
  
• Design e comunicazione visiva. Contributo a una metodologia didattica
  
• 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
  Sul retro del tovagliolo. Come risolvere problemi e vendere idee con le immagini
  
  Data visualization
  
  
• L'arte funzionale. Infografica e visualizzazione delle informazioni
  
• Information Dashboard Design: Displaying data for at-a-glance monitoring
  
  Usabilità
  
  
• The Design of Everyday Things
  
• Le leggi della semplicità
  
• Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
  
  Tipografia
  
  
• Segni & simboli. Disegno, progetto e significato
  
• Sei proprio il mio typo. La vita segreta dei caratteri tipografici
  
  
  Negoziazione
  
  
• L'arte del negoziato
  
• Le armi della persuasione. Come e perché si finisce col dire di sì
  
  
  
  Codice edizioni
  
  
• L’ingenuità della rete
  
• Cos’è un designer
  
• Silicon Valley: i signori del silicio
  
• La coda lunga
  
• Surplus cognitivo
  
• Io vivo nel futuro
  
• Fab
  
  
  LINKS
  
  Community
  
  
• https://ux.stackexchange.com/
  
• https://stackoverflow.com/
  
• https://iot.stackexchange.com/
  
• https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/
  
• https://security.stackexchange.com/
  
• https://unix.stackexchange.com/
  
  Aggregatori
  
  
• https://www.designernews.co/
  
• https://news.ycombinator.com/
  
• http://www.datatau.com/
  
  Ispirazione
  
  
• https://www.brainpickings.org/
  
• https://nuovoeutile.it/
  
  Essenziali
  
  
• https://alistapart.com/
  
• https://www.smashingmagazine.com
  
• http://uxmovement.com/
  
• https://www.uxmatters.com/
  
  Guru e pionieri
  
  
• https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/blog
  
• https://hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/
  
• http://www.zeldman.com/
  
• https://meyerweb.com/
  
• https://www.lukew.com/
  
  Tipografia
  
  
• https://ilovetypography.com/
  
• http://www.shadycharacters.co.uk/
  
  SEO
  
  
• https://webmasters.googleblog.com/
  
  Data Visualization
  
  
• https://flowingdata.com/
  
• https://informationisbeautiful.net/
  
  Interaction design, hacking
  
  
• https://blog.arduino.cc/
  
• https://hackaday.com/
  
• https://www.raspberrypi.org/
  
  Design generale
  
  
• http://www.spoon-tamago.com/
  
• https://www.fastcodesign.com/
  
• https://design-milk.com/
  
  
  Serie TV
  
  Black Mirror

Start by doing research. No offense, but it sounds like you don't even know what a DBA does. First, take your question, copy and paste it into a search engine. You'll find better-written articles and blogs than any drive-by responses you'll get in a forum.

And read this since you have no other place to start.

Database Administration: The Complete Guide to DBA Practices and Procedures

DBA is the kind of job where you're probably gonna have a hard time without a college degree. Many companies post a bachelors in computer science as a minimum requirement, rightfully so. A company isn't going to pay you 90k+ dollars and full access to one of their most valuable assets if you can't buckle down for an education and proper experience.

In college I had a class that was partly based around Adventures of an IT Leader. Fairly interesting book, well written to keep my attention.

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-IT-Leader-Robert-Austin/dp/142214660X

I recommend the books "The Art of Intrusion" and "The Art of Deception" by Kevin Mitnik. One of the most famous hackers in history (the movie Hackers was inspired by him and Hackers 2: Takedown is a moderately historical adaptation of his escapades). The books gives a breakdown of what he did and what hacking is really like (in the 80s and 90s, at least). In short, its more research, reading, trial and error, and social engineering than actual typing.

i just got through 'managing humans' and it was a great read. https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1484221575 i'd say if you want to go into managing eventually it's required reading.

Or buy his book about lockpicking. It's really good. I've recommended it several times on /r/lockpicking

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Edition/dp/1597499897/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372053094&sr=8-1&keywords=deviant+ollam

Deviant Ollam has a great book that explains everything.

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Edition/dp/1597499897/

The Data Warehouse Toolkit by Ralph Kimball

I did a project early in my career with a senior developer who didn't know shit about data warehouses and a lot of the performance issues and getting crapped on by this ignoramus could have been avoided had we both read this book. Instinctively I wanted to denormalize to improve performance. But I was "wrong".

Anyway if you do any kind of data analytics, I would highly recommend you read this book. Star Schema is bae.

Kind of like how your "take my word for it" isn't really proof enough for your claims.

There's a book by Kevin Mitnick, though, that well documents the art of social engineering in regards to this topic. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X

If you can't take my word, definitely take his. He went to prison for it.

The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick who was a famouse hacker and social engineer is a great read for anyone interested.

Data Science = Technical Skills + Stats Skills + Business Expertise. So, for technical skills, start with Python, SQL, and Tableau. For Stats Skills, pick up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year stats book. For business experience, work on business projects where use Python and Stats skills to solve them.

EDIT:

• For business acumen:
  Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking, Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals
  
  
• For technical skills:
  Python for Data Analysis: Data Wrangling with Pandas, NumPy, and IPython , Python Data Science Handbook: Essential Tools for Working with Data
  
  
• In regards to stats, I would suggest speaking with the Stats prof. Also, you might as well take a look at courses at Udacity and Udemy.
  
  So, you gotta sharpen up your programming skills.
  
  Godspeed

I've never had the job, but I am currently learning about databases, Oracle specifically. If you asked this in a a few more months I could offer some realistic help. However, not to waste your time, here is a book that is written for someone in your position. I can't verify its usefulness, but I have read the first several chapters and from a lay perspective the author does seem to know what he is talking about.

The book on Amazon

Fully 25 percent of female searches for straight porn emphasize the pain and/or humiliation of the woman,” he writes, citing search terms inappropriate to reiterate here, but featuring words like “painful,” “extreme” and “brutal,” and often focused on nonconsensual sex (depictions of which, he emphasizes, are not permitted on that site).

https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Lies-Internet-About-Really/dp/0062390856?tag=nypost-20

I think that for this general question, I'm good with not seeing your data or dashboards. I guess the first question is: have you gone through the online visualization training from tableau? If not, check out these:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/learn/webinars/making-flow-happen-dashboards-persuade-inform-and-engage

http://www.tableausoftware.com/videos/zen

http://www.tableausoftware.com/learn/whitepapers/tableau-visual-guidebook

After you've gone through these, go read Stephen Few's books...based on your question, you're going to get the most out of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Information-Dashboard-Design-At---Glance/dp/1938377001/ref=la_B001H6IQ5M_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409978547&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Show-Me-Numbers-Designing-Enlighten/dp/0970601972/ref=la_B001H6IQ5M_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409978547&sr=1-2

I thought the same until I read Everybody Lies which set out, for me, a convincing argument based on big data that people get more ideological diversity and come into contact with with more differing viewpoints thanks to the internet.

He wrote a book a few years ago (2002) thats a fun read although not particularly informative. It largely focusses on social ngineering.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/0471237124

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Intrusion-Exploits-Intruders-Deceivers/dp/0471782661/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/105-3743895-7466022 also in 2005.

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition)


Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Good stuff.

The 4 tufte books: https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_be?gclid=CjwKCAiAlO7uBRANEiwA_vXQ-2v-n0CohhIbgiDLiN4cTTgo9-ZNgt3dBsdKfyeaoH8_4lx_SZTljxoCsN4QAvD_BwE

Storytelling with data: https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

Good charts: https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwisyKn6nofmAhXHn7MKHW78CkYYABACGgJxbg&sig=AOD64_0v-YhApSFqcyd2HY_xreF6giEQwQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwi8jZ76nofmAhVEOKwKHXliAVgQwg96BAgPEBg&adurl=

http://philip.greenspun.com/sql/data-warehousing.html : A very good introduction to data warehousing and the star schema in particular.

http://www.amazon.com/Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Complete-Dimensional/dp/0471200247/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210883123&sr=8-1 : the second thing you should read -- more detail and specific examples of gotchas and schema design for particular business scenarios.

http://blog.oaktonsoftware.com/2007_06_01_archive.html -- the third thing to read. this gets into at least the terminology for some of the weirdo stuff you have to deal with in the OLAP world -- snapshot values in a supposed cube with rollups, for e.g.

After your picks,here is your next purchase :)

Practical Lock Picking, Second Edition: A Physical Penetration Tester's Training Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/1597499897/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_6qXLub1VB4HEA

Read this book.

Then reconsider getting an IS Masters.

You'd probably be better off getting an MBA.

Managing Humans is a good read.

http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1430243147

This one was mentioned in another post a week or so ago: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Penetration/dp/1597499897.

SouthOrd offers one called Easy Pickings with a few of their sets too. I've seen that one and it gives a very basic overview of locks and techniques to pick them. Much less information than can be found in the PDFs.

Honestly, this book is a bit basic. I bought it a few weeks ago on RiftRecon's site because it was only $14 and I wanted to see if I was missing a technique or tactic. I wasn't. It's really meant to supplement their red team kit and comes across as such.

That being said, if you are unfamiliar with alternative entry techniques beyond lockpicking, it could be worth it, though Deviant Ollam's book is just a tad over double the amount for this little book and covers some other entry techniques besides lockpicking. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1597499897/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1395334556&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

I agree @Taunk, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic's books are awesome...

Storytelling with Data, A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals - Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic (Wiley 2015)

https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals-ebook/dp/B016DHQSM2

Please go and buy and read all of these this week, for the sake of you and your team:-


https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897


https://www.amazon.ca/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1430243147


https://www.amazon.ca/Debugging-Teams-Productivity-through-Collaboration/dp/1491932058


https://www.amazon.ca/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756

The Art of Deception Great book i learned about on "The Broken"

Okay, then how about you read the book the article was based on

I'd say there are at least two sides to debugging: technical knowledge and mindset/approach. In many situations, technical knowledge is less important than your approach. This is a great book on how to debug anything, because it focuses on the approach:https://www.amazon.com/Debugging-Indispensable-Software-Hardware-Problems/dp/0814474578/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1473264988&sr=8-1&keywords=debugging&linkCode=sl1&tag=makithecompsi-20&linkId=fff719e6c1338a3b9f9d763d7f5830a2

A really brief summary: Understand the system, reproduce the error, and think of ways to methodically test your hypotheses of what's wrong.

For your situation, "understand the system" doesn't have to mean "understand the schematic". You can start with the basic blocks: physical construction, power supply, audio output, controls. The other posters have broken down what to look for in some of these cases.

For example, if you physically inspect the board and see a big blob of solder going across three different components, it's probably a waste of time to check whether the controls affect the output sound, because that blob of solder shouldn't be there. Next step, nothing works properly without proper power, so check the points where power is supposed to be supplied on the board and make sure the voltages are correct. Then, find the earliest point on the schematic where you should get an audio output (probably an oscillator out) and check that. And on and on.

To test audio outputs, an oscilloscope is super handy, but honestly I've done a ton of debugging with a small battery-powered speaker with a mono cable connected to it, probing test points in a circuit to see whether audio is present. However note that it IS possible to fry circuits with this approach by accidentally bridging traces, so be careful.

If you're interested, I would recommend reading The Art of Deception. It's written by Kevin Mitnick, who actually spent time in prison for hacking and today runs a security firm that gets paid to probe systems and find their weaknesses. The aspects of hacking are often more social than you might realize.

I would second Ghost in the wire, though that is more of a autobiography. Still goes over some interesting stuff he did back in the day. He also helped write The Art of Deception and the Art of Intrusion

I don't think that's really necessary. Take a look at other people's vizzes, take a look at what's catching on, and hang out in /r/dataisbeautiful.

I really suggest this book... it talks about how to build visualizations to efficiently tell a story: https://smile.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537148459&sr=1-1 -- it helped me a ton to build better dashboards.

Also when you're talking about "fancying up" dashboards, it's easy to go overboard. I know that when me and my other colleagues started doing Tableau, we stuck graphs and charts on dashboards and used loud colors just because we thought it looked "cool" but they were just distractions that took away from the story you're trying to tell with the data.

Social engineering attacks are not unique to T-Mobile unfortunately. The person posing as an employee most likely did a lot of prep to be able to convince the person on the phone that they are actually an employee. Learning the company lingo, obtaining an employee ID by overhearing it somehow or perhaps coming up with an employee ID that is the correct format at least. Using a store number as an Identifier to legitimize their claim etc..


This is my favorite defcon talk on social engineering.

[Good book on social engineering] (https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468027366&sr=1-2&keywords=kevin+mitnick)

I don't know why you said alt right, especially because it's been confirmed that Freudian slips aren't a real thing. If you want to have a conversation about an anti-fascist movement, how do you plan on doing that without mentioning fascism?

Kevin Mitnick

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Deception-Controlling-Security/dp/076454280X

and no this isnt social engineering, this dinner/party/bar scenario i wouldnt be trying to get you to give me your social security #

Yes that book, I have that book, and also grab the art of deception by kevin mitnick here. If you want to learn pickpocketing, or removing wristwatches, etc..here is a book on that.

https://www.amazon.com/Barking-Wrong-Tree-Surprising-Everything/dp/0062416049/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7VVXAWNB2M8WP1R84JKQ

and

https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Lies-Internet-About-Really/dp/0062390856

Buy and study this. https://www.amazon.com/Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Complete-Dimensional/dp/0471200247

Meet my friend.

His book has a handful of insights into social engineering, but nothing you wouldn't be able to get elsewhere.

Kevin Mitnick's The Art of Deception

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X

Kingpin


Ghost in the Wires


The Art of Deception

Don't limit oneself to one's own imagination

https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X

The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick is what first got me looking into the subject.

"after I gave him my password" Read this...

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/076454280X

Debugging.

https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897

https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1430243147

I just released a book on deploying SharePoint 2016:

https://www.amazon.com/Deploying-SharePoint-2016-Configuring-Maintaining/dp/1484219988/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480399846&sr=8-1&keywords=deploying+sharepoint+2016

/spam

Compared to 2013 wrt Service Apps, not really any difference.

was just going to post this:

https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1484221575/

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Second-Penetration/dp/1597499897/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1472750161&sr=8-7&keywords=lock+picking

That's a decent book. I bought a copy and read a bit but never bought the tools and locks to practice.

I believe this might be from, or related to "Practical Lock Picking" by Deviant Olam.

Edit: Amazon

Which one of these are you talking about?

https://www.amazon.com/Information-Dashboard-Design-Effective-Communication/dp/0596100167
https://www.amazon.com/Information-Dashboard-Design-At-Glance/dp/1938377001

sums up about 90% of the contents of this book

Not really. It's popular because it's so easy. Check out some of Kevin Mitnick's stuff if you're at all serious about this opinion. Dude literally wrote the book on how easy Social Engineering is in the modern age. Example cited quote from his Wikipedia:

> At age 12, Mitnick used social engineering and dumpster diving to bypass the punch card system used in the Los Angeles bus system. [...] Social engineering later became his primary method of obtaining information, including usernames and passwords and modem phone numbers.

Oh, he also hacked a TON of analog systems. Like John Draper who hacked phone systems with a whistle from a box of Captain Crunch. Switching to digital systems can help raise the barrier to hacking above this low bar.

I think you should do some more looking into your statements, because your vague explanations are far outnumbered by anecdotal evidence stating otherwise.

OP, run, don't walk, to your local bookstore to buy Adventures of an IT Leader. Read it, love it, live it.

This rant is a living example of why IT doesn't get brought to the decision making table as often as we should. Your point 1 is fine, but your points 2, 3, and 4 just disclose how oblivious you are as to who the salesperson is actually targeting in their pitch. Hint, it's not IT. IT has no money (traditionally) and needs the business to open the purse strings to do anything of any size at all.

Random thoughts:

1. Some locks require 3 tools to open: a pick, a tension tool, and lock lubricant.
   
2. Thinner picks (<0.025") are not exclusively for Euro cylinders. They're useful for American locks, too.
   
3. TOK tension tools should fit perfectly, especially if you're picking dead cores. I struggled with Master 570 and Master 410 until I filed down a Sparrows Heavy Bar for each.
   
4. This book misled me, and made me believe that pins are set by lifting the entire pick upward. It took me a while to realize that it's easier to set pins by levering your pick off warding or another part of the lock.
   
5. For some reason, it took me 2-3 months to learn that over lifting pins is detrimental =/
   
6. Finally, I wish that I had gotten less angry while learning. My mood was ruined dozens of times because I couldn't pick a lock. I wish that I had believed in myself and taken it easy.

From the NYT bestseller "Everybody Lies'

https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Lies-Internet-About-Really/dp/0062390856

the art of deception by kevin mitnik
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Art-Deception-Controlling-Security/dp/0471237124

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Deception-Controlling-Security/dp/076454280X

This book was really helpful/interesting. Art of Deception.

>I rather think that making promises of this nature is a formality. The real friction will come when a culture (communist China) used to making casual threats of violence in order to get its way meets a culture (Murica, close enough) where bribery is the usual practice.

I think you need to read this book.

Please stop talking about Chinese political/business culture until you are at least half way through this excellent book. It includes basic org. charts of the Chinese gov't, history, etc.


Thank you.

No offense taken. ☺️

You’re right. Secrets are not safe. Gay, straight, bi, cis... whatever it’s being labeled as these days is not the culprit IMO.

As a recovering/recovered addict, the most damaging secret is hiding a drug addiction.

This book was a fascinating read (well, to me), and it just goes to show that everybody lies.

Managing people is hard. Managing engineers is harder. Have you paid for any management training for Randy? How about for you?

I'd feel a little concerned if I found out director-level management at my company was asking for advice on reddit about how to mediate routine interpersonal conflicts.

http://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-diving-save/

http://randsinrepose.com/archives/bored-people-quit/

https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897

https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-Engineering/dp/1484221575

Although internet filter bubbles do exist, people are much more likely to see opposing views on the internet than irl. I don’t have a source but I read about it in this book everybody lies Think about the comment section of any newspaper.

Unfortunately, I don't have an easy direct source. The assertion was made by Seth Stephens, a former Google Data Scientist that had access to massive amounts of data. It was cited in his book Everybody Lies though if someone here knows how to pull Google search history by zip code/county it can be confirmed or discredited.

Not random malfunctions. It was incredibly precise.

It would look for specific serial numbers on specific brands of controllers. It would send fake data to the operator's screen, then let the centrifuges spin themselves into destruction. The worm was designed entirely to take out just Iran's centrifuges. It was completely benign to any other device.

E: also, in the vein of human stupidity: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Deception-Controlling-Element-Security/dp/076454280X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1492349753&sr=8-4&keywords=mitnick

Book recommendation: Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems


Swift anecdote: I had a crash that only affected 32bit devices, because the code used Int, but ran out of bits in rare cases. The original code assumed that it was a int64. Changing the type from Int to Int64 fixed the problem. It was difficult to debug since the original bug report mentioned no device type, nor specific numbers that was causing problems. Gathering much more data helped identifying the problem.

Tell us more about your setup.