The Invisible War

The three main objectives of Invisible No More are to raise awareness, effect political and cultural change, and serve as a means of healing for survivors of Military Sexual Assault.

We watched The Invisible War as part of the annual SHARP (Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention) training requirement. The other requirement is to complete the FY13 SHARP training via the Army Learning Management System (ALMS).

While technically not a unique ed techie gadget or tool, I am doing a post to to share the resources, connect with others, and raise awareness using technology. This impacts all of us, it isn't something that happens in the military but because the military is a subset of society, they are easy targets and tend to get stereotyped by the media, bottom line up front (BLUF) we are all human beings.

What can you do?
Check out the consolidated press resources for the film and for the recent Senate hearings

Check for local screenings
Sign the petition
Check out the Not Invisible blog

Check The Invisible War website for more resources 
Request to host a screening
Rent or purchase and download the video from your favorite digital media outlet Google Play, iTunes, Amazon
Follow @Invisible_War on Twitter or connect with The Invisible War on Facebook
Watch the trailer

During 2012-2013, The Invisible War was nominated (and won) a few awards which are listed on The Invisible War site, as well as consolidated in a table on The Invisible War Wikipedia site.

Have you seen The Invisible War? Thoughts, comments, or recommendations are encouraged.

What I discovered during the Advanced Power Searching with Google online course

No spoilers in this blog post...keep searching Advanced Power Searching participants.
Last month I did a post recommending registration for the upcoming Advanced Power Searching with Google two week course. The course started January 23 and you have until February 8, 2013 to submit your final assignment.

In the "How the Course Works" information one of the additional tips is listed as:

Do not post challenge solutions publicly (on blogs, Google+, etc.), since Google may pick these up and spoil the surprise for others solving the challenges.

Since the course is still on going I won't post any challenge solutions but random bits of  information that I learned during my assignments. I opted for an assignment to learn more about my name and history. While I have blogged and share information that I share a name with a convicted sex offender, there are some prominent Winebrenners in history, quite a few authors, and even the Winebrenner Theology Seminary in Findlay Ohio.

What does your name mean?

Family Education
http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/winebrenner

1. Partly Americanized spelling of the German occupational name Weinbrenner ‘distiller’ (literally, ‘wine burner’). The original function of the distiller, attested from the 8th century, seems to have been to extract alcohol for medicinal purposes from wine; the modern sense of someone who prepared spirituous liquor for drinking is first recorded in the 14th century.
2.American bearers of this surname are descended from Johann Christian Weinbrenner, who came from the Rhineland Palatinate to Hagerstown, MD, in 1753–54.

Ancestry surname search
http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=winebrenner

Winebrenner Name Meaning Partly Americanized spelling of the German occupational name Weinbrenner ‘distiller’ (literally, ‘wine burner’). The original function of the distiller, attested from the 8th century, seems to have been to extract alcohol for medicinal purposes from wine; the modern sense of someone who prepared spirituous liquor for drinking is first recorded in the 14th century.

Using multiple sources and validating domain names through WHO IS supports those who tend to use triangulation in research or have a tendency to do a root cause analysis when resolving projects and problems.

You can always participate in the Power Searching with Google self paced course. I think everyone can learn something or revisit some skill sets you haven't used in awhile. Have fun! and feed your autodidacticism.

Register Now! Advanced Power Searching course with Google begins...

Register now!
Feed your autodidact needs
Advanced Power Searching begins January 23, 2013

Hone your searching skills by solving complex search challenges alongside peers from around the world in this two week online class and receive an Advanced Power Searching certificate upon completion.

Power Searching - Self Paced Course start anytime

Check out the Syllabus for the Advanced Power Searching course
Intro

• How the Course Works
• Sample Challenge
• Research Process
• Solving the Sample Challenge

Practice

• Challenge 1 - Mimicking presidential voices
• Challenge 2 - Turtle fossils
• Challenge 3 - Festival challenge
• Challenge 4 - Humongous fungus
• Challenge 5 - Salman Khan
• Challenge 6 - Scrapbook enthusiast
• Challenge 7 - Mystery music
• Challenge 8 - Climate graph
• Challenge 9 - Name that notebook
• Challenge 10 - Who done it?
• Challenge 11 - Feather identification
• Challenge 12 - Where in the world?

Assignments

• Assignment 1
• Assignment 2

Certificate

• How It Works

Piqued your interest? Register now! Google search passionistas

DTH: The V3rb0t3n Network Part 2

Another surprise after sharing a short blog post on Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network was a comment by the author Jayson E. Street with an invite to check out the sneak peek of the first chapter of the next book, Dissecting the Hack: The V3rb0t3n Network.

On the site for The V3rb0t3n Network, readers are rewarded with a sneak peek of the first chapter, and encouraged to participate on Dissecting the Hack Ning.

From the site:  If you have ideas on techniques and technology that should be covered in this new book and to be part of the Dissecting the Hack community please go to and sign up at http://www.dissectingthehack.com. This book has evolved from the presentation "Selling Elephant Whistles" created by Jayson E. Street and is the sequel to "Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network".

So if you have ideas for the new book share them on http://www.dissectingthehack.com and be one part of the crowdsourcing of the next book.

Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network the book

When the rest of the world thinks wardriving and bluesnarfing are news or that you are making up words, give them this book or directions to the local library where they can check it out in print or eForm.

This is another book I selected from our compiled leaders' reading lists. The first one I read was Little Brother which I enjoyed and recommend to others. Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network is a two part book, Part 1 is the fictional story that aligns with real issues and Part 2 is the STAR - Security Threats Are Real that uses reflection sections from the story to help the reader understand.

Authors: Jayson E. Street, Kent Nabors, Brian Baskin, Marcus Carey

I recommend this book to readers interested in the fictional Part 1 as well as those looking for a quick reference and tools using Part 2 STAR

Contents

Part 1: FOrb1dd3n

PrO1Ogu3, Chapters ON3, TWO, THR33, FOUR, F1V3, S1X, S3V3N, E1GHT, N1N3, T3N, 3P1LOGU3

Part 2: Security Threats Are Real (STAR) 2.0

Chapters 1 Recon, 2 Scan, 3 Explore, 4 Exploit, 5 Expunge, 6 Hacker Culture, 7 Bit Bucket

This book is a great read for those new to the net, those interested in "Seeking first to understand then be understood (S Covey), people looking to explore other tools, techies who are looking for options when trying to explain security issues to others, and those people looking to diversify their book reading lists.

The short description of the book on whatever site you discover it on states (as quoted from the sites, their words not mine):

• Utilizes actual hacking and security tools in its story-helps to familiarize a newbie with the many devices and their code
• Introduces basic hacking techniques in real life context for ease of learning
• Presented in the words of the hacker/security pro, effortlessly envelops the beginner in the language of the hack
• Check out the companion site at www.dissectingthehack.com complete with an interactive forum!
• Exclusive interviews in this revised edition include thoughtful insights into security issues and hacking culture from industry leaders Dan Kaminsky, Johnny Long, Jeff Moss and Marcus Ranum

One section between the Acknowledgements and About the Authors is How to Read Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network. It closes with this sentence: Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network can happen IRL.

The book is filled with links to sites and while some were verified in 2010 before the revised edition was published, some links are no longer valid, other links provide access to tools that you may have tinkered with as you learned more about your gadgetry, network connections, and situational awareness or lead you into discovering tools you did not know existed.

Check out 

f0rb1dden for more info about Jayson Street and an audio trailer of the book

Dissecting the Hack : The F0rb1dd3n Network on Google Play

Dissecting the Hack Ning 

Syngress book description

eBook in Google Books

Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network on Amazon (purchase or rent)

or check out the book via WorldCat so you can find the book in your local library

Have you read Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network? Did you share your book review? Have you passed this book to others when you didn't feel like explaining any more?