The Ohio InfoSec Forum Anniversary Meeting

   The OISF is a small but passionate group of individuals that hosts an annual meeting at the Miami Valley Research Park in Dayton, Ohio. This is my second time going and, once again, I had fun. The size of the audience was relatively small and the level of presenters was rock star!
   This years line up included Ben Ten (@Ben0xA), Dave Kennedy (@HackingDave), Adrian Crenshaw (@irongeek_adc), Phil Grimes (@grap3_ap3), Dino Tsibouris and Mehmet Munur. You have to agree that is an excellent lineup!
   The price of this meeting is a whopping $10 entry fee and includes bagels and coffee for breakfast as well as pizza, drinks, and Oreo cookies for lunch. I highly recommend that you attend this meeting next year. If you are from the Dayton area, I recommend you stop bye on the 2nd Thursday of each month for their monthly meeting. More information can be found on their website. If you are on Twitter, their handle is @oisf. They are worth following.

    ***As always, thanks to Adrian for recording the talks. You rock! Check out the videos at irongeek.com.***

Kenya. The pride of Africa!

Now that I am back in the land of wifi and clean electricity, I figured I would post some more pics from our trip.

InfoSec 101: Don't disregard ESET errors

Isaac makes a friend

Solome's church. What a fun time!

Preparing lunch for the churchgoers.

After lunch we hosted a medical clinic. We helped over 120 patients.

Solome shows us the community farming plot she started. She teaches men how to farm.

We gave Solome a laptop (donated by ANRC-Services) with Shamba on it. Shamba (donated by Hackers for Charity) is a farming program designed by Kenyan farmers for Kenyan farmers.

EFF...Facepalm

   

   This week the EFF exposed themselves as a group of highly intelligent morons (again) when they "exposed" the U.S. Navy's attempt to purchase 0-days. Nate and Andrew admit that they found the request on a public website but then quickly changed to focusing on the evils of the government. What is the purpose of the article you may be asking? Simple. Taking a queue from the IT security sales companies, EFF has turned to simple FUD as a means to collect your donations.

Give it up sheep! Baaaa!

Feel free to read the drivel for yourselves here.

Goodbye Uganda and Our New friends

I just wanted to close out our Uganda trip with a final post.
Yesterday we visited Sole Hope. Their purpose is to go to communities, teach about sanitation, and find people affected by the flea locally known as a jigger. Each person is assessed for severity of infestation and the 15 worst cases are taken in for surgery. The tools used for surgery include pesticides (to kill the jiggers), a razor (to cut the skin open), and a safety pin (to dig out the eggs and larvae). I will never look at a safety pin the same.
We had lunch at Ozzie's. She is an 86 year old Australian fireplug who has lived here for over 40 years.
We wrapped the day up by teaching at the hackers pace.

This morning we got up early, ate breakfast, said our goodbyes, and headed to the airport. 4 hours later and here we are. Waiting on our flight to Nairobi where the hard work begins.

I want personally take time to thank the Longs again for opening their home to 7 complete strangers. I want to say goodbye to Mark since I didn't get to see him this morning. Finally, I wanted to mention Gerald, Johnson, and Henry. You are each special.

Hackers, Babies and Street Kids

Today was another wonderful day. The family went to Amani Baby Cottage while I spent the whole day at the hackerspace with Johnny, Mark, and Henry. I got to talk to Henry in detail about his iPhone app. It is ready for release but they still need to raise the $99 to register for an Apple id.

I worked with Johnny a little on a new educational build and Chromebook for Kenya. The build was put together by Kenyans for Kenyans. How cool. I also played with the LittleBits learning system. This is what we used tonight to teach the kids about circuit theory. Just like yesterday, they loved the education. I think Johnny will have a few good trainees that can benefit from this and can reach great heights.

The other thing I had fun with was assisting Mark with the 3D printer. I learned a lot from him.

P.s. I hope you enjoy the picture of the random Hello Kitty crane game. Gotta love Africa!

For the kids...

Today began slow and ended strong! We  intended to wake up at 8 and go to the central market. We all got up much earlier (thanks jetlag) and just sat around enjoying the view.

We made it to the Central Market after a quick stop at the Forex to exchange some money. The market was pretty cool. The kids purchased a few things (actually, it was just Audrey). I bought some spices for myself.

We ate lunch at the Keep Cafe again. That was excellent. Then we went back to the Jinga House for a nap!

After waking up we went to the Hackers for Charity hackerspace and helped Johnny Long teach a robotics class to street kids. What an experience. These kids were great. They all listened attentively, asked and answered questions, and lit up when they ''got their hands dirty."

Tomorrow I get to spend the whole day there with Johnny and Mark while the rest of the group goes to the Amani Baby cottage.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I have posted.

Good morning Uganda!

After 24 hours of flying, 8 hours in a hotel in Kenya, another 50 min plane ride, a 5 hour bus ride, and a full 8 hours of sleep at the Jinga House, I get rewarded with this view.

We are facing a relaxing Sunday. Church service at Calvary Chapel, lunch, then a boat tour of lake Victoria and the source of the Nile River.

Tomorrow we will be working in the new HFC hackerspace. We will be teaching kids logic and basic computer theory thanks to LittleBits.

4 Hours!

This blog post is approved by Emily (15). She can't wait to reunite with the kids at Future Hope orphanage!

Almost ready for Africa2015

Well, 2 days until we fly out! I thought I would be nervous at this point but I feel great. It is all in God's hands. I just thought I would send a quick update to all of my followers. (all 2 of you that is)

We have received several care packages destined for Johnny Long and family. All of this should be a great addition to the things Hackers for Charity received this week from @B31tf4c3. 

I have made final go-no-go checks on the equipment destined for the Kenyan orphanage and the Maasai school. Thanks as always to Hackers for Charity and World Possible for the gift of equipment and educational software. I am still a little nervous about the equipment making it to Kenya unscathed.

Gretchen has organized all the luggage for the multiple medical clinics we are hosting as well as the showing of the Jesus film at our hotel.




 

One of many piles for HFC

Another pile

Getting it all boxed up

I think someone wants to go with us

Gretchen doing her thing.

Van #1 of 2 loaded







Hello again! And goodbye!

It has been a while. After blogging for a while I decided to take a break. Last month I wrote a blog for my new employer and have the bug again. This is great timing since I am about to go to Africa with my family. Our trip has been in the making for quite a while now. There are many people I would like to thank before I do anything else:
1. My family (Gretchen, Emily, Audrey, and Isaac)
2. My in-laws (Gary, Lisa, Rachel, and Nathan)
3. Our church family at Immanuel Baptist Church for the prayers
4. The people of First Baptist Church of Somerset, KY for sponsoring us, donating funds, and the prayers
5. The Hackers for Charity family (Johnny and Jen Long, Sam and Glenn) for the ideas, travel assistance, and the RuggedPi kits
6. The Appalachian Institute for Digital Evidence for hiring Emily and me (this was the moment we were able to switch from a couple of us going to the whole family going)
7. Nathan Swain at ANRC-Services for donating the computers
8. Dr. Terry Finger for providing the money for our Visas in Kenya
9. Professor Bill Gardner (@oncee) for allowing Emily and me to teach your classes at Marshall University and the mention in your book
10. The Nelson's for donating the money to buy a generator for the orphanage
11. Tom Moore (@c0ncealed) for the cash donation and encouragement
12. ShmooCon, DerbyCon, CircleCityCon, AIDE, and BSides Nashville for letting us speak;  SkyDogCon and GrrCon for the donations

Be sure to check in every few days for updates on our travels.

PS Thanks to Handle (@jkentakula) for reminding me to thank Radio Shack. Because they went out of business, we were able to buy several items for HFC at 80% off. Perfect timing Radio Shack!