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  • Steve Holden’s Beer Rankings (2014)

    December 28, 2014

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    Here are my beer rankings by style. Nearly all of these are based on multiple tastings and from bottled or canned servings.  I personally find that beers on tap are better and can be harder to quantify. Maybe those should end up on a separate list.  I’ve also only included more mainstream offers vice one of a kind beers except in situations where I was blown away.

    Pale Ale

    1. Sierra Nevada’s “Pale Ale”
    2. Ska Brewing’s “Euphoria Pale Ale”
    3. Green Flash “30th Street Pale Ale”
    4. Twisted Manzanita’s “Prospect Pale Ale”

    India Pale Ale (IPA)

    1. Stone’s “IPA”
    2. Saint Archer’s “IPA”
    3. Bear Republic’s “Racer 5 IPA”
    4. Ale Smith’s “IPA”
    5. Pizza Port’s “Swamis IPA”
    6. Red Hook’s “Long Hammer IPA”
    7. Mother Earth’s “Kismet IPA”
    8. Sam Adam’s “Rebel IPA”
    9. Pizza Port’s “Mongo IPA”
    10. Hanger 24 “Columbus IPA”
    11. Mammoth Brewing Company’s “IPA 395”
    12. Lumberyard Flagstaff “IPA”
    13. Hop Knot “IPA”
    14. Big Island Brewhaus “Overboard IPA”

    Non-Standard IPA:

    1. Saranac’s “White IPA”
    2. Pizza Port “Sessionable IPA”
    3. Deschutes Brewery’s “Chainbreaker White IPA”
    4. Sierra Neveda’s “Blindfold Black IPA”

    Double IPA

    1. Ballast Point’s “Dorado”
    2. Green Flash “West Coast Double IPA”
    3. Karl Strauss’ “Big Barrel Double IPA”
    4. Rough Draft Brewing Company’s “Hop Therapy Double IPA”

    Ale (Standard)

    1. Widmer Brother’s “Alchemy Ale”

    Ale (Strong)

    1. Stone’s “Arrogant Bastard in Bourbon Barrel-Aged”
    2. Stone’s “Arrogant Bastard”
    3. Stone’s “Lucky Bastard”

    Holiday

    1. Sierra Nevada’s “Celebration Fresh Hop IPA”
    2. Anchor Brewing’s “Our Special Ale”
    3. Widmer Brother’s “Brrr Seasonal Ale”

    Wheat

    1. New Belgium’s “Snapshot”

    Lager / Golden Ale

    1. New Belgium’s “Summer Helles Lager”
    2. Kona Brewing’s “Big Wave Golden Ale”
    3.  Nui Brewing Kaua’i “Golden Ale”

    Belgium-Style (American)

    1. Green Flash’s “Le Freak Imperial IPA”

    Belgium

    • Brasserie Dubuisson Bush Ambree Triple

    Belgium Kriek

    • Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic

    Oktoberfest

    • Sierra Nevada

     

     

     

     

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  • Fixing Our Pool Pump and Leak On The Cheap

    October 17, 2014

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    Over the last couple of years, slowly and surely there has been an air leak into our pool pumping system.  Everything seem to point to the old metal pipes underground with the line pulling water out of the pool to the pump more probable than line pumping the water back in the pool.

    This last month things got significantly worse and we'd need to do something.  There was just too much air in the line to pull water through the system to keep the pool clean.

    We got a couple of quotes to dig up the old pipes and replace them.  You know you are in trouble when both quotes came back in the same large ballpark called "Unaffordable."  

    I was curious of what type of portable pumping options there might be out there to keep things going until we could decide what to do.  So I started Googling. And then it hit me as I'm looking at these portable pumps — I had all the pieces they had.  I just needed  to run the pipping where the leak was over ground.  It couldn't be that easy could it? Well, it turn out to be significantly easier and less expensive that expected.

    Fixing-pump

    My friend Gary listened to my plan and agreed to help.  I got all the parts and pieces at Home Depot for under $40; and Gary was able to take my plan and make it work in just under 2 hours.  We capped off the old pipe, hooked up a new line from the pump into the pool, tested it for any leaks, and even created a DIY safety lid out of spare wood.

    The "re-mastered" system is working great, and I believe it will work long enough for us to figure out what we really want to do in the pool area and budget accordingly.  Thanks Gary!

     

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    + DIY, Ideas, Personal, San Diego, Tip

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  • DEFCON 22 2014 Conference Report

    August 21, 2014

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    DEFCON22

    A detailed conference report of the sessions attended has been posted: DEFCON22 (PDF).

    In addition, here is a summary of DEFCON 22 related news articles of potential interest:

    • Founder of America’s Biggest Hacker Conference: ‘We Understand the Threat Now’ [Time]
    • Black Hat, Defcon Conferences: From Hackers to Pwnie Awards [eweek]
    • DEFCON's Latest challenge: Hacking altruism [itworld]
    • DEFCON 22: HACKING AIRPORTS, AIRPLANES AND AIRWAVES [tripwire, scmagazine#1, scmagazine#2]
    • Blackphone isn’t insurmountable, hackers prove at Defcon [technewsnow, itporportal]
    • Taiwan hackers win 2nd prize in Las Vegas [taiwantoday]
    • McAfee sideshow eclipses Defcon's real security breakthroughs [infoworld]
    • The clash of cultures between Black Hat and Defcon hacker events [venturebeat]
    • At Defcon, hacker coalition calls for safer computer systems in vehicles [computerworld]
    • DefCon: Bug bounty programs continue to evolve [scmagazine]
    • Hacker Couture At Defcon [forbes]
    • DefCon: Stolen data markets are as organized as legitimate online businesses [scmagazine]
    • Propeller 1 on the DEFCON 22 Badges in Las Vegas! [parallax]
    • Hackers Were Busy at Black Hat [PC Magazine]
    • With Black Hat and DefCon comes spike in Vegas-based attacks [SC Magazine]
    • Cyber Attacks From Las Vegas Spiked During Black Hat, Defcon [SecurityWeek.Com, site.co.uk, itsecurityguru.org]
    • SensePost demos WiFi attacks at DefCon [ITWeb]
    • DefCon 22: Home Automation Security, Personal Wrist Computer Badge and How To Buy Online Anonymously [Revision3 Part 3, Part 1]
    • Inside Defcon: What Happens At The Annual Hacker Convention [nbc-chicago]
    • EFF's T-Shirt Puzzle
    • More info on OpenDNS's DEFCON presentation

    Here are pointers to previous reports: DEFCON 18, DEFCON 19, DEFCON 20, and DEFCON 21.

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    + Cyber, open source, Security, Technology

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  • Notes From Leadership Summit 2014

    August 17, 2014

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    WCGLS-Icon

    Below I have a link to an Adobe PDF of my personal notes from attending Willow Creek Association's Leadership Summit 2014 this past week.  I was not able to attend in person, but I did attend via video broadcast with my church at Journey Community Church in La Mesa, CA.

    Here are few take aways:

    • Leadership requires a commitment to a constant and dedicated learning process that never ends.
    • Leadership is not management.  If you want to be a better manager, then check out: www.manager-tools.com.
    • Successful deployment of strategies and vision require teams, and teams require multifaceted leadership skills/abilities/traits (for instance: humility, vulnerability, trust, truth, honesty, integrity).
    • Sometimes you just need to "figure it out."
    • Michael Jr is very funny.

    Next year's conference is August 6-7, 2015.  If you get a chance, then I highly recommend you attend if you are in a leadership position.  I probably won't be able to attend as next year's DEFCON is August 7-9, 2015.

    Here is the link to the PDF.  Let me know if you have any questions, comments, corrections, etc.

     

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  • Review – Asus C720-2802 Chromebook

    August 3, 2014

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    I recently picked up via Craigslist a "new in the box" Asus C720-2802 Chromebook to use as my new primary system for TechNewsRadio.com.  The main reason was that DEFCON22 is coming up soon in Las Vegas and I needed a "relatively" secure system to attend sessions and take notes for ~8 hours a day.  

    Acer_c720-chromebook

    My previous note taking system was relatively old ThinkPad that I had 3 sets of extra batteries for. So, I dropped about 6 pounds by moving to the C720.  And I don't have to configure a fresh system to take to DEFCON and then scrub after.

    This version (2802) seems like the middle build release (~Feb2014) from the original that was in late 2013 and the most current $199 version that uses the Intel Celeron 2955U processor (2848).  There is also a newer more expensive C720 with an Intel Core i3 processor available.

    The positivies:

    1. Keyboard is great.
    2. Integration with my Google account was flawless.
    3. Integration with all my core online services was flawless.
    4. Working offline seems to work as expected.

    The negatives:

    1. Can't seem to check IMAP email with an extension or a native Chrome application.

    The still to be determined:

    1. Will it get hacked at DEFCON?
    2. How to edit audio?
    3. Will it let me take notes all day at DEFCON?

    POST DEFCON REPORT: There is now an IMAP client – CloudMagic.  I am pretty sure I didn't get hacked at DEFCON.  I was able to take notes all day long at DEFCON without any issues.  I have not found a good solution for editing audio.

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    + chrome, Conferences, Cyber, Mobile, recommendation, review, Technology, tips

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  • TECH NEWS RADIO PODCAST #373 | 2014-08-02 | NMAP #DDOP

    August 2, 2014

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     Listen! (Size 2.12 MBs, Running Time 2m10s)
     
    Today's podcast is inspired by the Dog Days Of Podcasting (#DDOP).  It is a single focus recommendation on why I have NMAP in my security toolkit and why you should consider it.

    Feel free to follow along with Steve Holden at: Twitter and/or Google+.  For technology news only updates follow TechNewsRadio @ Twitter.

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    + Linux, Macintosh, networking, open source, Podcast, recommendation, Security, tips, windows

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  • JERSEY BOYS PODCAST #076 – Movie Review & Interviews

    June 20, 2014

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    IMG_20140619_184159
     
    Today's podcast covers our first impression review of the Jersey Boys Movie, a fan's interview of the Movie, and interviews recently published with Movie cast members.
     
    Song segments played in this podcast includes:
    • "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" from The Four Season's Working My Way Back To You Album
    • "Beggin" from the Jersey Boys Movie Soundtrack

    You can get all the latest news about Jersey Boys at the Jersey Boys Blog. If you want to see Jersey Boys the musical then check out Jersey Boys Info (Broadway, Tour, London, etc).

     Listen! (Size: 30.9-MBs, Time: 44m31s)

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    + Broadway, Current Affairs, Film, Frankie Valli, interview, Jersey Boys, News, Podcast, reviews, The Four Seasons

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  • JERSEY BOYS PODCAST #075 – Movie Interviews & Press Conference

    June 14, 2014

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    JB-Movie-Parade-Mag-Cover
     
    Today’s podcast covers:
    • Jersey Boys Movie Featurette on Apple iTunes trailer site
    • Jersey Boys Movie Cast Member interview on The Marilyn Denis Show
    • Jersey Boys Movie’s June 8th Press Conference held in New York City (NYC)
     Song segments played in this podcast include:
    • “Can’ Take My Eyes Off of You” from the Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons Reunited Live Album
    • “C’Mon Marianne” from Jersey Boys Musical Cast CD

    You can get all the latest news about Jersey Boys at the Jersey Boys Blog. If you want to see Jersey Boys the musical then check out Jersey Boys Info (Broadway, Tour, London, etc).

     Listen! (Size: 32.7-MBs, Time: 47m08s)

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    + Bob Gaudio, Broadway, Cast Member, Film, Frankie Valli, interview, Jersey Boys, Music, Podcast, The Four Seasons

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  • Podcast Update On Personal Finance Tools

    June 12, 2014

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    Back in Podcast #325 we had a mention and a link to a personal finance tool called Wesabe. It is no longer available.

    There are other options out there like Mint and PocketBook.

    If you know others then please let us know!

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  • Tracking News Related To TrueCrypt

    May 30, 2014

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    Here are some links to stories about TrueCrypt shutting down:

    • ThreatPost.com
    • KrebsOnSecurity.com
    • Reddit's SysAdmin
    • Reddit's NetSec
    • EtcWiki.org
    • TheHackerNews.com
    • TheRegister.co.uk

    TrueCrypt is a key tool in our toolkit for protecting data and we use it everyday.  If it is actually going to go away then it will leave a big whole in end-user security options for data encryption.

     

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