As I had mentioned previously, this year, I’m going back to school. Not to take classes but to teach a course at my alma mater, Fanshawe College. I did this about a decade ago and thought it was interesting, so I was excited to give it another go. Additionally, after a friend mentioned that their kid wanted to learn Python, I developed an Intro to Python course aimed at the high school students that I’m teaching weekly. I thought that this would be good fodder for the State of Security. So, whenever I have something interesting to discuss, expect to find it here.

A week of teaching is in the books, and I’ve learned a few things. I am teaching two classes. One contains two adults and three teens. The other contains 20 college students. That’s two unique classes, but a few common lessons. These lessons may seem obvious. In fact, I’ll state that they are all obvious, but I wanted to reiterate them for people that may have forgotten them. I think that these are even more important to keep in mind in a Work From Home world.

  • If it can go wrong, it will go wrong.
  • There’s a learning curve to all new software.
  • Stupid bugs are stupid.
  • Technology just might be more magic than science.

If It Can Go Wrong, It Will Go Wrong.

Things will go wrong. I had students with software that crashed during labs, students with computers that crashed during scheduled times and a student that missed a class because they forgot about it. It’s important in quarantine-life to keep in mind that things are going to go wrong and to be flexible and accepting of problems that pop up. We’re not living in the same world we were last year, and everything (Read more...)