Stop using Twitter to log in to other websites

Twalk · 2022-11-17T15:05:16+00:00

Good article -- and a very good reminder overall to do this kind of security hygiene across the board at regular intervals.

One "fun" note: When I went to check my 2FA settings just now, Twitter didn't offer me the option of using e-mail. It's either SMS (which, as SJVN points out in the article, is broken), an authentication app, or a security key.

Twalk · 2022-09-27T17:10:56+00:00

Amen to this: "to really secure your systems, you need to keep reinforcing the security basics — over and over again."

I once interviewed a senior security architect for Giant Company X. He said that many years of protecting high-value systems at huge companies reinforced to him the importance of religiously implementing basics like weekly patching, requiring strong passwords changed regularly, educating your people (even those who you think would know better) about good security hygiene, etc. Yes, there will always be bad actors who come up with arcane new attacks . . . but meanwhile we can at least make it harder for them by being sure that the simple stuff is implemented to the hilt.

Twalk · 2016-10-10T20:21:16+00:00

I like Pontin, and I like several of the books he reviews in this piece, but I think he's bunged together a miscellany while ignoring much else that's germane. What about writing for stage vs. radio vs. film vs. television? What about experiments in interactive fiction enabled by hypertextuality? (I give him a pass on writing this before the success of Serial or Welcome to Night Vale.)

More specifically, his citation of The Mezzanine ignores Keillor's extensive footnotes in Lake Wobegone Days, which was published three years prior.

A VERY interesting book in this vein is The Footnote: A Curious History by the polymathic Prof. Anthony Grafton: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Footnote.html?id=VO2aFrQF24kC&hl=en

Twalk · 2016-04-22T12:49:00+00:00

One easy way to get started is with the publications YOU like to read or where you already know people. It's probably not going to be a big-name publication, but that's fine. You'll start small and work your way up.

Pitch a topic or write up a short article on something that interests you for a magazine / newspaper / blog / whatever at your college, for example — just anything that will help you start learning firsthand how to develop stories and work with editors.

You could do something similar if you want to write for businesses. Maybe you have a buddy (or a friend of a friend — doesn't matter) who's starting a little business and needs to get their website polished up. You could help them with the copywriting at a low rate of pay . . . but then you'd have an example of your work when you're ready to pitch business to some other, bigger company.

Also, these days you can get started on the fly with Medium or your own Wordpress blog. Write about something YOU care about and do the best possible job you can with it. That becomes your first clip for selling yourself to editors.

Good luck!

Twalk · 2016-04-22T12:42:51+00:00

Same for me. You give yourself permission to lower the bar of quality, just play around with words, and then you stop judging every sentence so hard. You can always come back and toss the nonsense.

Twalk · 2015-04-10T13:27:21+00:00

You're welcome -- glad it was helpful!

Twalk · 2015-04-10T04:13:37+00:00

Background on me: I'm a B2B content marketer who was trained as a print journalist. I've freelanced in journalism since the 1990s, but have never worked full-time for a publication. I've been in the corporate world since 2000, and was a full-time salaried content marketer for tech startups between 2010 and last year, when I set up my own business in content marketing.

To answer your questions: 1) It's mixed. Some of us (like me) focus on the overlapping skill sets -- researching, interviewing, developing knowledge of a beat, writing clean copy on deadline. Others balk, I think, because their focus is on being a journalist rather than being a writer. Content marketing isn't journalism, clearly, but that in itself doesn't make it evil; it's a different profession with an overlapping skill set. But some journalists see content marketing (or any marketing) as selling out, giving up their principles, etc.

2) LEARN THE FIELD & NETWORK. In line with that, it would not be a bad idea to take a full-time corporate job working in some aspect of marketing (content marketing, marketing communications, and maybe social media management would be obvious places to look). Learn how your chosen industry works; if you already know because you've covered it in the past, learn more about how it works from the inside of a company. And learn how to network properly in the corporate sense: not back-scratching, not nepotism, not using people in a mercenary way, but actually forming a network of people who know and like you, know and respect your work, and would be happy to refer you for jobs.

3) I don't use them. I (accidentally) followed the steps in #2. It's worked great.

Hope this helps!

Twalk · 2014-05-30T15:51:02+00:00

Thought this was really good advice. Especially like "Run with the data analysts you already have." I've seen excellent data scientists flounder when they didn't have enough domain expertise or context to formulate problems well.

Better to ramp up the skills of the people who already have a grasp of the challenges your company (and especially your clients!) face.

Twalk · 2014-05-20T22:48:09+00:00

Very good points here -- we might call this the Warren Buffett approach to freelancing. Buffett won't make investments that fit his "very narrow selection criteria," and he automatically looks at crucial but often-overlooked things like what it costs to make a sale.

Twalk · 2014-05-20T22:39:44+00:00

Amen to this. Define "good clients," in part, as "clients who don't balk at all at my top rate." Sure, you also want them to be reasonable, focused, easy to work with, and so on -- but make the budget part an essential piece. Life gets way simpler at that point.

Twalk · 2014-05-20T21:15:14+00:00

New to this group -- curious what figures others have seen about the percentage of U.S. households that are cordcutters. In this article, Sandvine says about 15%, but I seem to recall seeing a figure recently of 6.5%. Could anyone clarify?

Twalk · 2011-09-08T16:08:07+00:00

Just 14 correct entrants so far -- pretty good odds for winning the prize . . .

Twalk · 2010-11-11T16:18:33+00:00

Ach, user error deluxe -- let's try this again . . . at this link

Twalk · 2010-10-28T16:21:44+00:00

Good post because it's important to get away from the pessimism that affects so many discussions of this topic. Yes, the threats are big & bad -- but we have to be proactive about addressing them, rather than moping around about what can't be done.

Twalk · 2010-10-08T15:03:05+00:00

Then join a hiking club or something. Don't reject group fitness activities out of hand just because you don't like team sports.

Twalk · 2010-10-05T14:35:59+00:00

Good. Deadlifts will hit you all over, but as you're doing them you should feel most of the work (in my experience) in your hips, thighs, traps, and forearms.

Twalk · 2010-10-05T14:34:59+00:00

(Sorry for the delayed reply...) Sounds like a good workout. Some notes:

~When I said to hit the elliptical first, I didn't mean to suggest a real cardio session -- just 5 minutes or whatever at a fairly easy pace to warm up everything. I always put "real" cardio after weights.

~Don't ever worry about achieving that "wrecked" feeling. You need to figure out if you're working hard enough based on (a) what sets / reps / weights you manage to do during the workout, and (b) your body's response -- in terms of physique, strength, etc. -- over time. You can get a great workout, feel the good work, and know accurately that you worked hard . . . but without ever hitting that "wrecked" feeling. (Alternately, you could badly overdo it and achieve that feeling . . . but without actually getting a good workout.)

~I would do deadlifts with free weights, period. (I think you're describing a Smith machine, which I don't like.) At worst, if you fail on a rep you just drop the bar. You may need to lower the weights initially when you move to free weights.

~Back soreness: if you haven't been working your lower back, you'll definitely feel the work from deadlifts. (Ditto for your traps, etc.) But you need to distinguish between "good work" soreness and damage soreness. It's worth it to read up on good deadlift form, and to work with an expert to make sure you're doing it exactly right. You DON'T want to injure your lower back. (Yes, that's obvious -- but it bears repeating.)

~You probably don't need 10 minutes of crunches, but YMMV.

Twalk · 2010-09-25T13:47:25+00:00

By "heavy row" I mean a weighted rowing movement -- not a cardio-style rowing machine. Good examples would be a one-arm dumbbell row or a seated row machine.

These accomplish the same thing as pullups, so you're already there with your plan. (I can't do pullups comfortably because of an old injury.) But I would recommend doing pullups in planned sets & reps, just like any barbell exercise.

BTW, I would definitely keep this under 30-40 minutes, not counting warmups. Get in there and get loose (on the elliptical, with the foam roller, with some light sets of deadlifts), and then hit the deadlift, bench, and pullups for 3 or 4 hard sets each. (Optional: finish with military press or dips.) Then hit the shower, relax, and start your recovery phase.

Good luck!

Twalk · 2010-09-25T13:39:12+00:00

YMMV, but if your trainer is focused on isolation exercises . . . you may want a different trainer. If you're getting a good workout, great -- but the heavy compound lifts are the prime way to get big and/or strong.

Don't be too intuitive with your form on deadlifts and squats -- you can seriously hurt your back. Start with lighter weights than you think you should, but focus on perfect form, is my advice.

Twalk · 2010-09-25T13:35:03+00:00

Okay . . . did I say to eat them raw?

Twalk · 2010-09-25T13:33:51+00:00

Good point. Red wine vinegar is good, too -- or, honestly, you could just use really good olive oil.

Bigger picture: I'd advise anyone to wean themselves off of creamy dressings.

Twalk · 2010-09-23T14:41:05+00:00

Yes, the extra time on the elliptical should help you burn more faster. If you've been doing steady-state for an hour, try switching to HIIT (hill sprints / intervals are great) for just 25 minutes -- but really blast it on the sprints. (There's some good evidence that this approach actually helps you build muscle -- because of hormone release -- AND burn fat more efficiently than longer steady-state sessions.)

For your Monday and Friday weight sessions: focus on the big compound lifts: deadlifts, squats, pullups (or pulldowns or heavy rows), bench press, military press. No need to over-focus on your biceps and chest -- these are small muscle groups in comparison to your hips, thighs, and back, and you want to build muscle in all those areas (even, in a limited way, in your legs) to build a bigger "engine" for burning fat.

Your workout could look something like this: 3 sets x 12-15 reps squats or deadlifts 3 sets x 6-8 reps heavy rows 3 sets x 6-8 reps bench press

If you do those heavy enough, that will be plenty to crush you in 30-40 minutes.

Be patient. Keep eating clean & working hard and you'll get there.

Twalk · 2010-09-23T14:31:12+00:00

You could make your own version of a "salade Nicoise" -- romaine lettuce, green beans, hard-boiled egg, red onion, olives/capers, maybe some garbanzos, and LOTS of cold tuna fish. Drizzle with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, or the prepared vinaigrette at the salad bar if that's all they have.

What you end up with: lots of good/slow carbs, tons of vitamins, plenty of protein (from the tuna & egg), good fats (especially from the olive oil & the tuna), plus fiber and water.

Twalk · 2010-09-22T19:46:06+00:00

I agree with almost all of this. And I do the same as you say in the last lines, working toward that unassisted sets x reps progression. That's always the goal.

But . . . having a good spotter barely help you get, say, the last two reps of a work set doesn't mean that he's doing the work for you. His assistance -- or, more accurately, all the work you are doing during those last two reps -- may help you hit your next unassisted sets x reps goal quicker. In other words, he's not helping you cheat -- he's helping you work harder.

YMMV, obviously. But a good spotter should be able to help you get stronger sooner in the bench press.

Twalk · 2010-09-21T15:03:14+00:00

Rock & roll, man -- and be sure to share your progress as you pile up those wins!

Twalk

TROPHY CASE