Security Post

Today is the last day in the USA. This morning I started early for my ISSMP exam at the Javits Center. When I walked down the streets, everything was white from the snow. This is a very nice way to end my trip. The exam took me just over two hours, so I was well within the three hour limit. As usual with the ISC² exam, I don’t have a clue if I did ok because of the weird exams they present. But I guess I did well.

After the exam I walked all the way back to Times Square. After some final packing and a short walk to Rockefeller center we had to hop on the Supershuttle towards JFK Airport.

Bye bye New York…

My last stop for this trip is: New York!

My girlfriend Mirjam joined me this last few days. It was very nice to see her again after 3 months of traveling. We did some nice stuff these last days. She took me on a helicopter ride over Manhattan! (pictures will come later on), we did some last minute sightseeing, and did some shopping.

After the short but amazing helicopter flight, we did an audio tour around Ground Zero from Soundwalk. This was really amazing! So if you go to NYC, I can recommend doing this. When I started my trip here in NYC, I had to skip a tour around Ellis Island due to the lack off time. So after a visit to Liberty Island where we were unable to go on to the observation deck for the second time, we walked around Ellis Island with an audio tour (provided by the park). Although the stories are intriguing, they kept repeating them in every room, just with a few different details. So after an hour of the same stories over and over again, we just walked around ourselves and eventually left to hop on the boat back to Manhattan. That evening I took Mirjam on a Horse-Drawn Carriage ride in Central Park. Doing this in the evening makes it more romantic, but you see less of Central Park. The next day we did some shopping along Fifth Avenue.

Something I also didn’t take the time for the last time I was in New York was seeing a Broadway production. So we bought tickets at the TKTS ticket booth downtown for 50% off. The first evening we went to Mary Poppins, a really good musical! Mary Poppins even flew over us! Nice special effects, and the cast is very well chosen. The second evening we went to Xanadu, this is a whole lot different from Mary Poppins. It is difficult to top a real and classic musical like Mary Poppins with a modern musical filled with just blunt American humor.

There are more pictures of these last few days in the Picture section (The helicopter flight is still to come).

After a super delicious Thanksgiving diner at Saju, I had to prepare myself for my trip to Vienna. In Vienna I joined the ISC² ISSMP (Management Professional) Review Seminar. This certification is an extra concentration to the CISSP exam I did earlier. Although I don’t expect to prepare for a 6 hour exam, it will still be a heavy course and exam.

ISC² recommended a small and simple hotel just 2 blocks away, The Homestead Suites. After a pretty long drive from Dulles Airport I arrived. All seemed well, indeed a small and simple hotel, but it looked clean and ok. I dropped my bags, and went out to look for some diner. First it looked very quiet on the streets, just a few restaurants and nothing to fancy. I had some diner at Olive Garden, nice Italian food but again…the American way. After diner I went of to find the local Starbucks. I found the Mall, it looked like 3 giant stores. When I found an entrance and went downstairs, I found the Mall. There were 3 big stores on top, but maybe even a hundred underground! This was a huge American Mall, in the middle of a small village. Later on I heard many people drive from Washington to go to this mall during shopping seasons.

The next day I woke up with a strained back, this bed was terrible! Well I had to find the ISC² building now, I expected something modern and something that would be easy to spot from the streets. So I started walking towards the address I got from an employee because I didn’t receive the official invitation. After an hour and a half searching, I went back to the hotel to see if the address was on the website. So I found out they gave me the wrong address, the number they gave me didn’t even exist. I went over quickly so I wouldn’t miss to much, just to find out the even started an hour earlier than I expected. So my advise to ISC²: Don’t stop working with your old system, if it takes 4 months to setup up the new one. If you need help on this, read your own books and have a look at tha chapters about Business Continuity and Change management.

Oh well, although the hotel was terrible to sleep and they clean just once a week, I searched almost 2 hours for a non existing address, and due to lacking communication I missed a few hours of training, I did indeed enjoy it, and I met some new and interesting people.

After a long but interesting second day I left just in time for Dulles Airport to fly back to New York!

For those who are interested, I just posted some new pictures in the gallery. There is also a small video of a marching band in the video section.

It was very busy, on the news they said it could have been the biggest crowd ever. Staying at a hotel just half a block from Times Square was super for this event.

I landed safely in New York last Sunday. I thought there would be monstrous delays because of the upcoming holidays, but I was lucky. There was less than half an hour delay before take-off! So after a medium long flight we landed at JFK. That’s when it became interesting. After a few minutes of taxiing we stopped in the middle of a busy road towards the terminal, the gate was still in use, so we had to wait a few minutes. Going back an forth a few times to let other airplanes through, we proceeded towards our gate in little steps. And finally after 45 minutes we were at the gate. I then had to wait for half an hour to get my luggage. So it wasn’t that bad at all.

It’s nice to be back in New York after all this traveling. The weird thing is although there is so much to choose from, it is hard to get some healthy and affordable food here. It thought I got used to it during my trip, but now I know it is harder here in NYC than elsewhere. But fortunately I know a few restaurants I can go to, and McCormicks is just 4 blocks down. I also found a deli with fresh fruit so I have some apples and stuff for healthy snacks during the day. Something else I noticed is the Starbucks here in NYC are more for the bigger crowds on the street. Most of the Starbucks around Times Square don’t have seating, so I walk a bit further to get my morning latte and read the newspaper.

My upcoming 2 weeks which are my last ones are going to be busy, but not for me I think. I tried to contact some people, but many are taking the whole week off because of Thanksgiving. So I will do some extra preparation on other things for when I get back home, and walk around the city and enjoy the buzz, and everything around Thanksgiving. Like the Thanksgiving parade which is organized by Macy’s.

Next week I will go to the ISSMP Review seminar in Vienna, VA at the ISC² headquarters. This is the management concentration for my CISSP certification. This will be my last trip within the US, because after that I will go back to New York to meet up with my girlfriend Mirjam. We will enjoy the last few days while I prepare for my ISSMP exam here in NYC on the day I fly back to The Netherlands.

Well it’s time to get some dinner, so I’m off to 32nd street to get some nice Korean food.

It has been a week since I came to Minneapolis, so it’s time for an update.

The first weekend in Minneapolis was almost shocking, I found big shops but there where only a few people walking around. It was really quiet on the streets, in the shops and in the restaurants. Starbucks here closes a 7pm! Minneapolis is a city that comes alive during the week. Especially around the Skyway, this is the best feature of Minneapolis so far. You can walk all around downtown without going out on the streets, very handy when it is very cold outside! Most of the bigger hotels, shops and centers are connected to the Skyway system.

I had some nice meetings with Travis from Orange Parachute, he introduced me to several other people like customers and colleagues. We started off having lunch at “Hell’s Kitchen“, where we discussed a lot of different business opportunities. We both have to look for some extra information on how to make this possible, but we now both have a good idea of the things we can work together on. I think we have some nice opportunities ahead of us.

That same evening Travis invited me to a Riesling tasting dinner at Sage with his wife. The people running this new wine bar are friends of Travis, and they needed some “testing”. We had a smashing dinner at this fine location, with even more amazing wines. They invited their wine specialist from Iowa to tell us about the wines we were tasting. Riesling wines are not new to me, but that’s because Germany is just a 2 hour drive from home.

The next evening Travis invited me to have dinner with some friends at Chino Latino, a nice and busy restaurant in uptown Minneapolis. They some great dishes all around the world, mostly dishes to “share”. So this results in a fusion type of food with the atmosphere of a dim-sum dinner. I didn’t expect it to be such a good match, but it was! And I’m sure I am not the only one, because it was a very busy place. After that we met up with some other friends and had some drinks downtown at a few bars.

The next morning I felt very sick. I thought I had too much to drink, but I was shaking, freezing and was sweating. I couldn’t even keep one little sip of water inside. And wasn’t feeling too good since a few days, so I think the alcohol pushed me over the edge to catch the flu. So I spent one day above the toilet and in bed, and another day mostly in bed. So today I feel a whole lot better, but I’m still careful.

Tonight I am spending my last night in Minneapolis. So Travis invited me again to dinner with another friend he said I had to meet before leaving the city. So I am sure this will be a nice evening. I just have to be careful not to end up having the same conversation with the white guy and the glasses in the bathroom all over again.

Tomorrow I’m flying to New York City again. I am going to spend Thanksgiving in Manhattan. I heard some great stories about the Thanksgiving parade, and all the other festivities. More about that next week!

You can track my flight over here. Lift off is at 12:55PM CST (I guess that is 19:55 Rotterdam time)

Did you know…..?

• They have Popcorn stores, filled up with all different kinds of popcorn. And customers even stand in line for over an hour to get it.
• Waiters earn up to $3 an hour, just enough to pay for the taxes. So everything they earn is based on tips.
• Depending on the timing with holidays and conventions you have might suddenly have to pay $300 extra a night at a hotel
• Just one of the 30 different pillows I have slept on so far was good, but it wasn’t that good, because I forgot which hotel…
• Not even one of the 20 different types of toilet paper was as strong as the one I have at home, I hate to use that much paper!
• People are paid (almost nothing) to stand outside all day long with a sign “Sandwiches around the corner” or “Designer suites”, even when it freezes outside
• My nose is having trouble with the air conditioning. I have a continuous running nose, and it is hurting as if I’m doing coke or something (not that I known how that feels like, unless you are talking about Coke as in Coca Cola)
• I don’t miss my car. But the public transportation is real good in most cities here, and cabs are not that expensive
• I have never walked as much as here in the USA
• I haven’t lost any weight because of it
• I will try to keep on doing that when I get back in The Netherlands
• I don’t miss my water bed…yet
• I will really miss Starbucks when I get back to The Netherlands
• It is normal here to use your laptop in public at stores like Starbucks
• I have met more people with than without a Blackberry
• Ironically they call them CrackBerry themselves
• I would rather smash them flat as a pancake and call them FlatBerry
• It really is amazing to see those Blackberry screens light up a room like a Christmas tree while someone is trying to give an interesting keynote
• The best things I have spent money on so far are: My Boingo Wireless account, my $70 New York city tour, my Cole Haan shoes (I need new ones when I come home!), my iPhone and OSX Leopard
• The most useless things I spent money on so far are: An inverter to use electronic stuff over here, entrance to The Secureworld Expo in San Francisco, a cheap flight ticket (I had to pay extra to pay with my European credit card at the counter, for every piece of checked-in baggage, for not being able to check-in online, and for a baggage that was overweight just 2 lbs., and the most expensive airport transfer so far to use the cheap ticket)
• I have intensively used my: MacBook Pro (becoming a bigger Apple fan every day!), my iPod, my Cole Haan shoes I bought in NYC and my credit cards
• Even when you travel for 3 months it is useless to use frequent-flyer programs or hotel programs to “earn points”. You have to spend at least 6 months in the same hotel to get a free upgrade or night, the same for the airmiles.
• It is so easy to spend more time on finding a good and cheap hotel online it just cost you an extra night…. oops
• I should have read more books during my stay, but walking was a lot of fun!
• I have read some interesting magazines over here, too bad most of them are not available in Europe
• The newspaper here isn’t that interesting… The Dutch newspapers are filled with far more international information
• I am bummed to have missed the Nascar races or a baseball game
• I am glad I will be back with my family, girlfriend and friends in time for the holidays
• I have had enough restaurant food for a few months… I think
• Looking at the National restaurants, McCormicks is the best! I love fresh fish and daily menus!
• I will miss the good steaks they have here
• I miss a real Dutch pizza and Bram Ladage fries with mayonnaise
• This trip has brought me other things than I expected in the beginning
• This trip has not brought much of the things I expected in the beginning
• I have learned so much more interesting and more important things after all
• I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it for a thing!
• My life is about way more than just Information Security
• There are too many people without a real vision or mission, and therefore lack the inspiration to enjoy their life and work
• I am not just talking about the more powerful and rich people, but about everybody!
• A waiter that earns $3 an hour can be so enthusiastic and have that kind of spirit I am talking about, they make over 10% off a multi million dollar revenue in a team with 50 people!
• Earns so much in tips because her customers are happy, she travels almost every month to a new location anywhere in the world
• The only one who is holding you back is….. you!
• Looking at my website statistics I found a lot of old friends are visiting me, no not just you
• I get some weird hits from several sites like: WeFeelFine.org and some other websites gathering statistics on weblogs like mine
• I get visitors from all over the world
• The top 3 countries for November so far are: The USA, The Netherlands and France
• But I also get visitors from Brasil, Seychelles, Israel, UK, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Japan and more…
• I am please to see over 50% of my visitors use Apple (but that includes myself), and 5% use Linux (good to see some die hards!)
• Ivo, don’t forget to upgrade Firefox when you are back at home
• The best cities are Chicago and New York (from a tourist perspective)
• The worst/most boring have been San Francisco, Minneapolis and Atlanta
• Ironically these are the cities that have contributed the most on my trip
• And therefore are number one on my list of cities I have learned in the most, or have met the best people
• This list will get longer later on… so check back again later!

This Friday I will fly to Minneapolis. I am meeting up with Travis, the owner of Orange Parachute there next week to do some brainstorming on how we can start working together. I’m flying over a bit early because the hotels in Chicago downtown are all sold out for this weekend, or way over-priced!. Although it is even colder over there than it is here.

You can track my flight over here. Lift off is at 12:55pm CST > 19:55 or 18:55 in Europe, I am not sure due to the recent Daylight saving time change in Europe.

After beeing on the road for so long, I needed to do something technical, and something creative. So as you might have noticed, I have altered the theme of my website. The theme I used before was based on Apple’s artwork for OSX Tiger, and was built by N.Design studios. So it was time to make something for myself. And as some of you might have noticed, Apple has recently launched the new OSX Leopard operating system. So I have altered the stylesheets, and redesigned some graphics to make the theme look more like the new OSX Leopard.

The “Grass leaf” background is the old Leopard background used in the first few introductions by Apple. The whole new Leopard is now know by it’s “Aurora” background. But after some testing the website was too dark, the stylesheet was difficult to alter the way I wanted to and the Aurora effect seem to disappear in the end result. I liked the Grass leaf background better after all.

For the techies under you, I have also added a widget on the right so you can read my blog with a RSS reader. And for those who were missing the Thickbox picture effect (For easy zapping through my pictures), I have fixed that too.

I also browsed through some of my website statistics, and was amazed by all the visitors, off course many of you are from The Netherlands. But I also have visitor from all over the world. It is great to see many old friends are looking and browsing through my stories, even those who I haven’t expected to pass by. So if you are passing by, let me know you have been here and make a comment on my posting, or put something in the Shoutbox. Let me know what you think!

Next to my own website, I have also made a new theme for Mirjams sister Esther. I started to make a Shrek theme a few years back when they were planning their wedding, altered it into a real baby website when Sem, their son was born. Now Sem has just turned one, so it was time for the baby website to move on to a toddler website. So I designed a theme based on “A bug’s life”, as Sem has a wall painting in his room based on this movie. Have a look over here.

Making this theme was really cool, I was sitting at Starbucks with my laptop and a cup of coffee. I was searching on the internet for some “Bugs” and other graphics to make this work. After about 30 minutes of editing in Photoshop, the major outline of the new theme came on my screen. People around me were amazed I did this in just 30 minutes . Sure, the fine tuning took some extra time, but that’s normal.

I back in Chicago Downtown. A different hotel this time, The Four points Sheraton… a great hotel for a good price.

Before I booked my ticket to the US I thought about going to a real American sports event, like baseball or football. Unfortunately the baseball season has just ended, but the limo driver advised me to go to either a basketball game or a hockey game. So… why not both! I went to the basketball game on Friday and I’ll be going to the hockey game in a few hours. I thought about making a Podcast or Vodcast for my website, so I’ll be trying to make a Podcast about the Bulls game and the Blackhawks game later today or tomorrow. You can find them on the new video page.

During the day I tried to contact several people here in the States, mostly without luck so far. I have also put my possibilities on paper, well… in a MindMap.