When the folks over at Praxis Engineering and Proteus Technologies saw my “No-Tech Hacking” talk at a local conference, they realized the talk was a great way to promote security awareness for their employees. So they scheduled the talk as part of their NSA-required annual security training program. The talk was a smashing success, and an overwhelming number of their employees commented that it was”the best training they had ever attended”. Not bad for a talk about something as potentially dry as operational security and awareness. But that’s not the best part of the story. Wanting to support our classroom initiative, they purchased twenty brand new Dell Vostro 1000 laptops and donated them to us in exchange for the talk!

These are the first new computers we’ve had donated, and they’re headed right to East Africa where they will be used in classroom labs we’ve installed (like this one in Uganda). We’re going to honor the donation by stretching it as far as possible. As it stands right now, these computers can only serve twenty children at a time. Our goal is to allow more than one student at a time. Through the use of the OLPC as a “thin” client and software from Microsoft and IPConsult, this could become a reality, allowing forty, sixty, one-hundred students or more to work simultaneously on these systems!

Update: Our request from IPConsult for donated copies of their XP-based terminal server software was declined. We are still seeking a viable solution from Microsoft to somehow use these machines as light servers to be used by more than one child.

Although all the attention wigs me out personally, it turns out that Sunday’s (front page) Baltimore Sun article is creating quite a bit of buzz about us, and that’s not a bad thing. Here is the first link (to the online article), and a second link to Christopher’s blog about the photo session.

I’m proud to announce the release of No Tech Hacking from Syngress Publishing! I’m even more happy to announce that 100% of the proceeds will be going to charity. In fact, each purchase through this Amazon link will feed an African child for one month!

What’s the story with the proceeds?
It’s simple, really. My proceeds from this book are going to AOET (aoet.org), an organization that provides food, education and medical care to children left in the wake of Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. More than an aid organization, AOET aims to disrupt the cycle of poverty and hopelessness in sub-Saharan Africa through empowerment programs and job training, enabling children and adults to be self-sustaining, restoring not only their health but their pride and hope for a brighter future. A single book purchase made through my Amazon associates account (linked from any of my websites, or though http://tiniuri.com/f/Xpc) will generate enough income for AOET to feed a child for an entire month. Other retail purchases (which generate half as much income) will provide either medical services or educational supplies and funding for a single child through a donation pool set aside for those purposes. Why bother? Because I am called to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27), and I know from personal experience how mutually transformative it can be to take that calling seriously. Hamlet was onto something when he wondered, “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.”

Shmoocon is coming, and we’ll be well represented. I will be speaking on the closing plenary panel (tentatively titled “hackers for good”), we will be a recipient of proceeds from the T-Shirt sale (along with the EFF and OLPC), and we’ll have a drop-off for our “Swag for Charity” campaign right next to the registration desk. So if you, or someone you know is attending Shmoocon, load them up with swag (especially pens, pencils and bags) so we can get them to kids tha need them. Thanks forall your support!

Here’s the announcement for the T-Shirt sale:

You’ve got your share of con shirts, but how many of your con shirts have made a difference in the world? The Shmoocon T-shirt drive lets you do just that. Pay your money, get your shirt and toss a chip to the charity of your choice. On Sunday we convert the chips back into Hamiltons, and three great causes find out we’ve got their back. This year we’re supporting One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the EFF, and Hackers For Charity. OLPC aims to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves through the use of low-cost (”$100″) laptops. EFF (http://eff.org) is the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world. Hackers For Charity (http://ihackcharities.org) provides hackers with job experience while leveraging their skills for charities that need those skills.

So whether or not you care about being all altruistic, stop by and grab a cool shirt. Your kind nature can be our little secret.