Teach Your Child to Hack @ DEFCON Kids
Filed under: Blog Entries, Education, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
DEFCON, one of the largest gathering of hackers in the world will be having its first Annual DEFCON Kids, August 6-7, 2011 at the Rio in Las Vegas. There will be classes for kids ages 8 to 16 where they will cover topics like social engineering, how to open Master locks, Google Hack, code in scratch and communicate in code.
For the kids who are interested in learning how to hack, I think it’s a great idea (with the exception of the lock picking) to teach them in a closed environment where they can be monitored and encouraged to use their skill for good. Most people don’t consider cyber terrorism to be a big deal, but if you think how much we’ve come to rely on the Internet as a society, you’d realize the importance of this kind of conference.
Who knows, our next Internet security entrepreneur, CIO or cyber security specialist might be discovered. If done right, this can be a good thing. It’ll give these kids the opportunity to meet people with similar interests and teach them how to prevent others from falling victim to the not so nice hackers.
For more information visit www.defconkids.org.
Texas TV TakeBack Bill Signed
Last week Gov. Rick Perry signed a new law requiring television manufacturers to take back and recycle unused television sets in an effort to keep toxic materials out of our landfills and water.
Why is this a big deal you might ask? One, because pollutants in the water is just nasty. And two, because I feel it’s important to take care of the environment and do what we can to keep it safe for generations to come. The small things matter and when they make it easy for us to recycle any type of item, we should take full advantage of it.
I grew up in a neighborhood where we had to work to recycle stuff. Crushing cans and loading the car with paper and plastic bottles was a family affair for us. We would take it up to the community recycling bin and make multiple trips during the day if we couldn’t pack all of it in on the first trip. Now, all I have to do is throw my recyclables in a bin and put it on the corner during our recycle day.
While the bill has been signed by the governor, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality still has to design rules to implement and enforce the law. Until then check out the articles below to learn who current offers recycling programs for electronics in Texas.
What Texas’ new television recycling law means for consumers
President Obama’s Weekly Address – 06/18/11
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Family, Life, Obama, Relationships, Society & Culture
I thought this video was a great example of what father’s job should be.
On Father’s Day weekend, President Obama reflects on his experience as a parent and discusses the challenges and necessity of being a good father.
Happy Father’s Day: Not Much Has Changed
Filed under: Blog Entries, Family, Life, Photo Phinish, Relationships
Today marks the ten year “anniversary” of my dad’s passing (interesting that it falls on Father’s Day). I was looking through some old photos and found this one of the two of us chillin’ in his favorite chair. I have a couple of photos like this with my boys and I hope when they look at them they’ll remember the love I have for them.
Before my dad had his first stroke, we spent a lot of time together. He’d take me to work with him during the summer, to choir rehearsals during the week and I’d always see him working in the church. I learned a lot about the value of hard work and eventually took on one of his favorite hobbies (photography). While I hated some of the sayings he used (“You got McDonald’s money”), I find myself using them with my boys. He had a definite influence on my life and I appreciate all the lessons he taught me.
I miss my dad and I wish he’d had a chance to meet his grandsons. I’m sure he’d love them as much as he loved me. It’s up to me to pass the torch and I’m going to make sure they learn some of the same lessons he taught me. That’s what it’s all about. Be it their dad or someone filling in the role, boys need a male role model. They need someone who understands the challenges they’ll face as men to prepare them for the future. My dad was tough on us and being a dad raising two boys in today’s society, the need for those life lessons that dad can teach are more important than ever.
I love my boys and it’s my job to make sure they get what they need to be successful in life. It starts with getting them a good education and understanding of who they are. It’s not an easy task, but I’m up to the challenge. I helped bring them into the world, so the least I can do is be their primary example of what a man should be.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who know where I’m coming from.
Change
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Health, Laughable, Legal, Life, Monday Motivation, Music Reviews, My Thoughts, My Utterz, MyBlogLog, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Photo Phinish, Podcasts, Podcasts - Tha Brothas, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global, Twitter
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on theotalks.net and I’ve had it on my task list to do this for a while. I’ve been debating it for some time, but I really think it’s time to start fresh. I’ve mentioned in other posts that blogging is hard work. If you’re not dedicated to the cause, you can easily suffer burnout. I’ve seen it before from some of my favorite sites and if you look at the last date I posted, you’ll see it here.
But despite the lack of posts, I still get a decent amount of hits and readers are still leaving comments on some of my older posts. I’m not the most prolific writer and I don’t consider myself to be well-versed in a lot of the stuff I blog about. But there’s something about this blogging thing that keeps sucking me back into it. I’ve grown to love the black blogger community and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people. There are a lot of people out there with some strong opinions about society and the world as they see it. Those are the people who I like to showcase and support.
I’m making some changes to the blog and what I blog about. I love the current theme and focus of theotalks, but I want to remove the restraints and give myself the opportunity to be all over the place. The new theme of the site is “Random thoughts about everything and nothing”. While it may be a little vague, that’s how I want to run the site from now on. My current theme of focusing on the black community is great, but there are so many other great bloggers out there consistently doing it. It takes time to put those posts together and right now, I’m at a different place in life.
So from here on out, expect the unexpected. As I feel moved, I’ll post about whatever is on my heart at the moment. I’ll also be showcasing some of my favorite bloggers and will work to get some of the guest writers back (you know who you are) to help a brotha out.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to start the podcast back up, but I might try my hand at video blogging. Only time will tell. Thanks to everyone who supports and reads this blog. It definitely keeps me motivated to stay at it.
God Bless.
Theo
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