I've been asked a number of times what I've been up to lately.  For one, an undisclosed project management task that is eating the very soul of my existence. But, from what I gather, that seems to be the entire management field as a whole.

I've been approached a few times over the last year to help, or completely write, some book material. All I've turned down. Writing is hard, especially when you have a toddler, busy hobbies, and an even busier career. Some call me the 'research monkey'; someone who can quickly find and learn new information, then regurgitate it into an easy to read format. But, at a point, I don't like doing that too much. I got burned on the Practical VoIP book for that; at least I feel like I burned myself. There was one topic that I was not very familiar with, so I BS'd my way through it. The tech editor called me out on it, but helped get me to where it needed to be.  After that, I decided not to write on any topic unless I knew it like the back of my hand.

So along comes a new project in January. A book on Netcat! One of my favorite tools, and one that I've developed many new procedures for in forensics. Due to time commitments, I ended up writing just one chapter in it: Banner Grabbing, another favorite topic. 

The work is submitted and undergoing edits now, so be on the look out for Netcat Power Tools when it comes out.

There was a recent falling out at the National Lightning Owners Club, which involved me to a point.  Unfortunately, just like most events, much of it is ruled by rumor and speculation.  So, what happened exactly, and what can we all learn from it? 

The Admin of the site clarified a Supporting Vendor rule to an extreme that was beyond reproach.  It is now unallowed to sell, or even discuss, a product unless that product is sold through a Supporting Vendor of the site.   The first victim is this rule was a close friend who wasn't even selling or advertising on the board.  He was making one-off parts as requested on a completely different forum; someone just happened to post a write-up on how well the part works on this site.  The site then wants those individuals making parts to pay $500 annually to have the privilege of selling parts on the board.

What's the danger behind this?  When taken to an extreme, such a rule bans the discussion of a wide variety of parts, anything from McMaster-Carr bolts to AFR and Edelbrock heads, and any item bought off eBay, and even the Gen2 items such as fan controllers from DC Controls.  While the moderators will say that they know better than to ban people discussing AFR heads, the issue is that this rule makes enforcement subjective.  When hundreds of parts are talked about on the board, how can the moderators pick and choose which ones get shut down, and which ones stay running?

It's a rule that's bound to bring only trouble.