Day 2 of Our Bull Shoals Vacation

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0002.After a successful night we all awoke and slowly got our day started. The big task at hand for day 2 was to acquire a sea worthy vessel for the next two days for our group. We brought two jet skis and a small boat with us, but we had bigger plans. Plans that involved renting a nice pontoon that had an upper deck with a water slide. Awesome!

So after a delicious breakfast provided by Auntie Randa and soon-to-be Uncle Luke we got ready to head on down to the dock. Once we had the boat in our possession we loaded it up with our goodies and headed on out with the jet skis out to one of our favorite spots to do some cliff jumping and relaxing in the lake. I got plenty of Go-Pro footage with us jumping that I will be putting together later this week.

DSCF9383-editThe kids had a lot of fun so much in fact that Alex and his cousin headed back in early with Mammaw and Pawpaw for a much needed nap. My little Abby even got herself tuckered out and fell asleep on the boat on our way back a few hours later. It was a great day out on the lake and much energy was used climbing and jumping 10, 15, 40 feet off the cliffs.

We unloaded the boat and headed back to the cabin to clean up for dinner. Pawpaw fired up his deep fryer and made hot wings for everyone. While he was cooking up the wings, my wife took Abby and Alex down to a popular loading dock to feed some large carp. They go absolutely wild when you toss in some fish food. It is something the kids and her love doing every time we come down. When they got back dinner was ready and everyone chowed down on those deliciously cooked buffalo wings. Writing about it now makes me sad because I could really go for just a few more of those tasty wings.

DSCF9393-editThere was a storm on the horizon so we opted out of setting up the movie screen. We did setup some tarps to help keep the rain off our area and at the start of the storm it seemed like it was going to work. But then the rain started to come down a little harder and we got a few leaks. All of us guys were getting a little crazy under the tarps seeing how long we could last with the storm intensifying. Ultimately a gnarly gust of wind came through and snapped one of the ropes on our tarps and sent all of us scrambling onto the porch. So the rest of the night was spent on porch with all of us cracking jokes and having a few drinks.

The kids passed out on Mammaw and Pawpaw’s couch, so once we were ready for bed we scooped the kiddos up in our arms and carried them to our cabin. We laid them down and got ourselves into bed as well. It was an awesome but exhausting day. With two days left at the lake we had to make sure to not let any storms get us down. Stay tuned for day three!

Day 1 of Our Bull Shoals Vacation

IMG_5006-editAhh, vacation. The sounds of the birds, the trees blowing in the wind and all of that other nature-y stuff.

Wednesday was our first day on the lake. We left St. Louis at 7 am and made it down to Bull Shoals, Arkansas in record time. I think it might of had something to do with leaving on time and not making any unnecessary stops. I am not complaining. I would much rather get down to the lake as quickly as possible.

Getting the kids to stop bouncing off the walls the few days before we left for vacation was a challenge. So we used the lake as a bargaining chip against the kids so we could get them do various things. Such as quieting down, going to bed, eating the rest of their dinner. Stuff like that. It worked great, but now that we are here I can’t see us using that as a negotiation tactic again.

Anyways, the kids have been doing good on day one. We took them down to the docks and they swam all afternoon. We even took the kids out for a few rides on the jet ski/wet bike/sea-doo. Alex was loving the rides on the boats as well as the rides on the four wheeler from me and his uncle. Alex and his cousin are just about the same age and they both seem to be into these fast vehicles. They hope to get in just one more ride while I just hope my insurance rates won’t increase.

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After some lake play we went back to our cabins and started playing around while we cooked dinner and drank some drinks. Being from St. Louis of course we are gonna have a few beers. Luckily for my wife, beer wasn’t the only thing flowing. Apparently, pickle shots are now a thing. While I am a fan of the classic spear pickle, they typically are not my first choice to mix a drink with. So the pickle juice was doing its thing for the adults, while the kids were having a grand ol’ time running around chasing balls and jumping on our various tubes we use for the lake.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0251.As dusk started creeping in I figured it was as good of a time as any to get the movie screen setup that I brought down. This 12 foot inflatable movie screen is intense. The directions say the screen size is about 12 feet. But I would suspect that the actual size of the entire thing is closer to sixteen feet. It’s enormous and very cool. I setup my projector and picked a movie for the kids to sit and relax and enjoy. Even a few of the adults were slipping away from their conversations to watch the movie for a few minutes.

The movie ended right around 10PM. I figured it too late to start another movie and also the pickle juice was flowing through practically everyone but the kids, so I enlisted some help and took down the screen and packed up all of the equipment. I managed to get the screen down in record time and got it all put away just fine. Now that the movie was cleaned up it was time to get the kids settled and in bed so they are well refreshed for day two. Our vacation posse had a few more drinks and by the time all was said and done we were crashing by about 1AM. What a day and night and we have just gotten started here!

Explaining Technology Security to Parents

IMG_4938-editAs a parent in this Internet of Things (IoT) age we have to find a balance with allowing technology in our homes and protecting our kids from the dangers of being connected online 24/7. A new series of blog posts I will be writing about here at St. Louis Dad will be all about security and how it relates to technology and parenting.

With everything being connected to the Internet it is important to understand the potential risks involved with being connected 24/7 with the devices you and your children use everyday.

Each post will highlight a particular technology and will hopefully be explained in plain English for any parent to be able to understand how that technology works and why it is important to know about it. I will be providing tips on how you can keep your devices secure and functioning to their full potential. This will not be a fear based series of posts, but more along the lines of an informative and example based type of post. While it may seem scary, fear not as the topics are important and are more for education rather than trying to get you to throw out your gadgets.

There will be some new terminology that you may not be aware of. Don’t get yourself frustrated over complicated terminology. Some of those words will be defined in each post as I continue on with this series. At the end of each post will be a list of words that will be clearly defined.

The first topic that I will be discussing in my next post in this series will be about PII and what can be considered PII. What is important for many parents to know is that their child’s personal identifiable information is worth more to a hacker or scammer than an adults. This is because the info is new and the kids are young. So before they even know what a credit card is they could already be signed up for 15 cards by a hacker. A 9 year old isn’t going to know to check their credit report for fraudulent activity. So the hacker gets away with it for much longer than say if it were yours or my info.

So I will be getting into topics such as this and will expand in them as much as possible. I think the information could be helpful and if you have any particular topics or questions you would like me to field then just drop a comment below.

Finally, before I get to your parental homework (it’s easy, I swear)… Let me mention one more thing that I feel involves not only your children’s security but also your own. Congress is working towards modifying Rule 41 to allow local law enforcement to “hack” into your computer legally. This will have a huge negative impact on many technology applications and devices we all love and use everyday. We need to be sure to stand together and make sure congress knows that we will not stand for this. We need to stop the modification of Rule 41 and EFF.org has a few ideas on how you can help.

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has pointed out some of the biggest issues with modifying Rule 41. Here are the biggest takeaways.

  • Government agents hacking into computers more frequently is a recipe for disaster. Law enforcement will increase their exploitation of security vulnerabilities in common software products, meaning vulnerabilities that could affect millions will be left open instead of patched.
  • Law enforcement will forum shop, finding government-friendly magistrate judges to sign off on warrants with a loose connection to the judicial district.
  • Law enforcement will pressure judges to sign off on remote searches of thousands of computers with a single warrant—a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment and a pattern we’re already seeing.

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Parent’s Homework

Definition of PII
PII (Personally Identifiable Information) – or Sensitive Personal Information (SPI), as used in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. PII can be sensitive or non-sensitive. Non-sensitive PII is information that can be transmitted in an unencrypted form without resulting in harm to the individual. Non-sensitive PII can be easily gathered from public records, phone books, corporate directories and websites.

Sensitive PII is information which, when disclosed, could result in harm to the person whose privacy has been breached. Sensitive PII should therefore be encrypted in transit and when data is at rest. Such information includes biometric information, medical information, personally identifiable financial information (PIFI) and unique identifiers such as passport or Social Security numbers.

Take a look around your computer, if you search your social in your computers local search box will you find it? How about health records or any other PII type of data? Do a few local searches so you can feel comfortable looking up this information on your computer. When I say search, do not search Google or Bing. Use your local search box. Don’t know where to find it? Just hold tight and I will cover all things PII in my next post.

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Definition of Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things is a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data. “If one thing can prevent the Internet of things from transforming the way we live and work, it will be a breakdown in security”.

Think of anything that has access to the Internet or cloud for it to function. Your SmartTV, Amazon Echo, a Nest thermostat. Devices like that are all considered Internt of Things. These devices are our future and IoT will only be included more and more. A consumers we need to demand security on these devices. Real security and not a plain text password.

Extra Credit: Know Your Apps
Your child may have hundreds of apps on their phone. You may not have heard of any of them, but you should. There are some apps that have hidden features that could potentially enable your child to hide data from you. Take some time to go through your child’s device and write down all of the apps that have been installed or better yet purchased. Some apps that may have been installed may not longer be on the device, but they are still tied to an account, so knowing what has been installed along with what is installed will be super helpful as I continue this series.

A Flip of a Switch

IMG_4660My wife and I had a rare night alone together. My sister kept both of our kids and so we got to sped a quite night watching some movies and working on a few of our own projects. The next morning we decided to go to our favorite Waffle House and grab some brunch. We got to sleep in after all so we took full advantage of that.

Our meal was delicious as usual and while we were finishing up an adorable little boy ran past and his mom was behind him. My wife smiled and asked how old he was and the young mom said “three”. Then she added, “it’s like a flip of a switch and now he’s just so wild.” We laughed and my wife said that we hope our little Alex will flip a switch and reign it in some when he hits three next year. A few other pleasantries were said and then they took off. Us not soon after.

I am hoping that a switch might flip sooner rather than later. Later in the day we picked up Alex and took him to the store with us. He was good at first but after going around a few aisles he started getting a little wild. He would add several toys to the cart. We would put them back and he would add them again. We would put him in the seat of the cart and he would try to climb out, so we would let him walk.

I know what he is doing is perfectly fine. He’s not being a real monster. He’s not tearing down shelves or screaming like a banshee. He just moves a little more quicker than us, and I like to exaggerate a little. He is learning though. He tests us and cries trying to get what he wants. We’re seasoned parents and don’t budge on his demands. We don’t negotiate with toddlers. Okay, I’m laying about the last part. I think a lot of parents do, but I think we all would rather not admit it.

All in all our night off was great. Our morning off was even better. We actually got to sleep in. Little breaks like that helps us parents unwind and recharge for the next few months of up and down, chasing, cleaning, cooking, playing, and more that will be done with the kids until we have our next night off. Until then my friends, until then.