Doug's Blog
including "Doug was Built not Born"
What I Love About My MacBook Air M5 w/32GB Ram
I traded in my Macbook Air M3 for a MacBook Air M5 with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB drive 1. It's light, yet fast 2. No fan or noise - although it can get warm when I task it 3. I not only run macOS, I also run Linux and Windows via Paralles VM 4. Battery last 4x as long as...
The other side of networking – Education
I received tons of feedback following my post last week. So I’m sharing another flashback from my job search last summer: Networking.I was already an active member of Project Management Institute and ISC2 and regularly attended local AWS User Group meetings. With more...
I Let One Certification Go
Maintaining professional certifications not only cost you time, but also money. My Certified Federal Contractor Manager (CFCM) certification renewal came to an end on Dec 31st. I had enough CPEs to keep it, but decided to forgo renewing it due to cost and lack of...
Adding Finance to the Doug Was Built Not Born Blog
After writing my last post, I've decieded to add some finance to the blog - so stay tuned and keep reading.
How I Got and Maintain Solid Financial Know-How
I was once told - The easiest and safest way to become rich, was to earn an MBA in Finance, because finance must become a second language. I earned that MBA, building those comprehensive spreadsheets, setting up a multitude of formulas to test predictions. Everyone in...
Mastering a New Discipline: My “Immersion + AI” Method
Have you ever wanted to dive into a new discipline but weren't sure where to start? I use a specific workflow to accelerate my learning, and I recently put it to the test this past summer. My goal was to add CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) to my list...
No Bootcamps in my Educational History
II was a horrible student K-12. I wasn't good in my first couple technical schools in the navy either. But I earned the following professional certifications: CCNA, Sec+, Net+, PMP, CFCM, CISSP, CISM, CISA, ITIL, PSM, CEH, and most recently CMMC CCP & CCA. I...
What Operating System Do I Use?
I was asked this question during an interview this summer "What was my favorite operating system?" Windows: Well, not my favorite, but I use it like almost everyone and everything for administration functions at work on government agencies. I mentioned I used it to...
The Negativity Bias: We Only Hear When Things Break
I recently debated upgrading my MacBook from Sequoia to Tahoe. Like many IT professionals, my standard operating procedure is to wait out the initial release (26.0) and hold off until the first major patch (26.1) ensures stability. When I looked for community...
Sending a Fax isn’t Secure
It's totally amazing. I needed to forward a somewhat sensitive document electroncially the other day. It's amazing we, as a culture, still think faxing is secure. Well, I could say, all things equal, faxing "may" be more secure than email. Maybe. Years ago, fax...