The Barking Seal

The Barking Seal Q3 2010 is Here and Filled with Goodies!

09Jul

Author: katief Categories: IT Management, Infrastructure, Ramblings Comments: 0

The latest version of The Barking Seal is here , and it is filled with a variety of applicable and accessible treats. Want some? Keep reading for a taste…

Goodie #1: Learn why version control is important for all businesses across the board.

Goodie #2: Get some assistance in deciding “Git or Subversion? Git or Subversion? Git…?”

Goodie #3 (otherwise known as the cherry on top): Meet Jim Turpin, one of our fabulous network engineers, who embodies the concept of multi-discipline to a T both inside and outside of the office.

Click here to read Q3 2010, and, as always, enjoy the treat!

We’d love to hear from you, so please post your comments and questions here.

Tags: applied trust, AppliedTrust, Git, open-source, Subversion, version, version-control, wordpress

AppliedTrust Goes Drupal!

30Jun

Author: ned Categories: Infrastructure Comments: 0

This month, AppliedTrust re-launched our web site on the CMS called Drupal. Although the “look and feel” of the site hasn’t changed much, this upgrade has been a breakthrough in terms of both performance and manageability. I would give our previous CMS, Joomla, a grade of a B- in comparison to Drupal’s solid A. Here are six reasons why Drupal is a great fit for www.appliedtrust.com:

AppliedTrust sponsors “Laps for Learning”

08May

Author: trent Categories: Ramblings Comments: 0

Along with other notable members of the community such as Google, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Van Matre Construction, and many others, AppliedTrust is proud to sponsor this year’s “Laps for Learning” fund raiser at Douglass Elementary School. This event raises funds for the education of elementary school children, helping to close the gap that has resulted from budget cuts at the State of Colorado and Boulder Valley School District level.

AT Banner

Tags: applied trust, community

AppliedTrust featured on One Day, One Job!

27Apr

Author: ned Categories: Infrastructure, Ramblings, Recruiting Comments: 0

I’m very excited to announce that AppliedTrust is being featured today on One Day, One Job, the popular site that highlights a different hiring employer every day. Created by Willy Franzen, One Day, One Job is a unique resource for college students beginning their careers. This is awesome exposure for our company and a great opportunity for us to find the perfect new Seal to join our team!

As our regular readers know, AppliedTrust is looking for a great infrastructure engineer who wants to work in Boulder, Colorado. This role is a “Jack of all trades” within the broad field of Information Technology – they get to play with networks, servers, software, and security. One ideal candidate for this job would be a graduating Computer Science or Engineering major who has experience with Windows and Linux system administration and doesn’t want to spend all day programming. We would definitely also consider someone with more work experience. If you are interested, or know of a good candidate, please check out our jobs page: http://www.appliedtrust.com/jobs

Tags: applied trust, boulder, popular, Recruiting

New edition of Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook/4E now in Safari Rough Cuts

19Mar

Author: trent Categories: IT Management, Ramblings Comments: 0

We’re just a few weeks away from sending the latest edition of the Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook to press, and as of today you can get a preview online at the Safari site.

This 20th anniversary edition brings the best of Unix System Administration Handbook and Linux System Administration Handbook together, and adds coverage of IBM AIX to updated coverage of Oracle America Solaris (formerly Sun Solaris), HP HP-UX, Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux, and RedHat Linux. In addition, it includes significant all-new coverage of system administration scripting languages such as Python and Perl, as well as virtualization, green IT, and modern standards and compliance management challenges. This is the ultimate system administration bible.

We’re very proud to have 4 Applied Trust staff members on the author team for this book (me, ned, ben, terry). Look for the printed version in your favorite bookstore this June (or, pre-order at Amazon now), but enjoy the Safari online preview in the meantime!

Tags: applied trust, books, system administration

Q1 2010 Printed Barking Seal Newsletter Hot off the Presses

16Mar

Author: beth Categories: Ramblings Comments: 0

Did you know that in addition to the Barking Seal blog, Applied Trust also has a quarterly print newsletter called The Barking Seal that features entirely different content? If not, now is the time to check it out! The printed Barking Seal first debuted in 2005, with the goal of providing a trusted source of useful information about the IT security and infrastructure arena to our clients, supporters, and friends. Since then we’ve covered many hot topics in the industry, and our latest issue is no exception. The Q1 2010 issue includes a feature article about the importance of change management, as well as a secondary article about our recent awarding of QSA certification status by the PCI DSS. You can read the issue online here, and if you’d like to subscribe to the printed edition, you can sign up here. Happy reading!

Tags: applied trust, newsletter, Security

Why do we do Social Engineering exercises, anyway? They seem so far-fetched sometimes.

04Mar

Author: terry Categories: Security Comments: 0

Frequently during the course of a security assessment, we get asked about social engineering. People want to know if it is really worth the time it takes, and what is the point, anyway? Well, the bottom line is that the access an intruder can achieve either by physically walking into an office or data center, or by convincing an employee to click on a link or divulge information over the phone, can be one of the quickest ways to a data breach. In fact, according to the FBI data security survey in 2009, non-malicious insiders (folks that just make mistakes such as the ones listed below) are a much bigger problem than malicious insiders. In fact, 16% of respondents reported that nearly all of their losses were due to these well-meaning insiders.

Pursuit of Happiness

16Feb

Author: zack Categories: IT Management, Ramblings Comments: 0

Boulder, CO

In a recent study conducted by The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Boulder received top honors as the overall happiest, healthiest, and most optimistic city in the United States. The study surveyed more than 350,000 Americans across the country and assessed their lives based on a variety of pre-defined categories. While Boulder did not sweep every category looked at by the researchers, it did get the highest rank in the “Work Experience” arena. At Applied Trust we have always known this was true, but it is nice to get some nationwide visibility for it.

We care about having a good work and life balance for everyone that works here. That’s why the ATE Employee Canon is so important to us. Having this realization and making conscious, proactive maneuvers to maintain it is a key component to fostering a positive “work experience” like the one discussed in the survey. The section measured job satisfaction, ability to use one’s strengths at work, trust and openness in the workplace, and whether one’s supervisor treats him or her more like a boss or partner. These metrics align very closely to how we view work and how we want to spend our time there.

Applied Trust’s Deck-tacular Summer!

04Nov

Author: dan Categories: Green IT, Ramblings Comments: 2

This past spring Applied Trust took its third-floor deck space to a new level!

Although the deck has always been a desirable aspect of Applied Trust’s office environment, we felt the space wasn’t being used to its full potential. Some employees said that it was too sunny and got too hot to work out there with a laptop. Others said it was the lack of acceptable work space and the presence of pigeons that deterred them from working out there. We decided to make an effort to provide our engineers with a more inviting outdoor workspace that would be fun to use and would add value to our work space for years to come.

After looking into options we decided on some sun shades, some new workspaces, a way of providing music, and deck plants. The plants were a key element; not only do they add to the aesthetics of the deck, but they also add to the “green” image of the office, by helping to offset our carbon output. We chose the following plants to fill the planters:

The Barking Seal Blog celebrates a birthday!

05Oct

Author: ned Categories: Green IT, IT Management, Infrastructure, Ramblings, Security Comments: 0

2052055757_4e13e12c03 I’m excited to say that The Barking Seal Blog has been around for a year now! We’ve had a great time blogging, ranting, and pontificating on the future of IT infrastructure, and have especially enjoyed the reader comments and emails.
Below are ten of our favorite posts from our first year – if you missed one, check it out now…

IPv6 in 2009? Are you kidding me?: It sure looks like Trent’s prediction will be correct (for 2010, too!)
Save Green – Turn Up That Data Center Thermostat!: Green IT meets real cost savings.
New HIPAA modifications under the ARRA: Stimulus package implications for anyone who handles health info.
Black Thursday’s 20 year anniversary: A flashback to the beginnings of network security, from someone who was there.
Keystroke dynamics: A practical web implementation: Practical? Maybe not, but certainly interesting!
Ten IT Infrastructure New Year Resolutions for 2009: Best practices that IT shops of all sizes should follow.
Debugging Nagios performance problems: Performance tuning advice and insight.
End-of-year IT checklist: Essential IT housecleaning tasks that you can do any time of the year!
Poker at the Work Place? Deep insight into computer science/engineer personalities.
Fend off disaster with preventative maintenance: A stitch in time…

Here’s to lots more entertaining (and hopefully insightful!) posts in the year to come! Thanks for your comments, feedback, and continued support!

– The Seals at Applied Trust

(photo courtesy hfb under the CC)

Tags: applied trust, popular

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