Garmin Colorado 400t GPS

I received a pretty cool gadget for my birthday last weekend: a Garmin Colorado 400t GPS! I'm really looking forward to taking it backpacking. I browsed around the topographical map for some of our usual haunts in the Sierra Nevada mountains and was happy to see trails, lakes, mountains, mines, and other items of interest indicated on the map. The coverage appears to be pretty good in our area.

There have been occasions in the past when I've been "concerned" that I might not be able to find my way back to our car. Sometimes everything starts to look the same, and I begin to wonder which direction we came from. I'll feel a little more freedom to explore now :)

The physical unit has a nice rubber grip and a good heft in your hand... maybe a little too hefty. It feels like you're holding a half-pound potato compared to a cell phone. The user interface is pretty good, and I like the navigation wheel. I would like to see better software support for the Mac. I haven't tried uploading tracks and waypoints to it yet, but I'm looking forward to exploring an open-source alternative to Garmin's software called GPSBabel.

PCI Security Presentation

I attended a Sacramento Chapter meeting of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) today and gave a presentation (download PDF) on Payment Card Industry (PCI) security, from the perspective of one who managed a PCI compliance program for a Level 1 Merchant last year. It was an excellent group of about three dozen professionals with an interest in PCI. I appreciated the level of engagement and interactive discussion with the group. They also served an excellent breakfast... :)

Abstract: In recent years, organized crime has been able to exploit weaknesses in the world's payment processing infrastructure to perpetrate billions of dollars in fraud. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards are the result of an industry-driven initiative to improve the security of cardholder data, reduce fraud, and protect the reputations of the organizations involved in handling this sensitive information. This presentation provides an introduction to the payment processing ecosystem, the PCI Data Security Standards, the challenge of achieving compliance with these standards, and a recent case study of a large merchant that suffered a significant security breach, even after having validated compliance with the security standards.

Electricity Consumption in California

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation charged with operating the majority of California’s high-voltage wholesale power grid. They offer a real-time view of electric power generating capacity and consumption in California, along with their 24-hour and 3-hour advance predictions of electric power demand.

On hot summer days when demand is the highest, it can be interesting to watch how the electric power grid is doing -- especially when rolling blackouts are a possibility. I created this Google gadget a couple years ago because I wanted to be able to watch it on my Google personalized home page. The live content of the gadget is provided below: