Off of Security for a few

I just wanted to start a small series of posts that are off the security topic a little. I will intersperse these with the same good 'ol security posts as well, but I wanted to mention a few things as well.

A lot of people like me, some call them geeks I suppose, have desk jobs and type all day long. When you work long hours in such an environment, some of us tend to get out of shape. I have certainly gotten out of shape over the years and decided to do something about it. An old colleague of mine tried this workout system called P90x. He said "it's not for the faint of heart", but he posted some pictures of his progress and it was enough for me to think "I can do this".

It's an action/pain packed 90 days, but if you do it, you will see results. Now, I just started today and let me tell you, it is painful! I feel much better now after a shower, but I'm sure I'll be in more pain as the day goes on and even more tomorrow.

This plan is no joke! It's 7 days a week for 90 days. There are "rest" weeks, but don't think relax when you read rest. It is just a little lighter. So I wanted to say I will continue to post my comments on how it is going and any tips I can give from someone that is in probably the worst shape of their life but doing this.

So first thing is first. They have a pre workout test. A few moves that you can do to see if you are ready. I passed 90% of it. I'm the kind of person that goes for a challenge and feel that 10% wasn't bad enough to halt progress in my goal. If you get anything less than that, they recommend, as do I, that you don't do it. The workouts are much worse, not easier. If you want to know what this is before you buy it, let me know and I can give you some examples. If you can't do them, don't even think about it! Your well being is more important than meeting a goal. They do have other workouts which can bring you up to speed before you do this. Take that heed!

Tips on the first day. All I can say is be realistic if you are in as bad of shape as me. Endurance is important so you can finish the workout. Keep that in mind when you are counting reps. Make a goal for each set and try to get it. Don't risk form for reps, it's not worth it. The people on the video were knocking out huge numbers of push ups and pull ups. Don't put yourself on that level, just know that is where you want to be. I averaged probably half of what they were doing. This is not a bad thing, just keep in mind, these people did this program already, and I guarantee some of them were in a similar boat.

Just be consistent and know when you need to stop. Drink, drink, drink! Keep hydrated it is huge! If you are working with a partner, they may be able to push you a bit. If you are by yourself you need to be true to yourself, know your goals and try your best. Don't quit because "it's too hard" unless it really is. Case in point is that on the next to last set of pushups, I went down and could not get back up. I'm OK with that. That was really all I can do. My body said no, my mind didn't! I think that is key.

I'll post more as time progresses. I can only stress to make goals. My first goal is to be doing the reps they are doing on the video by then end of the first phase of 30 days. I think that's respectable and if I can't, then I can't, but that's what I'm shooting for.

Top 10 Home Anti Virus Applications

I stumbled on this top 10 list of home paid for anti virus applications. I tend to get the question of which AV I recommend from friends and family. Generally I have been a fan of the Symantec product. This is all relative as you may have seen in a previous post where I showed generally how easy it was to pass a virus though current AV techniques. With all of this in mind Symantec showed up as #2 on this list by PC world. Not a bad standing. G Data was number one which I have personally never heard of. The article does say that it was a close race between the two.

So was this post to say "I told you so"? No! It was just to show the top 10. You can make your decision. What I wanted to get across, as I have mentioned before, the freebies are good but it really adds serious protection to pay for your subscription. All AV subscriptions end up around the same ball park of $25-$50 bucks per year. That is a small price to pay for the protection of your system and data. PC techs tend to charge $75-$100/hour to do clean up after the fact so you can do the math! Even if you have a good friend or family member that will do the work for you, your gonna pay the same price at minimum of what you could have paid to have good protection in the first place.

It can seem like insurance, but like insurance, it's worth it if it does happen! Remember AV isn't the silver bullet for a secure system but it should definitely be a part of your armor!