ashNOLOGY

Not only is this Government Shutdown cruel, and childish, but it is Dangerous & Sinister. Something that not many people think about in a situation like this, is Cyber Security. The people who are working to help protect our Cyber networks, are also not getting paid. Not only that, many are contemplating going into the Private sector, where they won't have to worry about this happening again. And many of the young bright minds in Cyber today, will not want to work FOR the government, because they wouldn't want to be put into this situation. Which means that many (if not all of the positions) that will be emptied up, may not get filled in the future. Keep in mind, that we are in a new Cold-War-iesh era, its done via Cyber attacks. Its a Cold Cyber War. Governments have State Agency cyber soldiers, their job is to come in, everyday and try to find ways to break into the other countries digital infrastructure, and U.S. is no different, multiple attempts are done, dai...

Hello World,  Today I give you Version 2 of my Rock Paper Scissors game (RPS) . In this version, I was able to add a scoring mechanism, the game is set to the best out of 3 plays, and I tell you, it took me a couple of days to work out some kinks The First Kink: How to score it In theory, it seemed simple to me, the game is set to 3 plays, the best 2 out of the 3 wins, cool. How do I do that exactly? Well, my first attempt was a disaster, and I feel was a bit too complicated, I worked on it for half a day and I had to scrap it, because it was actually causing the program to malfunction. I'll tell you both attempts, so that we would both learn from my mistake. The Failed Attempt Since I had 3 separate functions for rock() , paper(), scissors(). Each one was going to produce a winner , loser, or a tie. So I went into each of these functions and created user_point & computer_point variables, which that function would return at the end of its round. Then the scoring...

Hello World,  Today, I'm introducing my first Python game, I was online looking for good beginner python projects, and one that came up was to create a "Rock Paper Scissors" game. I did some more searching and found a couple of videos online, but each one went about it in a different way, so I decided to think through it my self. I'm happy to say that I was able to create this 1st version . You play against the computer, which randomly chooses one of the 3 choices. You play 3 times per round, and with each choices it tells you who one. And at the end of each round, you can choose to play another round. What I don't have. A scoring mechanism. I haven't figured that part out, yet. But I do have an idea that I will try soon. I'm pretty excited I made this, and I can't wait to add that scoring mechanism. I hope you enjoy it. Remember. "Coding is the closest thing we have to a superpower" - anonymous Go be a Super. -ash

Hello World,  Today I present to you a simple Salary calculator that I call "HY Salary", HY is for "Hourly Yearly". As I'm applying for jobs, I noticed that some jobs give you only the Hourly wage, and let you figure out how much that salary is, and other ask you how much you want per hour, so I had to calculate from the Salary I desire to find out the proper hourly wage. Yes, its true you can go online and find a calculator to do all this for you. Yes, its true you can download an App to do this for you as well, but where is the fun in that. I need to keep practicing my Python, and I love creating little programs to use on my phone. So I created HY Salary , and added the script to my phone and use QPython to run it when I need it. I'm hoping to improve on it as I update it. Currently it is set to calculate a standard 40 hour day, 5 days a week Please enjoy. Remember. "Coding is the closest thing we have to a superpower" - anonymous Go be ...

Hello World,  I hope you have been doing well, today I'm going to tell you about a simple program that I made for one of my homework projects. The python code is available on my GitHub Repo if your interested. The chapter was talking about how to have the computer generate random numbers and having some kind of interaction with the user. So the challenge was to create a program, that would "flip a coin" 5 times and then tell you how many times it got "heads" or "tails". After some trial and error I got it to run properly..so I decided to create a 2nd version. In the 2nd version, I wanted to give the user a couple of options: Option 1: To run through the program as many time as they liked without having to restart it. Option 2: To choose the amount of flips the coin does. I'm a big fan of giving the user options, I don't like to limit things to a set pattern, especially if the extended options would make the game more enjoyable (hopeful...

Hello World, Today I'm going to tell you about a little program that I did, it was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend of mine. My buddy plays D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), and this game relies on dice rolls to help you make decisions through out the game. He plays with his friends via Skype or google Hang Out, which I thought was cool, they all log in and start playing, so I asked him "well, what do you do about the dice rolls?" and he told me that each one of them rolls the dice on their desks and then they tell each other what they rolled. I then asked him how many different die do they use? because I only know about the D20 die, and he then told me that it would vary on the game, it could be any thing. So that got me thinking, why not have a digital dice program that would "roll" the dice for you? And I made it in a way that you get to choose the range of the dice that you want to roll. And that's when I decided to make one. You can f...

Hello World,  The last post I did was about creating a simple While Loop, and how that has helped me tremendously with having my programs run a bit smoother, with cleaner code. Well the same can be said of functions, they come in very handy, especially for repeating situations. I found that the combination of that simple While Loop + a simple Function is quite helpful. Python makes it SUPER simple to create, define and call a function. Here is a quick example. # Defining the function def new_function():        print("This is  a working function") # Calling the function new_function() That's it, its very simple to do, and I use this method a lot to make sure that my logic is working, especially if there will be multiple things happening. This is a great way to keep things organized, and to keep your code clean. Its also a great way to make corrections or upgrades in only one place, especially if the function is called or use...

Hello World,  As some of you have noticed, I've recently been learning Python with my buddy "H", we have a specific application in mind that we are trying to create, so we are doing our best to gather as much helpful information as we can while creating mini programs on the way. I actually bought a journal in which I'm keeping track of helpful information that I come across that would be helpful to our final application. And I will be sharing some of these projects and what I've learned as I go along. Ok, so one thing that I had some trouble with was loops. The two specific ones are the "FOR" loops and the "WHILE" loops. Since many of the tiny programs that I'm working on sometimes ask the user if they want to try something again, a WHILE loop would be great for such a thing. So on a program I was working on yesterday, I literally deleted the whole loop area and started form scratch, and I saw how simple it actually is. So here is the test ...

Hello World,  Today I wanted to bring up a programming language called Julia, and I have to say, this sounds awesome. I love the fact that people can basically frankenstien a language to be efficient and serve a particular purpose, if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out their statement about why they created Julia , its really cool. One head line that grabbed my attention was "Is Julia, a young programming language, going to give Python a run for its money?" I'm a new Pythonist, and I really like the language, in future posts I'll be posting some of my super n00b projects that I've been working on as I'm learning Python for an over all project that I want to do. I have yet to try the Julia Language, but I do like the fact that many of those that helped create Julia, came from different programming backgrounds, so they took the best features of each of the languages, and created this new hybrid language. To me it almost sounds like a plo...

Hello World,  Sorry I haven't been  on here much, its been an interesting year. Many good things have happened and many good things are happening. As you may recall, in June of 2017, I had gotten my CEH v9, in hopes to get myself into an Entry Level Info/Sec or Cyber/Sec field. No such luck so far. So I was going to study Security+, but I really didn't like it. So I tried CSA+ (CySA+) that seemed more my speed, but again, the momentum fell, due to lack of interest from the field. So I though long and hard to figure out "How can I up my game?" and this is in general, not just for Cyber/Sec, and I noticed many jobs favor their techs to know Python for multiple reasons. I had dabbled a little bit with Python last year, and I actually enjoyed it. So I decided to be a bit more serious about it this time around, instead of just Self Studying.  My good friend, and fellow code enthusiast decided to join me, so we got on WyzAnt , found a tutor, and off we went. I'm real...

Hello World,  I hope you have been doing well, its been a while, and life has been keeping me busy. But I wanted to make this post to help others who might be in the same situation as I am. Let me start by saying that I'm a HUGE BlackBerry fan, I've loved and used their machines for a long time. The file-ing structure just works great with my way of thinking, then when they starting moving into the Android OS I was in mobile heaven. Granted the DTEK50 shell wasn't made by them, but the hybrid Android-BlackBerry functionality is very much to my liking. In 2016 I got me a sweet DTEK50, love the phone. The only other issue I've had was the headphone jack died, but that' nothing Bluetooth didn't fix. And now, this update issue. For some reason it just would not accept the latest update. I would get stuck in this loop of downloading and verifying and failing and back again. So I did some digging and sound a way to get it up and running, so I'm writing this post...

Hello World,  I hope you have been doing well. So I just came across a video from the Youtube channel DIY Tryin (I love these guys), and with in about 5 minutes, they set up a " Pirate Box ". I was blown away, because I had not heard of this before. " What is a Pirate Box?" you might ask. Its a secure way for you to share files (and even chat) with friends, who are within your proximity, without needing internet. Basically its turning a device into a wireless local LAN almost. Its pretty cool. As they mentioned this could be used for many things, from Fun to Functional. Fun: If you are throwing a party, you can have your friends connect to it, up load the pictures and videos they take, or share their favorite songs to be played. Functional: If you need to exchange files between machines securely for example. The possibilities are endless, and I personally want to do this. I would probably go with the TP- Router instead of the Raspberry PI, becaus...

Hello World, This is super interesting. When I'm not IT-ing, I'm usually doing something music related, either practicing or performing with one of my friends. Its mostly acoustic/live instruments. Then a friend of mine (also a musical techie) sent me a link to Sonic-Pi . I wasn't sure what it was for, then I watched the video that's on the site, and I got REALLY excited, and I had to share it. Dr Sam Aaron basically developed a language, using the Raspberry Pi's Python kernel as the basis, and it actually allows you to CREATE music, via programming, its brilliant. I can see this being a hit in both the Computer Science and in the Music Class, especially for the younger generation. In a way its stimulating both sides of your brain, the Analytical side (programming), and the Creative side (music). Check it out at Sonic-Pi.net , its very cool. Keep on tech-ing everyone. -Ash

Hello World,  So recently 2 of my friends and I started a little Study Group, one of us is very much interested in getting the Security + certification, and the other 2 are inspired by that human, so the 3 of us decided that we shall study together, and hopefully all 3 of us take the exam and get certified. Its a good cert to have, especially in this field. I actually am not being considered for a position because I don't have this cert, so that is encouraging me to get it. What we have done so far: We met up and tried to watch an instructional video on the subject, but it was very badly made, and the "instructors" were not very good. So we instead decided that we would go the Book route. We all agreed on the same book, by the end of the night, we all had a digital copy via our Kindle/Kindle App. We then set a time line, which means we need to cover 2 chapters per week, to be able to take the exam by September, and this where things get tricky. The 3 of us have very acti...

Hello world,  So today I had a random thought, the existence of a book called "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, sparked an interesting discovery for me. I knew I had heard the name, but I couldn't place what he authored. A quick search and voila, he wrote the "Narinia" series. Then I remembered where I had heard the name, it was in college and I was in class that spoke about J.R.R. Tolken, and how he was friends with C.S. Lewis, and that's when I noticed something. Many of the big innovations tend to come in twos, here is what I noticed. Pepsi Cola - Coca-Cola. Both came from rival pharmacists at there time. C.S. Lewis - J.R.R. Tolken Gave us "Chronically of Narnia" & "The Lord or Rings" series respectively. Steve Jobs - Bill Gates Gave us "Apple" & "Windows" respectively. So I started thinking, who would be the "TWO" of today, and it was a no brainer for me. Elon Musk - Jeff Bazos Giving us ...

Hello World, I have recently come across a super awesome programming language called Python, oh dear god, it is awesome. Its free, versatile, and so many projects use it. I've been self-teaching my self via online tutorials and books, the best way is to do it. I first learned about the language when I came across the Raspberry Pi , which is a revolutionary. Its a product or creating an affordable, many ways portable computer. So many amazing things are happening with it, from DIY Weekend projects, to people creating computer labs in 3rd world countries, the possibilities are endless. You can read about so many of the projects on their official   Raspberry Pi Blog , they also have super cool magazine called The MagPi which you can subscribe to receive a physical or a digital version of the monthly magazine, which is also filled so many goodies. Another cool thing is the fact that you can use Python to create things, modify things on the Raspberry Pi. Finding out about...

Hello World,  So very recently I've accomplished a goal of mine, I'm officially a Certified Ethical Hacker. What that means is I studied and now have the academic knowledge to be a Pen Tester / Entry level Information Security Analyst. I am excited and frustrated at the same time, here is why. I'm excited because I've accomplished this task which I've been wanting to do for a while now (a little over a year), and it does give me a boost in my confidence, I won't lie about that. I'm frustrated because I keep running into a couple of things at this point when trying to get into this field. Thing #1: Most of the jobs that are posted require Top Secret clearance, which I don't have. Thing #2: The rare "entry level" positions that I do find that don't require a clearance are either far from where I live, or ask for 2 years experience.  Its at this point when I start worried a little, because I've run into this situation before. A decade ...

Hello World,  I wanted to talk to you about something today that is near and dear to my heart. First of, do you remember something called "The Arab Spring", back in 2011? You know when countries in North Africa started a revolution against their dictators, and many of them were talked about (some still bask in that glory today), well in 2012 a revolt happened in Sudan (and is still happening today), but no one brought any attention to it. What does this have to do with technology? Everything.  You see the people who were (are) revolting, are the bright young women and men. So what they started doing is report on their own revolt. They would take their cell phones to these peaceful protests and stream them to YouTube. At one point I was in contact with someone there who sent me daily text message of images and reports from there, and I would post them on the Sudan Speaks blog. Then the contact wanted to update it directly from there, then they stopped updating. ...

I'm so excited to be reviving this blog of mine once more. I have written in it for quite some time *cough* 2013 *cough*, but that will change. I'm excited to be starting some new things, and want to document my journey will of you. I can't wait. -ash

 Needless to say that Tables are slowly taking over, there are so many choices and flavors out there, that you can lose your way easily. The best way to determine with tablet is for YOU is know exactly what YOU want. Some people want a tablet to watch movies on, some want a tablet to replace their netbook. Features  Narrowing down what you want well help you immensely. Lets take me for example, I'm a Geek Musician, and I'm constantly thinking of ideas and projects that I can do with my music. I also like to organize these thoughts so that I can find them easily in the future, and being part of several musical project I like to share these ideas with my fellow project mates as soon as possible. And I love to write and draw, using my hand. Those are the functions I NEED in a tablet. Don't really care if the back camera has an led flash, or if video isn't IMAX quality. Software / Hardware  Now that I know what I want as far as features, I need to determine what kind...