Just Thoughts,
Tech & Tangents
This blog’s a mix of what I love—cyber security, tech, design, drones, and whatever else grabs my attention. Sometimes it’s deep, sometimes it’s random, always real. I write about what matters to me, what I’m curious about, and what I feel like unpacking.
Passion, opinion, questions, chaos. It’s all here.
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My Love Hate Relationship with a 3rd Gen Prelude – Part 3
Part three of my love-hate saga with a 3rd gen Prelude: donor cars, a Frankenstein build that could barely limp a few blocks, a dusty ’89 miracle nobody else wanted, and a garage that started looking like a chop shop. Three cars, three years, one survivor.
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Home Lab Failure Recovery & CISSP Lessons from a VLAN Misconfiguration
A single VLAN misconfiguration triggered a full network blackout in my home lab—no router, no hypervisor, no recovery. Even Kali Linux couldn’t save me. But this wasn’t just a technical failure—it was a masterclass in resilience, disaster recovery, and applying CISSP principles in real time. As I prepare for my CISSP exam (Winter 2025), I’m…
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Qantas Takes Bold Action After Cyber Attack—A New Benchmark for Executive Accountability
Qantas cut executive short‑term bonuses by 15% after a cyberattack affecting ~5.7 million customers — a move that redirects the message toward accountability rather than optics.
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5 Reasons Policy-Based Routing in Multi-NIC VMs Solves Asymmetric Routing Issues
A multi-NIC VM in my home lab became unreachable from some VLANs due to asymmetric routing—replying via the wrong interface and triggering security drops. Implementing policy-based routing fixed this by ensuring responses use the same path they arrived on, maintaining strict security without disabling protections like reverse path filtering. This reinforced key CISSP principles like…
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How I Fixed SMB Access Issues to My Home NAS Behind a VLAN-Enabled Router
Troubleshooting complex network issues on a home NAS can be frustrating, especially when VLANs, firewall rules, and SMB services all interplay. In this post, I walk through diagnosing connectivity problems between VLANs and a TrueNAS server, fixing permission errors with Samba, and configuring firewall rules to allow seamless SMB access — all without exposing sensitive…
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Fixing GPG Key Issues in Kali Linux
Encountered a GPG key error while updating your Kali Linux package lists? This step-by-step guide will help you fix the issue by updating the repository GPG key. Follow along to resolve the error and securely update your packages.
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Why DHCP Snooping Could Save Your Network: A Networking Mistake Learned the Hard Way
After setting up VLANs for a segmented network, I learned the hard way how neglecting DHCP snooping can lead to unexpected IP allocation issues. By properly configuring DHCP snooping, I ensured the network’s security and stability. This experience reinforced the importance of validating every configuration to prevent small mistakes from turning into major issues.
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Cybersecurity Breach at River East Transcona Schools Highlights the Need for Stronger Protections
The PowerSchool breach affecting River East Transcona School Division highlights critical failures in cybersecurity and raises urgent questions about the lessons we’re teaching the next generation about digital responsibility.
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Solving Image Quality Issues in WordPress Cover Blocks: A Guide for Full-Size Displays
If you’re noticing blurry images in your WordPress Cover blocks, the issue may lie in WordPress’s default handling of image scaling. Discover how using background-image instead of tags in Cover blocks can create sharp, high-res images across all screen sizes.
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5 Budget-Friendly Tips to Protect Your Digital Privacy
As a network security grad student, I know the importance of digital privacy. Here are five budget-friendly tips to protect your data: use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, keep software updated, use a VPN, and be cautious with personal information. Stay cyber-safe with these easy strategies!