The year was 2006 when I registered adamcaudill.com and set up WordPress to host this site. I had recently moved, started a new job as a software developer, and I wanted a new place to share thoughts, code, and the insight I was gathering along the way. I made the very first post.
It will be 20 years, next month, since that first post, a short note from someone still finding his legs in the industry and far from finding his legs as a writer. Through the 2000s, the average length of the posts was only 240 words. Far from the long-windedness common in my more recent work.
This post marks the 500th post here.
During 2006, I posted frequently, several times each month. Most of these posts were short, filled with typos, and were generally short asides about news in technology. These early, and often embarrassing posts, are easily browsed on the archive page. Over time, activity died down, sometime only posting once in a year. Though the changes to the content were even larger.
My philosophy about how and what I wrote evolved, and eventually articulated, to long-form articles and essays that are less about breaking news, and more often about topics that will be relevant for years. Discussions meant to be thought provoking. Insight earned from hard experience. Original research, and technology tips meant to address challenges not documented elsewhere. These extensive tomes even explored philosophy and religion.
From the articles and essays, I started publishing short stories and other fiction, expanding my writing efforts and refining those skills. Investing in a skill I view as critical.
Based on the latest calculations, I’ve invested 1,391 hours writing the 267,897 words you see here. A huge investment in sharing the lessons I’ve learned, though an investment I’ve always viewed as worthwhile. If I can help people to learn something new, refine a skill, grow as a leader, or see something from a new perspective, then it has been a worthwhile investment. We stand on the shoulders of those that came before; sharing what I can feels like what I owe to the community.
While the number of blogs is growing, reading seems to be dying, the value of maintaining a blog and sharing lessons is timeless and even if fewer people are reading, some will, and hopefully they will find something useful.
From studies on Crew Resource Management that took weeks of work, to arguing for changes to how the industry handles vulnerability disclosure that is still cited to this day (a decade later), all of these efforts have resulted in great feedback and, more importantly, led people to think about how they work, these efforts matter.
Not everything here has been happy, the loss of friends, and coworkers and family. There are others that deserve to be memorialised here, though I didn’t have the heart to write the words. I still don’t.
This site has been witness to many things, including much that should have been written but wasn’t. There are many stories, both personal and professional, that, looking back, I do wish I had written. Stories that should have been told & recorded. Alas, such is hindsight.
All in all, I am proud of what you see here, despite the flaws & omissions.
The security industry is changing, unemployment is high and jobs are at risk, sharing knowledge is critical to the next generation of professionals, who are among the hardest hit. From how to work productively, avoiding pitfalls in communication, how to lead people more experienced than them, to learning how to evaluate risk, there is much we can teach, if we take the time. And when the time comes, we can make sure they get their turn in the spotlight, and set them up for success.
We need to provide solid guidance on avoiding security issues, we need to refute obvious mistakes, help people avoid disinformation, and provide the insight to end common threats.
With the rise of AI, and the incredible implications it brings to all knowledge workers, it’s by sharing knowledge, sharing insight, and lifting all up, that they have the best chance to not just survive, but thrive in this uncertain future.
While generative AI can sound, for a time, like an expert, it’s knowledge, insight, understanding, and logic that is critical to the future of the security industry, and the brilliant community that powers it.
We owe it to the next generation to share what we’ve learned.
Despite the challenges facing the economy, the job market, the rise of generative AI, and political turmoil, the security community is a truly amazing group, and a community that I’ve always been honoured to be a member of.
For me, I’ve been sharing my experience throughout my career, and the content of this site stretches back to 2003. I intend to continue to write and share for as long as I am able.
