Plans for 2024

Time for the new year’s resolutions! A lot has changed in this year, and I want to summarize my thoughts. This article will probably go into too much detail from time to time, but hey, it’s my blog!

Work

New year, new me, new job. This one should be much more focused on actual penetration testing, so I’m hoping to become as good as I can, learn from colleagues and not fuck anything up (at least in the beginning). A lot of stuff will get hacked and broken, so it’s bound to be fun.

My main fear is that I will fuck up in a bad way sometime after starting (there is the 200th hour, after all). The process of getting used to a new process will be a pain (it’s been years since I last had to adjust), but I never got too comfortable about the last process either, so I guess I’ll wing it for the first few months, after that it will be just muscle memory.

In 2024, I want to save time regularly to learn new stuff. Not just ad-hoc, I want to have a specific time of day/week that I just sit down and read some new materials or learn about some new vulnerability/technique. Staying up to speed will take discipline and practice, but getting the habit will be worth it.

Personal habits & independence

I got into baking in 2023, which is a good thing, but for 2024, I want to make myself even more independent. I’d like to plant some lettuce hydroponically, because I have enough space for it at home. Plus, my family loves vegetables, and if I can plant something and harvest it two months later, that’s a plan I can live with. The end goal would be to produce as much as I can at home. It may not be viable in terms of PPL (price per lettuce), but at least I know what goes in it and can create a lettuce out of thin air.

Huge thanks to the hydropioneer I know, Tinker. He’s got threads about this on Mastodon, and I plan to walk in his footsteps. You can find him @tinker@infosec.exchange. Thanks, Tinker!

I have a huge list of things to get better at, so much so it may feel disquieting at first. I can, however, will do my best to have fun in the process and not stress too much over the little things. After all, I am doing these things for myself first, so I’m my own judge.

Privacy

I know some of you spies will not agree, but I think I’m not doing too bad in terms of privacy. I learned a whole lot in this year (for example masked e-mail; until recently I only had 2-3 domains for e-mail, now I have several addresses on domains not tied to me in any way), but I also got a few new tools to play with, namely a Faraday bag. To gain all the benefits, I only need to put my phone in there, close the bag and done.

Navigation is not an issue, if I’m walking around, I can always read the plan beforehand. One problem I identified is music on the go. Luckily, I didn’t toss my MP3 player out (yet), so I finally have a use for it! If you’re asking, it’s a Sandisk Clip Sport Plus (16GB, and a name which just rolls off the tongue).

In the new year, my commute will probably be a bit lighter. I’ll grab my headphones, my MP3 player, pop the phone into airplane mode and into the Faraday bag it goes. Why into airplane mode? Well, what does a phone do when it cannot find a cell tower? Well, it tries harder, running the modem at full-power to find some cell tower in the distance. The only problem is that there will be no cell-tower, and if it tries long enough, it will overheat and drain the battery. Airplane mode should solve this issue.

PF 2024

In closing, I want to wish you and your loved ones all the best. Luck, happiness, peace and calm. I hope your 2024 is good and that you will get what you set your sights on. Happy new year and all the best!

Yours festively,

m4iler