Can someone help me down from my horse?

Panic Attack: “No Officer, I swear on my vintage Batman comic books, I have no idea how all those copyrighted files got there.”

On day sixteen of my Cliff Note recovery, I discovered there is no ladder down from a high horse.  You just have to jump.  Day sixteen was a Saturday deleting 2000+ standards and white papers spanning 15 blissful digital years of “right click, save target as” copies, stored for no better reason than because “I could.”

The effort gained back a maxed out drive share and an enormous waste of resources spent backing up essentially dead information.  Even though we have long implemented Software Asset Management, content assets had been largely overlooked.  Validating the right to store and save information extends beyond client and legal documents.  Downloads need valid reason to be stored on a business network.  Valid license and accurate workstation configurations includes all forms of contents.

Any standard or law identified as mandate will have one authoritative source.  The documentation will be stored as a hyperlink reference, leaving copyrighted content in its rightful home, allowing for its timely removal and update by the document's legal owner.  The only exception to keeping locally either publicly accessible or by authentication available links, are the books and materials we purchase.  Representing standards and guidelines used in professional practice, these should be managed as a material assets with locations and copies managed in the context of their copyright.

My Mother told me to say I’m sorry

“I'm Sorry.”

I had no grounds to comment on laws that conflict.  In the event I do come across a question or an actual issue, we have Codification Legislation as managed by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel:

Codification Legislation - Office of the Law Revision Counsel

As currently proposed by H.R. 866 (109th Congress, 1st Session), and under the management of the Law Revision Counsel

Technical Corrections to the United States Code Public Law 93-554 (2 U.S.C.  285b) currently enforces technical corrections to the United States Code relating to cross references, typographical errors, and stylistic matters.  […]

 “Positive law codification is the process of preparing and enacting, one title at a time, a revision, and restatement of the general and permanent laws of the United States.

Because many of the general and permanent laws that are required to be incorporated into the United States Code are inconsistent, redundant, and obsolete, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives has been engaged in a continuing comprehensive project authorized by law to revise and codify, for enactment into positive law, each title of the Code.  When this project is completed, all the titles of the Code will be legal evidence of the general and permanent laws and recourse to the numerous volumes of the United States Statutes at Large for this purpose will no longer be necessary.

Positive law codification bills prepared by the Office do not change the meaning or legal effect of a statute being revised and restated.  Rather, the purpose is to remove ambiguities, contradictions, and other imperfections from the law.

The legal process begins and ends with the same goal, to serve unique useful purpose with clear conditions, boundaries, and scope.  Real issues of clarity can escalate as high as the United States Supreme Court.  Representing a law left or right of original context, stretching its interpretation or extending its intent, creates the legal smudge that pollutes everyone’s atmosphere.

IIA and ISACA make frequent efforts to assure our accurate reference to U.S. and International Laws.  In fact, my exposure to the EU Directive and cross border privacy began with the ISACA and ISACAF collaborated paper on Electronic and Digital Signatures: A Global Status Report[67].

Basic principals of a well rounded diet

Being a cliff note junky, my health condition had long shown signs of chronic “Vertical Stack.”  Left untreated for a period of many years, I ran risk of acquiring “Swiss Cheese” syndrome.

Well rounded, balanced consumption across all major food groups, minimizing potential gaps in awareness as might cause failures during periods of stress (i.e., climate change in career stalls, shifts in corporate regulations, and so on).  Balanced consumption is best achieved by a diet of mainly raw publications, as processing is known to remove most essential nutrients.

At the opposite end of “well rounded” is the malnutrition condition known as “vertically stacked.”  A stacked professional maximizes consumption in a narrow selection of food groups producing single areas of expertise characterized by tremendous height.  Weakness includes, stacks can’t roll, tip easily, and once down, are impossible to stand back up.  Similar to “Stack” is a state known as “Swiss Cheese”; low calorie snack, full of holes, not a substantial meal.

These conditions are quickly cured by a steady diet including areas high in nutritional content.  Fresh, inexpensive content is found in a range of local markets including the FFIEC[68], NIST[69], AICPA[70], COSO[71], National Archives and Records Administration, (NARA)[72] and Government Accountability Office, (GAO)[73].  Deciding what to read has a lot to do with where we find it.  My lists began as “scraping”, taking titles from news and e-mail, especially those from George Spafford Jr.[74] and Dan Swanson[75].  Having plenty of caloric content the links are rolled in a spreadsheet preservative allowing them to appear fresh during the next Future Surf (FS) event.  First cousin to Mount Must Read™ (MMR™ in most health journals), FS’s virtual tasty bone flavor has an addictive quality, causing even the healthiest Dog to indiscriminately bury them in a digital back yard.

Trade Secrets: Reporter with microphone asking, “What’s your secret?” 17th Century Art Studio - Michael Angelo: “Throw the bad paintings out.” Scaffold with baskets and heads - Hooded Man with guillotine: “Keep the blade sharp.

How do you keep that stunning figure?

For me, people like George Spafford Jr., Gene Kim, Dan Swanson, Bruce Winters, Kevin Behr, Mike S. Hines, Tim Howes, James Bryce Clark[76] and far too many more to list, collectively represent the Eagles.  They remain a vigilant look-out, perched high, eyes watching for movement legal, technical, and/or social on everyone’s horizon.  Their letters and posts amount to a habit of vision, spotting nourishment and vermin at a distance of a thousand feet.

Contrary to popular belief, long lists are not the ultimate tie breaker for the last seat in heaven.  Lists don’t help us find a mate or increase our salary.  I’m fairly certain they send us the information as a reminder.  They’re telling us to look alive and keep sharp[77].