Recommended Website and reading

Technology Review has thought provoking and innovative content. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612268/we-can-now-customize-cancer-cures-tumor-by-tumor/

What If We All Followed Ayn Rand's Principles?

PBS has an interesting overview on this. FWIW I'm a big fan of The Fountainhead: 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-this-is-what-happens-when-you-take-ayn-rand-seriously

Bielski Brothers Story Told by Rae Kushner

As I went in the summer of 2018 to visit the towns in which my family immigrated from in Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia I got to see a small town where my great grand father Lazar Bielsky was born in a town called Molcadt Belarus (multiple ways to spell it based on which language you speak).  He became a rabbi by graduating from the yeshiva in Zhetl (now called Zdzieciol) also in Belarus.

As I came to the small town and did my research I came to find out that Rae Kushner grandmother of Jared Kushner was from a town not far from there. She was known for escaping the Zyde Ghetto for the forest where the Bielski brothers set up a camp to fight and hide until liberation came.

For my records I'll upload photos and stories of my trip but it's telling of our worlds past in Rae Kushners story told here:
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504520

The photos below are from the towns of Molchad, Belarus in present day 2018. The location is approximately 2.5 hours away from the city of Minsk. From Molchad I ventured to Zdzieciol Bialorus which is present day the town of Dzyatlava.

Circle of Concern vs Circle of Control

Worry about the things you can control and not the ones you can't. Also our worries and fears are often misplaced. We fear sharks, alligators, and terrorist attacks but yet we don't worry about often preventable diseases such as heart disease which kills exponentially more than all of the above.

richart ruddie dj sets on Night Owl radio

For reference the two appearances from being the up all night top donor in 2016 and 2017 I was a special guest dj on Night Owl Radio. Episodes 44 and 96 can be heard at the following links:

Episode 44 with Eric Prydz

https://www.insomniac.com/music/stream-night-owl-radio-044-ft-richart-ruddie-and-eric-prydz/

Episode 96 with Alison Wonderland B2B Diplo B2B Jauz
https://www.insomniac.com/music/stream-night-owl-radio-096-ft-richart-ruddie-and-alison-wonderland-b2b-diplo-b2b-jauz/

No Place on Earth Story on Galician Jews

Cave explorer Chris Nicola discovers a cave in Western Ukraine and asks what it's history is to which locals say maybe some jews used to hide out in there during the war. After heading back home to Queens, New York he finds that some of the few survivors (38 total) lived miles away from him. This film covers that story of the Galician Jews who survived.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2343266/

Added to my places to visit in the Lyviv, Ulraine Region, Lokachi, Ukraine, Pryvitne ukraina and the other town of Świniuchy of which I visited the Lithuania Sviniche last summer. 

Interesting Crypto Piece

In depth write up from the Bank of International Settlements covering the Crypto market. While I do believe Crypto and de-centralization holds a large part of our future this points out a lot of great analysis.

Read the piece here: https://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2018e5.htm

10 Things you notice that about Japan when you're there

After my second trip to Japan some of the things that I thought were rather "different" on my first trip there started to seem more normal as I got used to it while others still seem like they deserve to be pointed out for future travelers to there coming from the USA.

Here is a small list I compiled while in an Uber on the way back home.

1. When you go into a restaurant to eat they have little lockers that are for not your belongings but rather for your shoes so you can change into a pair of designated slippers to wear in the restaurant. Also slippers are used for the bathrooms as well. 
2. Speaking of restaurants you will find that the inside design of Japanese restaurants resemble their counterparts in the USA. If you were to be blind folded and put in one of the restaurants it would be hard to determine if you were in Japan or America as they've done a very good job re-created their restaurants state side. Same goes with bars in Ireland. 
3. The toilets however are very high tech and come with seat warmers. Almost every toilet in Japan has a remote control with multiple options. 
4. Taxi experiences are quite unique. First they drive on the left and are right hand drive Toyota's that have nice white cloths to keep the interior clean. The drivers wear white gloves and open the doors for you via a lever and close it without having to get out of the car. Oh and Ubers are crazy expensive and so are taxis compared to taking the train which is the major mode of transport for Tokyo. 
5. Speaking of trains the train stations are large like New York Penn Station and have shopping malls, restaurants, and are mini cities in and of themselves. 
6. Change trays are a thing. Every time you purchase something the change is returned to you on a nice tray as opposed to just put into your hand or onto the counter. 
7. The city is massive. Off the top of my head I think its 13 times the size of NYC and is the most mega city in the world but yet feels like the safest and cleanest as they seem to not have a lot of trash cans but yet people just hold onto their trash instead of littering. 
8. The Japanese are perhaps the nicest group of people in the world. Stories I've heard and in my own experience of being lost and having somebody walk us 2 KM to our destination only to Thank Us and to walk back 2 KM to get back on track is a commonality. They truly practice the golden rule. 
9. Sushi isn't served on every corner and is actually harder to find than you may expect. Noodles and Japanese grills are actually much more popular dining choices. 
10. They love lines and rules. Whether it's lining up to take photos or do not enter signs on a walking path they are very diligent about following rules. 

Some tools of the trade to use

Some great research tools for reference:


https://osintframework.com  - OSINT framework focused on gathering information from free tools or resources. The intention is to help people find free OSINT resources. Some of the sites included might require registration or offer more data for $$$, but you should be able to get at least a portion of the available information for no cost.

https://inteltechniques.com/links.html

Delta Data Breach April 2018 Disclosure

Delat Airlines has sent out a letter to all of it's members about a March 28, 2018 data breach notification from an online chat service 247.ai that happened last September. Certain customer payment information may have been accessed during this time. It was from Malware that was present in the software.

Delta's response to a 3rd party software provider on their website seems to be very proactive as they engaged with law enforcement and forensic teams as soon as they learned of the breach. They are also offering a free enrollment in AllClear ID Credit monitoring and identity theft protection services free of charge for two years. A big boon and win for All Clear but a big los for 247.AI as this will negatively impact future clients they would of otherwise obtained.

Hat tip to Deborah Wheeler the VP Chief Information Security Officer for a proactive approach to the matter. I have some exciting new software that would of prevented an incident like this from happening that I hope to be rolling out later this year that will greatly benefit companies like Delta.

Best Quote from the 70's

This quote comes from Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory which was filmed in Germany in 1971. 

"Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted."
 

 "What happened?"

"He lived happily ever after.”

― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Article worth reading about Aron D'Souza

In depth article about a hidden figure in the role that brought down a site that many put on par with TheDirty.com as sleezy and was made for the sole purpose to embarass, cyber bully, and to harass people. None the less it was a business that generated thousands of jobs all of which have now been destroyed by Nick Denton.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanmac/this-is-the-man-who-helped-peter-thiel-demolish-gawker-mr-a?utm_term=.jwZL7NJd9#.xe0LR2DE3

Ever Wonder Why LBS.

If you're like me and wonder why LBS = Pounds when Kilometers = KM and Kilograms = KG So why isn't Pounds = PD ?

This happens because LB is actually from the Latin word libra as in the astrological sign Libra which means balance or scales. Yes Sclaes as in what we step on to weigh ourselves in pounds or kilograms. An ancient Roman unit of measure Libra Pondo meant "a pound by weight". So the word pound in the English language was derived from the word "Pondo".

Another interesting note is the British Sterling Pound has a symbol of an L with a line through it.

So thats my fun fact and knowledge of the day.

Anyone Can Work Odd Jobs To Get Going

Infographic below showcases the different jobs Warren Buffett did as a child. From Selling Coca-cola and lemonade in front of his friends house because there was more traffic there than in front of his house to Peanuts he had no shame getting out there and hustling in his youth to get funding to start investing in stocks.