Tom

Not only was the English game dreadful, but so was that Hanuta with tiramisu-flavored cream. What a disaster!

The European Championship isn’t over yet, but the journey of the Swiss national team has come to a bitter end. A nail-biting penalty shootout dashed our hopes, with Manuel Akanji, who had an otherwise stellar tournament, unfortunately missing the first penalty for Switzerland. The English, historically known for their penalty woes, managed to score all five of theirs.

It wasn’t the most thrilling match in terms of quality, but the few chances Switzerland had were of better quality than England’s. Yet, in the end, it just wasn’t enough.

So, who’s going to take the trophy home? Right now, my emotions are all over the place, and honestly, I’m not sure if I care as much anymore. Spain has been impressive so far, though they were a bit lucky against Germany in the quarter-finals. Based on their performances, a title win wouldn’t be undeserved. We’ll see how it all plays out.

My voice is still a bit raspy from the cold I had. But you know what? It’s actually quite a blessing in disguise—I’m talking less! 😄

The workweek isn’t over yet, but so far, so good. Who knows what Friday has in store? There are always potential pitfalls that could turn things upside down. But I consider myself an optimist.

Next week is going to be packed. I’ve got a lot on my plate: wrapping up the .conf summary, attending a company event, and, of course, the usual daily grind.

But the highlight? On Saturday, I’m off to a Switzerland vs. Italy watch party with my friends. I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the Swiss team’s chances.

Stay tuned for more updates, and fingers crossed for a smooth end to the week for all of us.

After a brief disappearing act (no, I wasn’t hiding in a stadium), I’m back in the blogging game. The weekend post-return was smoother than a Mbappe run, but by Tuesday, I was tackled by a cold and jet lag double-team. My plans? Subbed off faster than a struggling striker.

But there was a silver lining: Euro 2024 in Germany! From my Swiss window seat, I could follow the tournament and was treated to some spectacular matches. The atmosphere seeping through social media was almost as thrilling as being in the stadium itself.

The Swiss game against the Scots did go like I hoped for. Xherdan Shaqiri, that old wizard, scored another dream goal. It seems to have become his duty at major tournaments - as if he wakes up thinking, “Time to score a world-class goal today, then breakfast.” In the end, a draw - as balanced as a perfectly poured pint.

Now, all eyes on Germany. They’re steamrolling through the tournament like a bratwurst through a beer tent. Them and Spain are playing like they’ve got cheat codes. But hey, 90 minutes is longer than my attention span, so anything could happen.

Next week, it’s back to the work trenches. The office calls like an over-enthusiastic whistle-happy ref. But until then, I’m riding this Euro 2024 rollercoaster from my sofa command center.

Not good. Microsoft Chose Profit Over Security and Left U.S. Government Vulnerable to Russian Hack

So, I’m back in Switzerland. The day before our departure, we hit up Steakhouse Oscars at Fremont with a larger group. Let me tell you, this year’s jet lag was a beast. I only managed to get it under control a day before flying back.

The return flight was pleasant enough, though we flew in Economy Max instead of Business. Sometimes, you just have to roll with it. The plane was packed, a solid 11-hour journey, and we even started with a delay. But hey, at least I wasn’t my colleague who had to deplane after four hours and try again the next day.

So, what do you do on the last day of a trip? Normally, you’d cram in as many sightseeing spots as possible. But this time, everyone was just wiped out. Conferences can be exhausting, despite all the fun. Some people lounged by the pool, others went shopping one last time. I hit the casino for a bit of slot machine action. I was too lazy to focus on anything more intense, and predictably, I lost $150. Easy come, easy go.

Later, we had a few drinks before heading to Fremont as mentioned above. The evening was fun but short. Age is catching up, no more partying until 4 AM.

Before the flight, of course, I watched Switzerland beat Hungary 3-1. Baby!

Next day, at 11 AM, it was airport time. A very funny taxi driver made the ride enjoyable.

Once at the airport, I made a rookie mistake – bought some almonds without checking the price. $16 for a small pack! I think I need to ask for a raise.

Zurich airport was a mess at customs. Long lines everywhere. Swiss and EU citizens got to skip the line, but everyone else was stuck for hours. I can only imagine how chaotic it will be when holiday season kicks in.

Then it was the train ride home. After a quick check-in with colleagues and family, I tackled the usual post-trip routine: unpacking, laundry, catching some Euro 2024 action, and squeezing in a two-hour nap. Before I knew it, Sunday was over.

So, this wraps up my adventure. Now, it’s back to reality, but with some great memories and a slightly lighter wallet. Until the next trip!

Ah, the final day of Splunk .conf24 – the grand finale of a whirlwind of sessions, customer showcases, and more tech buzzwords than you can shake a stick at! Day 3 was no different, packed to the brim with talks on security, observability, and AI. Because, of course, no tech conference is complete without reminding you that AI is taking over the world (but in a good way, we hope).

I took some time to explore the Innovation Labs, where the future is made of shiny things and clever ideas. What’s shown here often ends up in future software releases, so it’s like getting a sneak peek into tomorrow. Spoiler alert: it’s usually pretty cool.

The evening brought the infamous Search Party. This year’s star guest was TLC, and no, not the home improvement channel, but the legendary music group. Talk about a blast from the past! There was finger food, free alcohol, and enough long foosball tables and arcade games to keep our inner child delighted. The music was loud – very loud. But that’s America for you. Who needs conversation when you’ve got decibels, right?

After the official festivities, a few of us took the party elsewhere. Let’s just say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and leave it at that.

All in all, Splunk .conf24 delivered in spades. The quality of the talks was as high as ever, though it seems the peak attendance we saw pre-COVID might never be topped. There’s also a looming question: will the Splunk conference remain a standalone event, or will it be absorbed into Cisco Live? Only time will tell.

In any case, I highly recommend attending, especially for newcomers. The university sessions are incredibly valuable, and there’s no substitute for the learning and networking that happens here.

The second day of Splunk conf has wrapped up. This time, we kicked things off with a technical keynote that had everyone buzzing.

Keynotes are here to set the vibe/mode of a conference, with the technical details coming later in the tech sessions or hallway conversations. Last year’s keynote received mixed reviews-maybe it was a bit too negative and certainly not a highlight. From what I’ve heard, this year’s keynote was significantly better.

So far, the general mood among customers and partners is pretty positive, though they have completely different perspectives. Customers want solutions for their challenges, features they can ride on, and roadmaps, which usually goes quite well. On the other hand, the technical sessions spark a lot of cool ideas for techies to implement back at their companies.

For partners, it’s more about what’s next now that Cisco has bought Splunk and how the integration of 75’000 Cisco partners with the significantly fewer Splunk partners will play out. But even here, the message delivered was cautiously optimistic.

As a highlight from the keynote, there was the unveiling of Splunk Security Enterprise 8.0, the Splunk AI Assistant for SPL, ITSI 4.19 with AI features, the Splunk Edge Processor now in GA, Splunk SOAR 6.3, and general news about Splunk Observability.

But hey, I think I’ll save the deep dive for a separate blog post someday. This micro blog is just to keep things light and breezy.

After the keynote, the technical sessions began. I focused on ITSI and Security, although I did miss a few planned sessions due to catching up with various people. For clients who couldn’t attend, I submitted several questions to different Splunk teams, hoping to get answers post-conference.

On the downside, I missed the User Group Leader meeting and the Advisory Board session.

My excuse? A brief (but evidently necessary) nap. I planned for a quick 15-minute rest but ended up taking an unplanned trip to Dreamland. With only about 3 hours of sleep per night since last Friday, my body decided it was time for a longer pit stop.

Thankfully, I woke up before dinner thanks to a timely WhatsApp from Oli. After dinner, we headed to Fremont for some evening activities.

All in all, a packed and productive day with a bit of unintended comedy. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Today was a big day for Splunk! I attended not one, but two keynotes. The first one was for our partners, and the second one was for everyone else. They weren’t identical in content, but the message was pretty similar. And guess what? The CEO of Cisco made an appearance at both keynotes. Talk about making the rounds!

The rest of the day was a blur of booth visits, meeting new folks, and engaging in some pretty fascinating discussions. By evening, we wrapped things up with a delightful dinner with Arrow.

So, what do you take away from a day like this? Lots of blah blah blah, but in the end, the message was positive!

Tomorrow, we finally dive into the technical sessions. Can’t wait!

Today kicked off with CriblCon 2024. The scalability of the fleet (agents) was a hot topic – imagine up to 250k agents! They showcased a live demo of AI support for searches and dashboards. We saw Fast Search, reduced resource consumption of Stream under Windows, new data source integrations, SaaS on Azure (not just AWS anymore), and data lake advancements. And that was just a snippet of what was shown. This startup is developing quickly and expanding. For an outsider, it’s not always 100% clear where Cribl is headed. They’re dancing at many weddings. Too many? Or maybe world domination is just around the corner?

After the keynote, there were more sessions. They were quite interesting.

Later in the afternoon, Lukas arrived. We then headed to the Sphere with Splunk Switzerland and a few Splunk customers. That’s the big dome thing in Vegas. We were in section 208. The seats were great, and the video experience was phenomenal. Definitely worth it if you’re in Vegas.

We wrapped up with a visit to the Delmonico Steakhouse. It was delicious but also sinfully expensive.

Sunday in Vegas wrapped up with the Cribl EMEA event at Ole Red. The rooftop party was a blast, featuring a live DJ, drinks, finger food, and a crowd full of interesting people.

The view of the Bellagio fountain show was amazing. By 7:30 PM local time, the heat had finally let up. The cooling mist machines certainly helped too.

I received a printed book from Cribl. Really cool. To be honest, I didn’t do much to earn it, but thanks to Oli for that! (selfie photo).

I’m still battling jet lag. So, I went to bed early—before midnight. But of course, I was up again by 3 AM. Not ideal.

Today, Monday, continues with CriblCon, starting at 9 AM local time. Then, I’ve got a few meetings with clients and a visit to The Sphere planned.

One shouldn’t complain when hotel and flight is covered by the company and a lot of entertainment is covered by vendors. But wow, the prices in Vegas are sky-high. There are quite a few personal expenses too.

After 11 hours and 30 minutes of flying and stepping into the 40°C Las Vegas heat, I finally arrived. The flight was great, courtesy of Edelweiss’s stellar service. The only hiccup? The landing was a bit like hitting a speed bump at full throttle.

First Stop: The Venetian Hotel

Upon arrival, I beelined to the Venetian Hotel, with my room in the Palazzo. Check-in was smooth, except they promised to text me when the room was ready. Spoiler alert: that text never came. After two hours of twiddling my thumbs, I went back to the reception, and voilà, room keys in hand.

Thankfully, Markus got his room in the Venetian immediately, so I could stash my luggage in his room while I sorted things out.

The First Day’s Dilemma: To Sleep or Not to Sleep

The real challenge on the first day is figuring out when to sleep. I left at 10 AM Swiss time and landed at 1 PM Vegas time (a 9-hour difference). Jet lag is real, folks.

First Meal: In-N-Out Burger

To kick things off, I headed straight to In-N-Out Burger for a Double Cheese. Always a winner. Though I have a soft spot for Shake Shack in Vegas too, it’s a bit of a trek from the hotel. Still, I’ll make the pilgrimage.

Evening at The Linq

In the evening, I hit the bar at The Linq and met up with Oli from Cribl and Mika. As always, it was an absolute hoot. We then moved on for some finger food with Florian (Flo), and Jaco.

Nightcap: Gilley’s Saloon, Dance Hall & Bar-B-Que

We capped off the night with a visit to Gilley’s Saloon, Dance Hall & Bar-B-Que for a well-deserved “after-work” beer. By 11 PM, it was time to hit the sack.

And so the journey begins. Flight LX8002 to Vegas. The seat assignment worked out after all. I even managed to snag an upgrade at a fair price. Those upsellers at the counter are relentless, aren’t they?

Eleven hours of flying. Not exactly my favorite pastime. At least I only got four hours of sleep last night. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch some Z’s on the plane.

Here’s to in-flight naps and Vegas dreams

No sooner is the Area41 security conference over, it’s already off to Las Vegas for the next conference.

I’m all set for the Splunk conf in Las Vegas, June 11-14. Slippers? Check. Courtesy of my Splunk User Group leader in Zurich.

Can’t wait to reunite with old pals – ex-colleagues, fellow Splunk disciples. Let’s turn data into laughs and memories!

And I still have a lot to sort out. Unfortunately, the seat reservation didn’t work out with Swiss. When I checked in online, there was no sign of my Eco Max (10cm extra legroom) seat. The hotline couldn’t help. My last chance is tomorrow at the check-in counter.

I had hoped to chat with my colleague Mika next to me. The fact that this probably won’t happen bothers me the most. He is coming directly from Finland and is also flying via Zurich to Vegas.

The second day of AREA41 had a lineup of talks that were right up my alley, focusing heavily on cloud security. Here’s a rundown of the sessions I attended, each packed with insights, tips, and a touch of humor.

Kicking off the morning, Daniel Drack served us a harsh reality check on cloud-native software supply chain security with his talk, “Cloud-Native Software Supply Chain Security: The Hard Truth.” If you thought the cloud was a fluffy, safe place, think again. Drack exposed the underlying vulnerabilities that can turn your cloud into a stormy nightmare. This talk was more practical with a DevSecOps point of view rather than from a security engineer.

Following Drack, Oleksandr Kazymyrov brought a pragmatic perspective on balancing efficiency and security in cloud-based endpoint management. His talk, “Balancing Efficiency and Security: Unveiling the Risks in Cloud-Based Endpoint Management,” highlighted that it’s like trying to walk a tightrope in a hurricane. You need finesse, strategy, and maybe a bit of luck.

Himanshu Anand gave us a sobering summary of public cloud attacks with “Public Cloud Public Attacks: A Summary of Attacks Seen by CloudIntel.” If you ever doubted the creativity of cybercriminals, Anand’s talk would set you straight. CloudIntel’s insights made it clear: vigilance is key. By the way, he spends $500 per month from his own pocket on the project. Maybe a sponsor can be found.

After a much-needed lunch break, Gergana Karadzhova-Dangela returned us to the fray in the afternoon with practical advice on incident response documentation in her talk, “Actionable Incident Response Documentation: When The Ink Meets The Road.” Her mantra? Documentation should be actionable, not just ink on paper. Because when a breach happens, you don’t want to be caught with your docs down. This session on incident response documentation was surprisingly engaging and crucial, leaving me with plenty to ponder.

There was also a funny lock-picking challenge.

Overall, final day (two) was packed with cloud-centric wisdom and a dose of humor. I can recommend AREA41 for everyone that is interested in security and/or networking.

My highlight over the two days was the barbecue on the first evening.

All drinks (with or without alcohol), food, and the barbecue was included in the ticket price of $299.

The first day of Area41 is over, and it had its fair share of interesting security talks. Of course, as with any conference, the real action was in the networking—meeting people and catching up with colleagues. It was a good time.

We started with a keynote from Paula Januszkiewicz, Founder & CEO of CQURE, on “Hacker’s Perspective on New Risks: Revising the Cybersecurity Priorities for 2024.” It was engaging, full of demos, which is a bit unorthodox for a keynote, but it kept things lively.

Elliot Ward’s talk, “Action Anomalies: A Hacker’s Guide to GitHub Actions,” gave us a rundown of GitHub Actions and highlighted the security areas to be cautious about. Worth noting for anyone using GitHub.

“Insert Coin: Hacking Arcades for Fun” by Ignacio Navarro took a different direction than I anticipated. Instead of old arcade machines, it focused on some pretty shabby arcade management software with questionable security.

Michael Oelke’s “Call on Me, Unify! - Hacking Desktop Phones” was technically intriguing, offering a deep dive into the vulnerabilities of desktop phones.

I’m curious to see what Day 2 has in store. Let’s see what happens next.

Today, I embarked on a grand adventure to our headquarters in Arbon. With the sun shining brightly, it felt like I was on a beach vacation at Lake Constance. The scenery was so beautiful, I half-expected to see dolphins flipping around in the water.

The only downside? It took me five hours to get there and back. By the time I arrived, I felt like I’d traveled through all of Switzerland, stopping at every cheese factory along the way.

I’m I often can’t properly unwind anymore. It’s almost like I have to ‘focus’ on relaxing – as crazy as that sounds.

I haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD, but short breaks don’t help much either. I get more easily irritated and more often have the fear of missing out (FOMO).

I guess some of you know it too: you start a game, but after 30 minutes, you feel like doing something else. Then you put on a movie or a show, but that doesn’t hold your attention for long either. So you end up jumping from one source of entertainment to the next. It works fine in an encapsulated environments like in the cinema, but less so on the couch. Even on short vacation, I find it hard to unwind – always online, always new ideas, always undone work in my head.

Once, I tried to relax on the beach, but instead of enjoying the waves, I kept wondering how many emails I had. Or the time I went hiking and couldn’t stop thinking I was missing the perfect Instagram post.

Maybe these are the ‘side effects’ of our fast-paced, stressful, and information-overloaded world. It’s really a shame.

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Villa Manodori Baldamico Vinegar

Photo from the Kornhaus Bridge with a view of Bern’s old town.

Das Schweizer Eishockey-Nationalteam trägt an der nächsten, in zwei Ländern vom 9. bis 25. Mai 2025 ausgetragenen Weltmeisterschaft seine Gruppenspiele in Herning aus. Dort trifft der diesjährige WM-Zweite auf Weltmeister Tschechien, die USA, Deutschland, Dänemark, Ungarn, Kasachstan und Norwegen.

SRF als Quelle

Alright, gather ’round! Here’s the scoop on the new Sonos app and its missing alarm clock feature. Picture this: you’re ready to rely on your Sonos alarm to start your day, but it’s gone. Officially, the latest update promised its return. But no luck.

The forums? A wild jungle of theories. Some say it only works during a full moon, others suggest rituals involving sage. For me, despite the latest firmware and app update, the alarm option is still MIA.

Seriously, Sonos? Do I need to align my chakras or consult an astrologer? Until then, I’m stuck with my phone’s alarm. Here’s hoping Sonos solves this mystery soon, or I’ll be setting up a rooster training camp.

Master of my own data and ruler of my services. And I still believe it’s the way to go.

But lately, I’ve found myself outsourcing more and more of my services. It started with emails, then DNS, and now even blogs. Why? I couldn’t tell you exactly. I had no issues running things myself. Low maintenance, you know. But somehow, the thought crept in that maybe it’s becoming more of a hassle. Things get trickier on the web when you’re not playing in the big leagues. Although, finding a real person to talk to at those big companies is like trying to summon the IT administrator when Windows throws a tantrum. Except, well, you’re the IT guy.

Maybe it’s just the feeling that my time is more valuable now that I’m getting older. Perhaps shelling out $10 here and $5 there for a service isn’t such a bad idea after all. Plus, there’s the convenience factor. Photos magically syncing to iCloud, emails handled by ProtonMail, web security via Cloudflare. And let’s not forget about staying incognito with ProtonVPN, TailScale, or Netbird.

In the old days, it was all about running your own servers. But times are changing, my friends. Yet, it’s merely a snapshot of the current zeitgeist. Who knows what the future holds?

And rapidly wins two million followers. When you’ve hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up 😜

Source Reuters

Despite having an aquarium, it’s a very dry affair. That’s one way to get rid of your fry.

Direct link to YouTube.