** Originally posted - 05 Feb 2011 on catalyticrescue.blogspot(deleted)
Today I find myself staring at the ever elusive skill of properly balancing efforts and time management.
15 January 2014
Animal Welfare, It Is About The People
** Originally posted - 24 Oct 2010 on catalyticrescue.blogspot(deleted)
Funny how when I accidentally started down the animal welfare path, I thought it was just about the animals. It is however very much about the people too. The people that create the laws, the people that enforce those laws, the people that you work with, the people that you trust to care for the animals, the people that adopt the animals, the people that are responsible pet owners, the people that may need some guidance regarding responsible pet ownership, the people that don't like small animals ("rodents"), the people that have difficulty co-existing with wildlife, and the list goes continues to grow.
Each year that goes by I find myself being more involved with people than directly with the animals and that is okay. If I fail in my customer service or my ability to illustrate the subtleties of a given conflict, I lose the connection to the people that I rely on to take these animals into their home. If I cannot interpret the the frustration a person is having with a pet behavior I will not be able to effectively help them solve the issue, possibly resulting in yet another animal being taken to a shelter or simply tossed outside to care for itself. I may be a superior ferret behaviorist, but if I cannot manage the volunteers within my organization the collective goals will not be reached. The animal experts in the field most be able to clearly articulate the benefits and possible ramifications or a proposed law, or an existing law, to prevent and/or correct the establishment of less than well formed regulation
What resources do other animal welfare practitioners use to improve their people skills?
Does your animal welfare organization provide effective training?
Are you a volunteer with a day job? Does your employer offer HR training? A lot of these classes may benefit not only your employer but your engagement with other people.
Do any organizations offer free or discounted training to the public in your area?
We don't need a psychology degree, but we do need to educate ourselves on basic to intermediate people skills.
To help the animals, do not forget to get to know the people.
Funny how when I accidentally started down the animal welfare path, I thought it was just about the animals. It is however very much about the people too. The people that create the laws, the people that enforce those laws, the people that you work with, the people that you trust to care for the animals, the people that adopt the animals, the people that are responsible pet owners, the people that may need some guidance regarding responsible pet ownership, the people that don't like small animals ("rodents"), the people that have difficulty co-existing with wildlife, and the list goes continues to grow.
Each year that goes by I find myself being more involved with people than directly with the animals and that is okay. If I fail in my customer service or my ability to illustrate the subtleties of a given conflict, I lose the connection to the people that I rely on to take these animals into their home. If I cannot interpret the the frustration a person is having with a pet behavior I will not be able to effectively help them solve the issue, possibly resulting in yet another animal being taken to a shelter or simply tossed outside to care for itself. I may be a superior ferret behaviorist, but if I cannot manage the volunteers within my organization the collective goals will not be reached. The animal experts in the field most be able to clearly articulate the benefits and possible ramifications or a proposed law, or an existing law, to prevent and/or correct the establishment of less than well formed regulation
What resources do other animal welfare practitioners use to improve their people skills?
Does your animal welfare organization provide effective training?
Are you a volunteer with a day job? Does your employer offer HR training? A lot of these classes may benefit not only your employer but your engagement with other people.
Do any organizations offer free or discounted training to the public in your area?
We don't need a psychology degree, but we do need to educate ourselves on basic to intermediate people skills.
To help the animals, do not forget to get to know the people.
Middle Ground
** Originally posted - 05 Oct 2010 on catalyticrescue.blogspot(deleted)
The middle ground is non-existent in rescue and animal welfare. When it is easy, it is delightfully uncomplicated however when it is difficult, it is a full-on test of your fortitude.
It is at this crossroads that I find myself. I have only been in the game for five years, can I possibly be burnt out this soon? I sure hope not but as they say, only time will tell.
What is it that we as leaders of animal welfare organizations can do so as to minimize this middle ground void?
The middle ground is non-existent in rescue and animal welfare. When it is easy, it is delightfully uncomplicated however when it is difficult, it is a full-on test of your fortitude.
It is at this crossroads that I find myself. I have only been in the game for five years, can I possibly be burnt out this soon? I sure hope not but as they say, only time will tell.
What is it that we as leaders of animal welfare organizations can do so as to minimize this middle ground void?
Rescue, where are we going?
** Originally posted - 16 May 2010 on catalyticrescue.blogspot(deleted)
I have been involved in "animal rescue" since 2005. While this is a relatively short time compared to many of my compatriots, I feel I promptly descended to a depth of involvement untouched by most. It is here, on this blog, that I intend to invite discussion regarding what it is we do and how we succeed in reaching our goals.
I have been involved in "animal rescue" since 2005. While this is a relatively short time compared to many of my compatriots, I feel I promptly descended to a depth of involvement untouched by most. It is here, on this blog, that I intend to invite discussion regarding what it is we do and how we succeed in reaching our goals.
03 August 2013
When i decided to drive to DefCon.....
So i know that modern air travel sucks, i know this cause i listen to the news reports, i hear people complain of the processes, i have had leathermans confiscated, i opt out of invasive back scatter body scans, and no i am flying with an e-cigarette with various ambiguities around it's rules, and the constantly changing fees.
Today as i fly out to Las Vegas to attend B-Sides Las Vegas and DefCon 21 i realize that either my planning needs improvement, there are too many incidentals related to a simple trip, it would actually be cheaper to drive, or any combination thereof.
Flight approx 280
Cab to airport 35 +tip
Baggage fee 45 (20 on-line, but of course 4 weeks out from the trip i know exactly how many bags and what kind of gear i'm going to drag to the event.)
No assume based on previous trips that the cab to the hotel in vegas, plus return trip puts me at about $500 round trip. If i were to drive, getting about 350 miles to a tank at roughly 50 per tank, for about 1500 miles, that comes out to roughly $400. Granted it would take about 12 additional hours to complete the trip, but as they say it is the journey that matters right?
So, tentative plan for next DefCon, carpool with some friends.
Who is in?!
Today as i fly out to Las Vegas to attend B-Sides Las Vegas and DefCon 21 i realize that either my planning needs improvement, there are too many incidentals related to a simple trip, it would actually be cheaper to drive, or any combination thereof.
Flight approx 280
Cab to airport 35 +tip
Baggage fee 45 (20 on-line, but of course 4 weeks out from the trip i know exactly how many bags and what kind of gear i'm going to drag to the event.)
No assume based on previous trips that the cab to the hotel in vegas, plus return trip puts me at about $500 round trip. If i were to drive, getting about 350 miles to a tank at roughly 50 per tank, for about 1500 miles, that comes out to roughly $400. Granted it would take about 12 additional hours to complete the trip, but as they say it is the journey that matters right?
So, tentative plan for next DefCon, carpool with some friends.
Who is in?!
18 July 2013
Portable Apps
PortableApps
There are multiple portable app repositories and there are many more portable versions of software not included among some of the more popular repositories. I have mentioned portable apps in previous posts. The repository I turn to the most is portableapps.com.
Why portable apps. Okay older-timers remember back in the day when the application was one file, mytool.exe, etc. Remember before Microsoft created the Registry for Windows 95. It was simple, it was a few files, there were no pesky "installers" or incomplete uninstalls. Everything was contained in its own directory and when you got sick of it you just deleted the thing. Now don't get me wrong DLLs and shared components have their place, but I think the windows world of programmers have gotten a bit carried away.
I like portable apps because they don't dirty up your system, they don't pollute your registry, they are usually light weight, and faster than the full blown app. You might also be surprised at how many of them have all the same feature sets. Or those that drop features, how you didn't really need or use that feature anyways.
But wait there is more. What about the college kids that don't have a PC and use school and internet cafe PCs. Get yourself a nice thumbdrive, load up your favorite portable apps, browser, word processor, RSS reader, etc. All you settings, bookmarks, favorites are where ever you go.
But wait, Act now and we'll throw in this bonus offer. You won't leave data, behind. Browsing history stays on your thumb drive not the PC, chat logs, cookies, images, virtually no evidence is left behind that you were there. **Note check and verify the behavior of the app, all apps are not crated equal, some may leave various artifacts on the system, this is not a get out of jail free card. For example Windows will still keep a log that a USB device was connected to the system. A good forensics analysts can still track you.
Portable apps, give them a go.
PortableApps
There are multiple portable app repositories and there are many more portable versions of software not included among some of the more popular repositories. I have mentioned portable apps in previous posts. The repository I turn to the most is portableapps.com.
Why portable apps. Okay older-timers remember back in the day when the application was one file, mytool.exe, etc. Remember before Microsoft created the Registry for Windows 95. It was simple, it was a few files, there were no pesky "installers" or incomplete uninstalls. Everything was contained in its own directory and when you got sick of it you just deleted the thing. Now don't get me wrong DLLs and shared components have their place, but I think the windows world of programmers have gotten a bit carried away.
I like portable apps because they don't dirty up your system, they don't pollute your registry, they are usually light weight, and faster than the full blown app. You might also be surprised at how many of them have all the same feature sets. Or those that drop features, how you didn't really need or use that feature anyways.
But wait there is more. What about the college kids that don't have a PC and use school and internet cafe PCs. Get yourself a nice thumbdrive, load up your favorite portable apps, browser, word processor, RSS reader, etc. All you settings, bookmarks, favorites are where ever you go.
But wait, Act now and we'll throw in this bonus offer. You won't leave data, behind. Browsing history stays on your thumb drive not the PC, chat logs, cookies, images, virtually no evidence is left behind that you were there. **Note check and verify the behavior of the app, all apps are not crated equal, some may leave various artifacts on the system, this is not a get out of jail free card. For example Windows will still keep a log that a USB device was connected to the system. A good forensics analysts can still track you.
Portable apps, give them a go.
PortableApps
16 July 2013
Foxit Reader / PDF-XChange Viewer
Foxit Reader
PDF-XChange Viewer
We have mentioned PDFs in the last two posts. While a small utility to create PDF documents is great, how do you interact with the PDF files you have created, or other PDFs that you download from third parties.
I mention to tools here, Foxit and PDF-XChange. I have personally just started to use these tools as an alternative to Adobe PDF Reader. I mention these two tools specifically because they both have portable installers.
Both applications have more options and features beyond simply reading or viewing PDFs both can do text searching, PDF-XChange allows for limited editing, FoxIt allows for the adding a digital signature (rubber stamp).
Both applications have had their share of vulnerabilities, often attributed to weaknesses in the PDF format itself. While security through obscurity is not a recommend action, it does sometimes have a place, and each of these two tools has the advantage of not being as big a target as Adobe to the malware creators.
Give one or both of these two a spin and see if you don't like them better than your current PDF reader.
PDF-XChange Viewer
Foxit Reader
PDF-XChange Viewer
We have mentioned PDFs in the last two posts. While a small utility to create PDF documents is great, how do you interact with the PDF files you have created, or other PDFs that you download from third parties.
I mention to tools here, Foxit and PDF-XChange. I have personally just started to use these tools as an alternative to Adobe PDF Reader. I mention these two tools specifically because they both have portable installers.
Both applications have more options and features beyond simply reading or viewing PDFs both can do text searching, PDF-XChange allows for limited editing, FoxIt allows for the adding a digital signature (rubber stamp).
Both applications have had their share of vulnerabilities, often attributed to weaknesses in the PDF format itself. While security through obscurity is not a recommend action, it does sometimes have a place, and each of these two tools has the advantage of not being as big a target as Adobe to the malware creators.
Give one or both of these two a spin and see if you don't like them better than your current PDF reader.
PDF-XChange Viewer
Foxit Reader
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