Category: Ireland

A guy from the US learning Gaeilge

I decided to do an entry on my desire to learn the Irish Language or Gaeilge.

A lot of my friends have wondered why I would want to learn a “dead” language. It turns out that “At least one in three people (~1.8 million) on the island of Ireland can understand Irish to some extent. Estimates of fully native speakers range from 40,000 up to 80,000 people.” [1]

One of the biggest challenges for me personally was that growing up learning English, I can’t understand the pronunciation of a lot of the words right off the bat. I look at the words “Dia duit” and I don’t get “gee-uh gwitch” out of it at all. I also didn’t want to start mispronouncing anything if I tried to speak with someone when I was in Ireland and look like a “Plastic Paddy”. I have to go back 5 generations on my mother’s side before I have any Irish heritage so I’m not going to be visiting relatives over there or anything. Speaking to someone in their language and screwing it up wasn’t something I wanted to portray as a US citizen either.

One of the things I was curious about being in tech was an easy way to start to learn how to “type Irish” so I could take notes in class. I spoke with one of my instructors and found out that using an iPad with Swype installed & the Gaeilge keyboard chosen allows you to slide a stylus across the keyboard & it will try to predict what Irish word you are trying to spell including the fadas.

The great part about taking notes this way is that holding the spacebar down with the stylus will allow you to quickly switch between English & Gaelic. This way you can Swype out “Dia duit – ‘gee-uh gwitch’ – means: God to you” on your tablet even if you’re in the same spot as me & can’t read your own handwriting.

I also found some information on DuoLingo.com about typing Irish letters including the fada on a USA QWERTY-layout keyboard. It can be found here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/4278237

One good thing about living with all this technology is the ability to put the CD’s from our Irish book into Itunes so I can listen to someone pronouncing the words over and over without having to annoy someone asking them to repeat something dozens of times. It’s allowed me to learn to say “Tá sé go deas bualadh leat” (Tah shay go jas boo lee at) and a few other ones that have proven difficult for me as I start out.

While this isn’t the easiest thing I’ve done and it definitely puts me out of my comfort zone, it’s something I’d really like to continue. So if anyone out there wants to learn with me let me know!

-Slán go fóill

 

[1] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_of_the_Irish_language

Recap of CSA Norway, BruCON, & Dublin

Well it’s been a bit since I returned from Europe but I had a great time. Kai Roer set me up with a speaking engagement at the Cloud Security Alliance Norway chapter in Oslo. The topic was Vulnerability Management in the cloud. They were engaging and asked really great questions. We were able to stream it online so my team members who couldn’t make the trip could see it as well. The talk covered the decisions that need to be made about if scanning needs to take place, how often, what are the costs, and who’s responsible for resolving the vulnerabilities. The other reason for venturing to Norway was to meet Kai and see some of Norway. He was a gracious host and the country is beautiful. I need to put that on my list of places to go back to in the future for a longer trip!

BruCON was next on the itinerary and Ghent was beautiful. The conference was held at Ghent University and they had a great lineup of speakers like Jennifer Minella, Jim Fear, and Adam Schoeman giving talks on multiple technical levels. I was finally able to meet Jacob Kuehndorf when I roomed with him in Ghent. He’s a really great guy and was really helpful as I battled a head cold during my trip. I also was finally able to say hi to Marisa Fagan who also made the trip to Belgium all the way from San Fran. I caught up with a few people I know on that side of the pond like Trey Darley, Wim Remes, and Xavier Mertins and some from my side like Chris & Leigh Lytle, and Katie Moussouris.  I do have to admit that Wim Remes was right though. He did find a Belgian beer that I liked when I got over there (even if it was through the proxy of Chris Lytle) so kudos to him on that one!

After BruCON was over, I headed to Dublin for a couple days to see what other gems I could find in my favorite country. Still battling the head cold I didn’t think that the “peat fire” in one tourist spot was a good idea though so I got my new tattoo & tried to meet up for a pint with a few friends. I wasn’t able to catch anyone near Dublin at the time but I reconnected with a couple people I knew at the hotel I stay at so it was still a good time. After that it was time to head back to Detroit and to the real world.

I attached a photo of the new tattoo below. Rachael is a great artist and I’ll be back there in May for Source Conference Dublin to get some script work done around it.

 

Dublin potential

So I may be heading to Dublin again next year for SourceConference Dublin in May. Any ideas for me on what to do if I stay a few extra days this time? I’ve listed what I’ve already done below so new ideas within walking distance (or short cab) from Jury’s Inn on Custom House Quay would be great!

  • Guinness storehouse tour (normal & connoisseur tour)
  • Kilmainham Gaol
  • Jameson whiskey tour
  • Hop-On-Hop-Off City bus tour
  • Temple Bar mini-bar-crawl (Palace Bar, Temple Bar)
  • Trinity College / Book of Kells
  • Cabaret evening
  • Walk down Grafton Street
  • New tattoo (plan on doing this again when I decide on a design)

I’ve heard that I should wander around more in Temple Bar, and a couple Google searches have told me to try Kehoe’s for a “local bar” atmosphere but I think I’ll rely on my friend Andrew McKenna for that part of the trip. The music he lead me to last time was amazing.

Good food is a must so tell me where you found some amazing seafood or Irish cuisine.

Comment below and let me know what to try!

What to do at Source Conference Dublin?

So I’ve been thinking of what I should do the three “tourist” days I have in Dublin. I land late morning on Tuesday the 21st, so I have the rest of that day, Wednesday, and Saturday to wander. This is in addition to the evenings of Thursday and Friday after the conference.

There are a few things I’ve had the opportunity to see while I was there the other two times including the Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College & Book of Kells, The grounds outside the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Guinness Storehouse, and the Garden of Remembrance.

While these are some amazing things to experience, I’m hoping to find some more to add to the list. The previous two tours took a city tour but it was very rushed and I didn’t get to see what I wanted to. I’ve got a few things that I don’t want to miss while being over there this time. If you feel I’m missing some, please let me know!

I’ll be staying at one of the Jury’s Inn’s near the conference so if you are in the city or near there, let’s hang out and talk! I can’t wait for this trip!

Irish Obsession

Alright so this is going to be a non-infosec post, so if you read me for that, you may want to go write some code or pop a box.

So I was texting with my wife about a tweet that Dave Shackleford made about a job in Vienna, Austria (my wife’s favorite country because of the Sound of Music movie). I was teasing her about how she wouldn’t mind going back to Austria (we were there last year) and how I want to move to Ireland. Now neither of us speaks German and that would definitely be an issue with moving to Austria. She also is a sunshine person (she gets moody when it’s cloudy/winter) so either country would be difficult for her to live in as well.

So with the overkill on the back story, it got me thinking on being obsessed with everything Irish. When we took our (4 years late) honeymoon there last year, I was on cloud 9 for 13 days. We were immersed in Irish culture, history, music, and people. I couldn’t get enough to the point that I was showing our 1000+ photos to anyone that would sit long enough to watch. We made the decision to go back this year when my parents and sister started talking about going. We’re now taking almost 2 weeks to go back in September.

I started thinking about all of this and how I’ve wanted to learn more about Ireland for as long as anyone in my family could remember. I used to think that my Grandfather’s parents or something must have been from Ireland with how we always used to say we had Irish ancestry. I actually got into the Ancestry site and found out I have to go back 5 generations on either side before I hit the Emerald Isle. I only have to go back 4 before I hit Germany on my maternal side. So it turns out that I’m not as Irish as I’d assumed as a child. With that in mind, it makes it a little strange that I have such an affinity for Irish Culture. My wife has been known to tell people asking me if I’d like (some “Irish” thing), “It’s Irish, he’ll love it”. Why that is, I have no idea. My family is definitely not “just off the boat” from Ireland or anything. I am proud that I have it in my heritage, but my family has been in the USA for generations, and I can also trace back to Germany, Wales, England, France, and possibly the Netherlands. If someone were to ask me where I’m from, I’m not going to say I’m an “Irish American”, I’ll just say I’m from the United States. I was actually offended for our tour director in Ireland when one of the old men on the trip told him “Well I’m as Irish as you are!” when he was born in New York somewhere.

I bought 4 different CD’s of Irish music while we were over there to add to the half dozen Celtic cd’s I had, and from the time we made the decision to go again, I’ve been conversing with @SecurityNinja, @BrianHonan, and @mckenna1977 about a tweet up while we’re over there. I just wish I knew where the obsession comes from. The time that I spend researching different folklore or history takes away from getting better with Infosec, but maybe it is just a diversion that I need at the time to let my brain cool off.

Not sure if this is normal or strange, thoughts? Anyone have a similar situation?