Writing.
I write across cybersecurity, men’s health, critical thinking, and what comes after fifty. Some of it written here, the rest collected from the brands I build. It all lives here.
A Backup You Haven’t Restored Is a Hope, Not a Backup
Backups are the most-ticked, least-tested box in small business. ASD’s guidance says to test restores regularly - here’s why almost nobody does.
From Red Bridge Cyber6 Aug 2026
The Scan I Assumed Was Broken
The first time I measured the security basics of a batch of ordinary small-business domains, the results were so bad I assumed my own tool was faulty. It wasn't.
6 Aug 2026
The Third Word in the Definition of Security
The CIA triad defines security as confidentiality, integrity and availability. The industry sells the first two and forgets the one that closes businesses.
From Red Bridge Cyber30 July 2026
Be a Harder Target Than the House Next Door
Most cyber attacks are opportunistic, and attackers are on the clock. In June 2026 the median Australian small business scored an F on web security. Be the C.
From Red Bridge Cyber23 July 2026
Why I Don’t Recommend the Essential Eight to Small Business
ASD says the Essential Eight is designed for Windows-based networks. Most small businesses don’t have one - and 43% don’t enforce DMARC. What I suggest instead.
From Red Bridge Cyber16 July 2026
Why Being Comfortable with Uncertainty Is a Superpower
Performed certainty is everywhere. The rarer skill - knowing exactly where the boundary between known and unknown sits - is one STEM training builds quietly and consistently.
From ABC Training & Consulting15 July 2026
The Tools I Stopped Renting
Over a year I quietly replaced most of the software I used to pay for with tools I built myself. The money saved is the least interesting part of what happened.
13 July 2026
Th@ts!s3cure: Why Complex Passwords Aren’t Strong Passwords
NIST’s 2025 guidelines dropped complexity rules: length beats symbols. A 2011 stick-figure comic was right all along - most password policies still aren’t.
From Red Bridge Cyber9 July 2026
Projects.
A couple of small open-source projects in the works - visual editors, both still rough, both in the open while the shape gets worked out.
About.
Australian, early fifties. Police intelligence first, then a physics degree I never put inside a lab and thirty years across as broad a sweep of Australian ICT as you can have without specialising - programming, infrastructure, network architecture, cybersecurity, project management, senior consulting. The lab skills I never used still show up every day in how I look at a problem.
I’m not selling inspiration. I write about what three decades of hard-won experience actually looks like - what to do with it when the employment market stops paying for it, what critical thinking is for, and what personal responsibility looks like when no-one is watching. On men’s health it’s the same tone: stop accepting fifteen-minute appointments and a prescription with no workup, stop coasting on convenience, start giving a damn about the body you actually live in. The rest of the trail is below - where to reach me directly, and links to my various ventures.