Faces & Places: Not Mitnick!

I'm not sure why I remembered this today, but in early 2004 I was interviewed by a reporter about the odd fact that the spelling of my name is so similar to Kevin Mitnick's name. I tried digging around on Google for the original post and the reporter's name but I could only find one link, and it was not the original. I'm going to republish the article below so that I won't lose it. I am especially fond of it because of the "baby-face" quote. :)

By the way, the twice a year rule is still in effect...

Faces & Places: Not Mitnick!
Sure, people do a double take when introduced to Kevin Minnick, the new VP of product development for managed security and e-mail hosting provider Excedent Technologies. That's what happens when your name is one letter off from one of the world's most notorious hackers.

"Ever since Kevin Mitnick started making headlines nine years ago, I am often asked about the close spelling of our names. This usually occurs about twice a year, but I have never seriously been mistaken for him," says the blond, baby-faced Minnick. "More than anything, my CEO gives me a hard time, but I know deep down he's glad that I'm on his side and not the other."

While Minnick, a former Honeywell software developer, works this year on improving Excedent's project delivery times and expanding specialty teams, the other Kevin -- the one who was eventually captured and imprisoned in the 1990s for computer-based crimes -- is also plying his skills on the legitimate side of the street. He's the founder of the consultancy Defensive Thinking and reportedly is working on a new book about real-life attacks, tentatively titled The Art of Intrusion.

Wanted: C++ Programmer

We are still hiring, and I'm especially interested in those of you who have experience programming in Visual Studio. Why? We want to further our integration with Outlook, Thunderbird, and other desktop clients....I'll leave it at that, stay tuned.

NCTC Software Alliance

I will be on a panel at the Software Alliance meeting this Friday (6/24). The event is going to be held at the Sigma Grill at 4:00pm. I will be discussing my "favorite development methodology." To attend, I think you just need to register.

Inbox Event

I went to the Inbox conference last week and had a really good time. This is the second time I have been to this event and both times I have had great experiences. I like hearing what the experts have to say about the challenges facing our industry. I also enjoy meeting our competitors and getting their views. It makes me feel extremely good about where we are as a company and the great opportunity that we have in front of us.

Overall I felt the conference was much smaller than last year, which is disappointing, but it's great to have an event that is focused on email.

Kevin