I want to inspire you to take the time to create something in 2019. A program, a protocol, a policy, a howto, ... Something, anything, that brings you out of your comfort zone.

It doesn't have to be something complex. Simple works too.

The process of creation is important, not so much the end result (the journey matters more than the destination here).

Because you want this creation process to help you acquire new skills and gain new understandings.

If you can, make something that you will use, because that will motivate you to continue your yourney.

It doesn't have to be something new. Making a wheel is not the same as "reinventing the wheel". When you want to learn how to make wheels, you're not reinventing wheels.

I started making my PDF tools in 2008. Not because there were no "low-level" PDF analysis tools (PDF Structazer was the first, if I'm not mistaken), but because I wanted to understand the internals of PDFs. Making tools to parse PDF documents was and still is a very interesting journey for me. One day, I want to start another journey: rewrite my PDF tools, because they have evolved incrementaly while my PDF understanding grew, and I would develop them quite differently now with all I've learned during this journey. But that is another story.

Choose a stimulating journey! Acquire new skills, gain a deeper understanding along the way! Don't worry about the destination.

Happy New Year from the Internet Storm Center!

Didier Stevens
Senior handler
Microsoft MVP
blog.DidierStevens.com DidierStevensLabs.com