It was closing time at NAMM Media Day. I didn't care.
Alexander Chadwick from PRS Guitars was right there, and I had questions that go beyond spec sheets.

We talked about #technology and #creativity. Whether innovation helps musicians or gets in the way. Why we chase vintage guitars like holy relics—and why the magical ones now cost more than houses.

His answer: "Our goal is to create a guitar that gets out of the way so the person can be more expressive."

That's it. That's what great tools do. They disappear so you can create.

#PRSguitars unveiled two limited editions at the show:
🎸 John Mayer Wild Blue Silver Sky – first matching headstock Silver Sky
🎸 Ed Sheeran Semi-Hollow Piezo Baritone – 27.7" scale, his original artwork on every guitar

But the real story isn't the gear. It's the philosophy behind it.

Technology isn't good or bad. It's how you use it.

Instruments aren't the destination. They're the vehicle.

🎥 Watch: https://youtu.be/QYM2J5LeSNo

🎧 Listen: https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com/episodes/prs-guitars-at-namm-2026-john-mayer-wild-blue-silver-sky-ed-sheeran-baritone-revealed-a-brand-highlight-conversation-with-alex-chadwhick-from-prs-guitars-naam-2026

This is part of our On Location Coverage at NAMM 2026. Tons of content coming your way—I hope you like music ;)

#NAMMMediaDay #NAMM2026 #PRSGuitars #JohnMayer #EdSheeran #MusicIndustry #Creativity #GuitarLife #ITSPmagazine #namm

#Music, #technology, and the eternal question: where does the tool end and the human begin?

Sean Martin, CISSP and I kicked off our coverage of The NAMM Show 2026 with a conversation with John Mlynczak, President and CEO of #NAMM, and it set exactly the right tone for what's ahead.

We dug into something I think about constantly—the tension between innovation that serves #creativity and #innovation that just... replaces it.

Here's what I took away:

#AI can speed up your workflow. It can open doors for people who never had access before. But it cannot feel. It cannot mean something. And audiences know the difference, even when they can't articulate it.

The music industry is figuring this out in real time. Products don't win on specs anymore—they win through the #artists who use them, the #stories they carry, the communities that form around them. Sound familiar? It should. It's the same thing happening across every industry trying to navigate this moment.

And then there's #education. The old model—one path fits all—is dead. NAMM is evolving into something more like a learning ecosystem, where formal sessions, hallway conversations, and hands-on discovery all matter equally.

This is just the beginning of our NAMM Show 2026 coverage, and I cannot wait to be there in person. There's something about being surrounded by people who understand that music is ultimately about people—not platforms, not #algorithms, not the latest plugin—that recharges everything.

Technology should amplify humanity, not dilute it. That's the conversation worth having.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/music-technology-vs-human-creativity-future-artists-martin-cissp-br3ae

#MusicTechnology #NAMMShow2026 #Creativity #AI #MusicEvolves Studio C60 / ITSPmagazine #ITSPmagazine #art #rock

Hard to believe, but apparently some good stories can be told even without me. I guess I'm not the conditio sine qua nonfor a great conversation... a good guest is, and Sean Martin, CISSP can certainly hold the wheel.

I wasn't available, and I missed this one but I'm more than happy to help spread the word about yet another fantastic Brand Story told via Studio C60 / ITSPmagazine. This one's worth your attention.

Julian Hamood from TrustedTech joins Sean to talk about something most organizations are getting dangerously wrong: #AI readiness.

Here's the uncomfortable truth—AI doesn't clean up your mess. It makes it louder. Faster. More confident-sounding. And potentially more damaging.

Data scattered across personal drives, legacy servers, and random SharePoint sites? AI will find it.

Inconsistent permissions nobody remembers setting up? AI will exploit them. Architectural spaghetti connecting clouds, on-prem systems, and #SaaS platforms that were never meant to talk to each other? AI will inherit every flaw and present the results with the certainty of an oracle.

This conversation digs into what real readiness looks like—data classification, access controls, architectural clarity, and governance that doesn't get bypassed because someone in sales wanted a shiny new copilot.

Watch. Listen. Think before you deploy.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-adoption-without-readiness-when-ambition-collides-data-tzite

#AI #Cybersecurity #DataGovernance #BrandStory #StudioC60 #ITSPmagazine #infosec #data NRPR Group, Inc #infosecurity #aiready #tech #technology #genai #agenticai

Guess what!
🎙️✨ AUDIO SIGNALS IS BACK ✨🎙️
After a few months of hiatus, I couldn't stay away.
My passion for storytellers and storytelling cannot be tamed—and I'm thrilled to return with a conversation that reminds me why this podcast matters.
Meet Bradley W. Buchanan —retired English professor, two-time blood cancer survivor, and debut novelist who just released Spy's Mate, a gripping chess thriller set in Cold War Soviet Union.

Why This Episode Matters:
Brad is what's medically called a "chimera"—his DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. Through it all, he had chess dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.

His novel isn't just a spy thriller. It's a deeply personal story about Yasha, an Armenian chess prodigy who promises his dying mother he'll become world chess champion—a promise that drives him through a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments and chess prowess equals communist superiority.

Brad wrote this after his own mother died. He cried writing the final pages, giving his protagonist the closure he couldn't have in real life.

What We Explored: ♟️ How the KGB used psychological warfare in chess tournaments ♟️ Writing a novel that works as both myth and historical thriller ♟️ The personal cost of storytelling and processing grief through fiction ♟️ Why he wrote this like a screenplay (calling Netflix!) ♟️ Surviving cancer and finding new purpose as a full-time writer ♟️ The hero's journey through 64 squares

This is storytelling at its most human—where personal trauma transforms into universal narrative, where a game becomes life and death, where a son's promise to his mother echoes through pages of Cold War intrigue.

Links in the comments 🤫

We are all made of stories. Some of us write them. Some of us tell them. All of us need them.

🎧 Watch/Listen: https://youtu.be/ib36bVcYbmw
🎙️ If you like to go for the Audio Podcast here is Audio Signals Podcast: https://www.audiosignalspodcast.com/
🌐 Learn more about my work: https://marcociappelli.com 

Welcome back to Audio Signals. 🎙️

#Storytelling #AudioSignals #Podcast #Chess #SpysMate #ColdWar #Author #DebutNovel #WritingCommunity #BookRecommendation #BradleyBuchanan #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller #CancerSurvivor #MarcoCiappelli #ITSPmagazine #books #writers #readers #writing #reading

🎙️ New podcast!

@hdm joined #ITSPmagazine to ask the question: Are we still following security rules long past their expiration date?

HD dug into why legacy doctrines are holding us back. Advice like “change your password every 30 days” is not just outdated, it’s actively harmful.

😬 Oh, and the kicker? The tools we rely on to protect us, like firewalls, have become top breach vectors!

Big thanks to @Marcociappelli and @seanmartin for the great conversation!

📺 https://www.runzero.com/resources/itsp-magazine-sector-25/

📡 New ITSPmagazine Weekly Update Is Live!

Founded in 2015, ITSPmagazine began as our vision for a publication positioned at the critical intersection of technology, cybersecurity, and society. What started as a written publication has evolved into the comprehensive repository for all our content.

This week's update features everything from #AIagents and #identity security to transistor #radios predicting our digital future, plus #cybersecuritytraining insights and a magical #children's story set in #Florence.

Ten years of crafting conversations at the convergence of tech, security, and society. This is where you'll find it all.

Check out the complete weekly roundup ⬇️

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/itspmagazine-weekly-update-from-sean-martin-marco-ciappelli-sptlc

#ITSPmagazine #Cybersecurity #Technology #Society #Content

Marco Ciappelli & Sean Martin, CISSP - Co-Founders, ITSPmagazine

We're honored to welcome F-Secure Corporation to ITSPmagazine and add them to the incredible lineup of clients we've created content with.

Sean Martin, CISSP and I had a fascinating conversation with Dmitri Vellikok about F-Secure's transformation from traditional #endpointsecurity to something far more ambitious: predicting #scams before they happen.

"How F-Secure Transformed from Endpoint Security to Predicting Scams Before They Happen"

Here's what caught my attention: 70% of people believe they can easily spot scams, yet 43% of that same group admits to being scammed. This disconnect drives F-Secure's approach to embedded, invisible #infosecurity that doesn't rely on consumer vigilance.

The company holds 55% global market share in operator-delivered consumer security, partnering with telecom providers to embed protection directly into networks and applications.

Their "scam kill chain" framework protects consumers at every stage of fraudulent attempts, and they're using AI to predict threats 18-24 months ahead.

Dmitri's insight: "Consumers don't really care or want to understand what the problem with #cybersecurity is. They just want the problems to go away."

Sometimes the best security is the kind you never have to think about.

Full audio interview: https://itspradio.com/episodes/how-f-secure-transformed-from-endpoint-security-to-predicting-scams-before-they-happen-a-brand-story-conversation-with-dmitri-vellikok-product-and-business-development-at-f-secure

Company directory available at ITSPmagazine.com

Watch the Full Video and subscribe to our Fast Growing YouTube Channel

https://youtu.be/zDQlWUmCLk8

#FSecurity #Infosec #EmbeddedSecurity #ITSPmagazine #BrandStories #tech #technology #contentmarketing

Hello ITSPmagazine community,

We didn't plan to connect #AI dependency with #electricvehicles infrastructure failures, but sometimes the most important conversations emerge naturally. This week's Random and Unscripted weekly recap with Sean Martin, CISSP and Marco Ciappelli revealed uncomfortable truths about two major #technology promises hitting reality walls in 2025.

The pattern? We're mistaking technological capability for systemic readiness.

AI tools work, but #cybersecurity teams are losing critical thinking skills. Electric vehicles perform well, but mass adoption infrastructure barely exists. Both expose the same flaw—assuming lab success automatically scales to real-world complexity.

"The AI is telling us what success looks like and we're measuring against that, and who knows if it's right or wrong," Sean observed.

We're treating technology as "magic" again instead of understanding fundamental systems.

What infrastructure gaps are you seeing between tech promises and reality?

This week we also discussed insights from Andy Ellis on cybersecurity #leadership, Mats Larsson on EV infrastructure and his #book: "How Building the Future Really Works.", and Mark Smith on broadcasting technology evolution since 1967 and what to expect at IBC - International Broadcasting Convention Event this month in Amsterdam!.

Thanks to our sponsors making this content possible: BLACKCLOAK, ThreatLocker, HITRUST, LevelBlue, and White Knight Labs.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-dependency-crisis-ev-infrastructure-failures-tech-reality-i0s0c/?trackingId=JV05fOGZSAafz328vzD0CA%3D%3D

#RandomAndUnscripted #WeeklyRecap #technology #TechReality #ITSPmagazine #cybersecurity #ev #genai #chatgpt #podcast

When ransomware target your backups first, your recovery plan becomes your vulnerability. 🤔

94% of ransomware-hit companies had their backups attacked. Think about that—these aren't random strikes. They're calculated campaigns to eliminate your safety net before demanding ransom.

Join me, Sean Martin, CISSP, Anthony Cusimano ( Object First ) tomorrow for a critical business conversation about absolute immutability and why traditional backup approaches fail against modern ransomware tactics.

🚨 ITSPmagazine Webinar: Ransomware-Proof Backups

Wed, Aug 27, 2025 | 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM ET

Full details in my latest newsletter transmission ... below 😬

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-ransomware-targets-your-last-line-defense-backup-marco-ciappelli-qnkyc

#Ransomware #Cybersecurity #BusinessContinuity #ITSPmagazine #infosec #infosecurity #backup #cloudsecurity