About Me

My name is Pax (Latin for peace) Whitmore, and I am an information security professional born and raised in Southern Arizona. I grew up in Tucson and betrayed my childhood by choosing Sun Devils over Wildcats, and I moved to Tempe to attend Arizona State University in 2003. I graduated in 2007 with a BA in Communication and I've been living and working in the Phoenix area ever since. I've been working in IT for over a decade, with the last six years focused exclusively on security.

While I studied a lot of math and science in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do in college. My classes were very eclectic, from Italian to the History of Pirates, and I even wrote and student-taught a class called Superheroes in American Culture (back in 2006, well before the mainstream superhero successes of today). My first job out of college was as a photographer and manager for a now-defunct portrait studio company, and it was only through sheer luck that I met people involved in IT security. Even luckier than that, the people I met were very generous with their time and knowledge and lit a fire in my brain that hasn't been doused.

On the personal side, my interests are pretty intense and varied, including homebrewing, baking, watching movies, reading, photography, and writing. I have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of movies, especially science fiction, and the correct answer to "Kirk or Picard" is "Sisko". I love to read science fiction, political science, history, or physics. I love cars and motorcycles, especially the concept of driving off into the wilderness with nothing but dirt under the tires. Think Long Way Round, not Car and Driver.

My personal philosophy comes largely from the great philosopher of our time, The Iron Giant:

You are who you choose to be.