Here we go. Today marks the beginning of my birthday countdown: four long rants (sorry, “reflections”) before the inevitable day when I officially turn 60.
Now, you might think this is the time for solemn self-congratulation, tearful gratitude speeches, or perhaps a LinkedIn-friendly list of life lessons beginning with “Always…” or “Never…”. Forget it. At 60, I’m too bald to bend, too old to pretend, and too sarcastic to play the game of polished self-branding.
This first chapter takes the shape of an ikigai autopsy, with me lying on the dissection table while four Japanese circles argue over whether I’ve wasted my life, or just managed to make it entertaining enough. Expect references to Japan, China, Mexico, politics, tech disasters, heavy metal, dumb managers, and underwear policies at Huawei (yes, that happened).

🎸 Spoiler: I’m still considered “the tech guy” after decades of work, speeches, and articles. Which is fine… except it isn’t.
So, buckle up. This is Part 1 of 5 in the countdown series.
If you laugh, good.
If you frown, even better.
If you’re a PR officer hoping I’ll write politely — sorry, you got the wrong Antonio.

Countdown to Sixty – Part 1: Ikigai, Sarcasm, and the Joy of Being a Pariah

Antonio Ieranò

Security, Data Protection, Privacy. Comments are on my own unique responsibility 🙂

August 21, 2025

Note before we begin

This text is inspired by three great British sources of humour: Jerome K. Jerome for his gentle irony, Douglas Adams for his absurdist logic, and Monty Python for their commitment to nonsense as truth. If at times this feels like Three Men in a Boat fell into The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy while someone clopped two coconuts together in the background — that’s intentional.

Act I – Sixty: the Printer Still Doesn’t Work

I am turning sixty. (Sixty not sexy)

At this age, some people take up golf. Others take up gardening. A few buy Harley-Davidsons and persuade themselves leather trousers are flattering. [Ok I have a bike, a Kawasaki custom VN900 i am not an Harely one, i like real bikes]

I, on the other hand, write sarcastic essays about cybersecurity, politics, and why the printer still doesn’t work.

After four decades of work, IBM to Cisco, Huawei to Symantec, Proofpoint to Brightmail, from consultancy to strategy, writing, training, public speaking, I remain, to most people, “the tech guy.”

And by “tech guy” they don’t mean strategist, advisor, thought leader, global evangelist. They mean:

“Antonio, could you fix the Wi-Fi?”

That, apparently, is my legacy.

Act II – Ikigai: Four Circles and a Lie

Should I write something on my path to 60?

And if so, what can I write for my 60 birthday?

Usually it is worth writing a tedious monologue on the lesson learned in life. Not really my style so I will start with some Japanese wisdom, heritage of my extended family (or just a good excuse to say something stupid)

The Japanese gave us Ikigai — “reason for being.” It’s drawn as four perfect circles:

What you love
What you’re good at
What the world needs
What you’re paid for

Where they overlap, you’re supposed to find your life’s purpose. Harmony. Enlightenment. A neat diagram worthy of a TED talk.

In my case, the circles look more like shopping trolleys colliding after too much sake.

What I Love

Not sure this is the correct order, but at the end who cares? this is my shopping cart where everything is missed up as life it is.

Technology, of course. Not in the Instagram sense of “isn’t my iPhone cute?” but in the “how do we stop cybercriminals eating civilisation alive?” sense.

Writing. Sarcasm. Satire. The Puchi Herald is my playground, Se non lo sai sallo my monthly outburst. Writing is therapy with a keyboard.

Japan. Anime, manga, food, and above all family: my Osaka-born wife, whose patience with my sarcasm is the stuff of legends. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not abstract anniversaries for me; they are lived history through family stories.

China. Beyond fortune cookies and panda memes. A place of contradictions, brilliance, and bafflement.

Mexico and Latin America. Salsa, contradictions, tequila, politics with rhythm.

Music. Heavy metal for rage. Latin rhythms for joy. Six guitars, one bass, one keyboard. Ratio of instruments to talent: tragic.

Science. Real science. Evidence. Peer review. Which is why I detest pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and stupidity.

There are plenty of other things, but hey I can’t write everything here, i still have to write some more articles for my conutdown.

What I’m Good At

If you ask LinkedIn: everything. Strategy, leadership, cloud, forensics, risk, evangelism, budgets, enterprise architecture, making coffee.

If you ask colleagues: explaining the complex with sarcasm.

If you ask family: buying too many guitars.

If you ask strangers: “tech guy.” Which is like telling an astronaut he’s “good with chairs.”

But the real question is am I really good at something? If on linkedin i have some recommendations i can provide on dem,and references that will blame me for anything. i met some serious and competent people of course.

What the World Needs

The world thinks it needs more apps. Apps for counting steps, booking haircuts, translating dog barks into emojis.

What the world really needs:

Science.
Less propaganda, more real politics.
A stupidity tax.
Citizens who don’t confuse “research” with “one Facebook post.”
Good managers, some great ones, and some basic understanding what information security means (and mostly it is not what you think)

Humour. Because without humour, life is PowerPoint with bullet points.
truth wich is different form true 🙂

What I Get Paid For

Consultancy. Training. Strategy. Evangelism. Writing.

Translated by others: “tech guy who probably knows the Wi-Fi password.”

Alas I am not paid as I would like, about what I deserve well this is a unsolved question for everyone of us.

The Intersections

Love + Good At = sarcastic columns PRs hate.
Good At + Paid For = endless frameworks and acronyms executives file under “later.”
Paid For + World Needs = PowerPoints nobody reads.
World Needs + Love = The Puchi Herald.

The shining centre? Forget Zen enlightenment. Mine is Monty Python’s “And now for something completely incoherent.”

Act III – Intelligence Is Finite

Here’s my grand theory. Intelligence is finite. The more humans we produce, the thinner it spreads.

This is why we went from landing on the moon to debating whether the Earth is flat in half a century.

It explains anti-vaxxers shouting at doctors while tweeting from iPhones. It explains “Heartflatter” gurus and “Bird People” with podcasts.

The tragedy is not stupidity. We all have stupid moments. The tragedy is stupidity armed with Wi-Fi.

And, sorry to say, I agree with Umberto Eco on the idea socials gave stupidity a place to shine. Bubbles of nonsense fedded by nonsense and cuddled by “journalists”, influencers and politicians that are looking to be relevant withouth any real value.

See ol’grumpy statement.

Act IV – Serious, Not Solemn

I take life seriously. Technology, science, politics, writing, family — all serious.

But never solemn. Solemnity is boredom dressed in a suit.

A smile can save your life. A yawn might save your career, but what’s the point?

At sixty, I won’t pretend. I won’t varnish. If I think it, I’ll say it.

Ok sometimes I have to face some not so good reactions to my approach, from PR that complain style and writing ( but i clealy expressed I couldn’t care less) to my lovely haters i take fun. I know I am a bad person, hey is one of the advantages of being old.

Act V – People, the Brilliant and the Dumb

In 40 years, I’ve met them all.

At Cisco, minds so sharp they could redesign networks blindfolded. Others thought “IP” meant “Instant Pizza.” Both became managers.

Ingram Micro once sent me to a meeting where an exec asked if we could “install the Internet on a CD.” I considered saying yes, just to watch him try. do not laugh there are still people like that.

These people shape you. The brilliant ones give you insight. The dumb ones give you comedy material.

Act VI – Anecdotes From the Circus

IBM: The Sleeping Student At IBM, I taught a class on migrating from OS/2 to Windows. Among my students was a gentleman two days away from retirement. He slept through the entire course. Not discreetly — magnificently. Snoring so loud it punctuated my slides. He was living proof that progress is optional.

Symantec: The Vanishing Product Manager At Symantec, I was made Product Manager for firewalls. Noble title. Three days later, the company retired the firewalls. Not my fault, I swear. My product line had the shelf life of yoghurt. Some PMs launch revolutions; I launched an obituary.

Huawei: Laundry Philosophy At Huawei, I travelled 80% of my time, across China and the world. They reimbursed laundry. Except underwear. Socks, shirts, trousers: yes. Underwear: no. Perhaps they believed in recycling. Perhaps it was a test of resilience. Either way, I became a global expert on emergency underwear shopping in airports. That’s what globalisation means: knowing where to buy briefs in five continents.

Act VII – Culture and Geography

Italy gave me irony and great food

UK as well gave me sarcasm and great beer (sorry guys about the food)

Japan gave me family and discipline. Anime taught me more about perseverance than corporate training. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not history books but living memories through my wife’s family.

China gave me contradictions. Futuristic towers next to timeless traditions. I learned more about strategy in a teahouse than in a dozen MBA workshops. And the managers there are the worst version of the italians, lol.

Mexico and Latin America gave me contradictions with rhythm. Politics there is theatre with salsa. Chaos with tequila. It is so dangerous I would never live there, but I would love it.

The USA gave me contradictions at scale. Innovation, freedom, and the recent version: a self-inflicted denial-of-service attack on itself.

European Union is what I consider home. I am a proudly European guy.

Act VIII – Music, the Great Escape

Six guitars. One bass. One keyboard.

It looks like a band. It sounds like a rehearsal for a train accident.

Music keeps me alive. Heavy metal expresses rage at stupidity better than memos. Latin music explains joy better than philosophy.

I once tried to explain GDPR with a guitar riff. It didn’t work. But I was happy.

Talent is optional. Expression is survival.

Act IX – Writing, the Other Escape

Writing is my therapy. My way of turning stupidity into laughter.

From The Puchi Herald to Se non lo sai sallo (my latest effort to Information Security comicdom), I’ve used words as a scalpel. Sometimes to dissect nonsense, sometimes to stab it. I wrote many times on many issue

PRs hate my tone. Which is fine. If you want bland, there are agencies for that. I’m not here to please.