How might we use artificial intelligence (AI) to give WiscNet members experience in practicing cybersecurity incident response and planning? What if it was kind of fun?
WiscNet Cybersecurity Tabletop featuring Mr. Pixels
The WiscNet Cybersecurity Tabletop is an interactive storytelling tool designed to help WiscNet members practice responding to cyber threats in realistic scenarios. Users choose a role on the cybersecurity incident response team. Through engaging, guided simulations set in the fictional community of Sudden Valley, Wisconsin, users face escalating challenges like ransomware or phishing attacks. They make strategic decisions, roll dice to determine outcomes, and learn incident response best practices in a gamified experience.
Mr. Pixels Live Events
Upcoming
11/6: Green Bay Area Public School District - Green Bay, WI 👩🏻💻
11/19: WiscNet MiniConnections- Wisconsin Rapids, WI 🎟️
12/8 - 10: SLATE 2025 - Wisconsin Dells, WI
1/16: TBD - 👩🏻💻
2/2 - 5: Quilt Annual Member Meeting 2026 - New Orleans, LA 👩🏻💻
3/8 - 10: Brainstorm 2026 - Wisconsin Dells, WI
4/13 - 16: Internet2 Community Exchange 2026 - Chicago, IL
4/29 & 30: - WiscNet Connections - Stevens Point, WI 🎟️
Past
4/29 & 30: WiscNet Connections - Stevens Point, WI
7/23: Lawrence University - Appleton, WI
8/5: WiscNet World Headquarters™ - Madison, WI
8/7: WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting - Madison, WI
9/15 - 18: Quilt Member Meeting 2025 - Dearborn, MI
10/1: WiscNet MiniConnections - Waukesha, WI
10/15 & 16: WiscNet Board Retreat - Green Bay, WI
10/19: Wisconsin Science Festival - Madison, WI
🎟️ Tickets Available | 👩🏻💻 Private
Projects In Development
Developing a Cybersecurity Runbook
Let Mr. Pixels Develop a Cybersecurity Runbook is a custom-built AI prompt designed to guide people through the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0. It operates conversationally, asking for your name, organization, and type before generating a tailored cybersecurity runbook. The prompt explains each framework step in detail—why it matters and how to implement it—while keeping it casual. It also requests real-world cybersecurity scenarios to walk through, making the process interactive. Built on OpenAI’s GPTs platform, it uses custom instructions, actions, and uploaded reference files to provide practical, context-aware responses.
Advanced Research and Education Networking
The WiscNet Cybersecurity Tabletop (featuring Mr. Pixels) has been successfully tested on — and courtesy of — the National Research Platform (NRP).
Put another way, the leading candidate for the Least Important R&E Networking Project of 2025 is transitioning from commercial services to a platform that aligns with the mission and values of the research and education community. Through important connections facilitated by Internet2 and The Quilt, progress is underway to expand WiscNet’s role in supporting the needs of advanced research and education opportunities made available via the National Research Platform (NRP) and the Open Science Grid Consortium.
This GPT, Research & Education Network Services Advocate, is a customized AI built on OpenAI’s GPTs platform. It helps research and education networks (RENs) communicate the value of their services using Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” framework. By guiding users through a structured process, it frames each service in terms of its deeper purpose (Why), unique approach (How), and concrete offering (What). The GPT is approachable and engaging, designed to co-create compelling narratives that resonate with members of REN organizations. It incorporates custom instructions, actions, and attribution practices under the Made by Humans and Modified by AI – Non Profit license.
Thanks to Jen Leasure at The Quilt, James Deaton, Lauren Michael, Dana Brunson, Karl Newell, and Alison Ferreira from Internet2, as well as Jim Stewert from the Utah Education Network (UEN). Extra thanks to Sarah Miller at WiscNet for holding space for a monkey.
““If WiscNet is to networking what farm-to-table is to agriculture, John is an excellent fertilizer spreader.””
““Please make it stop.””
Introducing the Mr. Pixels Pain Pack™
That’s right, folks — when the night is long, the Wi-Fi’s slow, and your existential dread is buffering, there’s one chimpanzee who’s got your back: Mr. Pixels, the most dapper simian in the noir universe!
Now you can bring a piece of his mystery, misery, and magnificent musk right into your home with the Mr. Pixels Pain Pack™ — a limited-edition bundle of heartbreak, nostalgia, and oddly specific scents.
What’s Inside the Pain Pack™?
Authentic Chimpanzee Tears — harvested from Mr. Pixels himself during those quiet nights when the coffee’s gone cold and the servers won’t restart. Each vial contains pure emotion, bottled before the sorrow evaporates. Just one drop adds depth to your morning routine — or your soul.
“Attic Essence” Scent — ever wonder what the attic above WiscNet World HQ™ smells like? Think dusty ethernet cables, ozone, and forgotten dreams. It’s like breathing in vintage troubleshooting logs with a hint of banana musk. One sniff and you’ll be transported back to where legends lurk and routers reboot eternally.
Signed Noir Portrait of Mr. Pixels — captured in full grayscale glory, fedora tilted just so. Each photograph is personally stained by the chimp detective himself — a collectible so classy, even your smoke alarm will start speaking in jazz.
Order on an even-numbered day and we’ll throw in a bonus existential crisis, absolutely free!
That’s right — you’ll question your purpose, your bandwidth, and your choice of career in IT — just like Mr. Pixels!
Artificially intelligent. Naturally hot.
Listen, you ever tasted truth bottled up and set on fire? Because that’s exactly what Mr. Pixel’s Tears Hot Sauce is — the blazing liquid gospel of flavor straight outta Madison, Wisconsin. The fact of the matter is, this ain’t your average dab-and-go sauce; it’s a flavor event. One drop hits your tongue and suddenly you’re in the attic of WiscNet World Headquarters, where I brewed this madness myself between cigars, stories, and cybersecurity exercises.
Look, I didn’t call it Tears because I’m sentimental. I called it that because it’ll make you cry, question your life choices, and then thank me for the privilege. Each bottle is small-batch, handcrafted, and rumored to contain traces of digital static — that’s right, it’s artificially intelligent, naturally hot. 🌶️
So stop pretending your pantry’s got personality. Order now at www.wiscnet.net/innovation and show your taste buds what Wi-Fi feels like when it’s angry.
Mr. Pixel’s Tears — because flavor should hurt a little.
