It’s 2:56PM on Friday afternoon, and I’m just sitting down to compile all the thoughts from my inbox this week. I’m hoping to get this out at my usual 3:30PM delivery time, but thinking that’s not going to happen. Apologies if I’m holding you up from starting your weekend.
Until today, I’d never been to the City Club of Cleveland, although I’d walked past it hundreds of times (corner of 9th and Chester) on the way to Progressive Field. Good thing I checked their parking map this morning, as the City Club moved over to Playhouse Square (over a year ago), and I never would’ve realized it. Anyway, thanks to our friends and video producers at North Water Partners, I got to join them for lunch and to hear Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, talk about the steel industry in America, tariffs, and his belief that manufacturing in the Midwest can get America back to being the global power it once was. A good way to spend my Friday noontime, even if it delayed the rest of my afternoon by an hour or two!
Something about ...
Name Calling
What are your thoughts on sales people who constantly use your name as their selling to you? I can’t stand it when people do it to me. Never have, never will. And therefore, I don’t use it on others. Some people use it so they remember with whom they’re speaking. Others think it helps develop a relationship. It doesn’t make me feel “icky” like one person stated, but you’re sure not going to develop a relationship when you use it on me.
Social Engineering
A large venture capital firm with investments in numerous cybersecurity companies has been hit by a data breach. You’d like to think that they’re using some of the tools in which they’re invested… The initial report showed no signs of “operational disruption”, and it seems as though the breach happened due to social engineering. Another reminder that on top of multiple levels of security (“defense in depth”), you need to have an educated workforce who is always on the lookout for questionable things.
Hyphens
I had another text this afternoon about highway tolls that I supposedly owe. I know it’s a scam so I deleted without opening the text. But had I been even semi-concerned about an outstanding debt, I would’ve questioned how a highway toll authority would be able to tie my license plate back to my cell phone number, and would’ve deleted the text anyway. Who sends collection notices via text?
So, the timing was good in getting this article about scammers adding hyphens (-) to URLs (especially as it relates to toll collection scams) to confuse people into believing that URLs are legit. When in doubt, take the time to investigate the URL and make sure it at least seems real before you click on it.
Robot Pets
For those of you who’d rather not have fur, drool, food bills, and vet bills, (not to mention all the good things that come with pets), there exists a wide variety of robot pets. For just $70 (or up to $1,500, depending on what you’re looking for), you can now own a pet that’s only maintenance (I imagine) is plugging it into a USB port. Sounds awful, and the $1,500 version looks surprisingly like the two we have at home but with a lot less personality.
If you want a real pet, look for something like Hurricane, the most decorated dog in US history. He sounds like a good one.
Nancy's Nuggets
Nancy was full of them this week, so you’re getting the data dump;
Not sure whether she’s hinting at a vacation, or sent me this one because Cleveland is on a Top 10 list of places for family vacays.
And once you’re in Cleveland, you can stop by one of the 12 Frank Lloyd Wright house in the state (I’ll pass-never been a fan. Wondering if David Loomis is reading this, as I know he’s a big fan.)
While here, you can also swing by our world famous art museum, but you won’t be seeing the Draped Male Figure, due to a recent agreement with Turkey to return the statue.
And wherever you go, avoid the zombie spiders.
Well, I’m 90 minutes past my self-imposed deadline, and I don’t have as much for you as I’d like, but I think it’ll keep you busy. And you’ll definitely have three good topics for whatever event you’re attending this week. We’re headed to dinner with friends. I know the topic will come up about my favorite hockey player beating my favorite team last night. And we’ll probably talk about tariffs and dogs as well.
Have a great weekend.
Abbey