It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at Ashton, as we’ve landed four new managed IT services clients, we have two more from whom we’re awaiting signatures on agreements, and we have numerous other good opportunities in the pipeline. Add to those onboardings the fact that we’ve sold 30 new firewalls to existing clients (all of which need to be configured and installed by March 31), and the engineers are wishing the sales team would take our feet off the gas pedal, ever so slightly (not gonna happen, especially since we just hired a new sales guy who starts on March 17th). There’s also been a sudden uptick in new faces walking through the door for interviews, as we seek to build out our engineering team. Needless to say, everyone here is looking forward to the weekend!
Before we move on to this week’s fun, I thought I’d highlight the amazing Ashton cutting board that Keith Weber (longtime Ashton engineer who retired a few years back yet still comes in a day or two each week) recently completed in his basement workshop as a gift to Jim Millican. I doubt it’ll ever be cut on, but it’ll look great for charcuterie (Ashton pen included for scale). Once you’re done admiring Keith’s art, scroll down for the good stuff.
Something about ...
BianLian Group
The FBI has published an alert stating that corporate executives are being targeted with ransomware, through the US mail. Letters claim that sensitive data is been breached and unless a ransom is paid ($250K-$500K), data will be posted online. The marketing side of me has always seen the benefit in doing things the old-fashioned way and avoiding the digital black hole. Maybe somebody else agrees with me!
Polyglots
This one is way over my head. It seems (not confirmed) that Iran is targeting very specific organizations in the UAE, in hopes of collecting info on the aviation, transportation, and satellite communications industries. They’re using “polyglot” files (they act differently, depending on whether they’re opened in a .pdf reader or a spreadsheet), to fool users and gain access to companies. And to make it more difficult on analysts, they’re including huge files that are full of worthless information, just to slow down the good guys. If you’re interested in learning how nation states hack (and what defenders are up against), this one will provide some good insight.
Big Fish
There must be something about big fish this week (and yes, I know dolphins aren’t fish- they’re mammals), as I had two different pieces come through the inbox. One about giant goldfish (amazing that they can live for 41 years in the wild, considering they last about three days after you win one at the carnival) and another about a 900lb. dolphin jumping into a boat and then going for a ride.
That reminds me of summer camp when I was eight and they sent three of us paddling down the Chagrin River in a canoe (can’t imagine that happening today, although one of the three was actually 10). Half way into our trip, an 18″ smallmouth bass jumped into the canoe. We filled the canoe with water and continued on our way while the fish swam around us. None of the counselors believed our story when we got to the campsite. But what else could’ve happened? We didn’t have fishing gear with us!
Sports Analytics
According to one of the newsletters I get on a daily basis, this weekend marks the 19th annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, taking place in Boston. The event is also referred to as “Dorkapalooza”, but some of the agenda items look pretty interesting; Modeling injury risk in the NFL, using AI to sell NHL tickets, winning Super Bowl squares with data science, and sports schedule optimization. There are even sessions on bull riding, poker, and chess.
You’ll have to excuse me while I try and figure a way to prove the value of this event to selling technology… I really need to go this next year, and a ticket is only $1,100!
Dash Cams
I’ve never understood why the average person has a need for a dash cam. Are they just waiting for an accident to happen so they can post it to YouTube in hopes that it’ll go viral? Anyway, hackers have now shown (of course they have) how easy it is to hack these devices and steal all the video of you driving the same way to work every morning and home again each night.
Alexa+
For those of you who like somebody in the ether to know everything you’re doing, Amazon is getting ready to roll out Alexa+. It’ll be included for Prime users and available for $19.99/month for the rest of the world. This generative AI version will be able to hold conversations, remember where you went for your anniversary dinner, and provide more than canned answers to your questions. Personally, I’d rather just talk to the dogs.
Last but not least, where do you keep your thermostat in the winter? Ours is set at 62, primarily to keep the furnace from running all day and all night and heating up the second floor to a ridiculously uncomfortable 69-70 degrees. Even at 62 degrees, I come home and put on a hoodie and shorts and am comfortable all winter (can’t say the same about the other residents of the house). In the office however (74 today, for some reason), 68 has me looking for the fleece vest that stays on one of my guest chairs, all year long. This article suggests 64 degrees is “safe” for home, while 68-74 is the OSHA standard for workplaces.
Looks like a quiet weekend for me, as there’s currently very little planned. Guess that’s ok once in awhile. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead when you go to bed on Saturday night.
Have a great weekend.
Abbey