Apologies for not sharing any Thoughts with you last week… we ventured to Vermont for some “mud season” skiing at Stratton. Although the skiing consisted of one day of groomed ice and one day of mashed potatoes, we got to spend time with our son and his girlfriend and the new ‘grand dog’, Wellie. I also picked up some good maple syrup humor from the restaurant where we ate on Saturday night. Maybe it’s all my years of boiling sap, but I thought these were all pretty funny! If you’d rather something other than sap, scroll down for Jims, genetics, malapropisms, and more.
Something about ...
Jims
If you follow us on social media, you may have seen that we’ve recently hired another Jim. This one is Jim Miller, and he’s joining the sales team (we have two new engineers, too- Sam and Gerard!). We currently have two Adams, and over the years we’ve had two Justins and two Nathans. But we’ve never had three of any particular name… until now. We’ve yet to come up with a nickname for Miller, but with they way the get bestowed around here, it won’t take long. In the meantime, one of our followers was kind enough to forward this clip from the show Shoresy, which sums it up pretty well.
Windows 10
If you’re an Ashton client and still have Windows 10 devices in circulation, you’ve already heard from us about replacing those devices with new Windows 11 units.
Win10 is coming to official end of life in October, and while upgrading hardware (as opposed to replacing with new hardware) is a consideration, in many cases it doesn’t make sense. There’s also the option of paying for annual Win10 security upgrades for each of the next three years (each year gets more expensive), and for most, that’s not the best option either. In the end, it’s all about security and if you don’t upgrade or replace by October, you’re putting your network at great risk.
Malapropisms
Back when I worked at Progressive Insurance, I had a manager who could always be counted on for a good malapropism during a team meeting. Complaining about our team not getting due credit, she let loose with “we keep getting the short stick in the end”. It got so bad that I started making notes every time she did this, and that usually got everybody in the room laughing, while she remained clueless. I couldn’t help but share this piece about a Ford Motor employee who kept even better track of malapropisms than I did.
23 and Me
You’ve probably seen by now the fact that genetic testing company 23 and Me has filed for bankruptcy (this after a big data breach some years back). No big deal, right? Unless you’re one of the millions of people who sent your DNA to them to figure out your heritage. Now, after it’s been recommended that people log in to delete their data, the website has crashed and users are rightly concerned about who might be able to access personal information.
Webinars
I’ve shared a lot of information in the past about third party data breaches. Now, Cleveland-based law firm McDonald Hopkins is hosting a webinar on the risks (April 17th) that those vendor data breaches pose to companies like yours. And yes, while Ashton Solutions would fall into the bucket of “third party vendors”, you can rest assured that we take every possible precaution to secure our networks and data; we’re all too familiar with the risks that technology providers face from hackers.
And, if you’re curious to learn about the five most dangerous security vulnerabilities, Dark Reading (one of my trusted sources) is presenting a webinar on April 22nd.
Sports News
In case you missed it (and you probably did), a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder has made his way onto the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. And the UK Wife Carrying championships recently took place. I look forward to those every year…
Ever wanted to know how old you really are? One study (article is dated Oct. 2024, but it just found my inbox this week) says to go stand on one leg. Having done a lot of that for knee rehab, I’m still good for 60-90 seconds at a time.
I’m not usually one to make predictions, but I’m going to do so today. Based on the fact that I’ve let the Browns know that I’ll not be renewing the season tickets we’ve had since 1980, I predict the Browns will go 14-3 next year and win the Super Bowl. Just because I’m not there.
And if anybody is interested, my personal seat licenses are listed for sale and at a big markdown. Four seats at the top of the lower bowl (under cover) on the 5 yard line. Great seats if you’re looking to buy season tickets for a Super Bowl winner. Drop me a line and make me an offer.
Abbey