If you’re a Browns fan, you can thank me for that big come from behind win last weekend. Nancy had announced that she wanted to see Downton Abbey on Sunday afternoon. I figured the Browns would be 30 points behind by the time the 4P movie rolled around, and that I could use another good (paid for) nap in a theater seat. So, we left the house at 330 with the Browns down 10. Of course, I watched all the alerts on my phone as the Browns first scored, then tied it, and finally won it. If I thought they had any prayer, I’d go see another movie this Sunday afternoon (and amazingly, I stayed awake for the entire movie).
Hopefully I won’t bore you as much as the Browns have for me so far this year. Scroll on down to learn more about sandwiches, bus drivers, Amazon refunds, and more. Enjoy!
Something about ...
Scattered Spiders
It seems as though the kids who ran hacking group Scattered Spider are being picked off, one after another. They’re the group that hacked a couple of Vegas casinos a few years back, and just recently posted an open letter online announcing that they were shutting down operations. Until they didn’t. Most of those arrested have been late teens/early 20s (including one with a laptop and $27M in bitcoin), but the latest to turn himself in did so at a juvenile detention facility… so he’s obviously a little younger. Seems they’re smart guys… wonder what they could do that might actually be a good thing, if they put their minds to it.
Semicolons
Some people around here like to give me grief about using too many commas. I tell them that they’re anti-commites. And while I used a semicolon every now and then, it’s never been one of my favorite punctuation marks. New research shows that semicolon use is declining as younger generations overlook it. Better start writing more lists.
Boats and Buses
As we make our numerous annual trips to northern Ontario, we pass over the locks at the Welland Canal, and also cross the Trent Severn waterway a few times. I’ve never seen a boat lift though. If you’re curious to see how boats can make a quick trip over pavement, check out this video about transporting boats along the Trent Severn.
If you don’t like boats, you can always enter yourself in the The UK Bus Driver of The Year competition.
Refunds and Fines
If you use ParkMobile for paying to park and were included in the 2021 data breach (names, license plates, emails, phone numbers), you’re now entitled to a payout due to recent settlement of a class action suit. Wait for it… Your payment will be $1.00. Yes, one dollar. In the form of four $.25 credits on the app. And unless you live in California, those credits will expire in one year (not sure why Californians get extra special benefits like $1 credits that never expire).
On a slightly larger scale (51x, to be exact), Amazon was just hit with a $1B fine and told to also pay $1.5B in restitution over claims that they suckered people into signing up for Prime accounts, and then made it difficult to cancel them. Personally, I can’t stand Amazon so good on the FTC. But for those who were directly effected, your payout is capped at $51.
Sandwiches and Pizza
Anybody who knows me knows that I could probably live on sandwiches and pizza. So, these two pieces jumped out at me this week in the inbox. This first lists the signature sandwich of every state (I’ve hit probably 50% of them with the Cubano and Grinder being my favorites) while the next is an article from 1949 describing pizza for those who’d never enjoyed one, themselves.
Infrastructure
If you flew to/from Europe this past week, you might have faced some delays due to hackers shutting down one of the critical systems used to check people and bags. Imagine having to go back to paper and pencil to do any of the number of things we take for granted today, and it’ll remind you to secure your networks. And it should also make you consider the security solutions that your partners and vendors are using.
That’s all for this week. Three big games for the Tribe this weekend, needing to win two (or have the Tigers lose two to the Sox) to win the division. If it holds, it would be the biggest comeback ever (15.5 games) to win a division or pennant. They had big crowds for all three against the Tigers and I hope they do it again for the Rangers.
I’ll leave you with your physics lessen for the week; why can’t you break a spaghetti noodle in two pieces?
Have a great weekend.
Abbey