If you’ve ever trick or treated in Cleveland (or taken your kids to do so), you’ve probably had at least one instance of costumes being worn over winter clothes and boots. I can remember a few years of doing that, back in the day. Looks like you won’t have that problem tonight, although it might be a little windy.
We’re headed to a costume-optional (not clothing-optional) party tonight, and while I feel badly not being around our house to hand out candy, our street is rather lame. We only have ~15 houses and we’re off a busy state highway, so the only traffic we get are from the couple of houses with kids. It’s big change from our days in Cleveland Heights, where we used to go through 10+ bags of candy and a few cases of beer (candy to kids and beers to parents) while we sat around a fire pit on the driveway.
Something about ...
Haunted Places
Ever wonder what the seven most haunted places (according to one ranking) on earth are? Nor had I. But I was curious when I saw the article. Turns out I’ve been to two of the seven, and four of the top 10. And never seen or heard a thing out of the ordinary…
Fast Movers
Everybody by now is aware of the recent theft of French crown jewels from the Louvre, and the fact that numerous suspects are under arrest… But how about the German company that manufactured the equipment elevator used in the heist? They’ve now gone viral for their new add campaign based on the recent news item. Two thumbs up for their marketing genius!
Two of My Favorites
In addition to the beer we used to hand out to trick-or-treat parents, we usually had pizza in the house. So, it’s appropriate that article about why beer and pizza are so good together appeared in the inbox this week.
Smart Toilets
I know I’ve had an article or two over the years about “smart” toilets and those with every bell and whistle you could possibly imagine. But how ’bout a toilet that provides you with updates on your health, based on what it finds in the bowl?
AI Browsers
So, the fact that Google already knows just about everything there is to know about you (through your emails and use of Alexa, Google Maps, YouTube, and everything else they own) doesn’t concern you? How ’bout AI web browsers? The developers claim (of course they do) that they don’t save any of your data… but do you want more people knowing more about you? I’ll pass, thanks.
Malicious Insiders
We talk a lot about how your employees are your first line of defense, and a well trained work force is a great added layer of cybersecurity. But on the other side of things is the risk of malicious insiders. A soon to be released report on those malicious employees shows that 20% were executives… which actually makes sense, considering they probably have better access across the enterprise, and know what data can be most productive (or damning) if it were to get out into the wild.
This piece is a good reminder as to the importance of security measures like data loss prevention (DLP), but also cleaning up networks when employees leave. They should immediately have their access revoked, and usernames/passwords removed from active directory. If these things don’t happen, they may still be able to get into the network and cause problems.
Telephone Scammers
I didn’t actually have time to read this entire article this morning so I set it aside for later. That said, it’s about phone scammers in India (“You won the lottery. Now you just have to send me some money to cover the taxes for your winnings, so we can send you the rest.”), how the work, and what it’s like to work for one. Just another reminder that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
That’s all for this week. The Browns are off for the second week in a row (even though they actually ‘played’ last week), and the Buckeyes get Penn State tomorrow. The Buckeyes are favored by 20, but Penn State always figures a way to make it a game. And if you’re not trick or treating tonight, you should watch what could be (hopefully is) the last baseball game of the year. The Jays need one to finish of the Dodgers and their ridiculous payroll. Go Blue Jays!
I’ll leave you with two more random items to end your week; a message in a bottle written by WWI soldiers in 1916, and the most popular Halloween costume from the year you were born.
Have a great weekend.
Abbey