In case you missed it (and you probably did), today is National Donut Day, which started in 1938 to honor Salvation Army volunteers who had served donuts to soldiers during WWI. Every year, the Ashton sales and marketing team makes the rounds, visiting a handful of our clients and dropping off donuts. We did it a day early this year to account for people being out of the office, and we had a smaller force than usual, what with Nancy having broken her ankle last weekend. Anyhow, if we missed you yesterday, we’ll try to make up for it. Don’t take it personally but the three of us can only buy so many donut holes and visit so many clients on one day! That said, everybody we did make it to was very happy to see us… or maybe they were just happy to see donut holes!
As for the weekly newsletter, I used to have quite a bit of information about cybersecurity, ransomware, hackers, etc. It seems as though those things are no longer a concern, thanks to all the news about AI this and that. If I were a hacker, I’d view this as the perfect time for people having their guards down.
Scroll on down for ranch hands, AI Ouija boards, Myles Garrett, and more. Enjoy
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Free Apartment Cleaning
Jim Millican has always said about Google, “you’re the product”. They take your data (search, email, calendar, etc.) and sell it to the highest bidder. Would you be willing to allow somebody access to your home to clean it (at no charge), knowing that the data (everything recorded by body-cam) is being used to train AI robots? That offer is now available in NYC.
Ranch Hands
I posted a few weeks back about Yahoo looking for somebody to watch every World Cup soccer match this summer, and getting paid to do so. Sounds like a pretty cool opportunity, if you like soccer.
How ’bout those people who like ranch dressing? Hidden Valley is searching for ranchbassadors to travel across Europe in the hopes of selling more dressing overseas. Interested in being an influencer? Now’s your chance!
AI for Small Biz
As I was delivering donuts yesterday, I took time to ask people if they’re using AI and what their interest levels are. One client mentioned that his company had provided an internal AI agent with six years of sales quotes, and then trained the agent as to which ones were correct or incorrect. Now, when a sales rep provides a quote to a customer, AI immediately spots inaccuracies or missing line items, leading to a bump in gross revenues for the company.
As this piece suggests, AI “helps businesses stop wasting the brilliance already inside the building.” And at the same time (as in the example mentioned above), “AI turns experience… into reusable company knowledge.”
Are you interested in learning more about how AI can help your business? Just respond to this email and I’ll make it happen.
Ring Camera Facial Recognition
We don’t have Ring (or any other type) cameras at home… I’m content walking to the door and looking outside to see who’s there. It’s not like anybody just appears unannounced, anyway, these days. If there’s somebody at the door, they’re probably delivering something. Now, a lawsuit has been filed against Amazon for their use of facial recognition technology in Ring cameras.
I guess for those who are so popular that they need different alerts for all the people showing up on their doorstep, maybe Ring has a reason for storing all this data… What are your thoughts? Do you need a special ring tone for the pizza guy who comes once a week?
AI Ouija Boards
There’s AI for work- things like process improvement, building prospecting lists, and data analytics, and then there’s AI for personal use (contacting the dead is one of the items listed in this article. Why not just use a Ouija board and your friends?). There’s also personal use of AI at work. This includes “having a work buddy” or asking for career advice.
Curious to know how people are using AI this year? Read on…
LinkedIn Spies
Two things jumped out at me while reading this article about China using LinkedIn to recruit spies and gain classified information; one, I can understand being asked to complete a brief project as part of the application/interview process (I’ve done that myself), but you’d think somebody might question why they are asked for more and more of this work, and paid to provide it. Two, I laughed out loud at the fact that LinkedIn stated that “misrepresenting one’s identity violates their terms of service.” Because that will definitely put a stop to a state-sponsored spy ring.
Browns Fans
Myles Garrett was the Browns’ best player, until they traded him the other day. Not surprised in the least, and I wish him well. He deserves to play for a winner, and that was never going to happen here. I think the Browns should’ve gotten at least one more first round pick for him, but as this piece suggests, they’ll probably just screw up the picks, anyway.
As I read this, I thought “this is exactly how I feel about the Browns”. We had season tickets from 1980-2024, and while I thought I’d miss going to games when we dumped the tickets before the 2025 season, I was surprised that I didn’t. They turned me to the point of indifference. Only thing I’d change about this article would be trading the Indians for the Cavs. I don’t care about the NBA, but it’s hard to beat the excitement of playoff baseball when we’re in it.
That’s all for this week. Doesn’t look like a great weekend weather-wise, but it sure has been a nice week. Hasn’t hurt that I’ve spent a few half days (including today) working from home (sitting on the deck) and making sure the booted patient doesn’t fall down any steps.
I’ll leave you with my restaurant recommendation of the week; The Green Goat Cafe, downtown at 21st and Superior. Had a lunch meeting there yesterday, and really enjoyed it. Cool place that I never knew existed and good food. Give it a shot if you’re looking for something new.
Have a great weekend!
Abbey