Football fans (even Buckeyes like me) will appreciate the photo below. Last weekend we spent in South Bend, IN for the wedding of the son of friends of ours. Bride, groom, and father of the groom are all Notre Dame grads, and bride and her mother both work in development for the school, so it was only logical to have the wedding on campus and reception in the stadium.
Aside from it being entirely too hot to wear a suit that day, and the fact that I was concerned about spontaneous combustion (not from the heat, but from being a Buckeyes fan), I will say the campus was beautiful and everybody we interacted with was incredibly friendly. Looking at demographics and business stats for South Bend while we were out there, tourism is one of the area’s biggest revenue sources, and it was clear that people knew that.
A Camden Yards wedding back in 1995 has always been very close to the top of my list for most interesting wedding venues I’ve attended, but this one was actually more impressive.
Now, the real reason you’re here… scroll down for snakes on a plane (or in a helmet), dopamine shopping, aisle seating, and more. Enjoy!
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AI Satellite Imagery
Google thought it’d be good to allow people to use their satellite imagery in conjunction with AI to create all sorts of fake images. Bad idea. Refugees on an international border, a nuclear plant in Iran, a drone strike on a US military base… all fake, and all created with Google Earth. Didn’t take long for some clear thinker to remove that capability, though.
CMMC Compliance
If you’re a DoD (DoW) contractor, you’re probably aware that CMMC level II compliance has been paused. But what exactly does that mean to you?
Our friends at TrustedSec have a webinar coming up on Wednesday the 19th which will highlight what has been paused, what’s still active, and what it means to anybody who has DoD contracts.
And as we’ve been working for quite some time on our CMMC compliance, I can say that the team at TrustedSec really knows their stuff when it comes to CMMC. Far better than anybody else we’ve worked with over the past 18 months. If you have concerns, you should definitely log on for this one.
Aisle Seats
Do you prefer window or aisle when you’re flying? I’m all about the aisle, as I want to be able to come and go as I please, and not have to bother others sitting between me and freedom. I’m the same when it comes to sitting at a ballgame or concert, too. And it seems that where you choose to sit says a lot about your personality.
Defeating Surveillance Cams
I don’t worry as much about Flock security cameras (and there’s been a ton of news about those this week) as I do about speed/radar cameras. I’ve already had to pay two speeding fines since the village of Hunting Valley installed theirs a year or so back, and I think I got another one last night. The one that I pass twice a day is no longer a concern, but the one on River Rd. still throws me off.
Anyhow, as I said, Flock cameras don’t concern me, but if they bother you there’s a new pattern that supposedly makes your vehicle imperceptible to security cameras… I wonder if it works on speeding license plates?
Dopamine Shopping
This is one of the more bizarre items that’s come through the old inbox in quite some time. Want to get a dopamine hit by adding a $12,000 Rolex (or a $6.99 cheeseburger) to your shopping cart? Go for it (I did both and it did absolutely nothing for me). Shop online, add everything to your cart, feel better about yourself (dopamine), and then go about your day, never having had to pay for it or wait for a delivery driver.
These sites are big in South Korea… which could explain why their birth rate in 2023 was the lowest ever recorded by any country.
Security Alerts
Microsoft released 421 security updates (“patches”) this week. None of them mean anything to me, but 44 of them were listed as “critical”. So, take this as your friendly reminder to always patch your systems. And if you have somebody who’s going desk to desk installing updates on every individual device in your network, you’re doing it the wrong way!
nity to have a little fun…
I’ll leave you this week with three items from the world of sports, all of which made multiple appearances in my inbox this week.
The first actually took place here in Cleveland (last weekend), when a dad set the world record for the fastest mile run while pushing a stroller.
From the world of baseball (Banana ball, actually) comes one of the craziest catches, ever, and while I’ve heard of Snakes on a Plane, I’ve never seen one in a football helmet…
That’s all for today.
Have a great weekend!
Go Tribe!
Abbey