Thoughts From My Inbox

October 21st, 2022

Goal Posts, Philately, and Wasting Time

Are there any philatelists or railfans in the room? If so, you should scroll down to the piece that acknowledges your interests. If your company collects consumer data, you definitely need to check out the FTC’s new guidelines, and if you’re feeling generous, you can donate to a “worthy” cause in Knoxville, TN. Goalposts, telling the truth, and going to the match… all that and more this week!

Something About…

Goalposts
If you’re a football fan, you’ve probably already heard about the goalposts at the University of Tennessee; they were torn down by fans after the win over Alabama on Saturday night. And now the school is trying to raise $150K to replace them. With a capacity over 100,000 at Neyland Stadium, and even assuming the average ticket is $60 face value, that’s $6M in revenues for one game. And with six (maybe seven) home games a year, I think they could do away with the fund raising on this one.Better yet, the old goalposts were thrown in the river. Maybe that’s a tradition in Knoxville? You’d think the school that can’t afford $150K would send a diver down to get the post, cut it up, and sell the pieces to fans.

Telling the Truth
Next time you suffer a data breach, you might want to fess up to it so as to reduce your fine. Unless you do business in the State of New York; in that case, keep doing what you’re doing. A Chinese fashion brand was recently fined $1.9M for a huge data breach but I can only imagine that taking the proper precautions up front would’ve cost them a lot more. Not only did they not properly secure or monitor their networks, they lied to the NY AG, and then tried to blame the breach on poor passwords used by their consumers. Wow.

Going to The Match
I didn’t realize that football (soccer) could be a basis for famous and expensive art. A 1953 painting titled “Going to the Match” by L.S. Lowry just sold for close to $9M, to the museum in which it’s displayed (which actually put it up for sale to help with operating expenses). It’s actually kind of a cool painting, and I just wish that the crowds getting into a Browns game were as orderly as the stick figures highlighted by Lowry.

Philately
The only reason I know what philately (stamp collecting) is, is because my freshman year college roommate was not only a philatelist but a railfan. On top of stamp collecting, he could hear a train going through downtown Wooster, OH at 11P at night and know based on its horn what kind of train it was. And people think I’m full of useless information.Anyhow, I came across a piece about new stamps being released by USPS that honor women cryptologists from WWII. I don’t have much interest in stamps but the insight on the cryptology used to crack Enigma and PURPLE during the war is pretty interesting. And there’s even a cryptology puzzle at the end of the article, if you’re looking to kill some time.

Wasting Time

According to new research, IT staffs take an average of 27 minutes to mitigate one phishing email. And considering that there are several billion phishing emails sent every day, it’s no surprise that the research claims an average spend of $45K per organization, per year, to mitigate phishing emails. All the more reason to have an educated work force and a security solution that can help to prevent them from being phished.

Job Hunters
Looking for a new job? Or maybe you have a child who’s getting ready to start thinking about the job market? It sounds like cybersecurity might be a good thing to consider. For every 100 available cyber jobs, there are only 65 candidates, and many of these positions don’t even require a college degree.

FTC Safeguards
If your business collects consumer financial information, we’d suggest that you log onto this upcoming webinar from our security partners at Sophos. The Federal Trade Commission has enacted new data protection regulations which are to be implemented by December 9th, and failure to do so can lead to fines of $50K+ per infraction.

Looking for a new local place to hunt and fish? Check out Covered Bridge Outfitters and Lodge on the Conneaut Creek. I met one of the owners at a recent charity shooting event we attended and talk turned to fishing. Now I’m on their mailing list and it looks like a pretty cool place. They’re having an open house next week, by invite only. Not sure but maybe if you hit them up on their website, they’ll hook you up with an invitation.

It looks like it’s going to be a great weekend, even if you’re not out on the water or in the woods. It’s too bad the Indians season ended the way it did, and even worse that the Browns season continues on, but it’s still Buckeyes season. And now we have the start of hockey season.

Enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

Abbey

Thoughts From My Inbox

October 21st, 2022

Goal Posts, Philately, and Wasting Time

Something About…

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