Twenty Three Cent Pizza on Thursday in Cleveland

On Thursday, there might be loads and loads of pizza served for supper in Cleveland. It is a form of apology to the citizens of Cleveland for insulting one of the local professional basketball stars, LeBron James. The pizza chain, Papa John’s Pizza, had t-shirts made that said LeBron James was a “crybaby” when he expressed himself about how the Cleveland / Washington playoff series was being played:

“…To apologize, Papa John’s will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday. The 23 is an homage to James’ jersey number. The company also will donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.”

link: Papa John’s to offer Cleveland residents 23-cent pizzas

There are various versions about how this incident took place. Was it a corporate gaffe or was it shrewd corporate marketing? In any case, the Papa John’s franchise is receiving enormous free publicity and Cleveland has a bargain pizza day on Thursday. So, on Thursday in Cleveland, the NBA is… where pizza happens.

Catherine

Mother’s Day: Tell Mom You Won’t Be Sending an E-Card

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11th. This would be a good time to send Mum an email or call to let her know that you will not be sending her an e-card. And remind her not to open any e-cards; they will not be from you.

Events like Mother’s Day are opportunities for hackers. An occasion like Mother’s Day helps the hackers in their social manipulation because people (mothers) are expecting some sort of greeting on the weekend. There will be less resistance to opening an e-card. Unfortunately, that e-card may contain malware and a whole parcel of problems for your mother.

The prudent thing is to warn your mother that hacker attacks are going to be increasing this weekend. And do not open any e-card or unusual email, no matter how affectionate the header may be. It will be email from a hacker - and not you. Now would be a good time for Mum to check and make certain that all her security programs are up to date.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster

The Next Wave: Solid State Drives

It does not seem that long ago that purchasing floppy discs was part of the routine computing expense. Most stores that sold computer supplies carried them. Now, it is rarely found on store shelves. The product sales do not justify the shelf space.

And so it might be with hard drives. The price of hard drives is dropping continually. The storage capacity to price ratio is becoming more and more reasonable. The spinning hard drive is synonymous with the computing experience. It might be difficult to think of computers without the traditional hard drive but that is indeed the next wave. It is the future.

Erin Bell, in an article for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has an excellent review of this next stage in data storage, which is really upon us now:

“…A solid-state drive is basically a computer memory chip, or a group of chips linked on a circuitboard. Each chip has billions of memory cells that can be turned on or off via an electrical charge to represent the zeroes and ones of binary information — the “language” computers speak to run programs and store information.

The lack of moving parts not only results in a quieter machine, it also reduces the risk of hard-drive failures, explains Darren Leroux, computer maker Hewlett-Packard’s product marketing manager for consumer notebooks. If you drop a hard drive, there’s a good chance the delicate drive mechanism will be wrecked, for example, but an SSD can sustains falls and bumps without experiencing any ill effects.”

link: Solid-state drives

There may be a day in the very near future when speaking about spinning hard drives will date you as being very ‘old school’. People will wonder how we ever managed with such primitive technology. And that is when you mention your fondness for the punch card technology…

Catherine

When Identity Theft Can Become Deadly

There was a security breach at UCSF where over six thousand patient records were exposed online. Usually, identity theft is associated with financial loss. However, in the case of medical identity theft, the consequences can be deadly:

“…The consequences of health care data breaches can be significant, said experts. Sensitive information can be used by employers, health insurers and other entities to discriminate. Additionally, thieves can use purloined information to obtain medical treatment and prescription drugs and to file false medical claims.”

link: 6,000 UCSF patients’ data got put online

The health of these patients is at risk. If their medical identity has been compromised, then someone else may be receiving treatment which is tied to the wrong medical record. The consequences can be disastrous.

What is compounding the error of the security breach is the length of time that it took for notification to be given to those patients. The security breach was uncovered in early October. Notification to the patients was not sent out until early April. That is totally unacceptable and behaviour such as this calls for notification legislation. To put patients at risk in such a manner and to withhold crucial information of a data breach should be criminal. It is endangering lives.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]data breach, privacy, security, medical identity theft, notification, legislation, ucsf[/tag]

Twenty Three Cent Pizza on Thursday in Cleveland

On Thursday, there might be loads and loads of pizza served for supper in Cleveland. It is a form of apology to the citizens of Cleveland for insulting one of the local professional basketball stars, LeBron James. The pizza chain, Papa John’s Pizza, had t-shirts made that said LeBron James was a “crybaby” when he expressed himself about how the Cleveland / Washington playoff series was being played:

“…To apologize, Papa John’s will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday. The 23 is an homage to James’ jersey number. The company also will donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.”

link: Papa John’s to offer Cleveland residents 23-cent pizzas

There are various versions about how this incident took place. Was it a corporate gaffe or was it shrewd corporate marketing? In any case, the Papa John’s franchise is receiving enormous free publicity and Cleveland has a bargain pizza day on Thursday. So, on Thursday in Cleveland, the NBA is… where pizza happens.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]nba, t-shirt, lebron james, cleveland, pizza, papa john’s pizza, marketing[/tag]

The Next Wave: Solid State Drives

It does not seem that long ago that purchasing floppy discs was part of the routine computing expense. Most stores that sold computer supplies carried them. Now, it is rarely found on store shelves. The product sales do not justify the shelf space.

And so it might be with hard drives. The price of hard drives is dropping continually. The storage capacity to price ratio is becoming more and more reasonable. The spinning hard drive is synonymous with the computing experience. It might be difficult to think of computers without the traditional hard drive but that is indeed the next wave. It is the future.

Erin Bell, in an article for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has an excellent review of this next stage in data storage, which is really upon us now:

“…A solid-state drive is basically a computer memory chip, or a group of chips linked on a circuitboard. Each chip has billions of memory cells that can be turned on or off via an electrical charge to represent the zeroes and ones of binary information — the “language” computers speak to run programs and store information.

The lack of moving parts not only results in a quieter machine, it also reduces the risk of hard-drive failures, explains Darren Leroux, computer maker Hewlett-Packard’s product marketing manager for consumer notebooks. If you drop a hard drive, there’s a good chance the delicate drive mechanism will be wrecked, for example, but an SSD can sustains falls and bumps without experiencing any ill effects.”

link: Solid-state drives

There may be a day in the very near future when speaking about spinning hard drives will date you as being very ‘old school’. People will wonder how we ever managed with such primitive technology. And that is when you mention your fondness for the punch card technology…

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]hard drives, the next wave, solid state drives, erin bell, canadian broadcasting corporation[/tag]

The Tragedy of Eight Belles

Tragedy visited upon the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. A filly, Eight Belles, ran with the boys and finished second to Big Brown. Moments after crossing the finish line, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken ankles and had to be euthanized on the track. The injuries were too massive. There were no alternatives.

There will be those who will decry the cruelty of horse racing. The catastrophe of Eight Belles follows the heartbreak of Barbaro. One of the most even-handed commentaries was by Sally Jenkins, in an article in the Washington Post:

link: Is Horse Racing Breeding Itself to Death?

The critics of horse racing will paint the people involved with broad stokes. This is unfair. For those who have been associated even with the periphery of the sport have found, it is a unique culture unto itself. Granted that it is an industry - a money making venture for the wealthy. For most of the people making a living from the day to day sport of horses, it is also their life. There is great affection for these horses. To cast the industry, from top to bottom, as exploitive and cruel is simply amiss.

Catherine

The Tragedy of Eight Belles

Tragedy visited upon the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. A filly, Eight Belles, ran with the boys and finished second to Big Brown. Moments after crossing the finish line, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken ankles and had to be euthanized on the track. The injuries were too massive. There were no alternatives.

There will be those who will decry the cruelty of horse racing. The catastrophe of Eight Belles follows the heartbreak of Barbaro. One of the most even-handed commentaries was by Sally Jenkins, in an article in the Washington Post:

link: Is Horse Racing Breeding Itself to Death?

The critics of horse racing will paint the people involved with broad stokes. This is unfair. For those who have been associated even with the periphery of the sport have found, it is a unique culture unto itself. Granted that it is an industry - a money making venture for the wealthy. For most of the people making a living from the day to day sport of horses, it is also their life. There is great affection for these horses. To cast the industry, from top to bottom, as exploitive and cruel is simply amiss.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]kentucky derby, eight belles, tragedy, sally jenkins, barbaro, horse racing, sport[/tag]