IT in the D

Episode 74, and wow was this a packed one.

Lots of great topics, tons of good conversation, a whole slew of new drops to be isolated for our opening...

...but I digress.  Thanks to our guests Kinsay Mantay and Nicole Johnson for coming out to talk about a cool program that gets you paid while earning your Associate's Degree as well as getting you a job once you're done, a $10,000 Internet of Things contest for young girls, a new group that's starting up that we're looking forward to doing more with in the future, and much, much more.

So let's get to some details...

As we typically do, we dove into the news, stories, events and topics that caught our attention over the past week.

We ranted about the Punch Bowl Social dust-up via social media that we believe got all too ridiculous all too quickly.  We talked about our event coming up this Thursday night (the 15th! Blackfinn! Royal Oak! 5pm! Be there!) for folks in and around the metro Detroit information technology community.  We got into some of the feedback that's been coming in and the original thoughts behind my blog entry recapping my trip to a comic book shop with my kids...and the surprise I got from my daughter while there.

In our second segment, we talked with Kinsay Mantay about the MAT2 program.

Now people...look.  We cannot make this any more clear for you.  This program:

1. Is wide open.

2. Gets you an associates degree.  That you don't pay for.

3. Partners you up with a company that you work at while getting that degree.  That you don't pay for.

4. You have a job at that company that you're partnered up with.  While getting that degree.  That you don't pay for.

5. So you're earning money. From that job with that company you're partnered up with.  While still getting that degree.  That you still don't pay for.

6. When the program's over, you move into a full time job.  Probably earning more money than you were earning before from that job with that company that you're partnered up with.  While getting that degree.  That you still aren't paying for.

Did you finish high school?  Do you want a decent job?  Would you like a degree without having to pay for it?  Would you like a more decent job after getting that degree?  CLICK HERE: http://www.mitalent.org/mat2/

I really don't know how much more simple than that we can make it, people.

Our third segment had us chatting with our other in-studio guest, Nicole Johnson.  Nicole's got a lot going on at the moment:

- She's a systems engineer at Cisco.

- She's one of the women launching Diva Tech Talk.  From CFOs of corporations to scrappy entrepreneurs, women are making a huge impact in technology today. Yet the numbers of women in tech are still small. We interview these leaders and highlight issues and trends in technology.  If other women can see IT, they can be IT.

- She's working to get the word out about Cisco's Internet of Things competition for girls aged 13-18 where the winner walks away with $20,000 and there are multiple other prizes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

In our fourth segment, we doubled back a bit on some earlier topics, dove into a few others, and then called it quits for the night with Bob vowing revenge for my musical selections during our breaks.  Which you can't hear here in syndication, so ha ha, you missed it, you totally need to start listening live.

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The MAT2 program can be found at http://www.mitalent.org/mat2/

Diva Tech Talk can be found at http://www.divatechtalk.com/

Cisco's Internet of Things contest can be found at http://iotchallenge-cisco.younoodle.com/

As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/ 

And the news and events we got to...and some we didn't have time for:

The Punch Bowl Social debacle: http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/sylvia-rector/2015/01/08/punch-bowl-social-problems-improving-owner-says/21447647/

Super cookies make private / incognito mode completely useless: http://www.clickondetroit.com/consumer/super-cookies-track-you-even-in-privacy-mode/30611836

Novi Superintendent of schools handles some social media criticism really well: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/01/09/novi-superintendent-issues-witty-response-to-critics-after-keeping-schools-open-in-cold-temperatures/

Let anyone play with DNA mashups.  That sounds like a BRIGHT idea... http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Controversial-DNA-startup-wants-to-let-customers-5992426.php

People don't want wearable tech. They want better batteries: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/01/10/376166180/forget-wearable-tech-people-really-want-better-batteries

CENTCOM's Twitter and Youtube accounts apparently got breached: http://www.aol.com/article/2015/01/12/us-military-twitter-account-hacked-by-supposed-isis-terrorists/21128442/

CNN wants to use drones, and partners up with the FAA to do so: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cnn-teams-up-faa-reporter-763019

TurboTax price doubles for many users, people lose their minds: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2867286/microsoft-subnet/intuit-gets-greedy-nearly-doubles-price-of-turbotax.html

Should there be a 30 day limit for reporting a data breach? http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/us/politics/obama-to-call-for-laws-covering-data-hacking-and-student-privacy.html

US lawmakers are pushing to permanently ban internet sales tax: http://www.itworld.com/article/2867435/us-lawmakers-push-bill-to-permanently-ban-internet-access-taxes.html

Would you rent out disk space you aren't using on your computer? http://bitcoinist.net/storj-new-decentralized-storage-solution/

Anonymous declares war: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30755975

Google traffic drops, Yahoo's increases.  http://mashable.com/2015/01/08/google-search-yahoo-drop/

Episode 74, and wow was this a packed one. Lots of great topics, tons of good conversation, a whole slew of new drops to be isolated for our opening… …but I digress.  Thanks to our guests Kinsay Mantay and Nicole Johnson for coming out to talk about a cool program that gets you paid while […]

IT in the D, Episode 73

Holy wow, what a great way to kick off the year.

Huge thanks to our guests Tom Nardone and Ian Sterrett who joined us tonight to talk about everything from the continually evolving Sony hack to bulletproof hats to geeks and conventions around the area.

Yes, it was that random...and it was that much fun...

In our opening segment, we talked about the college football fan who drunkenly took a $900 Uber ride, the continuing Sony hack debacle, whether or not apps are dying, the new advent of individual tv stations launching their own apps, and more.

Then we dove in with Tom Nardone, President of Priveco and a number of other businesses.  Priveco (Prive like "private" and Co) specializes in allowing you to...well, here's how they describe what they do: PriveCo Inc. is the world's most private company. Our strict privacy policy allows you to shop at any of our web stores with the utmost privacy. Every aspect of your visit including the shopping, purchasing, delivery and after-sale experience is kept completely confidential. Our dedication to private service has caused PriveCo to become one of the Internet's most unusual and fastest growing companies.  Check them out at http://www.priveco.com/

In our third segment, we talked about one of his other companies - BulletSafe.  BulletSafe makes a great bulletproof vest at an unbelievable price. It offers NIJ Level IIIA protection for just $299. It's a great vest too, with a large coverage area, plate pockets for ballistic plates, 6 sizes to fit almost everyone, and high-quality materials. Bulletsafe bulletproof vests are the first great, affordable bulletproof vests.

Check them out at http://www.bulletsafe.com/

They've also got a kickstarter running right now to help develop their line of bulletproof hats.

Yes...hats.

A very cool concept, and there's a whole bunch of science, math, and reasoning as to why this makes sense.  Go check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/CalmTom/the-bulletsafe-bulletproof-baseball-cap

To wrap things up, we chatted with long-time member of our networking group, Ian Sterrett, about his take on our group, what conventions in the area he's looking forward to or has hit recently, and just some good general conversations.  He's a great guy, and we couldn't be happier to have him around tonight or at our events.

That's all for this time, don't forget to tune in next week!

PriveCo can be found at http://www.priveco.com/

BulletSafe can be found at http://www.bulletsafe.com/

Their kickstarter can be found at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/CalmTom/the-bulletsafe-bulletproof-baseball-cap

Ian can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ianformed

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As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/ 

The $900 Uber ride: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/01/05/ole-miss-fan-leaves-peach-bowl-and-racks-up-900-uber-tab-after-falling-asleep-photo/

ESPN without cable? http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/01/05/espn-goes-streaming-through-dishs-sling-tv-no-cable-required/

Another Bitcoin exchange hacked: http://www.techworm.net/2015/01/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-hacked-site-taken-offline.html

Stop it with the Facebook privacy stuff.  Just...stop. http://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/privacy.asp

Netflix cracks down on VPN and proxy users: http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-150103/

GradsOfLife is kind of a cool site doing good things.  You should check it out http://gradsoflife.org/

5 trends in TV and movies that you'll hate: http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/5-movie-tv-trends-youll-start-to-hate-in-2015/

Is Internet Explorer finally dying? http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/30/technology/internet-explorer/index.html

How did Snapchat get $486 million?  No really...how: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/01/01/snapchat-funding/21146715/

Google Maps is recording everywhere you go: http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/17/6025339/google-maps-is-tracking-everywhere-you-go

United Airlines suing 22 year old who came up with a way to find cheap airline tickets: http://fox13now.com/2014/12/29/united-airlines-sues-22-year-old-who-found-method-for-buying-cheaper-plane-tickets/

IT in the D, Episode 73 Holy wow, what a great way to kick off the year. Huge thanks to our guests Tom Nardone and Ian Sterrett who joined us tonight to talk about everything from the continually evolving Sony hack to bulletproof hats to geeks and conventions around the area. Yes, it was that […]

IT in the D, Episode 72

We closed out 2014 with a great episode.  A lot of rambling...as you'd probably expect given that it's the last show of the year...but still a great episode.

Thanks to Eric and Jeremiah for joining us as we wandered and rambled through a number of topics, and thankfully kept ourselves from getting too terribly weird as we closed things out for the year...

We talked about The Interview, and the continually breaking updates about the Sony hack.  We chatted about how in the hell it's possible that Instagram is worth $35 billion.  XBox and Playstation's networks getting knocked offline.  The Freep's gaffe with Harbaugh's photo and more.

Amidst all of our rambling, we managed to get into some decent topics of conversation with Eric from ERSA Group - http://www.ersaweb.com/ - security, ethics in the IT industry, some major "oops" moments over the years and more.  We also managed to get Jeremiah from Daily Detroit - https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyDetroit - fired up about a couple of topics because, well, because it's fun when we do.

And then we wrapped things up with a most sincere thank you and some reflections on the past year.  If you listen to nothing else, you should absolutely listen to that...because we mean it sincerely, thank you.  The full episode is down below this short clip...

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ERSA Group can be found at http://www.ersaweb.com/

Daily Detroit can be found at https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyDetroit

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As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/ 

The stories we discussed tonight...and some we didn't have time for:

So...North Korea's NOT behind the Sony hack? http://gotnews.com/breaking-can-conclusively-confirm-north-korea-not-behind-sony-hack/

Facebook face a class action lawsuit: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/25/facebook-class-action-privacy-lawsuit/

$44 billion in unused gift cards since 2008: http://nypost.com/2014/01/26/unused-gift-cards-total-44b-since-2008-study/

Instagram's value: https://gigaom.com/2014/12/23/instagram-could-be-one-of-the-best-deals-of-the-last-decade/

Restaurant eliminates tipping by increasing menu prices 20%: http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/23/luxury/no-tipping-policy/index.html

Cord cutters are facing cable companies to adapt...but is it too late: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2014/12/28/cord-cutters-forcing-cable-companies-adapt/20987189/

http://time.com/3592239/top-10-tv-shows/

http://time.com/3582115/top-10-gadgets-2014/

http://time.com/3582114/top-10-apps/

http://time.com/3587943/things-that-broke-the-internet/

http://time.com/3591923/top-10-hashtags-that-started-a-conversation/

IT in the D, Episode 72 We closed out 2014 with a great episode.  A lot of rambling…as you’d probably expect given that it’s the last show of the year…but still a great episode. Thanks to Eric and Jeremiah for joining us as we wandered and rambled through a number of topics, and thankfully kept […]

IT in the D, Episode 71

Our next to last show of the year, and we had a lot of fun with our guests tonight talking about the latest things that caught our eye and what they've got going on around the area.  Thanks to our guests Marjorie Knepp, Christina York, Sean Yalda, Seth Archambault and Billy Strawter for joining us...

As always, our opening segment was a little bit of everything that's gotten our attention over the past week.  Conspiracy theories surrounding the Sony hack, North Korea getting knocked off the internet, NASA and the emailed wrench, the dust up with the owner of Detroit BBQ and social media, and all sorts of other fun.

Next up, we dove in with the folks behind Magic Book, recent winners of Startup Weekend who are trying to do something definitely worthwhile.  MagicBook engages children with books by bringing stories to life via your smartphone or tablet. The idea is that a child can pick a book off their shelf, point a smartphone camera at it and when they do, something magical happens – the book comes alive! Animation, sound, and actual interaction with the characters can take place.  Give it a look at http://www.getmagicbook.co/

Then we shifted gears a little bit to talk about Lift57.  Their consulting services can help you with change management, operational planning, roadmap development, and a whole host of other services.  You can check it out at http://www.lift57.com/

In our last segment, we chatted with regular guest Billy Strawter of Social Coop Media to talk about...well, he couldn't actually talk about what he's got in the works right now, so we just had some fun general chatter with him about all sorts of things.  Catch his company at http://socialcoopmedia.com/

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As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/ 

The stories we discussed tonight...and some we didn't have time for:

Sony:

Interesting theory swirling.

Feb: Sony announces massive layoffs...including a number of SysAdmins: http://www.10news.com/news/sony-electronics-announces-layoffs-400-affected-in-san-diego-office-022614

Then: People are dumb, passwords aren't changed, access isn't revoked

Now: Sony is hacked, apparently through the compromise of SysAdmin IDs

Theory: Disgruntled, laid off employees sold access to the hackers, which worked because of lax security policies

Also, N Korea loses internet access today

Also, Anonymous says they'll just release The Interview for Sony: http://uproxx.com/movies/2014/12/anonymous-north-korea-plan-release-the-interview/

New beer called "Problem Solver" tells you when you're at your peak problem solving capability (.075 BAC) http://www.medicaldaily.com/beer-creativity-problem-solver-comes-scale-measure-when-youre-your-creative-peak-315154

Beyond firearms, of course, TSA officers encounter an extremely wide variety of other prohibited items at airport checkpoints, including machetes, hatchets, swords, giant scissors, brass knuckles, cannonballs, bear repellant and, this past October, an unloaded cannon: http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2014/12/18/guns-cannons-swords-tsa-record-breaking-haul-2014/

Snowden's leaks seriously screwed up law enforcement in the UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11300936/GCHQ-warns-serious-criminals-have-been-lost-in-wake-of-Edward-Snowden-leaks.html

Before Google, there were librarians: http://www.npr.org/blogs/theprotojournalist/2014/12/20/371851621/before-google-who-knew

Dude in Taiwan is 3d printing a 26 foot boat using 30 3d printers to kick out over 100,000 pieces: http://3dprint.com/32185/3d-printed-boat-peng/

NASA emailed specs for a wrench to the space station, 3d printed, works: http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/19/tech/feat-3d-wrench-nasa/

That was easy: Staples breached, 1.16 million credit cards swiped: http://fortune.com/2014/12/19/staples-cards-affected-breach/

ICANN root servers compromised in November: http://threatpost.com/attackers-compromise-icann-access-zone-files-system/109941

So you paid $45 to Verizon for complete end to end encryption, eh? Still has a backdoor: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-15/verizons-new-encrypted-calling-app-plays-nice-with-the-nsa

Detroit BBQ owner, Facebook, comments, Yelp flameout and more: http://detroit.eater.com/2014/12/22/7434233/detroit-bbq-company-owner-in-hot-water-over-social-media-comments and http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2014/12/22/why-detroit-bbq-company-is-being-unfairly-targeted

Pirate Bay coming back online: http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-domain-back-online-waving-a-pirate-flag-141221/

...and you can run your own Pirate Bay! http://openbay.isohunt.to/

TekDry: http://www.tekdry.com/detroit-mi.html

Little town in China produces 60% of all Christmas decorations, most workers have no idea what they are: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-workshop-the-town-in-china-that-makes-the-worlds-christmas-decorations

Instagram purges fake accounts, Facebook next? http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/19/technology/social/bieber-instagram/index.html

Amazon launches 1 hour delivery in NYC: http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-launches-superfast-delivery-in-nyc-1418903192

How Activision spawned from Atari; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision#History

IT in the D, Episode 71 Our next to last show of the year, and we had a lot of fun with our guests tonight talking about the latest things that caught our eye and what they’ve got going on around the area.  Thanks to our guests Marjorie Knepp, Christina York, Sean Yalda, Seth Archambault and […]

IT in the D, Episode 70

Well, this was certainly an interesting night, both on the mic and off of it.

Let's stick to the on the mic fun though - we had some great guests join us in-studio tonight, and we even made a new friend from down the hall from the studio thanks to doing a little wandering and being friendly with the locals.  We got into some controversial topics, we got updates on a growing local business, and we talked with an artist about her work and figured out more ways to blow money on things that we absolutely have to have...

In our opening segment, we talked about our charity event this past Thursday night, we ranted and vented a bit about the Hopcat opening, and we even explained some of what we really think is racist that goes on these days that nobody even thinks about for some reason.

For our second segment, we dove in with some repeat guests - Terry from Original Stix and Pat from the Osirius Group to talk about how things have been going with Original Stix since we last chatted with them back in early June.

Short answer?  They're blowing up like mad, expanding like crazy, and opening up new lines of business...all with locally manufactured products and top-notch customer service.

Use discount code itinthed on their website - http://originalstix.com/ over the next week to get free shipping.

We continued our chat with them in the third segment, talking about the growth they're experiencing, and some of the extremely cool new products they have coming soon for those who might want something other than hockey sticks in something like this.

During the break after our third segment, I went out and ran into a local artist a couple doors down.  Seemed pretty cool, we chatted, and hey, why not?  Come on in and play during the fourth segment.  Andrea (it's ahn-DRAY-uh) runs http://www.destinationliberation.com/ and has some extremely cool artwork in her studio...where she was hanging out watching Star Wars, so she's definitely "our" people and we'll be talking more with her in the future, I'm sure.

Original Stix can be found at http://originalstix.com/

Osirius Group can be found at http://www.osiriuscustomproducts.com/

Destination Liberation can be found at http://www.destinationliberation.com/

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As always, we can be found:

On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com

On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/

IT in the D, Episode 70 Well, this was certainly an interesting night, both on the mic and off of it. Let’s stick to the on the mic fun though – we had some great guests join us in-studio tonight, and we even made a new friend from down the hall from the studio thanks […]