Heartbleed

Those that know me, know of my involvement with the media. Proud owner of a largely unused Press Pass, I am also semi-responsible for the on-line newspaper, the News In Port Colborne.

I make sure the wheels don’t fall off, take care of the backups, handle the adverts, and also write a technology column whenever the mood takes me.

Or, when something important comes along, as it did recently in the form of the Heartbleed bug in the Open Source SSL library behind two thirds of the secure servers on the Internet. Out there for two years before being noticed, this issue carried potential for great harm.

I won’t rewrite it here, it’s far too long. But I will post here a link to the article I wrote for the aforementioned newspaper, for those interested in reading it. Enjoy!

http://newsinportcolborne.com/2014/04/heartbleeds-bug-the-facts/ 

3D Goodness For My Desk!

I was just handed a coaster for my cups. Doesn’t sound exciting, right? But this coaster is special. I made it. Well, I made the 3D template the 3D printer used to make it.

It’s a single face of the design we call Rubik, a 3D cube I created in Photoshop to advertise our New York medical software division. Rubik has popped up in print, excelled on e-mail campaigns, vroomed animatedly on video and stood proud on 10′ by 10′ stands at trade shows.

I have flipped open her lid so I could put things inside her, including a jack-in-the-box. We put lights inside her like a pumpkin and I even took out a wall so I could park a car inside her. As you can see, she is very versatile. She is the face of our Google Plus page.

And now, she’s sitting on my desk holding my cup. I think that’s pretty durn cool.

SigCube

 

A sad and a strange day

Today the city of Port Colborne said goodbye to a fine young man. Mikey McIntyre, beloved son, grandson, brother, uncle and friend to many more, died. At the ripe old age of twenty two.
Death is known as a constant companion. We’re all going there some day. I am more than twice his age, yet I highly doubt that so many people will turn out for me when the time comes. Standing room only. This man was loved.
He was quietly spoken, to the point of invisibility, as one speaker noted. That is a neat trick when you stand six foot six and are built like an outhouse, like Mikey.
I can’t claim to have known him very well. I can say that the loss is mine. That today I stood with and watched and listened to those he left behind. And I was left feeling, frankly, a little envious of the Gentle Giant. To be loved so much by so many is something that most spend whole lifetimes trying to achieve. Mikey did it without even trying. In only twenty two short years.