ascii

1.) MSP Question of The Week

How important is work culture as it relates to acquisition or merger?

and

Why everything boils down to customer experience...

See:  https://www.channele2e.com/native/customer-experience-is-everything

2.) Five minutes with a Smart Person -  Val King of Whitehat Technologies

Val is the CEO of Whitehat Virtual Technologies and responsible for day-to-day-operations, as well as leading the company’s product development and technology strategy. Val has 20 years of experience in technology, compliance, and security in regulated industries, particularly in financial services and healthcare. Currently Val serves in a dual role as CIO for a regional healthcare system.

“The last 18 inches between the screen and the end-user is the Point of Execution, where end user experience matters, where technology either improves productivity, and thus the business, or hinders it.

"Every business needs IT. Every business buys IT, but not every business is able to confidently cross that divide from IT being just a cost of doing business to a tool delivering outcomes that makes business measurably better." Val is focused on making this a core competency of Whitehat Virtual Technologies, benefiting every customer we serve.

https://www.whitehatvirtual.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/valking/

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Our upcoming events:

AUSTIN TX – MASTERMIND LIVE (March 28-29th)

http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Use “EARLYBIRD” as the coupon code to save $200!

Irvine CA – SMB Techfest (Feb 8th-9th)

Make sure you catch Amy at SMB Techfest!

https://www.smbtechfest.com/events.asp

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

Host Karl sits down with friend, Jerry Koutavas.

As President of The ASCII Group, Jerry Koutavas is responsible for creating resources and services aimed at helping IT and managed service providers better manage their time and their bottom line.  Koutavas oversees the creation, implementation, and adoption of benefits at The ASCII Group which services over 1,400 MSPs in North America. A widely-recognized figure in the IT industry, Jerry has more than 25 years of experience in the Channel.

Check out more: 

https://events.ascii.com/

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Our upcoming events:

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

In this special editions of SMBCP, we follow Karl on his journey at ASCII Edge.

We have four bite sized interviews with four smart guys:

Sebastian Uchima of Humanize IT

The Humanize IT Framework is a top down approach to client conversations that turns any Account Manager into a vCIO in under an hour by equipping them with a simple tool and continually educating them with a community. By having conversations rather than presentations your team will create genuine human connections through better conversations rather than presentations.

Ryan Cloutier of Security Studio

Ryan Cloutier is the President of SecurityStudio. As an experienced IT/Cyber Security professional with over 15 years of experience developing Cyber Security programs, Ryan is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP®) and Chief Information Security Officer for organizations across the country.

Frank Raimondi of Nodeware

Frank is a Strategic Channel Marketing Professional. He passionately contributes his experienced knowledge to help others make sense of channels and clarify their efforts by bringing together organizations to develop strategies and programs producing the highest value for all. If it's not a win-win situation, it needs to be.

Trevor Digerolamo of ASCII

Trevor is Director of Strategic Projects at The ASCII Group. He has 20+ years of Business to Business sales experience in both financial sales and in Information Technology on a national level.

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Sponsor Memo: The SMB Online Conference 

Mark your calendars and plan to join us May 17-18 at the SMB Online Conference 2023.

Two full days of content. 

More than a dozen speakers.

A special Killing IT Live podcast recording.

And much more.

Every three years, Karl Palachuk and Small Biz Thoughts bring you a spectacular two-day online conference. And they do it right.

Save $100 by registering today at https://smbonlineconference.com

TylerD is joined by Ghost, Emily and Logan to recap a very busy weekend in NFTs. The crew started with the Owls market action over the weekend and if Owls have staying power. Then the crew talked through Yuga's TwelveFold auctions and why they are not highlighting the art at all, along with the major headline that Punks are trading on Blur and potential market impact. They finish the show with a quick preview of Mocaverse.

Weather alert: Amy B's eletricity is out by ice storm so she joins us by phone while Karl enjoys the sun in snowy Southern California... 

Segment One: Creepy Bing AI Update

According to a report by the New York Times, a four hour conversation with Bing's AI powered chatbot resulted in concerning codependent behaviour leading to the company limiting users' question count.

You heard it here first: ChatGPT wants you to leave your wife.

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Segment Two: Five Minutes with a Smart Person - Rich Freeman

Karl sits down with our friend Rich Freeman of ChannelProNetwork in another fun edition of Five Minutes. 

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Segment Three: Free Tools, Expensive tools, and Buying Overlapping Tools & a Real Weakness in SMB

We talk Amy L's recent frustration: Tools. Or lack of investment in these tools...

Later, Karl is enlightened by a Huntress presentation. Most SMBs are not trained in detection and response. 

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Resources and Links:

Check us out on iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-SMB-Community-Podcast-by-K-31114511 

Sponsor Ad: SBTTC

This podcast is sponsored by the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. Check us out at https://www.SmallBizThoughts.org

Forms, templates, and checklists are just the start. Our Community includes ALL of the best-selling books on managed services in all available formats, plus free training, members-only programs, and the best business training available to managed service providers anywhere.

Plus, we have weekly live members-only Zoom calls. The average member saves more than 200% of their membership cost each year. We are totally dedicated to YOUR success. 

Just because you’re in business for yourself doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. Join us today at https://www.SmallBizThoughts.org

🙂

Our OG, legend, matriach, and instagram hawties hath returned. What are the meaning of all these nicknames and which belong to who? Find out in today's episode. 

Segment One: Layoffs everywhere and so is Elon...What the hell is going on?

Layoffs have made its inevitable moment in the MSP world. Also, legend has it that if you say Elon in the musk three times to a mirror at night you get another click worthy article. 

Segment Two: An MSP and a concrete vendor walk into a bar...

Dave Seibert attends every event--we mean it. 

Resources and Links:

James Event:  

http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

Karl's NSITSP All-Member Meeting:

https://nsitsp.org/event/q1-all-member-meeting/

Sponsor Memo: Linode 

Linode – a top Infrastructure as a Service provider has resources specifically for helping MSPs explore the alternative cloud.

Discover this growing market: one of the best-kept secrets in building a scalable, thriving, modern Managed Service Provider business.

Learn about the cloud provider landscape, improving KPIs, security, and more in Linode's free ebook, The MSP's Guide to Modern Cloud Infrastructure, available now. This resource and more at linode.com/mspradio. 

The SG-1000 didn't have much going on during 1986, with Sega's attention focused primarily on the shiny new Mark III console, but what little did make its way to the older console was pretty strong. After an indifferent shrug of a vintage-style single-screen arcade-format MSX port with Compile's C-So!, we get to the good stuff: ASCII's The Castle and Compile's Gulkave.

The former, also an MSX port, is a game so demanding and expansive Sega had to bust out the cartridge format again. The Castle simply wouldn't fit onto a MyCard. And as for Gulkave, you may have trouble believing it fit onto the SG-1000, period. Definitely Compile's swansong for the platform, and the culmination of several years of development work for this hardware and architecture, and unsurprisingly a highly sought-after collector's piece.

Josh and Kurt talk about the new Trojan Source bug. We don't always agree on if this is a vulnerability (it's not), but by the end we come to an agreement that ASCII is out, Unicode is in. We don't live in a world where you can make a realistic suggestion to return to using only ASCII. There are a lot of weird moving parts with this one.

Show Notes

• Trojan Source
• oss-security message
• GitHub example

Host Karl talks to ASCII CEO Alan Weinberger about his new book - The Doctor’s In: Treating America’s Greatest Cyber Security Threat. Of course, we also talked about the state of the industry and what's ahead for IT consultants.

Alan book illuminate for the general public how important a Managed Service Provider is in maintaining the health of our economy and our infrastructure itself, in the new cyber security era.

Alan founded The ASCII Group in 1984 in Washington D.C. And, of course, ASCII is one of the premier communities for IT service providers, VARs, MSPs, and technology resellers all over the world. They host a series of virtual and in-person events. You can find out more at www.asciievents.com.

Misc. ASCII Links:

• https://overview.ascii.com/the-doctors-in/
• https://www.ascii.com
• https://twitter.com/asciigroup
• https://www.facebook.com/TheASCIIGroup
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascii
• ASCII Events – www.asciievents.com

Alan’s Book is available on Amazon: - https://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Treating-Americas-Greatest-Security/dp/1636613438/

(This is not an affiliate link.)

:-)

James and John discuss eBay finds: Macintosh Portable, ASCII art, and Quadra 950.  They talk about the new YouTube live streaming option, and news includes Quadra 700 PC, AirPods Pro case, Macspotting.

Welcome Nate Hart, creator of Chainfaces.

A Generative art project on Ethereum that launched last week and went viral within the NFT community.

We chat to Nate about who he is, how this project came about and why randomly generated immutable ASCII faces are so compelling.

Stay tuned at the end, we give away DeFi Gerbil and announce the Next NonFunGerbil.

#CounterfeitGerbil
#DeFiGerbil

Nates Twitter - https://twitter.com/NateAlex6677
Chainfaces on Opensea - https://opensea.io/assets/chainfaces

NonFunGerbils - https://nonfungerbils.com
NonFunGerbils Twitter - https://twitter.com/nonfungerbils

ASCII was developed when every computer was an island and over 35 years before the first emoji appeared. In this episode, we will take a look at how Unicode and UTF-8 expanded ASCII for ubiquitous use while maintaining backwards compatibility.

In 1963, the American Standards Association released a standard defining an 8-bit method to represent letters, punctuation, and control characters. This episode examines ASCII so that we can begin to see how computers represent language.

As Agents Lauren, Haley and SP Rupert attempt to rewatch Iron Man 2 this week Hydra does their best to distract them by overloading Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. with copious amounts of Marvel news this week. But our experiences agents fought through the distractions, ticking off news stories one by one, a discussion about Marvel Cinematic Universe film rankings and Lauren’s research into Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fanfic (a.k.a. fan fiction couplings) to get to their insightful commentary of Iron Man 2 and how it really gave birth to what we know now as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The trio announce their Facebook challenge Iron Man 2 Bluray/DVD/Digital Download combo pack giveaway and talk about some listener feedback.

This Week’s Marvel News Rundown:

RUMOR: IS MARVEL CANCELING FANTASTIC FOUR TO SNUB FOX?

http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/rumor-is-marvel-canceling-fantastic-four-to-snub-fox/

http://io9.com/whats-really-going-on-with-marvel-fox-and-the-fantasti-1585366506

JOSH BROLIN TO PLAY THANOS IN GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (You go Agent K!)

http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/josh-brolin-to-play-thanos-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy/

Fun fact: when Coulson and Trip face-off with the Centipede soldiers, the voice on the old time noisemaker is co-creator Jed Whedon.

https://www.facebook.com/AgentsofShield/photos/a.421546951243492.98282.421182894613231/702618186469699/?type=1&theater

Phil Coulson is praying for a Time Travel episode with Agent Carter

http://marvel.com/news/tv/2014/5/16/22532/watch_clark_gregg_talk_about_marvels_agents_of_shield_season_2?linkId=8293303

Adam McKay Pulls Out of 'Ant-Man' Director Negotiations

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/adam-mckay-pulls-ant-man-708450

Ant-Man loses 2 directors in 1 week: Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball)

http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2014/06/ant-man-loses-yet-another-director/

Ant- Man director (for real): Peyton Reed

http://www.slashfilm.com/ant-man-peyton-reed-frontrunner/

Scott Derrickson (Deliver Us from Evil, Sinister) directing Dr. Strange

http://www.nerdist.com/2014/06/scott-derrickson-tapped-to-direct-marvels-doctor-strange/

Upcoming Marvel Movie Schedule

8/1/14 Guardians of the Galaxy

5/1/15 Avengers 2

7/17/15 Ant-Man

5/6/16 Captain America 3

7/8/16 Marvel Untitled - Dr. Strange?

Agents Of SHIELD Bluray/DVD release set for September 9th.

http://marvel.com/news/tv/2014/5/30/22606/bring_marvels_agents_of_shield_home_on_blu-ray_september_9

No Marvel One-Shot/Marvel Short on Captain America Winter Soldier Bluray/DVD release

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=53135

Captain America: The Winter Soldier," available early on Digital 3D and HD August 19, and on 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand September 9

http://marvel.com/news/movies/2014/5/30/22601/pre-order_marvels_captain_america_the_winter_soldier_on_blu-ray#ixzz33XcLMXiF

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. IS GOING LO-FI IN SEASON 2, ACCORDING TO CLARK GREGG

http://www.nerdist.com/2014/06/marvels-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-is-going-lo-fi-in-season-2-according-to-clark-gregg/

TRACE STAR-LORD'S LEGENDARY JOURNEY

http://marvel.com/news/comics/2014/6/5/22620/trace_star-lords_legendary_journey

SP’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:

1. Avengers

2. Iron Man

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

4. Iron Man 2

5. Thor: The Dark World

6. The Incredible Hulk

7. Captain America: The First Avenger

8. Iron Man 3

9. Thor

Lauren’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings

1. Avengers

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

3. Thor: The Dark World

4. Iron Man

5. Captain America: The First Avenger

6. Thor

7. Iron Man 2

8. Iron Man 3

9. The Incredible Hulk

Haley’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings

1. Avengers

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

3. Iron Man

4. Captain America: The First Avenger

5. Thor: The Dark World

6. Thor

7. Iron Man 3

8. Iron Man 2

9. The Incredible Hulk

Other goodies in this podcast include: Lauren’s experience watching the misery of others watching Twilight; Haley’s fantastic ideas for a Marvel Short for the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Bluray release; Lauren talks about Nick Furys Big Week, Haley gives a short Bus repair and maintenance update; SP geeks out about the aging audio recording gear shown in Iron Man 2; Haley tells us all about Tony Stark’s ASCII porn; Laurel announces her wish to do wire work like Scarlett Johansson; Stargate Pioneer flashbacks to the 80’s and Kool-aid commercials (http://youtu.be/oYS7aQY1iZI).

Join Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. next week as they break down the 2014 Comicpalooza’ Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel and run down the week in Marvel news. Contact Info: Please see www.legendsofshield.com for all of our contact information or call our voicemail line at 1-844-THE-BUS1 or 844-843-2871.

Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a Proud Member Of The Gonna Geek Network (gonnageek.com).

Standby for your S.H.I.E.L.D. debriefing---