Meet the new year, same as the old year? I guess time will tell.

Finally! – Thanks to my friend Craig for reminding me that Adobe Flash is now no longer supported and the software giant urges you to uninstall it from your computer. Flash was/is a technology for displaying content on the Web. It was revolutionary when it first came out and was far from perfect, including the high ability for it to be hacked. But that doesn’t mean it still isn’t out there on Web sites – including corporate Intranets. If what I said is all a blur to you, don’t worry, but if you can’t load a restaurant menu online someday then now you may know why.

Resolution Breakdown – Where paper calendars to change have mostly gone away, making resolutions at the beginning of the new year is still common for many people. Not for me, but if for you, this post by Dan Rockwell on rethinking how you structure resolutions is very insightful. I have been a fan of Rockwell and his blog Leadership Freak for years, and while you’re there check his other to-the-point and insightful writings.

Destiny – I saw a reference online to someone being called an umareli. Who knew my people had a term for what I will eventually be, if I am not partially there already.

Celtics Lost – I was sad to hear that Boston Celtics legendary player, coach and executive KC Green died this week. In reading this I also learned that another similar legend, Tommy Heinsohn, died earlier last year. One thing I will always remember about Green was when, despite his greatness, he was fired by the team when Rick Pitino was hired as coach in the late 90’s. When asked to comment on his firing, he quoted none other than Kermit the Frog saying, “it's not easy being green.” This tweet from another Celtics legend Bill Russell, shows him and Green the last time they got together.

More Of Not If But When – Synthetic identity theft is a thing- . So be diligent out there my friends.

RumChata is made in Wisconsin – Who knew? Clearly I didn’t, did you?

RumContrast – If you check out the RumChata site linked above and scroll down to the bottom, you’ll notice there’s a switch to view the site in “high contrast mode.” I’ve never seen this on a site before – I have seen similar switches to see sites in “dark mode” but this is one I will think about the next time I am working on a redesign.

Symphony of Good Design – Speaking of design, my friend Stefanos wrote a post the other day on LinkedIn comparing good design with music and had my mind not been on vacation I would have engaged with him more on it. Shortly after reading I was subjected to a new and poor user experience, the checkout for the US Postal Service’s Click-N-Ship service.

Another Agile Anniversary – In February there’ll be a live webinar for the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Agile Manifesto. What is that? First you can read the Agile Manifesto here. The signing happened at a gathering of the leaders of agile software development frameworks where they agreed to base principles on what is agile, paving the way for both more people using agile to create software and for many more to resist it.

Alone Together – I just listened to Randy Streu’s podcast mini-series Alone Together which is 4 short monologues recorded back in the late summer. As he only told me about them a few weeks ago I don’t feel bad that I missed it. Of course nobody wants to rehash 2020, but if you like well-written and spoken entertainment, it’s a good use of less than a half hour.

Exclusive Showing – Last week my family and I went to the movies, and where we have gone once or twice since last spring, this was the first time we paid “full price” for tickets, as most other showings were only $1 or some ridiculously low price. Perhaps it was all going on, or it was because we saw Croods 2, but we were the only ones in the theatre. As soon as we got home I got an email from Marcus Theatres, where we saw the film, promoting that you can rent a theatre for a private showing... which was like we just did?

I feel bad for Marcus Corp. – they are a Wisconsin-based company that runs quality movie theatres and manages hotels, and are benefactors to the communities they served. Throughout the pandemic their business has been devastated. They are one of the good ones I hope thrives again soon.

Happy Birthday TJ!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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It was 14 years ago today that I fulfilled a singular goal – to launch a blog site before the end of that year 2006. I did so with my first post titled “hello world” in homage to the typical phrase a programmer would display when working in a new computer language. I did it. Goal achieved. Yea me!

It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I wrote my first “real” post on the topic of giving a job reference to a recruiter and the blog took flight from there. Sure, there were gaps and restarts, and we arrive here today with this being the 947th post.

Over the years, but not every year, I wrote similar anniversary posts like this one, as I believe such milestones should be celebrated. If you’re so inclined, you can find links to them all on the Archives page.

In closing there’s not much to deconstruct, overanalyze or predict. I have been working on much more thoughtful posts as compared to at least what’s come out over the last month. I am looking forward to those, as well as whatever else comes to mind to keep with the theme here of striking the iron while it is hot.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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‘Tis the season to bring out the best in people, as we close out the year with gift giving and gratitude to all who were part of our lives the previous dozen months. ‘Tis also the season for the exact opposite of that, which is the tale told in the book A Christmas Caroline by Kyle Smith.

This story is a modern take on the holiday classic A Christmas Carol. Here, our protagonist is Caroline, an editor for a fashion magazine in New York City who works hard at being beautiful and making sure everyone knows this. As you might guess, she isn’t exactly a nice person. After being fired after nearly burning down her office after insulting her new boss, Caroline is taken through the traditional Christmases past, present and future and in the end everything works out and then some.

Where my takeaways from fiction are not usually the same as their non-counterpart, I have a few after reading this story.

And then some – Caroline’s journey over Christmas is not just a modernized version of Charles Dickens’ tale, as it has some unique twists and contemporary story lines that may resonate more with readers today. Don’t get me wrong, I love the “original” and have read it and seen it over the years on stage and screen. However accounting in the 1800’s doesn’t quite grab someone as much as 2000’s work and life in New York City.

Holiday struggles – From the “first” story where Mary and Joseph couldn’t find a room in an inn and had to settle for a barn, to Caroline’s realizing there’s more to being a member of society than herself, what’s a Christmas story without struggle? If there is such a story, my guess is I wouldn’t want to read it.

After rereading The Littlest Snowman I looked to find another Christmas story that would be better suited to an older reader, and found A Christmas Caroline. I was drawn to it because of its story, and that its author Kyle Smith graduated from my high school a year before me. Though we were both on our school’s team for a local high school TV quiz show, I doubt he remembers me. Smith has written another book that inspired a TV show and is a columnist for the New York Post and National Review. Go Spartans!

Though the holidays are drawing to a close, I recommend picking up a copy of A Christmas Caroline. It has sharp wit on just about every page and was a nice diversion from holiday shopping. As for what I am going to do with my copy, it’s on its way to my cousin, who I know will enjoy it especially the references to the Big Apple.

Yes, click on this or any link in this post and I earn a few cents if you buy the book.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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I was fairly successful in disconnecting somewhat from work this past week, allowing me to observe some of the finer points of life in the midst of holiday planning. For example, I realized the New England Patriots are not in the NFL postseason for the first time since I became a father, all while discovering a taste for RumChata Peppermint Bark.

It’s The Non-Thought That Counts – As emails streamed into my personal and work inboxes from vendors over the past weeks with holiday greetings, few really stood out. The ones that did, however, were those I did not get.

Make Computers Great Again – Over time I have posted many links and videos here on The Hot Iron from the Nielsen Norman Group, a global user experience consulting firm. Why I post a lot of them is because I agree so much with what they pontificate –technology in itself is great, but if you can’t use it, what good is it? In a year-end video, their co-founder Jakob Nielsen takes a stand that we should finally focus on UX, and take the time to make it work. I couldn’t agree more!

Not Your Average Legal Transaction – Legal Sea Foods, the iconic and delicious Boston-based seafood restaurant chain is being sold by owner Roger Berkowitz to a larger restaurant group, while retaining the brand for his online business. The reason? Surprise – the pandemic.

Legal is a success story, providing a great and tasty dining experience that doesn’t come cheap, but is well worth it. Berkowitz is also a success story, taking a family business to international fame, with the reputation for being a good and generous person. Years ago when I was president of the Boston Jaycees I wrote him a letter, among others, thanking for support of the Jaycees and Legal sponsoring our awards program. He then wrote back a personal note to me thanking the Jaycees for all we do in the community! I would always remember than when slurping oysters at one of his locations whenever I would get back to Boston. A gift from Legal’s online shop is the perfect gift for your favorite hard-to-shop-for blogger.

Not Your Average Baseball Transaction – In other business news, a trio of local businesspeople have acquired the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Fond du Lac Dock Spiders baseball teams, both teams local to me here in northeast Wisconsin. Previously both were owned by a non-profit organization. The reason? Surprise – see the reason for the Legal Sea Foods sale. I see this as a good thing – local people will want to keep the team local and viable, a win for everyone.

What Also Comes With Vaccines – Where the news has been flowing on the newly-released COVID-19 vaccines with sparse mention of the side effects from taking them, there has been little to no coverage of how injuries from this new or any other vaccine are handled. My favorite local radio show, Fresh Take on WHBY, last week covered it, and host Josh Dukelow had an attorney on who argues cases in front of the federal vaccine court. Didn’t know there was such a thing? Or how it works and how the COVID-19 vaccines are handled different from other vaccines? Then give a listen to this informative 17-minute interview and be informed as many are completely unaware of all of this.

Gimme an H for Access – As I perused the Web this week something caught my eye – an hCaptcha prompt on a Web site form. As I have talked about adding Google reCAPTCHA to The Hot Iron before, I’d never seen hCaptcha before. Looking into it, it’s an alternative to the Big Tech giant’s offering, and has an, um, interesting twist on how hCaptcha handles Web Accessibility. Despite this cumbersome method it is a choice nonetheless and one I am looking into more.

Barbie is from Wisconsin –- Who knew? Clearly I didn’t, did you?

Finally Coming Back – Coming to America 2 has been made – finally – and is coming out on Amazon Prime in the spring. Watch the preview and try telling me Eddie Murphy has aged since the first one, because he hasn’t.

A Basic Mobile Layer – Where the Android operating system for mobile phones was developed by Google, many people don’t realize at its base is an open source development project. GrapheneOS is a variant (or fork) of it, which provides a similar user experience with a focus on security and privacy that its commercial kin does not. Installing GrapheneOS on a device isn’t something the average person can do, and though I personally am all-in on iPhones it is something I am looking into due to the inherent nature of most mobile tech to track and sell your information.

Duo Methods to Learn – When searching more on the new voices in the Duolingo language app, I found you can actually take language lessons using a standard Web browser – all along I have only been using its mobile app. One difference is you cannot earn as many points from practicing completed lessons. However the ease of typing on a real keyboard quickly negated that.

Christmas Serendipity – A year ago my family spent the week in Orlando, Florida, and Christmas Eve at Disney Hollywood Studios. Sadly the majority of the holiday festivities there wrapped up days before our arrival, but there were still some decorations out and our kiddos got to see Santa. The picture above is of a wreath hung on an out-of-the-way wall near rest rooms, and I was compelled to capture this consequential decoration.

Rest in power Mike, and I will always remember oysters and beers in Panama City Beach.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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To all reading this who believe in the birth of Jesus Christ or simply acknowledge the national holiday, Merry Christmas! To everyone else, Happy Friday!

My gift to all of you would be a big hug and a drink of an adult beverage of choice. All I would want from anyone is the same, preferably a brown liquid aged in oak barrels in Kentucky or Scotland. However I realize such a gift exchange may be in direct violation of local or national executive orders.

A New Symbol of the Season

One day my oldest kiddo suggested we get a dumpster fire ornament for our Christmas tree. When I searched Amazon I found a plethora of them, in all ways shapes and materials, and I decided on this laser-cut wood design. I only hope in the future the words of Bruce Springsteen in the song Rosalita will apply, “someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.”

I hope you all have the merriest Christmas as you possibly can have!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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