12/1/2017 This past week marked the 75th anniversary of Casablanca, a movie ranked by The American Film Institute as the second greatest of all time (behind Citizen Kane). Casablanca endures for many reasons including its captivating screenplay, great pace, brilliant … Read more about Friday Blog- Casablanca and the Origins of The Rat Pack
Happy Thanksgiving From Black Dot Messaging
11/22/17 Changing the Subject at the Thanksgiving Table Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday however many times the table conversation can get just a tad tiresome. If you can’t take another minute of hearing about Uncle Benny’s bunion surgery or how your four-year-old niece is on track for the … Read more about Happy Thanksgiving From Black Dot Messaging
Friday Blog- Who’s Afraid of the Number 13?
October 13, 2017 Who’s afraid of the number 13? Well for starters, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was so afraid of the number 13 that he refused to travel on that day of the month and refused to sit with 13 people at a table. So much for the great man’s famous quotation “We have nothing … Read more about Friday Blog- Who’s Afraid of the Number 13?
Friday Blog- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kim Kardashian and Alfred Nobel walk into a bar
October 20, 2017 If you are looking for a reason to have that extra adult beverage on Saturday, October 21, you can raise a glass to recognize the birthdays of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kim Kardashian and Alfred Nobel. I decided several years ago to lead a Kardashian-free life and … Read more about Friday Blog- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kim Kardashian and Alfred Nobel walk into a bar
Friday Blog- Hats off to Big Vince and Will
November 3, 2017 Tomorrow, November 4 is a huge day in the Curtin family as it is the birthday of our twins, Sara and Lindsay. As much as I’d like to write about my daughters, I actually found two slightly more famous people who share their birthday: Will Rogers and Vincent … Read more about Friday Blog- Hats off to Big Vince and Will
Friday Blog- A Tale of Two Epics
November 17, 2017 A Tale of Two Epics Today marks the 48th anniversary of the premiere of “Ben-Hur”, one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time. Today is also the 37th anniversary of the release of one of Hollywood’s most denigrated bombs, “Heaven’s Gate”. What does this … Read more about Friday Blog- A Tale of Two Epics
Friday Blog- Paying Tribute to our Vets
November 10, 2017 Paying Tribute to our Vets The most important thing that any of us can do this weekend is reach out and thank a veteran for his or her service. I always make it a point to visit or speak with my former neighbor, Jim Kenefick on Veterans Day. For the first fifteen years that I … Read more about Friday Blog- Paying Tribute to our Vets
Energy Companies Failing the Cyber Security Challenge
Energy Companies Failing the Cyber Security Challenge By Ted Curtin October 26, 2017 One of the most appealing and easiest industries for cyber criminals to penetrate is the public utilities sector. Recent studies about the cyber hacking of public utilities are extremely concerning: • Homeland … Read more about Energy Companies Failing the Cyber Security Challenge
Why printed sales collateral rocks
I have always hated fax machines. Even on its best day (the day that I received my first sales contract over the kludgy contraption) the FAX is not what one would call elegant technology. The Fax’s shortcomings range from unsolvable paper jams to maddening paper outages. The technology also led to … Read more about Why printed sales collateral rocks
Finding the perfect customer
I was recently discussing the launch of my new company, Black Dot Messaging with Lisa Alpert, owner of the innovative web services company, web 360. Lisa asked me how I plan to find clients for Black Dot. I really didn’t have a good answer. I have scores of friends in the high- tech industry, not to … Read more about Finding the perfect customer
The last step in the sales process
A few years ago, I was working as a product marketing manager for a large enterprise computing company. My role was to champion our ground -breaking data protection software. I was asked to sit in on a customer briefing for a casino that already used several my company’s hardware and software … Read more about The last step in the sales process
Why a future-ready network is essential for the IoT
Why a future-ready network is essential for the IoT Over the past few years, IT professionals have been asked to meet the challenges posed by a number of groundbreaking technological trends, including big data, virtualization, and BYOD. Lurking around the corner for most organizations are the … Read more about Why a future-ready network is essential for the IoT