What the Smartphone-Based Telescope Pointing Technology Does to Make Astronomy Easier:

The big deal is that smartphone technology makes finding elusive planets, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies relatively easy, even for beginners. Even advanced telescope users will be amazed at how quickly they can locate objects in the sky.

The smartphone system leverages the technology in your smartphone to create an advanced guidance system without you needing to pay for the electronics your phone already has. The question is, “Why didn’t anyone think of this before?”

How it works: The telescope has a cradle for your smartphone that allows you to use your smartphone to find objects in the sky quickly and easily. You choose an object, asking the app for suggestions if you wish. Then, the app on your phone tells you which direction to push the telescope.

One appeal is that astronomy is now somewhat gamified. Family members, even the youngest ones, can experience the excitement of moving around the telescope until the circle on the screen shows that the user has successfully completed the process. Looking into the eyepiece is the reward for the fun game.

There is no need to hunt for galaxies and nebulas from a star chart. The telescope app takes you on a tour by showing you which way to point the telescope.

This is stargazing made easy. If you like new technologies, enjoy gadgets, or want to create more family experiences combined with education, investing in a telescope with this smartphone-based technology for you or someone in your family, especially a young person, is worth considering. Not everyone’s interested in investing in a telescope. At the bottom of this article are ideas for no charge resources to enjoy astronomy.

Choosing Your Family Telescope with the SmartPhone Tech:

After learning about this game-changing technology, you might decide to invest in a new family telescope as an experiment. The following sample thought process might benefit you as you choose a telescope.

For this to make sense, know that traditional guided telescopes tended to be large and heavy. Cats loved running out the open door while their people took large telescopes outside. After adjusting the tripod’s legs to ensure the telescope was level, owners would need a compass, bubble level, two bright stars, and a cumbersome controller that asked for the date, time, and the nearest city. Then, they would need to align the mirrors. The entire process took around 30 minutes if everything went well.

Hence, one of your goals for the new telescope might be a “quick and easy” setup, so you might choose a refractor with no mirrors. In their defense, mirrored telescopes are much more economical if you opt for larger openings that gather more light. However, they require the extra step of aligning the mirrors to make celestial objects look sharp and crisp each night. And a diagonal mirror in the tube blocks some of the light from the heavens.

Another goal is to have a very portable telescope. Many people find that a refracting telescope with a 4-inch opening is a good balance to gather a reasonable amount of light while still being easy to carry in and out of the house and fit into a vehicle. Plenty of brighter objects are visible in a 4-inch telescope, but I caution you against going smaller. A 4” scope gathers almost twice as much light as a 3” scope since Pi r squared. If you go larger, consider the possibility that the larger the scope you choose, the less often it will be carried outside and set up.

Of course, you don’t want to invest too much money in case your family isn’t captivated by the new experience. Perhaps compare the amount to what a large amusement park would charge your family for a one-day pass. Hopefully, the telescope will provide years of enjoyment compared to one day. Saving up first in a dedicated telescope fund can help build excitement in family members.

Here’s the setup process for the telescope described above:

1. Carry the lightweight telescope to your yard.
2. Center your smartphone’s camera over a mirror on the phone cradle on the telescope.
3. Open the guidance app on your phone and follow the quick alignment process.

The process is so quick and easy that if a tree or streetlight is in the way of what you want to see, you can pick up the telescope and move it to have an unobstructed view. Re-aligning the telescope and the app takes only a few minutes after you’ve practiced.

Unlike the simple telescope guidance system described here, which amounts to you pushing the telescope, the primary advantage of more expensive motorized guidance systems is that most will track and stay on a star as the earth turns. That’s essential if you’re performing serious astrophotography, but that’s an entirely different sport. Tracking is helpful, too, even for families, since objects stay centered in the eyepiece. But this message is for families who want to invest less money and enjoy great benefits. The smartphone guidance technology is a massive boost in less expensive models that allow for the easy location of so many celestial objects.

Benefits to Your Family:

You might be amazed how many beneficial outcomes for you and your family can result from investing in a telescope with smartphone guidance technology.

Enjoyment: The gamified process of finding celestial objects is fun, and the reward is the view of the object in the eyepiece

Reduced screen time: If your family is interested in astronomy enough to postpone other screen time, it will be a welcome surprise. One smartphone will be tied up using the telescope, and another might sometimes be attached to the eyepiece to take pictures.

Family quality time: Astronomy provides another avenue to enjoy quality family time. Combine observing sessions with cookouts, visits from relatives, and other occasions. It’s another way to bust out of an evening humdrum.

More short trips: If you live in an area with lots of light pollution, know that the moon, some planets, and bright stars are still beautiful to look at from home. You’ll likely be able to see many satellites as bright points of light moving quickly across the sky, especially soon after nightfall. After your family enjoys those, you’ll have a great reason to drive to darker skies to see distant nebulas and galaxies. A small-sized telescope is relatively easy to transport.

Increased interest in science: With so many events related to space, rockets, satellites, the moon, and Mars, this is a natural time to interest your family in astronomy. Most launches are streamed live online. Maybe you have a dreamer interested in going to Mars. Some planetarium shows are spectacular if you’re fortunate to be within driving distance. Telescopes outside the Earth’s atmosphere get extremely clear views, like the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope, and many of the pictures they’ve taken are available on the web to help fascinate family members.

Help develop math and science skills: Astronomy is also an opportunity to include math education. Magnification is determined by taking the telescope’s focal length and dividing that by the eyepiece’s focal length. A favorite is a 12 mm eyepiece in a telescope with a 660mm focal length. 660 divided by 12 yields 55 magnification. You could have a family activity in which you imagine the sun is the size of a basketball and then calculate the diameter and distance of the planets, nearby stars, etc. There are many homeschool guides that you can use even if you don’t homeschool.

Achieving goals: You and your family can set goals and challenges to find objects. For example, some people set a goal of finding a specific number of Messier objects. The Astronomical League offers an award for people who view 70 and another for people who find all Messier objects. The smartphone-based telescope-aiming technology makes the process exponentially easier than before. In the 1700s, astronomer Charles Messier was looking for comets and cataloged 110 objects that weren’t comets. The objects are labeled M1 through M110. Viewing M42, the Orion Nebula, should be on your winter nighttime list (or early on summer mornings).

An even higher appreciation for nature’s beauty: Many people feel awe when looking into space. As family members become engrossed in astronomy, they might consider investing in additional equipment to enhance the experience. One new accessory would be a low-power eyepiece with a wider field of view, dramatically increasing the experience of feeling more immersed in the stars.

Conveying the vastness of the universe: When your family members notice that objects eventually drift out of view and they need to adjust it slightly, they understand that our planet turns on its axis every 24 hours. Some of the light they see from distant objects has traveled millions of years to reach their eyes. Those are some old photons; the only purpose was to land in their eyes! The vastness of space is humbling, to say the least.

Building patience: Patience can reach new levels as family members learn that sometimes, careful small adjustments in aiming or focus produce fabulous results.

Increased willpower: Your family might get up before sunrise to see Jupiter, Mars, and other objects their phone will help them find. When they get up at 4am on their own, it is a testament to how enthralled they are in outer space.

Looking forward to celestial events: The earth is constantly spinning and orbiting, so the sky changes from season to season. Planets go through phases like our moon does. Imagine seeing a “quarter Venus.”  Jupiter’s moons appear as tiny stars in a line near Jupiter, and they’re moving night to night. Sometimes celestial objects appear to be very close together, in conjunction, from the earth’s perspective on different days and years.  Meteor showers happen, and comets come by periodically. Future events provide experiences to look forward to.

Smartphone photography: Adapters connect smartphones to an eyepiece to facilitate picture-taking. Astronomy smartphone camera apps are designed to take pictures through a telescope. You might find that a Bluetooth shutter release would be good, too, to avoid shaking the telescope to take the picture.

Increased interest in astronomy: A light, less expensive scope can launch your family’s enthusiasm for astronomy. Family members might develop more interest in discovering more.  Perhaps your family lives within traveling distance of an observatory that offers public viewing, museums with collections related to space, and other community resources such as astronomy clubs.

Design and building: You or your family might someday hone their drafting and woodworking skills by designing and making a telescope. There are plans and kits for telescopes.

Next Saturday:

If you’re not ready to buy a telescope or dust off your existing one, September 14, Saturday night, is “International Observe the Moon” night. You’ll likely easily find events in your area where astronomers set up telescopes for public viewing.

Conclusion:

While outside viewing with the telescope, your youngsters might ask, “Do you suppose one of those stars we can see in our telescope has a planet where a family is looking at us at the same time we’re looking at them?”

Perhaps you’ll feel inspired to explore the night sky more than ever before with your loved ones. Happy stargazing!

If you’re inspired to start or resume your stargazing journey, here are some resources that could be helpful to you and your family’s astronomical adventures:

Resources for Budding Astronomers

Note: I’m sharing the following specific details and recommendations in case they will help you. I have no affiliation with nor receive any compensation for any of the mentioned products or companies. The only incentive is to help you during your and your family’s stargazing journey. I encourage you to explore other options that suit your and your family’s needs.

Educational Materials

• Websites: astroleague dot org is a great example calendar of events and a quarterly magazine
• YouTube Channel: John A. Read’s astronomy videos
• Book Recommendation: “50 Things to See with a Small Telescope” by John A. Read. The book includes helpful diagrams of what to expect through your telescope.
• Others: As you look up that video and book, you’ll see myriads of other videos and books to explore. Your public library likely has many resources for the asking.

Telescope

• Model: Celestron Star Sense Explorer DX 102AZ
  • 4-inch (102mm) refractor
  • Includes smartphone mount for the Star Sense app (iPhone/Android compatible)
• Tip: Be cautious of discounted models without anti-reflection coatings
• Soon: Other companies will likely offer the same aiming technology
• Pre-owned: Keep your eyes on eBay, Craig’s List, and similar online marketplaces for lightly used telescopes and accessories. Celestron Star Sense has been around long enough that there are likely pre-owned options. Check the seller’s reviews or inspect the telescope before paying for it.

No Charge

• Free: There are many ways to enjoy astronomy, some of which don’t require purchasing anything, such as attending local stargazing events or using smartphone apps to identify constellations.
• NASA dot gov lists events, including local events
• Online: There are many online resources that are full of information on astronomy and telescopes.

Accessories

• Eyepiece Upgrade Option: A low-power eyepiece with a wide lens at the opening provides a superior field of view compared to the standard ones with the telescope. A wide field of view means you feel like your “window” is much larger. Some eyepieces have longer eye relief, making them better for people with glasses. You can try the stock eyepieces with the telescope to get an idea of what magnifications you prefer before investing in more expensive eyepieces. For example, with the stock eyepieces that come with the telescope above as examples, you might enjoy 66x magnification with the 10mm eyepiece most of the time and use the 5mm eyepiece for 130x magnification to zoom in on planets and the moon. Calculate magnification = the telescope’s Focal length divided by the eyepiece’s focal length. For example, a 12mm eyepiece with a wide field of view used in the above telescope, which has a 660 mm focal length, could provide an impressive and more immersive experience. If you decide to go for high magnification, know that, typically, 60 power per inch aperture is the maximum usefulness, up to 300 maximum. With high magnifications, objects only get blurrier and more challenging to locate. Astronomy stores often allow you to call or email and ask for advice about which eyepieces to choose. Tell them what kind of telescope you have, if people in your family wear glasses and any other information you have.
• Barlow Lenses: Extension tubes with lenses that affect the magnification of your existing eyepieces, such as doubling the power. This can reduce the need for many eyepieces since each eyepiece can effectively work as two magnifications, one magnification with and one without the Barlow inserted.
• Parfocal Eyepieces: Some brands of eyepieces advertise that they maintain focus when switching between different magnifications. This concept is appealing since it reduces the need to refocus when changing eyepieces.
• Smartphone Mounts: Be sure not to get too heavy a smartphone adapter that attaches to the eyepiece to take pictures. You might find that you need to move the telescope tube forward on the mounting rail to compensate for the smartphone’s weight.

Guidance

• Online Forums: There are many special interest groups.
• Clubs: You can also visit your local astronomy club.
• Free Help: I read good things about free advice and recommendations from specialists at, in alphabetical order, Agena Astro, B&H Photo, Highpoint Scientific, and others. Explore options to find a source of great advice.

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AI’s Growing Role in Controlling Devices:

As AI starts entering more workplaces, it is crucial to recognize that AI will become more interconnected with hardware devices in your organization. You might want AI to control room lighting and air conditioning to make it voice-controlled or adapt to the changing activities in the room. AI can also control massive machinery, including robots and high-powered lasers for cutting steel. We’ll all be surprised at how many real-world tangible controls AI can assist. For AI to control devices, computers must drive the machines. Threat actors could exploit weaknesses to disrupt companies, damage equipment, cause expensive delays, and worse.

Machines Driven by Computers, Including Those Running AI and Traditional Computer Control Systems, Introduce a Security Threat:

As AI becomes integral to your operations, remember: Everything from climate control and identity detection to robots and laser cutters hinges on computer systems. AI’s potential is vast, and its growing adoption means more devices linked to our networks.

However, this surge in AI adoption produces an often-overlooked danger that all organizations with industrial controls must consider. The computer systems hosting your AI and traditional solutions can become obsolete faster than the devices they control. Neglecting to update operating systems and using other security controls exposes your organization to cybersecurity threats. While devices might seem to run smoothly, the escalating sophistication of cyber attackers can’t be underestimated.

Executives: Unchain Your IT Pros from the Security Limitations:

Is your IT Team prohibited from applying critical cybersecurity updates to operating systems or upgrading to supported operating systems on workstations that control instruments, lasers, robots, and other machinery? If they are, those workstations pose a security threat to your organization.

Executives must understand that using workstations with old operating systems or without the most recent critical security updates is a significant security risk. In some cases, executives must ask the IT Team if they have encountered this situation. Sometimes, executives are inclined to delegate decision-making to the IT Pros. Instead, the IT team must alert the executives of the pros, cons, and expenses. The executives need to decide if it makes sense to pay to upgrade the applications that control robotics, manufacturing, or other equipment on a network.

Three Definitions:

In case nobody’s explained these terms, it is essential to differentiate between upgrades and updates:

1. Operating System Upgrades: An example is upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Newer operating systems often have more security features. Microsoft and Apple will naturally be tempted to assign their best and brightest people to develop and update the newest operating systems, so they eventually drop support for old operating systems. Unsupported operating systems are designated EOL (End of Life.) Using an operating system after it is no longer supported is a significant security risk.
2. Operating System Updates, a.k.a. Patches: Security updates are rated by the severity of the security risk and how likely an attacker will exploit the weakness. Critical security updates are the most important to apply. Staying up to date with patches can be a significant struggle in many situations.
3. Application Upgrades: Upgrades to new versions of the software that controls devices such as CNC machines, robotics, lasers, laboratory equipment, instruments, or any other hardware that connects to a computer.

The Shocking Reality:

Some applications that control devices may prohibit operating system upgrades and security patches. The applications might break if the IT team deploys the patches or upgrades the operating systems. Sadly, as reckless as it seems, some companies that create applications to control machinery will no longer provide technical support to your IT team if the operating system on the workstations is upgraded or has security patches. Their software developers may be too busy to create flexible, secure applications and are forced to focus strictly on functionality.

Depending on the application vendor, paying for an upgraded version of a controller application can be very expensive. Fortunately, sometimes, the upgrade charge is reasonable or free. Sometimes, no upgrade is available to permit operating system upgrades or critical security updates.

Another consideration is the risk that upgrading might interrupt manufacturing flow if the upgrading process requires extensive troubleshooting or potentially interrupt production. When equipment operates 24/7, the IT Team is under more pressure since there is no downtime for maintenance.

If the new application’s user interface significantly differs, shop floor personnel might require additional training. Inadequate training can lead to costly mistakes and safety issues. Scheduling training will affect the timing of deploying the new applications.

So, as you can see, when robotics, scientific instruments, lasers, manufacturing, or other equipment works just fine, upgrading the application offers no valuable benefits, and the IT team is busy, we find during audits and security assessments that many manufacturing organizations have outdated operating systems or need critical cybersecurity updates.

The organization’s executives might accept the risk, especially if compensating controls are in place.

Alternative Tactics Increase Security:

Using compensating controls in networks is essential because systems sometimes have significant vulnerabilities before updates are released or installed. Compensating controls are even more essential to help protect workstations if patches are missing.

Compensating controls include, and are not limited to, isolating the machines that control robotics, manufacturing equipment and scientific instruments on a separate network away from your network. That separate network must have limited connectivity to only allow traffic to and from the specific devices necessary and limit the kind of data and how it traverses the network to reduce the attack surface and make it more difficult for a malicious program or third party to access that instance or device. I sometimes refer to this tactic in keynote presentations as creating filtered subnets.

Another compensating control is to harden the unpatched or EOL machines by removing all applications except those essential for the equipment’s operation. Examples of applications that must be removed include browsers and email clients since they are common vectors for successful attacks. If the employees operating those devices require internet and email access, consider adding a separate workstation that is patchable for email and web access.

EDR/XDR (Endpoint Detection and Response / Extended Detection and Response) technology is another helpful control. It involves installing a small program called an agent on each computer. The EDR/XDR agent monitors the system’s software, services, and behavior for any signs that threat actors might have already compromised the computer. If the EDR/XDR tool detects an IoC (Indicator of Compromise), it can respond by interrupting the process. When tuned to avoid false alarms, the best response is to allow the agent to effectively quarantine the workstation from the rest of the network until the IT team can investigate. This helps prevent attackers from spreading to more hosts.

However, it is common for IT teams to succumb to the danger of relying too heavily on EDR/XDR to protect their organization and, therefore, neglect implementing other industry best practices to protect systems. Threat actors often set up EDR/XDR tools on their test networks to find ways to circumvent the protections. So, even if your EDR/XDR tool says everything is safe, it doesn’t necessarily mean threat actors aren’t active in your network.

To combat this, companies commonly conduct yearly red-team exercises, performed by exceptionally skilled IT teams that regularly perform these exercises and know the tricks and practices real-world threat actors use. These exercises are designed to test the effectiveness of the detection and response process. These exercises look for weaknesses in EDR/XDR and help keep the IT team in practice, ensuring they’re better prepared in the case of an attack.

Depending on your budget, if $20/user/month for EDR/XDR is not feasible, know that the other cybersecurity controls in this article, such as careful hardening and segmentation with very restrictive filtering, are much less expensive than EDR/XDR and have little if any ongoing expense. I don’t want to diminish the usefulness of EDR/XDR tools. If you are on a tight budget, unless your cybersecurity policy requires EDR/XDR, you might choose to focus on other compensating controls.

The IT Team must alert the executives about the expense of upgrading applications, isolating the shop floor instances on a separate network, deploying an additional network for web and email access, training users and operators, implementing EDR/XDR tools, and other expenses. Include time estimates along with financial estimates. Then, the executives can make an informed decision, and IT can follow their instructions and ask for support as necessary.

Step-by-Step Guidance for IT Teams:

Acknowledge that it can be a significant challenge and sometimes practically impossible to ensure that all workstations run with a current OS and that all critical security updates are applied. But keep applying updates if possible.

Inform your executives whether your team has time to make these changes. IT teams must alert executives of the time and expense involved. The executives will have options such as adding more IT professionals to augment the team, postponing other projects, or accepting the risk of continuing with unpatched systems or EOL OSs with the compensating controls listed below.

Explore all technical, training, and expense changes before upgrading applications.

Ask your supervisor to delegate the price checking to someone outside the IT department if feasible. Your IT team is very busy, so checking the prices might cause the upgrade to be delayed. It can be time-consuming to check with the robotic, manufacturing, and scientific equipment vendors to find the pricing for upgrades to their applications that control machinery.

Investigate more than the pricing. Ask about changes in the upgraded applications affecting the user interface and user experience. Ideally, the upgraded application software operates similarly and has the same interface. Unfortunately, some manufacturers significantly change the user experience when they upgrade their applications.

If users will need training, identify a trainer.

Determine how scheduling the training will affect the deployment timing.

Involve executives in decision-making and send them regular reports about the project’s progress.

Implement compensating controls on the workstations because of the high cybersecurity risk of missing critical patches or using EOL OSs. Compensating controls aren’t a replacement for missing patches, but the controls can help tremendously.

Remember that attackers can exploit security risks long before they are discovered. Only when the vulnerability is discovered will the operating system and application developers know to create or release patches to seal that security hole. Refrain from relying on patches as your sole security control for application software and operating systems.

Strongly consider isolating shop floor machines on a separate subnet, especially those you are prohibited from patching and those using EOL OSs. Isolate that subnet completely with an air gap or utilize aggressive filtering at the switch or router to limit traffic to only the required source, destination, ports, and protocols.

Additionally, hardening the workstations against attacks is strongly recommended.

Remove or restrict web and email access. This is one of the most effective ways to harden workstations, as web and email are two of the most common vectors for malware.

If the workers at those devices need access to the web and email, consider deploying a separate workstation to their station they can use for web and email. If feasible, that workstation should not be on the shop floor network. If you put those workstations on the equipment network, you would need to allow email and web traffic, and modifying access control lists to allow more sources, destinations, ports, and protocols can significantly reduce the security you would otherwise introduce to the equipment control network. Strive to exclude TCP ports 80 and 443 on the AI device network while allowing full functionality of the AI and other computer-controlled devices.

Be sure you limit the sources of inbound and destinations of outbound network traffic to the absolute minimum. If you need to run new cables to facilitate the additional workstations for web and email at the workers’ stations, then running new cables might be a significant investment. Deploying a WiFi network for email and web access might be more economical. Keep the key secret. If you share the WiFi password, workers might connect other devices to the equipment network and compromise security. Completely blocking email and web access and access to external IP addresses will hamper the workers on the manufacturing network from exposing the hosts to many threats.

Strongly consider using EDR/XDR tools, along with the Red Team Exercises, to help ensure the configurations’ effectiveness and allow your IT team to prepare for actual emergencies.

Summary:

Protect workstations that control hardware such as robotics, pharmaceuticals, lasers, and scientific instruments, regardless of whether they utilize AI. This helps ensure the safety and operability of your systems, protecting your organization and workers.

Subscribe to maximize your executive potential with Foster Institute’s E-Savvy Newsletter, packed with practical IT security solutions and actionable strategies for success: https://fosterinstitute.com/e-savvy-newsletter/

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Considerations for Workplace Operations

Loss of Electricity: Without power, most businesses would experience an immediate halt in operations. This affects everything from lighting to the operation of computers and machinery. Companies that do not have backup power sources might be unable to continue any form of production or service delivery.

Water Supply Disruption: The loss of water would impact sanitary conditions and halt processes that require water, affecting sectors like manufacturing, food and beverage, and healthcare services. It also raises serious concerns for employee welfare at workplaces.

Natural Gas Outage: For companies relying on natural gas for heating or as a part of their production process, a disruption would halt operations and affect the heating and comfort of work environments, especially in colder climates.

Communication Breakdown: The loss of phone and cell services would severely disrupt communication, both internally among staff and externally with clients, suppliers, and partners. This could lead to breakdowns in coordination, missed opportunities, and a drop in customer service quality.

Shipping and Logistics Challenges: The inability of shipping companies to operate would disrupt supply chains, leading to shortages of materials and products. This would cascade, causing production delays and potentially leading to financial losses.

Food Service Disruptions: If restaurants and food services cannot operate, it could affect food availability for employees, especially for businesses that rely on nearby food services for staff meals.

Manufacturing Disruptions: Manufacturing operations would be severely impacted, especially those reliant on continuous processes. This could lead to significant financial losses and contractual penalties.

Financial Impact: The cumulative effect of these disruptions would be substantial financial losses due to halted operations, spoiled goods, contractual penalties, and loss of business opportunities.

Unusable Work Environment: Inability to see or work due to power outages, coupled with extreme hot or cold conditions, would affect productivity.

Employee Safety and Morale: The safety and morale of employees would be significantly affected. Companies may face challenges in maintaining workforce engagement and productivity during such crises.

Employee Prioritization of Family Needs: With schools closing and potential dangers at home, employees would naturally prioritize the safety and well-being of their families. This would result in increased absenteeism and a significant decrease in workforce availability.

Dependency on External Aid: Companies would be heavily reliant on external assistance, whether from government aid, emergency services, or community support, to navigate through the crisis.

Long-Term Recovery Challenges: Even after services are restored, businesses would face challenges in resuming operations, managing backlogs, and dealing with the financial and operational aftermath.

Challenges You and Your Employees May Face in Personal Life

And just as important, how will you support your workers as they face the challenges at home with their immediate and extended families? How will you take care of your family? Here are some of the challenges that company leaders can consider to help employee well-being:

Food Supply Issues: The lack of electricity would lead to food spoilage at stores and homes, creating a food scarcity crisis. Companies should consider ways to support their employees with necessities in such scenarios.

Cooking and Sanitation Challenges: Without electricity or gas, cooking would become a significant challenge. Lack of water would also impact basic sanitation, including dishwashing and toilet flushing.

Automobile Fuel Shortage: Fuel pumps would cease to function without electricity, leading to a fuel shortage. This would impact employees’ ability to commute, further reducing workforce availability and potentially halting any operations involving transportation. Work from home is not an option when Internet connections are down.

Increase in Crime: A breakdown in public services could lead to increased theft and other crimes, as law enforcement may be overstretched or focused on their own families’ safety. Companies must enhance their security measures to protect their assets and personnel.

Hygiene and Health Concerns: The lack of water and proper sanitation facilities could lead to hygiene issues and the spread of diseases. This would have a direct impact on employee health and absenteeism.

Inadequate Healthcare Services: Healthcare facilities might be overwhelmed or incapacitated, limiting access to medical services. This could exacerbate health issues among employees and their families.

Payment and Transaction Challenges: With credit card machines down, transactions must be conducted in cash, a medium that might become scarce. This would affect both personal transactions and business operations.

Lack of Resilience and Knowledge: Most people are accustomed to modern infrastructure and might not be resilient to such a drastic change. This could lead to widespread panic and confusion, affecting mental health and the ability to cope with the situation.

Influx of Refugees: Should your area maintain functional infrastructure, expect an influx of refugees from impacted zones. This could stretch your community’s resources thinner, intensifying issues like food scarcity, healthcare access, and public safety.

Steps to Take:

Be sure to see the article about ways to make your organization more resilient https://fosterinstitute.com/executive-guide-to-navigating-power-internet-and-infrastructure-disruptions/

Conclusion:

The ramifications of a disruption in a nation’s infrastructure extend far beyond the workplace, affecting every aspect of employees’ lives and, by extension, the overall resilience of the business. Leaders must, therefore, not only focus on fortifying their operational infrastructures but also invest in strategies that support their workforce in times of crisis.

Subscribe to maximize your executive potential with Foster Institute’s E-Savvy Newsletter, packed with practical IT security solutions and actionable strategies for success: https://fosterinstitute.com/e-savvy-newsletter/

The post Consequences of Infrastructure Disruptions: A Realistic Assessment for Business Leaders appeared first on Foster Institute.

Envisioning the Business Impact: Understanding the potential consequences of an infrastructure attack is critical. This includes being aware of how a loss of electricity or water supply, communication breakdowns, or disruptions in shipping and logistics can impact your business. It’s not about anticipating doom; it’s about recognizing and planning for possible business interruptions.

Interrupted Cloud Connectivity: In this digital age, many companies have transitioned to cloud-based operations. It’s crucial to acknowledge that while cloud services offer tremendous benefits, they also present unique challenges, especially in scenarios of power failures and internet outages. Be sure your business continuity and disaster recovery plans consider periods of limited or no access to cloud services, including critical functions like email.

Emergency Communication Plan: Diversification in communication methods is key. Developing a plan that extends beyond digital and cellular networks can ensure continuous operations. Alternatives like two-way radios, messengers, and satellite phones for key personnel are not just about crisis management, but about maintaining uninterrupted communication channels under various circumstances.

Financial Resilience: Financial strategies that encompass scenarios like cash-based transactions and alternative payroll methods demonstrate foresight in financial planning. It’s about ensuring that your business remains operational and your employees are taken care of, regardless of the situation.

Supply Chain Resilience: In the face of fuel shortages and electricity disruptions, rethinking your supply chain is vital. Local sourcing can reduce dependence on long-distance transport, while increasing buffer stocks of key materials ensures consistent supply flow. Adapting to manual or low-tech inventory management maintains operational continuity when digital systems fail. This strategy is not just about responding to crises; it’s about proactively creating a robust and flexible supply network for any situation.

Employee Support and Training: In any challenging situation, the well-being of your workforce is paramount. Educating employees on fundamental resilience skills and establishing support systems for essentials like food and water are not only about disaster readiness but also about nurturing a strong and supportive corporate culture.

Regular Drills and Plan Updates: Engaging in routine exercises to test and update disaster recovery plans is not just about remaining resilient in worst-case scenarios. It’s about ensuring that your team is ready and efficient in any form of business interruption, maintaining agility and responsiveness.

Supporting Employees in Crisis: In any significant disruption, employees will prioritize their families’ needs. Acknowledging and planning for this – through support in food supply, healthcare, and security – is an integral part of maintaining a resilient workforce. The support you provide will encourage employees to remain engaged and productive at your organization during challenging times.

Conclusion:

This article offers essential insights to help your business thrive amidst a wide spectrum of operational challenges. Please forward this to your friends so they can increase their organization’s resilience too.

Comprehensive List of What to Expect:

https://fosterinstitute.com/consequences-of-infrastructure-disruptions-a-realistic-assessment-for-business-leaders/

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• Exploring Space Exploration: “Find the latest news about NASA’s Mars missions. Summarize the key points of the most recent mission, and then generate an image that depicts a futuristic Mars rover based on the described technologies in the news article.”
• Discovering Cultural Cuisine: “Look up traditional Japanese cuisine and select a popular dish. Describe the dish’s ingredients and preparation method. Then, generate an image of this dish presented in an authentic Japanese dining setting.”
• Exploring a Famous Landmark: “Research the history and architectural features of the Eiffel Tower. Provide a summary of your findings and then generate an image of the Eiffel Tower as seen during a beautiful sunset.”
• Market Trend Analysis and Visualization: “Search for the latest trends in renewable energy technology. Summarize the key developments in solar power advancements over the past year, and then generate an image that visualizes the most innovative solar panel design mentioned in the articles.”
• Competitor Product Analysis and Conceptual Design: “Find recent product launches by major competitors in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Provide a summary of the unique features introduced by these competitors, focusing on one specific product. Then, create an image of an EV incorporating these features in a new, conceptual design.”
• Consumer Sentiment Analysis and Marketing Campaign Concept: “Research recent consumer reviews and sentiments about smart home technologies. Summarize the most desired features and common concerns. Based on this, generate an image of a hypothetical smart home product that addresses these consumer preferences and concerns in its design.”

The post Try This Now: ChatGPT Plus’s and Perplexity’s Fusion of Text, Internet Search, and Image Creation appeared first on Foster Institute.

File Uploads Made Easy

ChatGPT Plus allows you to upload various types of files for a more integrated interaction. Whether it’s a PDF document for analysis or an image of an object for detailed inquiries, the process is straightforward. This feature eliminates the need for extensive copying and pasting, enabling ChatGPT to analyze your data in its intended format for more accurate responses.

Bypassing Prompt Length Limitations

Encountered the “The message you submitted was too long” error? Uploading a file is an effective workaround. Be mindful, though, if your file is exceptionally large, it might exceed the token limit, affecting ChatGPT’s ability to process the entire content. As technology advances, expect to see expansions in these limits.

Versatile File Types and Actions

• Documents (.pdf, .docx, .txt): Ideal for generating summaries, updates, translations, and more. ChatGPT’s proficiency in extracting information from PDFs is particularly impressive. For instance, try asking, “Address challenges with solutions” after uploading a document.
• Images (.jpg, .png, .gif): Upload images for descriptions, analysis, or creative storytelling. Imagine uploading a photo of your pet and asking, “Generate an image of my pet sitting in First Class on a plane.” Mobile app users can directly take and upload pictures.
• Spreadsheets (.xls, .xlsx): While capabilities continue to grow, basic functions like finding, counting, and analyzing data work smoothly. If you encounter difficulties, consider converting your spreadsheet to a PDF for more efficient processing.
• Presentations (.ppt, .pptx): Share your slides for summaries and improvement recommendations. Converting to PDF might enhance ChatGPT’s understanding.

How to Use the File Upload Feature

Utilize the ‘Upload’ button in the ChatGPT interface to interact with your chosen file. This feature is accessible both in the browser and mobile app versions. For more advanced capabilities, ChatGPT Plus members can enable Advanced Data Analysis in the Settings under Beta features.

Privacy Considerations

Prioritize your privacy when using this feature. ChatGPT offers options to disable chat history and assures not to use your data for training purposes. Stay informed by checking OpenAI’s Data Controls FAQ and additional insights on chatbot privacy.

Experience the Enhanced ChatGPT

The file upload feature significantly broadens ChatGPT’s utility, catering to educational, professional, or exploratory needs. Dedicate a few minutes to import non-sensitive files and experiment with various prompts. You’ll discover its strengths and limitations, pushing the boundaries of AI interaction.

Comparing With Other Platforms

At a subscription fee of twenty dollars per month, ChatGPT Plus stands out for its file upload capability. Yet, other chatbots, including free versions like Perplexity.ai and Google Bard, offer similar features, indicating a trend towards standardizing file uploads across AI platforms.

Subscribe to maximize your executive potential with Foster Institute’s E-Savvy Newsletter, packed with practical IT security solutions and actionable strategies for success: https://fosterinstitute.com/e-savvy-newsletter/

(Image source: DALL-E via ChatGPT Plus)

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Key things You Need to Know:

Data collection: Search engines, many websites, apps, and chatbots might record your name, IP address, location, prompts, websites you visit, apps you use, search terms, content downloads, social media activity, and more. Marketing companies call this intent data that provides insight into your interests, needs, and purchase intentions.

Data sharing: As with apps and websites, when users input information into AI tools, it is unclear how it will be used. Privacy policies usually express the right to share information with unidentified third parties. You have no control over how third parties will secure or share your information.

Security breaches: Hacking attacks and inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information could lead to personal details being unwittingly spilled. To minimize the risks, chatbots should forget information or store it anonymously.

Lack of transparency: A big problem is determining the exact data stored and the security risk presented by the chatbots. Their privacy policies are in flux, so read them carefully.

Some chatbots provide the option not to store your prompts and conversations nor use them to train their models. For example https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7730893-data-controls-faq explains Data Controls for ChatGPT.

Protect Your Privacy when using Chatbots:

Provide the minimum necessary information for the chatbot to give you what you need.

Avoid entering sensitive information such as personally identifiable information (PII) such as full names, addresses, birth dates, and usernames.

Substitute fictitious names for people and companies you want to keep private. For instance, if you’re crafting a document for “Company and Sons,” tell the chatbot it’s for the “ACME” company. Once you’ve finished with the chatbot and have your document ready, use your word processor to search for “ACME” and replace it with “Company and Sons.”

The Evolution of Digital Trust:

Many websites and apps gather similar data and raise the same concerns. Most people realize that most search engines capture details for marketing and to provide better search results.

Individuals and companies alike expect file storage services, such as OneDrive® and Dropbox®, to keep the content of files private. Some AI tools like Cody®, Pragma®, and Microsoft Copilot® advertise their intent to keep your private data private.

Privacy for free AI tools may end up somewhere between search engines and file storage services. However, AI tools expecting businesses to adopt them must guarantee total privacy before organizations will trust them with sensitive information.

Conclusion:

Keep privacy in mind as you use the fantastic new AI tools, many of which can save you a tremendous amount of time and allow you to streamline operations and serve your customers better than ever! If you don’t adopt AI, and your competitors do, you’ll find yourself behind and struggling to catch up.

Subscribe to maximize your executive potential with Foster Institute’s E-Savvy Newsletter, packed with practical IT security solutions and actionable strategies for success: https://fosterinstitute.com/e-savvy-newsletter/

(Image source: Bing. Learn more at [Bing.com].)

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A little background information helps explain what is going on: Every device connected to a network has a serial number, called a MAC address. That address is how the network identifies the device and differentiates it from all the other devices on a network. As you can imagine, networks need to know what devices are connected. Think of what might happen if the network thought your computer was a printer. Printer paper might not come shooting out of your keyboard, knock over your coffee or smoothie, but you get the idea.

Because the MAC address uniquely identifies you for everyone else, think of the MAC address as a fingerprint for your device. Potentially, an advertiser, or someone in a public place, could use your fingerprint, in this case, your device’s MAC address, to track you, your activities, and what networks you use.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft want to help protect your privacy, so they might periodically change the MAC address on your computer to a different address. The new behavior strives to help keep you more anonymous on public networks at hotels and coffee shops. However, randomly changing MAC addresses can break essential security features, including:

1) As my friend did, you might start receiving alarming alerts that another person connected a new device to one of your websites or accounts. The warnings are concerning until you realize it is your computer reconnecting with a new unique index. After a time, you might ignore the alerts. But then you won’t know if a real attacker broke into your account with some other computer, tablet, or phone.

2) Parental controls at home fail if the safety restrictions are unique for each family device. When a youngster disconnects and reconnects to your network, sometimes they are no longer protected.

3) Your company keeps an inventory of your computers, tablets, and phones. It is challenging to keep the list current when your IT team must track three times as many devices as you have.

How do you solve this? It is possible to disable the randomization feature, but it takes time to reconfigure. Time is a precious commodity for you and your IT team too. An example of how to disable the behavior on iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches: support.apple.com/en-us/HT211227

However, your employees or kids could change the feature back again to help them hide on your networks.

The answer to my friend’s question is that if the website tells you a date, time, and location of that person’s login, and you know you weren’t logging in from there at that time, yes, you need to be concerned. Otherwise, your experience may be because your device is disguising itself from the website. Disable the randomization feature, and the problem might go away.

Please forward this to your friends so that if they, or their IT team, cannot figure out why some of your security features are breaking, they will know to suspect their devices are rotating through MAC addresses.

If you want more technical details, a network identifies your device with an index number called a MAC address when you connect. There are more than 280 trillion possibilities for a MAC address; the odds are that nobody you know has the same number as your device. The first half of the number identifies the manufacturer; that makes it easier to find unidentified devices on a network.

Other problems you’ll notice because of rotating MAC addresses include:

4) Security tools at the office fail to work if the security tools rely on associating users with their computers, tablets, or phones. This problem affects both BYOD and company-issued devices.

5) IT Professionals can configure necessary reservations for computers, tablets, and phones. Those reservations are based on index numbers. When the index changes, the reservation stops working, and systems can fail or lose security.

6) Your websites will forget you. Some sites have a feature to Remember This Computer, so you do not need to go through as many steps each time you log in. The sites identify your devices by their index numbers. Your device will need to be re-remembered when your index changes.

MAC addresses look like FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF where each value I listed as F can be a hexadecimal digit 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, A, B, C, D, E, or F. If you know where to look, your phone, tablet, and computer can tell you the MAC addresses of each network interface.

The new behavior is causing lots of frustration in the cybersecurity world. This battle isn’t over yet.

The post Your Phone, Tablet, and Computer Started Hiding You – and How to Overcome the Associated Problems appeared first on Foster Institute.

With computers, you can be up and running ASAP. Unless there is something broken with the computer’s hardware, a broken computer can be revived in just a few minutes.

In order for this to happen, ask your IT department (if they haven’t already) to create a golden image.

First they will set up a computer and configure it exactly the way it needs to be for your business – and you could do this for home computers too. Second, make an image backup of the computer. Recommended tools are below.

Now, you have a golden image, configured in the way you like with all the right software installed, etc., that can be restored to a computer to reset the computer to be like new again.

From now on, whenever you suspect that a computer is infected with a virus, has been hacked, or is just malfunctioning in general, do not troubleshoot it. Dump a golden image back onto the computer and refresh it to be like new.

Note: All the data will be overwritten when you restore the image. So, for personal computers, be sure to back up the data prior to restoring an image. At the office, all users store their data files on servers, not on workstations, right?

You may find that your IT team can create a single golden image that can be used on different models of computers, or they may need to make separate images for each model. If you use a technology called VDI, this is even easier. VDI is a different topic though.

Image backup tools include Shadow Protect Desktop from Storage Craft, and Acronis True Image. For Macs, use Carbon Copy Cloner.

Please forward this to everyone you know who troubleshoots a computer if it is acting up. There is another way, and troubleshooting may not be able to completely remove a virus if the computer is infected anyway.

The post Fix A Computer in Minutes and It Works Almost Every Time appeared first on Foster Institute.

Professional Development Workshop for IT Pros:
IT Pros must overcome ever-increasing challenges. Together, you can help yourself and your organization grow and thrive more than ever.
At the SuperTech workshop, IT Professionals receive what they really need in order to be truly successful in their careers… an arsenal of “best practices” that foster an environment where everyone in the company wins! SuperTech can be a positive life-changing experience for participants from everywhere.

Attention Executive Management:
These are just a few of the benefits you will enjoy when you send your IT techs to this one-of-a-kind ‘best practices’ IT workshop:
• Improved performance of your IT team and outsourced vendors.
• Increased productivity from IT teams that feel more appreciated.
• Improved IT Interaction with the rest of your organization’s team.
• Re-energized IT Pros who feel happier (and more loyal) about their jobs.
• Confident IT staff you can trust to professionally represent you to clients.
Imagine your IT department running like a well-oiled machine, with security precautions in place, projects completed on time, lines of communication wide open, and misunderstandings a thing of the past.

What The Workshop Covers:
This two and a half day workshop was created specifically for IT Professionals. Here are just a few of the proven practices that you’ll learn in this workshop that will help transform you into a true “Super-Tech:”
• Master communicating your technical knowledge to others.
• Make sure you are getting the most from your outsourced IT consultants.
• Discover the perfect strategies for providing feedback to management.
• Get the people you supervise to follow your instructions.
• Love your job and enjoy your projects.
• Handle multiple priorities with ease.
• Basics of superior communication.

Schedule:
Prior SuperTech events held in Napa and in New York City have been two days of 9a to 5p. Starting in 2015, the workshop expanded to two and a half days. It moved from a boring conference room and the new workshop meets at a different location each day. Expect a total of 12 hours of traditional training combined with 12 hours of other important activities:
• Monday August 8: In a Redwood Forest amongst trees more than 200 feet tall
• Tuesday August 9: At the Exploratorium and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco
• Wednesday August 10: On the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier

Testimonials:
Mark, a valuable IT Manager and past participant at SuperTech says, in addition to benefitting from the content, he values the resulting friendships with fellow IT Pros: “I am only 1 out of 70 people in my company. When there is an unusual IT problem at work, having other IT Pros to call is awesome!” He is a past participant and, because he received so much value, is coming again this year too. He knows that IT Professionals can achieve so much more as a unified force. Empower your IT Pro to become part of that force.

Jered says, “I thought it would be good but the content in the first two hours and Mike’s hospitality and attitude blew me away. (There are) so many things I can’t wait to go back and apply.”

Jamie says that the workshop, “Gave me a different perspective to see how other IT Professionals face similar challenges. This was an awesome conference.”

Lester says that the workshop exceeded his expectations because, “I thought this would be a dry boring conference room seminar. It wasn’t. I had a great time with a great group I hope to remain friends with.”

Investment: $1495 total for all two and a half days
Yes, this does include entry fees and tickets at venues.
Does not include travel or meals.
Please call if you want help finding a good price hotel, sharing a car, etc.
Your family is more than welcome. Alternate activities are provided for them, and the schedule is arranged such that you will have plenty of time for you all to be together as well.

Please call if you have questions – including help with travel arrangements
Register today! stacey@fosterinstitute.com or Mike Foster direct: 805-637-7039

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