FBI, Urgency, and Meta
Well not original, but an update on Pax Global, whose write-up I published in December 2020.
One customer complained that Pax’s point of sale systems were moving unauthorized data packets, and were either being used as a Trojan horse or were security-compromised. The stock fell 43%+ in one afternoon before trading was halted! Fun stuff.
The situation raises a lot of questions, but it is a serious concern if Pax is security-compromised. Management have reassured investors that there is no material breach in their system- and that this was a one-off issue. Many of Pax’s large customers in Latin America (Mercardo Libre and Stoneco) said that there was no reason to be alarmed, either.
It is never a good thing when the FBI show up at your door unannounced! Hopefully this is a one-off blimp. However, if this is a larger problem it has serious implications for the point of sale industry. Pax Global is the #3 player, and is gaining market share over competitors. They are security complaint in every country they operate in (which is most of the world). If there was malware either installed on-site or remotely, then there may be some major issues for all other point of sale devices worldwide!
Two Thoughts:
§Urgent/Important
Here is something that I have been using recently that really has helped productivity:
This is not only an exercise of productivity, but also one of discipline. Being brutally honest with what is important and what is not is tougher than it seems! I was recently able to ask Brad Martin (ex-CEO of Saks, philanthropist, and author of Myles’ Pesky Friends) a few questions, and he mentioned that:
In life, you can only have 4 or 5, maybe 6 priorities. Throw everything else away and focus on those. You will be amazed how much can be done in a couple years if you just focus on those.
When he was the interim President of the University of Memphis for 1 year, he attributed a lot of success to the fact that he laid out 6 priorities and worked only on those. He was told that as President, he had certain administrative duties (dinners, speeches, etc). However, this was not one of the 6 priorities. So, he delegated 99% of those responsibilites to the Chief of Staff!
Something to think about…I encourage all those reading to try out the urgent/important matrix and let me know what you think!
That’s So Meta
So…Facebook just changed their name to Meta to show their commitment to building the Metaverse platform. Wild stuff.
I have a ton of thoughts surrounding this change and Meta’s future plans. I watched the Keynote Presentation, which I thought was excellent. Expect more thoughts in the next few weeks on Meta, but I thought of this meme when I first heard the announcement:
“In final bid to avoid anti-trust regulation, Facebook changes name to Meta”
Anyways, here is a tweet I saw that shows what augmented reality can do even today. I expect to write more about the Metaverse considering how its such an interesting topic. The Keynote Speech gives a fantastic overview to what can happen, even if it is a bit cartoony. The implications of the Metaverse are exciting to even think about!
Greg Madison 🔜 AWE @GregMadisonWhen we stop to think about the future, beyond the limitations of any device, there will no longer be any AR, MR or even VR... There is only a sliding scale of perception, along the spectrum of realities. [2:26 AM ∙ Oct 29, 2021
1,069Likes271Retweets](https://twitter.com/GregMadison/status/1453911010914422787)