Apple CEO says he is Proud to be Gay

Today, the CEO of Apple Tim Cook wrote in an essay that he is "proud to be gay and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has ever given me." People around the country have praised Cook for his writing as he now becomes the most prominent homosexual person in corporate America. Cook has always strove to get equal rights for gays and lesbians including denouncing his home state of Alabama saying that they are changing to slowly when dealing with equality. In contemporary America, the latest issue in state as well as church is the rights of homosexual people.

Many companies including Apple, Facebook, and Google participate in the annual pride walk in support of equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Also, the companies, especially Apple, encourage the hiring of people from this community. Times have certainly changed from the time period set during the Great Gatsby. America has evolved into a country where everyone truly can be happy into their own way and find their own American dream.

Mentorship

For this week's blog, instead of writing about a current event that is going on, I will write about my meeting with Dan Laughlin for my mentor-ship. I found the meeting to be extremely helpful and interesting as I got a first hand advice from a very successful man who has worked in the field of business. I learned how passion and patience are key to a success in any career you choose which in my eyes relates to what being great is. If you do not love what you are doing, then you probably will not be good at it. Also, if you try to rush things and do to much at once then you will not accomplish anything. Another thing Dan taught me is how important it is to develop leadership skills. This is necessary because if you are to run a business, then it is essential to be able to guide others to accomplish different tasks. I was extremely happy with my meeting because I was unsure at how effective this mentor-ship would be coming in, but my worries quickly faded as Dan was friendly and very educated in his field. Some questions I plan on asking for future meetings will mostly be about starting a career in business from the ground up, and a good path to take that would help me in my quest. Overall I was very impressed with the effectiveness of my mentor as I thought that it may be awkward, but Dan was able to quickly break the ice and had us laughing and participating almost immediately. I truly am looking forward to my next meeting with him and the other members in my group.

JPMorgan and Chase High-Profile Security Breach

Millions of Americans trust Chase to secure their money and financial information as Chase is one of the most powerful banks the United States has to offer to it's citizens. However, last June hackers were able to penetrate the defense systems Chase has up to protect their clients from these thieves. Chase did not realize they were hacked until June, a full month after the hackers had access. By this time, the hackers had gained access to the highest clearance to over 90 different servers. This means that the hackers had access to over 76 million accounts including extremely private information such as social security numbers.
The strangest part is, Chase says there has been no evidence to suggest that the hackers had stole anything. Perhaps if the hackers were clever enough to indeed get into Chase's systems, they were smart enough to not leave a digital finger print. However, as of now it seems they hacked the system just to hack it. Obviously such a crime is to be taken extremely seriously even though nothing was believed to be stolen, which is why the FBI has gotten involved as this a major federal crime. Also, The Federal Reserve has been on guard in case the hackers are bold enough to try and go after them. Rumors are circling that the hackers were hired by Russia or another country in perhaps southern Europe, and although their is no concrete evidence to support this, it is a very scary possibility. Perhaps Thoreau was right when he wanted to leave society and go back to nature, as this is another clear example as how technology can deeply affect our lives for the better and unfortunately the worse as seen here. Hopefully the criminals are apprehended, and no person was seriously affected by this troubling crime.