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Sentryon, 365 Healey Road , Unit 19, Bolton, ON (2026)

06/12/2025

Is Zuckerberg right about Apple's stagnation after Steve Jobs?

"Apple hasn't really invented anything great in a while. Steve Jobs invented the iPhone, and now they're just sitting on it 20 years later" - Mark Zuckerberg

Trust me, I don't agree with a lot of what Zuck says and does.

But his point was that Apple hasn't done anything truly revolutionary or groundbreaking in quite a while.

And he's not wrong.

I have a few Apple products - iPhone, iPad, Airpods - and they all do exactly what they're supposed to. They're fine.

But none of them are revolutionary in the marketplace.

Apple has been resting on its laurels for far too long and become complacent.

Their "moat" is the easy interoperability and their walled garden App Store, where they charge app developers 30% to be there.

I don't think Steve Jobs would have let it go this far...

^Geoff.

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06/11/2025

Your AI helper might sound smart. But is it actually reasoning?

A recent whitepaper from Apple throws cold water on the hype around so-called "thinking" AI models like ChatGPT o3, Claude Thinking, DeepSeek R1, and others.

It's a very technical read, so here's the TLDR:

✅ These models do well on simple problems
🤔 They help on medium-complexity tasks
❌ But they break down entirely on harder ones

Even stranger: as complexity increases, these “reasoning” models often use less reasoning, not more.

That’s like your CFO giving up on math the moment the spreadsheet gets too big.

So, why does this matter for you:

If you're using AI for serious work like...

-> Planning
-> Analysis
-> Decision support
..don’t assume it’s actually thinking.

It might just be pattern-matching with extra flair.

In other words... more steps ≠ better thinking.

Use AI where it shines, but don’t let it fake competence in areas where your business can’t afford mistakes.

Worth a read: The Illusion of Thinking from Apple Research (link in comments below)

Tell me what you think and let's discuss in the comments.

^Geoff.

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06/09/2025

Can you really use AI to replace human staff?

It's a contentious topic these days, and I'm not advocating for it, just asking the question.

In a nutshell, yes some jobs can now be directly replaced by AI, such as entry level programmers, as has been seen with the tech giants' recent shedding of jobs (although not all due to AI).

However, AI is not yet up to the task of replacing those in knowledge worker and higher positions, which require critical thinking skills to make key decisions. And it may not be for quite some time - nobody knows!

But my personal take is that business leaders should NOT view AI as a way to replace their people en masse. Rather, we should all be training our human staff how to use AI tools in a safe and secure way to enhance their productivity.

If we teach people to view AI as "work buddy" that can help speed up their work, like a personal assistant, rather than the enemy coming for their job, they will be far more willing to accept and embrace these new tools.

Additionally, every role has repetitive tasks that don't add much value to the organization, such as filling out forms or writing reports, and these are the areas ripe for AI automation - the "low hanging fruit" as it were. Speeding up or removing these altogether can provide a significant boost in job satisfaction for your staff.

The reality is that AI is here, it's improving at a rapid pace, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable. To ignore it would be foolish and eventually put organizations at a competitive disadvantage.

Given that ALL technology is a double-edged sword, we need to figure out how to integrate AI into our work and personal lives in ways that provide the most benefit with the least downside.

Agree or disagree? Let's discuss in the comments.

P.S. No this is not AI generated. That's really me reading paper magazines. 🤓

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06/02/2025

I really need to prioritize my personal health more.

This revelation is not new to me, but it came back firmly front of mind recently during a rough period I was having.

I'm still recovering from whatever it was (no idea what), but I do know that it seriously kicked my butt.

My whole body ached, my leg muscles were super sore (I could barely walk), I had a permanent headache, and brain fog that meant I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes.

No cough or chest congestion though. Weird, right?

Anyway, this went on for 10 LONG days before improving, and truthfully I was getting quite worried. I don't normally pick up colds or flus, and when I do, they're done and gone in a few days max.

No, it wasn't the dreaded C***D, I tested for that! And yes, I did see a doctor, who said they couldn't find anything specific (maybe stress?) so just take it easy for a few days, which I did.

And so it remains a total mystery, which is a bit scary in itself.

You never know when some major health situation will rear its ugly head, especially when you're over 40, so it's important to take time to do the things you want to NOW.

In my case that's hiking with my dog, spending time with family and friends, and travelling to new places. And I'm going to put a priority on these going forward!

I think the Europeans may have us beat on this work/life balance - what do you think?

^Geoff

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05/30/2025

I have a confession to make. 🫣

One of my guilty pleasures is... *drumroll please*
..Watching old corporate films about technology from the 50s to the 90s on YouTube.

Yeah, I know, a bit weird and super nerdy 🤓 but whatever, that's me.

Most people today don't really think about how things used to be done, they just live in the present. But I love imagining myself back in that world (minus the cigarette smoke) and how amazing the new technology was to them.

Recently I watched an IBM promo film from 1955 about one of their early computers,
the EDPM (Electronic Data Processing Machine).
*Link will be pinned in the comments if you're interested.

The story starts with the way things were (completely paper-based), and then showed how these manual tasks could be computerized and then centralized.

Sometimes we forget how bad these archaic paper-based systems were for accurate record-keeping. If you don't know how many widgets you have, and how many have been sold, how can you make any projections for the future?

Decision-makers were often working on information that was at least a few days to a few weeks out of date.

The computer they showed was revolutionary because it allowed management decisions to be made based on more up-to-date information than previously.

This got me thinking about how modern AI tools can help business leaders to make better decisions.
-> No more using gut feel to figure out how much to order
-> No more throwing darts at a board to determine demand

Business leaders can now use their own data, combined with the deep research capabilities now in many AI tools, to get more accurate answers to their most pressing decisions.

This is fantastic, and I highly recommend doing it, but when you start feeding your data into an AI, you need to make absolutely sure you know a few things:
1. Where is that data going
2. What is it going to do with it
3. Who will have access to it

Is it going to train on it and then spit it out to someone else, potentially even a competitor?

If you're using AI to help with decision-making, some of this data might contain confidential business plans, intellectual property, customer data, the list goes on.

This is why it's so important to have a well thought out AI strategy for your organization, rather than letting people have a free-for-all with an AI tool they choose.

An AI Strategy does a few things:
-> Identifies what areas of the business can benefit most
-> Defines what AI tool(s) employees are permitted to use
-> Ensures they have the right account type that protects your data
-> Trains them on how to use the tool most effectively (this is key for engagement)
-> Helps them understand why using AI the right way is important (and the risks!)

Does your organization have an AI Strategy yet?

I'd bet dollars to donuts at least some of your staff are using it already for their work, but without your approval, zero oversight, and guess what?

You're assuming literally all the risk of it.

Agree? Let me know in the comments.

^Geoff

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05/28/2025

Stop feeding ChatGPT garbage...

There's an old tech saying - garbage IN, garbage OUT.

Which means the results are only as good as the information fed in.

Modern AI tools like ChatGPT work like this too.

If you just use them like a fancy search engine, you'll get crappy results.

You need to learn how to talk to it to get better results.

Personally, I started out the same as everyone else with AI - my prompts were basis and results mediocre.

So I decided to invest some time...
- Researching
- Testing
- Refining

And here's what I'm finding works best right now:

*** 4 Step Prompt Process to Master ChatGPT ***

1. ROLE - tell your AI who it needs to be.

I know, it's not a person, but you can tell it who it needs to act like. 🤯

"Act as a [insert job title]"

The job title could be copywriter, digital marketer, lawyer, accountant, etc.

2. BACKGROUND - give your AI some background on what you do, your target customer, and what your ultimate goal is.

"I'm looking to generate more leads for my digital marketing firm that works with [industry] companies in the [city] area."

It needs to understand the WHY to give you better answers.

3. SPECIFICS - tell it exactly what you want.

Don't say "I need some social media posts"

Instead try: "Create... [10 engaging social media posts about productivity for entrepreneurs"

5. INTERVIEW - get your AI to ask you questions

Add this: "Ask me any clarifying questions, one at a time."

5. FORMAT (OPTIONAL) - tell it how you want it delivered.

Left to its own devices it will probably spit out the answer as a paragraph.

Before you hit enter on your prompt, ask yourself "What am I going to do with this?"

Try "FORMAT the output as... [a bulleted list]"

Comparing options: Table with headings
Importing somewhere: CSV file (spreadsheet)
Ideas: Bulleted list
Workflow steps: Numbered list

***
Using AI in your daily workflow takes practice.
Keep working on it
trying new things, and iterating your style, and you'll get better results.

Here's the recap:

1. Act as a... [ROLE]
2. I'm looking to... [CONTEXT]
3. Create a... [TASK]
4. Format as... [OUTPUT]
5. Ask me questions... [INTERVIEW]

Enjoy!

^Geoff

P.S. Got any more tips or suggestions? Let me know in the comments below.

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05/23/2025

Using free AI tools in your firm? You need to read this...

About 90% of businesses I talk to are using the free versions of ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini or Grok.

It seems fine, but there's a problem...

FREE means it's training on YOUR data.

When it's free, YOU are the product.

"We don't have anything that sensitive" I hear you say.

Just remember, AI has perfect memory and you've probably fed it lots of information...

- Names, addresses, phone numbers
- Private thoughts, business ideas, medical history
- What you really think of your clients (scraped from those emails it wrote for you)
- Employee names and problems you've had with them (when you asked it for help)
- Financial records and anything uploaded

Would you *really* be okay with it spitting any of that information out to some random person? 🤔

The paid commercial versions of these AI tools have privacy safeguards the free ones don't.

Protect your data.
Use a commercial licence.

^G

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05/21/2025

It happened again - Bell Canada, a major Internet provider, had a major Internet outage across Southern Ontario for a few hours this morning, and lots of people were affected.

This brings back memories of the infamous Rogers nationwide outage of 2022, which affected not only Internet access but also cellphones and texting, and lasted much longer.

Internet outages at your home are irritating, but if your business depends on cloud services and Internet access to operate, you absolutely need to have redundant connections.

Here's what you need:

1. Network firewall capable of multiple Internet (WAN) connections.
2. Redundant Internet connection (preferably a different mode - e.g., wireless).
3. Experienced tech to set it up the right way and test it.

If it's done correctly, when your primary Internet connection goes down, there should only be a minute or two delay before it automatically switches to the secondary connection. Firms that can't afford even that amount of downtime need SD-WAN.

If you're in an area with limited Internet options, something like 4G-LTE or 5G cellular connections can work in a pinch. They're expensive on a per GB basis, but worth every penny when you need them.

^Geoff

05/16/2025

Are you making your firm vulnerable cyberattacks by doing this?

A sophisticated ransomware gang known as Conti recently released the chart below ranking some common EDR (endpoint detection & response) solutions.

There are a couple of things to note though:
- No tool is ever 100% effective against all threats
- Approx. 100% of firms will suffer a breach at some point
- Effective solutions help mitigate risk, detect quickly, and recover faster.

This is not an all-encompassing list and it leaves our several popular solutions.

Tier breakdown below:
· S Tier: The toughest EDRs to bypass, representing some level of resistance.
· A Tier: Strong performers that require effort to defeat.
· B Tier: Middling, attackers take them seriously but workarounds exist.
· C Tier: Weak enough to be dismissed in most serious attacks.
· D Tier: Almost irrelevant, relatively trivial obstacles.
· LOL Tier: Reserved for tools considered laughably ineffective in real-world breaches.

This proves that anti-virus (EDR) and a basic firewall is not enough anymore. Good cybersecurity must be layered to make it more difficult for attacker. For smaller firms, if you make it difficult enough, the hackers will give up and move on to the next target because you're just not worth the effort.

And if they do keep going, you want to have systems in place to detect and respond quickly, preferably using a combination of machine-learning/AI and real human analysts.

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04/27/2025

🚨 Election Season Scams: Don’t Fall for Fake Surveys! 🚨

With Canada’s national election on Monday, scammers are posing as pollsters and government officials, using phone calls and texts to trick people into giving away sensitive information.

These fraudsters often claim to be conducting a survey, or verifying voter registration, but their real goal? Gaining personal or financial details, or even planting malware through malicious links.

Red Flags to Watch For:
✅ Asking for banking details or personal info
✅ Pressuring you to act quickly
✅ Sending links via text or email

Stay Safe:
✔️ Verify legitimacy—look up the organization independently
✔️ Never share sensitive data over the phone or text
✔️ Educate your team to recognize these scams

Scammers thrive on urgency and uncertainty—don’t let them take advantage of you or your business.

Have you received one of these fake election survey calls or texts? Let’s discuss in the comments! ⬇️

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03/12/2025

🚨 Election Season Scams: Don’t Fall for Fake Surveys! 🚨

With Canada’s national election on the horizon, scammers are posing as pollsters and government officials, using phone calls and texts to trick unsuspecting victims into giving away sensitive information.

These fraudsters often claim to be conducting a survey, but their real goal? Gaining personal or financial details, or even planting malware through malicious links.

Red Flags to Watch For:
✅ Asking for banking details or personal info
✅ Pressuring you to act quickly
✅ Sending links via text or email

Stay Safe:
✔️ Verify legitimacy—look up the organization independently
✔️ Never share sensitive data over the phone or text
✔️ Educate your team to recognize these scams

Scammers thrive on urgency and uncertainty—don’t let them take advantage of you or your business.

Have you received one of these fake election survey calls or texts? Let’s discuss in the comments! ⬇️

03/05/2025

They thought it couldn't happen to them...

A small manufacturing company recently reached out to us.

They had been tricked into wiring $100,000 to the wrong bank account in China.

Their bank here investigated but was unable to recover the funds.

And does the bank dig into their own pockets in these cases? Nope. That's a common myth.

So a hundred grand was literally 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗲 just like that... can you imagine what that felt like??? 😲

The cybercriminals had got into their email system to intercept a supplier invoice and change the banking details on it.

Is your organization's email system vulnerable to this same kind of attack? ☠️

Find out with a no-cost Cyber Risk Assessment: sentryon.net/cyber-risk

Sentryon

06/12/2025

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