Fairfax Food Service has been a family food service company for over 50 years. The business is even older, starting as a family-owned and operated dance studio!
Tom and Marguerite Gonzalez owned that dance studio and began holding dinner dances once a month. They realized how much they enjoyed making and serving food and added Fairfax Circle Banquets as a subsidiary of the dance company in 1970.
By 1972 they made the switch to all food, all the time, and became Fairfax Food Service & Caterers, Inc. Their proud tradition of preparing and serving delicious, healthy meals throughout their community thrives to this day.
Tom and Marguerite eventually passed the business on to their daughter Kathy Lucas. She ran Fairfax Food Service from 1989 until 2004. Kathy deftly juggled the demands of the company with raising three children and continues to actively participate in day-to-day operations.
Mike Draughon was the head of Fairfax Food Service from 2004-2017. During his time at the helm, Mike and Kathy’s elder children were training to take over the company. Katie Steverson prepared for the transition for 11 years, and Brandon Draughon for seven years before taking the reins on January 1st, 2018.
Growing up, the family had a community of friends who helped care for the children in the early mornings as Kathy headed to work. As they got older the two accompanied their mom to the kitchen and (sometimes) made themselves useful. Fairfax Food Service has always been a central, joyful part of their lives.
As teenagers, both Katie and Brandon, along with many of their friends, started working summer jobs at the family business. They worked and played and learned all about the business of preparing and serving food to camps and daycares and schools.
They knew, as adults, that they wanted to continue their family’s long history. Following seven years of preparation, Katie and Brandon became the third generation of family owners at Fairfax Food Service.
A lot has changed since those dance school days. New equipment, new recipes, and new faces carry on the decades-old commitment to serving great food and a great community. Katie and Brandon know their grandparents were proud of their family business. They intend to honor that heritage for many years to come.
It’s January 9th. A GoFundMe campaign launched two years ago by Damar Hamlin to fundraise for his community ballooned to nearly $9 million following his dramatic on-field cardiac arrest. Hamlin’s contract, like most in the NFL, is not guaranteed.
Spotlight is off next week to observe Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.Today’s Spotlight is 866 words — about 3minutes to read.
Spotlight On … LastPass
The LastPass hack we told you about last August was more severe than originally claimed, and some cybersecurity experts say that the company is improperly downplaying the risk.
LastPass now acknowledges that it was hacked in August and November. In late August, it reported that its code had been stolen, but that no customer action was required.
Another breach occurred in November. One month later, LastPass acknowledged the November hack used information from the August hack, but said “the majority of customers” still didn’t have to do anything. because customers who followed their “suggested” best practices would be fine.
Multiple security researchers disagree, stating that hackers can build profiles of individuals using LastPass user data and that passwords used on the service were not as secure as random passwords would be. Further, LastPass was not requiring passwords to follow the company’s password strength recommendations.
We stopped recommending and using LastPass in 2019 after its third security breach in four years. It was apparent that the company, acquired in 2015, was in trouble. The company acknowledged two subsequent vulnerabilities, one each in 2020 and 2021.
Researchers and competitors also question LastPass’ claim that guessing a master password would take millions of years. An 11-character password can be guessed in about 25 minutes if humans don’t use random characters and only use familiar words and acronyms, claims 1Password executive Jeffrey Goldberg.
A senior engineer on Yahoo’s security team told Wired, “I used to support LastPass. I recommended it for years and defended it publicly in the media … But things change.”
Your next steps: Get a free BitWarden account or 1Password paid account. Your password manager should select and store your passwords. Use two-factor authentication everywhere possible in addition to a randomly generated password. Passkeys are coming, but they won’t available on every service and with every device.
1) Anker’s Eufy device unit continues to fight exposés in The Verge about misrepresentations regarding camera data. The Verge claims that Eufy deleted ten privacy promises on its website instead of answering questions about how security camera footage is stored.
2) German government officials met with Twitter owner Elon Musk last week regarding Twitter’s previous commitment to remove disinformation from its site. Twitter and other Big Tech companies must do so by mid-June to comply with new laws.
3) Big Tech companies continue to face action from regulatory authorities.
Epic Games – the Fortnite game developer agreed to pay $520 million in December to settle FTC complaints about child privacy requirements and tricking players into paying for upgrades.
Meta – agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit regarding illegal data sharing with Cambridge Analytica. Separately, Meta was fined $414 million by European regulators last week for allowing ads based upon user activity.
Amazon – avoided fines, but must comply with a seven year agreement governing how it interacts with third party sellers on the site to settle EU antitrust complaints.
Trends & Spends
Did That Really Happen? — Orange Dots on iPhones
An orange dot showing on the top right of an iPhone display indicates that a running application has microphone access, not that “someone is listening to you right now” as a viral post claims. Snopes explains the alarmist take on a nice privacy feature.
Following Up — ChatGPT and Bing
We wrote about ChatGPT before the holidays and have been having a blast testing it since then. Now there’s word that Microsoft is preparing to enhance its Bing search engine with the technology. Three years ago, Microsoft invested $1 billion in Open AI, the organization that created ChatGPT.
Protip — How to Use 1Password
The best primer on how to start using 1Password was published by the New York Times last summer. There are screenshots, how-tos, and tips.
Screening Room — France’s Loto
Science Fiction World — Fast Food Automat
McDonald’s is testing a restaurant where ordering is done via kiosk or online and the food is served via robotics. The concept is only at one location near Fort Worth for now, and food continues to be prepared by humans.
Coffee Break — Chrono Quest
Chrono Quest gives players three tries to place six historical events in chronological order. Like Wordle, everyone gets the same quiz, and unlike Wordle, streaks continue if you miss a day.
It’s December 19. Chanukah began last night at sundown, Christmas is next Sunday, and Kwanzaa is one week from today. Whatever you celebrate, I wish you peace and happiness now and always. Spotlight won’t publish during this holiday period and returns on January 9.
Today’s Spotlight is 670 words — about 4minutes to read.
Spotlight On … Online Accessibility
People with disabilities continue to encounter obstacles in modern online life.
In response to complaints by more than one thousand individuals that they were charged waiting fees when needing more time to enter a vehicle, the Justice Department settled a lawsuit with Uber. In the end, more than 65,000 people were affected.
Barriers to access or prohibitively high prices can also affect disabled people. Instead spending hundreds of dollars for accessible joysticks and controllers, Andreas and Oskar Karlsson helped 8BitDo develop video game controllers that cost $35.
Almost all websites: The most alarming online accessibility trend deals with websites. Ninety-six percent of the top one million websites had accessibility errors, according to one trade group. That includes issues like improper contrast settings, broken buttons, and links that do not work with screen readers.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) last week released a report identifying federal agencies as non-compliant sites, including Veteran’s Administration sites vital to people with disabilities. Casey highlighted a VA pharmacy and drug abuse website containing more than 6,400 accessibility errors.
Get help here: The GSA runs the Section 508 website that helps organizations understand their legal online accessibility requirements and offers free tools like color contrast analyzers.
3 More Stories to Know
1) Airbnb removed 4,000 property hosts this year for violating nondiscrimination laws. The service removed more than 5,000 last year out of more than 4 million hosts worldwide.
2) TikTok edged closer to a national ban after the U.S. Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass a bill prohibiting the app on federal devices. Nineteen governors have also banned the app on their states’ devices.
3) Microsoft signed a 10 year $2.8 billion cloud computing deal with the London Stock Exchange and has taken a 4% equity stake in that exchange. Google signed a similar deal with the Chicago Exchange in 2021 and made a $1 billion equity investment.
Trends & Spends
Did That Really Happen? — Ex-Marine Whelan Punitively Discharged
Following the release of two-time Olympian and WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison, many conservative media outlets accused the administration of choosing to leave a “highly decorated Marine” as a Russian prisoner.
The details of the prisoner swap negotiation aren’t public, but Snopes uncovered that former US Marine Paul Whelan received a bad conduct discharge in 2008 following a special court martial proceeding that convicted him of multiple crimes including larceny, check fraud, and dereliction of duty.
Following Up — Juice Jacking
The FCC is reminding travelers to avoid using public USB charging stations in airports or at hotels this holiday season because those jacks can compromise your device with malware. Among the agency’s hints about “juice jacking”: carry your own plug and charging cable and use an electrical outlet.
Protip — Apple’s New Security Feature
Protect your iCloud data with iOS’ new software update that allows you to encrypt the information so that only you (not even Apple) can access it. The Wirecutter shows you how.
Screening Room — A Last Holiday Tearjerker
Science Fiction World — No GPS Needed
Ship and submarine crews can look forward to a day when GPS is no longer needed for navigation. A French research team has invented a 3D quantum accelerometer that uses lasers and atoms to measure movement in three dimensions. At worst, the system functions as backup for a vessel that loses its GPS signal.
Coffee Break — Sturdy Gingerbread Houses
Thrillist has your back if you need to venture into gingerbread house construction this week. One hint: use a “royal runny icing made with egg whites and confectioners sugar.”
