Hasta La Gadget!

Photo credit: F&B Department

The line between breakfast and dessert is a thin one. This Bourbon Waffle Cake crosses that line unapologetically. It is a breakfast-dessert hybrid and it is proud to be so.

As you can see, this waffle is no ordinary waffle. Bourbon whipped cream is sandwiched between three waffle-cakes, which boast cinnamon, sugar and even more bourbon. It’s all topped off with maple syrup and candied bacon praline.

F&B Department

Clearly, this culinary masterpiece combines breakfast and dessert’s best qualities in one (recall: bacon, waffles, whipped cream). Become the breakfast hero you’ve always dreamed of being, and make this as soon as possible. Get the full recipe from F and B Department here.

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There are all types of people in the world: tall and short, Democrat and Republican. But nothing separates us from one another more than being messy or, well, not messy.

Maybe your closet isn’t big enough for all of your clothes. Maybe you have a shopping problem. Maybe it’s both. Whatever the reason is, somehow if you’re one of the messy ones, every few months, it happens. You’re minding your own business and suddenly it hits you: your room is a disaster.

Sure, messiness spurs creativity, but the truth is, there are downfalls to not having a place for every single thing in your life. That notion is especially clear when it comes to cleaning your room.

When you finally get around to remedying the situation at hand, a few things and emotions are sure to come up: nine, to be exact.

They are:

1. NEGLECT

This is how you got here in the first place. One night you’re putting off hanging up your clothes until the morning and the next thing you know, 12 pairs of underwear are sprawled across the room. Not to mention your hamper is just sitting there, empty.

2. AMBITION

This is when you’ve reached your breaking point and realize it’s time to restore order. You make it your life’s mission to get that bedroom sparkly clean. Plus, the prospect of going through stuff you may have forgotten about is pretty exciting.

3. DETERMINATION

Arguably the most crucial part of the cleaning process. By this point you’ve gotten things in the hamper and your bed is starting to resemble a bed again. Also, Rihanna is probably playing.

4. FRUSTRATION

Despite your hard work, there is still so much to go. How did you even accumulate all this stuff?

5. UTTER CHAOS

You feel completely out of control. Maybe by this point you’ve emptied the drawers in your dresser and are sitting beneath a pile of pajamas. Plus, your “cleaning” playlist is now on its second loop.

6. EXHAUSTION

No harm in taking a quick break, right? You stop for fuel and communication with the outside world. You deserve it!

7. HOPE

This one could go two ways. Either you’ve given up and decided you can live with the mess, or you’re powering through. If you’ve chosen the latter, there’s no stopping you now.

8. ACCOMPLISHMENT

You’re done! You marvel at the fine work you’ve done, which by now of course includes wiping down any and all surfaces and packing up a bag of clothes to donate to Salvation Army. You might say something like, “I’ll never let my room get like that again!” You have a new, positive outlook on life, until:

9. FEAR

One night you come home and leave your dirty socks on the floor. The cycle continues.

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A monster storm is on a collision course with New York City and an evacuation is under way. The streets are clogged, and then it happens. Every traffic light turns red. Within minutes, the world’s largest polished diamond, the Cullinan I, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the collection of the British Crown Jewels, is whisked away by helicopter.

While this may sound like the elevator pitch for an action film, the possibility of such a scenario is more fact than fiction these days.

Cesar Cerrudo is the chief technology officer at IOActive Labs, a global security firm that assesses hardware, software and wetware (that is, the human factor) for enterprises and municipalities. A year ago, Cerrudo made waves when he demonstrated how 200,000 traffic sensors located in major cities around the United States–including New York, Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco–as well as in the UK, France and Australia, could be disabled or reprogrammed because the Sensys Networks sensors system that regulated them was not secure. According to ThreatPost, these sensors “accepted software modifications without double-checking the code’s integrity.” Translation: there was a vulnerability that made it possible for hackers to reprogram traffic lights and snarl traffic.

A widely reported discovery, first discussed last year at a black hat hacker convention in Amsterdam, highlighted a more alarming scenario than the attack of the zombie traffic lights. Researchers Javier Vazquez Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera found that it was possible, through a simple reverse engineering approach to smart meters, for a hacker to order a citywide blackout.

The vast array of attacks made possible by the introduction of smart systems are many. With every innovation, a city’s attackable surface grows. The boon of smart systems brings with it the need for responsibility. It is critical for municipalities to ensure that these systems are secure. Unfortunately, there are signs out there of a responsibility gap.

According to the New York Times, Cerrudo successfully hacked the same traffic sensors that made news last year, this time in San Francisco, despite reports that the vulnerabilities had been addressed after the initial flurry of coverage when he revealed the problem a year ago. It bears saying the obvious here: Cerrudo’s findings are alarming. With the information of how to hack the Sensys sensors out there, was San Francisco’s security protocol nothing more than dumb luck? How could it be that the same issue was imperiling the safety of San Franciscans?

The integration of smart technology into municipalities is a new thing. The same Times article notes that the market for smart city technology is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020. As with all new technology, compromises are not only possible, but perhaps even likely, in the beginning. The problem here is that we’re talking about large, populous cities. As they become ever more wired, they become more vulnerable.

The issue is not dissimilar from the one facing private sector leaders. Organizations must constantly defend against a barrage of advanced and persistent attacks from an ever-growing phalanx of highly sophisticated hackers. Some of them work alone. Still others are organized into squadrons recruited or sponsored by foreign powers–as we have seen with the North Korean attack on Sony Pictures and the mega-breach of Anthem suspected to be at the hand of Chinese hackers–for a variety of purposes, none of them good.

The vulnerabilities are numerous, ranging from the power grid to the water supply to the ability to transport food and other necessities to where they are needed. As Cerrudo told the Times, “The current attack surface for cities is huge and wide open to attack. This is a real and immediate danger.”

The solution, however, may not be out of reach. As with the geometric expansion of the Internet of Things market, there is a simple problem here: lack of familiarity at the user level–where human error is always a factor–with proper security protocols. Those protocols are no secret: encryption, long and strong password protection, and multi-factor authentication for users with security clearance.

While the above-noted protocols are not a panacea for the problems that face our incipiently smart cities, they will go a long way towards addressing security hazards and pitfalls.

Cerrudo has also advocated the creation of computer emergency response teams “to address security incidents, coordinate responses and share threat information with other cities.” While CERTs are crucial, the creation of a chief information security officer role in municipal government to quarterback security initiatives and direct defense in a coordinated way may be even more crucial to the problem-sets that arise from our new smart cities. In the pioneering days of the smart city, there are steps that municipalities can take to keep their cities running like clockwork.

It starts with a proactive approach to security.

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TOP STORIES

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FREDDIE GRAY ARREST REPORT COMES UNDER FIRE “A leaked police document that claims Freddie Gray was ‘intentionally trying to injure himself’ while in the back of a police van in Baltimore after his arrest is being questioned due to inconsistencies with earlier reports. Gray died a week after his videotaped April 12 arrest due to injuries sustained under uncertain circumstances while in police custody, sparking protests in Baltimore and around the nation.” In New York, thousands rallied to protest Gray’s death. [Andrew Hart, HuffPost]

SUPREME COURT FACES DEATH PENALTY CASE Justice Anthony Kennedy, expected to be the swing vote, gave little indication of his feelings on the matter. And the White House has backed away from calling for an end to the death penalty. [Oklahoma Watch]

PAKISTAN SENTENCES MEN WHO ATTACKED MALALA TO LIFE IN PRISON The ten members of the Pakistan Taliban who made an attempt on Malala’s life as she was heading to school received life sentences. [Jade Walker, HuffPost]

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION HELPED JUSTIFY TORTURE “The American Psychological Association secretly collaborated with the administration of President George W. Bush to bolster a legal and ethical justification for the torture of prisoners swept up in the post-Sept. 11 war on terror, according to a new report by a group of dissident health professionals and human rights activists.” Read the full report. [NYT]

SURVIVOR PULLED FROM NEPAL WRECKAGE FIVE DAYS LATER The boy survived by breathing through a miniscule air pocket. [USA Today]

WALL STREET VS. US GOVT OVER FOREIGN BRIBERY LAWS “Wall Street banks are embroiled in an intense dispute with the U.S. government over its ‘aggressive’ interpretation of foreign-bribery laws, a flurry of legal wrangling in a probe with broad implications for how corporations do business overseas, according to people familiar with the matter.” [WSJ]

TESLA TO UNVEIL MYSTERY PRODUCT Rumored to be some sort of souped-up battery. [USA Today]

IT’S OFFICIAL Bernie Sanders is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, and as he put it, “People should not underestimate me.” [Samantha Lachman, HuffPost]

WHAT’S BREWING

SOFIA VERGARA’S EX-FIANCE TAKES EMBRYO BATTLE TO NYT OPINION PAGES “When we create embryos for the purpose of life, should we not define them as life, rather than as property? Does one person’s desire to avoid biological parenthood (free of any legal obligations) outweigh another’s religious beliefs in the sanctity of life and desire to be a parent?” [NYT]

UBER, A COMPETITOR FOR AMAZON? “Uber is planning to launch a merchant delivery program that would allow online shoppers to get same-day delivery of goods through both UberRush couriers and Uber drivers.” [TechCrunch]

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A FEMALE ’21 JUMP STREET’ With the “Broad City” scribes at the helm, the shenanigans should be endless. [HuffPost]

SO MANY SHADES OF GRAY Welcome to the granny hair trend. [HuffPost]

CALVIN HARRIS AND TAYLOR SWIFT ARE OFFICIALLY A COUPLE Or as officially as these photos can make it. [HuffPost]

UP YOUR CHOPPED SALAD GAME Summer is fast-approaching. [HuffPost]

WHAT’S WORKING

HOMELESS AND PREGNANT TO THRIVING “Each month, for seven and a half years and counting, mom and portraitist Keri Vaca makes time to photograph society’s most vulnerable women. Her clients are homeless and pregnant. Virtually all were born into poverty, and many have battled addiction or are survivors of domestic violence. But each sought support from a celebrated nonprofit called the Homeless Prenatal Program, founded 25 years ago by a nurse and Peace Corps volunteer named Martha Ryan.” [HuffPost]

ON THE BLOG

OBAMA: MY FIFTH GRADE TEACHER “I credit my education to Ms. Mabel Hefty just as much as I would any institution of higher learning. When I entered Ms. Hefty’s fifth-grade class at Punahou School in the fall of 1971, I was just a kid with a funny name in a new school, feeling a little out of place, hoping to fit in like anyone else.” [HuffPost]

BEFORE YOU GO

~ When you taste sounds.

~ “Revenge” canceled after four seasons.

~ Amy Schumer’s latest make-up parody hits boy bands where it hurts.

~ The billion-dollar industry of fantasy sports.

~ Send your drawing to the moon.

~ The selfie arm is a thing.

~ Hacking a drone.

~ In existential crisis news, is the universe a hologram? Is anything real?

~ The hidden sexting scandal.

~ Kaley Cuoco hopped on the pastel color hair dye trend.

~ The end of “Secret.”

~ Cat lovers, rejoice: CatConLA is coming.

~ Pony up for the most expensive ice cream in the world.

~ Justin Bieber is making a “Zoolander” appearance .

~ Blake Lively wants to go to Harvard Business School.

~ What a homerun looks like without any fans.

Send tips/quips/quotes/stories/photos/events/scoops to Lauren Weber at lauren.weber@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter @LaurenWeberHP. And like what you’re reading? Sign up here to get The Morning Email delivered to you.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

We talked quite a bit about the Microsoft HoloLens goggles yesterday. We took a bit of a look at the hardware inside the headset and liked the fact that the HoloLens needed no wires to work. HoloLens is a headset that will support Windows 10 applications running directly inside the device. The apps will need to be optimized for HoloLens, … Continue reading