MEMBER MICRONEWS

ADOBE FLASH PLAYER IS DEAD.
DOES THAT AFFECT MY COMPANY?

     Bartow Chamber member Hearts and Minds Studios, LLC can take the mountains of .swf training materials on a company’s learning management system (LMS) and either convert the modules directly, or rebuild them to meet current HTML5 and security standards.
     This is actually very important information for local companies with training departments.
     Why?
     Adobe confirmed that its premiere program – Flash Player – that was used as the standard for delivering high-impact, rich web content, is now considered flawed and a high online security risk.
     And, if a company has a training department, there’s a good chance that nearly every course was made using Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Presenter, Camtasia, or any number of tools designed to output in Flash.
     In fact, out of 10 major vulnerabilities hackers use to exploit information, eight of them target Adobe Flash Player.
     What to do?
     Miles Carr, president of Hearts and Minds, explained, “Adobe confirmed what many of us saw coming: Flash is dead.
      “Our varying tribes of nerds and tech geeks first started scrambling in the foreshock back in 2010 when Steve Jobs issued his ‘Thoughts on Flash,’ resulting in a mad dash away from continual updates and security vulnerabilities, to the bright, but flickering light of HTML5.
     “Many of us have been preparing for years, and the impact on the consumer will be relatively small . . . except for those companies that haven’t paid to update their development software in the past two years. There is a good chance that the vulnerabilities that scared Mozilla and Google into disabling Adobe Flash are potentially giving internet hackers all of the sensitive information found in more advanced lessons that could contain trademarked processes or other proprietary trade secrets,” he noted.
     Hearts and Minds Studios and other E-learning companies can convert or rebuild a company’s sensitive modules to HTML5 standards, and offers consulting services to help select an LMS, or bring a companies’ LMS up to HTML5 delivery standards. If you’d like more information on this service, or Hearts and Minds Studios, LLC audio, video, or training design services, call Carr at 863-255-6467.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE HISTORY CENTER
Journey into Polk history this month at the Polk County History Center. The following programs and events are open to the public and free of charge:
December’s Family Program – Curators of Curiosity - All Month
Uncover kid-friendly activities at the Polk County History Center. Can you feel it in the air? Winter is certainly drawing near. Although Polk seems to escape much of the bitter cold, it is still fun to celebrate. Explore the history of the winter solstice and the allure of citrus during the season. Visit the Children’s Discovery Room to begin your quest and later you can create a citrus bird feeder, a Popsicle stick snowman or an ornament for our Christmas tree.
No Lunch and Learn for the Month of December
Lunch and Learn programming goes on hiatus this month as we encourage our friends of the museum to spend time with loved ones during this season of celebration. Please consider a visit to the Historical and Genealogical Library to explore your own history and preserve it for generations to come. Call LuAnn Mims or Dorinda Morrison-Garrard at (863) 534-4380 and begin your journey.

The Lunch and Learn schedule for 2016 includes:

Jan. 19 - Florida Citrus Crate Labels: Florida’s First Billboards
Feb. 16 - The Legacy of Spessard Lindsey Holland
March 15 - They Dared to Dream: Women Who Shaped Florida History
April 19 - Avon Park Army Airfield: Florida during World War II
May 17 - Polk’s Jewish Families: 1925 - Today
June 21 - Cypress Gardens: America’s Tropical Wonderland
July 19 - Polk Voting Trends: Past, Present and Future
Aug. 16 - Florida’s Evolving Springs
Sept. 20 - Voices from Mariel: The Mariel Boatlift 1980
Oct. 18 - John Vincent Atanasoff: Forgotten Father of the Computer
Nov. 15 - The Other War of 1812: Florida’s Patriot War

Now Through Dec. 12 – Festival of Wreaths and Silent Auction
The Fifth Annual Festival of Wreaths and Silent Auction continues through Dec. 12. Get in the holiday spirit with a visit to the History Center to view the 42 beautiful wreaths adorning the doorways and rotunda area throughout the museum. Decorators include local organizations, individuals and all five Polk constitutional officers. Place your bid in the 2015 silent auction at www.polkhistorycenter.org by clicking on the Festival of Wreaths icon.Dec. 19 , 11 a.m. - Architectural Tour
Join us for a family friendly architectural tour of the History Center and learn more about neoclassical architecture, the construction of the building and the stories behind the iconic Old Polk County Courthouse. The architectural tour is on the third Saturday of each month at 11 a.m.
Holiday Closings
The History Center will be closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 in observance of Christmas, and will reopen Dec. 26.
The History Center will be closed Jan. 1 in observance of New Year’s Day and will reopen Jan. 2.
On-going Temporary Exhibits
Very Much A Lady: Lifestyle and Fashion of the Proper Woman, 1900-1920
December is your last chance to return to a more elegant and stylish era with this exhibit featuring unique and vintage couture fashion and accessories. The exhibit is curated from the private collection of Polk County resident Joanna Godwin. Mrs. Godwin leads personalized tours of the exhibit every Thursday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The exhibit is on display through the end of the month.
Good Reasons for Good Roads: Celebrating the Dixie Highway at 100 Years
The exhibit explores early highways, the people who travelled them and a new era of development in the state’s history. Artifacts in the exhibit include dozens of mid-century souvenirs from Polk’s early attractions and the first automobile license plate ever issued in Polk. The Dixie Highway’s initial route officially opened in 1915 and transformed the cultural landscape of Florida. The exhibit will be on display through August.
Victory Florida: Honoring Polk County’s WWII Contributions
The exhibit tells the story of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things for their country during World War II. This year was the 70th anniversary of V-Day, or Victory Day, which marked the end of World War II in 1945. Victory Florida: Honoring Polk County’s WWII Contributions will be on display through September.
About the Polk County History Center: The History Center is located at 100 E. Main St. in Bartow and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Visit www.polkhistorycenter.org or call (863) 534-4386 for more information on exhibits and programming. All events and programming are free and open to the public.

WATSON CLINIC ANNOUNCES FREE COMMUNITY LECTURES
TO BE HELD IN DECEMBER
Watson Clinic is pleased to invite community members to attend the following informative lectures to be held throughout the month of December. These events are free of charge, but seating is limited.

Date: Friday, December 18 at 3 PM
Speaker: Certified Tobacco Education Specialist
Topic: ‘Quit Smoking Now – No ifs, ands or butts!’
Endorsed by the American Lung Association and hosted by the Watson Clinic Foundation, this special class will empower you to take the next step to a healthier lifestyle free from tobacco dependence. This event will include an overview of available options for smokers who want to quit.
Location: Cancer & Research Center – Boardroom, 1730 Lakeland Hills Blvd in Lakeland
RSVP: 863-802-6220 or online to www.WatsonClinic.com/Events


MEMBER MICRONEWS ADOBE FLASH PLAYER IS DEAD. DOES THAT AFFECT MY COMPANY? Bartow Chamber member Hearts and Minds Studios, LLC can take the mountains of .swf training materials on a company’s learning management system (LMS) and either convert the modules directly, or rebuild them to meet current HTML5 and security standards. This is actually very important information for local companies with training departments. Why? Adobe confirmed that its premiere program – Flash Player – that was used as the standard for delivering high-impact, rich web content, is now considered flawed and a high online security risk. And, if a company has a training department, there’s a good chance that nearly every course was made using Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Presenter, Camtasia, or any number of tools designed to output in Flash. In fact, out of 10 major vulnerabilities hackers use to exploit information, eight of them target Adobe Flash Player. What to do? Miles Carr, president of Hearts and Minds, explained, “Adobe confirmed what many of us saw coming: Flash is dead. “Our varying tribes of nerds and tech geeks first started scrambling in the foreshock back in 2010 when Steve Jobs issued his ‘Thoughts on Flash,’ resulting in a mad dash away from continual updates and security vulnerabilities, to the bright, but flickering light of HTML5. “Many of us have been preparing for years, and the impact on the consumer will be relatively small . . . except for those companies that haven’t paid to update their development software in the past two years. There is a good chance that the vulnerabilities that scared Mozilla and Google into disabling Adobe Flash are potentially giving internet hackers all of the sensitive information found in more advanced lessons that could contain trademarked processes or other proprietary trade secrets,” he noted. Hearts and Minds Studios and other E-learning companies can convert or rebuild a company’s sensitive modules to HTML5 standards, and offers consulting services to help select an LMS, or bring a companies’ LMS up to HTML5 delivery standards. If you’d like more information on this service, or Hearts and Minds Studios, LLC audio, video, or training design services, call Carr at 863-255-6467. WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE HISTORY CENTER Journey into Polk history this month at the Polk County History Center. The following programs and events are open to the public and free of charge: December’s Family Program – Curators of Curiosity - All Month Uncover kid-friendly activities at the Polk County History Center. Can you feel it in the air? Winter is certainly drawing near. Although Polk seems to escape much of the bitter cold, it is still fun to celebrate. Explore the history of the winter solstice and the allure of citrus during the season. Visit the Children’s Discovery Room to begin your quest and later you can create a citrus bird feeder, a Popsicle stick snowman or an ornament for our Christmas tree. No Lunch and Learn for the Month of December Lunch and Learn programming goes on hiatus this month as we encourage our friends of the museum to spend time with loved ones during this season of celebration. Please consider a visit to the Historical and Genealogical Library to explore your own history and preserve it for generations to come. Call LuAnn Mims or Dorinda Morrison-Garrard at (863) 534-4380 and begin your journey. The Lunch and Learn schedule for 2016 includes: Jan. 19 - Florida Citrus Crate Labels: Florida’s First Billboards Feb. 16 - The Legacy of Spessard Lindsey Holland March 15 - They Dared to Dream: Women Who Shaped Florida History April 19 - Avon Park Army Airfield: Florida during World War II May 17 - Polk’s Jewish Families: 1925 - Today June 21 - Cypress Gardens: America’s Tropical Wonderland July 19 - Polk Voting Trends: Past, Present and Future Aug. 16 - Florida’s Evolving Springs Sept. 20 - Voices from Mariel: The Mariel Boatlift 1980 Oct. 18 - John Vincent Atanasoff: Forgotten Father of the Computer Nov. 15 - The Other War of 1812: Florida’s Patriot War Now Through Dec. 12 – Festival of Wreaths and Silent Auction The Fifth Annual Festival of Wreaths and Silent Auction continues through Dec. 12. Get in the holiday spirit with a visit to the History Center to view the 42 beautiful wreaths adorning the doorways and rotunda area throughout the museum. Decorators include local organizations, individuals and all five Polk constitutional officers. Place your bid in the 2015 silent auction at www.polkhistorycenter.org by clicking on the Festival of Wreaths icon.Dec. 19 , 11 a.m. - Architectural Tour Join us for a family friendly architectural tour of the History Center and learn more about neoclassical architecture, the construction of the building and the stories behind the iconic Old Polk County Courthouse. The architectural tour is on the third Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. Holiday Closings The History Center will be closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 in observance of Christmas, and will reopen Dec. 26. The History Center will be closed Jan. 1 in observance of New Year’s Day and will reopen Jan. 2. On-going Temporary Exhibits Very Much A Lady: Lifestyle and Fashion of the Proper Woman, 1900-1920 December is your last chance to return to a more elegant and stylish era with this exhibit featuring unique and vintage couture fashion and accessories. The exhibit is curated from the private collection of Polk County resident Joanna Godwin. Mrs. Godwin leads personalized tours of the exhibit every Thursday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The exhibit is on display through the end of the month. Good Reasons for Good Roads: Celebrating the Dixie Highway at 100 Years The exhibit explores early highways, the people who travelled them and a new era of development in the state’s history. Artifacts in the exhibit include dozens of mid-century souvenirs from Polk’s early attractions and the first automobile license plate ever issued in Polk. The Dixie Highway’s initial route officially opened in 1915 and transformed the cultural landscape of Florida. The exhibit will be on display through August. Victory Florida: Honoring Polk County’s WWII Contributions The exhibit tells the story of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things for their country during World War II. This year was the 70th anniversary of V-Day, or Victory Day, which marked the end of World War II in 1945. Victory Florida: Honoring Polk County’s WWII Contributions will be on display through September. About the Polk County History Center: The History Center is located at 100 E. Main St. in Bartow and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Visit www.polkhistorycenter.org or call (863) 534-4386 for more information on exhibits and programming. All events and programming are free and open to the public. WATSON CLINIC ANNOUNCES FREE COMMUNITY LECTURES TO BE HELD IN DECEMBER Watson Clinic is pleased to invite community members to attend the following informative lectures to be held throughout the month of December. These events are free of charge, but seating is limited. Date: Friday, December 18 at 3 PM Speaker: Certified Tobacco Education Specialist Topic: ‘Quit Smoking Now – No ifs, ands or butts!’ Endorsed by the American Lung Association and hosted by the Watson Clinic Foundation, this special class will empower you to take the next step to a healthier lifestyle free from tobacco dependence. This event will include an overview of available options for smokers who want to quit. Location: Cancer & Research Center – Boardroom, 1730 Lakeland Hills Blvd in Lakeland RSVP: 863-802-6220 or online to www.WatsonClinic.com/Events
Newsletter1 - December 14 2015