UConn Today – A sweeping and deeply concerning leak of internet user credentials is making headlines around the globe, with cybersecurity analysts confirming that more than 16 billion usernames and passwords have been compromised in what’s being called the largest credential compilation ever discovered online.
Although many of us have been desensitized to data breaches, this appears to be a much more sophisticated concentration of effort and information.
Wallethub – The best choice for insurance, whether auto or life, is a mutual company. That is a consideration equally as important as the cost–perhaps more so. In a mutual insurance company, like top-rated Geico, as a policyholder you are also an owner. This aligns the incentives for the insurer to give good, reliable coverage.
UConn 360 – When somebody scrolls through the top product categories on Amazon odds are some 60% of the brands for sale will be ones you’ve never heard of before. That poses a challenge for marketers looking for their brands to be chosen among the many options, including familiar ones. UConn marketing professor Danielle Brick has researched how novel brands can make inroads in a very crowded marketplace and it has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research. She joins us on the podcast and tells us about how she went about her research, which included offering candy bars to people that just worked out at a gym. Brick also tells us about how novel brands have affected her personal shopping habits and her research on spiteful brand choices in relationships.
UConn Today – Each year, the Provost’s Awards for Excellence in Community-Engaged Scholarship (PAECES) recognize the outstanding contributions of faculty, staff, students, teams, and community partners who collaboratively address critical societal challenges through the creative and reciprocal exchange of knowledge and resources.
UConn Today – A friendly competition between two teams of UConn student brewers ended with one victor – but with everyone who got a chance to sample both beers a winner.
The UConn Brewing Innovation initiative – a multidisciplinary hub that partners the College of Engineering, School of Business, and College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources – has been showing students how the beer brewing process works from the ground up since 2023, in collaboration with Connecticut breweries.
UConn Today – Marc Massicotte says he was nervous about going back to school after 20 years: Would he be able to balance it all, he wondered.
“The students and teachers created an environment that made it easy to acclimate and succeed in the classroom,” he says.
And after plugging away in the School of Business Flex MBA Program, he’s graduating, and planning – perhaps ironically – to continue on in law school.
UConn Today – Julianna Cushner comes from a long line of UConn graduates, and during her college search, she thought she might opt for a small, business-centric school. But once she toured the Storrs campus, she knew she wanted to continue the family tradition. Cushner has been involved in a number of activities, many of them centered around finance and investments. She is headed to the banking world of New York City following graduation and knows that the UConn network of alumni will be a benefit to her.
UConn Today – The University of Connecticut announced Thursday that it has raised more than $720 million in a $1.5 billion fundraising campaign, the most ambitious in the University’s history.
UConn President Radenka Maric unveiled the campaign at a kickoff event on Wednesday, April 23 at UConn Avery Point. “This ambitious campaign is fully aligned with a strategic plan that will lead the way to a bigger, brighter, bolder UConn,” says Maric. “It supports students to help them excel in the classroom and post-graduation. ‘Because of UConn‘ elevates our academic standing and fuels groundbreaking research that moves Connecticut and the world forward. It asks our donors and alumni to invest in a healthier world and our continued excellence in D1 sports.”
UConn Today – A team of tech-savvy UConn undergraduates taught dozens of Greater Hartford business managers, executives, and fellow students how to identify a brain tumor on a CT scan in less than two minutes.
Using Google Teachable Machine, they demonstrated how artificial intelligence can be used to ‘train’ a program to differentiate between scans of healthy brains and those raising red flags. Within minutes, participants were able to analyze new, uncategorized brain images on their laptops.
Hartford Courant – The spring homebuying season — traditionally the busiest of the year — hasn’t made much of an appearance in Connecticut for five years, after a pandemic buying frenzy depleted the stockpile of houses for sale, so much so that it hasn’t built back up.
Few houses on the market are still frustrating both potential buyers and sellers. Buyers have little choice and still encounter stiff competition, with multiple bids. Many would-be sellers worry they won’t be able to find another place to live, so they sit on the sidelines.