The last few days have provided us a bit of a demonstration as to how our lives rely on security aparatus that may not always function. And while each failure has been addressed, the damage remains.

In the case of the Secret Service, that damage includes a funeral and a U.S. presidential candidate.  With Crowdstrike, the damage included a significant outage of services that our modern society requires.  And in both cases, the fuller damage is to their reputation, and, by extension, the reputation of those who do what they do.

For those who are unaware of the Crowdstrike issue, a brief rundown is that several heavily deployed Microsoft systems were brought down today, including those of major airlines, banks, and hospitals, by a conflict with their latest update and the latest update of a security solution called “Crowdstrike”, a major security host and platform used by the above noted industries. You may have seen it reported earlier today as an issue with Microsoft itself, but this turns out not to be the case.

For those who are unaware of the Secret Service issue, I can only assume at this point that that’s by intention, so I won’t go into it further.

In either case, however, what remains to be seen is the fallout.  May you live in interesting times, the saying goes.  And things are certainly getting interesting.  I wonder

But meanwhile, this week in the Voice Magazine, we have a new interview with an AU student. She’s taking her psychology degree and has a  children’s book which has now gone to print.  She’s also got some tips for students just starting their AU degree, and for those who have been at it for quite a while.  Find out her greatest influences and more  in this week’s “Minds We Meet”

Also this week, Oliver tells us the story of the sharp-dressed man, a story of how the impression you make could change another person’s life, even if they don’t know anything about you aside from that impression.  It gives us reason to think about ourselves and who we might be inspiring without knowing about it.

And we round it off with the latest Cities in Six, this time looking at Ottawa, Ontario, and taking you on a trip through some of the iconic sights and sites within the capital city.

However, that’s not all, as the Fly on the Wall takes a longer look at the assassination attempt seeking to understand what exists at that level of violence.  Also, a trip to London, England, provided Xine Wang with inspiration for an article, and Aleksander Golijanin digs further into the connection between lawyers and organized crime, as well as the institutions in this country that serve to prevent attacks of mass violence or terrorism, and what you can do to help out.

We’ve also got scholarships, events, inspirational articles and advice on everything from choosing your electives to pushing forward with your goals and study dreams.

Also, if you think you might want to make a few bucks and make your ideas part of the wider AU community, consider contacting me at karl@voicemagazine.org and let me know what you think the Voice Magazine needs that you can provide!

Enjoy the read!