Draggar's Universe

Freedom of Relgion - under attack or freedom of favoritism?

2008-07-27T09:47:00.001-04:00

The Sun Sentinel reported a story about a very nice home in an upscale community, and the adjacent lot, are “tax free” due to the religious exemption. For Joe Average, this property would cost about $64,000 in taxes a year.

If this property was a church I wouldn’t mind as much (even though Jesus said something along the lines of “pay Caesar the money owed to him” referring to taxes). But it is not. The Sun Sentinel describes the property being used as:

“Church representatives say they use the property to house missionaries working in Haiti and as a home for the church founder”

That’s right; the founders personal home is tax free due to the religious exemption.

Here is the kicker. We have some friends in our Pagan / Wiccan groups who tried to claim religious exemption but were denied by the county since “Paganism and Wicca are not recognized religions”. In other words, only Christian, Jewish, and Muslim places of worship are “recognized”.

I guess someone packed us up and made us leave the USA without our knowledge (is Florida still part of the US?). I thought we had the “freedom of religion”? Hmm..

Oh, wait, we have this little document called “The United States Constitution” and the very first Amendment is:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Being the first Amendment (well, Amendment I for all of you law people) means it was the fist thing that came to the writers’ minds. It was the most important part of this document. If not, it would have been further down the list.

So, the Broward county officials feel that they can override the most significant part of the founding document of this nation by creating laws that benefit one religion over another.

Watch out America, our “Freedom of Religion” is under attack also.

Global warming vs. the real threat to humanity

2008-07-16T07:50:00.000-04:00

Seriously, I do not think global warming is going to be a serious issue. Sure, there will be issues with a serious climate change like this but it would open up many more opportunities. Imagine the Midwest able to farm all year round and even parts of Canada and Russia can farm all year? It would open up more shipping routes in the Arctic ocean allowing much faster shipping from Europe to the far-east (which would hurt Panama’s economy with fewer ships going though the Panama canal).

Sure, hurricanes would be more intense but due to increased wind shear, there would be fewer hurricanes. Arctic and Antarctic ice would melt and raise seal levels so we’d have to leave some coastal areas (most of the people who live on the coast can afford it anyway).

Our real threat, which I’ll admit may not be a threat for a few to several hundred years, is the end of our current warming cycle. No, I don’t mean our 150 year trend of warm weather (after the last “mini” (really a micro) ice age). We had a similar warming period about 2,000 years ago when the Roman Empire was in its height. There was a lot of good farming. Warmth allows us to grow more food, raise more cattle, and opens up trade routs that formerly would be inaccessible.

I mean the earth, over the past 10,000 years (the time we, humans, have thrived) has been though a very long warming period. We had a sample of the real threat about 150-400 years ago. We had a mini-ice age (the worst was around the 1850s). Most of Europe has to think of new agricultural processes etc.. Luckily, the “New World” was discovered and foods that were available in Central America (potatoes, yucca etc..) were able to thrive in the cooler environment but the cooler age was devastating to Europe, which thrived during the previous warming period.

Our real threat is the next ice age, even if it is as minor as the one that ended roughly 150 years ago. Imagine the polar ice caps reaching South Carolina, Texas, and central California. Imagine Europe much like Siberia.

And we need to keep an eye on this, no one knows when it would happen and back in the 1850s when the ice age ended things went pretty close to normal after the worst of it which means the Earth has the ability to switch the environment as needed.

One thing we need to look at is the “belt” in the Atlantic Ocean that brings warm waters to north-western Europe. People think of New England and New Brunswick, Canada as cold places but think of northern France and southern UK as warm, but in reality, the European counterparts are actually further north than the North American locations. Why? That conveyor belt.

It has been theorized that global warming can slow, even halt, this warm current which would create a much colder environment to north-western Europe. Big deal, right?

A colder environment will create more ice and the Arctic Ocean could start to freeze again. This will slow the motion of the water in the Arctic Ocean. Moving water doesn’t freeze. If you don’t believe me, try to freeze a pot of water while you stir it. It will not freeze. So, this ice will not only reflect more sunlight but it will also slow the movement of water in the Arctic Ocean, thus allowing more of the water to freeze. Once the Bering Straight is frozen over, then the movement / circulation will stop, creating a very large icebox. As the ocean freezes, the ice will creep down over northern Asia, Europe, and North America. All of a sudden, all of these great farmlands are now unfarmable. The US’s Midwest will become a permafrost (like modern day Siberia). With more ice in the Arctic (and Antarctic) there will be less rain so places that could become farmlands (the Middle East, northern Africa, and northern South America) may be deserts.

I’m not saying this will happen overnight but it is something we will have to face generations ahead of us. Global warming will be an inconvenience for us compared to what the next ice age may do.

Comcast - YOU SUCK!!!

2008-07-08T18:16:00.000-04:00

Yes Comcast, YOU SUCK. You are the worst ISP I’ve ever had (except for AOL). I just spent ANOTHER 30 minutes with no service.

I’ve had your “service” (and I’m using the term loosely right now) for about three months and in that three months I’ve had more down time than I did with six years with DSL, and this includes after two major hurricanes and three regular hurricanes. Every few days the service goes out. When I call, it’s usually back on by the time I get to speak to a human and if it isn’t it is always some “routine maintenance” (who does that when everyone is trying to use the service?), “the node is down”, or that my modem is bad (and they never seem to have an answer when I ask them how does the modem affect the TV?). I love that last one. My modem works and they are never willing to pay me back a restocking fee if I still have problems after I buy a new modem (like hell I’m going to keep it).

It’s funny, though. If I am a day late on my payment they turn off my service very quickly. Like they have someone watching all of the bills come in and if they don’t see mine, they flip the switch. Kill my service! Then, bill me extra for making a payment over the phone or “late fees”. But you feel you can just turn off my service whenever you want.

Your technician never even showed up my first few appointments. Not even a call and when I called, I was told “oh, we tried to call you” (complete bull, no calls came in) and then I get the “well, we can’t get him back out for a week (funny how my first call I could have him at my house (well, the appointment anyway) within 48 hours. Sure, the first thing he says it is my modem (go back to the first paragraph). But, he tightened a few things and it helped for maybe a week.

Comcast – you suck and if we weren’t screwed over by AT&T we would leave your service and go back to DSL. It must be nice to have a monopoly on this kind of service, you can charge whatever you want and treat your customers like crap and there is almost no place we can go.

We are Google, resistance is futile.

2008-07-05T19:00:00.001-04:00

First a US court ruled that Google must release the viewing habits of everyone who has ever visited YouTube (Story here). Now, this month’s Discover magazine has an article appropriately titled “Google’s Eyes are Watching You” with a secondary title “No Place To Hide”. It’s quite scary actually. Google has become a modern day juggernaut of information many of which we (the population) thinks is safely tucked away somewhere or not even kept. Just imagine what a company like Google could learn about you just from your searching habits (who doesn’t use Google now?).

Guess what, anonymity went out the door the second you logged onto your PC and went onto the internet. Google is watching. Google is in your PC, in your home, and in your mind. You think I’m lying or paranoid, don’t you. Just imagine, how much do you search every day? Do you have that little Google toolbar that is packaged in with just about every game you buy on the internet now? It’s all keeping records of you, what you watch, and now, thanks to Google Earth and Google’s acquired company, Keyhole (yes, the same company that headed up spy technology for the CIA though the 80s) can now even watch you.

Go ahead, go to maps.google.com I just typed in my address and I saw my car. I know it is recent because we had some landscape changes after hurricane Wilma that is there. You can even see the debris piles and tarps on our roofs, so I guess this shot is from between fall of 2005 and summer of 2006. You can look up anything, your house, your ex’s house, military bases; I just saw the Kremlin, the Pyramids, and Tower Bridge all within a few minutes of each other.

It’s not scary to see these images now, most are not too recent (between 1-3 years old) but what about as this technology advances? Hell, I just now went onto Google Streets and I just saw myself walking my dog and my parents cooking (this picture I know is recent since they only got rid of a fence a month ago and it is not in the picture). Luckily, my sister’s street isn’t part of Google Streets yet.

Google is everywhere and is in everything. While I agree this technology can be helpful it can also be very dangerous and has a large amount to be abused. Imagine this in the hands of stalkers? Terrorists? Just enter “Earle Ammunition Depot” and you can actually see the trains that are parked in this “highly secret” (not anymore) base. You can see the planes at Offutt AFB, even.

I’m sure it is just a matter of time (I think less than a year) that Google imagery and records will be “credible evidence” on a regular bases in our courtrooms.

Google is the Borg. Google is Skynet. Google is everywhere, resistance is futile.

Barak Obama asks donators to pay off Clinton's debts

2008-06-25T06:38:00.004-04:00

News story here.

So, Barak has asked donators to pay off Hillary's debts that she amassed during her political campaign (including $22M that she got total including $12M she donated (now it's considered "loaned" to herself (I wonder which one would be paid off first). I guess along with our own debts they want us to pay off their debts, too.

Hmm, I wonder if this would work for me? I have a website here and many others, reoccurring costs of about $2,500 a year. Would anyone like to donate to help me pay off those debts? Feel free to send funds via PayPal to my name (draggar) at gmail (dot) com. (any donations sent to me will not be paid back, BTW) Let's see what happens. I doubt I'll get anything but feel free to send a note with the payment and I'll send a thank you out though the blog. :)

It seems that all of the "donations" that were given to Hillary are not "loans". I guess everyone is pissed that she didn't win (my hat is off to the US's voting public who flipped the bird to everyone by voting for Barak). I guess we really see how these "donators" are now, they'll donate as long as things are going their way but now they want their money back. I guess even these corporations don't understand the point behind a donation (and I wonder how many of these donations have been used as a tax write off already?).

BTW - I'm also willing to bet that the average Joe who sent money to Hillary (people who work hard for their money) will be the very last people in line for the money (and probabaly some very high interest rates, I wouldn't be surprised if Hillary paid herself back $15 million+).

Again, politicians seem to not care about us or the image they portray to us.

Again, remember, send your "donations" to help me pay off my debts vis PayPal to draggar (at) gmail (dot) com. (Again, donations will be kept by me and will not be paid back, but at least I will use them to help pay off my debts).

Edit: 6-28-2008
It looks like Barak is putting his money where his mouth is, quite literally: News story. Although $2,300 from him and his wife (4,600 total) is a drop in the bucket and I'm willing to bet is more of a "unite the Democrats move" than actually him being a nice guy. Hey Barak, since you're giving away money, how about sending some to my PayPal account mentioned above?

I don't know about other people out there but this looks like a clear-cut attempt to buy votes.

Barak Obama needs a lesson in inflation now...

2008-06-09T22:14:00.005-04:00

CNN News story

So now Barak is jumping on the band wagon, pump more money into the economy and we'll be fine. Sure. He cited jump in unemployment and rising gas & oil prices as the main reasons to do this.

OK, I haven't seen a single penny from the last increase in available money (the stimulus checks were NOT part of that). But what I have seen is the value of my own money go down which causes the price of anything that has to do with any kind of importing go up. Food, gas, electricity, just about everything. Since our dollar is weaker now, it costs more to get the same amount of produce in a foreign country (even if the price of those products remained the same in the other country). So they throw this money into the economy but very few of us see it (I'm willing to bet the people who see it are the ones who don't need it, the rich just keep on getting richer and us in the middle and lower classes get stuck with the high price tags).

Now Barak wants to do this again! Sure and I guarantee you that if another $500B (that's $50,000,000,000) is thrown at us the value of our dollar will drop to historically low value and the price of oil WILL shoot over $200 a barrel and we'll wish gas was only $4 a gallon. What's the worst part is that we're throwing so much money out of the country (outsourcing just about everything now) that there is less and less of it for us (you know, the people who pay to have the money printed?) to have in our own wallets making it more difficult for us to afford basics such as food, rent or mortgage, electricity, gas, etc.

I now see that Barak is no better than the rest of the politicians that are out there. Pat their friends on the back, fill their wallets and f*ck the working class in America, the people who actually voted him into the position he's in now.

OK, government, do you really want to help the economy? How about this:

Tax breaks for businesses that keep workers in the US

Tax breaks for citizens

(Politicians) Stop all the bull$h!t dilly-dallying in Iraq and bring the troops home

Force the car manufacturers and fuel companies to put out more alternative fuel cars and filling stations, we know they own all of the patents but they're just sitting on their hands while keeping us addicted to foreign oil. For me, the nearest "alternative fuel" station is over 4 hours away.

Invest more into renewal energy & make it more cost effective

Wake up America! Part 2 - Inflation

2008-06-04T21:09:00.003-04:00

OK people, let me give you a simple lesson in economics.

We’ve heard a nasty word recently (well, IMO it is not that nasty, it is only nasty when it works against us). INFLATION.

We’ve heard a lot of pointers on why the dollar is so “weak” right now (the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US Dollar now, don’t even get me started on the Euro, this has killed the potential for some good investments for me).

We’ve heard this is because of the high price of oil, the interest rates, the high price of gas, etc. etc. etc. All of which is complete bullshit.

Inflation is caused by the value of a country's currency which is the ratio of (Country’s GNP / Available Currency (including credit). So, anyone who knows ratios and fractions can see that the more currency (and credit) available the lower value our money is. Now, what happened just before the dollar crashed?

Don’t believe me? Webster’s:
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inflation )
A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services.

Oh yeah, the government signed bills allowing BILLIONS of dollars to be pumped into banks allowing people to borrow more money. Smooth move people. Now our dollar is worth very little to other nations.

Now, we’re blaming OPEC on the high price of gas and oil which is also, ready? BULLSHIT!! Since our dollar is weaker, it costs more to get a barrel of oil from other countries. OK, so our dollar has gone to record lows in value causing the price of oil to skyrocket (which also directly affects the price we pay at the gasoline pump).

Our government is blaming inflation on the price of oil and OPEC when that is the exact opposite of the truth. Our own government pushed the value of our dollar so far down that anything that has anything to do with something that is imported will cost us more, including gas and oil!

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!

Wake up America!

2008-06-03T20:41:00.001-04:00

I’ve had no love for Hillary for a very long time and I have never been shy about it.

I don’t know which is worse, the lies and narcissism that Hillary has displayed during this election or the people who have been duped into believing in here. OK, I can understand that a lot of people in the US didn’t see the NY senate race between Hillary and Giuliani. I lived in New Jersey at the time so it was all over our news. People even asked Hillary how come she was running for New York instead of Arkansas (where she’s from). Her response was “I’ve always been a Yankees girl”. Really now? Did you even know that the Yankees were in the World Series that year or were you too busy kissing up to everyone to even go to a single game? Giuliani made the time to go to several games and I think he even threw out the first pitch during one of the games. Someone of her magnitude could have easily gotten into one of the games.

A few months ago, while behind in the race, Hillary made a (desperate) offer to Obama. Let him concede and she would accept him as her vice president candidate. Um, what? You don’t make offers like that when you are in second place. Luckily Obama ignored the request and continued to win election after election and is now 4 votes shy of the nomination (over 200 delegate lead over Hillary). Then, she tells him he should quit to unite the Democrats. Now, she’s saying that she would accept an offer to be the vice president candidate.

Obama, I really hope you do not consider this. Most Democrats are very passionate and strongly divided. You would lose votes to McCain if you took her as your vice presidential candidate. If Hillary is in the office we can rest assured that the next 4 years she’ll end up being the president by hogging the spotlight.

If you ask me who Obama’s VP candidate should be, I have no idea. Someone with similar views to Obama (Cheney must have had an uncomfortable time w/ Bush’s “same sex marriage ban” issues with his daughter) and someone who doesn’t mind being in the background (not John Edwards either).

(This is not an endorsement; I’m going to consider this election, like many others in the past, the lesser of all of the evils).

American voters flip the bird to Washington, the media, and Americal corporations

2008-05-21T22:14:00.003-04:00

It should come as no surprise to most people that today the media and large corporations are running America. Hopefully this isn't a surprise.

It shouldn't be a big surprise to see that it is also these corporations and the same media who choose who is our next president. Through advertising and opinionated news reporting, it is easy to skew our impressions of the candidates to favor one over the other.

It has been quite clear since the beginning that these two entities wanted McCain and Clinton to be on the November ticket. Clinton, definitely a player, most likely would have been voted in. I'll admit, as much as I don't like her, Hillary is a player. She is charismatic and knows what to say to who and when. The media does the same. Perfect example, the media today was all over Hillary's "huge" win in Kentucky. She picked up 22 delegates over Obama's 11 but the media is very quiet about Obama's win in Oregon (Obama picked up 29 delegates as opposed to Hillary's 19, making both states only a one delegate gain for Hillary). They are also very quiet about the mass migration of the super delegates over to Obama's side. Nope, they're making it sound like Hillary was a huge winner yesterday (even though she lost ground to Obama).

It seems that the American public has flipped the bird to the corporations and media trying to run this country. America has stood up and voted for Obama. Even with the media's call for "Operation Chaos" to try to get Hillary to win the nod failed.

Obama played a good game. He took the "T Mobile" strategy. In the beginning when all of the mud slinging was going on he didn't participate, even when the mud was being slung at him (much like as much as the other providers trach T Mobile in their commercials, T Mobile doesn't stoop to that level). Barak stood back and still stated his intentions and didn't even try to defend himself. That takes some cohones.

Good job, Barak. You didn't play the game everyone wanted you to allowing others to chew you out. Instead you acted mature and kept your cool. Even now, as your are ever inching towards the victory, the media is still trying to paint Hillary as the winner.

"The Greatest Domaining Contest Ever"

2008-05-19T15:14:00.005-04:00

That's what it is being called, John over at DNXpert.com (http://www.dnxpert.com/2008/05/19/greatest-domaining-blogging-contest-ever/) is holding this contest for domainers.

Feel free to click on the link but check out the list of prizes below! There are some great prizes for little work by the contestants.

$700 in cash from We Build Pages who offer Link Building Services. ($700 value)

$200 credit deposited into NameDrive domain parking account courtesy of NameDrive.com. ($200 value)

$100 Godaddy Gift card from instantdomaintool.com. ($100 value)

$100 credit in Bidvertiser account. ($100 value)

$100 cash from WordPressFreelance. ($100 value)

$50 cash from Ades blog ($50 value)

$35 Cash from Tim Schroeder of eMonetized.com. ($35 value)

$35 Cash from Web Hosting Reviews. ($35 value)

$30 Cash from Life is colourful. ($30 value)

1 Market Leverage promo pack consisting of: MarketLeverage iFlip (digital camera), MLRewards card ($50), MarketLeverage USB Pen, MarketLeverage Polo and hat, MarketLeverage/Nike duffelbag. ($350 value)

2 x Market Leverage promo pack consisting of MLRewards card ($25), MarketLeverage USB Pen, MarketLeverage Polo and hat, MarketLeverage/Nike duffelbag. (2 x $220 value)

3 x Market Leverage USB Pens with $10 ML Rewards card. (3 x $35 value)

6 months subscription to MarketMotive.com. ($1794 value)

1 hour of SEO Consulting from Todd Malicoat from stuntdubl.com. ($500 value)

1 year’s PRO Subscriptions membership to FreshDrop.net. ($395.40 value)

5 x 1 license of the software product Domain Name Pro (5 x $64.95 value)

3 months membership at Aaron Wall’s SeoBook course. ($300 value)

3 x 1 copy of the Domain Graduate ebook. (3 x $87 value)

5 x 1 exclusive list of 100 expired domains from DNXpert.com (5 x $50 value)

6 months premium clustered hosting at iMountain.com (6 x $39.95 value)

2 months VIP membership at ClickMojo ($200 value)

15 minute one on one phone coaching session with Simon Johnson from Domainer Income ($200 value)

2 year subscription to DNSstuff pro tools. ($139 value)

1 x 100 domain parking account at WhyPark.com ($99.95 value)

1 copy of the Revenue Domains Exposed ebook ($97 value)

2 month subscription at Wordze.com ($90 value)

3 x 1 copy of the Domaining Manifesto ebook. (3 x $27 value)

1 copy of Wordze’s Guide to Keyword Research & Niche Wealth Building! ($80 value)

1 copy of a single use license of Brian Gardner’s Revolution blog theme of the winners’ choice ($79.99 value)

1 copy of Optin Comments WP plugin. ($77 value)

1 DNForum.com Platinum membership. ($59.95 value)

1 yearly subscription to Gold Account at iwebtool.com ($59 value)

3 x 1 copy of the Killer Domains ebook (3 x $17 value)

2 x 50 available domains from WordFuse.com (2 x $24.95 value)

1 featured listing on Sedo’s homepage for 1 domain. (worth $39)

1 DNForum.com Gold membership ($19.95 value)

1 Month DomainNews.com Newsletter Sponsorship - Top Position Advertizing ($500 value)

2 months 160×90 ad on ClickFire.com homepage (2 x $200 value)

1 Month text link on JustDropped.com search pages ($100 value)

1 month text link at DomainNameWire.com ($60 value)

1 month of 125×125 banner advertising on Winning the Web ($50 value)

1 month 125×125 banner advertising at DNXpert.com ($50 value)

1 month 125×125 banner advertising at DotSauce.com ($40 value)

1 month text link on blogaboutyourblog.com ($10 value)

1 copy of Darren Rowse's ProBlogger ebook ($16.49 value)

New site

2008-05-11T10:49:00.003-04:00

I've launched a new site for all of you who listen to Big 105.9FM (and The Gater's) morning show, The Paul and Young Ron Show.

You Can't Win.Net

It is a site I'm putting up for their game show, You Can't Win. I will try to listen every day and update the site each day (there are some days I've missed because of work).

I have a list of all of the answers for questions one though three and all of the "wrong" answers plus little hints that were deliberately (and inadvertently) by the cast, staff, and callers.

Right now, I have a feeling I know what the answer to question #4 is just by listening every day and maintaining the list.

The morning show is based out of Big 105.9FM out of Miramar, FL but is also simulcast in West Palm Beach though The Gater, 98.7 FM so their reach is from Key Largo to Stuart, Florida (rumored to be as far south as Islamorada and as far north as Yeehaw Junction). Tune each weekday morning around 7:30 (usually between 7:20 and 8:00AM) and remember, you can win!

Crazy people at the airport...

2008-05-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

I was at the airport yesterday waiting for my wife to arrive and, as usual, there was an interesting array of people there.

First, some loud mouthed guy on his cell phone non-stop. High teens low to mid 20s age, acting all tough on his phone. He’s telling his friends that he’s pissed because they wouldn’t let him into the terminal.. He said he was there to pick up a child (with no documentation), he tried to pass off a piece of paper as a ticket, they still wouldn’t let him in. Then, he claims that he told them they’d better let him in or else he’d “kick their asses”. Uh-huh, if you even came close to that your ass would be in a back room in the airport being drilled by security and the local police department. He’s also talking down to some girl (probably his GF that he keeps her self esteem crushed so she’d stay with him).

Karma caught up to him. His mom called, they were stuck on the tarmac because someone got sick and they needed the CDC to clear the plane. HA HA! He was telling her to fake being sick. Yeah, that’ll work, that’ll just make them wait longer.

A couple came in from the terminal with a small child. The mother went to the rest room and the father was too busy on his cell phone to notice that their child was standing at the top of the down escalator playing, and blocking people from going downstairs to baggage claim. I was hoping that the father would drop his cell phone down to the first floor (I don’t want to see the kid get hurt from his own ignorance).

Of course some other bratty kid came up to me and demanded that I give him my Nintendo DS. Yeah, right. No, it’s not your turn. It’s my DS that I bought with my own money. Learn some manners. Of course he goes crying off to his mommy who told him I was being a “mean man”. Fine lady, can I have that laptop in your bag? No? You’re being mean. Like hell I’m going to give a Nintendo DS (that I was using at the time, BTW) to a completely strange kid (plus, kid’s mom, didn’t you ever teach your kids to NOT talk to strangers? If I was a pedophile I could have easily lured that kid away into my car while you were being completely ignorant of the situation and he would be GONE. Obviously chatting on your cell phone is far more important than your child).

I also love watching people argue with security. Pay attention to the rules people. No, you cannot bring that bottle of water onto the plane. You say its water but how can they know? Yes, the knives are for cutting steak but guess what, they are NOT going onto the plane (and arguing with security will NOT get you anywhere so don’t even continue arguing). Wisen up people. Also, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BAGS UNATTENDED. Almost every time I go to the airport security is a few seconds away from closing the terminal because some moronic ass-muncher leaves a bag on the floor (like when going though the zigzag line at security). Of course, at the last second someone just picks it up and acts like nothing happened. Maybe these people should be pulled aside and fully strip searched (cavity search time!). Maybe that will teach them to just leave their bags and risk tens of thousands of travelers getting to where they need to go on time.

Don’t get me wrong, there were dozens of happy reunions (including mine). People were very happy to see each other (I couldn’t get the opening scene of “Dogma” out of my mind with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon). It gave me a warm feeling in my heart. Either that or my heartburn was acting up again. 

Of course driving in and out of the airport is a living hell, too. People who can’t figure out the self-pay lanes in the parking garage, people slamming on their breaks on the highway that goes around the airport and jumping across 3 lanes. People who drive by the terminal then slam on their breaks to pull across 4 lanes of traffic so they can drop someone off (did you not notice the pretty colors or the huge terminal numbers?). Leaving is dangerous enough. Even with police there stopping traffic to let pedestrians walk across the road people still fly though almost hitting us. Morons.

CNN - you are diusgusting

2008-05-04T18:20:00.002-04:00

Not only does your latest ploy prove that you are selling out it shows your lack of sensitivity towards people.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at this picture:

Fill sized image here

Yes, that is a t-shirt you can buy with CNN's headlines on it. Not only are they profiting off of the news, they are merchandising other people's misery, a luxury previously only enjoyed by our insurance agencies.

This one (in the picture) is "Hit and run cop nailed by own dash cam". OK, this one isn't too bad but I actually saw one earlier today that said "hundreds feared dead from Myanmar typhoon". Um, you want to sell t-shirts that promote a natural disaster that hundreds of people have died in and get 100% of the proceeds from it?

I honestly can't think of anything lower, more evil, and selfish than any company has done in a very long time. Just when I thought things couldn't get more thoughtless, they come out with this.

I guess it is time to find another news site.

Tips for auction site buyers

2008-04-30T19:03:00.001-04:00

Online auctions part two: For the buyers

Auctions wouldn’t work without the buyers (hell, any kind of selling won’t work without buyers). Buyers work with sellers to reach a price that is mutually beneficial for both parties. Yesterday I posted advice and hints on how people should post their items for sale in auctions, today I’ll visit the other side.

Buyers also need to be aware of inadvertent practices that can be rude and annoy sellers. Follow a few tips and you’ll be sure not only get good buyer ratings but also respect from a seller which may give you better prices down the road.

First, low-ballers.

I’m talking about the people who see an item and bid ridiculously low prices for the item. Someone posts a new car for sale and someone bids $1. Not only will you most likely not even be considered for the auction, but sometimes it can be a slap in the face to the seller or may be a target of ridicule from the rest of the community. Be reasonable; bid the lowest you think you’ll be able to buy the item for.

Mind open reserve prices and opening bids.

If someone posts that an opening bid is $500, don’t go in and bid $200, it just shows that you’re not paying attention to the auction. This will hurt your credibility.

Ask questions!

It is a buyer beware world out there. If at any point you are unsure about an item, the quality, etc.. ask. An honest seller will answer your question truthfully. If you bid on something and it turns out to not be what you thought it was (other than false advertising and misrepresentation) you only have yourself to blame. You will lose any protest because you should always ask questions before you commit to buying the item. Ask ask ask! (And sellers, respond to questions!).

Complete your sales.

This goes for buyers and sellers. Nothing is more annoying to one side than the other side backing out after an agreement is reached. It doesn’t matter the reason, it is still annoying to the side stuck with an incomplete sale.

Don’t be a crybaby.

Don’t post on forums complaining about a price or the product. You’re not the one selling it. If you don’t like the price, then don’t bid on it. If you don’t like the quality, then don’t bid on it. Nothing annoys a whole community more than a crybaby complaining that something is too expensive or not what they want. If it is set up to be too expensive, if the demand isn’t there then the seller won’t sell it.

Payment plans are not an option.

Unless you arranged this with the seller before you started to bid on an item, do not think you’ll be able to have a monthly payment plan to buy something. Have the cash on hand to buy what you want.

Leave honest feedback.

(This also goes for buyers and sellers) After all is said and done, you paid and you got your item and it is to your satisfaction, leave appropriate feedback to the other party involved. This helps them build a reputation and chances are they’ll leave feedback for you if you leave them feedback.

Disagreements and issues

(Another item that is for both parties). Do not air disagreements out in the open. Start with private messages. Things happen, that’s part of life. You could have agreed to a sale but in the time between then and when you send your payment something could have happened, they could have gotten busy, they could be sick or injured, or worst. Starting right off the bat flaming them publicly will not produce any good results. If private messages don’t work then take it to a public forum. Be respectful and honest but do not include personal information (other than a username). Stay away from personal attacks. Again, stick with the facts, “I paid on this day and never got it”, “I sent them a private message and they didn’t respond in several days” etc..

I doubt that my little blog here will drastically improve the auction process on many sites but hopefully people read these and did learn something. 

Tips for auction site sellers.

2008-04-29T20:36:00.001-04:00

I frequent a lot of boards that feature auctions. No, not like eBay where the auction itself is moderated and rules are set up as how an auction works. I’m talking forums where they’ll have a section for auctions. People post something they want to sell and others bid on it.

Unfortunately, it seems that the vast majority of the people who try to sell items on these auctions don’t know much about how auctions work and in the end it really annoys a lot of the other people on the forum, especially those who are trying to buy the item that is being auctioned.

I’ve decided to write a quick blurb showing people what different terms and acronyms mean in the auction world.

First, the most over used AND misused term:

BIN

BIN stands for “Buy It Now”. It is NOT THE SAME AS AN OPENING BID or a reserve bid. A BIN is a price that you will instantly stop an auction to sell it. You’ve decided on this price and when someone says “SOLD AT BIN” or bids the bin, the auction should stop. Continuing it on is dishonest and unfair to the person who wanted buy the item at the BIN. It’s like going to a car dealership, offering to buy a car at sticker price, and as your signing the paperwork someone else walks in and says “$500 over sticker price!”. Sure, it’s great for the seller but dishonest and (IMO) unethical. You posted the BIN price, your risk if someone is willing to pay more.

“Reserve”

A reserve, my least favorite part of an auction, is a mysterious price that someone sets the lowest amount they’d sell something for. Sure, you can start bidding at $1 on that nice car, but they have a hidden reserve that they won’t tell anyone (usually a few cents below the BIN). Personally, I’d rather see and use an opening bid (below) and would never use a reserve. It’s sneaky and only dupes people into believing that they might get a bargain when bidding starts at a very low price.

Sometimes people will tell you the reserve (which then becomes an opening bid) other times they will not.

Opening Bid

An “opening bid” is an amount where you start the auction and SHOULD BE the absolute lowest that you’ll sell the item for. A low opening is often a gamble, if it is far below what the item is worth then it will spark bidding but you may not get what it is worth (if your opening bid on a diamond necklace is $5 and only one person bids on it, guess what?).

A high opening bid will guarantee you a better price but fewer people will bid on it. I’ve seen items that sat for sale since no one bid on it because the opening bid was too high but would have actually fetched more if the opening bid was lower.

Liars / exaggerators

What ever you do, do not lie or exaggerate descriptions about your item. Don’t say that baseball card is in mint condition when a tear is down the side. Don’t say the car has 10,000 miles on it when it actually has 25,000. People will catch it, even if after they buy it and leave you negative feedback, which will tarnish your reputation on the forum / site.

If people post questions, please answer them. How would you like to walk into a store and ask the sales reps a question only to have them ignore you? Not answering questions in an auction is the same.

Price ranges

I also see people “Looking for offers in the $xx range”. This means that they are looking for offers between $10 and $99. If you’re not planning to sell it for less than $100, then DON’T SAY “looking for offers in the $xx range”. Again, this is dishonest. It’s like using a BIN as an opening bid.

Follow these simple rules and you’ll not only be able to have good auctions (as long as what you’re selling is in demand) but you won’t annoy other site members.

Tomorrow (hopefully) : Tips for auction buyers!

"Life After People", oil, global warming, and global balance.

2008-04-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

I don't know if many people here caught this program on the Discovery Channel (Life After People), especially since many of you are outside the US and I don't know if it was broadcasted out of the US.

They basically go over what would happen to the Earth if hu8mans just disappeared one day, everything would be left in tact as it is the second we all disappeared. They go over buildings corroding and collapsing, houses crumbling, cars rusting and how animals would adapt. (It's a fascinating program, I recommend anyone to watch it).

They discussed that pretty much the only man-made item that may survive for the next generation of intelligent life to see would me mount Rushmore. The favorable conditions where it is (low erosion, cooler climate, elevation, etc..) as well as it being carved out of granite would make it the least vulnerable item in our civilization (the statues of Petra and other similar ones could last, but sandstorms would sand them down). As long as tectonics keep it in favorable conditions it could be visible that it is not natural for millions of years. (This is unlikely considering the possibility of global tectonic shift / polar reversal, but possible).

Second thought, oil. I watched another program on the History channel about oil, how it affects us and our civilization and how it is formed. First, look at the conditioned that are needed for it to be "created".

Oil fields are nothing more than gargantuan (and that is an understatement) grave yard for prehistoric life. Marine life swam into a dead zone in the ocean (like what we're starting to see form in today's oceans) and it dies, then floats to the bottom. The pressure and chemicals in this dead water helps preserve the corpses and over millions of years it forms oil. These dead spots happen when the global temperatures rise and the ocean temperatures rise, like what the climate was like back in prehistoric times (when global temperatures were much higher than they are today). These corpses also capture a lot of carbon that is in the atmosphere / climate and keep it away (in the oil) thus removing carbon from the atmosphere, reversing greenhouse gasses.

Two things come to mind.

1) It is very possible that there was another civilization of intelligent life on Earth millions of years before humans came up (exactly like what the Star Trek Voyager episode called "Distant Origins" or "Displaced" was about). Any sign of them would be long gone today whether they went extinct or moved onto other planets. Throw in the Discovery program, "The Future Is Wild" and we can assume that crustations (squids specifically) are the next likely candidate to take over some 5-10 millions years from now.

2) Using oil releases all that trapped carbon into the atmosphere, thus creating a greenhouse effect and creating another climate not unlike what the climate was like when the oil was starting to form (warmer for the dead spots). We could be creating the conditions for oil to start forming in the ocean for the next intelligent species to arrive.

I've come to the conclusion that oil is the Earth's way to either test it's dominant / intelligent species or as a balance (global species / respect balance, not US vs. OPEC kind of balance)..

The Earth gives us this resource that makes our lives and routines very easy for us but at a severe cost. It could test us to see if we can harness these powers yet not damage the Earth (like what carbon emissions have the potential to do) and if we cannot, it starts the reset button that takes millions of years to reset (either driving modern life to extinction or forces us off of the planet).

Thinking of that, it makes you wonder how many of these cycles has the planet gone though? Even if each cycle takes 100 million years, the earth is over 4 billion years old which means we could be on as many as the 40th cycle, each civilization being erased from the future generation's views. The previous generation harnessed oil from the one before them as we are harnessing the oil from them today and we're creating the environment to create more oil for the next generation some 10 to 100 million years from now.

Gamestop & used games

2008-04-26T21:49:00.002-04:00

Gamestop, what is up with this? I see you sell used games at a "discount" which is really nice but, what is the point of it when the used game is $29 and the new is $30? You don't see any other industry that does this. Do you see used cars just a few dollars below the invoice for an identical new one? Nope.

Yes, some of the games are $2-$5 cheaper, but when I see several used games that are $1 less than a new one, then I'm buying the new one. $1 is worth not having a game that was over-played by someone else, breathed on, handled, and so on. I can go to a pawn shop and probably get the same used game in the same condition for 1/2 the price (and I should!).

Come on guys, change your policy. Don't insult our intelligence be claiming "discounts" on used games that don't have the box, manual, or anything else, just a game, when the new version is only a dollar or two more.

False Advertising

2008-04-25T19:20:00.002-04:00

I have a large area to cover for my job and it includes many retail stores.

Every day I hear of people claiming "false advertising!" A product isn't the same price as a different sized one that is advertised. False advertising! A name brand doesn't have the same brand as a generic. False advertising! Stores add in sales tax, false advertising!

To the people who cry this when there really isn't any false advertising, get your f-ing head out of your ass. There is false advertising all around us and it seems that no one is complaining about that but are quick to cry foul with they are wrong.

What do I mean?

Let's see here. Look at a fast food commercial. You see that burger, all juicy, with tons of lettuce and tomato on it. It's smothered in ketchup and lots of cheese is on it. Yum! You go out to get one of those burgers and you're lucky if any condiments are on it, let along the lettuce and tomatoes. False advertising? Could be, but we all chalk it down as "advertising".

You see a commercial for a flashy new cell phone and they're browsing the web at speeds that would make any T1 user jealous. You go out and but the phone but the web surfing is very slow. False advertising but we chalk it down as advertising.

Car ads claim "up to 50 miles per gallon" but you're lucky if you ever get that.

So, why is it when people think something isn't right, don't understand a promotion, or when they want to abuse the system that it is false advertising but when it is blatant and in our faces, it is advertising?

One of the most obvious advertising campaigns that show phones have five bars everywhere or the person asking someone on the phone if they can hear them. They make it believe that you'll never have no service and never drop a call. If someone, on any wireless network in the word, has never had no service and has never dropped a call then they are either damn lucky or a liar.

Advertising loves to show us the extreme good in something knowing damn well that the vast majority of us will never experience this exaggerated best. Why is that? Do we just live with it knowing this or don't care. I don't know either but unfortunately it has become an accepted part of our society to see what the products we buy will never do in the ads that are supposed to show us what they do.

So people, before you go to a store and claim false advertising when they're trying to add sales tax or won't give you the sales price on an item that isn't on sale, think about what's really going on in our lives with false advertising.

A hard lesson learned.

2008-04-20T09:40:00.003-04:00

Let this be a lesson to people, hang up and drive!!

My wife and I were heading to dinner last night and we need to stop at the supermarket to pick something up. We were heading to a 4-way intersection. We had a green light but noticed an ambulance was heading westbound and our traffic was stopped.

And then it happened.

An SUV going north stopped blocking an eastbound lane (not west bound traffic and it is a 3 lane road not including turning lanes) to try to let the ambulance go though. Another SUV behind them rear-ended them (pretty hard).

We rolled our eyes at the stupidity of the person who hit them then saw something horrific. A motorcycle was in front of the SUV stopped in the right lane (which was blocked by the accident), I'm assuming to help or call for help. A car had sped around the accent vehicles (ignoring the ambulance) just in time to hit the motorcyclist. He hit with such force that the car went over the motorcycle, the cyclist, and over the guard rail to ride on it about 10 feet then slam back down to the ground. We I saw the motorcyclist he was trying to pull himself off of the street and his legs were bent in directions that legs aren't supposed to go in.

Luckily there were already two police cars in the intersection and the ambulance was able to stop for a few seconds, I'm assuming to call dispatch to let them know what happened and give details, before heading to their call. We pulled into the supermarket (southwest corner of that intersection) and I watched what was happening when my wife ran in to get a few things. Luckily, another ambulance and a rescue were there within 5 minutes.

The part that is pissing me off the most is that the driver of the car was STILL ON HIS CELL PHONE TALKING (he was holding the phone up to his ear). Obviously he wasn't paying enough attention to see the accident, the ambulance, or the motorcyclist and obviously his conversation was more important than the poor motorcyclist that he had just most likely broken both legs (at the least).

Yes, I work for a major wireless communications provider but I firmly believe that most of the people out there who talk while driving (not using a headset or other hands free) are distracted and do not have full control of their vehicle plus are not aware of their surroundings.

Muscial Tesla coils

2008-04-16T17:35:00.004-04:00

Nikola would be proud, IMO. He was a genius when it came to electricity. Yes, Thomas Edison discovered how to harness the power of DC (direct current, a consistent flow of electricity) electricity which is what most of our appliances use and what batteries supply but Tesla harnessed the power of AC (alternating current, the "flow" fluctuates in a sine wave pattern (a very brief and simple description) which can easily be carried though smaller wires. If we only had DC power our power lines would be several feet thick.

Nikola invented what was later called a "Tesla Coil", similar to a plasma sphere globe but with no globe and the lightning bolts that shoot out of it put on an incredible display.

Well, it seems people have taken this invention further. They connect one to the sound output of a PC or the MIDI output of a keyboard and play music with the Tesla coil. Yes, music. I've wanted to build a basic Tesla coil and still plan to when I have some disposable income.

Well, I've found a few YouTube movies featuring musical Tesla coils and what better demonstration than classic games from the NES?

First, the Legend of Zelda!

It is short and sweet but the next one takes the prize, Super Mario Brothers!

I'd love to see someone do Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in G Minor.

Congo, the German shepherd gets a second chance!

2008-04-09T18:39:00.002-04:00

It is amazing how messed up laws are getting in this country (USA) along with the media in regards to dogs.

Recently, there was an incident involving a German shepherd and a landscaper in Princeton, NJ. The German shepherd’s name is Congo and the story can be found here.

In this article it seems pretty cut and dry. The German shepherd “mauled” a landscaper. Linda Stein made this quite clear in the article:

“Guy and Elizabeth James, the Princeton Township couple whose German shepherd mauled a landscaper who came onto their property on June 5, 2007,”

Too bad she didn’t include all of the facts and painted the picture of a German shepherd running to attack the defenseless landscaper.

Copy and paste this line into a Google search bar and be the judge for yourself:
+Congo +”German Shepherd” +”New Jersey”

After the first few links you’ll see that many facts were left out of the above article.
- The landscapers were an hour early and told to wait in their truck
- It was on the dog owner’s property
- The landscapers ignored this request and went into the yard anyway
- The German shepherd did NOT approach the landscapers in any aggressive way, the wife was trying to gather them up.
- The landscaper panicked and grabbed the wife to use her as a human shield causing her to fall to the ground
- Only then, after the wife fell did the German shepherd jump in to “protect” her.

While this is clearly a case of mistaken intentions, the German shepherd did EXACTLY what many people get dogs for and I would hope that my dogs would do the same. In the dog’s eyes, its alpha (the wife) was being attacked (how many times do adults knock themselves onto the ground and it is not an attack?). The puppies that joined in were only doing what their lead-dog was doing.

The landscapers made several mistakes which lead to the dog defending the wife. Yes, this is very unfortunate but people need to realize that you do NOT grab a dog’s owner right in front of the dog especially if the dog does not know you.

Luckily, the family won appeals and were able to keep the dog (after spending months in a shelter, which who knows what kind of psychological damage was done to the dog) but pay hefty fines and live with several restrictions on the animal.

I love the closing line in the article:
“"It was a good settlement for both parties," James said. "The township got their protection and we got what we wanted."”

The township got protection from what? A dog that wants to protect its pack alphas? I guess we should let all criminals know about this township. This article (and the quote) is sending a clear message that you CAN enter someone’s property and grab someone and if their dog bites you in the act, you CAN sue them and press charges.

I guess I’m not surprised this is coming from the same state that killed Meghan’s Law and gave more rights to the child molesters than the actual victims.

Thank god that I live in an area where you CAN defend yourself and property and it’s already gone into the courts and they ruled in favor of the people protecting their property. I guess New Jersey doesn’t allow people to defend themselves (note: criminals, move to New Jersey!).

How to get further with customer service

2008-03-26T19:47:00.001-04:00

You catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. That old saying is so cliché but so true, especially when it comes to dealing with customer service representatives. Sadly, I’ve seen so many people feel that yelling, screaming, swearing, and general baby like temper tantrum throwing will get them whatever they want.

With me and many people I know it doesn’t. In fact, I’m less willing to help someone acting like a first grader who had the ball taken away from him.

I spent over 20 years in retail environments and currently in a support position. I’ve done it all, bagger or cashier at a grocery store, management, support, customer service, sales, technical sales, IT, and so on. I’ve been yelled at. I’ve been sworn at. Insulted, threatened, harassed, chased, attacked, etc. All that ever got these people was anything from being asked to leave the store to being escorted out by the local police department in handcuffs.

How can you get customer service to work with you? That’s actually pretty easy and would go miles further than yelling and screaming.

First, be polite. This is the most important. The person you are talking to, whether over the phone or in person, is actually a person, not a computer. They have feelings and are most likely not the cause of the reason why you are talking to them. They didn’t make your computer crash nor did they make you drop that call so don’t blame them. I’ve personally driven over 20 miles out of my way (each way) to help out someone because they were respectful and polite to me.

Second, body language. Be open and non threatening. Don’t stand there and cross your arms, stare them down, grit your teeth. This will only create a tense situation. Be relaxed, make eye contact (not daggers) when you are talking to them. Be non threatening.

Next, know your facts. Nothing will blow your credibility faster than inaccurate information coming out of your mouth. It easy sets the representative you’re talking to at an advantage and they will think that if you can’t get the facts straight. Know what you are talking about and what it means.

Also, don’t lie. We hate it when people lie to us and we know when people lie to us. If you’ve had your computer in for service several times before, trust me, I will look up the previous tickets. Don’t lie about time frames, outages, and the number of times you’ve called. We have that information handy so we know. We know when you’ve been in for service, we know about outages, and we know you’ve been waiting in the store 15 minutes, not the hours you’re claiming. Also, we can tell the difference between a mistake and a lie. A mistake is getting the number of dropped calls in a day off by a few. Lying is saying you drop all calls when the records show you’ve only dropped a couple.

And, listen. Listen to what the representative is saying. Feel free to repeat what they say. It shows us that you are listening and chances are that the representative won’t have to repeat themselves (they have plenty of other people to help). Have a conversation.

Stick to the relevant stuff. Trust me; they do not want to hear how frustrated you are because of traffic or your sick dog. “Woe is me” stories will only get you yawns and a tired look. Stick to the relevant stuff, yes, you need to be very logical with this. What happened, when did it happen, etc…

Be firm but be willing to compromise. Be firm about the issues you’re having but what you think may be a good resolution may be ridiculous in their eyes. Six months of free service because your HBO was out for two days is beyond reasonable. Credit for the two days is norm, maybe you’ll also get a partial month’s credit.

Feel free to ask questions. This is a two way conversation. If you’re unsure about something, speak up. The representative will assume you understand them unless you speak up (but don’t interrupt them). When they are done, ask for clarification if you do not understand what they said. Leaving with unanswered questions will only add to your frustrations later on.

Don’t get impatient. If you are in a line or have a number, don’t get mad if you’re waiting a reasonable amount of time. The representative may be busy with someone and they want to make sure that their customer is taken care of, chances are they will do the same for you.

One thing at a time! Don’t unload several issues all at once. Let the representative know you do have a few (or several) concerns but deal with one at a time. Getting all jumbled and multidirectional will only make the situation less efficient and more frustrating for both people involved.

Remember your please’s and thank you’s. Yeah, it sounds so grade school but these representatives work hard and probably have a harder job than you do (for most people, there are some jobs more demanding than customer service, military, police, fire etc, but not an accountant or a janitor). Those simple little words can go a long way.

Know when they can’t help you and when they won’t help you. Big difference. If they won’t help you, they don’t care about the policies and don’t want to help you. If they can’t help you, they may have policies restricting them from doing what you are requesting them to do. None of them wants to get fired just to make you happy, if they can’t help you,

Don’t be afraid to ask for a manager or escalate. Be polite about it. The representatives are not superman; they cannot do anything you want them to do. Due to abuse policies are in place that don’t allow them to do everything (see above). Managers usually have more leeway with the rules, as long as they have a good reason to and their decision is a good one for the business.

Be willing to give as well as take. Sure, it’s nice to be compensated for your troubles, but if you’re looking for free service, expect to pay for something in return, maybe a discount on the service or even a contract. Like most businesses, they aren’t here to give away everything.

If you feel your representative doesn’t want to help you or isn’t competent, ask to speak to someone else or a supervisor. For all you know it could be their first day on the job and they’re still trying to learn the ropes.

Some companies have automated phone call surveys. Remember, these surveys, unless specifically asking about the policies, are asking you to rate the customer service representative, NOT the policies. If you didn’t like the policy but the representative did a good job, don’t give them a bad survey, these surveys DO go back to their supervisors generally.

Phishing is on the rise: The basics on how to protect yourself?

2008-03-17T14:31:00.003-04:00

On several forums that I’m a member of there have been a drastic increase in the number of phishing attempts. People pretending to be someone they aren’t, banks are a big target but also escrow services, PayPal, eBay, various registrars, credit card companies. These people are tricky, they make the email seem urgent (on the lines of “we need to verify your information or else your account will be deleted”).

First and most importantly, DO NOT GO TO THESE SITES IN THE EMAIL. Usually these sites will have malicious scripts in them that will copy logins and passwords. Don’t worry, if you did go to one site, quickly close out the window and get yourself a copy of “Spybot: Search & Destroy” or LavaSoft’s Ad-Aware (both are free). Install and completely can your system with both (one at a time, though). And for kicks, if you do not have any virus protection, get Grisoft’s AVG, it is also free (and favored amongst my techie friends, better than a lot of the competition that costs more). Clean up that system! It is also a very good idea to clean out your cache (temporary internet files), cookies, and history.

Next, go to the web site that you normally go to and find their fraud department, normally most will have an email for this, abuse@(institution).com for example, abuse@paypal.com is PayPal’s. Forward the email to that email address. Close out the browser’s window if you had one open.

Go back into your browser and go back to the site in question. Log into your account like you normally do and make sure everything is OK. If you are ever unsure, CALL THEM. It is your money and reputation. Don’t assume they will do everything for you; most do not have the manpower to monitor every account.

Also, change your passwords often and make them secure (see previous blog from this month). Do not make them easy for anyone to guess!

Most phishing attempts can be stopped right from the beginning. Even if an email seems legitimate, protect yourself and do not click on any links in any email like these. Go directly to the site in question and log in that way.

ICA gives instructions on how to fight the Snowe Bill

2008-03-13T06:27:00.003-04:00

Read about it here

The ICA has put out a statement assisting people with a template letter and a list of senators to help fight the Snowe bill.

Click on the above link and start mailing!

The EFF Speaks out against the Snowe Bill

2008-03-13T06:15:00.003-04:00

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has issued a statement on the Snowe Bill, calling it a "free speech double-whammy".
Read it here

Posted by Corynne McSherry

Congress is contemplating a so-called “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act” (APCPA) that takes an odd view of consumer protection. In the name of stopping phishing schemes, Senator Olympia Snowe has introduced S. 2661, a bill that would expand trademark law, limit consumer access to information about competitive products, and eviscerate key protections for anonymous speech. Co-sponsors are Senators Bill Nelson and Ted Stevens (yes, THAT Ted Stevens).

The bill starts off relatively inoffensively by prohibiting the use of false information to solicit identifying data from a computer (this was already illegal, but we’ll let that go for now). But then it goes on to forbid the use of brand names in domain names, and the use of another’s domain name in emails, on websites, or in web ads. This prohibition is unnecessary: if the use of a brand name in a domain name is confusing, it is already actionable under trademark law. And it is dangerous because, unlike current federal trademark law, the APCPA does little to protect noncommercial and comparative advertising uses of trademarks. For example, U.S. trademark dilution law excludes noncommercial, parodic and comparative uses. Under the APCPA, however, noncommercial use is merely a factor to be “considered,” not a clear exclusion, and comparative use is not explicitly protected at all. Given that trademark law simply doesn’t apply to noncommercial uses of marks, such meager “protection” for noncommercial use is unacceptable. Moreover, it appears that the bill would give a new weapon to folks like Sanofi-Aventis, the pharmaceutical giant that tried to use trademark law to shut down a news site about a new and controversial drug, Acomplia, because the site (www.acompliareport.com) included the name of the drug.

To make matters worse, another provision allows any Tom, Dick or Harry to force domain name registrars to reveal a customer’s personally identifying information by simply sending an email alleging that the customer has violated the new law. No need to comply with the traditional legal niceties of, say, an actual filed lawsuit or a subpoena that might permit the customer to go to court to protect her anonymity. A mere allegation is enough.

Sure, phishing is a problem. But you don’t solve it by rewriting trademark law and depriving lawful speakers of the chance to keep their identities private. This ill-conceived legislation should be