Caught in a Scam!

Ok, the deal so far is this. I received a 419 Nigerian scam letter. I answered and signed the email as Winn D. Seety. The scammer has replied.

His first letter said that MY money was in jeopardy because some woman controlled by criminal forces had come forward to claim it. I replied that the email was sent to me by mistake, the money was not mine, the situation sounded important and he should go through his records to find the true owner.

Second letter A paltry $850,000 USD is involved and the real owner cannot be found. IBRAHIM DURU wants me to claim the money so a hospital can be built near his poor hometown. I replied that I had no claim to the money and he should do his job and find the true owner.

Third Letter - quote -

ATTN:PAUL.

HOW ARE YOU DOING?

I ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECIPT OF YOUR MAIL AND I MUST TELL YOU TRHAT DISPITE THE CONTENT IT GLADENS MY

HEART THAT YOU ARE SO SINCERE.

BUT MY FRIEND THE REASON I MADE THE PROPOSITION IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS THAT WE HAVE TRIED OUR

POSSIBLE BEST TO LOCATE HIM WITHOUT ANY SUCCESS.

YOU SEE I COME FROM THE POREST REGION IN MY COUNTRY AND I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BUILD A COMMUNITY

HOSPITAL FOR MY PEOPLE AND THAT I CAN NOT DO WITH MY EARNING.

YOU NOW SEE WHY I CHOOSE THIS GOLDERN OPPURTUNITY TO ACHIVE THAT GOAL. ALL I WANT IS YOUR

ASSISTANCE TO MAKE THIS A REALITY AS IF I DONÂ’T DO ANY THING OTHERS WILL USE THAT WOMAN AS A STOGE TO

CLAIM THE FUND AS HER NAME IS ALREADY ON OUR PAYING COMPUTER SYSTEM.

PLEASE I WILL BE VERY GREATFULL IF YOU ASSIST ME AS I HAD ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I WILL PROVIDE YOU

WITH ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO FACILITATE YOUR CLAIM AND WITH MY POSITION AS A DIRECTOR YOU

WILL ENCOUNTER NO PROBLEMS WITH THE CLEARANCE.

PLEASE DO GET BACK TO ME AS I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE

REGARDS,

IBRAHIM DURU

~~~~~~~~~

Note the "Attention Paul" - I had forgotten my emails went out with my first name in the from email bar. I had stopped it in my signature but... Oh Well! Liver and loin as the butcher says.


My Reply -

Good News!

I did an online search for "**** ****" and found him
for you.

If you click on this link you will see that he is
playing football/soccer for the Grimthorpe City team.

**** Google Search cache link was here ****

I'm certain that his gratitude for your protecting his
money will extend to sharing part of his 850 million
dollars to help you build the hospital. Let me know
when it is built. Hoping your doctors will be able to
help my daughter. - Winn D. Seety -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since he wants to build a hospital I figure he will need patients hence the daughter is brought into the picture. And perhaps I can get a discount for helping him find the real owner.

I have plans to let this person know that my daughter suffers from Groschnozzosis - Unusual growths on the end of the nose causing it to extend daily. - Also known as Pinochiosis -

Don't laugh. Groschnozzosis (Pinochiosis) is very painful and the growth must be removed weekly (A painful process that involves putting the nose to a grindstone) or else the nose will extend into other peoples business. -

I'm also hoping that by taking time from his busy day to answer my emails he might not take the time to advance other scams to the unwary.

Terminating Identity Theft!

Once again I find a new internet friend's blog post a real must read for anyone that ever thinks about or worries about, or has been a victim of Identity Theft. Here is a real opportunity to do a bit to help yourself and others. Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds, a blog by Ted Richardson has come up with a great post about the matter. Entitled, Terminating Identity Theft in California this post has some great news from a corner of politics I have never voted for. That is, Dianne Feinstein (D. CA). She is the second to least favorite politician in the score book I keep in my head. Barbara Boxer is first. However Feinstein has come up with some doozies of laws to combat identity theft and I support her efforts...

Quote - "The Privacy Act - A comprehensive bill that would set a national standard for protecting personal information such as Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, and medical and financial data, including information collected both online and offline. Modeled on California'’s financial privacy law, it requires companies to let consumers “"opt in" before their most sensitive information is shared."

"The Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act - This bill would regulate the use of Social Security numbers by government agencies and private companies by prohibiting the sale or display of Social Security numbers to the general public, and by requiring Social Security numbers to be taken off of public records published on the Internet."

"The Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act - Modeled on California's database security law, this bill would define as personal data an individual's Social Security number, driver'’s license number, state identification number, bank account number or credit card number; require a business or government entity to notify an individual when it appears that a hacker has obtained unencrypted personal data; levy fines by the FTC of $5,000 per violation or up to $25,000 per day while the violation persists; and allow California's privacy law to remain in effect, but preempt conflicting state laws."

The post also has a list of laws The California Governator is working on and should be coming to a state near you. They can if you bring this to the attention of your local politicians. Please check out this post and put a few minutes work into forwarding the link to your favorite (or least favorite) politician. Let them know that you think this is important. Links for U.S., U.K. and Governor Schwarzenegger's site are in the title and at the bottom of Ted's post.

You might also consider sending the link to all on your email friends. I did and am getting quite a response!

This settles the problem!

Received this in an email today so that must make it true!

BATON ROUGE, LA. - The White House announced today that President Bush has successfully sold the state of Louisiana back to the French at more than double its original selling price of $11,250,000.


"This is a bold step forward for America," said Bush. "And America will be stronger and better as a result. I stand here today in unity with French Prime Minister 'Jack Sharaq', who was so kind to accept my offer of Louisiana in exchange for 25 million dollars cash."

The state, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild.


"Jack understands full well that this one's a 'fixer upper,'" said Bush. "He and the French people are quite prepared to pump out all that water, and make Louisiana a decent place to live again. And they've got a lot of work to do. But Jack's assured me, if it's not right, they're going to fix it."


The move has been met with incredulity from the beleaguered residents of Louisiana. However, President Bush's decision has been widely lauded by Republicans.


"This is an unexpected but brilliant move by the President," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. "Instead of spending billions and billions, and billions of dollars rebuilding the state of Louisiana, we've just made 25 million dollars in pure profit."


"This is indeed a smart move," commented Fox News analyst Brit Hume. "Not only have we stopped the flooding in our own budget, we've made money on the deal. Plus, when the god-awful French are done fixing it up, we can easily invade and take it back again."


The money gained from 'The Louisiana Refund' is expected to be immediately pumped into the rebuilding of Iraq.

prying1 sez: No matter what your feelings are about anything, if you don't laugh you will end up crying! - So go ahead and laugh!

Just Peachy!

Hat Tip to NewsMax.com
The New York Post has a story by Deborah Orin (registration required) that has the catchy title, "IF THAT DON'T BEAT AL". My comments will be in blue. All the rest will be quotes from the Post article. -

AS SEN. Hillary Clinton ratchets up her attacks on President Bush, some Democrats think they smell an explanation: the threat of a 2008 Al Gore presidential bid that could come at her from the left on Iraq. - Smell? Is that the proper word to use concerning our former V.P.??? -

The former vice president is suddenly re-emerging as a vocal and visible Bush-basher - he's slated to star at a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser for big donors in Washington next Tuesday. - Bush bashing is very popular amongst the ultra rich liberals that would rather give their money to politicians than Katrina victims. -


"He's keeping a very strong public profile. He was the first major Democrat to oppose the Iraq war. He's keeping in touch around the country and doing a lot of speeches. You don't do all that if your goal is to play celebrity golf," says a Democratic fundraiser. - How about if your goal is to fill your pockets with something other than golf balls. -

A top Dem strategist adds: "Americans love comebacks and Gore could come back as a real human being instead of a wooden guy. He could come back as the new Nixon - somebody who went into the wilderness and found himself." - Now let me get this straight. The lefties are now saying Nixon was a "Real Human Being"? AND they want to compare Gore to him? AND they admit Gore is a "Wooden Guy" that needs to change appearances. Which does not mean he must really get a 'heart of flesh' but just appear to do so? Now this is the Real LeftWorld uncovered (again). -
.......
Would Gore really run against his ex-boss's wife? Way too early to know. - I'll bet he would if he knew he could rake some dough in! I mean really! Would Gore have distanced himself from Monica's boyfriend in his losing run had he any real loyalty to others. What loyalty does he have besides to his own selfish ambitions? -
.......
- prying1 sez:
There is little doubt in my mind that the Democrats must start getting honest with themselves and the rest of the country. Do Democrats really want the Move-On Dot Org and Michael Moore crowd running the country? (Please SERIOUSLY consider the outcome before answering that. - Imagine Michael Moore stepping out on the front porch of the White House and saying, "OK folks! Here's the way it's gonna be!") If so ALL Democrats should step forward and claim what they stand FOR and not just rant against Bush. I have not heard an Anti-Bush speech say anything new for a coons age. The rhetoric is tired.

- Do we really want Socialised Medicine where the government runs ALL aspects of our health care? Vote for Hillary!
- Do we want a Neville Chamberlain type to stand back and watch terrorists regrow their organizations? Vote for Gore.
- Do Democrats want to see socialists continue to lead their party away from JFK's ideals? Just stay seated.


- -

Donna Brazile Writes an Article

This is one of the things I have been waiting/wanting to see. Someone from the left to see and say that what President Bush wants to accomplish is to enable people to stand up. Not just to fill his pockets and the pockets of his 'friends'. Thanks to AubreyJ for the heads up on this (please visit his site) -

The article is from the WashingtonPost.com site. and is entitled, "I Will Rebuild With You, Mr. President" -

Quotes from the article -
I know, maybe better than anyone, that there are times when it seems that our nation is too divided ever to heal. There are times when we feel so different from each other that we can hardly believe that we are all part of the same family. But we are one nation. We are a family. And this is what we do. When the president asked us to pitch in Thursday night, he wasn't really asking us to do anything spectacular. He was asking us to be Americans, and to do what Americans always do.

and

Bush talked about how we bury our family and friends. We grieve and mourn. We march to a solemn song and then we rejoice and step out and form the second line. That line is now open to every American to join us in rebuilding a great region of this country. New Orleans will rise again. My hometown is down but not out, and with the help of every American, it will be back on its feet, bigger and brighter than ever.

Mr. President, I am ready for duty. I am ready to stir those old pots again. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work. - end quote -

prying1 sez:
I'm glad that Donna Brazile is willing to stand up for what is so obviously the correct thing to do. (Notice I did not use the word 'right'.) There has been so much mud slung at Bush often times for obvious partisan reasons that the Secret Service must need to keep a garden hose handy. In this tragedy and crisis it is time for the left to quit their bellyaching and lift a hand to help.

If you belong to a group, club, church or just have a favorite hobby consider finding a victim in need and mail 'em some of your excess.

prying1

How about this for a solution?

It seems that spam, fraud and phishing emails are on the rise recently. The amount of monies stolen through this means of conning people cannot really be calculated because often times people that are taken to the cleaners will not report the crime due to embarrassment. I propose that we set up a world wide clearing house to stop this type of activity.

Initially I thought we could run it through the U.N. (I'm including you in on this 'cause I don't want all the credit) but on second thought "Old Kofi" (whom nobody seems to want to fire) would probably have his son running the show so perhaps we should use INTERPOL.

Here is the scenario. A tried in absentia and proven spammer is sitting before his computer. The system is suddenly taken over by INTERPOL through remote access. A smiley face comes on the screen and says, "For a good time put your face real close the screen!" A signal goes out to a killer satellite and before the spammer has a chance to stand up from his chair (if he decides to not put his face close to the screen) a laser beam cuts through the ceiling and fries his system and any electronics within 10 feet. Hopefully he won't be set up in the basement of a 10 story apartment...

Hmm. That could be a problem. OK. I guess that won't quite work without a few safeguards. Last thing INTERPOL needs is a bassinet or Pop's easy chair in the way.

The real reason for this post is because I've been getting pretty much the same phishing emails for eBay passwords from apparently - Germany, Thailand and China. The links lead to the same page supposedly at - superclean-tech.com - (nonexistent per Google and browser bar) and since the 13th of Sept. eBay and assorted phish/scam fighting sites have given me NO return to my many emails telling me why.

??? Hmmm... ???

prying1 sez: -
Perhaps INTERPOL has already started a program and this is part of it. I might be interfering with an ongoing investigation and thereby be subject to arrest. Or worse yet. They might decide to stop my interference with one of their lasers. Excuse me for ending this post before I'm really finished. I have a baseball cap I'm going to cover in tinfoil and I need to get it done real quick...

prying1

Should be interesting!

A friend has started a new blog - Renassiance Wench

At the age of 55 i will be doing a job of my dreams that i never got to do in my youth! image this old lady selling garlands at the renassiance fair...

Pictures will be added as the event gets rolling. - Be sure to drop by her site and give her encouragement. - Might want to stick her address in favorites/bookmarks to keep an eye on the little wench. -

prying1

What I'd like to see...

When FEMA hands out the checks to people, say for 2 grand or so, they should be waving a second check and saying, "You'll get this one when you've joined the clean up work crews and have put in a week..."

Of course I'm not suggesting that disabled or elderly be put to work although they might not mind pushing a broom or supervising a bit if able. What ticks me off is I've seen pictures of a lot of strong bodies just sitting around.

prying1

What About Fingerprints?

NewScientist.com has what I thought to be an interesting article. Some might even call it an arresting article. It is entitled, "How far should fingerprints be trusted?". I found this New Scientist page to be well worth a read. - It seems that fingerprinting has yet to be established as a reliable form of evidence.

- Quote - No one disputes that fingerprinting is a valuable and generally reliable police tool, but despite more than a century of use, fingerprinting has never been scientifically validated. This is significant because of the criteria governing the admission of scientific evidence in the US courts.

The so-called Daubert ruling introduced by the Supreme Court in 1993 set out five criteria for admitting expert testimony. One is that forensic techniques must have a known error rate, something that has never been established for fingerprinting. - End Quote -

~~~~~~~
The pressure is building to come up with some accurate numbers on the error rate of fingerprint experts. -
~~~~~~~

- Quote from article - The reliability of fingerprinting is at the center of an appeal which opened earlier this month at the Massachusetts Supreme Court in Boston. Defense lawyers acting for Terry Patterson, who was convicted of murdering an off-duty policeman in 1993, have launched a so-called "interlocutory" appeal midway through the case itself to test the admissibility of fingerprinting. Patterson's conviction relies heavily on prints found on a door of the vehicle in which the victim died. - End Quote -

A study was done by Stephen Meagher of the FBI's Latent Fingerprint Section in Quantico, Virginia in which 50,000 fingerprints were involved. It was shown that for any one of the prints to be mistaken for any other of the 49,999 prints would be 1 in 10⁹⁷.

Critics said this was fine for nice clean images but the smeared and partial prints found in real life situations don't always match up neatly to archival prints of criminals. Meagher's reply, to New Scientist included the words, "This is not a study on error rate, or an effort to demonstrate what constitutes an identification,". This statement is now being used by critics to show that the '50k study' does not prove the infallibility of fingerprinting something the courts, the FBI and prosecution lawyers have claimed.

The New Scientist article also shows how some examiners were influenced to make wrong decisions concerning prints they themselves had testified about in court.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

prying1 sez: I would suggest that if you are going to pull any shenagigans that you continue to wear gloves. Oh! And don't scratch your skin or drop any hairs or leave any footprints. Also watch out for hidden cameras and don't drive a getaway vehicle with a For Sale sign that has your phone number emblazoned on it.

prying1

Will Gmail EVER make reporting with full headers easier?

This is an Open Letter to the powers that be at Gmail. - I have sent a copy via the process they provide to them and thought I'd share it with you, that is, whoever reads this post. - I have been using Gmail for quite a while now and am quite satisfied with their (free) service. Except for one area that I think Yahoo (another free service) has them beat. That is the ability it gives the user to forward emails with full headers.

The only times I wish to do this is when I receive spam, scams, and phishing emails. BUT! I report each and every one I get as soon as I find them. With Google's Gmail I must open another window to get the requisite full headers and I cannot just cut and paste the info into the forward but I have to adjust the email format to accept the paste. I'm not exactly stupid when it comes to some of this stuff but Why?, I ask, must Gmail make it so complicated?

Here is the recent letter I wrote to them regarding this matter.

Will Gmail EVER make reporting with full headers easier?



It seems that each time I get an email from a phisher or scamster I have to jump through hoops to forward it to the powers I wish to notify. Tonight I got an email from an obvious phisher and it seems that Gmail had dx'ed the link so I could not even see if the false site was still up. Had I wished to forward the headers (to eBay) Gmail had them all messed up with their own lines letting me know to be careful.

I gather Gmail is conducting a security course that has me left out of the loop of reporting phishers and scams which is fine by me IF they would say so at the top of the email. Instead I get:

- quote from email - Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information. - end quote -

MAY NOT BE??? The darn thing was obvious from the get-go! And what can I do about it?

I cannot report it to Ebay. I cannot click on the link to see if it is still active (I have the safety steps taken care of). I cannot get the full headers.

The message should have been - Quote - This email has been reported and treated as a scam or phishing message. Praise the Lord (or what ever divine entity you trust in) that Google/Gmail has your best interests at heart and will protect you from the dark side. - end quote -

Don't get me wrong. I love Google and have since the day I first heard of it. I would prefer if they would be up front with a touch of humor regarding steps like this.

P.S. Attn: anyone at Google. If you need a semi-literate humourist to write messages to your adoring public please inquire. I work cheap! - prying1 -

prying1 sez: - As a matter of full disclosure I did adjust a couple things in the message sent to Gmail due to spellcheck.

prying1

What to post?

Two things caught my attention today -

1:) Heard on Hugh Hewitt that the Brave Sir Nagin - mayor of New Orleans has bought a house in Texas. He apparently has registered his daughter for school there. Northern Alliance Wannabe - has written a post on it with links so I don't have to. I thought that was mighty nice of him.

2:) Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds has a post on 'How ISP's are profiting from spam'. This is a site that should be a regular stop for people that want to stay a step ahead of the internet crooks. Leave a comment! Put Ted's site in favorites!

Prying1 sez - Not much you can do about the mayor but check the list of ISP's through Ted's link to Spamhaus.org - If you see yours write to the president of the company and blog on his reply! (If no reply blog on that...)

prying1

Another Man's Meat says it for me.

Phil Dillon of Another Man's Meat has said what I have felt but did not take the time to put into words. Good thing I didn't because he has said it so eloquently had I attempted the words his post would have made me look bad.

He titled the post, "The Center Must Hold"
Phil shows a concern about the criticism by both religious and political zealots over the Katrina disaster. - God is punishing the U.S. because of Yada, yada, yada... - Bush did not sign the Kyoto Treaty so Yada, yada, yada...


Phil is on vacation but he left us with a wonderful post. If he can access the internet he may visit the blogosphere before he gets back home but doesn't plan on it.

First we are shown through the forgotten/often ignored second half of the story of Jonah that Man should be concerned for man and not put his selfish interests first. Jonah cared more about a plant than he cared about a city full of people. Are there any people around us today like that?

Then Phil tells us of another vacation he was on when tragedy struck America. He shares some of his reaction to 9-11 and sees the similarities not in the cause but in the effect.

I felt the following paragraph to be poignant.

I understand the anger and the frustration that comes at tragic times like these. I felt the same frustration and helplessness four years ago that feel now. But I believe the appropriate way to express that anger and frustration now is to pray and to give. The time for criticism will come later. The time to cleanse ourselves of personal or political sins will come later. When that day dawns we can convene commissions and we can hold prayer meetings. We can find out what we should have done logistically or spiritually. We can fix bridges and buildings, we can build homes and businesses, we can mend lives, and we can, if necessary, repent. But this is not the time for the looters of our national fabric to gain a foothold. There is far too much work to do now and we who occupy the center must hold. We've given and we've prayed, but more will be required of us. We must not allow the extremists to carry the day!

As the great philosopher Rodney King once said, "Can't we all just get along?"
prying1 sez, "At least for a couple of weeks?"prying1

Roberts Jumping Over and Ahead

Wandering about the blogosphere this evening I came across a post at VOLuntarilyConservative on Judge Roberts and his nomination to the Chief Justice position on the Supreme Court. - In the comments on the post Ariadne of Ariadne's Labyrinth asked the question, "Won't the rest of the judiciaries resent the hell outta Roberts if he bypasses sitting on the bench to become the chief justice?"

Fair question. I think the answer however really does not matter. Ariadne was really asking Rob Huddleston, whose site I was visiting but being the buttinski I am (no offense to persons of Polish extraction) I had to reply.

prying1 sez

- quote - If they allow this to affect their decisions THEY should not be allowed the position! - end quote -

prying1

Katrina pics

Hat tip to aka.alias for the link to this site. If you like scenic pictures she has some beauties posted here. Check some of her previous posts. -

weather channel pics of Katrina prying1

Gone Fishing!

I received these pics from a friend in Texas of her grandchildren who are staying with her for a while. Their mom is getting a chance to visit her husband who is in the military and deployed in the Middle East. Although we have never met I find myself filled with a sense of kinship of Spirit with this family. Something about seeing these kids in Texas playing by a river takes me back a few years......

These pics remind me of a Saturday I spent on base at Ft. Sam Houston Texas. I was in the army and had learned not to stay in the barracks sacked out on a bunk on Saturdays. Much as I loved to lounge around and read on my days off it was dangerous. Any sergeant could walk in and conscript a person for any detail he wanted. I knew this from experience but that is another story.

So I took a walk towards some of the nearby woods and found a section of a river. Some might have called it a stream but it looked a mite too big for that. I thanked the Lord for the chance to experience a bit of His nature and walked along the bank. The Lord and I were having a mighty good heart to Heart talk. Part of the conversation I mentioned to the Lord that it sure was a mighty fine day to dip a line in the water. He and I both knew He had put a few fish in there.

Soon I found a supple long stick and I mentioned to the Lord that it would have made a good pole if I had a line and hook. Going on a piece I found a bit of line that was tangled in a branch by the shore. It untangled pretty easy and became another good reason to praise Him for His providence. Walking further I came across a man fishing on the bank who gladly gave me a hook from his tackle box. While conversing with him a grasshopper that was waiting to become bait hopped on by. I waved goodbye to the fisherman and quickly caught the last ingredient of my endeavors.

Around a bend I found a quiet spot away from the man who might have been a general for all I knew. I figured he wanted to fish alone or he would have been with a friend. I baited up, tossed the hopper into the water and sat on a log to wait. After a bit of kicking the grasshopper finally settled down and sank. Having no weight on the line I could not pull it taut the way I would have liked but that didn't really matter much. I was fishing! Half a country from my home in California and I was fishing. That was all that was important to me. That and the time I could spend in this quiet location away from people, in the woods, away from the army and with my Lord Jesus.

He and I had a good conversation that day. Most of it spent with me talking but there were enough times where the Lord got to put in his 2 cents worth too. Wish I could remember what we were talking about. I am positive that most of it was Him sharing His love. - Suddenly the line went taut. I pulled a bit and the line pulled back. It went first to the right and then doubled back to the left. I pulled a bit harder and the line went slack. From the way it pulled I figured it to be a turtle that stole my bait. Just as well because had I caught a fish I had no way to cook it anyway. They frowned on fires in the barracks.

It was a wonderful day. One of those days the Bible talks about when it said, This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! -

prying1

One Way to Help Katrina Victims

Send a package from your home or business to someone that lost everything and likes what you like.

Sounds simplistic I know but I had to start this post with that line because too many people surfing the blogs will keep surfing after reading the first sentence. They might miss the rest of this post but hopefully the first line will sink in at a later date...

Big tragedy hits and it is ALL OVER the news. Help is needed here or there... Please send money NOW!!! DONATE THROUGH THIS PHONE NUMBER NOW! CLICK ON THIS LINK! SEND ME THE MONEY AND I'LL GET IT THERE! PAYPAL ACCEPTED!!!!

- I am rather loathe to send money to the big name outfits like the Red Cross and even one of the best, the Salvation Army. I always feel that whatever I send will get gobbled up in the confusion. - Because of this I wait before sending a check any direction and often times it ends up I send nothing.

After the Tsunami I waited and sent money to the only person I KNEW in Thailand, that is, Glenn "Jeep" Holthaus in Pattaya, Thailand of the Thai Kids Charity Project - The money hit there while the UN leeches were still sitting by their poolside, sucking up expensive booze in the 4-5 star hotels mere blocks from the devastation. 'Jeep' Holthaus made sure the funds went towards something the locals needed. Funds you send him will help the little ones. - Don't hesitate to contact him or send him funds. (PayPal accepted! - Where did I hear that before?) - So where to send money or goods in the Katrina aftermath?

Listening to Hugh Hewitt on the radio I heard him talking about churches helping churches, schools helping schools, construction companies helping construction companies... - I called my pastor, Barry Griffing (Google that name!), and asked him if he knew any pastors that might be affected by Katrina. - It affected his memory cells in a positive fashion and he is checking on a name that came to mind. Hopefully this weekend our church will take up an offering for specific needs and in the near future as mail service is restored we can send packages of specific items needed, requested and desired. Be it food, blankets or books. We will not be opposed to sending cash through PayPal either.

For years I've been wheeling and dealing on ebay primarily with one of my main loves, that is, books. I have cartons of books in my garage. I've been searching for a small, soggy used bookstore or eBay seller outside of the big cities in the devastated areas that could use a few cartons of books mailed to them. I'm sure through Google, eBay and Yahoo I'll find the right place. Suggestions will be considered. - I'm reminded of a fellow I met in Arkansas whose garage was a lending library of sorts. I forget the trade rates he had set up, bring 2-3 books & take one or what, but he loved books and delighted in meeting others with the same emotion. I was just passing through had no books to trade, other than the one I was reading at the time. He reluctantly took cash for the books I wanted. - I'm certain that a like minded person will be happy to get some books to start replacing what they have lost.

Imagine a month from now if a fellow that owns a small construction company, say in Nevada or Oklahoma, looks around his yard for duplicate equipment and sees a small (working of course) cement mixer that has not been used for a while. He fills the drum up with a hand drill, sabre saw, hammer, pliers, assorted screwdrivers, asks his employees to throw their donations in the drum and sends it to someone he KNOWS through contacts that has lost his livelihood.

In a couple of weeks from today a lawyer pulls a couple of his computers out of his network, cleans the hard drives for ethical and clientele privacy reasons (To hell with the legal reasons) and ships them to a lawyer he KNOWS through contacts has lost his business. Included in the package is a subscription to an online legal research site to help replace the books lost. He would be confident that a snake with a pattern similar to his own would be receiving something needed to continue the deception first started with Eve. - (OK - Disclaimer - Previous line was designed for humor relief. It in no way was written as a disparaging remark meant to slime any snakes, living or dead.)

A gardener sending a check or gift certificate to Sears to another gardener to cover the cost of a lawn mower and weed whacker. (I like 'Extreme Makeover' - I have shopped as Sears as a result! Great advertising program! {disclaimer - No monies are received for advertisement of any products or endorsements...) An electrician shipping duplicate tools of the trade he has gathered through the years. This guy really has a giving heart and sends the BEST of each as opposed to the ones he quit using. A seamstress sends a box of quilting material. Butcher sends a set of knives. Baker sends some money for flour and starter for sourdough. Candlestick Stick Maker sends a ton of wax and some oils for flavoring.

Think of your trade, career, interests or hobby. Look about your house. Ask your boss and fellow workers to participate. Use the internet to find someone who has been wiped out. Watch for and avoid scammers. Find someone in need and ship a package (and more) directly to them as soon as the roads are clear.

The government checks some of these folks will be receiving will be nice and helpful but will be used up quick. The thing they will remember most are the gifts you send directly to them. Start searching today and don't be thinking 6 months from now, "Gee, I should'a"....

prying1

Google to Take Over the World?

I received this in an email from NewsMax.com -

- Quote -
GoogleNet: Building the Mother of All Networks

Google is building a national broadband network massive enough to rival even the largest Internet service providers - and free Wi-Fi access from Google could be just around the corner.

For the past year the company has been quietly shopping for miles of unused fiber-optic cable, and acquiring superfast connections between East Coast cities, according to Business 2.0. magazine.

"The rash of telecom bankruptcies has freed up a ton of bargain-priced capacity, which Google needs as it prepares to unleash a flood of new, bandwidth-hungry applications," the magazine reports.

These could include a service to troll podcasts and other audio files, and another to let users share personal videos and watch on-demand TV programming.

Building a network would also save Google millions of dollars a month, since it currently utilizes a network owned by an ISP when a user performs a search and Google has to pay as much as $60 per megabit in transit fees.

Once the network - which Business 2.0 dubs GoogleNet - is up and running, users could connect via wireless Internet after Google blankets major cities with Wi-Fi.

And the magazine speculates that Google plans to do just that. The company is already sponsoring a Wi-Fi hotspot in San Francisco.

"So is Google about to offer free Net access to everyone?" Business 2.0 asks.

Google officials aren't saying. But stay tuned.
- end quote -

prying1 sez:
I'm not knowledgeable on Wi-Fi but I do know that with the right equipment the signal can be 'borrowed' by neighbors and even passers by. Bradley Mitchell has several articles at About.com - "Computing and Technology section" He says, "Firewalls are not 100% bulletproof" against hacking so if this service comes about and when people decide to jump on the bandwagon I would suggest simply shutting down the connection when not in use.

Will Google eventually become the ruler of the internet/www world? Would that be a good or a bad thing? The internet/www is pretty big but logically some company must be the biggest. Up to this point I have not seen Google make any moves that would appear to be evil. It might be that behind the scenes Google heads are controlling and making demands of people that forces them to go against their consciences but there is absolutely no evidence of such behaviour. Neither has any moves they have made shown a propensity to move toward the 'Dark Side'...

I'm Shocked! Shocked I say!!!

Thanks to NewScientist.com for the heads up on this one -

Ki Bang Lee, of The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore announced a battery that is activated with biofluids such as urine or blood.

- - - Quote - - -
The first urine-powered paper battery has been created by physicists in Singapore. The credit-card sized unit could be a useful power source for cheap healthcare test kits for diseases like diabetes, and could even be used in emergency situations to power a cellphone, they say.
- - - End quote - - -

Are they going to set up special booths in the streets for people to discreetly step into in order to pee on their cell phones? I'd be concerned about putting it up to my ear when it is juiced up.

- - - Quote - - -
Current biochips need an external reader such as a laser scanner or an external source of power, such as conventional batteries, to perform diagnostic tests. Lee'‘s technology houses both the sensors and the battery on one plastic chip.
- - - End Quote - - -

Please note this plastic chip is not the kind you play poker with!

- - - Quote - - -
The urine-powered battery was able to generate a voltage of about 1.5 volts with a corresponding power of 1.5 micro-watts using just 0.2 millilitres of urine, says Lee. And if a second droplet of urine was added 15 hours after the battery was first activated, the replenished urine could generate still more electricity.

The battery is currently suited for use with disposable devices it is not yet ready to power laptops or iPods. "But if, for example, we place a small cellular phone or transmitter on a plastic card, the chip will work as a disposable biofluid-activated means of communication in an emergency, Lee told New Scientist. In this case, the size will be less than that of a credit card.
- - - End Quote - - -

1.5 volts! Hmmm. My camera takes 3 volts. I wonder if two of em...

I wonder too how far will this go? I mean, could you start your car if you put a bunch of these in your car seat? Dad's Barcalounger will have to be aired out on occasion if it is set up to run the TV.

- - - Quote - - -
The battery is made of a layer of filter paper steeped in copper chloride, sandwiched between strips of magnesium and copper. This sandwich is then laminated in plastic to hold the whole package together. The resulting battery is just 1 millimetre thick and 60 by 30 mm across slightly smaller than a credit card.

To activate the battery, a drop of urine is added and soaks through the sandwiched filter paper. The chemicals dissolve and react to produce electricity. The magnesium layer acts as the anode, losing its electrons. And the copper chloride acts as the cathode, mopping up the electrons.

But Lee adds that the voltage, current and capacity of the battery could be improved by different designs or by switching the electrode or electrolyte materials used.

He believes the system could be used in home-based health test kits. The long-term goal is for people to be able to buy disposable biochips for a disease test from any pharmacy,” he says.
- - - End Quote - - -

ATTENTION JEFF FOXWORTHY FANS - Do not be fooled by the word 'sandwich' in the preceding paragraph. They are not talking about bread and meat!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

prying1 sez:

- This really does look like a good thing but we will all be well advised to wash our hands after borrowing a friends cell phone and think twice before jumping into Dad's Barcalounger. Just in case...

Why Use Yahoo and Not Hotmail?

Ok, What is with these tech support people? Can't people make an obvious decision anymore? If these jokers worked for me and I happened to read this in prying1's blog then you bet they might not get fired but advancement would be a looong time coming. Whatever happened to 'executive decisions'? I make 'em all the time at my work and my bosses (two company owners - I'm the peon and prefer it that way.) depend on me to do so as occasion warrants. - Here is the scenario all of which on my end went through one of my Yahoo email accounts -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I get an email for a Nigerian 411 scam -

- Quote from email -
I am a business development specialist and i have engaged in the purchasing of heavy materials and machinery from any part of the world,for contract supplies(only) to some multinational companies in Europe and Africa.More to it,i was also partially or slightly invloved in the exportation of solid minerals in minimal quantity from some countries in Central Africa to some countries within the United Kingdom but due to some new strict trade policies and severe political and economical factors in some of the countres i was involved with in Africa,i have been put out of business for a while. - ... - ...
- end quote -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i have to wunder if his speiling andpunchuatshun might of had sumthin todo with looseing his busyness. - It goes on in much the same vein... - I wanted to change the word exportation in the email above to exploitation but decided not to change the body of the quote.

If you want to read the whole thing email me and I will forward it. - The deal was, I get 20% of 19 MILLION $$$'s - Whoo Hoo!

I'll be rich! Inevitably this would only cost me all I have plus all I could borrow and even all I could steal. Needless to say I did not go for it. If you want to invest let me know - I'll forward the pertinent info.

I noticed at the bottom of the letter was an email address. A bright blue link to the perpetrator of this scam. - It was a Hotmail.com address. - So I do what any semi law abiding citizen would do. I forwarded the message to abuse@hotmail.com - A short while later I get an auto response from Hotmail - Form letter. They got the message and will look at it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The same day I get another nigerian scam letter from Dr. John Smith. His real name! Wow! At first I thought he was joking but Dr. John Smith is his real name. His deal is better (I think).

- Quote - On behalf of myself and my colleagues who are ministerial official and other officers in charge of offshore remittance in this corporation, we are seeking your assistance for the transfer of Forty Two Million (US$15,000,000.00) to your account for further private investment purpose, Hence our request for your assistance. - ... - ... - End Quote -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The idiot didn't even change the number when he modified his letter. Which is it? 42 mil or 15 mil? I did not bother writing to ask. I

noticed the return address on this one was a Yahoo.com account. - Forwarded email to abuse@Yahoo.com - They responded within 8 hours. A form letter but it said appropriate action was taken. I feel satisfied. (note - As I am writing this I emailed from a dummy account to both addresses. - Response from Yahoo - Account non-existent! Mail undeliverable - Hot mail.......... No reply yet.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mind you these emails were received and forwarded on the same day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, 2-1/2 hours after Yahoo tells me they took "appropriate action" Hotmail send me a message saying

- quote -

Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

My name is Harrison and I am writing in response to the unsolicited message that you reported. I know how important it is for you to protect your account from unsolicited messages.

I have verified that the account [michealhartrupp2000@hotmail.com] you reported is an active Hotmail account. However, we did not find enough evidence to prove that the e-mail that you received originated from this account. If you have other documentation to prove that this account is indeed sending unsolicited e-mail, please send us a copy with the full message header so we can re-evaluate your report. To do this, please refer to the Help section of your e-mail account or client to learn more about exposing the full message headers of the e-mail you are forwarding. - ... - ... -
... more about forged headers and crap unrelated to the nigerian scam letter I sent them ...
- end quote -

They got the full headers. The email address the scammer was using was at the bottom of the page. Hotmail is dealing with a scammer not a spammer. A scammer that is using a Hotmail account.

I wrote back to Hotmail - quote -

Hi Harrison, - This is the only email I received from this joker to my knowledge. - I could email him and get more on his scam for you but I should think that the body of the email with the hotmail address at the bottom should be enough to yank his account. - - I'm not sure if your terms of service allow you to go into his account and peruse his mail but certainly -[michealhartrupp2000@hotmail.com]- is up to no good and is using hotmail for nefarious purposes. - Paul -
prying1.blogspot.com - - - 6:56 AM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- end quote -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reply from Hotmail @ 15:43 hrs (8+ hours later) -

- Quote -

Hello Paul,


Thank you for writing back to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

My name is Divino. I have read the e-mail exchanges you have had with Harrison
and from what I understand you were reporting about the unsolicited e-mail message you received.

We have investigated the account you have reported and we found that the X-Originating IP of the mail you have sent us did not match. It is possible that it was forged or tampered with. If you have any other documentation from this sender, please send it to us immediately with complete message headers.

Hotmail firmly enforces its Terms of Use (TOU) including our anti-spam stance. You can review our TOU at:
http://privacy.msn.com/tou/default.asp

We are very sorry if we were not able to take action against this person because we need sufficient evidence to justify our actions. I appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter.


Thank you very much.


Divino T.
MSN Hotmail Technical Support

- end quote -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
prying1 sez:

My FINAL reply: - quote -

OK - If you want to allow an obvious crook to continue
using hotmail then fine - I sent a similar email to
abuse at Yahoo and they YANKED the jerks account toot
sweet!. - Who cares where he originated the blasted
email - He want victims to use his Hotmail address
because he knows you will let him! - Paul -

- end quote -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will continue to forward scams to Hotmail in hopes that Harrison and Divino don't get them... But I'm not gonna continue this endless diatribe with these boys. Let Mr. Micheal Hartrupp continue his scam through Hotmail.com. He knows he has the support! (smiley face here)

Why They Write Science Fiction!

I've been reading a bit of science fiction lately. I came across a set of books I got years ago and never got around to reading. It is a collection of short stories and novellas plus some that was selected by the members of The Science Fiction Writers of America. They had each member submit the titles they liked best excluding their own and tallied up the winners to put in an anthology. It is a 3 book collection called "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame".

Of course Asimov, Bradbury, Pohl, Heinlein, and a myriad of authors are represented.

Some favorite stories are, The Roads Must Roll (Heinlein), The Time Machine (H.G.Wells), The Midas Plague (Pohl), and too many more to name. Especially for a four fingered typist...

While reading a bit it finally came to me what it is that draws writers into Science Fiction as a favored genre. It is simply this. Lawsuits...

You know at the start of novels where it tells you that no one on earth was the model for the characters inside the book. Imagine this court scene:

Lawyer, "Your Honor, we will prove that my client Mr. Smith was slandered by this so called author. He was called a lying, unethical, crook and this has had an adverse effect on his business. He was called a pimping whoremonger and this has had an adverse effect on his family life. He was called an immature mamma's boy with apron strings tied to his wrists and this has had an adverse effect on his psyche.

Judge: Ok, I perused the book and am wondering where you find all of these accusations in it?

Lawyer, "Your Honor, You can read, starting on page 12, about the slimesided Arcturian gizzlewop named Rejrindul Azurkod and we intend to show how the author cleverly used this character to cause harm to my client.

Judge: (slams gavel) "Get out of my court!" (slams gavel again) "Now!!!" (Judge mumbles a bit, then barks) "Next case..."

Delete Button Does Not Delete!

On occasion I wheel and deal at a computer swap meet. I'll pick up hard drives real cheap there. Of course I'm taking a chance when I pick up a drive off the ground or a blanket that when I get it home it will not work. Last meet I got a 80 gig hard drive for $3.00. It works, whoohoo!

When I plugged the drive in I was able to set it up as a 'd' drive and accessed all the info on it. It had belonged to someone that had set it up as a 'C' drive with WinXP.

WinXP has now got it set up so that you cannot just simply transfer the drive from one machine to another. To get it to work as a 'C' drive I had to reformat it and reload Windows. This of course wiped out all the previous information. Or did it?

The info stored on a hard disk is simply magnetic bits that are pointed north or south, on or off, yes or no, 1 or 0. Deleting files or even formatting a hard drive does not remove all the information stored on it. It simply removes the pointers that tells the reading heads where to go to find the requested info. As a result sensitive information like banking and financial records can still be accessed with the proper software. I have read that even writing over the previous file doesn't quite do the trick. A ghost image of the file can remain and a real pro can find and reconstruct the info.

So, the question is, what to do with old unneeded hard drives to protect yourself from any hanky panky with the info on it. One solution that is quick and easy is to smash it with a hammer making sure all the platters inside get damaged. But suppose the computer you use at work is about to go down the hall to someone else. Perhaps the laptop you use is about to be transferred to another department. They might be a tad upset if the hard drive has major dents in it.

I came across this page from Brown University that gives some tips and links to software (Some Free!!! Whoohoo again!) that solves this problem. I see some in the list for Mac and Unix. (which reminds me of the time my buddy Mike asked another computer nut if he liked Unix. The man replied, "No! I prefer women...")

I will suggest you be careful if you download and use any of these programs. It appears that some of them are designed to wipe out the whole disk only and not selected freespace, files or folders.

One of my favorite lines from a book

As I'm sitting here at the computer I have a stupid fly buzzing about the room.

On occasion it gets nearby and I swing at it. - I miss... -

On occasion it lands on the monitor screen. I swing at it. - I miss... -

Kung Fu practictioner I'm not...

But this reminded me of one of my favorite lines from a book. - Art Linkletter's Kid's Say the Darndest Things. (Not to be confused with Bill Cosby's book by the same title.) This is not verbatim but it is pretty close.

Scenario: Art Linkletter has very young school children sitting in chairs and is asking them questions about life and love.

Art: "How did you get that bump on your head?"
kid: "I was killing flies."
Art: "You were killing flies with your forehead?"
kid: "No, I was using a hammer."

NARAL Tells Lies in Anti - John Roberts Commercials

Opposed to bombing abortion clinics? Well then you should be pushing your elected officials to support John Roberts as Supreme Court Justice. You should also be pushing for NARAL to back off on their adverts that portray Roberts as a man who supports the criminal/terrorist activity of bombing abortion clinics.

Factcheck.org has the real scoop on what NARAL is up to. The pro-abortion group's commercial shows a bombing scene that happened 7 years after the legal brief they misquote as Roberts endorsing murder. The legal brief was supporting states laws and simply said there was no need for federal interdiction. - The Supreme Court agreed 6 to 3...

prying1 sez - It amazes me that a group that endorses ripping babies from the safety of their mothers wombs uses an obvious lie about murder like this and expects to get away with it. - Anyone who supports NARAL after this has no excuse. Bearing false witness is still in the 10 Commandments even if the Commandments are not on the walls of our courts. Duplicity always ends up with a spotlight shining on it. If you stand with NARAL the spotlight will also be shining on you!

How to Fix a Computer!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted a blog. Thanks to AubreyJ for the push to get back into blogging.

Lately I have been dealing with some changes with my computer system. Funny how much time it can take to get your system just the way you like it and then you find you have to upgrade. I went from XP home edition to the Pro in order to get my cable system working and found all kinds of glitches through the process. Got it going pretty good. Almost satisfied. Too close to very good. Almost happy. Now I have placed another computer close by so my wife can play games and IM her friends while I list items on eBay and blog. Family time is different these days from the way Ozzie and Harriet lived.

Lot of fun getting the 2 machines in sync. Wifey-poo doesn't get to do much game playing or IM'ing. I spend half my time getting her computer the way I like it. The other half is spent getting the new gliches out of my computer.

Two major problems with getting the systems to network. That is, I now have two computers. The machines would see each other. They could see through the wire to the router and beyond. I would try to connect to the internet on either machine and both would recognize everything up to the router. They would collect my IP address and stop. They would not connect to my Internet Service Provider. I could not get anywhere near Google, that is, the center of the known internet universe. I was stuck in the real world. Unless I separated them and connected each to the internet one at a time.

Fine if I didn't mind spending the rest of my life switching wires. - I did mind.

In trying to fix it I would get a message that the primary machine's administrator had to set up the connection. It didn't care that I am the administrator on both machines. Neither machine wanted to admit to being the primary one. Plus the message gave no clue as to how the administrator (read - ME - ) was to fix it once he figured out which was the primary. Back and forth from one desk to the other with a pile of books to go around each time. Got a bit of exercise. About 3-4 days worth of exercise.

Opening help windows, going in circles with the troubleshooters, clicking on little boxes that I hoped to hell would not cause my motherboards to fry, wondering how I got to the last page where I changed settings and just closed, wondering if I'd ever find my way back to correct my blunders, Googling questions in the hopes that I would get a clue from someone else's ghost of misery past...

It was all worth it. Now I'm a bit puffed up with pride and a lot of joy because I did it and I did not need to pay big bucks for some computer geek to pretend that he knew what he was doing while he changed back all the system settings I had changed.

So now, this paragraph is for that frustrated someone who finds themselves in a similar situation. You have Googled a question and for reasons only God knows this blog came near the top. You are asking, "What did he do to fix it?" "Come'on" you say, "Tell me!" - - - Well, what I did was go up to each machine on or around the 3rd or 4th day of this nonsense and found them both working.

That's it! I have discovered the secret that I'm willing to bet every computer geek has known for years... HOW TO FIX YOUR COMPUTER by PRYING1 - chapter 1 - Walk away and come back later! - chapter 2 - Blog and boast about it.

The Muslim mind is on fire

Hat tip to Hugh Hewett on this one - The Muslim mind is on fire

Youssef M. Ibrahim - a former New York Times reporter wrote a piece concerning the Jihadists and their murdering of Muslums. He is not in favor of it. I'm certain that Youssef is now concerned for his life and it will serve the world well if we pray for him and against his enemies.
A couple quotes from the article -

The latest reliable report confirms that on average 33 Iraqis die every day, executed by Iraqis and foreign jihadis and suicide bombers, not by US or British soldiers. In fact, fewer than ever US or British soldiers are dying since the invasion more than two years ago. Instead, we now watch on television hundreds of innocent Iraqis lying without limbs, bleeding in the streets dead or wounded for life. If this is jihad someone got his religious education completely upside down.

~~~~~~~~~~

Do the cowardly jihadis who recruit suicide bombers really think that they will force the US Army and British troops out of Iraq by killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis? US troops now have bases and operate in Iraq but also from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.

~~~~~~~~~~

What is more important to remember is this: When the West did unite after World War II to beat communism, the long Cold War began without pity. They took no prisoners. They all stood together, from the United States to Norway, from Britain to Spain, from Belgium to Switzerland. And they did bring down the biggest empire. Communism collapsed.

I fear those naiveÃe Muslims who think that they are beating the West have now achieved their worst crime of all. The West is now going to war against not only Muslims, but also, sadly, Islam as a religion.

In this new cold and hot war, car bombs and suicide bombers here and there will be no match for the arsenal that those Westerners are putting together - an arsenal of laws, intelligence pooling, surveillance by satellites, armies of special forces and indeed, allies inside the Arab world who are tired of having their lives disrupted by demented so-called jihadis or those bearded preachers who, under the guise of preaching, do little to teach and much to ignite the fire, those who know little about Islam and nothing about humanity.

prying1 sez: I think that the link to this article should be spread around Please consider an email to friends and neighbors. NOT the link to this blog post. The link to the article...
-
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050726-073844-6818r
-
It really needs to get into the Muslum community. I have been saying it for quite a while now. The Muslum community must stand up and be counted as against the murderous thugs that are killing their own. I can say it is wrong all day and night but until the terrorists see that they will no longer be accepted, hidden and harbored in ANY Muslum place of worship they will continue their Godless acts. Until Muslums see thay are not alone in standing against the hijackers of their religion they will not stand up.

At a Liberal Recruiting Station

"I'd like to sign up for the war."

"Fine just fill out this form. You can use this pen and that table over there."

"Thank you. Hmmm, hmm, hmmmm, hm..."

"No humming please!" People will think you are glad to be here.

"Sorry. Hey this form puts me in the enemies army."

"Of course it does. We have too many on our side so all new recruits are being sent to their side.

"What the???

It's the only fair way to fight a war! Sign at the bottom. Our lawyers will take it from here.

TaxPayer $$$ Down the Drain!

Nothing new in this post's title but this time it is big bucks going to criminals. I caught wind of this one from a news blurb on TV concerning Donald Trump before the U.S. Senate. Although Trump is not my favorite person in the world I will say he is right on concerning this one. I'm talking about the renovation of the United Nations building in New York, NY.

"The U.S. Congress has agreed to loan the United Nations the $1.2 billion at a 5.54 percent interest rate, to be repaid over 30 years. But some lawmakers have had second thoughts over mismanagement of the $67 billion oil-for-food plan for Iraq." - SOME LAWMAKERS??? I want to see the list of those with second thoughts. Better yet, the list of those without second thoughts. -prying1- -

A US News article says concerning Trump's meeting with the Senate, "Reality television star Donald Trump told the U.S. Senate on Thursday the United Nations should be fired over its handling of a $1.2 billion plan to renovate the world body's New York headquarters. Trump...predicted the renovation would run far over budget because U.N. managers were incompetent.

He insisted he could do the job for half the U.N. estimate, but then admitted he had no plans to bid for the job.

"If you don't know what you are doing it can be fraught with cost overruns, et cetera, et cetera," he told a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee looking into the project, known as the U.N. Capital Master Plan."

U.N. CAPITAL MASTER PLAN??? Who thought up that name? Sounds like something from the Third Reich. -prying1-

So? Do they really need renovation? - The review found that maintenance could not keep pace with structural repairs required for major plumbing leaks, rusting rail supports, soaked roofing material and the original, 50-year-old electrical wiring. And the Headquarters buildings no longer comply with current fire safety codes and environmental standards. There was for example, no sprinkler system in the high-rise building and asbestos were present. Handicapped accessibility standards and security requirements were also not being met. Finally, the buildings were extremely energy-inefficient.

prying1 sez:
I suggest that they just tear down the building and move the organization to some desert someplace. As long as it is not in Australia. Australia doesn't need a new batch of criminal immigration like they had during their penal colony days... - They can hire Sheriff Joe Arpaio (of Arizona) to design a tent city. Dig an amphitheater pit big enough for the members to sit around the edges and Secretary-General Kofi Annan can lead meetings from the bottom of it. It will work real well unless the members keep kicking sand in thereby burying Kofi... - So it goes if that happens.

Can Software Kill?

I receive email newsletters from eWeek.com - A technology based company that has articles that are usually above me. I read the headlines and occasionally see a teaser that makes me think, "I can understand this!"

This week the title, "Hardening Expectations for Software Quality" caught my eye. The reason being, I am continually amazed at the size programs have grown to. To download a simple plugin today took 25 megabytes. That is 5 megabytes more than my first hard drive held. I remember reading how the early computer whizzes at MIT worked hard to streamline programs because they were working with 64k. Nowadays a computer programmer sees the code won't work he just DX's it with a 'rem' command and leaves it in the middle of the software program. Who cares if it takes a bit of space. Plenty more where that came from. To hell with those on dialup.

Well back to the title of this posting. Well, pretty soon anyway. The article mentioned Solidware Technologies that has presented software to find bugs in software. (Free 60 day trial/download for you programming geeks!) in their advert it said, "making software safer - Ouch! There were 428 fatalities between 1985 and 2003 caused by software bugs*** (and these are just the ones we know about)." ... *** 2004 Baseline study, Can Software Kill? - end quote -

NOW ON TO THE TITLE OF THIS POST! - With this I had to run a Google search. - "Can Software Kill?" - (with quotes) - 573 hits with most leading to links to the following link -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TechNewsWorld - 4-13-04 - Software can kill you. Don't think so? Talk to the family members of 21 deceased patients treated at the National Cancer Institute in Panama in November 2000. The cancer patients died after being overdosed by a Cobalt-60 radiotherapy machine. The technicians who entered patient and medication data into the software that guided that machine will stand trial starting May18th in Panama City on charges of second-degree murder.
&
According to published reports, Ferrari's North America division recalled 353 cars in 1999 because of a software programming error. Some Ferrari 360 Modena and 360 Modena F1 models manufactured in the previous year contained a glitch in the electronic instrument module that prevented a warning light from illuminating if a problem was detected with a car's brake system.
&
But it's not just in cars that buggy software is threatening life and limb. Computer programming is now embedded in much of the equipment and appliances that permeate homes, schools and the workplace, making software quality a major issue. Most software releases are far from perfect, and software industry analysts admit there is little difference in the quality control applied to industrial programming and retail products.
- end quotes -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

prying1 sez: While I don't think it is yet time to put on white robes, drag out the old "END OF THE WORLD" signs and give up our day jobs, I do think that supporting companies like Solidware Technologies would be a good thing. If you know anyone who deals in programming and works with chip design send them the link. Who knows. Some day it might save a life. Besides, they get to play with it for 60 days for free.

Google Earth

Gotta wonder if Google is gonna take over planet earth - It seems like they continually come up with something new that leaves others in the dust.

This time it is Google Earth. - A hat tip to Homemade Tutorials for this link - Quite a nice site and worthy of a visit.

Now what is Google Earth? - A map of the planet that allows you to fly about and pull in close ups of areas of interest. A way to locate banks, schools, churches, fire stations, stores and even volcanoes. Aren't as many of those around but just in case you want to check you neighborhood...

You must have Windows 2000 or XP and cable/broadband to use this program. Quite a wonderful experience to type in the address and watch the planet rotate and then pull in for a close up (if available) - Find your house - Check your church parking lot and see if the pastors car was there when they took the pic. Find the nearest volcano and see if it is far enough away or if you should move...

For a bit more info before downloading check out Homemade Tutorials blog - To see what Google's advert click here - To jump in with both feet click on this link - Google Earth Download - Have a good trip! -

Does Spam Cop Work?

I have recently started a new email address and am already getting spam on it.

In times past I have checked the headers located the offending ISP and emailed the webmaster of the company it was sent from/through. This is a tedious process.

I was thinking of signing up with SpamCop for their free service. It appears that through using their service the amount of spam can decrease and if the spammers figure out you are a trouble maker they might drop your address from their lists.

Anyone reading this ever use SpamCop? Could you leave a few lines concerning your experience? Is there any downside to using their services? Besides time that is...
Does it work with email services like Yahoo and Gmail?

Are These People Sick or What?

Thanks to Very Small Doses for the heads up on this one -

You missed the party!

Well, Maybe you didn't miss much.

NARAL, a national 'rip unborn babies from the wombs of their mothers' organization has an affiliate in Washington-state that thought it cute to have a 'Screw Abstinence Party'.

Complete with:
Toys in Babeland - Seattle's sleaze-free, sex-positive purveyors of adult toys offer tips on "Sexy Safer Sex."
AND
'Sex in Seattle' & 'Pork Filled Players' - Two of Seattle theatre's hottest sketch comedy groups perform a sex ed class for adults.

How old are these people that they need instructions on using sex toys and sex education classes.

Well apparently they had to be over 21 because it was held at some dive in Seattle.


From the event advert: "All funds raised at Screw Abstinence will assist NARAL Pro-Choice Washington in our work to secure comprehensive and medically-accurate sex education, as well as guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices."
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I still cannot understand why ripping babies from mothers wombs is so important to these people. - Don't get me wrong. I am not in favor of strictly outlawing all abortions. I think it should be a states issue as opposed to being something forced on the country by the supreme court.

I especially feel that advancing other alternatives is much more important than filling trash sacks with babies. So why is it these people feel it is more important to fill trash sacks with babies instead of advancing alternatives?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even some lefties at The Stranger.com think it is in poor taste (warning - bad language in article) and sets back the agenda.

Some from the right think it is a good idea for the left to stage events like this:

- quote from the Stranger -

"I love it when they do this," says Republican Party State Chair Chris Vance. "It's just another example of the liberal-left marginalizing itself. They forget who they're trying to target: suburban parents. And suburban parents are very worried about [premarital sex]." - end quote -

As a right-winger (I don't spit tobaccy juice, burn crosses nor wear swastikas) I am saddened that some in this country have had their consciences burned to the point that they cannot see that nonsense like this is not a good thing. Absolutely nothing redeeming in actions like this. The national NARAL should have given this chapter the boot when this 'party' was first advertised using the NARAL name. Perhaps not doing so shows an insight into the national mentality of groups like this.

One article I read said at least 100 people got advance tickets. Wonder how many of them will get abortions soon after they "Screw Abstinence"?

Gotta Love It! U.S. Wins Cold War!!!

Proof the United States has won the cold war!

A hat tip to Tomorrows Trends.

Want proof the cold war is over and the U.S. won. Here it is. NASA is being sued by a Russian astrologer!

ANANOVA has the story about:
~~~~~~~ quote ~~~~~~~
A Russian astrologer is suing NASA after claiming the probe they smashed into a comet meant she had to rewrite all her horoscopes.

Marina Bai wants 170,000 (prying1 asks: US$$$??? Rupees??? Pesos??? original text does not specify) in damages after Nasa's Deep Impact probe crashed into the Tempel 1 comet.

She said the collision will change the orbit of the comet and therefore affect the night skyscape, and she will be unable to read horoscopes properly without lots of extra research.

She said: "It is obvious that elements of the comet's orbit, and correspondingly the ephemeris, will change after the explosion. This will interfere with my astrology work and distort my horoscopes."

Moscow district court officials have said preparations for the case are underway, but that no date has yet been set for a hearing.
~~~~~~~ end quote ~~~~~~~

prying1 sez:
We have managed to export silly lawsuits to Russia and now they will never be able to go back to the old communist system.

Was Darwin Christian?

Phil Dillon, Prairie Apologist - Owner and Proprietor of a wonderful blog, Another Man's Meat has a post on Darwin. Was he a Christian or not? - Phil has a can of worms with the lid off and some of the worms are climbing over the side. - Go check out Phil's site and leave a comment on his post. You might want to dig back into his archives and see some other excellent writings. Plan on being amazed and amused for a while and don't forget to bookmark his site.

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I thought I'd bring my comment on his post over to my blog in hopes of getting another can of worms open and watching the worms crawl out. -

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Simple logic settles the question, "Is there a God or not?"... And the answer still involves a decision by each human on earth.

Does God exist, yes or no?

If the answer is no then all other discussion and contemplation on the subject is foolishness.

If the answer is yes then a life without discussion and contemplation on the subject is foolishness.

Is this something that should be answered with the throw of dice or cutting a deck of cards?

I'd say it is more foolish to run with the assumption the answer is no than to utilize more logic with the yes answer.

Such as, to ask: "If God exists does He concern himself with the affairs of men..."

Blogger Supplies

Not sure how many have missed this one. I might be the only one but I doubt it. Google has a few blogger items in their supply store. How can anyone REALLY blog without wearing a t-shirt with the blogger logo on it? Their Ringnecked T has a brown neck trim so you can blog for a week without concerning yourself with friends and neighbors seeing the ring around the collar. You can sleep in it with your head on the keyboard.

Actually I think that wearing a blogger t shirt might help start conversations so you can direct people to your blog. Might be worth a try to get readers. Seems to me though that if we are advertising for Google and Blogger they ought to pay us to wear the stuff...

Who-Hoo! It works!!!

Ever have one of those computer problems that just defies all the verbiage you can throw at Google? For 18 days I've been trying to figure out how to get my computer to look at my new ISP and get the IP address. I had to log on with my older dial-up service. I even went so far as to put a new operating system on some reformatted/used hard drives. I'm working with an emachine and Windows XP here.

I didn't want to load a new system onto my regular hard drive because it was my only connection with my computer. Plus I was fearful of losing all the stuff I have on it. So what I was doing was loading a copy of WinXP onto (5-6) old spare hard drives I have laying around. These drives are from 1.2 gigs to 2.5 gigs. After loading WinXP on them and making them the master drive the computer would not boot. When I worked around that with CD's and floppies and got the machine going I kept getting messages that I was running out of space on the drives. My video card would not register so I was stuck with default settings AND none of these drives would connect to the ISP.

I finally broke down and went against everything my Scottish blood says to do. I went out and paid for a new, in the box, hard drive. 40 gigs for $70+ dollars. - With it I was able to set up the boot partition, load XP and still have room to load video drivers and my ISP provided programs.

Who Hoo! It works!!! AND my original drive works well as a D: drive so I still have all my old programs. What an ordeal!

One really good thing is I got it working just in time for my nap!

Book Review - Lizzie Borden, The Untold Story

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
And when she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.

'Lizzie Borden, The Untold Story' by Edward D. Radin

It seems from reading this book that everything we know about Lizzie Borden is wrong. The question is still asked at the end of the book, "Did she or didn't she?", but this book presents facts either unknown or long ignored by many Lizzie Borden storytellers.

A Mr. Edmund Pearson, whose works on the Lizzie Borden trial were considered the final word in the matter ignored much of the court testimony that exonerated Lizzie. Certain facts in the case were left out of his writings. Edward Radin goes through the court records and news articles of the time presenting much information that is missing from the poem and the story as we know it. Well written in easy to understand layman's terms I would suggest this book for any who like real crime stories...

As an aside I'll also suggest a visit to Alice Beard's website where, near the bottom of the page, she has - quote - The genealogy game of "Lizzie Borden"... The object of the genealogy game is to see if you can claim Lizzie as a distant cousin. You know, so when you're having a bad day, you can say, "Leave me alone. I've got PMS, and I'm a cousin of Lizzie Borden."... - end quote - You have to build your own genealogy list to compare with Lizzie's but this would be a great conversation stopper at parties and such... -

Condolences

Condolences to An American Housewife (Carol) who lost her husband last Thursday evening. The blogging community has quickly become family to many of us and I'm certain that just hearing this news brings heartache to many. You can leave a condolence message on Carol's Blog.

American Princess has a link to make a Paypal donation. If you can donate even a little bit it would only help. Please put some feet to your well wishes for the family and give what you can. Just mark the donation as a 'caring gift' and donate more than you can afford. The Lord will cover you on the other end.

COMPUTER DAZE!

WHY ME LORD?

Ever find yourself looking towards heaven and crying out this familiar phrase? The times I most often hear it emanate from my lips is when I'm trying to make some changes to my computer system. This time it should have been real simple. Changing my ISP from a dial up to a cable modem. Sounds simple right? Just call 'em up and have 'em do it.

That works fine for any other house on your block. Would have worked well for this house except!!! My computer was manufactured in the bowels of hell.

I'll back up a bit.

Since my recent surgery my daughter has come over to keep an eye on me. You know, make sure I don't go through the fall over and can't get up scenario. She brought her computer over and the 2 machines sit near side by side. She is not satisfied with my dialup service and has convinced me I need to upgrade services. I was ready for the change and agreed amiably. Cable comes in and with a router both computers are hooked to it. Hers works wonderfully. Mine will not. I have been through 1 week plus of hell trying to make this stupid machine work. Her still connects fine. I thought for sure I would have them both mucked up by now and I could kill them both with a hammer, but no. Just mine is the one I'm gonna get to beat mercilessly.

I can still get online through the dialup but the cable company will not issue my machine an IP address. I force fed an IP address and it worked for 2 days. But static numbers are not acceptable. They issued a new IP and my machine will not accept/read it. I'm left blowin' in the wind... Daughters computer still works fine. Worst thing is I was quickly spoiled with the speed of the cable. That is when I get it to work for an hour at a time. In a couple days my daughter will go back to her house, take her machine and really leave me in a tizzy. Good thing I'm bald so I won't be tearing my hair out.

I call up the cable company and they go through some major changes trying to find the problem. They read my daughters machine fine. Mine is there in a hazy 'Wizard of Oz', 'man behind the curtain' sort of way. I call emachines (my manufacturer). They send me to websites that tell me to try stuff I did a week ago without their help. MS/WINXP pages are only there to fill in the blank spots on the internet. Device troubleshooters take one in a circle only to say, "Don't take your paycheck to Vegas buddy, cuz you are out of luck!" I Google the problem (on my daughters machine when I can get her away from it). I get some techy geeks talking acronyms that would leave Bill Gates scratching his head. Working different wire configurations I catch and stop myself from ripping the wires out of both machines.

Worst thing is I know it is 'one setting' in the deepest recesses of my computer that needs a simple mouse click. Perhaps I could get to it with this screwdriver and putty knife.

AND through all this I have not had a smoke for I quit counting how how many days. - OK, I had to count - 19 days. - I did break down and had a stick of gum yesterday. Sort of stale. Don't know how long it had been in the drawer. I do figure that if the stress level I've gone through with this stupid computer has not driven me back to smoking then I'm pretty much in the clear on that end.

Breath Deep, Self Control, Think Happy Thoughts, and Set the Hammer Down...

Time Magazine to turn over subpoenaed records

CNN - Time Inc. announced Thursday it would turn over the subpoenaed records from journalist Matt Cooper regarding the leak of a CIA operative's name, even though it "strongly disagrees" with the court order

I think some might look at this event as an interference between the U.S. Government and the Freedom of the Press. I see it a bit differently. I see it as setting rule of law above excuses to break the law. - For those who missed it here is a quick recap: Matt Cooper and Judith Miller of the New York Times were facing up to four months in jail for refusing to reveal their confidential sources in the "Plame is a CIA agent" revelation.

Because federal law makes it a crime to deliberately reveal the identity of a CIA operative, the Justice Department launched an investigation...
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Miller and Cooper and their news organizations decided to fight the subpoenas, although Cooper did reveal one unnamed source who released him from confidentiality pledge.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ironically, Miller faces jail time for refusing to reveal sources she developed during her reporting, even though she never actually wrote a story on Plame or Wilson.

Prying1 sez:
It is a no brainer. If some 'source' broke the law in revealing information to me you bet your sweet bippy the 'source' will find his name on the judges desk before the spit dries on the envelope flap... I realize I am in no way on the same playing field as the big boys in the news rooms and they need to have 'sources' that sometimes need anonymity BUT should any citizen, a newsman or not, fall on the sword for another citizen who is breaking or has broken the law.

Hypotheticals aside I think the answer should reflect the importance of the rule of law.

I love it when I don't have to work!!!

AubreyJ.org (Just another BLOGGER's website) Has said everything anybody Right or Left could say about President Bush's Tues night speech. As a four fingered typist I love it. I need only link to his post and I'm pretty much done.

Now WE (this includes you, dear reader) need only get everyone in the world to read AubreyJ's post. Then everyone can shut up and get back to work. Email the link for his post to 10 people and you will have good luck for one week. Email it to 100 people and you will have 10,000 butterflies settle upon your house.

One of the stupidest things I've heard from the left!!!

Hat tip to - Left End of The Dial - (Another Slap Happy place to visit)

Tribunal on Iraq Findings
World Tribunal on Iraq

Monday 27 June 2005

The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all - The Jury of Conscience

Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury's conclusions.
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Am I supposed to believe this PANEL met without any preconceived ideas on how it would turn out?
~~~~~~~
The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: 'The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.'
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Why do groups like these ignore the hundreds of thousands raped, pillaged and murdered by Saddam and his henchmen? Why do they ignore the gassing of the Kurds?
Why do they ignore the environmental benefits Iraq has received? Why do they ignore the OIL for PAYOFF scandal with the UN?
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Perhaps this is why - Number one recommendation by this group of fool leftists!

We recommend:

1. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq;
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In other words, let the country go back to the terrorists so that mayhem continues and leaves a toehold for world socialism.

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prying1 sez: When you meet these people on the street the same treatment should be given to them as the statue of Saddam Hussein received. Beat them over the head with your shoe!!!

Space Station gets 2001 Upgrade (At Last)

Those who saw and loved the Stanley Kubrick film "2001: A Space Odyssey" will be pleased to know that the Space Station has finally upgraded 'in part' to reach the year 2001. Although the voice activated computer 'Clarissa' does not have HAL's artificial intelligence it is believed that this system will be much nicer. From what I gather the system sounds even nicer than the voices in my head.
~~~~~~~~~ Quotes from New Scientist magazine ~~~~~~~~~~~
Called Clarissa, the program will initially talk astronauts on the International Space Station through tests of onboard water supplies. But its developers hope it will eventually be used for all computer-related work on the station.
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Clarissa was designed with input from astronauts. They said it was difficult to perform the 12,000 procedures necessary to maintain the ISS and conduct scientific experiments while simultaneously reading through lengthy instruction manuals.
**********
Clarissa's software runs on a laptop and astronauts interact with it using a headset, which helps screen out noise from the station. The program "listens" to everything astronauts say and analyses what to do in response using a "command grammar" of 75 commands based on a vocabulary of 260 words.
**********
It accurately interprets those commands about 94% of the time, but if it makes a mistake, astronauts can correct it with commands like, "no, I meant...". But because Clarissa listens to everything, early versions of the program misinterpreted whether an astronaut was giving it a command or having an unrelated conversation about 10% of the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personally I thought the movie stunk. Talk about boring. It did work well as a sleeping aid but I'd rather have insomnia... Hopefully Clarrissa will not put the astronauts to sleep.

(Link in NewScientist.com story to NASA video)

Moving Forward a Bit.

As I sat in this computer room/library I finally decided on Friday it was time to get back to work selling on eBay. I need to clear our some of the stacks of books. Hoping they go to homes that need/want them. I had quite a business going until a few months back and got out of the habit of listing items for sale. Mostly dealing in books but on occasion I would list other items such as printing equipment and even a 1940's stove. It went to a little cabin in Big Bear CA.

One thing I would appreciate was hooking the right book up to the right person. Usually at a discount from the online book sellers. Sometimes I would get emails from customers telling of how their niece/nephew just loved the book or a teacher saying he had to borrow a copy from a friend every year to teach a portion of his class. That one was a great deal for him. $50.00 for a hard to find book. I only saw one copy online and the bookseller wanted $200.00 for it.

Anyway, expect me to tout my eBay sales on occasion. I lucked out. Decided to start fresh with a new eBay name and guess what was available? - 'prying1' - That's right. Your (semi) favorite blogger now has the same eBay nom de plume. - Click here to check my eBay offerings.