Boffin1157's 'Blog'

Valentines Day Sonnets

2011-02-14T01:38:00.000-08:00

Here are Shakespeare's Sonnets 116 and 29, enjoy... and do have a great day...

Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 29:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Identity Theft - Internet

2011-01-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

IDENTITY THEFT

A selection of Internet Safety Advice, with guidelines on how to enjoy surfing the web safely and tips on dealing with the nastier side of the Internet.

The advice is punctuated by photographs of look-a-likes in the Animal Kingdom.

Music backing is performed by Bobby McFerrin.

Google for Christmas

2010-12-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

35 Essential Computer User Google Links

The greatest advent of Google is that you are always connected wherever you go and able to access your account via the omnipresent Google cloud.

The list has been broken down into several sections to make it easier for those beginning their Google experience and those who want to augment their abilities.

Google has many well-known and some lesser-known products that everyone who uses Google should be familiar with. Whether you are practicing social networking as an Internet user, or as a professional you will need to know Google well to share information and continue to get others involved as Googlers.

These are just some of the Google Products that are designed to make your surfing of the Internet more enjoyable and productive for you. Many of these products are very useful aids for helping you to keep up to date with your postings on the Internet.

Google Basics

Google Account - Signing-up once here and creating a single Google account will give you access to all of Google's products, features, and services.
Google Mail or Gmail - For sending and receiving email.
Google Top Searches - More search options to help you research more accurately
Google Hot Trends - With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics.
Google Blog Search - Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs.
Google Web History - Keeps a record of your Internet use while logged into your account.
Google News Search - Need more information on a theme or topic? News Search will look for you.
Google News Archive Search Allows you to search and explore historical archives.
Google Image Search -Need an image for your project? Image Search will speed up the search for you.
Google Reader - Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites, RSS feeds, and blogs for new content.
iGoogle - Your own personalized Google user interface page that promotes searches and your selected content.

Google Intermediate

Google Video - A collection of 'User Videos' that may or may not be on 'YouTube.' And also a place where users can host their videos.
Google Alerts - Email updates (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.
Google Calendar - A very useful aid that effectively reduces scrap paper and never gets lost, use it in combination with other Google products.
Google Docs - Create and share documents on-line. This product allows the creation of documents similar to Microsoft Word and Excel. Very easy to use and permits users work together at the same time despite time zone differences.
Google Custom Search Engine - Create your own custom search engine for your external hosted website.
Google Sites - Allows users to create and host their own website.
Google Talk - Instant communications, a simple fast chat and messenger program.
Google Chrome -Google's browser software, its fast, simple and secure.
Google Adsense - Google AdSense matches ads to your site's content, and you earn money whenever your visitors click on them.
Google Earth - Google Earth lets you travel almost anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, and terrain.

Google Advanced

Google Gadget Ventures - Google Gadget Ventures is a new Google pilot program dedicated to helping developers create richer, more useful Google Gadgets.
Google Grants - The Google Grants program supports organisations to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.
Google Code University - Provides tutorials and sample course content so CS students and educators can learn more about current computing technologies and paradigms.
Google Ad Words - Display Ad Builder for website advertising.
Google Analytics - Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
Google Data Protocol - The Google Data Protocol is a REST-inspired technology for reading, writing, and modifying information on the web.
Google Maps API -
Google Base - Simply describe your items on Base to make them as easy as possible for people to find when they search.
Google Research - Google’s mission and the enormous scale of Google’s operation lead to fundamental questions in Computer Science and Engineering; the technical excitement of this, and the real and practical benefit we can bring to Google’s users through our integrated approach, all contribute to the excitement of doing research at Google.

Branded Products Owned by Google

Blogger -Access thousands of blogs and search through them for useful postings - Or, start your own.
Youtube -A collection of 'User Videos' that may not be on 'Google Video'.
Picasa - An off-line | on-line tool for organizing and editing your photos and images.
FeedBurner - Great program to creating, directing and making feeds and blogged information go all over the place.Supports RSS 2.0 and Atom and more.
Gears - Gears is an open source project that enables more powerful web applications, by adding new features to your web browser:

This is what love is all about...

2010-10-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

Forwarded by email to me this morning.

This Is What Love Is All About...

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, When an elderly gentleman in
his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he
was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs
and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone
would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since
I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam it
was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies
to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound,
we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor's
appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me
no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.
I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a
while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.

As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be
worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was,
that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and
asked him. "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who
you are?" He smiled as he patted my hand and said. "She doesn't know me, but
I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and
thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of
all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the best of everything that comes along their way."

-- Author Unknown --

Pedestrians Roulette

2010-05-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

- This photovideo is was made this morning (15/05/2010) from 230 still photographs shot yesterday (14/05/2010 at 21:51 GMT+2) following utter disgust that motorists show for human life whilst pedestrians are crossing the road.

- Friday the 7th May 2010 a brilliant 23 year old student was killed on such a crossing, the image being made public is designed to pervert the law stating that both driver and victim were both crossing on a Red Light according to a Police camera.

- Even worse followed... Tuesday 11th May 2010 2 sisters aged 12 and 13 years old at 20:00 on a crossing outside the library, both badly injured by a couldn't care less motorist in a BMW driven by a 19 year old.

Pedestrian Roulette Photovideo

- The photovideo has been slowed to half speed of 0.63secs per picture from 0.31 seconds.

So far this year in the County of Cluj... 109 serious road accidents, 32 killed and a further 90 seriously injured.

- The Police dedicated a whole 6 hours to sorting the daily carnage out, not one is to be seen on the streets today, the whole 6 hour period they swarmed everywhere.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4139088/dramatic-boat-fire-in-florida/?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r1:c0.025795:b32605838:z6

2010-04-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4139088/dramatic-boat-fire-in-florida/?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r1:c0.025795:b32605838:z6

You know you live in 2010 when...

2010-03-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

You know you live in 2010 when...

1. You go to a party, sit down and take MySpace pics.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. The reason for not staying in touch with your friends is that they don't
have AIM/LiveJournal/MySpace/Facebook etc.

4. You'd rather look all over the house for the remote instead of just pushing the button on the TV.

6. Your evening activity is sitting at the computer.

7. You read this list, and keep nodding and smiling.

8. You think about how stupid you are for reading this.

9. You were too busy to notice number five.

10. You actually scrolled back up to check if there was a number five.

11. And now you're laughing at your stupidity.

12. Put this in your profile if you fell for it.

Admit it, you know you did.

Passed on to me by a fellow Travian player

The Non-Recycled Plastic Bottle

2010-03-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

The Non-Recycled Plastic Bottle

Hands up who carefully recycled the plastic bottles they used in the last year.

Each and everyone of us throws into ever decreasing landfill sites enough plastic bottles for us all to be proud owners of one of these giant footballs!

Great 'Electronic' Wall of China

2010-01-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

The Newest Wall against humanity is up, freedom of information is blinding 30% of the world's Internet population.

This entry is taken from the Times onlne and can be followed up by you dear reader anytime you like...
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6996738.ece

Hillary Clinton guards Internet freedom in attack on
China’s new ‘Berlin Wall’

Hillary Clinton has deepened a row over freedom of expression in China by warning Beijing that its alleged attack on Google would have “consequences” and comparing its censorship of the internet to the Berlin Wall.

The US Secretary of State’s criticism — coming days after the internet company said that it would withdraw from the world’s most populous nation in protest at curbs imposed on its users — is a serious intensification of the dispute that now threatens relations between the two powers.

“Countries that restrict free access to information, or violate the basic rights of internet users, risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century,” Mrs Clinton said, adding that the US and China “have different views on this issue, and we intend to address those differences candidly and consistently.

“Countries or individuals that engage in cyber-attacks should face consequences and international condemnation. In an internet-connected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all.

“We stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas,” she told an audience in Washington, in a speech that also named Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam as nations that censored the internet or harassed bloggers.

About 30 per cent of the world’s internet users had restricted access, she said. “No nation, no group, no individual should stay buried in the rubble of oppression.”

Mrs Clinton challenged China to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the recent cyber- attacks on Google, which also targeted dozens of other US companies. She warned that China’s economy — now second only in size to the US — would ultimately be harmed by its attempts to control information.

Google said that those behind the computer attack tried to plunder its software coding, and the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Chinese citizens find information about sensitive subjects such as the Tiananmen Square uprising filtered on google.cn and other search engines.

The social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, as well as the video site YouTube, are blocked. Throwing the US Government behind Google’s new stance on China, Mrs Clinton urged technology companies to refuse to support censorship, and called on US businesses not to support suppression in search of quick profits.

Its rival search engine Yahoo! has come out in support of Google’s move since it was announced last week.

“I hope that refusal to support politically motivated censorship will become a trademark characteristic of American technology companies. And when their business dealings threaten to undermine this freedom, they need to consider what’s right, not simply the prospect of quick profits,” she said.

The State Department is to hold a high-level meeting next month with companies that provide network services, for talks on internet freedom. Mrs Clinton wants technology companies to help to provide new tools that will “enable citizens to exercise their right of free expression” by circumventing censorship.

Relations between the US and China are already troubled by quarrels over trade, Taiwan and human rights. Earlier a senior Chinese minister sought to contain the row, saying that Google’s dispute should not be over-stated. Beijing has until now treated the spat as a commercial matter, declaring that the search giant must obey China’s laws and traditions.

Hours before Mrs Clinton’s speech, He Yafei, the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, told the official Xinhua news agency: “The Google incident should not be linked to bilateral relations, otherwise that would be over-interpreting it.” However, two state-controlled newspapers yesterday accused Google of allowing itself to be used by the US Government for political purposes, and warned that it would pay a high price for doing so.

Google, which informed US authorities about the cyber-attacks before going public, praised Mrs Clinton’s words. “Free expression and security are important issues for governments everywhere, and at Google we are obviously great believers in the value to society of unfettered access to information,” it said in a statement.

Wen Yunchao, a prominent blogger based in Guangzhou, southern China, said that the speech would boost the morale of those who sought greater internet freedom in China, but that more details of America’s efforts to advance the cause around the world were needed. China is home to the world’s largest online population of 382 million people.

---------------------------------------------------

Postscript

Many of us have friends in China, Expats as well as Chinese friends on the various sites many of us network on. It is not a case of them ignoring our messages, it is simply a case oftheir access to the Web has been removed against their own free will.

Expats have and are finding ways to get past this Electronic Wall by gaining access to VPN networks (In a nutshell), an escape tunnel avoiding censorship and monitoring by use of virtual networks.

EU Parliament to investigate a Flu Scandal

2009-12-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

This entry arrived in one of my 'Mail Boxes' this evening.

-------------------------------------------

European Parliament to Investigate WHO and “Pandemic” Scandal

by F. William Engdahl

The Council of Europe member states will launch an inquiry in January 2010 on the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign, focusing especially on extent of the pharma‘s industry’s influence on WHO. The Health Committee of the EU Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution calling for the inquiry. The step is a long-overdue move to public transparency of a “Golden Triangle” of drug corruption between WHO, the pharma industry and academic scientists that has permanently damaged the lives of millions and even caused death.

The parliament motion was introduced by Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, former SPD Member of the German Bundestag and now Chairman of the European Parliament Health Committee. Wodarg is a medical doctor and epidemiologist, a specialist in lung disease and environmental medicine, who considers the current “pandemic” Swine Flu campaign of the WHO to be “one of the greatest medicine scandals of the Century.”

The text of the resolution just passed by a sufficient number in the Council of Europe Parliament says among other things, “In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies, responsible for public health standards to alarm governments worldwide and make them squander tight health resources for inefficient vaccine strategies and needlessly expose millions of healthy people to the risk of an unknown amount of side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines. The "bird-flu"-campaign (2005/06) combined with the "swine-flu"-campaign seem to have caused a great deal of damage not only to some vaccinated patients and to public health-budgets, but to the credibility and accountability of important international health-agencies.”

The Parliamentary inquiry will look into the issue of „falsified pandemic“ that was declared by WHO in June 2009 on the advice of its group of academic experts, SAGE, many of whose members have been documented to have intense financial ties to the same pharmaceutical giants such as GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Novartis, who benefit from the production of drugs and untested H1N1 vaccines. They will investigate the influence of the pharma industry in creation of a worldwide campaign against the so-called H5N1 “Avian Flu” and H1N1 Swine Flu. The inquiry will be given “urgent” priority in the general assembly of the parliament.

In his official statement to the Committee, Wodarg criticized the influence of the pharma industry on scientists and officials of WHO, stating that it has led to the situation where “unnecessarily millions of healthy people are exposed to the risk of poorly tested vaccines,” and that, for a flu strain that is “vastly less harmful” than all previous flu epidemics.

Wodarg says the role of the WHO and its the pandemic emergency declaration in June needs to be the special focus of the European Parliamentary inquiry. For the first time, the WHO criteria for a pandemic was changed in April 2009 as the first Mexico cases were reported, to make not the actual risk of a disease but the number of cases of the disease basis to declare “Pandemic.” By classifying the swine flu as pandemic, nations were compelled to implement pandemic plans and also the purchase swine flu vaccines. Because WHO is not subject to any parliamentary control, Wodarg argues it is necessary for governments to insist on accountability.

The inquiry will also to look at the role of the two critical agencies in Germany issuing guidelines on the pandemic, the Paul-Ehrlich and the Robert-Koch Institute.

(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16667)

Facebook Account Compromised? - Read on...

2009-12-21T14:28:00.001-08:00

Facebook Account Compromised?

Re-produced from Facebooks own Security Pages

My friend's account

My friend's account has been hacked, phished,
or is sending me spam that he/she didn't send.

It is possible that malicious software was downloaded to your friend's computer or that their login information was phished in an attempt to send spam from their profile.
We would like to investigate this issue further, but unfortunately, we cannot release information regarding a user’s account to anyone but the account holder.

For detailed information about this matter, please click here -
http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=13394

My friend's account has been affected by the money transfer scam
(someone is using my friend's account to ask for money).

We are currently working with people whose accounts have been affected by money transfer scams.
Please use caution around messages from friends claiming to be stranded and asking for money.

Your friend's Facebook account may have been compromised by cybercriminals attempting to impersonate them. Most frequently, these criminals will gain control of a Facebook account, and use the Chat or Status features to claim they are stuck in a far away location and in need of financial assistance.

If you have received a message like this, please enter your friend's account information in this form so that we can make sure your friend's account is secure. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=14257

My account

I can't log in to Facebook or access my account.

If you are having general trouble logging in to your Facebook account, please click here for more information. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15468

My account has been affected by the money transfer scam
(someone is using my account to ask my friends for money).

We are currently working with people whose accounts have been affected by money transfer scams

The money transfer scam is characterized by cybercriminals using Facebook in an attempt to trick your friends into sending them money.
Most frequently, these criminals will gain control of a Facebook account, and use the Chat or Status features to claim that you are stuck in a far away location and in need of financial assistance.

It is possible that your email account was compromised as well, as obtaining access to a victim’s email is one of the primary ways these cybercriminals have been operating.
Please take the following steps to ensure the security of your Facebook account:

Select a unique and complex password for your Facebook account and keep this entirely to yourself. You can do this from the Account Settings page of your Facebook account or by using the "Forgot Password" link on the login page.

Select a new, unique password for any email address associated with your account, making sure to avoid using the same password for any account.

Verify that you control all of the email addresses associated with your account on the Contact Email section at:

Add a security question to your account from the Account Settings page if you have not done so already.

Visit the following page for more information about Facebook security and how to report suspicious material:

If you require further assistance in securing your account, please enter your account information in this form so that we can make sure your account is secure. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15111

Where can I find more information about money transfer scams?

The FTC has created an alert, titled "Money Transfers Can Be Risky Business", that explains money transfer scams and other actions one can take. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=16148

My computer has a virus, or I was "phished."

It is possible that malicious software was downloaded to your computer or that your password was stolen by a phishing website designed to look like Facebook.

Please carefully follow the steps provided:

Run anti-virus software: If your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware, you will need to run anti-virus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information secure.
- For Windows:
  http://www.microsoft.com/protect/viruses/xp/av.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/default.mspx
- For Apple/Mac OS:
  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Reset password: From the Account Setting page, you will need to create a new password. Be sure to use a different password than you use for other sites or services, made up of a complex string of numbers, letters, and punctuation marks that is at least six characters in length. Do not use words found in the dictionary.

Never click suspicious links: It is possible that your friends could unwillingly send spam, viruses, or malware through Facebook if their accounts are infected. Do not click this material and do not run any ".exe" files on your computer without knowing what they are. Also, be sure to use the most current version of your browser as they contain important security warnings and protection features. Current versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer warn you if you have navigated to a suspected phishing site, and we recommend that you upgrade your browser to the most current version. You can also find more information about phishing and how to avoid it at http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.

Phishing is an online attempt to trick a user by pretending to be an official login page or an official email from an organization that you would have an account with, such as a bank or an email provider, in order to obtain a user’s login and account information. In the case of a phishing login page, the login page may look identical to the login page you would normally go to, but the website does not belong to the organization you have an account with (the URL web address of the website should reflect this). In the case of a phishing email, the email may look like an email you would get from the organization you have an account with and get emails from, but the link in the email that it directs you to takes you to the above phishing login page, rather than a legitimate login page for that organization.

To prevent your account information from being obtained in a phishing scheme, only log in to legitimate pages of the websites you have an account with. For example, "www.facebook.example.com" is not a legitimate Facebook page on the "www.facebook.com" domain, but "www.facebook.com/example" is a legitimate Facebook page because it has the "facebook.com" domain. When in doubt, you can always just type in "facebook.com" into your browser to return to the legitimate Facebook site.

If you are still unable to access your profile, please send us more information regarding the issue so we can investigate. Please submit your report here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=13393

My account has been hacked.

If your account has been hacked and you can still access your login email address, please attempt to reset the password to your account by selecting the "Forgot your password?" link that appears above the Password field on the Facebook Login page. An email will be sent to you with steps for completing the process.

If your account has been hacked and the login email on your account has also been compromised or has been changed, please send us information about the account so we can look into it further and hopefully restore access. Please submit your report here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15838

Messages or posts were sent from my account, and I didn’t send them.

It is possible that malicious software was downloaded to your computer or that your password was stolen by a phishing website designed to look like Facebook.

Please carefully follow the steps provided:

Run anti-virus software: If your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware, you will need to run anti-virus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information secure.
- For Windows:
  http://www.microsoft.com/protect/viruses/xp/av.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/default.mspx
- For Apple/Mac OS:
  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Reset password: From the Account Setting page, you will need to create a new password. Be sure to use a different password than you use for other sites or services, made up of a complex string of numbers, letters, and punctuation marks that is at least six characters in length. Do not use words found in the dictionary.

Never click suspicious links: It is possible that your friends could unwillingly send spam, viruses, or malware through Facebook if their accounts are infected. Do not click this material and do not run any ".exe" files on your computer without knowing what they are. Also, be sure to use the most current version of your browser as they contain important security warnings and protection features. Current versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer warn you if you have navigated to a suspected phishing site, and we recommend that you upgrade your browser to the most current version. You can also find more information about phishing and how to avoid it at http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.

Phishing is an online attempt to trick a user by pretending to be an official login page or an official email from an organization that you would have an account with, such as a bank or an email provider, in order to obtain a user’s login and account information. In the case of a phishing login page, the login page may look identical to the login page you would normally go to, but the website does not belong to the organization you have an account with (the URL web address of the website should reflect this). In the case of a phishing email, the email may look like an email you would get from the organization you have an account with and get emails from, but the link in the email that it directs you to takes you to the above phishing login page, rather than a legitimate login page for that organization.

To prevent your account information from being obtained in a phishing scheme, only log in to legitimate pages of the websites you have an account with. For example, "www.facebook.example.com" is not a legitimate Facebook page on the "www.facebook.com" domain, but "www.facebook.com/example" is a legitimate Facebook page because it has the "facebook.com" domain. When in doubt, you can always just type in "facebook.com" into your browser to return to the legitimate Facebook site.

If you are still unable to access your profile, please send us more information regarding the issue so we can investigate. Please submit your report here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=13392

My poker chips were stolen.

Unfortunately, Facebook did not develop the third-party poker application and cannot assist you in restoring any lost poker chips. This application is developed and operated by a third party that runs its own technical resources, and we do not have access to this data.

Please reset your password immediately for security reasons, and contact the developer of this application in regards to your situation. In order to contact the developer who created this application, please go to the application's About Page and click on the "Contact Developer" link at the bottom of the page. Facebook is not responsible for the support provided by this developer. If you continue to have problems, please note that you can remove and restrict applications from the "Applications" section of the Privacy page.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=14360

I received an account creation email, but I'm already registered.

If you have received a Facebook account confirmation email in error, it's likely that someone has mistakenly attempted to register using your email address. As long as you do not click the link contained in the email, no action will be taken, and no account will be created. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=14348

What can I do if my group has been hacked?

Please note that is not technically possible to hack a Facebook group. As long as the current administrators of a group keep their login details secure, keep their account enabled, and do not allow any suspicious people to become admins, then the group will remain secure. Please note, however, that if a group is left without an admin, any member will be able to assume that role. If this situation occurs, we encourage you or the former admin of this group to contact the current admin to resolve this matter. Unfortunately, Facebook is not able to add you back as an admin for any group.

In addition, as long as the group does not contain information that violates our Terms of Use, we will not take any action it. For more information on conduct prohibited by Facebook, please read ourStatement of Rights and Responsibilities, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Terms" link at the bottom of any Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15654

More information

What is "phishing"?

Phishing is an online attempt to trick users into providing login and account information by pretending to be a login page or email from an official organization. Common examples include banks or email providers.

In the case of a phishing login page, the login page may look identical to the login page you would normally go to. However, in these instances the website does not belong to the organization you have an account with (the URL web address of the website should reflect this).

In the case of a phishing email, the email may look like an email you would receive from the organization you have an account with. However, the links provided in these emails typically direct you to the above phishing login page, rather than a legitimate login page for that organization.

To prevent your account information from being obtained in a phishing scheme, please double check the URL of the websites you have an account with. For example, "www.facebook.example.com" is not a legitimate Facebook page on the "www.facebook.com" domain, but "www.facebook.com/example" is a legitimate Facebook page because it has the "facebook.com" domain. When in doubt, you can always just type in "facebook.com" into your browser to return to the legitimate Facebook site.

Please note that current versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer warn you if you have navigated to a suspected phishing site, and we recommend that you upgrade your browser to the most current version. You can also find more information about phishing and how to avoid it at...

http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html
and...
http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=13395

What can I do to protect the security of my account?

Never click suspicious links: It is possible that your friends could unwillingly send spam, viruses, or malware through Facebook if their accounts are infected. Do not click this material and do not run any ".exe" files on your computer without knowing what they are. Also, be sure to use the most current version of your browser as they contain important security warnings and protection features. Current versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer warn you if you have navigated to a suspected phishing site, and we recommend that you upgrade your browser to the most current version. You can also find more information about phishing and how to avoid it at http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.

Phishing is an online attempt to trick a user by pretending to be an official login page or an official email from an organization that you would have an account with, such as a bank or an email provider, in order to obtain a user’s login and account information. In the case of a phishing login page, the login page may look identical to the login page you would normally go to, but the website does not belong to the organization you have an account with (the URL web address of the website should reflect this). In the case of a phishing email, the email may look like an email you would get from the organization you have an account with and get emails from, but the link in the email that it directs you to takes you to the above phishing login page, rather than a legitimate login page for that organization.

To prevent your account information from being obtained in a phishing scheme, only log in to legitimate pages of the websites you have an account with. For example, "www.facebook.example.com" is not a legitimate Facebook page on the "www.facebook.com" domain, but "www.facebook.com/example" is a legitimate Facebook page because it has the "facebook.com" domain. When in doubt, you can always just type in "facebook.com" into your browser to return to the legitimate Facebook site.

Have a unique, strong password: From the Account Settings page, be sure to use a different password than you use for other sites or services, made up of a complex string of numbers, letters, and punctuation marks that is at least six characters in length. Do not use words found in the dictionary.

Run anti-virus software: If your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware, you will need to run anti-virus software to remove harmful programs and keep your information secure.
- For Windows:
  http://www.microsoft.com/protect/viruses/xp/av.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/default.mspx
- For Apple/Mac OS:
  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12266

Where can I find more information about money transfer scams?

The FTC has created an alert, titled "Money Transfers Can Be Risky Business", that explains money transfer scams and other actions one can take.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=16148

What URLs (web addresses, domains) are legitimate, safe Facebook URLs?

Make sure that when you access the site, you always log in from a legitimate facebook.com domain. A good rule of thumb is if a URL ends in facebook.com, it is owned by Facebook. For example, "en-gb.facebook.com" ends in facebook.com and is therefore safe and legitimate.

When in doubt, just type "facebook.com" into your browser's address field. It's a good idea to bookmark the facebook.com address so that you don't have to enter it manually.

Other URLs that look like Facebook but do not follow this criterion could be illegitimate phishing websites. Never submit your login credentials to a site that looks suspicious.
http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15133

Is it safe to log in to Facebook through another site,
such as through Facebook Connect?

Facebook has enabled third-party websites to use Facebook’s login and authentication system through a program called Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect allows users to take their Facebook identity, network, and privacy settings with them as they browse and interact with the rest of the Web.

Connect-enabled sites often provide an option to log in to Facebook directly from the site itself. When you see this, you should make sure that the login opens in a separate browser pop-up window, and that the Web address (URL) for the pop-up contains the proper "www.facebook.com" domain. If it does, you’ll know that it’s a legitimate Facebook page and not a phishing attempt, and you can log in safely and securely.

Note: if you’re logged in to Facebook, the Facebook Connect partner site should only ask you to "authorize" that site. http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=13929

Does Facebook distribute my user information?

Facebook respects your privacy. We do not distribute your user information to marketers or spammers. You can read more about this in our Privacy Policy. - http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12260

I want to permanently delete my account.
How do I delete my account?

If you deactivate your account from the "Deactivate Account" section on the Account page, your profile and all information associated with it are immediately made inaccessible to other Facebook users. What this means is that you effectively disappear from the Facebook service.
However, if you want to reactivate at some point, we do save your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc.), and your account will look just the way it did when you deactivated if you decide to reactivate it. Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service.

If you do not think you will use Facebook again and would like your account deleted, please keep in mind that you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added.

If you would like your account permanently deleted with no option for recovery, log in to your account and then submit your request by clicking here. - http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12271

My question is not listed above.

Find more questions and answers here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12272

Additional Notes from Boffin1157

If an offer you see on Facebook is too good to be true, it is highly likely that it not true at all.
Just connecting with FB users to play a particular Game? If so, place them in the 'Limited Profile' option to provide an extra safety measure on your account.
Make sure your security settings are regularly updated.
Remove and delete all access to all Non Facebook applications you no longer use.
A Facebook user you do not know wishes to befriend you, if you decide to accept, place them in your 'Limited Profile' folder - otherwise click on ignore, just because they are connected to umpteen friends does not mean they are safe to add .

Above all, 'Be Safe, Be Secure, Be Smiling'
- Enjoy Facebook, the rogues are in the minority of FB users.

Internet Safety - Part 2

2009-12-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is ‘Beatable’

By Dr. Peter James – Independent researcher, writer, and web tactician.

Yesterday Part 1 was published here...

Internet Safety Tips - Part 1

Part 2 follows on below.

Fraud Email
Everyone gets junk and scam emails, be it Mr ‘Microsoft’ Bill Gates, your favourite film star or singer, even me, efforts are made to curb this daily threat but without employing many of the suggestions in this article, it is a hard battle to win. Now my own spam emails received is low at around five or six items a week. If your IP address gets hi-jacked, you can send spam unknowingly. A few months ago whilst on holiday I found that despite not being on the Internet during the 5 days away that 1000+ spam emails had been sent using my IP address. The matter was resolved 6 weeks later and the offender caught, literally, no one is exempt from the ‘Cyber-Bully’ or Internet nastiness out there today.

There are always plausible reasons given to get you to respond to them, many are from banks that you do not have an account with at all. Never open or respond to them at all, if it is from your bank, go to the nearest branch and sort it out there, not over the Internet or phone, many bogus emails use false logos, and ghost embedded addresses to fool the recipients into responding. In the time it takes to re-read this paragraph, a computer operator elsewhere in another part of the world could electronically rob your bank account!

Have you brought anything in the last few days? Has anyone brought anything from you? Apart from the odd promotional email from ‘EBay’ or maybe a follow up question from a buyer or seller – You know who they are; there is no need for ‘EBay’ to contact you at all. Any such emails can be deleted without a second thought. The contents look good and the links work to bogus sites – not ‘EBay’ – they usually contain ‘bugs’ of various descriptions, all designed to get into your computer and feed back any useful information found on it. Want to see EBay’s latest offers, go to the EBay website much safer than opening the ‘offer you can not refuse’ email.

The scenario is very similar to ‘EBay’, again they look good and just like all scam emails they contain false links, sometimes phone numbers, impressive reproduced layout and a lot of ‘English’ spelling mistakes. (A fact many non-native ‘English’ speakers miss completely when responding to ‘scam’ emails.) Along with other poorly educated people, they happily answer all questions asked and lose thousands every day to these ‘Cyber-Criminals/Bullies’ - The same rule for PayPal special offers applies as well.

Phone numbers that are not
It is possible to buy phone numbers for other countries and many do this for genuine legally accepted reasons. Just because it is a ‘UK’or 'USA' etc number to ring, does not mean your call (along with the bogus contact name) is going to that country. Invariably the call never does, answered in a completely different country to the one dialled on your phone. In the event that you find such a number in an email, there is a very high chance that is an attempt to reassure that the email is genuine.

Lottery winner
Bin them! Do not waste a second opening them, each one is aimed at making you a lot poorer and the ‘Cyber-Bully/ Criminal’ a lot richer. You have not won anything at all. Your lottery winnings are false, every lottery has a ticket with ‘Your’ chosen numbers on it that will be in your possession, not faceless individual, – Foreign lotteries; do not normally sell outside their own national borders. Again badly written ‘English’ gets thousands of greedy individuals to empty their bank accounts chasing the mythical money they have not won, not only not won – The winnings never exist at all! – If the email were on paper, the paper would be worth more than the contents written on it.

Inheritance emails
Again bin them without opening them, the wording in the mailbox as to ‘From’ and ‘Header’ contents usually give them away first, if any is present in the header that is. As with any unknown names if in doubt – ‘Delete’ without opening. The header usually wants you to contact someone; this someone has a false name and phone number and is only intent on passing you along a chain of fraudsters getting you to part with as much money as possible on the way. Later after a few months respite they get in touch with you again and go through the whole rip-off process again. Think about this: ‘Why they do not know your name if you are actually inheriting such a large sum of money?’

Microsoft Junk emails
Microsoft do not, repeat do not send junk emails, nowadays nearly all Microsoft emails are by subscription only, only sent by request. You can happily delete any you have not asked them to send, as they will not be from Microsoft at all.

Password request / Locked account emails
If your mate across the street, a stranger in the bar where you have a beer, or a bus passenger asked for your password, bank details etc, would you give them to them. No! So why do people happily do so to an unknown plausible electronic enquiry? These details are yours and yours alone not for Jo/ Joe Public – Keep them safe!

If a stranger asked you for your ‘Front Door Key’ would you give it to them?

Passwords
Use a clue to remind you, never write the password down just write the clue down. Anyone can find it in your absence or even in front of you without you knowing.

Incidentally, forget any ideas of using big words from dictionaries or any other dictionary word unless disguised - Once access is gained to your computer from an illegal source, in nearly all cases, an incredible amount of dictionaries come into action as your data is trawled looking for passwords that you may have stored on it.

A far more secure combination today is around 16 characters/symbols long.

I say 'far more', owing to the fact that a 'Secret' is only a 'Secret' until you tell one other person. - So keep those passwords 'SECRET'

Use different on each website
In the event you have so many website passwords, then try to group your site passwords so that in the event that if a password is found, the password will not give access to all of the websites that you use, just a few. If there are several passwords on one site make sure that every password is different, adding a figure at the end of the main password is not a good idea.

Change passwords each month
Regularly change your passwords; it is in your own interest to do so and prior to this if you suspect someone else may know a password. A second option exists; if you do not use particular websites regularly, use the sites password reminder service, yes it takes a few minutes of your time but is well worth the effort involved.

Passwords...
Never share them - Never email them - Ignore requests for them

The passwords that you use to access ‘Chat’, ‘Windows’, your various accounts etc are yours and ‘Unique’ to you! No one else needs or needs to know them, not even the company website that you use, only their computers do. In every case, individuals are ‘locked out’ from this information and no one has any right to ask you for it. Electronic reminders are just that, no human is involved in the reminder at all.

Many systems do not send it; they send a temporary replacement instead, so that you can re-access your account. (A step that stops interception of the email whilst in transit to you)

Yes, there are even 'Spy-Bots' that read the body (Main Part) of your email content in transit looking for email addresses and nothing else, so try to disguise any email addresses you send to others - Doing this, actually makes them invisible to these 'Spy-Bots' - Example... donald(dot)duck(at)quackers(dot)com(dot)au

Email addresses that you enter in the 'Header' of your email are quite safe from illegal interception these 'Spy-Bot' Internet Nasties.

Naughty Websites...
All are lockable by you! Every ‘web site’ is lockable from your browser, just as every unwanted ‘email’ or ‘chat individual’ may be locked on the relevant provider. All responsible parents on every computer in the home should take these actions, before any problems start in the future.

That token fee of 1 Euro / $1 / £1 etc is more than just a means of verifying the users age, in many cases it is a ‘Yippee’ another sucker has given us permission to go on a spending spree at their expense. Result; loads of extra expenses many will go un-noticed by you as the Credit Card is usually paid by Direct Debit, with no questions asked by the Card owner at all. Tracker cookies are now safely implanted on your computer from this transaction.

Cookies...
Cookies are useful aids that enable regularly visited websites to open faster. Unfortunately, there are also ‘malicious’ cookies; these tend to turn up in emails and some downloaded programs as well. Employing the email precautions above will help reduce them, as will regular virus and spyware scans and updates of said programs. Another precaution you can take is to ‘Save’ rather than ‘Run’ a new program that you download, this will enable you virus and spyware programs to scan and remove any problems before they get the chance to ‘hide in your computers registry. Many new ‘Bugs’ self-duplicate, meaning you will get it back within seconds of removal as its clone left behind elsewhere in the registry reproduces itself.

Key-loggers sit there on your hard drive recording every keystroke and mouse click that you make. Then your computer sends this information to another (Unknown to you at all) computer in ‘Cyber-World’.

Conclusion...
At the time of writing, There are sadly still several thousand missing children in the world related to ‘chat’ and other instant message issues. There were a little over 4,100 recognised frauds in progress and a list of over 400 recognised Internet Fraudsters at large, with 420,000+ frauds deleted from the Internet. Together with a large number of hi-jacked, IP addresses by unknown parties. With your help in adopting as many of the above advice items, larger numbers of Internet crimes will be solved and the perpetrators caught and punished. Even better still thousands of children will be re-united unharmed with their families and the ‘groomers’ will not be able to lead many more astray in the future.

Another point not yet clarified as ‘a fact’ is ‘chat’ systems being used as an extension to street and playground bullying, to incite violence or crime on the victim against other victims, keeping the ‘actual’ aggressor/ perpetrator safe and sound.

URL Help websites to note:

Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/
Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html
FBI Cybercrime - http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm

There are many more, most countries have them, in some form. Your first priority should be to contact your local Police in the event of personal issues and missing persons, they can help far quicker and will take all the necessary steps needed both where you are and contact more specialised units/ teams as needed.

Please enjoy the Internet it has a wealth of information on it and the vast majority of users are genuine, the minority spoil things in the ‘Cyber-World’, as well as the ‘Real World’.
Learn to be safe not sorry, together we can stamp out ‘Cyber-Crime’ - ‘Cyber-Bullying’ and develop a much safer ‘Cyber-World’

In case you ever wondered, there is a last page on the Internet, its URL is… http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

Enjoy your life and help others to enjoy theirs, together we can make this borderless Internet safer, together Internet crime will be reduced. Everyday people like me are working behind the scenes to give you a better safer Internet, everyday the Internet gets a bit safer for all. With your help, we can all be winners and stop the minority from running our lives, fuelling our fears and feeding our limited knowledge to blame those who are not guilty in any way for the minorities actions against us all.

Part 3 follows tomorrow - Extra anytime tips whilst out and going about your daily life.

Internet Safety Tips - Part 1

2009-12-18T03:14:00.000-08:00

Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is ‘Beatable’

By Dr. Peter James – Independent researcher, writer, and web tactician.

Introduction

I shall be covering five topics in this article, all are interlinked, and all are forms of ‘Cyber-Bullying’. Just because you do not see your aggressor, face-to-face does not diminish the impact they can have on a victim or victims as an ‘Invisible’ perpetrator. No one is exempt from the tactics used by the ‘Cyber-Bullies’, young or old, experienced or not in the ways of the Internet. Everyone is a target, only experience, shared and then applied information, observations passed to the correct authoritative parties and applied diligence by each of us that use the Internet, can finally slow, halt, stop and then begin to reverse this trend, that is seemingly out of control but this is not so.

It is not my intention to preach to the converted, or suggest tips to experts in the computer field, rather brass tack information that is easily applied by most people. Rattle a few sleepy brain cells that may have dozed off into checking your ‘Current’ settings are still securely set after a series of updates etc. The bulk of the suggestions here do not need any programming skills at all, just a bit of common sense.

Everyday a constant battle waging against such people, everyday perpetrators are caught, everyday new methods to avoid detection are created, and everyday methods to avoid detection are destroyed, blocked from ever being used again by them.

This Battle goes on behind the scenes; the perpetrators do not carry a sign saying, “Hey, I’m an Internet Bully”. Likewise, those hunting them do not carry a sign saying, “I hunt Internet Criminals”. No, it is a cloak and dagger business. As an ordinary user of the Internet, you play a key role in this daily battle. Simply by applying some of the advice given below to your web activity will help to make the Internet safer and harder for the ‘Cyber-Bullies’ to achieve their goals, easier for the Internet crime fighters to catch the offenders.

One of the biggest sources of information to the ‘Cyber-Bully/ Criminal’ is your ‘Hard drive’ yes, the one you got rid of when you trashed your old computer. The one you threw in the rubbish when you upgraded to a bigger one. The one you sold so that you could afford the brand new super-duper better computer that could do everything but make a cup-of-tea.

Okay you wiped it / formatted it / clever you! Rather a case of ‘Stupid you’, (thats how the 'Cyber-Criminals' will see you) every hard drive contains a range of personal information on it, from the cat’s birthday to Aunt Edna’s home address, from your email address book to your personal Bank details, all useful information to the ‘Cyber-Criminal’.

All Data is recoverable by software you can only dream about, guess who has it?

That is right you guessed correctly. Passing on your old hard drive also allows the illegal copying of legal ‘Operating Systems’. As each illegal copy comes to the attention of Microsoft’, they are locked + the original copy as well from any further updates. (An illegal program generally has too many non-combination check numbers in it) This is not a ‘make money’ move it is a ‘make safer’ the Internet move, all pirate software has flaws that allow bugs, viruses etc onto the offending computer far easier than a ‘legal’ up to date secure ‘Operating System’ does.

Do not sell on your computer with the hard drive in it.
Do not trash your old computer + hard drive at the local dump.
Do not leave it out + hard drive for the bin men.
Do not pass it on + hard drive as a present to someone else.
Do not sell add on hard drives or give away etc for the same reasons.

Do remove your hard drive and store in a safe place.
Do destroy your hard drive if no longer needed by you.

How to destroy the old hard drive

With a hammer, or drill some holes in the hard drive, even embed it in concrete, or lose it in the Sea. Nothing else will effectively destroy the hard drive or any of the contents on it.

In each case make sure you (and others) are safe from flying particles whilst destroying the hard drive.

Every hard drive removed by the rightful owner is one less the ‘Cyber-Criminal’ can buy in bulk; literally, container loads of old computers are regularly purchased to further their activities. The hard drive you got rid of last week could be ripping of umpteen friends and Aunt Edna in a week or so from now.
The method being used to do so was on ‘Your old hard drive!’

It is possible nowadays for you to recieve 'Spam Emails' from yourself!

Email addresses gleaned from old hard drives often contain, not only your old email addresses but also those of friends you are possibly not in contact with today.

Try not to close an account with a website, by just changing your address and opening a new account on the same website (because you forgot your password for example).

Your recorded CDs etc with data, personal details on etc, should be shredded or at the very least scratched very heavily to destroy the readability of the CD for exactly the same reasons.

Email Precautions

You have not won anything...
One of the Cyber-Criminals favourite bullying tactics is the ‘Lottery’ prize awards. ‘Microsoft’ do not run lotteries at all, National Lotteries of various countries etc rarely if ever run such events to online persons, the chance of winning is way below ‘Zero’. All emails are designed to fool you, ‘Bogus’ Telephone numbers routed to another country, Plausible false names, along with extremely bad English are all methods used to fool the ‘fools’ amongst us.

Do not open it ‘ever’ check it has not been ‘spammed’ by mistake from a genuine sender by reading the header only. In the event that this is not the case then delete straight away, (More reasons for this are further on in this article).

Do not use your name as an email...
Unless you absolutely have to, never use your real name in an email address, no ordinary email user needs to do this. By using your ‘Real Name’, you supply all sorts of traceable help to ‘Cyber-Bullies’. Failing to use your real name on the web was frowned upon a while back, now it is becoming a necessary step to protect ones self from Identity theft, the higher your web profile the more chance of being a victim of the ‘Cyber-Nastiness’ on the Internet.

You email address is yours...
Email allows you to send mail to everyone at the click of the mouse; the click sends everyone the entire list of recipients as well. Meaning that everyone gets to know ‘so-and-so’s’ email address, that they did not know before or your best friend did not want known in the first place, silly you! Next time you send a blanket email, use the BCC facility, then your friends, associates or family will not get everyone’s address just yours and their own. You do not share your home phone number or home address with everyone you do not know. So why do you believe you have the right to share everyone’s email address without the owner’s permission?

Never open unknown received mail...
Just because an email has not gone into the ‘Spam’ file does not mean it is safe, if in doubt do not open it, instead instantly delete it. In the seconds it takes to open it, a ‘Trojan’, ‘Virus’ or ‘Key logger’ can become active, trawling your address book and hard drive passing itself on invisibly to other people you know or do not know. Doing the same to their computer as the ‘Bug’ is doing to your computer now. The latter will sit there on your hard drive recording and sending information to an unknown to you at all computers somewhere else in ‘Cyber-World’

Never open unknown received attachments...
The reason above also applies. In the second it takes to open it, a ‘Trojan’ or ‘Virus’ can be active, trawling your address book and hard drive passing itself on invisibly to other people you know. Some viruses sit for months like time bombs before becoming active, making them hard to locate or trace back to source.

Some attachments actually have false headings and or '*.---' endings to file names.
The attachment may indicate that aphotgraph is attached, chances are (if you are not expecting one and the email is from someone you do not know)it actually contains a virus of some kind ready to spread onto your computer.

Always use reputable valid and up to date ‘Anti-Virus’ and ‘Spyware’ programs and also ‘Legal’ computer ‘Operating Systems’ and ‘Software’ programs – the crucial bits missing from pirate software, make it much easier for others to get into your computer from the other side of the world (or even next door!).

Chat programs...
Each ‘Chat’ program has the facility to record onto your hard drive every typed word and most pictures (or references) and emoticons used by both parties. Please do activate it and keep a copy of every chat (Parents, activate it and store everyone’s chats in your own partition, for everyone’s peace of mind. Trusting your siblings is one thing, making sure they are safe is another). Would you let them have a total stranger in your home? This is what you are doing now. The chat record could be very useful if a loved one ever goes missing for no apparent reason, it may help find them faster and in a healthy condition again.

The stranger you are going to meet, you know the one you let into your home and life everyday, sometimes several times a day, the one who has not shared a true photograph of themselves. Told you little about them apart from what you wanted to know, possibly later than direct a response to your questions.

Please take these wise steps before going to meet them for the first few times.

Take a friend with you, or arrange to meet them later at said place.
Ring a friend regularly to let them know you are all right (this can be coded if you wish)
Never txt anyone as there is no proof it is ‘You’ sending the txt message.
If you do not take a friend with you, arrange a time to meet and place (preferably a public one) before leaving home and do not leave this chosen spot no matter how much your ‘New friend’ wants you to.
Remember! Your teenage friend could so easily be someone much older.
If everything is ok, great, have a good time but remember to follow the safety rules above.

Habits of chatter...
We all have a limited command of our own language and each language has a limited number of ways to use a particular phrase. By reading a chat message, it is possible to see something that you do not know or understand, just as if you are listening to someone speaking. Just as you would ask ‘what do you mean’ verbally, you can do the same in a chat message as well. In the event that you do not understand the response, or it seems to indicate an ‘exciting’ do this answer, be careful it may not be someone in your own age group or someone who can be trusted. Parents, if your sibling starts talking in words above their own natural ability to date, or showing an interest in something far too old for them, listen and take note, flying off the handle too quickly could easily push this issue away and become a secret to be kept from you. A sudden change in vocabulary may be a sign of an interaction outside siblings known friend and adult associations. It is much better to observe, listen, and discuss than to ‘shut the stable door’ after the horse has bolted.

Watch for grooming...
All the clues to this are visible in changes in a persons behaviour, be they young or old, taking on ‘new’ words wanting to do ‘this’ or ‘that’. Dress code may change as well, when you hear words like – ‘so-and-so’ does this… ‘Does that’ or ‘I want…? Etc’ the selling pitch is like an advert to millions on TV, except here it is aimed at a perceptively naïve youngster. The fact they are starting to trust and believe an ‘Invisible’ electronic friend more than someone in the ‘Real’ world is another subject, nevertheless just as big a problem.

Habits...
Very similar in many ways to the above paragraph and very closely associated to ‘normal’ everyday life. Changes in behaviour may slip in and free usage of names etc easily linked to friends, films or TV and ‘natural’ growing up, quite possibly the same as known ‘for real’ go un-noticed as similes’ with net activity and ‘real’ friends are not usually noticed in many cases. Some habit changes may go un-noticed at first, accepted as just a part of growing-up.

I can't tell you, its a secret...
We all like to have and keep secrets from others, with the intention of dishing out a surprise ‘gift’ or ‘treat’ at the appropriate time. The secrets I refer to are neither of these, rather the secrets laid in by ‘devious’ manipulation of a youngsters mind. These secrets may become evident due to a ‘slip-of-the-tongue’, do not press for an answer, instead wait patiently and introduce it another way. A one parent firing squad is ‘out’ bring the matter up gently as if a ‘secret of yours as a teenager’ for example may be a way to dig it out, if you know your sibling well, this will not pose a problem. However, in the event that you are too busy with your own life… No matter how little you know your child, you will be aware of habits, care or not you will have noticed changes taking place.

Habit changes are noticeable in many ways, but not as easy if the youngster is a loner or has only a few friends. Eating habits could be a clue here, suddenly loving peas or carrots for example, or, not eating fruit, maybe wanting a curry every day. Over many centuries, foodstuffs have been a weapon used against others in many ways; this is simply a variation on a theme, wishing to cook or lay the table could be links, or are they? ‘One Swallow does not make a summer’

Playing detective...
This is where you can learn to use your memory, linking the above four entries together, may provide many clues to who your siblings’ ‘Mystery person’ is. Habits, clothing, and food are some, along with films, music, or TV Heroes. The liking of black things is a phase most youngsters go through, this may not be a help. However it is a clue, just as for example ‘Strawberries’ are suddenly a favourite dish whereas they did not like them till recently, could be the clue needed to enable the authorities to catch an offender and return a loved one back to the family fold safe and sound.

Photographs...
Posted photographs and shared photographs may not be the person or persons in them at all. In several cases where a youngster has gone to meet the ‘new friend’ for the first time, the ‘new friend’ has turned out to be a lot older than photographs posted on chat etc, sometimes the excuse given is that ‘so-and-so’ is doing… ‘So I have come to meet you in their place and will take you to meet them ‘X’ asked me to apologise for not being here.’ (Or words similar to this example)

Lack of photographs...
Why? Maybe they are new to ‘chat’. In the event a picture never appears after talking them through the methods or you have doubts, end the ‘electronic’ relationship, it is better to be safe than sorry at the end of the day.

Does the other person on chat have a software problem? Is the chat set up correctly, is a webcam actually attached, settings may show one is present but actually is not. Which ever applies it does not matter who it is at the other end, never put on a ‘floor show’ for the other person. Especially if you never see them at all on their webcam, or accept invitations to do so by unknown parties, you never know who could be watching. Many children are tempted this way by ‘groomers’. Near enough, every webcam has a USB, remove, and lock it away when not needed or record its activity in your partition most can be. This is another variation on the ‘safe than sorry’ rule.

Any noted suspicions are worth noting down, any clues are worth remembering, and be it an observation of yours, a friend, or even a sibling. In the event of something going horribly wrong, then a clue like so-and-so likes / dislikes ‘tomato’s’ could be the very clue needed to apprehend and get a loved one returned safely home. Literally any suspicions should be reported to the correct authorities, let them decide it is their job not yours.

URL Help websites to note:

Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/
Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html
FBI Cybercrime - http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm

In Part 2 tomorrow...

Fraud Email - Phone numbers - Lottery winner - Inheritance - Microsoft Junk
Password request / Locked account emails - Password safety tips
Deposits - Naughty Websites - Cookies - Conclusion

Crazy Cartoons - V - Computer Game Violence

2009-12-16T00:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, 'Bugs Bunny' is a bit violent I know...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WM5Gwzk3Vfc

But Elmar Thudd and other cartoon baddies in it are always back to themselves in a matter of seconds to have another go at catching 'Bugs'

'Tom & Jerry' are not much different on the violence stakes either... http://youtube.com/watch?v=iG5Px3A0u0w

All sorts of horrible things happen to 'Tom' every episode, he's always better within seconds as well.

Poor old 'Wile E Coyote' forever chasing 'Roadrunner', he is technically killed at least 6 if not more times an episode...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bgsFVqfu-rM

But he really does catch 'Roadrunner' in the end believe it or not, even though it takes years of episodes to do so...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KJJW7EF5aVk

Which brings me to my frustration...

Why, after 65 odd years of being treated to death and destruction on a regular episodic basis are such animated cartoons cited as inducing violence and inciting said in the so called 'youth' today? .

Yet these cartoons can only be seen on 'YouTube' and the likes in so many Country's now. Yet Computer Games, where you have to deliberately 'Steal', 'Kill', 'Rob' , 'Maim' , 'Blow Up', is one allowed to do these and other such despicable acts to others, sometimes while 'Playing' against others on networked 'Games'. Carry on being allowed and called harmless?

The former mentioned cartoons did not do so, or boost the crime figures through the ceiling, or produce 'Copy Cat' violence etc on 'Real People' as the degenerates of today do, totally unable to unplug their minds from illusion at the right time, believing they can live as the 'Games' teach them, as they unleran reality and learn anti-social skills by 'Playing' and 'Living these games. Society loses heavily. Crime goes up, Fear of todays youth goes up, Trust in said plummets and society loses out 'Big-Time'. So what is the difference between the two items?

Answer is 'Money', loads of it! There is far more generated income from violent computer games in the form of taxes for Governments and Profits for companies than in the 65 year old cartoons. Sod the individual, 'Fill the nations coffers' with blood money please, we make more for wasting than the cost of damage done by them, money first, individuals last, greed is far more important, besides it makes it easier to control the masses if we let the degenerates bully, frighten and scare the decent people into being mice, makes it easier all round and ensures job security for the 'Boy's as well'. Who cares if the youth of today play these games all the time, then get the fixation in their tiny minds that it isn't a game, that it is really reality.

The powers that be don't care, so perhaps we should!

Answers on a postcard (or email) please.

A, B, Catch you later dear reader.

The Past Has Gone... Its Still Here Today

2009-12-01T04:53:00.000-08:00

Today is 'Revolution Day' here in Romania

Take a look around you today, tomorrow and the next day etc, etc, etc

Life goes on for us all, or does it?

For so many it stopped years ago and now these people (Humans just like you and me, dear reader) they simply exist! Victims of Ignorance. Victims of Bullies. Victims of Regimes. Victims of Greed. Victims of Hate. Victims who don't know when to stop persecuting those around them today, who have done them no harm at all. Victims of the victims, who are being taught to be scared of something that is no longer present, but will be by instilling the fear into them today. Victims who take solace by picking on victims.

Unfortunately this list is endless and also unfortunately there are always those who will take advantage.

(Making the victims pay yet again and again for something they had no control over)

Manipulating others for their own ends, growing richer and unhappier from the suffering of others, they can't spend all their ill-gotten gains, they certainly can't take it to the next world with them!

(Unless they have a very large 'Asbestos Suitcase')

By exasperating the victims misfortunes, the greed and manipulation of said, is certain to continue, no question about it at all.

Are they such narrow minded individuals that they fail to see that they and every victim could all gain and profit far more from pulling/working together?

The policy of making the most out of 'Hero Worship' of the 'Forces of Darkness' will stop one day, just as the 'Regime' here ended in 1989, but still lives on in the victims as if it was yesterday, as fresh today due to those who blatantly took and take advantage of the suffering inflicted in the darkest days, lets see a growing end towards the 'Storm Ripples' that still spread across this pond of nearly humanity!

Within a year, many had gone back to living their lives as if those who had been overthrown and those ousted from the country were still present - Many still live like this today 20 years later, many of whom will only see real freedom when they die (hopefully of natural causes) after growing up under Nazi Occupation, Russian Occupation, and Communist Kremlin 'Puppets'

True many were punished for their actions inflicted on the population here. However, many who got away with it, still rule the roost today - How? By putting on a different hat and changing their job and also job description just enough to make it look good.

One odd twist that took place here is this...

Whilst under the occupation of the Russians, foreign travel was allowed - On the condition that you left one family member behind to make sure you returned by the date set.

Today, thousands have left Romania to live and work abroad - Many of these people have left behind one family member, in this case of their own free will to ensure they 'Can' come back at a later date.

This may sound crazy to westerners who have never lived a lifetime in a country occupied by a foreign power, or under any form of oppressive regime - Its almost as if the whole country is simply going through the motions of living life today, keeping the country in 'Mothballs' till the occupying forces return at a currently unknown date.

Pretending that everything is fine, far from it the graveyards are stilling filling up with people who never knew freedom and will carry on doing so for many years to come. The skills they learnt to survive are still being handed down. The families in power then are still in power today, despite the different hat that is worn today.

There is I am glad to say a growing (slowly though) percentage of the population who are keen to move into the 21st century, at least they have reached double figures now percentage wise.

No, this is not simply a problem here, it is all over, everywhere people are who are affected by people who take great joy in causing mental and physical pain on others and taking advantage of this pain and suffering afterwards. Be it 'Nation against Nation', or individual against individual.

Pause for breath, see what you are miss...

2009-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

I cannot count the times I called my friend and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' A various stammered responses, such as, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago... We never did have lunch together.

So many of us cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained... We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. We love excuses!

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and also 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, they are open to adventure and available for trips. They keep an open mind on new ideas. Their enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord...

Not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. Go on spoil yourself, you deserve it... If the car hits an iceberg on the way home, You will have died happy, a few millimetres on the stomach is nothing it gives a loved one more to cuddle.

Now... go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to... not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? Why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift... Thrown away... Life is not a race... Take it slower.Hear the music before the song is over.

Every Day is National Friendship Day.. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

Life may not be the party we hoped for... But while we are here we might as
well dance and enjoy ourselves! A frown is a smile tht is upside down!

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 22nd to 28st August 2009

2009-08-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

A Daily Quote from Boffib1157's Neuron to start each day...

Saturday - 22nd August 2009
"Reality is - Waking up realise what you could have done may have helped someone besides you."

Sunday - 23rd August 2009
“Living life as an amateur will build you a road to serious wounds”

Monday - 24th August 2009
"There are no White lies, they are all as Black as night!"

Tuesday - 25th August 2009
"There are times when it is wise to turn a blind ear and / or a deaf eye for notice to be taken by someone."

Wednesday - 26th August 2009
"When all is said and done, try to make sure it leaves a positive memory for others to live with."

Thursday - 27th August 2009
"Reality is - Realising you are not as old as you thought you were, as you have now grown up."

Friday - 28th August 2009
"Reality is - Growing up and realising that it is a never ending part of life’s wonderful tapestry"

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 15th to 21st August 2009

2009-08-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

A Daily Quote from Boffib1157's Neuron to start each day...

Saturday – 15th August 2009
“Being there is one thing, having a positive impact is another, especially after negative actions."

Sunday – 16th August 2009
"A good leader never asks others to do what is not yet in the capable area of another."

Monday – 17th August 2009
"You can not share Love, Trust & Respect with others if you have none of these for yourself."

Tuesday – 18th August 2009
"Reality is - Recognising you are different, be different, not just another slice in the loaf of bread."

Wednesday – 19th August 2009
"It doesn't matter how Rich you are, unless you have an Asbestos Suitcase - You can't take it with you."

Thursday – 20th August 2009
"No matter how hard you try, you can't change the past, but you can ruin the present whilst fretting about the past ruining your future."

Friday – 21st August 2009
"Reality is - Missing the boat because you thought the tide was out."

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 8th to 14th August 2009

2009-08-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

A Daily Quote from Boffib1157's Neuron to start each day...

Saturday - 8th August 2009
"Native speakers know their own tongue better than anyone, never order them to do otherwise, there is more to protocol & manners without adding your 'Ignorance' to it"

Sunday - 9th August 2009
"Opportunity knocks only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell! (Various)"

Monday - 10th August 2009
“Failure to master a particular skill will cause many delays in multiple lives around you”

Tuesday - 11th August 2009
“Do not give up learning about a subject, even if it has become second nature to you”

Wednesday - 12th August 2009
"Reality is - Not making a name for yourself, rather a case of letting others make it for you!"

Thursday - 13th August 2009
"Getting there is easier when you remember that the 2nd step is the hardest."

Friday - 14th August 2009
“Pragmatic thinking is essential, just entertaining likes and dislikes is a waste of ones life”

Cele 7 minuni ale comunismului / The 7 wonders of communism

2009-08-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

1. Toti aveau de lucru/ Everybody had a job

2. Desi toti lucrau, nimeni nu munce/ Even if everyone had a job, nobody worked.

3. Desi nimeni nu muncea, planul se face/ Even if nobody worked, the production was achieved.

4. ... Desi planul se facea, nimic nu se gasea/ Even if the production was achieved, there was nothing to buy.

5. Desi nimic nu se gasea, toti aveau/ Even if there was nothing to sell, everybody had enough.

6. Desi aveau, toti furau/ Even if everybody had enough, everyone was stealing.

7. Desi toti furau... nimic nu lipsea !/ Even if everybody was stealing, nothing was missing!

De ce nu ne-o fi placut? / I wonder why we didn't like it.

I'm in the 7% - Are you in the 93% ?

2009-08-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Li fe is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23.. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple..

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'.

I'm in the 7%.

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 1st to 7th Agust 2009

2009-08-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

A Daily Quote from Boffib1157's Neuron to start each day...

Saturday -1st August 2009
Reality is - Realising that 'Computer Error' is a cop-out to cover up another’s mistakes, as Computers are simply, "In-Animate Stupid Machines"

Sunday -2nd August 2009
"The efforts made to find your self by yourself can be so hard that you can bury yourself even deeper inside yourself without being aware that you have done so."

Monday -3rd August 2009
"The change in your heart is far more cost effective than money when it comes to improving another’s life"

Tuesday -4th August 2009
"Reality is - Recognising you can't move on till concerted efforts have been made to tidy the mess in it up first."

Wednesday -5th August 2009
"A Smile and a few words of comfort can easily move a Forest of worries from another’s mind."

Thursday -6th August 2009
"As a fountain of information to those around you, try not to take it with you unshared as you leave this mortal Coil"

Friday -7th August 2009
"Being wise after an event, is a sure sign that progress is being made by you."

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 25th to 31st July 2009

2009-07-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sat 25th July 2009
"Reality is - Waking up and realising the World is not just here for you alone."

Sun 26th July 2009
"There is never a bad time to show consideration to others, there is never a good time to inflict your opinion on others."

Mon 27th July 2009
"Friends are strangers we have not met yet, we and they hold the keys to a better life for all - Go, Meet, Befriend."

Tue 28th July 2009
"If you can perfect your paranoia, then you have perfected your awareness."

Wed 29th July 2009
"There is someone special for everyone out there in this Global Village."

Thu 30th July 2009
"Interestingly not only does a frown burn more calories, it also if regularly practiced puts far more weight on you in many ways - But a smile does the opposite and causes greater health and happiness to all it touches."

Fri 31st July 2009
"Reality is - Taking your life off hold, so that the Sun sets in the West rather than in the East."

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 18th to 24th July 2009

2009-07-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sat 18th July 1009
"Depth of perception is limited to the Breadth of ones knowledge"

Sun 19th July 1009
"Live in a fantasy and your life will be a delusion."

Mon 20th July 1009
"Nature loves curves, Man loves Geometry, try not to square peoples natures with the latter."

Tue 21st July 1009
"Our interactions with others leaves impressions, try to leave lasting and positive ones only."

Wed 23rd July 1009
"Reality is - Waking up and realising you are not where you could have been in life."

Thu 24th July 1009
"The Wise sleep when they can, the young sleep because thy need to, fools sleep anywhere and anytime."

Fri 25th July 1009
"Time is a man made illusion invented by some control freak somewhere back in history."

A Daily Quote from Boffins Neuron - 11th to 17th July 2009

2009-07-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

A Daily Quote from Boffib1157's Neuron to start each day...

Saturday 11th July 2009
"Reality is - Waking up and realising the World was there all the time waiting for you to join in."

Sunday 12th July 2009
"Religious leaders & Philosophers will always disagree with each other till one of them proves God exists and the other has an ex-directory phone number to prove they are right."

Monday 13th July 2009
"After you have learnt, copied, mimicked, aped, suffered, and reacted to life, how much of the real you is there left?"Tuesday 14th July 2009"Unbiased imagination very often leads to 'Unconquerable' progress that furthers the interests of many rather than a few."

Wednesday 15th July 2009
"Spare a thought and some time for those around us with 'Invisible Injuries' from life - Not just those who have 'Visible Injuries' for a short’ish while."

Thursday 16th July 2009
"A thought provoking quote a day, keeps the cobwebs at bay."

Friday 17th July 2009
"Throw something away and it will be needed, keep what is not and it never is needed till thrown away."

A job well done by Gmail team

2009-06-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

Last night in front of my very eyes;

My personal Gmail account was compromised.

Yes, folks it can happen that quickly.

Gmails team swung into action very very quickly on receipt of my report.

Once they received my report it they acted very quickly to sort the problem out.

The whole process from noticing to getting my Gmail account back took exactly 22 minutes.

Thanks Gmail team, well done!

Doctor - Some health questions on my mind....

2009-05-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

HEALTH QUESTIONS

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it...don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine. That means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO! Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:

'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride!'

AND FINALLY...

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

4. The Italians and French drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

6. Algerians have almost no sex and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

7. Brazilians seldom stop having sex and suffer fewer heart attacks than Englishmen and Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Who Did You Ignore Today Then?

2009-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

A wonderful collection of anecdotes for you to read, inwardly digest, share and (I trust) put into daily use.

First Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: 'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school? Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. 'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'

Second Lesson – Helping Strangers

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her; generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 60's... The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console colour TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached...

It read: 'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away ... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.'

Sincerely; Mrs. Nat King Cole.

Third Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. 'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked. 'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. 'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. 'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were 2 nickels and 5 pennies... You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

Fourth Lesson – Life’s obstacles in our path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Fifth Lesson - Giving when it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the colour returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.

Only on the Internet...

2008-12-31T06:48:00.000-08:00

Only on the Internet...

Can you post a blog entry before you have even written it.
Can you receive more junk mail than lands o your doormat at home.
Wake up in every Country in the world before you have fallen asleep.
Read a joke you sent to friends on its return, that is now rewritten completely.
Interact with real people you would never have known existed at all.
Conduct a Worldwide business from your kitchen table.
Watch the latest films before they reach the cinema in your Country.
Find anything you need in life (Including a kitchen sink)
Lose the kids for days and have to ask them their names when they finally surface.
Let people into your home who would not even get through your front door in real life.
Get totally confused whilst reading the last page on the Internet...

A Happy New year and lots of success to you all wherever you are in this 'Global Village'

Even if you are reading this before I've written it, don't worry there are 23
new year midnights to share with everyone you know around this Global Village.

Why not build a little nest egg for yourself to celebrate the New Year?
Buy Gold Online - Quickly, safely and securely

Happy New Year!

20 Economic Models.........as explained with Cows

2008-12-24T21:32:00.000-08:00

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you
with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows,
but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the fcuk out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

Merry Xmas to all our 5021 Friends and Contacts!

2008-12-22T00:15:00.000-08:00

A Christmas greeting to all of our friends and contacts around this 'Global Village'

Seasons greetings and a Happy new year to you all!
Peter, Cristina and Mihai

Lost in Translation...

2008-12-19T02:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, here I am in and they have changed my language – I ask you why? I thought I spoke English apparently not I now have to speak english! You see even English is spelt differently as well.

When I arrived at the hotel entering on the Ground floor I was corrected and informed I was on the first floor. After getting out of a ‘Taxi’, which is a ‘Cab’, getting my suitcase from the Boot, sorry trunk of the taxi, sorry cab. Puzzled as to the direction taken which turned out to be route, buying some ‘sweets’ to chew which had blank looks from the shopkeeper till it clicked I meant ‘candy’, and I meant ‘cookies’ not ‘biscuits’ and a packet of crisps had suddenly become ‘chips’!.

I felt like an alien to my own tongue, ordering a snack of ‘Aubergine and Chips’ added to an interesting exchange, this is also wrong – ‘Eggplant and French fries’ was the right mix, an eggplant is known as a Kiwi fruit in parts of England. Even the ‘Serviette’ had turned into a ‘Napkin’ and the Tomato sauce was some weird name ‘Catsup

After the meal do you think anybody would give me the ‘bill?’, No they said no one called Bill worked there, then I heard someone ask for the ‘Check’ to pay for their meal, it arrived and off they went, tried the same and ‘Hey Presto’ I paid for my meal! (A Cheque in England is another term used in banking)

Having left the hotels dining room, I headed for the reception and got a bit lost on the way so I checked with a staff member asking, “Which way to the ‘reception desk?’” was greeted with a blank look and realised I should have used ‘Front Desk’ instead. Anyway, intent on taking my luggage up to my room and resting for a short while, again a ‘lost in translation ‘situation occurred – My ‘baggage’ had been taken to my room, so no one knew where my ‘luggage’ was! On top of that, my room was 6120, horror thoughts entered my mind of being on the 61^st floor of the hotel, Normality restored, and as it was pointed out that, it was room 120 on the sixth floor.

It gets better! My room had no ‘Cupboards’ at all they had turned into ‘Closets’ – The ‘Curtains’ had vanished and become ‘Drapes’ – The ‘Toilet’ had become a ‘Restroom/ Bathroom'.

As I sat on the chair next to the bed, thankful they had not changed heavily in translation, I thought about my journey after leaving the Airport – The ‘Taxi’ had become a ‘Cab’, the ‘Windscreen’ was a ‘Windshield’, the ‘Boot was the ‘Trunk’, the ‘Bonnet’ was the ‘Hood’, the ‘Motorway’ was the ‘Freeway’. The ‘Footpath’ had become a ‘Sidewalk’, the ‘Road surface’ was a ‘Pavement’ and cars did not have ‘Bumpers’ they are called ‘Fenders’

I had come here as a ‘Solicitor’ but was a ‘Lawyer’ – Had arrived in the ‘Fall’ not the ‘Autumn’ and despite being on a short working ‘Holiday’ found I was on a short working ‘Vacation’. Even my wardrobe took a hammering in some ways, my ‘Trousers’ became ‘Pants’ and various other items of clothing switched from inside to outside attire as names changed.

(Mental note) Must remenmber to spell correctly here, the habit of missing letters in English words must not be allowed to interfere with my time here; there is enough to re-learn about my English.

Has the WWW got Cobwebs?

2008-12-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

Just a quarter of a century ago the world began to shrink with the birth of the Internet/ World Wide Web.

Today it is nearly everywhere, full of good and bad - strange and fantastic - old and new - funny and sad.

However it has spawned a 'New' Enemy for many - 'Terror by Mouse' - Yes the mouse on your computer is capable of emptying a bank account in seconds, feeding viruses to millions at a click, creating happiness and sadness in seconds.

A variation on an historical theme present throughout our human history of violence and terrorism towards each other. Today we are a 'Global Village' community; the enemy is on the doorstep, not in another country, town or city anymore. It is just here in front of you if you/ we are not careful in our behaviour using the Internet. Educating and re-educating the 'Global Villagers' against the perils of the Internet is paramount to improving World safety and the trust and respect we all rightly deserve for each other.

Where are all the millions going that end up in Nigerian bank accounts? Countless millions are taken everyday from gullible and greedy victims’ of the 'Cyber-Criminal' - Is it sitting there gathering dust and interest? Is it being re-routed to fund the atrocities we read about/ see on TV far too regularly these days? Is enough being done to ensure our children's safety? Unanswered questions that need a fair amount of investment in many ways, time, money, equipment as well as training is needed before a valid answer can be given to them.

None of these are readily available yet to the 'Cinderella' of the security systems of the WWW - Yet the cost of 1 cruise missile could easily create a far better Internet Safety centre, to begin a fight to turn the tables on Terrorism, be it on the net or in the street. Instead it is a tit-for-tat campaign with both forces engaged in a never-ending battle for supremacy.

The enemy to a free world is no longer a terrorist act in another country; no longer an enemy at the gates of freedom, the enemy is right in front of you on your desktop!

Communication - The Three P's

2008-11-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

Three not so little words that speak volumes - or do they, do they fall on deaf ears, or kick-start your Neurons?

P Put known knowledge to use effectively.
U Use what you know to learn even more.
R React and respond to questions raised.
P Put your new knowledge to daily use.
O Observe and learn from any mistakes made.
S Seek further advice to learn much more.
E Each day has something new for you to learn.

P Put your thoughts into words.
R Reach out and share with others.
O Observe and help others grow as well.
G Grow your knowledge and experience gradually.
R Remember your weaker areas and improve on them.
E Each day is a clean page in your life.
S Sitting back and criticising others helps no one at all.
S Step in and help others grow as weak areas emerge.

P People do not always say what they see.
E Each one of us is very different from yourself.
R Reach out and share your knowledge with others.
C Care that your message is in not in coded form.
E Each case has similarities that are different in some way.
P Patience when you reveal any new truths to others.
T Time is on your side if you can be patient and have support.
I Instincts and awareness work well together.
O Others may not see as clearly as you do at this time.
N Never forget others may not like your choice of words.

Reality is... - Quotes from my Neuron

2008-11-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

"Reality is - Fiction turned into Fact."

"Reality is - Waking up and seeing what you could have done would have helped others as well."

"Reality is - Realising that Technology is not the answer to problems, we are the answer to life’s problems."

“Reality is - Recognising that if an element of doubt exists, then you have a starting point for further progress or clarification to begin."

“Reality is - Realising that sharing an opinion is far better than keeping a thought inside your own head.”

Moving Blogs... AOL to Blogger

2008-10-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

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For those of you confused as to why AOL blogs are appearing on Blogger en-mass.

Fear not Blogger has kindly offered to take on the 'Nearly extinct AOL Blogs'

AOL are shutting down their Blogsite at the end of this month.

Flying Pedestrians - Death does not become them!

2008-09-20T02:01:00.000-07:00

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Flying Pedestrians What wonderful drivers you aren't, so good at beingself-centered arrogant and impatient, But before you get upset, thereis one thing you are all incredibly good at - Being Impatient - yes,you know who you are, (at this point it is only fair to point out,there are some excellent drivers here in Cluj-Napoca, I counted themearlier today and still had a few spare fingers on my hand) As for thepedestrians among us, how dare you attempt to cross the road at apedestrian crossing, it is upsetting the jokers in their killingmachines (sorry cars) that must get to their destinations before theyhave even left home several minutes earlier. One such pedestrian (RIP)had the gall to do such an anti-social act, result - I will never havethe pleasure of meeting them, or sharing a beer sometime in the future- Another result was, No more Birthday's for them - No more Birthday'sto share with their children. - No more Birthday's to share with theirwife. - No more Birthday's to share with anyone they know. No moreChristmas Celebrations with anyone else either.

As for the killing machine (sorry car) driver, they were more concernedwith the damage to their precious machine, than the death's they hadcaused - 'Yes' deaths, they had ended several lives in a few seconds -physical death for 1 and multiple mental deaths for others at the sametime.

This wonderful driver, will have the car repaired, pay the fine, spenda short time in prison, a few points on the license (if it hasn't comefrom the back of a cereal packet) and go home. Loads of birthdays forthem, lots more christmas presents as well, this mass murderer won'tgive a second thought to the carnage they have caused to severalunknown to them people, human beings much better than the killer driver- The multiple victims are now doing a life sentence for them. NO theywon't get over it - smart alec remarks like that, will not solveanything in the lives of the victims. Nor the mental impact of theEmergency Service Crews in attendence, or the Police Officer who has toinform the Next-of-kin of your 'Oh' so big brave act you have executed(literally)

I genuinely hope you never loose a loved one and suffer as you havemade umpteen family members suffer, getting somewhere before you haveeven left home, is downright stupid! The Flying Pedestrian also wishedto get somewhere as well, their home has been moved by you, from lovedones - to the Cemetary over looking the Town!

Next time you go out in your killing machine (sorry car) drive saferthan you do now, it could be a family member of yours that's absentfrom the meal table tonight!

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, road safety, mouse, computer, travel, peace, cyber-crime, cyber-fraud, cyber-bullying, forensic psychology, ecademy, facebook, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, internet safety, Dracula, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

The Non-Recycled Plastic Bottle

2008-09-11T03:01:00.000-07:00

Hands up who carefully recycled the plastic bottles they used in the last year - each and everyone of us throws into ever decreasing landfill sites enough plastic bottles for us all to be proud owners of one of these giant footballs!

This is the amount of Plastic Bottles each one of us does not recycle each year, something to be proud of is it not!

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, recycle, bottles, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Plastic Bottles, Plastic, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

Okay - Where are my thoughts and lost minutes then?

2008-08-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

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Well I've been thinking about today's entry, somehow the content isevading my neuron, maybe its on holiday some time on its return I maybe able to answer this question, till then who knows? I certainly don't

I think, therefore I am I think, or am I here? Possibly not becauseI'm also where you are at this moment and will be until you think aboutsomething or someone else. So while I'm with you, you are with me,bearing in mind that the time zone I'm in is now and this blog will bevisited in later as well as earlier time zones, possibly at exactly thesame time as here (or is it there?) then this suggests a primative formof time travel.

You are reading my thoughts from the past, now, or are you readingthem before I have even written them, the time stamp on this entry willbe 2 hours before I've even written it, so that should give me time tochange my entry here, before I've even thought about it in the firstplace, let alone started to write it.

So in effect I can change your future and mine, by writing thisbefore it is written at a later time and still have it ready forwriting before it is read by you, before it is even written, but whatabout those who read it in the future, can I change it before they readit? Can it be unread while it is written to those in wherever?

The answer is a resounding 'Yes' Time is an illusion, Just likepayday in fact, Both are 'Man' made inventions, designed to confuse,control and keep us happy, so who needs 'Time Travel' since 'Time' isartificial?

Is time really a 'Delusion'?

Itsbeen one of those days where the hours seem to have been metricated,result of which they only have 50 instead of 60 minutes, most annoyingwhen they limit you to the same 24 hours that everyone else withnothing to do, things to get, or any other construct destructive,whatever.

Sowho has nicked the missing minutes? Several associates as well asmyself, have all lost these 10 minute chunks today, so where are our minutes? So far 3 hoursare missing today, the blog time stamp will be 2 hours earlier than I actually posted it, that makes a 6 hour loss!

Is time really a 'Delusion'?

Yes I do feel younger, even if a little greyer than a few days ago.

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!.

boffin1157

Tags: animals, cats, dogs, medication, blowpipes, George Orwell, Animal Farm, Boffin1157, blogsreality, progress, growth, you, me, us, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Alucard, Dracula, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, Ecademy, Internations, Linkedin, Spock, feel, quotes, galore, mouse, computer, travel,

Seatbelts this time - 'Nearly Too Late!'

2008-08-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

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A continuation from the Blog entry below this one. The entry today is from a personal friend and top surgeon in Australia. Mike Cadogan, is regularly at the 'Sharp End' of RTA's - Road Traffic Accidents - Mike has responded very quckly, with a short article with active links on the subject.

The article is reproduced exactly as received, spelling errors have been left as they are a clear indication of the effect an RTA can have a long time after the event has happened in the minds of all those who have to 'clear up' the mess after such a tragic event in far too many cases.

Next time you are sitting for hours in A&E moaning about the long wait to have a sprained finger looked at - Think hard, behind the scenes a Surgeon and his team are probably fighting hard to save the life/ lives of someone who does not know they are minutes from death at all!

---------------

From my perspective at the sharp end of things it can be acontroversial subject despite the incontrovertible truth that wearing aseat belt use is still the single most effective thing we can do tosave lives and reduce injuries in road trauma

See the physics in action:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/seatbelts.shtml

On a day to day basis I treat the victims of road trauma, deal with theparamedics and police from the scene and then have to convey the badnews to the victims families.

Of the significant road trauma I deal with each week I face cases ofexcessive alcohol use, illicit drug use, underage drivers, streetracers, innocent bystanders and pedestrians. Most of the people whoactually survive long enough to be treated in a trauma centre wererestrained in the car at the time of the accident; in fact over 80% oftrauma victims who die at the scene of a motor vehicle crash - were notrestrained at the time of impact. American studies reveal that 63% ofall the fatalities form road traumawere not restrained at the time ofimpact.

Sure, those who arrive in hospital who were restrained at the time ofimpact are not without injuries - they often suffer formtraumasecondary to the seat belt restraint such as abdominal bruising,fractured sternum/clavicle, myocardial contusions and pelvic fractures.Their deceleration forces are retined within the confines of their seatand from teh imapct of the dashboard. Those non-restrained victimshowever suffer non-confined injuries, far less simple to define andwhich often involve significant head/facial injuries and spinalinjuries following ejection.

I just live by the facts, and what I see every day: My kids wear seatbelts and 5 point harnesses, I wear a seat blet at all times

(Link to Science Direct has been reduced in size to a 'Tiny URL') - http://tiny.cc/l7RYE

Mike Cadogan

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/seat_belts.html

------------------

Please drive safely, many lives depend on you doing so.

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: RTA, surgery, Mike Cadogan, Australia, Trauma, children, accidents, driving, seatbelt, casualties, life, death, grief, quotes, quotes galore, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

Too late for Seatbelts this time

2008-08-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

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A couple of days ago, I had one of those slow-motion unable to do anything to stop it experiences whilst out with the dogs. One of those experiences that so many wonderful emergency service people have to sadly face regularly everyday, but the aftermath. In this particular case from the sidewalk/ footpath I watched it happen - helpless to stop it from happening.

Two cars (no longer) driven by boy-racers approached a round-a-bout at excessive speed and collided with each other + a third vehicle of innocent travellers.

This is where the slow-motion kicked in...

The two boy racers side rammed the innocent travellers car unable to avoid them as well as hitting each other at the same time near-side and off-side wings grinding together. Impact speed reducing the innocent victims car almost in half its true width in seconds.

Through the windscreens emerged 2 heads then upper torso's, equally as quickly re-entered the cars they were in. The furthest of the two from me had another head do the same, this time recoil did not happen (a back seat passenger). In the car nearest to me a female passenger had a young child on her lap. No need to say more on this.

In the first vehicle of boy racers - no-seat belts were worn at all - 2 youths never went home, the third is scarred for life. In the innocent travellers car, 2 father less children will live with the accident for a long long time. In the second boy racer vehicle - again no seatbelts - 2 seriously injured and 3 who will never go home again.

The delusion that you will have time to brace yourself is exactly that - 4 or 5 seconds was all it took to remove 6 people from life to eternity. 6 lives completely ended in seconds. All because of the 'I know better attitude'. They did not know better and paid an extremely high price to learn the hard way.

In short, "BELT UP" - The hell you put families of survivors, next of kin, witnesses, and the Emergency services through is life long. Would you like to create a fatherless family by being this stupid? A grieving family, because 'you know' better? A traumatised Fireman/ Ambulance paramedic fighting to save a life? A Police officer heart in mouth telling your parents you are not coming home any more?

I seriously think not, I think not. Speed + Impact + Sudden de-accelleration with no protection ended 6 lives literally in seconds - a car 0 to 60 in 4.whatever seconds sounds impressive. However, a car 60 to 0 in as many seconds is very very destructive to life and futures.

Wear those seatbelts!

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: accidents, driving, seatbelt, casualties, life, death, grief, quotes, quotes galore, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

The Monday Morning Feeling - EVERYDAY?

2008-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

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ANYBODY suffering from this? Please let me know...

SUBJECT: A A A D D. - Age-Activated-Attention-Deficit-Disorder

This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the garden, glancing at the car I decide it needs washing.

As I head to the garage, I notice some letters in the letter box that have recently arrived.

So I decide to check the post before washing the car.

I enter the house, put the car keys on the table and the junk mail in the bin - It is full of rubbish.

So, putting the unpaid bills on the table I decide to take out the rubbish first.

However, logic hits me, since the post box is not far from the dustbin, I may as well pay the bills first and post them. Emptying the bin on the way.

I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque in it.

My new cheque book is in my desk, so I go to the study and find a can of drink I had started earlier in the day.

Looking for my cheques I push the drink and accidentally knock it, seeing it has warmed in the Sunshine I decide to put it in the fridge to cool down a bit.

Heading towards the kitchen I notice a vase of flowers that needs watering.

Putting my drink down beside them, I find my glasses that had been placed there earlier and had been hunting for all morning.

Before watering the flowers I head back to the study to put my glasses on my desk. However, I had better water the flowers first.

Placing my glasses back down and entering the kitchen to get some water for the flowers. I notice the TV remote control has been left on the kitchen table.

When we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I will not remember it is on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the lounge for later in the day...

First I water the flowers,pouring some in the vase, quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get a cloth and wipe up the spilt water.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do in the first place.

At the end of the day...

* The car isn't washed.
* The bills aren't paid.
* There is a warm can of Drink in the hall.
* The flowers don't have enough water.
* The floor is soaked.
* There is still only one cheque in my cheque book.
* I can't find the remote.
* I can't find my glasses.
* I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
* The garden is flooded.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favour, will you?

Forward this message to everyone you know, because I do not remember who I have sent this to.

Don't laugh! if it has not happened to you - it will, your turn will come!

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC!

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

The Future Today - Solar Vehicles and Homes

2008-08-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

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This entry is not green round the edges, it is green all over - grabbed from an email sent to me and openly shared with all you wonderful readers.

----------

TWO MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS to announce today. IBM has uncovered a new typeof SOLAR PANEL that uses OPTICS to produce a 10 FOLD INCREASE in poweroutput from the SUN at lower cost of manufacture.

AND, MIT justannounced two days ago a NEW CATALYST that can produce HYDROGEN fromwater MUCH CHEAPER than any other known system.

PUT THESE TWODISCOVERIES together and we will have SOLAR POWERED FUEL CELL Cars andElectric Cars EVERYWHERE on the streets of this country within 2 or 3years.

WHAT WE NEED to SPEED THIS UP is for EVERYONE in the GROUP to INVITE AT LEAST TEN OF YOUR FRIENDS.

WENEED TO REACH a critical mass of at least 5,000 members by the end ofthis MONTH to support LOWER PRICES for our PRODUCTS which will begin inthe FALL and keep going throughout the DURATION of the CONVERSION toSOLAR POWERED CARS, TRUCKS, HOMES and BUSINESSES.

We have the technology to BEGIN NOW, but we NEED QUANTITY orders to make it ECONOMICAL to PRODUCE and SHIP PRODUCTS.

THEY ARE COMING BELIEVE me and everyone in this GROUP could be the FIRST in the WAVE of ECONOMIC CHANGE.

You will SAVE MONEY on the first purchase of our products and you can MAKE MONEY TOO by becoming a DEALER.

WE WILL NEED BOTH to change this country in time to a CLEAN and RENEWABLE and FREE ENERGY SOURCE.

WE CAN DO IT - YES WE CAN.

BUT, YOU HAVE TO HELP. Please DO IT NOW. INVITE AT LEAST TEN FRIENDS to this group. DO IT every time you have a few minutes.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50630660226

HERE'S THE LINK. PUT IT EVERYWHERE on the INTERNET that you control.

AND YOU WILL PROFIT FROM IT, I PROMISE YOU THAT. HELP US REACH OUR FIRST GOAL of 5,000 MEMBERS. IT'S EASY if you try.

I GOT THE FIRST 400 - NOW it's up to you.

Mike Mathiesen

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

10 Reality Quotes - Written by myself

2008-07-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

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"Reality is - Waking up and realising the World was there all the time waiting for you to join in."

"Realityis - Realising you are not as old as you thought you were, as you have nowgrown up."

"Reality is - Realising that 'Computer Error' is a cop-out to cover up another’s mistakes as Computers are simply, "In-Animate Stupid Machines"

"Reality is - Recognising you can't move on till concerted efforts have been made to tidy the mess in it up first."

"Reality is - Not making a name for yourself, rather a case of letting others make it for you!"

"Reality is - Waking up and realising the World is not just here for you alone."

"Reality is - Taking your life off hold, so that the Sun sets in the West rather than in the East."

"Reality is - Recognising you are different, be different, not just another slice in the loaf of bread."

"Reality is - Missing the boat because you thought the tide was out."

"Reality is - Waking up realise what you could have done may have helped someone besides you."

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, quotes galore, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Alucard, Dracula, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, <arel="tag" target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/animation">animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel</arel="tag">

The Basement Secrets by Paulo Coelho

2008-07-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

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    This entry was sent to me early in 2006, by a good Brazilian friend of mine.Bearing in mind that many of us are where we are today because of our involvment with those around us, this feels the right time to nudge our memories into some sort of respectful order. (Is there a wrong time to do this?)

   As we sit on our pedastals of success, we should get off these pedastals and remember them, that they are a big part of our achievements to-date. Spurning them now will not help anyone, as we are guaranteed to meet and pass them on the way down if we are not careful with our lives today.

The basement secrets by Paulo Coelho

   Once a year I go to theBenedictine abbey at Melk in Austria to attend the Waldzell Meetings –an initiative of Gundula Schatz and Andreas Salcher. There we remain ina sort of retreat for a whole weekend together with Nobelprize-winners, scientists, journalists, two dozen young people and someguests. We cook, stroll through the gardens of the monumental setting(which inspired Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”) and talkinformally about the present and the future of our civilization. Themen sleep in the cloisters of the monastery and the women in hotelsnearby.

   The 2005 meeting was all that could be expected,especially the impassioned discussions and the moments of joy andconfrontation. Almost all the guests went back to their countries onSunday evening, but because on the next day the organizers and I wereto take part in the opening of the Austrian legislation of the Road toSantiago, we had to spend the night in the abbey. Father Martin invitedus to have dinner in his “secret place”.

  Full of excitement, we went down to the basement of the old building.An old door opened and we found ourselves in a gigantic hall wherethere was everythingor practically everything that had been gatheredover centuries and that Martin refused to throw out. Old type-writers,skis, World War II helmets, old tools, books no longer in circulation,and – bottles of wine! Dozens, hundreds of dust-covered bottles ofwine, the best of which were selected by Abbot Burkhard as dinnerproceeded. I consider Burkhard to be one of my spiritual mentors,although we have never exchanged more than two phrases (he only speaksGerman). His eyes express goodness, his smile shows immense compassion.I remember that he was once assigned to introduce me at a lecture, andto the dismay of all he chose a quotation from my book “Eleven Minutes”(which deals with sex and prostitution).

   While I ate, I was fully aware that I was experiencing a unique momentin a unique place. All of a sudden I realized something important:everything in that basement was tidily arranged, made sense, was partof the past, yet made up the history of the present.

   And Iwondered: what in my past is tidily arranged, but I don’t use any more?My experiences are part of each day, they are not in the basement, theyare still active and helping me. So to speak of experience would bewrong thinking. What would the right answer be?

   My mistakes.

   Yes. Looking at the basement at Melk Abbey, and understanding that noteverything that is no longer used should be discarded, I realized thatin the basement of my own soul lay my mistakes; one day they helped meto find the way, but after I became aware of them, they no longer haveany utility. Nevertheless, they need to accompany me so that I don’tforget that because of them I slipped and fell and nearly did not havethe strength to rise again.

That night, on returning to my cell in the cloisters, I made a list. Here are two examples:

   [A] The arrogance of youth. Whenever I was a rebel, in search of a newpath, this was positive. But whenever I was arrogant, thinking thatthose older than me knew nothing, I missed learning so much.

   [B] Forgetting friends. I have had many ups and downs. But on my first“high” I thought that I had changed my life and decided to surroundmyself with new people. Of course, at the next down, the newcomers alldisappeared, and I could not resort to my old companions again. Eversince then I have tried to treasure friendship as something that doesnot change with time.

   The list is enormous, but the space forthe column is limited. However, although my mistakes have taught me allthat I needed to learn from them, it is important that they remain inthe basement of my soul. In that way, when occasionally I go down thereto find the wine of wisdom, I can contemplate them and accept that theyare part of my history, the foundations of what I am today, and that Ineed to bear them, however tidily arranged (or resolved) they may be.

Otherwise I run the risk of repeating everything all over again.

by Paulo Coelho - Brazilian writer

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, cyber-crime, cyber-bulling, internet safety, ezine articles, worldwide, crime, bullying, cyber-law, ecademy, computer, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, Internet, reader, Internet borders, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Safety, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel, mouse, travel, Brazil, Paulo Coelho, Germany, poetry, linkedin, study, words, peace

Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is ‘Beatable’ Pt 1

2008-07-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

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Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is‘Beatable’

Part 1 of 3

By Dr. Peter James – Independent researcher, writer,and web tactician.

Introduction

It is not my intention to preachto the converted, or suggest tips to experts in the computer field, ratherbrass tack information that is easily applied by most people. The bulk of the suggestionshere do not need any programming skills at all, just a bit of common sense.

Everyday a constant battle wagingagainst such people, everyday perpetrators are caught, everyday new methods toavoid detection are created, and everyday methods to avoid detection aredestroyed, blocked from ever being used again by them.

This Battle goes on behind the scenes; theperpetrators do not carry a sign saying, “Hey, I’m an Internet Bully”.Likewise, those hunting them do not carry a sign saying, “I hunt Internet Criminals”.No, it is a cloak and dagger business. As an ordinary user of the Internet, youplay a key role in this daily battle. Simply by applying some of the advicegiven below to your web activity will help to make the Internet safer andharder for the ‘Cyber-Bullies’ to achieve their goals, easier for the Internetcrime fighters to catch the offenders.

One of the biggest sources ofinformation to the ‘Cyber-Bully/ Criminal’ is your ‘Hard drive’ yes, the oneyou got rid of when you trashed your old computer. The one you threw in therubbish when you upgraded to a bigger one. The one you sold so that you couldafford the brand new super-duper better computer that could do everything butmake a cup-of-tea. Okay you wiped it / formatted it / clever you! Rather a caseof ‘Stupid you’ every hard drive contains a range of personal information onit, from the cat’s birthday to Aunt Edna’s home address, from your emailaddress book to your personal Bank details, all useful information to the‘Cyber-Criminal’. All recoverable by software you can only dream about, guesswho has it? That is right you guessed correctly. Passing on your old hard drivealso allows the illegal copying of legal ‘Operating Systems’. As each illegalcopy comes to the attention of Microsoft’, they are locked + the original copy aswell from any further updates. This is not a ‘make money’ move it is a ‘makesafer’ the Internet move, all pirate software has flaws that allow bugs,viruses etc onto the offending computer far easier than a ‘legal’ up to date secure‘Operating System’ does.

· Do not sell on your computer with the hard drivein it.

· Do not trashyour old computer + hard drive atthe local dump.

· Do not leave it out + hard drive for the binmen.

· Do not pass it on + hard drive as a present tosomeone else.

· Do not sell add on hard drives or give away etcfor the same reasons.

· Do remove your hard drive and store in a safeplace.

· Do destroy your hard drive if no longer neededby you.

How to destroy the old hard drive: With a hammer, embed itin concrete, or lose it in the Sea. Nothing else will destroy the drive or anyof the contents on it.

Every hard drive removed by therightful owner is one less the ‘Cyber-Criminal’ can buy in bulk; literally,container loads of old computers are regularly purchased to further theiractivities. The hard drive you got rid of last week could be ripping of umpteenfriends and Aunt Edna in a day or so from now. The method to do so was on ‘Yourold hard drive!’

Your recorded CDs etc with data,personal details on etc, should be shredded or at the very least scratchedheavily to destroy the readability of the CD for exactly the same reasons.

Email Precautions

You have not wonanything: One of the Cyber-Criminals favourite bullying tactics is the‘Lottery’ prize awards. ‘Microsoft’ do not run lotteries at all, NationalLotteries of various countries etc rarely if ever run such events to onlinepersons, the chance of winning is way below ‘Zero’. All emails are designed tofool you, ‘Bogus’ Telephone numbers routed to another country, Plausible falsenames, along with extremely bad English are all methods used to fool the ‘fools’amongst us.

Junkmail:Do not open it ‘ever’ check it has not been ‘spammed’ by mistake from a genuinesender by reading the header only. In the event that this is not the case thendelete straight away, (More reasons for this are further on in this article).

Do not use yourname as an email address: Unless you absolutely have to, never use yourreal name in an email address, no ordinary email user needs to do this. Byusing your ‘Real Name’, you supply all sorts of traceable help to ‘Cyber-Bullies’.Failing to use your real name on the web was frowned upon a while back, now itis becoming a necessary step to protect ones self from Identity theft, thehigher your web profile the more chance of being a victim of the‘Cyber-Nastiness’ on the Internet.

You email addressis yours: Email allows you to send mail to everyone at the click of themouse; the click sends everyone the entire list of recipients as well. Meaningthat everyone gets to know ‘so-and-so’s’ email address, that they did not knowbefore or your best friend did not want known in the first place, silly you!Next time you send a blanket email, use the BCC facility, then your friends,associates or family will not get everyone’s address just yours and their own. Youdo not share your home phone number or home address with everyone you do notknow. So why do you believe you have the right to share everyone’s emailaddress without the owner’s permission?

Never open unknownreceived mail: Just because an email has not gone into the ‘Spam’ filedoes not mean it is safe, if in doubt do not open it, instead instantly deleteit. In the seconds it takes to open it, a ‘Trojan’, ‘Virus’ or ‘Key logger’ canbecome active, trawling your address book and hard drive passing itself oninvisibly to other people you know or do not know. Doing the same to theircomputer as the ‘Bug’ is doing to your computer now. The latter will sit thereon your hard drive recording and sending information to an unknown to you atall computers somewhere else in ‘Cyber-World’

Never open unknownreceived attachments: The reason above also applies. In the second ittakes to open it, a ‘Trojan’ or ‘Virus’ can be active, trawling your addressbook and hard drive passing itself on invisibly to other people you know. Someviruses sit for months like time bombs before becoming active, making them hardto locate or trace back to source.

Always use reputable valid and upto date ‘Anti-Virus’ and ‘Spyware’ programs and also ‘Legal’ computer ‘OperatingSystems’ and ‘Software’ programs – the crucial bits missing from piratesoftware, make it much easier for others to get into your computer from theother side of the world (or even next door!).

Websites to note:

Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/

Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html

FBI Cybercrime - http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm

The complete article can be read by clicking on the URL below

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Safety---Cyber-Bullying-it-Can-Be-Beaten&id=1317384

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is ‘Beatable’ Pt 2

2008-07-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

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Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is‘Beatable’

Part 2 of 3

By Dr. Peter James – Independent researcher, writer,and web tactician.

Chat Precautions

Log all chats:Each ‘Chat’ program has the facility to record onto the hard drive every typedword and most pictures (or references) and emoticons used by both parties.Please activate it and keep a copy of every chat (Parents, activate it andstore everyone’s chats in your own partition, for everyone’s peace of mind. Trustingyour siblings is one thing, making sure they are safe is another). Would youlet them have a total stranger in your home? This is what you are doing now.The chat record could be very useful if a loved one ever goes missing for noapparent reason, it may help find them faster and in a healthy condition again.

Be aware of meetingothers: The stranger you are going to meet, you know the one youlet into your home and life everyday, sometimes several times a day, the onewho has not shared a true photograph of themselves. Told you little about themapart from what you wanted to know, possibly later than direct a response toyour questions. Please take these wisesteps before going to meet them for thefirst few times.

Arrange a public place to meet, never meet in a secluded place or building.
Take a friend with you, or arrange to meet them later at said place.
Ring a friend regularly to let them know you are all right (this can be coded if you wish) never txt anyone as there is no proof it is ‘You’ sending the txt on the mobile.
If you do not take a friend with you, arrange a time to meet and place before leaving home and do not leave this spot no matter how much your ‘New friend’ wants you to.
Any suspicions you may have make your excuses and leave fast.
Your teenage friend could so easily be someone much older.
If everything is ok, great, have a good time but remember to follow the safety rules above.

Habits of chatter:We all have a limited command of our own language and each language has alimited number of ways to use a particular phrase. By reading a chat message,it is possible to see something that you do not know or understand, just as ifyou are listening to someone speaking. Just as you would ask ‘what do you mean’verbally, you can do the same in a chat message as well. In the event that youdo not understand the response, or it seems to indicate an ‘exciting’ do thisanswer, be careful it may not be someone in your own age group or someone whocan be trusted. Parents, if your sibling starts talking in words above theirown natural ability to date, or showing an interest in something far too oldfor them, listen and take note, flying off the handle too quickly could easilypush this issue away and become a secret to be kept from you. A sudden changein vocabulary may be a sign of an interaction outside siblings known friend andadult associations. It is much better to observe, listen, and discuss than to‘shut the stable door’ after the horse has bolted.

Watch for grooming:All the clues to this are visible in changes in a persons behaviour, be theyyoung or old, taking on ‘new’ words wanting to do ‘this’ or ‘that’. Dress codemay change as well, when you hear words like – ‘so-and-so’ does this… ‘Doesthat’ or ‘I want…? Etc’ the selling pitch is like an advert to millions on TV,except here it is aimed at a perceptively naïve youngster. The fact they arestarting to trust and believe an ‘Invisible’ electronic friend more thansomeone in the ‘Real’ world is another subject, nevertheless just as big aproblem.

Infatuation:Very similar in many ways to the above paragraph and very closely associated to‘normal’ everyday life. Changes in behaviour may slip in and free usage ofnames etc easily linked to friends, films or TV and ‘natural’ growing up, quitepossibly the same as known ‘for real’ go un-noticed as similes’ with netactivity and ‘real’ friends are not usually noticed in many cases. Some habitchanges may go un-noticed at first, accepted as just a part of growing-up.

Secrecy: Weall like to have and keep secrets from others, with the intention of dishingout a surprise ‘gift’ or ‘treat’ at the appropriate time. The secrets I referto are neither of these, rather the secrets laid in by ‘devious’ manipulationof a youngsters mind. These secrets may become evident due to a‘slip-of-the-tongue’, do not press for an answer, instead wait patiently andintroduce it another way. A one parent firing squad is ‘out’ bring the matterup gently as if a ‘secret of yours as a teenager’ for example may be a way todig it out, if you know your sibling well, this will not pose a problem.However, in the event that you are too busy with your own life… No matter howlittle you know your child, you will beaware of habits, care or not will havenoticed changes taking place.

Changes of habit:See grooming and infatuation as well. Habit changes are noticeable in manyways, but not as easy if the youngster is a loner or has only a few friends.Eating habits could be a clue here, suddenly loving peas or carrots forexample, or, not eating fruit, maybe wanting a curry every day. Over manycenturies, foodstuffs have been a weapon used against others in many ways;thisis simply a variation on a theme, wishing to cook or lay the table could belinks, or are they? ‘One Swallow does not make a summer’

Groomer likes /dislikes; this is where you can learn to use your memory, linking theabove four entries together, may provide many clues to who your siblings’‘Mystery person’ is. Habits, clothing, and food are some, along with films,music, or TV Heroes. The liking of black things is a phase most youngsters gothrough, this may not be a help. However it is a clue, just as for example‘Strawberries’ are suddenly a favourite dish whereas they did not like them tillrecently, could be the clue needed to enable the authorities to catch anoffender and return a loved one back to the family fold safe and sound.

Photographs:Posted photographs and shared photographs may not be the person or persons inthem at all. In several cases where a youngster has gone to meet the ‘newfriend’ for the first time, the ‘new friend’ has turned out to be a lot olderthan photographs posted on chat etc, sometimes the excuse given is that‘so-and-so’ is doing… ‘So I have come to meet you in their place and will takeyou to meet them ‘X’ asked me to apologise for not being here.’ (Or wordssimilar to this example)

Lack of photographs:Why? Maybe they are new to ‘chat’. In the event a picture never appears aftertalking them through the methods or you have doubts, end the ‘electronic’relationship, it is better to be safe than sorry at the end of the day.

Webcams: Doesthe other person on chat have a software problem? Is the chat set up correctly,is a webcam actually attached, settings may show one ispresent but actually isnot. Which ever applies it does not matter who it is at the other end, neverput on a ‘floor show’ for the other person. Especially if you never see them atall on their webcam, or accept invitations to do so by unknown parties, younever know who could be watching. Many children are tempted this way by‘groomers’. Near enough, every webcam has a USB, remove, and lock it away whennot needed or record its activity in your partition most can be. This isanother variation on the ‘safe than sorry’ rule.

Any noted suspicions are worthnoting down, any clues are worth remembering, and be it an observation ofyours, a friend, or even a sibling. In the event of something going horriblywrong, then a clue like so-and-so likes / dislikes ‘tomato’s’ could be the veryclue needed to apprehend and get a loved one returned safely home. Literallyany suspicions should be reported to the correct authorities, let them decideit is their job not yours.

Fraud Email

No one is exempt:Everyone gets junk and scam emails, be it Mr ‘Microsoft’ Bill Gates, yourfavourite film star or singer, even me, efforts are made to curb this dailythreat but without employing many of the suggestions in this article, it is ahard battle to win. Now my own spam emails received is low at around five or sixitems a week. If your IP address gets hi-jacked, you can send spam unknowingly.A few months ago whilst on holiday I found that despite not being on theInternet during the 5 days away that 1000+ spam emails had been sent using myIP address. The matter was resolved 6 weeks later and the offender caught, literally,no one is exempt from the ‘Cyber-Bully’ or Internet nastiness out there today.

Bank emails:There are always plausible reasons given to get you to respond to them, manyare from banks that you do not have an account with at all. Never open orrespond to them at all, if it is from your bank, go to the nearest branch andsort it out there, not over the Internet or phone, many bogus emails use false logos,and ghost embedded addresses to fool the recipients into responding. In thetime it takes to re-read this paragraph, a computer operator elsewhere inanother part of the world could electronically rob your bank account!

EBay emails:Have you brought anything in the last few days? Has anyone brought anythingfrom you? Apart from the odd promotional email from ‘EBay’ or maybe a follow upquestion from a buyer or seller – You know who they are; there is no need for ‘EBay’to contact you at all. Any such emails can be deleted without a second thought.The contents look good and the links work to bogus sites – not ‘EBay’ – they usuallycontain ‘bugs’ of various descriptions, all designed to get into your computerand feed back any useful information found on it. Want to see EBay’s latestoffers, go to the EBay website much safer than opening the ‘offer you can notrefuse’ email.

PayPal emails:The scenario is very similar to ‘EBay’, again they look good and just like allscam emails they contain false links, sometimes phone numbers, impressivereproduced layout and a lot of ‘English’ spelling mistakes. (A fact manynon-native ‘English’ speakers miss completely when responding to ‘scam’emails.) Along with other poorly educated people, they happily answer allquestions asked and lose thousands every day to these ‘Cyber-Bullies’. The samerule for PayPal special offers applies as well.

Phone numbers arenot: It is possible to buy phone numbers for other countries and manydo this for genuine legally accepted reasons. Just because it is a ‘UK’, ‘USA’ etc number to ring, does notmean your call (along with the bogus contact name) is going to that country.Invariably the call never does, answered in a completely different country tothe one dialled on your phone. In the event that you find such a number in anemail, there is a very high chance that is an attempt to reassure that theemail is genuine.

Lottery winner:Bin them! Do not waste a second opening them, each one is aimed at making you alot poorer and the ‘Cyber-Bully/ Criminal’ a lot richer. You have not wonanything at all. Your lottery winnings are false, every lottery has a ticketwith ‘Your’ chosen numbers on it that will be in your possession, not facelessindividual, – Foreign lotteries; do not normally sell outside their ownnational borders. Again badly written ‘English’ gets thousands of greedyindividuals to empty their bank accounts chasing the mythical money they havenot won, not only not won – The winnings never exist at all! – If the email were on paper, thepaper would be worth more than the contents written on it.

Inheritance emails:Again bin them without opening them, the wording in the mailbox as to ‘From’and ‘Header’ contents usually give them away first, if any is present in theheader that is. As with any unknown names if in doubt – ‘Delete’ withoutopening. The header usually wants you to contact someone; this someone has afalse name and phone number and is only intent on passing you along a chain offraudsters getting you to part with as much money as possible on the way. Laterafter a few months respite they get in touch with you again and go through the wholerip-off process again. Think about this: ‘Why they do not know your name if youare actually inheriting such a large sum of money?’

Microsoft Junkemails: Microsoft do not, repeat do not send junk emails, nowadaysnearly all Microsoft emails are by subscription only, only sent by request. Youcan happily delete any you have not asked them to send, as they will not befrom Microsoft at all.

Password requestemails: If your mate across the street, a stranger in the bar where youhave a beer, or a bus passenger asked for your password, bank details etc,would you give them to them. No! So why do people happily do so to an unknownplausible electronic enquiry? These details are yours and yours alone not forJo/ Joe Public – Keep them safe!

Websites to note:

Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/

Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html

FBI Cybercrime - http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm

The complete article can be read by clicking on the URL below

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Safety---Cyber-Bullying-it-Can-Be-Beaten&id=1317384

A, B, Catch you later dear reader!

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, cyber-crime, cyber-bulling, internet safety, ezinearticles, worldwide, crime, bullying, cyber-law, ecademy, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic,wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, Internet, reader, Internet borders, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Safety, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

Internet-Bullying - It Can Be Beaten! Pt 3

2008-07-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

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Internet Safety – ‘Cyber-Bullying’ is‘Beatable’

Part 3 of 3

By Dr. Peter James – Independent researcher, writer,and web tactician

Passwords

Never write themdown; Use a clue to remind you, never write the password down justwrite the clue down. Anyone can find it in your absence or even in front of youwithout you knowing.
Use different oneach website: Try to group your site passwords so that in the eventthat you have many of themif a password is found, the password will not giveaccess to all of the websites that you use, just a few. If there are severalpasswords on one site make sure that every password is different, adding afigure at the end of the main password is not a good idea.
Change each month:Regularly change your passwords; it is in your own interest to do so and priorto this if you suspect someone else may know a password. A second optionexists; if you do not use particular websites regularly, use the sites passwordreminder service, yes it takes a few minutes of your time but is well worth theeffort involved.
Never share them:All the items in this section apply to this portion of advice.
Never email them:Not even to yourself (many do this) as there are no sure ways of keeping thecontents safe from prying electronic eyes if a key-logger gets into yourcomputer. (More on this subject later)
Ignore requests toothers: The passwords that you use to access ‘Chat’, ‘Windows’, yourvarious accounts etc are yours and ‘Unique’ to you! No one else needs or needsto know them, not even the company website that you use, only their computersdo. In every case, individuals are ‘locked out’ from this information and noone has any right to ask you for it. Electronic reminders are just that, nohuman is involved in the reminder at all. Many systems do not send it; theysend a temporary replacement instead, so that you can re-access your account. (Astep that stops interception of the email whilst in transit to you)

Naughty Websites:

All are lockable:Every ‘web site’ is lockable from your browser, just as every unwanted ‘email’or ‘chat individual’ may be locked on the relevant provider. All responsibleparents on every computer in the home should take these actions, before anyproblems start in the future.
Sell your webaddress: That token fee of 1 Euro / $1 / £1 etc is more than just ameans of verifying the users age, in many cases it is a ‘Yippee’ another suckerhas given us permission to go on a spending spree at their expense. Result;loads of extra expenses many will go un-noticed by you as the Credit Card isusually paid by Direct Debit, with no questions asked by the Card owner at all.
Tracker cookiesimplanted: Cookies are useful aids that enable regularly visitedwebsites to open faster. Unfortunately, there are also ‘malicious’ cookies;these tend to turn up in emails and some downloaded programs as well. Employingthe email precautions above will help reduce them, as will regular virus andspyware scans and updates of said programs. Another precaution you can take isto ‘Save’ rather than ‘Run’ a new program that you download, this will enableyou virus and spyware programs to scan and remove any problems before they getthe chance to ‘hide in your computers registry. Many new ‘Bugs’ self-duplicate,meaning you will get it back within seconds of removal as its clone left behindelsewhere in the registry reproduces itself.
Key-loggersimplanted; Key-loggers sit there on your hard drive recording everykeystroke and mouse click that you make. Then your computer sends thisinformation to another (Unknown to you at all) computer in ‘Cyber-World’.

Conclusion:

At the time of writing, There aresadly still several thousand missing children in the world related to ‘chat’and other instant message issues. There were a little over 4,100 recognised fraudsin progress and a list of 419 recognised Internet Fraudsters at large, with420,000 frauds deleted from the Internet. A large number of hi-jacked IP addressesby unknown parties. With your help in adopting as many of the above adviceitems, larger numbers of Internet crimes will be solved and the perpetratorscaught and punished. Even better still thousands of children will be re-unitedunharmed with their families and the ‘groomers’ will not be able to lead manymore astray in the future.
Another point not yet clarifiedas ‘a fact’ is ‘chat’ systems being used as an extension to street andplayground bullying, to incite violence or crime on the victim against othervictims, keeping the ‘actual’ aggressor/ perpetrator safe and sound.

Websites to note:

Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/

Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html

FBI Cybercrime - http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm

In case you wondered, there is a last page on the Internet… http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

Enjoy your life and help othersto enjoy theirs, together we can make this borderless Internet safer, togetherInternet crime will be reduced. Everyday people like me are working behind thescenes to give you a better safer Internet, everyday the Internet gets a bitsafer for all. With your help, we can all be winners and stop the minority fromrunning our lives, fuelling our fears and feeding our limited knowledge toblame those who are not guilty in any way for the minorities actions against usall.

The complete article can be read by clicking on the URL below

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Safety---Cyber-Bullying-it-Can-Be-Beaten&id=1317384

A, B, Catch you later dear reader

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, cyber-crime, cyber-bulling, internet safety, ezinearticles, worldwide, crime, bullying, cyber-law, ecademy, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel

Latest Photovideo - Sepia River Walk

2008-07-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

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boffin1157

Tags: quotes, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, Internet safety, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Alucard, Dracula, still photos, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, feel, Ecademy, Linkedin, Spock

Attitude + Aptitude = Altitude

2008-07-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

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A friend of mine shared the entry on this widget bearing the title of this blog entry with me and several other Ecademy friends recently - Well worth sharing and now with John's permission, I am sharing it with you.

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boffin1157

Tags: quotes, translation, English, Romanian, Ecademy, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Attitude, photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, traduceri, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, , writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, Google Video, memorial, memories

Drifting - Atlanta USA

2008-07-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

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Thought I would share this video of a friend of mine in the US.

This is how to burn Rubber legally without collecting pedestrians as 'Hood-Ornaments' on the way.

Relax and enjoy yourself.

A, B, Catch you later dear reader.

Charged S2000 drifting Atlanta Triple Threat June

boffin1157

Tags: quotes, quotes galore, mouse, computer, travel, peace, social, miles, panic, wine, progress, life, last page on net, history, internet, reader, postcard, words, research, brain, questions, reverse, writing, notes, poetry, study, blogs, news, Boffin1157, count, Alucard, Dracula, still photos, <arel="tag" target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/photography">photography, Photovideo, Transilvania, fiction, music, non-fiction, Spock, Bram Stoker, history, Romania, England, humour, documentary, art, short film, animation, boffin1157, motion, blip.tv, YouTube, mefeedia, yahoo video, writer, critic, poetry, art, animation, short film, documentary, history, traditions, memorial, memories, drifting, Atlanta, feel</arel="tag">