Pedestrians Roulette

- 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.

Great 'Electronic' Wall of China

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.

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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

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

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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)

Internet Safety Tips - Part 1

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.

1. Take a friend with you, or arrange to meet them later at said place.
2. Ring a friend regularly to let them know you are all right (this can be coded if you wish)
   
3. Never txt anyone as there is no proof it is ‘You’ sending the txt message.
4. 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.
   
5. Remember! Your teenage friend could so easily be someone much older.
6. 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:

1. Internet fraud - http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/
2. Child web safety - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
3. Internet Police UK - http://www.wiredsafety.org/gb/law/uk_police_information.html
4. 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

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

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 - 8th to 14th August 2009

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”

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

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."

Merry Xmas to all our 5021 Friends and Contacts!

Lost in Translation...

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?

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

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

"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.”