Respect

History has many perspectives. Perhaps the loudest voice should be from the common citizen:

“”I thought when he pardoned Nixon he stood up and did what the country needed, not what would further his political career,” said John Banks, 51, of Calhoun, Georgia. “I don’t think we have presidents that do that any more.”

Banks, who said he was in the Air Force when Ford was president, drove more than 10 hours to Washington to pay his respects.”

link: Americans line up to say farewell to Ford

Dr. Martin Luther King wrote that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at time of challenge and controversy”. That is not lost upon the common citizen - it never is.

Catherine

Perhaps Liz Weston Will Explain

Liz Pulliam Weston is an exceptional writer. Her focus on finances could be a very dry topic but her articles are interesting and well written. Here is a recent example:

link: 12 Cool Money Tricks ( - for some reason, this page does not resolve well in IE at the moment.)

One of the things that I keep watching for in Ms Weston’s column is some understanding of how banks and credit companies assess customers. If you are completely debt free, you are considered a poor credit risk. I just don’t understand that. One would think that if you have managed your funds and remained free from debt, then you should be a welcomed customer, since you have proven to be a good money manager.

That, however, is not the case. It is only if you have debt and managed that debt will the financial institutions consider the person a good risk. In other words, being in debt has its rewards - which seems very odd to me.

Catherine

For Trivia People

Yes, I know - this is my second post for the day. I came across this list on the BBC site:

link: 100 things we didn’t know last year

Lists like this one are great for people who store trivia in their head. I think it is in our family DNA…

Catherine

Is it a Hint from Microsoft?

For my desktop, I am still a Windows 2000 user. I quite like what Windows 2000 does and how stable it is for me. On the laptop, I do have Windows XP Pro but that is not my main machine. I use it to connect to the desktop via VNC. My plan is to stay with the Windows 2000 operating system for as long as I can. However, there are ominous signs that suggest that the days of Windows 2000 are numbered.

I wanted to see how the desktop system would compare to the requirements of Windows Vista. Microsoft supplies a site to prepare for an upgrade to Vista.

link: Vista Upgrade Advisor

As you can see, the advisor does not work for Windows 98 or Windows 2000. Perhaps that is a hint of things to come. In any case, it is not very reassuring.

Catherine

President Ford and Oliver Sipple

In reading about President Ford’s life, I was diverted onto the story of Oliver Sipple, the man who saved President Ford’s life in 1975.

link: Oliver “Billy” Sipple

For his heroic deed, Oliver Sipple lost his privacy. And perhaps, that contributed to his undoing.

Catherine

It Befuddles Me

To be forthright, I don’t understand this trend. Associated Press carried this article:

“HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A Maryland kindergarten student has been accused of sexual harassment and written up. The 5-year-old boy pinched a girl’s buttocks.”

link: Boy, 5, accused of sexual harassment

In an article on the main FlyingHamster site, I had noted an incident where a four year old was suspended “for inappropriate touching”. Is this some sort of movement directed at four and five year olds, to quell future criminal activity? Let’s identify those sex offenders when they are pre-schoolers, label them and track them. And for any baby that kicks in the womb, that smacks of a propensity for assault. Kid, we will be watching you carefully…

Catherine

Wasting Time

A ‘geek’ friend was talking about how spam lets him know that his email is working. It seems that the intrusion of spam is such a constant now that we are resigned to accept it. However, there are real consequences, besides security issues.

I have two main email accounts: one for FlyingHamster and one for Spywareinfo. I have other accounts but I would say that those are my two primary accounts. I check and respond to mail in those account several times a day. I think it would be an under-estimate to say that I spend at least ten minutes, throughout the day, in clearing out the spam. However, for the sake of easy calculation, let’s use ten minutes a day. The time for spam would look like this:

1 day = 10 minutes
365 days = 3,650 minutes or 60.8 hours
assume that 1 work day = 8 hours
number of work days spent clearing out spam = 7.6 days

It is really more than that because I am certain that it exceeds that ten minutes a day. It is a horrendous waste of my time (and your time) just to rid the mail of junk.

I use Nick Bolton’s MailWasher Pro to preview, screen mail and delete the spam at the server. I don’t allow it to be downloaded onto my computer and then delete it from the inbox. I feel that it is an extra layer of security to delete it in this manner. And it is faster - much faster with Nick’s program (I believe Nick still has a free version of his program). In addition, I don’t open any attachments on my desktop. I use the laptop (if I must open the attachment). Any e-greeting cards are not opened. E-mail addresses are too easy to spoof and clicking on a link in such an e-greeting card possibly could lead to a whole load of unwanted problems. Generally, if I recognize the address of the sender, I will write back, say ‘thanks’ and tell that person that I will not open such greetings. Again, it is time needlessly spent.

I could go on and on about how spam wastes my time. I am certain that you have a list of your own. What irks me is that people are beginning to accept this annoyance, as part of being online. I think that attitude is a slippery slope and guarantees that the problems will persist and multiple. And, of course, more time will be wasted.

Catherine

Some Posts Recovered

It seems that some of the blog posts were recovered. The ones that are missing are from December 6th, 2006 until yesterday. If anyone has those posts (December 6th to December 18th) on their RSS feed, it would be great if you could send them to me. The email address is in the right hand column of FlyingHamster. Going forward from yesterday, I will keep multiple back-up copies of work done of this site.

Catherine

Lost Post Entries

It seems that the server gremlins have claimed over three weeks of postings and the comments. For those who follow this blog space, my apologies - I am afraid that all that work is gone.

Catherine

Terrorism Risk Assessment

Over the past ten years, my grandmother has made various air
trips. My grandmother makes several trips every year. She usually
pays by check or by cash. She rarely uses her credit card (she has
just one credit card). On long flights, she calls ahead to the
airline and asks for a fruit plate, instead of the regular meal.
My grandmother watches her sodium intake, especially when she is
traveling and away from her usual routines. She likes a window
seat. However, all this must be on the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security data base. Possibly, my grandmother has a terrorism risk
assessment score:

link:
ACLU Urges U.S. to Stop Collecting Traveler Data

If you have flown recently, you have a terrorism risk assessment
too - and it is unlikely that you will know what that assessment
is. “The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge
these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on
file for 40 years.”

link: Terror-risk program
draws outrage

link: U.S.
Tracks Canadians For Terror Traits

My grandmother will have the New York Times with her, when she
flies. She likes the cross-word puzzles and is very good at them,
but the Homeland Security people probably know that already.

Catherine