Posted: May 14th, 2008 | Author: Catherine | Filed under: General | 1 Comment »
By now, airport security has become part of the routine of air travel. People accept it as the price to pay for maintaining security in the air. Will people be as accepting if this security is taken to the streets?
In London, England, airport type security is taken to the streets to deter crime:
“Police are to use hundreds of airport-style and hand-held weapon detectors in the crackdown on knife crime.”
link: Airport-style scanners on the streets
Of course there is unanimous support from most people for efforts to keep the community safe. However, on closer inspection, “powers enable officers to stop people and search them without the need to have “reasonable suspicion” that they are engaged in wrong doing”. It is a subtle and significant paradigm shift. Now there is not the presumption of innocence. Everyone is suspect until proven otherwise. Security trumps civil liberties.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/
[tag]privacy, security, search, suspect, civil liberties[/tag]
Posted: May 14th, 2008 | Author: Catherine | Filed under: General | Tags: charities, email, federal trade commission, hackers, natural disasters, scams, security, social engineering | No Comments »
The news is dominated with heartbreaking disasters. There are natural disasters nationally and internationally; and the newscasts document the rising death tolls in horrid numbers. These tragedies elicit our want to contribute and to help. Unfortunately, hackers know that this is a time when the general public is most susceptible to being manipulated. Perhaps there is already spam in your inbox asking for a contribution. Consider the hackers to be one of the ‘first responders’ to human tragedy:
link: Disaster Scam
This Federal Trade Commission (FTC) site provides some precautions. Hackers will use these tragedies for their own gain. They are quick to use tragedies to manipulation people’s helpful intentions. You may be immune to the appeals and the social engineering from hackers and criminals. Others are not. There is enough profit for these scams to continue. Tell others of these disaster scams. The charities do need the financial resources, so let others know how to ensure that the donations reach the legitimate agencies.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
Posted: May 14th, 2008 | Author: Catherine | Filed under: General | Tags: air travel, consumer's rights, department of transportation, resource | No Comments »
Do you know the procedure for obtaining a refund on an airline ticket? What are your rights if your flight is overbooked and you are bumped? What is the procedure if your luggage does not arrive at your destination with you?
These and a myriad of other possible problems are addressed on the Department of Transportation site:
link: Consumer Protection
Whether you are a ‘road warrior’ or just the occasional flyer, this is a good basic resource to bookmark and to have available. The site provides essential information that travelers hope never needing to use.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
Posted: May 14th, 2008 | Author: Catherine | Filed under: General | Tags: children, infant swimming resource, prevention, safety, swimming | No Comments »
With the warm summer months, there will be recreation on or near water. To prevent any mishaps, teach the child to swim. A good start to water safety is an infant safety program:
“… Give your child an extra measure of protection with aquatic survival instruction from Infant Swimming Resource (ISR). ISR, a nationally recognized program, offers private highly specialized certified instruction for children from 6 months of age.”
link: Infant Swimming Resource
This is a recognized program of instruction. Check to see what is available in your community. You will be shaping a positive attitude at an early age.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
