So the Apple world has yet to come up with a blogging tool to satisfy the desires of those familiar with Live Writer. I’m testing blogo, and it may work for some of you. Here is a screen shot from their site.
24May
A former pain in the neck
Filed in Healthcare | Science
What a relief. After 15 months of avoiding surgery to repair an increasing hierniation in my neck last week, Boulder Neurosurgery Association performed an Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
The outpatient procedure provided immediately relief to pain and numbness down my right arm into my thumb and forefinger.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
24May
Gmail under bot attack?
Filed in Technology
Websense announced in February that Google’s CAPTCHA busted in recent spammer tactic. This came right on the heels of bots breaking the Live Hotmail CATTCHA system. With my gmail account compromised a few weeks ago, I began looking into the likely ways this was done and and I believe there was a good chance it was via a bot attack. I have found no evidence of spyware on any of the machines I use. Change your passwords and check into your mail accounts often. You may also want to keep notes on when you opened the account and the email address you gave as a backup. These are things Google will use to return access to the account to you.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tags: technology
08May
My Gmail Got Hacked
Filed in Privacy | Technology
Today at 3:22 PM, I received the first phone call and would later discover that the first email also arrived then. Apparently, another form of Nigerian embezzlement was underway with a message from my hacked gmail account being sent to my contacts.
Subject: “Very Important, Please Read ASAP.”
I want you to read carefully and please kindly get back to you asap; it’s very urgent and important. I am currently out of states for a personal business trip in London. Unfortunately, I misplaced both my wallet & my ATM card, maybe at the hotel where i lodged or somewhere else I can’t really say exactly.
You can read the rest of their message below along with a few responses to me and the fake reply to email address.
I’ll write in a later post what I think the ramifications of this may be for both those whose contact data was stolen and me. I’ll include in that any additional lessons I discover regarding this. And if I discover it the gmail bot detection system has been tricked, I’ll let you know that too. But for now here is the rest of the message and my favorite response.
Right now I’m totally confused, as I don’t know what to do, I went to the US Embassy to report the issue and also seek for their financial assistance for me to get back home and also pay the hotel bills but unfortunately me nothing could be done to assist me financially at the Us Embassy, I didn’t have my phone here since my traveling was outside the country, I would have prefer discussing this with you over the phone, but since I have no access to phone I decided to contact you by email because its the only avenue I can use to send you this urgent notice..
I’m totally stranded and have no dime with me here, can you please do me a favor? I need a loan worth of $2000 from you so that I could pay the hotel bills and also book a return ticket back home. Will you be able to get me the loan and how soon, cos I will need it ASAP? I promise to pay you as soon as I get home. I need to pay up the hotel bills so that I could be free to pack my luggage and leave to board a flight back home without further delaying. The hotel management here is not taking it easy with me, just because I’ve not been able to pay their bills since I’ve lodged in. I have been restricted from using so many facilities of the hotel including the uses of the telephone services.
Write back to me ASAP and let me know how you could assist me with the loan, then I can give you further instruction on how to send it to me. Please keep this confidentially, as I wouldn’t want anyone to know about this since I never told anyone about the trip because all my plans was that its going to be a successful one and I will be back without any cause for alarm.
Thanks.
Here is my favorite response to the perpetrator:
I am very kindly getting back to you asap. I’m very so sorry for your urgent need of monies. How so sad that you may lost your wallet and your ATM card. You should be looking where you lodged and then may find it there.
I’m sure the embassy would not want to give you many monies like $2000 US dollars. Maybe you can be asking them for a loan on behalf of the tax rebate from our esteemed President Mr. Bush.
Good luck with your problem, I’m sure as you are so smart you will find many good ways to be making enough monies to come back. And GOOD NEWS! If you are earning British Pounds you will only need 1000 instead of 2000, this is being a good deal for you.
Here are some messages sent to me:
Hi Dwayne -
I got this email message today (text below). Either you’ve been hacked, or you’re having a very difficult trip…
Cheers, Andy
OK – what bogus web site have you been frequenting?
Check this out. I just received it. weird huh?
Looks like we are all getting strange emails from you.
Dwayne: Don’t you love the electronic age?
Looks like someone has got hold of your Gmail address…. That and his grammar is really bad.
06May
Gas Tax Holiday Hoax
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment | Politics | USA politics
The McCain – Clinton Gas Tax Holiday is a farce and voters are beginning to realize this. Of course, Obama has been correctly outlining the problems all along. There are numerous problems with this approach even if the money would trickle into the hands of the consumers who most need it and therefore spend it on other items. At 18.4 cents per gallon, the family burning two gallons per day would receive a savings of $11 dollars per month or 5% of the cost of gasoline at the current $3.61 per gallon.
And of course, it is a proposal that few in Congress support and President Bush will veto. So, it’s a non-starter and perhaps in the eyes of two candidates a safe proposal aimed to win voter favor without having all the downsides. And there are several.
First of all, the tax generates revenue to pay for roads and bridge maintenance, which if anything is too small for our aging infrastructure. Of the three ways to pay for this, Clinton suggests taxing the windfall profits on Oil Companies while McCain says cut other spending. Let’s start with McCain. Congress has shown little appetite for cutting spending and the Whitehouse seems to agree that deficits matter not to voters. So, he is really offering the third option of borrowing to pay for this when we need to do the opposite.
Clinton wants to tax the Oil companies with a Windfall Profit tax which would do two things. First of all, it would diminish the expected returns on oil production and over the long term would decrease supply. It would in the short term put higher price pressure on Oil and with more demand coming during the summer driving season, it is more likely this added tax expense would be passed on to consumers.
If you want to help consumers and the retailers they visit, there are better ways to insure the money get to the right people. The stimulus package aims (many would argue aims poorly) to get $600 to those who need it most and are most likely to use it. The gas tax suspension would do no such thing.
And now here is the real catch. The realities of market economics cannot be suspended. Demand will increase to a point where it meets supply. Fiddling with the gas tax will not change this and the US Fuel Retail system has very little slack capacity. Therefore, supply is relatively inelastic and prices will move with demand. Bottom line, the gas tax will be eaten by the Gasoline Value Chain and consumers will be left with little in their pocket other than a higher debt and nothing done to solve the longer term energy issues. It’s bad policy, bad economics and it is time for us to show politicians, that pandering for votes is bad politics.
03May
Thank you, Robyn.
Filed in Colorado | Education | Environment
Every now and again, you meet someone and immediately know they are making a real difference for a lot of people. Robyn Johnson is such a person. For much of the last ten years, she has provided many Colorado teens with guidance, education and experiences they would likely have never seen without her hard work and determination.
She is now leaving her position as co-executive director of the Colorado Youth Program to pursue her career in counseling. But we all know that the organization is stronger and better able to continue the goal of connecting kids with their community and the environment because of her leadership.
Thank you for all that you have done, Robyn!
Here are a few excerpts from a letter I received from Robyn yesterday.
My final day at Colorado Youth Program has arrived!
I joined the Colorado Youth Program staff in 1999 as a part-time program coordinator. I had found my ideal job at an organization that combined working with underserved youth and teaching about the environment and volunteerism, all while playing in the outdoors.
While I am now leaving CYP to pursue a career in counseling, I will stay connected to the Colorado Youth Program as a volunteer and donor. The Colorado Youth Program occupies a unique space in our community, making summer camp an affordable option for all families and providing free after-school and weekend programs that teach children to understand, respect and enjoy nature.My time at the Colorado Youth Program has been beautiful. I have worked with delightful children and teens, loving parents and families, visionary community members and leaders, dedicated volunteers and staff…I have enjoyed working with each and every one of you!
03May
Apple making it easy? I’m not so sure.
Filed in Technology
I recently decided to purchase the January 2008 iPod Touch upgrade. I thinking about getting an iPhone and have decided I’m willing to part with the 20 bucks to test out the email app so there is no need for me to repeat what others have said about this already. Great products overcome bad decisions in other areas. A few bad decisions anyway.
Back to my attempt to purchase this upgrade. Two days ago I decided to get the upgrade and quickly found the place where current iPod touch owners were directed. Up pops a nice little advertisement within the iTunes store inside iTunes and confirming I have met the requirements for software versions and iTunes store account I try to click the Upgrade for $19.99 big bold blue letters. It’s not a link, ok, so I go to the bottom and click the OK button.
This takes me to the iTunes store home page filled with all sorts of music, movies, games, TV shows, podcast, audio books, all sort of content. But no upgrade, in fact no software. So I look and I look and I know I must just be missing it, so I look some more.
Now, two days later, I have emailed a support person 3 times, tried to chat with Wanda who disappeared once I asked my question and spoke on the phone with Benjamin. I’ve been given links to articles about verifying your upgrade installation and how to contact customer support. I’m currently waiting (15 minutes and counting) for an email which he claims has the correct link (the one on the Apple Store website has not worked for a few weeks, I was told.)
I still waiting for the highly praised Apple support, I’ve heard so much about. Oh, and I’m still waiting for that email.