Author: The Timedok

The World Today

As a hiring manager for the best part of the 90’s and well into the 2000’s I could not help but notice a difference in the candidates that would walk through my door.

I would put on a suit and tie, make sure that my shoes were polished as well as the rest of the personal hygiene in check if I were interviewing. I was surprised by those who did not. If they did not respect me or the company enough to try and look respectable, what would they look like and or act like if I were to hire them. There is this whole etiquette thing involved in obtaining a job, and it starts with how you look. You only have one chance to make a first impression.

With Mom and Dad both having to work to make ends meet, generation “Y” was most likely raised by “Big Bird,” or an older brother or sister, or possibly some retired family member. The TV with hundreds of channels made a great baby sitter; and then there was the “game boy.” This generation is addicted to “screens.” While I appreciate “screens” as well, I also enjoy a good book, a walk in the park, watching the ocean, talking with friends and family on the front porch and going to a baseball game. There is nothing wrong with FaceBook or World of Warcraft, it is simply a matter of balance and not a way of life, or substitute thereof.

While negative attention is better than no attention, I suspect that many who pushed the envelope did so for attention. “Look Ma, I am doing drugs! Don’t you care enough to even slow down to talk to me?” From drugs they may turn to self-injury, or getting some sort of tattoo, or some of this wonderful body jewelry “through their nose.”

They in fact must have never heard the words “self effacement.” “I suspect that Hubris has taken the place Humility.”

We have shows on TV glorifying “INK.” We have celebrities who have more ink than skin. Our kid’s role models are broken people. When your kids look up to “broken people” where do you think that will lead them? Your kids should be looking up to you, not Madonna!

It is my opinion that many are drawn to “ink” and alike purely for the sake of attention. If they cannot get the good attention they need at home; mutilating ones body will certainly draw a crowd at school, the mall, and of course with siblings. And it most certainly will draw that negative attention from your guardians or other authoritarian figures…

There is another school of thought; these folks are insecure and again “ink,” mutilate, or act out audaciously, in an effort to get people to leave them alone as “they are bad.”

I also think that there is a subset that does it, purely to spite their family or friends and peers either at work or school or what have you. These are the folks that are so insecure that they are giving their-selves a rhinectomy. “I will show you, I will cut off my nose!” In the end they are only really hurting themselves currently and in the future as well as some of these things are really quite permanent!

Once these folks are disfigured, they drastically limit their options for employment and possibly a choice in friends and or spouse. If you present yourself for employment with visible body jewelry that is “out of the norm” there is a high probability that your “resume” will be trashed the second you hit the door.

I would guess that the same could be said for over the top tattoos. My thinking and I am certain most hiring managers thinking would be, if they make these types of decisions for themselves, what kinds of decisions are they going to make for me?

Unless your aspirations for employment are to work your way up to busboy, or maybe become a tattoo artist, I would strongly suggest keeping the ink under cover; at least from 8 to 5.

There is a group which I have not mentioned that may very well be so artistic that they want this “Art” on them to wear into perpetuity. The problem with that my pet, is simply this; as we age we loose collagen. Our young looking skin gets wrinkled and becomes thinner and pretty soon the artwork looks like a used painter’s pallet, instead of the masterpiece that you paid for. Think about it this way, do you own an outfit that you would wear everyday, day in day out for the rest of your life? I know of no clothing that I would want to wear everyday, and night; forever!

If you make bad decisions with permanent outcomes in your youth; those will have an effect on you as you mature. Some if these decisions lead to depression, and eventual suicide as they cannot live with what they have done, and the guilt overcomes them. Addictions often end in self destruction as they practice the addiction and then deal with the guilt for what they have done. To get rid of the guilt they do more of the addiction and spiral downward; until they either become outcast and wake up in the gutter or decide to end it all. Very few “see the light” and decide to choose not to do what they have been doing. Society tends to let these folks slip away which is probably normal programming.

If one were to follow the lives of the “rich and famous” they would quickly discern that with their lifestyle comes a price. When these people admit that they have been strung out on recreational chemistry, why are they not investigated criminally? Dealers are so bold that they don’t even try to keep their deals under cover. I was at the gas station the other day. In the next lane there were two people in a car, motor running taking up one of the spots to purchase gas. Before I finished a women pulled up behind them, got out and fussed at them for making here come “all the way over here.” They transacted their business and then both were soon gone their separate ways. I would imagine that the rich and famous get delivery, much like the Pizza guy delivers food and they don’t have to go to the gas station.

This culture is invasive to our way of life. Along with all of the other trappings that seem to come with this entitled generation, recreational chemistry seems to be one of the trimmings that not only effect the rich and famous, but the not so rich and famous.

All addictions are chemical. What many fail to realize is that all addictions are chemical in nature. When we smoke or drink, chemicals are released in the brain which we find appealing. Recreational chemistry is not only externally chemically induced but also causes a release of chemistry in the brain so in fact, one might get a double dose of “feel good” chemistry. I suspect that is why Cocaine is so addictive. Pornography can be a chemical addiction just like chocolate or food. If whatever you enjoy releases these chemicals, you can become addicted to it, and not know why or even know that you are. One of the most common addictions is adrenalin. We have rides at amusement parks which cause the release of this chemical as well as speeding or racing a friend, to even fighting in school. If we were to really study the kleptomaniac, we might learn that is a chemical addiction as well and we might treat the condition differently than simply locking them up. Other criminal endeavors like car jacking or what have you, may not only serve the purpose of obtaining money; but the perpetrator might very well enjoy the high from the release of adrenalin. I suspect that many of the “crimes” that people do today like flashing, or being a peeping tom, or simply being an exhibitionist, might very well be because of the release of some hormone or endorphin.

My guess would be that the BDSM community would also fall into this category.

Criminals are not the only people to enjoy this “high,” as I suspect firefighters, policemen, fighter pilots or even bull fighters might very well do this, because they are adrenalin junkies, and may not even know it. If you have ever listened to the police scanner when there is a chase going on or perhaps the firefighters when they are fighting a fire, you can hear it in their voice.

If I were to guess why middle school is so tough, it would be that this is typically when (puberty) hormones are released in abundance and young people experience this and really don’t know what to do with it. Male dominance may break out (and be manifested as fights) as young men try to establish their place as the “alpha” male. Young ladies also have their chemistry issues and those manifest mostly as sniping, spreading rumors and trying to become the “queen B.” We are not so different from the animal kingdom and those that think that we are simply are fooling themselves, as they don’t like the idea of being related to “animals.”

Pain can be an addiction. Endorphins are released with pain so cutting, burning or other forms of self-injury could not only be a cry for attention, but also feeding an addiction.

Extreme forms of chemical release are also practiced by some but, usually not for long as it kills them. One form is autoerotic asphyxiation. David Carradine was most certainly the victim of such an act. I say victim because he was under the delusion that he could do this safely. There is no safe way to strangle one-self. I cannot imagine what drove him to do this but I suspect like all drugs, it takes more and more to achieve the same “high.”

There is a saying among the pilot community that states, “There are old pilots and bold pilots, however; there are no old bold pilots.” I suspect the same could be said with some exceptions for the “addicted among us.” When a pilot gets into trouble such as flying into a cloud bank without the proper training, he is taught to get on the radio and confess what has happened, so air traffic control can assist him back to clear air. Without proper training there is this condition called spatial disorientation. Basically your eyes and senses do not believe the instruments, and more often than not the pilot will fly the plane right into the ground or “auger in.” If you are reading this, and you happen to be addicted, get help before you too, auger in. There are few people, if anyone that can handle an addiction without eventual self destruction. We witness this daily with our celebrities as well as their deaths from overdoses etc. There is no “winning” with addictions.

The other issue with Generation Y that puzzled me is “sagging,” tell me what the hell satisfaction one gets by wearing their jeans down to their crotch, walking around with one hand holding them up so they don’t fall down the rest of the way? We all know where the trend started and somehow adopted and glorified by the hip-hop crowd but really, you think that we want to see your underwear? I watched a young man run across the street to catch his bus. He tripped over his pants that were falling down the rest of the way and did a face plant in the middle of the road in front of the bus that he was running to catch. Either this kid was trying to prove that Darwin was correct or he was trying to prove how stupid it actually is to do that. Does this trend bespeak of letting your peers know how cool you are or the rest of the world know how stupid you are? Had the bus driver had a little slower reaction time, those sagging pants would have cost that person their life. He quite literally would have been thrown-under-the-bus.

Like “ink” I think that “sagging” is just one more way of young people expressing their objection or rebellion to the main-stream mores of the day. Instead of getting an education and working to change the system to make it better, it is much easier and simpler to call people’s attention to you underwear. The trouble here is that most people will not see past how lame you look, and that will be as far as it will go. And ladies, we really don’t want to see your “wale tail” either.. Underwear is just that, clothing that stays under other clothing. It can be audacious as you like, but keep it your secret, “really…”

Our youth is mesmerized by shows like American Idol. Millions of people watch that show. How many do you think imagine them-selves doing it, winning the top spot? We have become so egocentric as a people, that narcissism seems to be a way of life. “I made it through school, now where is my corner office and how much are you going to give me to sit here and look pretty?” Not really exaggerating too much here.

You can decide to be one of the leaders of tomorrow, or live in the shadows of society; it really is your choice. Many will blame their circumstances on where they are in life, but if they were truthful with themselves, they would know and admit that their lot in life in most cases is their own doing.

There are too many rags to riches stories all through history. Look up how they did it and see if you cannot apply some of their techniques. Or, you can learn how to stay warm by using discarded newspapers as insulation; it really is up to you. If you are reading this; you have at your fingertips all of the information that you could ever need to do anything that you want to do. Any subject that has ever been invented is here. Knowledge is power, and while that cliche may seem tired, trust me it is more salient today than ever before.

Figure out where your talents lie, or what you are passionate about and than search through history and see how others that did what you want to do, managed to do it.

I would not have “win the lottery” as my retirement plan, I also would not put all of my eggs in the rock star basket, or country star, or movie star. The odds are very much against you.

Before you spend your hard earned money on ink, or permanent jewelry, you may want to think about the future just a little bit. The hiring manager will most probably not be sympathetic to facial jewelry or ink. There are millions of folks looking for employment. If you and another are equally qualified but the other person has adorned him or herself with accouterments, most likely you will get the job. Is that fare? Nope, life is not fare, get used to it and live with it. The system is what it is, either work to modify it by legal and moral means, or adjust your way of life into the system. Rebelling against it by wearing your pants around your ankles, or getting every inch of skin inked or pierced is your problem; and society will pass you by.

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Patriotism 101

Recently I attended a high school graduation. The person leading the pledge missed a couple of words here and there and the person leading the Texas pledge either froze up or simply did not know it.

The worste part of this is that the audience did not know it either (for the most part.)

So here are both, with an explanation of what the words mean.

“I pledge allegiance” (I promise to be true)

“to the flag” (to the symbol of our country)

“of the United States of America” (each state that has joined to make our country)

“and to the Republic” (a republic is a country where the people choose others to make laws for them — the government is “of, by and for” the people)

“for which it stands,” (the flag means the country)

“one nation” (a single country)

“under God,” (the people believe in a supreme being)

“indivisible,” (the country cannot be split into parts)

“with Liberty and Justice” (with freedom and fairness)

“for all.” (for each person in the country…you and me!)

The pledge says you are promising to be true to the United States of America!

“Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.”

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Moral Depravity

I have often suspected that those who run for office probably have some underlying mental aberration that needs addressing. In Anthony Weiner’s case there is no longer any doubt of his “issues,” which he really needs to deal with.

The sad truth is that people have a short memory. Coupled with their lackadaisical attitude towards voting for the best person (i.e. character) there is a good chance that Weiner will get elected simply because he is a household name. He actually has a “brand,” so to speak (in marketing parlance). You would think that the Democratic Party would discourage him from being in the public eye but no, they seem to thrive on the attention, good bad or ugly. Since the verdict is still out on what the definition of “is is” I am guessing that the main stream media will endorse his run for mayor, and paint him as simply misunderstood and really had no idea that the camera was on and pointed at his, well,… wiener.

We condone a lack of moral character, we condone being caught in lies and deceit and we condone allowing our people being killed, doing nothing to help them and we condone the president “killing” American citizens with drones. I often wonder if it is a matter of condone, or really just don’t care?

History will be the judge of all who are in power right now. Unless they censure the truth and write their own version for the next generation to read and believe, I don’t think it will look favorably upon them or us; as we put them there.

I am unaware of what the “crotch shot” actually showed of Mr. Weiner’s, but if it showed his cojones, my guess is that they are brass.

It will be interesting in a “human interest” kind of way to see if the people actually vote for this person.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Political Football

Finding the words to express my distaste of the media’s proclivity for ratings, at the expense of so many simply overwhelms me at times. If ever you were in doubt that we are a fallen people, watch the news!

What happened here in Texas and yesterday in Oklahoma is and was terrible. When we learn that someone or a group of someone’s decided that they did not want to spend the money on safe rooms for schools in OKLAHOMA (known for tornadoes,) is beyond comprehension! Criminal charges should be filed. Stupidity should be criminal…. Especially if you are in a position to make decisions like this!

I read a tweet today that some people are so stupid that they should turn pro at it… Kind of fits here.

Today on the floor of the US senate some democrat senator turned the whole thing in to a political football using his time to push for cap and trade, blaming global warming / cooling on this recent weather. These people should be so ashamed of themselves! I truthfully don’t know how they can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. Don’t confuse weather with global climate.. There are no supporting facts scientific or otherwise to sustain this. The only “Facts” that have ever been displayed were later shown to be falsified to fit an agenda of selling carbon credits of which would drive the cost of goods and services up. In laymen’s terms you would pay for the carbon credit; that would go into some politician’s pocket, much like the Freon debacle of the 80’s.

Even if there were supporting evidence, do you really think that you can legislate China or Korea or other countries to “clean air,” water etc policies? Why in the hell do you think that our companies go over seas? They do it to get away from the EPA, OSHA, crippling taxes and other rules and regulations that we (you) impose on industry. And oh yes, they pay slave wages to their people as well. We do everything to drive business out of this country and then blame capitalism. Can’t we strike a happy medium? Evidently not, Government types who make the laws, well they have a job / salary / and really good health care plans for life, what do they care? Let me answer that for you, they don’t! If it puts money into their pocket they care, that is it.

To put it in our president’s words, “it’s the process and it is messy!” As an

American I can tell you, if that is the process, it needs to be changed! The whole damned mess of them needs to be fired, until they listen to the people.

We the People…We the people are their boss. They work for us! Someone needs to remind them of that and my friends you do that with your vote! The process sucks Mr. President, and it needs to be changed! Lead for once and change the process, do what is right for the country and not for your agenda, or your party! It is time that we do things to bring this country back together as Americans, and not rich vs. poor, black vs. white or any other derisive activities that have been perpetrated on the people to fit an agenda of divide and conquer!

When the chips are down, you can see who we are. When we put our “politics” aside to help our fellow man, you can see who we are. Does it really take devastation and heartache to wake people up to the simple fact, that we are all one people?

“Father, we lift up the people of Oklahoma and all of the other victims of the recent storms. We pray fervently for wisdom for our elected officials that they may be humbled out of their ivory towers; long enough to waken them from their delusions that they are somehow equal to you lord. We give thanks for those who have selflessly given of their money, time and energy to help those in need. Please watch over us and keep us humble as well lord, so we do not fall victim to the plight of those who have been given so much power that they have lost sight of who they are, and what they are there for. Father, place your arms around those that have lost so much in recent days and comfort them. Bring people into their lives to assist them through this time and in the days ahead. Awaken the people who decide things like “which school or building gets a safe room and which do not.” as it is not their decision, which life is more precious than another lord. In your sons name…Amen..”

Weather

The changing seasons historically bring with it violent weather. As the winter winds loose their icy grip on the north, they send wave after wave of cold fronts south and east which are met by dry lines and oh yes, the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.

This is dangerous combination of conditions and often will generate the weather that we have experienced the last few weeks and of course today. It has nothing to do with climate change, it is simply weather.

Keep the people of Oklahoma and of course CleburneTX in your thoughts and prayers as they grieve for the loss of loved ones, while picking the pieces up and try to continue on.

It is times like this that bring out the best in folks. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all acted this way just because; and we didn’t need an F5 tornado to remind us to be nice to one another?

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Below you will find an “idea” circulating around

Below you will find an “idea” circulating around the internet through e-mail and alike.

Whether Warren Buffet had anything to do with it is really irrelevant. The true issues are that power is a seductive force. Once these folks make it to Washington they loose their soul. Getting elected to congress is almost like winning the lottery! They write laws that do not apply to them i.e. “insider trading.” While you and I would go to jail (paging Martha Stewart) they not only can buy and sell stocks on what they know, they can create the environment with your money and invest before the company is granted some huge infusion of cash (bailout). That is akin to betting on the results of a “fixed contest.”

Washington is dysfunctional and growing the monster larger is not the answer.

If this makes sense to you, just point your friends to this and see what they think. Re-Blog it! A conversation regarding such things is always welcome and in fact, a healthy debate with educated people is actually exciting! So read on and tell me what you think.

-Best

Winds of Change….

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward
this email to a minimum of twenty people on their
address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.


In three days, most people in The United States of America will have this message.


This is one idea that really should be passed around…


*Congressional Reform Act of 2013


1. No Tenure / No Pension.


A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.


2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.


All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.


3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.


4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 2%.


5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

This one seems like common sense doesn’t it?
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.


7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.

Two four year Terms
Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.


If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Don’t you think it’s time?
We can do better than 20 with Twitter, Facebook, and of course the power of the BLOG!


THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS! I would also add Washington.

If you agree with the above, pass it on. Lets make it (dare I say it) Viral!

Time

Some measure time by the ticking of a clock, others by the days of the week and still others by the years that pass.

One of my favorite songs has a line in it about “being in the autumn of my life.” That sounds almost forlorn in retrospect.

The truth (you know how I like truth) of the matter is that most of us measure time by the weekends. We relish the hour when Friday afternoon rolls around and we can take some “time” to go out, sleep in, golf or what have you.

I used to watch people walking into the office on Monday morning and then watch them leave as the evening skies turn a pale shade of azure with crimson overtones flashing across the skies, dancing across the few clouds that sailed by.

In the morning people are full of life. There is just about a glow to most of them. Around twilight, the glow has turned to hollow, shadowed facial structures. The enthusiasm that they greeted the day with has long since departed, leaving them bereft of cheerfulness. They are in fact vapid, of that essence of “life!”

Looking upwards towards the kaleidoscope display of nature’s own brand of art, is not even a passing thought. We have lost our way in the maze of time clocks, political correctness, rules and social mores. We have forgotten how to be “us.”

Making our way with the throngs of other drones either by bus train or car we head to that last bastion of relief, our homes. Summoning the last bit of energy in reserve, they “we” plod through our charted course until we finally can collapse into our beds, maybe even inviting death’s “sting” as we contemplate the day today, and start thinking about tomorrow. Would that “sting” really be so bad?

The weekends are fraught with their own unique brand of dull drum, as we now must take care of the things that did not get taken care of during the week. This thing called life happens on those days of the week that end in “Y,” and many of us may wonder “why” we chose the path that we did.

Time can be measured in heart beats. I truly believe that time is relative in that manner as the creatures with the fastest heart beat seem to live the shortest amounts of time, conversely those with the slowest, seem to live much longer.

We sell our selves every day, one heart beat at a time. Every heart beat that you spend, is one less heart beat that you have left. Since we do seem to measure time with our hearts may I humbly suggest that you fill your life with love and laughter? Life is too short to be angry.

I overheard a man today complaining about his employer at great lengths, regarding their intelligence, their breeding and so forth; and I could not help but notice that he was working for them. His brand of “living” was to sew seeds of his discontent to fellow workers and stew in his lot in life. We could talk about negative and positive energy but that is a topic for another day. Do you know that when you are upset or angry, cortisol is released; the stress hormone. Does it really pay to be “angry,” Only if you want to shorten your life, and the lives of those people around you!

Time is what we make of it, and we are all the stewards of that time. Tomorrow will take care of itself, live for right now, in the moment. Enjoy what you do even at your work for there are no do-over’s, this is it!

You can do that with what I call PMA, the diametric opposite of PMS, to borrow that awkward condition in some women’s lives, as an example.

Positive Mental Attitude

It takes practice but after 45 days of doing it, you will be a different person. I have been practicing it for years and I do not look like those that I described earlier. As the matter of fact I appear quite young for my age. I guess I will have to write about that one day soon. In short, don’t get caught in others negative attitudes and don’t ever project one. Life is too short to hate, to be angry, to live in a constant state of turmoil.

Allow me to share one brief story of how I discovered PMA.

I had a job that involved going out to customers’ locations, carrying a 40 pound box of tools, parts and so forth to repair what needed to be repaired. While I really liked what I did, and I enjoyed dealing with people, I really loathed the fact that parking was a hassle; it was in the south so high humidity and pop-up rain showers were normal on top of being in a large city.

One day I parked blocks from where I needed to go, as it was raining so all of the “close up” parking was taken. The rain in this case was caused by a tropical storm sitting on top of the city, in short rain was moving horizontally as well as vertically. Wearing dress clothes(very wet ones), carrying that tool bag, slogging through running water, I finally made it into the building. Another older gentleman was behind me, so I held the door for him. As we climbed into the elevator I began grumbling about the weather, the day etc. As I was trying to engage this man in conversation as “I do that” his demeanor was very much different from mine. He seemed content if not jovial. He took off his hat and allowed the water to run onto the floor and patiently listened to me while I droned on about the rain.

Before he left he passed this on to me and I have never forgotten it. “Son, anytime you wake up sucking air, it is a good day!” We were at a hospital for cancer treatment, and I can only assume that he was a patient. I had discovered PMA!

Those words rattled around my head for that day, the next and so on. Every time I am having a tough time, those words re-play themselves they in fact, resonate with my soul; I usually strike a grin and silently thank that man for sharing that one bit of advice. Rarely do I have “bad days” any longer. It put things into perspective for me and it is my prayer that this may help someone else who is having a “bad day.”

Take a moment to smell the roses, watch the clouds, and my personal favorite is to watch the ocean. I can sit there for hours just watching the waves and listening to the seagulls and other birds going about their day. That is time well spent..

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Actors

There are many people who have “danced on the silver screen” in my lifetime. There are many that I would watch the movie simply because they were in it. This held true for the “silver screen” and of course the purchase of same via “laser disc, (yes I go back that far) video tape, DVD and of course Blue Ray.

It was not until I found the Hollywood elite; espousing their opinions on political issues did I take notice of the perfection to which their craft was honed. One guy, who I really like; on his twitter profile says that he is a: professional pretender. Yet he elucidates his opinion as if it were fact; which many take as such, as he plays a news anchor on the tube. One would not let Alec Baldwin fly the jet as he plays a pilot, neither should you take their opinion as the gospel.

There are others that I admired as well until they open their mouths, unscripted, and now I find them an ignorant, bigoted, waste of skin! To be so talented at your craft to fool the country is akin to being a politician! While I congratulate you on your skill, thanks for the look behind the curtain.

I will no longer enjoy the programs with you in them, as I don’t like the “real” person who you are or, that you have become.

We all have talents and of course opinions. If you happen to be a thespian and you choose to proffer some factoid on being such, good for you. To speak with authority on that which you clearly know nothing about, is bad form, and misleading to those that listen to you.

While we clearly give you that power, remember dear friend, it can be stripped away as easily when you remove the cloak, and give us a peek at the monster behind the mask.

I also take issue with those in Washington, holding in high esteem as role models those who sully the name of entertainer, by their vulgar behaviors, their lewd clothing and or dance, and their rather offensive words in their “music.”

What legacy are we as a people leaving behind?

Thanks for reading my blogs, and as always, –Best to you and those that you care about!

Viri-The Truth about Bugs

Any of you who have read any of my blogs know that I have a thing for “the truth.”

We live in a society today that regards the truth as an inconvenience. So here is the truth about anti-virus software from someone’s perspective that fought the very first virus in 1981, without the benefit of anti-virus software, on a 300 node network.

I cannot personally get into the mind of someone who creates these things. One wonders why someone would spend the time to create a piece of software that literally is destructive in nature, when the person who created it cannot watch the affected person anguish over his or her brand new PC running at the pace of a snail.

Normally, (I say normally like I know,) but it is my opinion that when someone does something malevolent, they want to witness the carnage; much like the people who killed and maimed so many in Boston. They hung around to watch the chaos, carnage and all of the injured people and then took some sort of “delight” in their handy work as expressed by their smirk.

When I think of someone who might create viruses, I picture some fat, anti-social kid with pimples, sitting around in his mother’s basement, in his underwear, trying to figure out some way to “show-em” that he is important, by creating a virus. I think that it is more than that however. While I do think that stereotype might fit some of them, I believe that it goes much deeper than that. (Don’t bully the nerds.. They are people too.)

Since a million or so viruses are written each year, you know that there must be millions of programmers writing them, or at least hundreds of thousands. Some claim that it is the Russian mafia. I was not aware that Russia had a mafia but I guess if we have one, so should they…

There is a practical use for viruses in that they have something called key loggers, that in fact will copy your keystrokes and when certain key words or phrases are caught, the passwords to you bank account and or credit card information are sent off to someone who compiles a list of such numbers, and sells them to the highest bidder.

Some viruses are written in such a way as to replicate when you try to delete them. Just when you think you have your system cleaned, the virus pops up again and does its thing.

Others are time bombs, sitting harmlessly on your machine waiting either for an event or date to activate.

There are far too many to write about but, you get the idea. The only way to be 100% protected from an infection is to never hook your machine to the internet and never put any software on it. Sounds impractical doesn’t it, well, it is!

There are many different anti-virus software packages out there, some cost big dollars, and some amazingly are free!

I plan on looking at this one soon…

First Truth -With anti-virus software, you usually get what you pay for, and if it is free, it is not worth what you paid for it!

While I will admit that free is better than nothing, it is only slightly better.

While no antivirus software is sacrosanct, some are much better than others. The trick is to find one that not only is layered in such a way to handle your basic anti-virus functions but, also takes care of your e-mail; as the largest percentage of infestations come in through e-mail; unless of course you are big into porn.

Ok, that was a challenge to find something that I could post..

Yes I know that the internet was made for porn…not really, but that is most probably the reason that the internet took off as it did. Porn is in fact a huge business with lots and lots of dollars spent on it… Another blog for another day.

I have removed viruses from computers that had each of the popular anti-virus software on them. That tells me that there is no silver bullet. How could there be as there are millions of viruses out there are more are created each and every day!

Currently, I am sold on Eset-Node32 www.eset.com Do I still see infected computers that have this, yes, but not near as many as some of the others.

The bottom line here is this; don’t skimp on anti-virus software. If you purchase it, and support the company, and others do as well, than they can afford to keep folks busy searching for new viruses and devising ways to defeat them, as well as improving the product.

Full disclosure, I have no vested interest in ESET. My opinions are my own and are derived from years and years of removing viruses. Tomorrow you may ask me which is the best and I may like Trend or Norton… Today and for the last few years it has been ESET. I often evaluate other brands, as I need to know for myself, so I can feel confident promoting one over the other.

Second Truth- When evaluating software, look for something that has a light footprint.

What do I mean by that? One of the reasons I dumped a trusted anti-virus package is that its footprint was so huge, that I could not use my PC. It actually was worse than having a virus, as the utilization was high and the memory it took to run was astounding! While the pc was kind of protected, it was unusable.

PC magazines and consumer reports are good places to look. I like to talk with the “nerds” at the computer store as they see even more of this than I do. By the way, when I say nerd, I say that with utmost appreciation for them, as I are one albeit and old one, or “seasoned.”

I actually have a favorite virus if you can believe that. Back in the early 80’s someone wrote the “pong” virus modeled after the video game “pong.” How this would work is you would be in WordPerfect just typing away on that miserable blue screen and all of the sudden out of nowhere a “pong ball” would appear. It would start traversing your 13 inch CGA monitor and as it came in contact with one of your characters in your document, the letter, would tumble down to the bottom of the screen. I give them an A for creativity but, as clever as it was, it still destroyed the document as it was un-recoverable.

Could not find a picture of the pong virus so … I like Homer..

Once we networked the PC’s even in the world of DOS, the virus found a home in that once in, it had access to hundreds of computers and servers. When Al Gore invented the internet, (can’t let that crap rest,) now we can infect millions of PC’s; world wide!

Be sensible where you go, don’t open attachments that you are not expecting, get a good anti-virus software and scan your machine every so often. There are many good tools on the market to help as well and that too is another blog for another day.

If your experience is different from mine or you have some experience to share… Comment!

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Space Pollution, a possible niche market for someone with deep pockets

Since this “political football known as sequester” we need someone who wants to tame the new frontier, to “boldly go….” Ok enough..

Calling Bill Gates, or any of you other billionaires out there with nothing to spend your money on…. I have a proposition for you! Read on to hear my plan…

One year ago, in April, we just about lost a $960.000.000 telescope to a defunct Russian spy satellite. Quick thinking on the part of several people managed to save our telescope however; the risk remains and it is not getting better, but worse.

With each and every launch, other “stuff” is left in space to orbit, and slowly fall back to earth. Depending upon the altitude and velocity, it could take weeks, years, decades or centuries for the orbit to decay enough for the earth’s gravity to pull it back down.

The good news is that things fall back to earth often and usually burn up during the re-entry process , falling harmlessly into the ocean or some other body of water, the Canadian Wilderness or the Australian outback. This is just about a verbatim statement from “those who know.” I for one am glad that these things only fall where people aren’t; pretty clever of them to arrange that.

Truth be told, (you know how I like truth) this claim is made because 70% of the earth is covered with water of one kind or another. If you have ever gambled you know that it is all about the odds, which are derived from percentages of one thing or another.

By last estimates there are 23,000 pieces of space junk and about 1500 satellites give or take the dozens that neither country will admit to. That means that there are about 24,500 objects up there with no planned way of removing them safely. I think that we actually have an “end of life” policy created for ours, if the thing is still functional.

The hazards are increasing exponentially with each and every launch and of course should two satellites collide as they did in 2009 at hyper speeds, lots of space junk gets released into orbit. The collision between Iriduim 33 and Kosmos 255 was not the only collision in space. In fact there have been 8 known high speed collisions and several minor collisions. Someone gets paid to keep up with each and every little thing up there. How well do you think they do their job?

As of yet, there are no Universal treaties as to who does what in space; so the problem continues to get worse. The lawmakers are too concerned about anything but what they should be, so don’t look for help from any government.

Along come the visionaries…

Well maybe not these folks…

We need some visionaries to come up with a way to reclaim the space junk. Instead of figuring out ways to make a weapon more precise or more lethal, how about working on this problem before it is totally out of hand?

I actually have an idea that might work. Scientist have proposed building a type of tractor (not like the one on Green Acres) but a “Space Tractor” to snag or deflect an asteroid causing its trajectory to change enough to save the earth.

What if…we tested that theory on some space junk? What if…. we slowed the orbit of some space junk down enough so its orbit would decay at a more rapid rate, and maybe, just maybe with some practice, we could manage where and when it would fall, not using the current Vegas method of science, but real science. Instead of trying to deflect an asteroid first, start out with something small and closer to home like, a defunct satellite. One could actually make a business out of it, and charge Millions! Why does it take a science fiction writer to come up with this stuff? Maybe if the space station has enough mass they could figure out a way to test the theory with it. It is already up there, with a crew and everything!

No, Ok well how about this?

If any of you happen to know Michio Kaku; or the guy that demoted Pluto, or some other notable “scientist,” forward this to them. If you know Bill, give him my best and show this too him but, sell it as the newest form of software development. Someone would have to write the stuff to control this thing, right?. I would love to hear why it would not work or why it is not a good idea. Personally, I think if the nation(s) could focus on something else, other than politics, it would be a good thing. If any of you scientist need any more “out of the box thinking”…call me….phone is write here…waiting….

-Best to you and those that you care about.