Yahoo! News - Senate Begins Around-The-Clock Debate on Judges: "'Republicans need to show some backbone,' said David Keating, executive director of Club for Growth, a conservative public advocacy group. 'I'm not sure 30 hours will be enough.' "
And he is right. They will need to fight them not play nice to them.....

Wired News: E-Mail From the Great Beyond
Is it me or does this not make any sense at all. Should you be at peace with all men as Jesus said. Do you need an email from beyond to tell people how you really feel? The time to take care of these things is before you die, not after.

Microsoft Issues Security Patches
Time to update your windows machines... Make sure as these seem to be heavy hitters to me.

GeorgeWBush.com :: W Stuff News Feeds
Added a news feed from the Bush Chaney Campaign. If you want to add one also, just follow the link..

C Languages Knowledge Base - High-TECH Firms Tout Outsourcing As Crucial I try to explain this to people but it never gets heard. I am happy to have a job. My job could go away if this continues...

E-Mail Virus Turns PCs into Spam Machines - Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Got an email that says our private photos? Be afraid, BE VERY AFRAID

The problem with online classes

I have 48 hrs left to take the 10 answers that I got wrong on a test for Object Oriented Programming and explain why the wrong answers are wrong and the right answer is right. If I succed, I will get 1/2 points back for those questions. This will bring my grade for the test up to a C from an F.
I am taking 4 classes, teach part time, and work full time. I know, it is my choice, but as my wife said, that is a lot of work for 1/2 points. I will get 15 points back. It seems like if I knew why it was wrong in the first place, I would not have got it wrong.
I appreciate the efforts of the instructor to let us redeem ourselves. But it reinforces what I have begun to believe about almost all on-line classes. They are self taught. In a face to face class like I teach, a good instructor would say, 'you guys tanked and on some questions, what did I do wrong?" In online classes it was, "you did not study enough, here is more work for you to do."
I have no solution. I am just part of the problem.

Sophos virus analysis: W32/Dafly-B
For the most part I have stoped reporting on viruses here, I was getting too many little pidly ones and they were taking up time I should have been doing homework et. all. That does not mean that I have not been keeping track, just not reporting them. For some reason, even though this one has a bug in its running I have a feeling that it is going to spread. Time will tell, won't it?

Yahoo! News - Daily Choice Turned Deadly: Children Left on Their Own: "Brooklyn prosecutors argue that no matter what, Ms. Brathwaite should not have left her children, 9-year-old Justina Mason and 1-year-old Justin Brathwaite, alone in a basement apartment in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, especially children as young and vulnerable as hers. "
And I would have to agree with them. I do not care how responsible they say that this child was. In the end, a 9 year old does not have the skills to care for a 1 year old unsupervised. On the other hand, the woman does not deserve 16 years in prision for trying to take care of her children's finacial needs. She is going to have to deal with the death of those children and the wrong mistake she made in choosing between them and a job, a choice I would not be sure I would have made differently if I had to make it myself.
Let the critics come out of the high dollar homes and go take care of the children instead of sending her to jail.

I must apologize for not posting much this week, It has been a weird week. I am up in the offfice during the days in a training class, and my usual hours have kinda disapeared so I sleep when I can etc. Any way, all should be back to normal next week.

Student faces suit over key to CD locks | CNET News.com
So let me get this straight.

1. I can stop copy protection from happening by holding down the shift key.
2. A student publishes this informatioin on a web site.
3. It is basic Windows 101.
4. Student gets sued.

And people said the Fox 'Fair and Ballanced' suit was funny.

gods dissolve in the rain - DAWN News from India and Indonesia (2003 #39)I guess that shows you who the real God is!

ZDNet UK - News - Accused port hacker says log files were 'edited'
And I expect that he thinks I will believe him if the tells me that the dog ate his homework too.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
SO what you are telling me is that if I run Linux, or if I hold down the shift key when I insert the CD I can rip all the files of of this new copy protection scheme that they paid big money for.... what is the matter with this picture? [giggle]

NewVirus Information

From Sophos
W32/Gibe-F Windows Worm (Email/Kazar/IRC) low risk
W32/Agobot-AE Windows weak password file shares
Troj/Ircbot-M Windows Backdoor program

From Trend
WORM_MEXER.D seems same as Gibe above.
TROJ_LADMIN.A Backdoor trojan

GeorgeWBush.com :: Official BlogNow here is a blog that may be worth reading. I noticed a lot of blogers with RSS feeds mention the democratic canidates blogs all the time. I wonder if they will mention this one at all.

Yahoo! News - 'Do Not Call' List Can Proceed, Court Says: "WASHINGTON/DENVER (Reuters) - Telemarketers may not dial the 51 million phone numbers on the national 'do not call' registry while a U.S. appeals court decides whether their free-speech rights are being violated, the court said on Tuesday. "
Why is this a free speech issue? Who pays for the phone going into my house. Why do you have a right to invade my property? Sorry that one does not wash!

SOX WIN It may yet be the end of the world yet! Or at least the sports world. Red Sox up against the evil Yankees tomorrow night. Meanwhile, tonight The cubs take on the Marlins. Could it be the curse of the bambino is broken. Could we see a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Time will tell.

Jogger
Not as nice a tool as Blogger, but if you want to get your feet wet with things, this may be a way to learn some blog techiques. Of course you must be using Jabber in some way shape or form.

Yahoo! News - Cubs End 95 Years of Playoff Frustration
Could we possibly have a rare occurs. Could the Cubs face the red Sox (my team) in the world series. Yup. Of couse the world could end tomorrow also.

You are Romans.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
This is more me.

Athena


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla
Not that I beliive this stuff mind you!

Yahoo! News - Groups Unveil Anti-Schwarzenegger Ads
Where were all these stories a month ago.. dang, people are desperate in California

Virus News seems to have died for a while but now seems to be back with a vengence. Or maybe because I get RSS feeds from Sophos and Trend I can keep track of them. Most appear low risk, but do not take low risk to mean no risk. Practice safe Hex.

New From Sophos
Troj/Hackarmy-A (IRC Backdoor)

New From Trend
HKTL_MRC.A (users of DameWare Mini Remote Control )
TROJ_ZAB.A (Linux)
TROJ_LEMIR.E (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP)
DDOS_KEKE.A (DDoS Tool Windows)
TROJ_ISTBAR.A Internet Explorer (IE) toolbar Payload 1: Changes Internet Explorer startup page Payload 2: Adds adult-oriented links in the Favorites folder Payload 3: Modifies Files Downloads several softwares/utilities
VBS_VAGS.A (low risk high destruction) Payload 1: Clears desktop of all icons and hides icons Trigger Condition 1: When the current system date is set at September 19 Payload 2: Overwrites files Trigger Condition 1: When the current system date is set at September 19
TROJ_LEMIR.F(password stealer for game)
TROJ_VARDO.A
WORM_AGOBOT.AD (weak passwords allow it in, kills antivirus and firewall software running)
WORM_OPASERV.AD

Another new one:
WORM_DELFER.A RISK:LOW Buggy code

Do you really own your PC? | CNET News.com

From rend Micro These new viruses
vbs-taber.a risk:low
vbs-riosys.a risk:low
v97m_riosys.a risk:low word macro)
bkdr_graybird.g risk:low
scythe.d risk medium master book record infector (een a while to see one of those)
bjdr_sdbot.y risk:low
XF_SIC.A (also reporte below from Sophhos) risk low Information on the Macro
Payloads
When an infected document is accessed at exactly 11:30 AM, this macro virus displays the character string:
>?.
When an infected document is accessed at exactly 5:00 PM, it displays the following characters:
!?.
Other Details
This virus may cause the following string to be displayed on the Microsoft Excel status bar:
!!!!

BKDR_SDBOT.AX risk:low
W97M_SHORE.I risk:low (Word 95/97)
HIGHLANDER.Z risk:low (executable file virus infects com files)

Update the signatures.

New Virus as of 5:12 AM today:
XF97/Wisab-A
XF97/Wisab-A spreads using a Formula Sheet called XL4Test5. The virus creates a file in the XLSTART directory called BOOK1.
Information from Sophos

OpenOffice.org
Open Office has new release. Want to download and see what is new, but afraid I will just be able to download it. Way too much work to do. This feature looks nice

OpenOffice.org 1.1 introduces the one-click PDF export feature that enables you to easily create PDF files without the need for any additional third party software. This feature makes exchanging documents in a standard "read-only" file format a trivial task. The creation of PDF files normally requires relatively expensive third party add-on tools. With OpenOffice.org this feature comes for free.

And another feature:

OpenOffice.org now can export presentations and drawings to the Macromedia Flash format (.swf). Thus, it's now possible to view presentations in a simple web browser that has the Flash plugin installed. Recipients and users of Flash presentations don't have to install a special viewer anymore in order to view a presentation.

Complete list of features http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/1.1/features-text.html

Top 10 Viruses for the month of August 2003 according to Sophos
Position       Last month       Virus                Percentage of reports
1                   New                W32/Gibe-F         23.5%
2                      9                   W32/Dumaru-A    18.1%
3                      4                   W32/Mimail-A       15.0%
4                      1                   W32/Sobig-F        5.6%
5                      3                   W32/Nachi-A       5.5%
6                      10                 W32/Sobig-A       4.4%
7                         7                 W32/Bugbear-B   2.9%
8=                      6                   W32/Klez-H           2.7%
8=                      2                   W32/Blaster-A       2.7%
10                   Re-entry          W32/Parite-B          1.3%

Others 18.3%

MIT OpenCourseWare | OCW Home
What is that, you say you want to go to MIT but you can not afford it, then let MIT come to you for free.

New Virus to look to watch out for:
W32/DurmaruW32/Dumaru-E Type Win32 worm

InfoWorld: Worms sent via IM pose serious, growing threat: September 26, 2003: By : Security: "Virulent new worms that exploit vulnerable instant messaging (IM) clients and could infect hundreds of thousands of computers in seconds are a real threat for Internet users worldwide, according to security researchers from Symantec. "
Usually I think that Symantec is blowing smoke, but I think this one is set to be the next big worm generators. Though I do not like the IM companies closing down their programs and forcing me to have one for each one, I see where they need to.

The ability of hackers to grab a user's buddy list also gives IM worms the potential to be more virulent than predecessors like Code Red, Slammer or Blaster, which spread over the Internet rather than over IM networks, Chien said.

Unlike those worms, IM worms do not need to scan the Internet for the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of vulnerable systems to infect, a process that greatly slows the spread of traditional worms. Instead, IM worms simply use the infected user's buddy list to find new targets.

Even with a scenario in which the buddy lists of infected and target machines were identical except for just one IM user, an IM worm could infect 500,000 machines in just 31 seconds, Chien and Hindocha showed.

Scary!

InfoWorld: Juvenile arrested for creating Blaster variant: September 26, 2003: By : Security: "Another person has been arrested in relation to the Blaster worm that infected computers worldwide last month. This time the individual is a juvenile, prosecutors in Seattle said Friday, which in the U.S. typically means under the age of 18."
Glad to see this is being taken more and more seriously by law enforcement.

Donuts With Dad - You know sometimes it is the little things that make a difference to a child. For two weeks Annie has been reminding me that today was Donuts with Dad day at school. It was not much, just donuts and either juice or milk. Annie and Israel were accompanied by me, their daddy. They loved it, and it was nice to see other daddies taking part in their children's life. What was sad was the amount of kids with no dad there, or making excuses why their dad/father figure could not be there. I had 2 hrs sleep at most, and a minor crisis at work that I got woke up to take care of, but you know what, my kids are important.
It made me think of a blog entry I saw where a person who is about to have a kid asked people what to look for in day care. One person replied, well, why have a kid if you are not going to take care of them and enjoy them. You do not have children to give them to someone else to raise.

New Virsues to look out for:
W32/Randex-G in wild not wide spread.

nntp//rss
I have just started playing with this and the jury is still out for me about it. Anyone out there had expereince with it and want to talk about it to me. drbobm at yahoo dot com

New Viruses listings
troj_delsha.d Risk - low
bkdoor_ciadoor.a Risk: low
bat_womaniz.d Risk: low
irc_womaniz.d Risk: low
bkdr_womaniz.d Risk: low
Above 3 are tied together
w97m_goodday.a risk: low. personal note: it could be something to look for if you have older versions of Word
troj_mimail.b risk: low
worm_mimail.b risk:low (cannot self propergate)
html_mimail.gen risk: low
Above 3 appear to be related
Keep your signatures up to date folks.

New Virus Information
Troj_madtol.a risk:low
Bkdr_Delf.cv risk:low
Keep the signature databes up to date.

Oklahoma highway blocked by 800 baby pigs: "OKLAHOMA CITY, Sep. 22 - Interstate 40, the main east-west highway in Oklahoma, was closed for several hours Thursday when about 800 baby pigs spilled on to the road after the truck transporting them overturned, police said Friday. "
Talk about clogged arteries.....(sorry could not resist).

How Much is Inside a Sharpie? - Part 1
And I thought that I needed a life....

For my one or two readers that are expecting more from me, 5 weeks ago I started my latest semester at RSU Online University. Being online it takes more time and being full time (4 classes) takes even more. So little time to blog at all. I will try to post when I have a moment or two, but things can not improve much I am sure. See you on line soon.

Microsoft Warns of New Critical Hole in Windows | Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News CoverageWhere do you want your data to go today?

The brazen airport computer theft that has Australia's anti-terror fighters up in arms - smh.com.au
I once taught a class about computers and as part of the class I mentioned that if I can touch a computer I can hack it. I also taught that a computer is as secure as the system that protects it. Well guess what? This article proves my point. Got to love it.

BibleOutlines
Excellant source of Bible Study outlines. I may not agree with 100% of what he says, but thank him for the exsistance of them and the availabilty of them. Thanks.

God in the console

Christian game developers seek to put God in the machine, while thinkers like Thomas and Clark say that the notion of God is already there. Differing opinions, but both hold a core belief: A game’s influence doesn’t end when you turn off the console.

While not a gamer, my older children are. I have not thought of the God that exsist in almost all the games that they play. An interesting article.

Dangerous new variant of Sobig family spreading
New variation of So-Big out, time to watch your email for anyting with scr extension if it has it, ignore it.

New MSBlast variant plugs hole | CNET News.com
I do not care how good the intention is, the problem with something like this, well, it puts something on my computer I did not ask for. That is wrong.

Before the power went out and After Interesting the pockets of light there are. I also did not know you could see state outlines from up in outer space.....

Surfing the Net with Kids: Blogging Tools
Nice review of Blogs and using them with kids.

The Blackout
Facinating site. Too bad some idiots want to make political statements out of just fun pictures.

PyGE Home Page
This has to be one of the most exciting finds that I have found. The collection of Project Gutenberg is avialblae to download and easily read on your computer through three programs. Check it out.

What You Should Know About the Blaster Worm
Hey, did you get it? If you did check out how to get rid of it! Thank you Microsoft, I think.

News: Users race against worm, variants
Copycats - dang them.

Wired News: Cranky Callers to Target Disney:

"Angry at Disney's plans to sell disposable DVD movies, environmentalists plan to dump their grievances on CEO Michael Eisner in a massive phone protest Wednesday. "

After having read a few news stories and seen the tapes on TV, I am surprised at these people. They seem to think it is ok to let gay people perform sexual activities at Disney "Gay Dyas" in full few of children, but they want the throw away DVDs plan thrown away before it has a chance to work. By the way, this plan was sort of tried once before, with DVDs that would only play a few days and then would have to be requested that they play again. It failed miserably, and I am perdicting these will also.

Slashdot | Win32 Blaster Worm is on the Rise
I do not need to say much about this, it is pretty well known about by now. I got the reboot on my machine last night about midnight, but checking the system several times today has not shown any sign of it. Not sure what is going on...

I have added to the sidebar some BLOGs that I work on. One is one that I started this semester to share class notes with my classmates. If you want to look at what I am studying this semester take a look at My Notes For School

I am not sure why it did not post, but I did hear from my son Thursday night and Friday night at about midnight he and his bride were married. Thanks for your prayers in making it through all this.

I am happy to say that I have heard from my son Gabe. He was no where near the bomb, but the email he had sent me never got to me. To all who offered prayers, thank you.

CNN.com - Transcripts - Bombing at Marriott in Jakarta
My son is to be married this Saturday in Jakarta. Please pray for him and his fiance, they are there as her family is there and we have not heard from him. I will post more information here as I here about it.

WorldNetDaily: Inmate requests 2 extra days in prison:

"According to a report in the Marion Star, Willie Chapman could walk out of Marion Correctional Institute a free man on Aug. 11, but he didn't want to miss the event hosted by the Christian men's ministry. "

Wow, would I do the same that this man is doing. What a statement for him and his stand for Jesus.

Yahoo! News - Microsoft Warns About 'Worm' Virus:

"The worm spreads through e-mail if recipients open an attached zip file — used to condense information so it can move faster over the Internet — then open an HTML file inside the zip file, the bulletin said. "

Keep your updates updated, and practice safe hex. Oh, and keep your antivirus up to date.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Cut down web for digitally deprived
I do not understand why we have had to develop this technology. We have Lynx already. Lynx is a text only browser and their are versions for most operating systems out there. Want to see what your page lookls like to a blind person? Go to the Lynx Website and download it and have a look at the web in a whole new way.

I have put this post off for a couple of days now. I keep finding something else to do so that I can prevent looking at my own mortality.
Monday I put my son on an airplane. By now he is in Jakarta Indonesia, half way around the world, and I am here in Tulsa. When he comes back, though he will still be my blood, he will not be my son. A young lady has taken him away from me in a good way, she will be his wife and he will be a husband. Was he a man before he left, by outward appearances, yes, but to my eyes he was my son. Now he will have another person to go to for advice that he should listen to, another person that gives him a hug when he is down. Gabe and I will no longer share that bond, that belongs to Jemema now.
Am I upset at that, no. Everyone needs to grow and mature and do these things. Anything not moving is dead someone once said. But still, this step in time is a big change for me. I am no longer the young man that I used to be. I am aging, and todays invitation to join AARP in the mail did not help things either.
Gabe, some lessons I may or not have taught you. First one I know I did not teach at all:
When the going gets tough, stay put
It is so tempting when problems come into a marriage to walk away from it. Do not, stick it out as long as you can and then a bit more. There is always some hope. But when you loose that hope, do not do what I did. I lost hope in and ran from God. You know that too well, and for that bad example, I will never be happy in what happened afterwards. Yes I stayed as part of your life, but not like I could have. Trust me, work it out. Do not give your 50%, give it your 110%
Stay true to God
No matter what, God loves you. It may be hard to see some time, but He is there watching over you. He sees what you do, you can not lie to him. I used to tell you that you can lie to me but you cannot lie to God! Know what, you may have thought it was a guilt trip, but in reality, it is a truth that can not be changed. God sees it all. And when things go wrong between you and Mema, and you are tempted to fib, He will know, even if she does not.
I guess that is all the advice I really have.
Jemema, you take good care of him, and more important, the only thing that I can give him that will last, take care of that Morton name. It has been bashed around a bit over the years, but it is still all that can ever give Gabe besides his faith, and though I may have helped him with that, he has kept it going himself when I was weak in mine. Protect his Morton name, and please try not to weaken his faith in God.
Gabe, Jemema is to be your wife, your help-meet. She is to walk beside you so you can protect you, not behind you like a servant. Turn to her for advice as you used to turn to me. But, you are the man, and God's responsibility for her is on your shoulders. You are the one to make the decisions, make them with her guidance, but make them.

I guess I have said enough. I wish I could be there. I love you both. Take care of yourselves and I will see you soon.

Dad

CNN.com - Bob Hope dead at 100 - Jul. 28, 2003
All I can say is "Thanks for the memories"

Freedom Bid in Floating '51 Chevy Truck | Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage:

"But no one remembers anyone attempting the 90-mile crossing of the Florida Straits in a floating flatbed truck with 55-gallon (250-litre) drums strapped to its sides, tires still in place, a propeller attached to its drive shaft and a driver behind the wheel."

I laughed hysterically when I saw this on the countdown tonight. Two things I was sad about:

1. The fact that they blew the Chevy up at the end and sank it to the bottom (saw it on the TV)
2. The fact that one of the most creative attempts to get out of Cuba ever, and they had to go back to Cuba. It is too bad they could not have made an exception in this case.

Headline news from Sky News - BURGERS ARE 'DEVIL'S FOOD':

"'And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so man would live a long and healthy life,' the article reads.

'But Satan created MacDonald's (sic). And MacDonald's brought forth the double cheeseburger. And MacDonald's said to Man, `You want fries with that?'

And Man said, `Supersize them', and Man gained pounds.'"

Love it... too bad people can not take it in the manner that the vicar pulished it ment. Truth with a little bit of humor.

"Hold Up!" : Articles : HEARTLIGHT® Magazine:

"We had driven for 6 or 7 hours on all sorts of highway surfaces. Some of them were smooth and uncluttered. Some of them were full of cracks, holes, lane closures, and traffic re-routing. To my utter amazement, however, we reached the best surface of the day -- freshly resurfaced, perfectly striped, and in perfect condition. There was only one noticeable problem with the surface; we had to drive 20 miles with one lane closed and the speed limit reduced by 20 mph for no apparent reason. There was even a highway patrolman using radar to stop folks who fudged on the speed limit! Traffic backed up as the trucks had a hard time keeping up speed on the hills and all of us had to drive well below what should have been the legal speed limit on the best paved, striped, and shouldered highway of the 1100 mile trip! "

Love it and the comparison to us Christians.

One day when eating lunch with my son Carlos, then an adolescent, I asked him how it was that he was able to maintain his healthy self-esteem. He said he knew he was a good artist, and that one thing kept his self-esteem untouched.
[from"The One Thing" : Articles : HEARTLIGHT® Magazine]
Why is it so hard to find the one thing that we are good at.

CNN.com - Study: Kansas is flatter than pancake - Jul. 21, 2003
Your tax dollars at work. Did we really need to know that Kansas is flat as a pancake.

Vanessa Bryant shouldn’t stand by her man:

" Again, adultery is going to be Bryant’s defense, so his attorneys need Vanessa to go along with it, saying she supports him. Perhaps that’s why he was on the stage, that’s why a press statement by her was released."

You know people who are not Christians should not write about things Christian. Kobe asked forgiveness of his wife and God. To me that is all that matters. Why is this jerk making like this is a big show. She believes in her man, her fallen man, and is forgiving him, and helping him. Was she a victim - YES! Will she stay a victim - NO! She is doing what she can to help herself - forgivness, and to help her man. Did Kobe assult the woman, I do not know, but she has chosen to forgive him, and is standing by him. I think it is great that she is standing by him and forgiving him for what he has done. I know someone that has not forgiven me for what I have not done.

'Naïve' Bookkeeping - Christianity Today Magazine: "Christian Research Institute Accused of 'Naïve' Bookkeeping"
While I respect this man and intelligence, for years I have questioned privately why he would attack other ministries that did not believe like he did (Charasmatic/Word of Faith mostly). I always heard in that still voice inside me, God will take care of it. Well, for the one who has been attacking the others, he has been attacked from within, and found not to be so squeaky clean with his money. I take no pleasure in this, what he did was wrong. I only hope and pray that his message may now be tempered with the fact that he and his ministry have imperfections also.

Well, she finally did it. Annie, my sweet young 6 year old daughter has gotten my UNO crown away from me. She now holds the Morton Family crowns for Chinese Checkers and UNO. I guess I am getting to old to be champion any more (ha-ha). I am sure that one day, I will get these crowns back from her, but till then, she lets me know just who is the champion. Annie, I love you! Even if you are the champion.

I have found a new tool for blogging and will have to see what it does and kick the tires a bit. I found it through Sharp Reader, which I use to read through some RSS feeds once in a while. (RSS feeds are collections of links to stories, blogs, etc). That is how I get the unusual content that I do so many times. This will allows you to blog all your stuff off line (say on a laptop, or just you want to think about it before posting it, and maybe change it).
The program is called w.bloggar and has some WYSIWYG type functions to it so it looks like it would make some things that I do by hand easier. It also allows you to edit templates (the way your blog looks). Give it a try. (OH just found the spell checker... 2 more points!)

Man uses cell phone to ask police to end chase |DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | Latest News
New twist. Hey man, stop the chase, meanwhile I will keep driving. Got to be a case of the gene pool is definitely cleaning itself.

::: XPLANA.COM ::: Exploring how we can learn and teach with technology: "How to Measure Time for Online Activities and Courses"
Being an online student, I found this article quite interesting and explains why I feel at a loss in on line classes many times. I think it should be required reading for all on-line instructors. and since I have been one, I know to some degree what I am saying.

New Scientist:

"A computer program that hijacks the personal computers of ordinary home users in order to pass on pornographic web pages has been discovered by US researchers."

May be time to update the antivirus software, but from what I have read it may not do any good. Most do not have the code to study it yet. Not on a high percentage of machines, but it is on a lot of AOL machines (yuck yuck).

Yahoo! News - Greenspan Says Fed Could Cut Rates Again

I actually watched this on CSPAN2 and understood what he was talking about. Of course I just finished a summer class in Macroeconomics also. The article is kinda whitewashing. Many democrats verbally atacked Mr. Greenspan, and many Rebulicans tried to gloss over the problems. Oh Well. This is where our economy is going.

ZoolLinux Project
Interesting tool. Linux that will boot off a floppy that will allow you to muck around on the HD of a system (not necessarily Linux [read windows]) and maybe fix a down system. Will have to look at it and explore it a little bit more.

My daughter Annie asked me what I was doing the other day, she is 6 going on 16 so she is an exploring girl. I told her I was bloging, and she asked what it meant to blog. Well I told her it is writing stuff for other people to read about. What do you write about? Well I write about stuff that interest me? Like what, she asked, you mean me? Well, yes, people and events that I have an interest in.
So I looked back t my BLOG. It is long on news stories that interest me and the rants that I make about them, and not so long about what goes on in my life.

Annie is my only girl of 4 children that are blood to me (5 if you include CJ my adopted son). People thought that she would wrap me around her finger, but guess what. Though she is close to my heart, she is disciplined. We enjoy a lot of things. But to tell you the truth... she has a crown that I want and I have a crown she wants.

You see we play a lot of games together since I work nights and she and I have a lot of daytime to play games. The scoreboard as it stands now.
UNO © Crown - Dad
Chinese Checkers - Annie

She wants the Uno © crown back from me but I am not giving it up without a fight.

BTW, you know how hard it is to play 3 way Chinese Checkers with a 6 year old girl bent on beating you and a 5 year old boy (Israel) who does not understand the object of the game and moves his pieces randomly? Especially when you need to get your pieces in his slot! Sigh......

Love ya kids!

[Welcome to NewsOK.com - Bomb Hits Indonesia Parliament Building] My son will be leaving for here in two weeks, his fiance is there right now. If you could keep them in your prayers it would be appreciated. This is not a time for unrest, not when a wedding is going on.

Please note the Pill icon in the side bar. If you have Amphetadesk installed and running, click on the pill and you will get my blog added to your copy of Amphetadesk. If you do not have a copy of it, it is a neat way to get information on what is going on in the world, from CNN to me. It is one of the ways that I find information to blog about. There are others as well, but that is the main one. I recomend it, and as you know, if the recomnedation comes from me, the price has to be right "FREE"!

Sales of Christian and gospel music drop 10%:

"'There is no doubt that our music is being pirated at the same levels as every other type of music,' he said. 'We do, however, face a unique paradox. On the one hand, we have the moral argument that stealing music is wrong. On the other, some naively have argued that downloading and sharing gospel music is a type of ministry . . . .'"

Interesting way of looking at things. You see, my thought was that stealing is stealing. If you are swaping the music with other people who are Christians it is stealing. You are taking what does not belong to you under the law. But the music is given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so it all belongs to God any way. This article introduces another thought. Those who share the music with others who are not Christians.

Virus Alert: Worm Uses Own SMTP Engine to Spread
A number of new worms/viruses to look out for here. Upate the Anti-virus programs again, they are on their way.

Garbage Pail Kids make a comeback:

"Long before 'South Park' or 'Beavis and Butt-Head' entertained kids with lowbrow toilet humor, there were the Garbage Pail Kids. Now, the grandfather of gross-out is making a comeback.

After being off the market for 15 years, a new series of the hugely successful stickers that entertained children in the mid-1980s with depictions of bodily functions will be released in August by The Topps Co."

It is too bad that they could let a bad idea lay to rest. I never thought the idea for these cards were all that good and I still do not. The article tries to compare GBK and Spoungebob Squarepants. Not sure that I see the similarity. Now, the comparison to Jackass, that is apt.

[GGSearch] While I probaly will not use the add-ons that he is offering too much, I tend to never pass up a chance for 2 things. 1) Helping a fellow blogger get his blog known (wish others would do the same for me) and 2) Free software. By linking to this blog, the author will let you download an add-on for his excellant Google search tool. I have used it in various incantaions for a while now and found it helpful. His blog seems like many of our blogs, things that interest us and we hope will interest others. Give it a check out.

'Jackass' imitation burns boy

A 10-year-old Glendale boy was seriously burned Thursday afternoon when an older friend set him on fire to re- enact a scene from Jackass: The Movie, authorities said.
The unidentified boy asked a 14-year-old friend to douse him with charcoal fluid and set him ablaze with a lighter at a home on North 62nd Avenue, just south of Bethany Home Road.

When older teens who should know better do this stunts, I say, well, the gene pool is cleaning itself out again. But this is a crime. A 10 year old lighting himself on fire. Aided by a 14 year old. Where were the parents? Personally I think MTV should take a look at what they have done, and then pull the show and pull all copppies of the movie out there that they can. Furthermore, they should not have done it in the first place. Viacom/CBS/MTV networks need to be sued for every one of these stunts that kids try to pull, discalimer or no disclaimer.
Well that is my $.02 worth for today.

USATODAY.com - American facilities wait for news of cuts: "Three aircraft-overhaul bases. American's fleet is shrinking from its 2001 peak of 910 jets to about 760 by next summer. The big Tulsa base would be nearly impossible to replace. And Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief says he met recently with American CEO Gerard Arpey and was told 'not to worry' about the base in American's hometown."
This is good news for us in Tulsa, but not for the other cities. Hopefully my brothers-in-law will be ok in the end.

Husband Shopping Center

A Husband Shopping Center has opened in Atlanta where a woman can go to
choose from among many men to be her husband.

It is laid out in five floors with the men increasing in positive attributes as you ascend.
However, there is a catch.
You're only allowed in once.

Once you open the door to any floor you must choose a man from that floor.
If you go up a floor you can't go back down except to exit the building.
So, a woman goes to the shopping center to find a husband.
On the first floor the sign on the door says:

Floor 1:

These men have jobs and love kids.

The woman reads the sign. "Well, that's better than not having jobs, or not loving kids, but I wonder
what's further up?"

So up she goes.

The second floor sign says:

Floor 2:

These men have high-paying jobs, love kids, and are extremely good-looking.
"Hmmm, better," says the woman. "But I wonder what's further up?"

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3:

These men have high-paying jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking, and
help with the housework. "Wow," says the woman, "very tempting. BUT, there's more further up!"

And so again, she goes up.

On the fourth floor the sign reads:

Floor 4:

These men have high-paying jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking,
help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

"Oh, mercy me." (That's how women talk in Georgia) "But just think, what
must be awaiting me further up?" So up to the fifth floor she goes.

The sign on that door says:

Floor 5:

This floor is just to prove that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping & have a nice day!

Mirror.co.uk - Male infertility can be passed on to children
I found the headline to be funny and so I had to check it out. Here is a quote:

A technique that allows infertile men to have children can transfer the cause of the problem to their children but it doesnot generate any new genetic defects, scientists say.

ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) is a treatment for male infertility in which a single sperm is injected into the egg. It has enabled menwith low sperm counts or poor quality sperm to father children.

So what the article says but does not really say (read between the lines) is that when we play God, we do not do a very good job of it! Think about it.

National Do Not Call Registry

Go there, register, get less calls. Do it before you forget.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Proof positive that a cell phone and a car are a dangerous combination, even when they are hands free!

SourceForge.net: Project Info - Hail - The PHP Hotmail Client
An interesting program. Allows you to view your hotmail with out having to be at their site and put up with annoying Ads and all. Visit the home site to take a look at it yourself.

SourceForge.net: Project Info - Pascal Compiler
This is interesting to me, as I learned Pascal as my first real programing language. (I self taught myself Basic but only enough to make certain games work and did not really know what I was doing). I thought Pascal was dead, but I guess it is making a comeback of sorts.

Wired News: Orrin Hatch: Software Pirate?

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) suggested Tuesday that people who download copyright materials from the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed.
But Hatch himself is using unlicensed software on his official website, which presumably would qualify his computer to be smoked by the system he proposes.

One must really be careful what they say in a public place, mustn't they.

Wired News: E-Mail Mob Takes Manhattan

The mob that gathered in Manhattan on Tuesday night was looking for something they referred to (without explanation) as a "Love Rug." Or at least that's what the couple of hundred people who gathered in Macy's department store told a bemused salesman, who may or may not have believed he was dealing with a commune of carpet-craving eccentrics.

And People Say I AM Weird!

Ananova: Reality TV survival show ship runs aground

Fiana Fail member of the Irish parliament Barry Andrews said: "I believe the grounding shows that so-called reality television has gone too far, with people being asked to carry out challenges that are too dangerous."

I personaly think the shows are stupid, but if stuff like this will get them off the air quicker, let them happen (without any loss of life of course).

[Yahoo! News - Pen Pals Send Chain Letters Via Bottle]

And I though Chain Letters were illegal.

[Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Children who 'can't live without' constant TV]

Kam Atwal, the research manager, said: "It's the medium they spend the most time with, by far. It's the one they can't live without. The children in our study couldn't imagine life without it. Some were amazed that turning off the television might be a consideration."

We have gone 20 min. into the future.... (For those who do not get it, find an old Max Headroom episode).

FaithLinks
Looks like interesting site, will have to follow up on it.