Anyone for Seconds?

If you missed my first post, check it here: First post

-Yipppeeee! Someone actually read my blog! Okay, “yipppeeee” doesn’t sound manly, but you get the point. And the fact that everyone was laughing it up as I was telling others that I have a blog didn’t matter. Just that someone actually used up valuable time from their day to read my attempt at a decent blog evokes a “yipppeee”.

-Yes, it’s been a while since my first post. Yes, I am berating myself for starting a blog where I only posted once. Yes, I can’t stop typing yes. But in my defense, I only just received my first comment, so now I’m back in the saddle trying to make my blog stick as a weekly routine. (Tangent: Thanks US for reading, even though I remember one of you saying something along the line of “only teenagers have blogs”. Teen shmeen, I beg to differ. If you want to know the truth about blogging, it all began when tech geeks started keeping opinionated logs of stuff they had seen on the web or programs they had created. Just ask Jorn Barger. So ha! Well, don't really ask him as he is a little out there, but just read the early weblogging credit that wikipedia gives him. And again, ha!)

-Needless to type, a lot has happened. Instead of slogging through the many details, I’ll give a brief overview. I’ve recently entered a fantasy football league with my two brothers-in-law and one of their friends. We had our live draft this past week. I picked up Larry Johnson, quite arguably one of the most sought after running backs in FF (fantasy football). And the rest of my roster doesn’t look half bad. So I guess I will be watching more football than normal trying to keep up with how many points my players earned every week. As if I have time to watch more football. Also, in order to shed some poundage, I signed up for…. (here is the big pause before the riotous laughing begins)… fencing. Yes, I typed right. Fencing. No, I’m not talking a college course on how to erect picket or metal fences. You know, the fast action sword fighting with masks. Hey, it’s an Olympic sport, so there. It’s been an interest of mine for along time, and I finally found a place to learn that is local to my traveling route to work. You wouldn’t believe how many fencing places there are in the northeast region of the U.S.A., but not a one near where I live. So that’s the scoop on new stuff. Moving on….

-The Tech
This section is where I plan on bringing tech news and tips in an easy to comprehend format to the masses. If it gets too boring, then let me know in the comments. I’ve been accused of getting overly excited and forgetting that others are not as interested in technical details as I. But that’s what this section is for. So here goes…

-Cell phones. As if there wasn’t already enough to deal with from the devices that seem to cause the most problems, but yet we can’t now seem to live without. First, some scientists believe that touching a cell phone, whether in use or not, during a lightning storm can cause more injury than without one. Although this apparently has been debunked by other scientists, since someone didn’t do all of their homework. Second, a new report states that when you are driving and cell conversing, your driving skills are equivalent to a drunkard’s. But I can’t believe that’s totally true as I have properly executed a drive and talk with a hands free earpiece and seem to have no problem keeping up with what is going on outside of my windshield. But I digress. What’s interesting is that society seems to only be interested in the cell phone while it is in your possession. But what about if you cell it, pun intended, as in putting it on eBay, or even giving it away to your neighbor’s cousin? One would think that selling it is no big deal. And one would be wrong.

Recently I read that a Morgan Stanley VP sold his Blackberry (a device that supports email, web browsing, faxing, and cell use) on eBay because he wanted a newer model and his old one was still worth a few bucks. So he took the battery out for a while and then sold it. But the unsuspecting buyer had quite a shock when he put a new battery in and found that not a byte of data had been deleted. There was clientele info, emails on pending mergers, and even the VP’s investment account numbers. Hhmmmmm… can someone say cha ching? To top that, in another report security experts bought multiple phone devices, from blackberrys to regular cell phones, that had supposedly had all the data deleted. Yet they were able to retrieve the lost data via tools that can be downloaded from the web. And some of the data they retrieved was disturbing. From bank accounts to social security numbers to private text messages. What’s worse is that the experts also found what appeared to be email messages between two people having an extra-marital affair. Ok, I got to admit that they deserved to be caught. But the point is that it wasn’t too hard to find copious amounts of sensitive private info that in the wrong hands could ruin people’s lives.

So what’s the lesson learned for us? Even if your cell phone only has contact info for three people in it, and that’s all, you still need to brush off the 2 inches of dust from your manual, (if you can even find it) and figure out how to completely erase all of the data. And if you can’t find your manual, or you are still unsure if all the data is deleted, drive a nail through it before recycling it. Don’t give identity thieves even more ways to steal your info; their job is already too easy! Now you may be thinking right now, ‘But Ham, what about the money I could get if I sold my cell?’. Maybe the VP I mentioned above can let you in on a little secret. He only got approx. $15 for his old Blackberry. Definitely not worth it for the trouble he got in. So no dice. Nail it, before you get nailed with identity theft.

-The Gloss: Freeware – software that is free to download and use, usually at your own risk, but not available for redistribution for monetary gain. (The Gloss is a section where I will define a tech word for the non-techies so that they won’t go “Ughhrrouuu?” as much when they are reading my blog)


-The World

Am I missing something? So the Israel and Lebanon clash is over, but Israel is still taking a bad rap for “starting” the war. That’s interesting. Last time I checked, “starting” meant to initiate something, not to defend from attacks. I can’t understand why so many people are saying that Israel started this conflict and have no care for innocent lives. Hmmmm. Let’s see. In 2000, Israel pulled out of their security zones in southern Lebanon which gave Hezbollah, a widely known terrorist group in that region of the world, who is also widely known for their hatred of Israel and the U.S., a self-proclaimed victory. And what did Israel get in return? Hezbollah training Palestinian militants in how to better take down Israeli tanks patrolling the Gaza strip. Flash forward to present day and they have three of their soldiers killed, two others kidnapped, and rockets slammed in their face. Okay, I’ll give the critics leeway and say that I flashed forward over a lot, but that’s because most of it was the same Hezbollah group advancing their terrorist tactics at Israel.

But wait, did I flash forward too much? What about all the suicide bombs day after day, week after week that have occurred for many a year and still do in Israel? How many of the same Anti-Israel critics were screaming about innocent lives then? I guess if you dupe people into believing that they will gain an abundance of heavenly rewards by blowing themselves up in crowded Israelite cities to kill as many of the enemy as possible, then it’s okay. But by gum, you better not let a country use it’s military to defend it’s citizens!!! Disclaimer: For those that may be reading this as a cure for insomnia at 2:00AM and may not be all with it, that was sarcasm.

And now I’m not missing something. In typing my comments above, I won’t overlook the plain fact that there are innocent lives truly being lost and it is at Israel’s hand. It is saddening to hear of the Lebanon citizens that were killed, especially the children. But I keep going back to that word “innocent”. How innocent are the Lebanese? Interestingly enough there are known Hezbollah members that hold governmental positions in Lebanon. Say what? And now, some of the same Lebanon people who were innocent this whole time, (the same innocent people who had no qualms about Hezbollah setting up rocket launch sites in their densely populated areas so if Israel retaliated they would be blamed for murder), are reportedly taking cash from Hezbollah to rebuild their homes. Can you say “I O U”? So I guess Hezbollah has their puppets lined up in case it needs the Lebanon people to act stupid again and say that they don’t know about Hezbollah or have any control over the group in the Lebanon country. Of course in all fairness, it was the Lebanese government who said that they have no control over Hezbollah. But the fact remains that now, all has been brought into the light. If Hezbollah attacks Israel again, unprovoked mind you, then there are no more innocent people. You can’t hold drugs for someone and then say it’s not fair that you were arrested. And you can’t hide a terrorist group and benefit from it and then claim that you are innocent.

Interestingly enough, the Bible does tell of wars and rumors of wars towards the end of time. Freeze! Now before you roll your eyes and close your browser, I’m not saying that the end of the world is going to happen tomorrow because of Hezbollah, Iran, North Korea, etc. Quite the contrary. I don’t believe that anyone will know even the slightest hint of when the world will end and the Lord will return. (Psst. Yes I believe in the Lord and His return. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to thump you with my Bible, but it’s my blog and in the words of Popeye, I ams what I ams, and I ams no more.) I don’t believe in all the hype that some hypocrites spew out such as that the world will end next Friday at 1:35PM and if you send them $100 right now, the operator will send you a case of holy blessed Fresca to sprinkle on your house so that you can be saved from the tumultuous events. Nope, none of that makes sense. I only believe in the Lord and the best we can do is pray about the situation and rely on God to do what He does best… run the world according to His own plan.

-Wow. So that was a long second blog and I delved into some sensitive topics. Oh well. As they say, if you are going to parachute, you have to jump. And jump I did.