Hi everyone
Months ago I sent out an email asking for help raising funds for my daughter's school. Agnon is an incredible experience for her and I am daily amazed at her passion for school as well as how integrated she feels in the community. I am always looking for ways to help them and I think I may have found one. In light of our economic times, it is completely understandable that it is harder to make that decision about purchases and giving.. I was listening o the radio and they talked about a less intrusive more sincere way to fund raise. So, here it is:
If you could download this Causes Toolbar on your browser:
http://www.causes.com/shopping?cause_id=411813
a percentage of your purchases will be donated by the retailers to Agnon on behalf of my little girl. There is no need to actually make a donation because over 1500 companies have agreed to submit a percentage of purchases. This would be so wonderful if everyone could install the browser. The other cool thing is that for every search done with the browser (you could be searching for anything) Causes.com will donate 1 penny. So if 1000 people searched 100 times with the causes toolbar, Agnon would get $1000 from Causes.com. Isn't that cool. No guilt giving.
Please take a moment and download the toolbar
http://www.causes.com/shopping?cause_id=411813
And thanks again.
Charley Bach
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Mom is going to be so pissed
I helped my mother do her taxes this year and last. It is never exactly a fun experience since mom never quite mastered pleasantry. Not that she is an unkind woman bu she is...unkind. Just picture Edith Bunker meets Don Rickles and you've got my mother. Edith Bunker for "forgetting" the amount of her 2008 stimulus check and Don Rickles for being pissed about how that raises her taxes owed.
Did everyone know that the 2008 stimulus checks mailed out to buy stuff were loans based on this year's return? Did everyone realize that what our former commander-in-spliff gave us an advance on our 2009 tax returns but forgot to mention that? For my mother, "forgetting" how much she received last year was going to save her $300. I believe that would constitute as tax fraud if the powers of TurboTax let it fly. Or at least a "pay up sister" moment. Both of which will leave mom ranting about hockey pucks for the next six months.
What makes little sense to me is this: why is working with the government like playing dolls with a 5-year old? No matter how you slice it, they are always right, omit relevant information, and must get their way. I won't get into the vague shroud or shrub that Pres. Bush invoked. He played that one off very nicely don't you think? He is probably at home having a "phew" moment.I think that man tricked the world into thinking that he was an alcohol brain damaged, illiterate, puppet to Vice President Tony Soprano when in reality he was just a pussy who feared confrontation. I'm honestly not sure which is worse. Oh well, Bush, Cheney, Beelzebub... whatever. Mom is going to be so pissed.
Did everyone know that the 2008 stimulus checks mailed out to buy stuff were loans based on this year's return? Did everyone realize that what our former commander-in-spliff gave us an advance on our 2009 tax returns but forgot to mention that? For my mother, "forgetting" how much she received last year was going to save her $300. I believe that would constitute as tax fraud if the powers of TurboTax let it fly. Or at least a "pay up sister" moment. Both of which will leave mom ranting about hockey pucks for the next six months.
What makes little sense to me is this: why is working with the government like playing dolls with a 5-year old? No matter how you slice it, they are always right, omit relevant information, and must get their way. I won't get into the vague shroud or shrub that Pres. Bush invoked. He played that one off very nicely don't you think? He is probably at home having a "phew" moment.I think that man tricked the world into thinking that he was an alcohol brain damaged, illiterate, puppet to Vice President Tony Soprano when in reality he was just a pussy who feared confrontation. I'm honestly not sure which is worse. Oh well, Bush, Cheney, Beelzebub... whatever. Mom is going to be so pissed.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Cleveland radio sucks
Two days ago, I woke up. Not that I've been awake for two days. What I do mean is that two days ago I woke up after spending about 13 hours studying. I had this project that needed to be done and my fellow partners enjoyed meetings. Something about over thinking situations and complaining about it entertained them. And boy-howdy do I enjoy being passive aggressive. We can save that for another day.
I woke up, showered, dressed, and headed for school. I had a PowerPoint presentation to finish. What was the point? My group was going to drastically change it anyways. It was a sunny day. Atypical for Cleveland but the snow on the ground helped put the sunlight into perspective. I turned the key and headed downtown. As I got closer and closer, my mind wandered a bit but then solidified on one salient point: I am really getting pissed. I am becoming the phi of pissed. If you measured the distance from your hip to your ankle then divided that number by the distance between your knee and your ankle; you would get a factor that represented the pain in my ass life seemed to be. At this point, if I were a superhero, I would be the Afro-Semitic Hulk; throwing chicken joints and delis at anyone who wouldn't like me when I was angry. The further from my bed I traveled, the angrier I got. I really thought I was on the verge of true malice towards my fellow man, woman, and fast food establishment. I hated school, I hated life, I even contemplated ordering a high powered slingshot from a white supremacy website. I don't actually know if white power hobbyists use slingshots but if I were inclined to perform hate crimes, I know now my weapon of choice.
Every stoplight has changed anticipating my arrival. Why do I have to do all of this work? My group partners are just some lazy byatches. Then I realized I was listening to NPR. They were talking about rage and self loathing.
Right then and there I decided to change the channel and find something more conducive to peace and tranquility. I am still looking. Cleveland radio sucks.
I woke up, showered, dressed, and headed for school. I had a PowerPoint presentation to finish. What was the point? My group was going to drastically change it anyways. It was a sunny day. Atypical for Cleveland but the snow on the ground helped put the sunlight into perspective. I turned the key and headed downtown. As I got closer and closer, my mind wandered a bit but then solidified on one salient point: I am really getting pissed. I am becoming the phi of pissed. If you measured the distance from your hip to your ankle then divided that number by the distance between your knee and your ankle; you would get a factor that represented the pain in my ass life seemed to be. At this point, if I were a superhero, I would be the Afro-Semitic Hulk; throwing chicken joints and delis at anyone who wouldn't like me when I was angry. The further from my bed I traveled, the angrier I got. I really thought I was on the verge of true malice towards my fellow man, woman, and fast food establishment. I hated school, I hated life, I even contemplated ordering a high powered slingshot from a white supremacy website. I don't actually know if white power hobbyists use slingshots but if I were inclined to perform hate crimes, I know now my weapon of choice.
Every stoplight has changed anticipating my arrival. Why do I have to do all of this work? My group partners are just some lazy byatches. Then I realized I was listening to NPR. They were talking about rage and self loathing.
Right then and there I decided to change the channel and find something more conducive to peace and tranquility. I am still looking. Cleveland radio sucks.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Conficker - Testing and removal
4.2.2009
Yesterday was supposed to be a dark day on the internet. People were standing in lines buying blank CDs and blowing up the phones of computer technicians all over Cleveland and the world. But just like the Y2K Bug (remember that?) it appears as though there was nothing really to worry about. Or was there?
Whether the cyber world is going to end or not, it isn't a bad idea to test your machine and make sure you are not infected with the Conficker Worm. If you are infected, it would be a good idea to remove it.
The Conflicker worm also know as the downandup worm gets into your system from a fraudulent Adobe Flash Player request. Typically people on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace get an email asking you to click them to see a video of you. I just got one this morning and the message was even more pathetic. It read, "From Mrs. Edith Mathew, Please open the attachment." Firstly, I do not know Mrs. Edith Mathew. I am sure she is a very nice lady but I would not open an attachment from anyone I do not know.
The interesting thing about getting infected on a social networking site is that the email will come from someone on your friends list. Therefore, people are more likely to click the link and download the update to see a video. Well if you do, you are infected. Then one of the things the worm does is jump into your address book and send the same email to everyone on your list. If only 1 out of 5 people clicks the link for the player update and all of their contacts gets an additional email; it would not be very long before infection resembles a shampoo commercial "and so on and so on..."
Now for the virtual penicillin. These three methods and links are free of charge and from trusted URLs (Microsoft, Symantec, and F Secure.)
How to remove Conficker Worm from Windows based systems
One of the above methods will remove the threat. But make sure that after the worm is removed you install the MS08-067 patch from the Microsoft update web site
Detailed information on removal and the patch installation can be found on the download pages of the products above mentioned.
Yesterday I received many calls from customers thinking they may be infected. I asked them the question of whether they go to social networking sites and whether or not they have seen those emails in their inboxes. So far, they have not. What about you? Do you go to social networking sites? Have you seen those emails? Did you click the link and install the Flash update to view the embarrassing video of you found on the web?
Yesterday was supposed to be a dark day on the internet. People were standing in lines buying blank CDs and blowing up the phones of computer technicians all over Cleveland and the world. But just like the Y2K Bug (remember that?) it appears as though there was nothing really to worry about. Or was there?
Whether the cyber world is going to end or not, it isn't a bad idea to test your machine and make sure you are not infected with the Conficker Worm. If you are infected, it would be a good idea to remove it.
The Conflicker worm also know as the downandup worm gets into your system from a fraudulent Adobe Flash Player request. Typically people on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace get an email asking you to click them to see a video of you. I just got one this morning and the message was even more pathetic. It read, "From Mrs. Edith Mathew, Please open the attachment." Firstly, I do not know Mrs. Edith Mathew. I am sure she is a very nice lady but I would not open an attachment from anyone I do not know.
The interesting thing about getting infected on a social networking site is that the email will come from someone on your friends list. Therefore, people are more likely to click the link and download the update to see a video. Well if you do, you are infected. Then one of the things the worm does is jump into your address book and send the same email to everyone on your list. If only 1 out of 5 people clicks the link for the player update and all of their contacts gets an additional email; it would not be very long before infection resembles a shampoo commercial "and so on and so on..."
Now for the virtual penicillin. These three methods and links are free of charge and from trusted URLs (Microsoft, Symantec, and F Secure.)
How to remove Conficker Worm from Windows based systems
- Download and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
- Download and run the Symantec W32.Downandup Removal Tool
- Download and run the removal tool from F-Secure
One of the above methods will remove the threat. But make sure that after the worm is removed you install the MS08-067 patch from the Microsoft update web site
Detailed information on removal and the patch installation can be found on the download pages of the products above mentioned.
Yesterday I received many calls from customers thinking they may be infected. I asked them the question of whether they go to social networking sites and whether or not they have seen those emails in their inboxes. So far, they have not. What about you? Do you go to social networking sites? Have you seen those emails? Did you click the link and install the Flash update to view the embarrassing video of you found on the web?
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