Those Aggravating Ads on the Internet

Advertisers are constantly looking for ways to push unwanted ads into our faces while we surf the 'net.

First came the banner ads. These are still being pushed into our faces. Some of them just sit there on the web pages, but more and more of them are using flash to blare out their presence. A few of them are extremely obnoxious. Those are usually the ads for dubious products.

Most of us tend to just ignore banner ads, so then the ad makers tried using pop-up ads. This tactic caused another webpage to jump into our faces, obscuring what we really wanted to see. Annoying! A few sites would cause more than one pop-up to populate. This caused a flurry of programmers making applications that would stop pop-ups. For awhile this solved that problem for folks who, like me, were and still are totally turned off by pop-up ads.

Then some clever jerk came up with pop-unders. Grrrrrrrrr! I hate those as well. The pop-up stoppers don't seem to have as much effect on pop-unders, so now we have to disable JavaScript to surf without pop-unders.

The latest ads to get our attention on websites use a method of JavaScript called IntelliTXT. The script finds 'keywords' on the page, double underlines them and when a cursor passes over the keywords an ad pops up, obliterating the content beneath the ad. Since there are no apparent ads on the page when the site is first accessed, this appeals to a lot of advertisers and is being used more and more.

Personally I find this method of shoving ads into my face extremely annoying and furthermore, I'm not the only one that feels this way. While some of the folks on the web using these tactics are just trying to offset the costs of maintaining their sites; others are trying to make a living or at least a decent profit. I can understand that, but the stuff that gets in my face like most of the tactics annoys me enough to leave the sites and not go back. (Another thing that will cause me to leave is sound blasting at me and no way to turn it off, but that is irrelevant to this tale of woe.)

Google Ads do it right. There they are, sitting in plain site. They don't annoy me by jumping in my face or causing an obnoxious pop-up, pop-under or obstruct the content I am trying to view. They explain what they are and if I am interested, I can click on one. I have in fact clicked on them on occasion. I have even ended up making a purchase using a Google Ad.

One thing all of these methods of advertising does, is make revenue for folks who provide the ways to stop these annoyances. Currently I am using a trial of Super Ad Blocker to see how it works. So far I like it. The price is perhaps a little high for what it does, but I may buy it anyway just to stop all those ads from jumping in my face. Super Ad Blocker also includes SuperAntiSpyware, an excellent spyware remover.

This site Sillysot (funny name!) has a little program (Intelli: An Intellitxt link remover)that will just stop the IntelliTXT stuff, but it works best in Firefox. It is supposed to work in Internet Explorer as well, but I couldn't make it work. It doesn't even require installing; you just drag the Intelli to your links bar.

I wonder what the next thing will be in the world of Internet advertising!

Martha

Captain Greg Wallace

Did you get an email from 'Captain Greg Wallace'? I got several of them this past week. I read the first one with some amusement and dismay.

The amusement was because it is just another play on the old Nigerian scam albeit a new version. The dismay because somewhere,
someone, will probably fall for this scam and lose a bunch of money.

The email doesn't ask for money, that no doubt will come as soon as the unwary victim responds to the email. Probably the request will be for 'expenses' or some other falsehood that requires money.

Supposedly the good Captain found a secret hoard while serving in Iraq. Being the good person he is, it was not reported to the
authorities, but was 'secured with a senior United Nation Diplomat in Amsterdam Holland'. He doesn't explain how he managed to get the box to Amsterdam. He's counting on greed to overcome omitting that little detail.

The nice little email is so full of spelling and grammar errors you just know he isn't using a spell check.

I wonder how many people will fall for this scam? I used to think no one would fall for this kind of scam, but I was wrong. PT Barnum
once reportedly said 'There's a sucker born every minute'. Unfortunately this is still true. Don't be one of those suckers, delete those
emails and forget about them.

Martha

Fun With Mice (Not!)

I use a laptop like a desktop. I have limited space for a computer and my laptop with a 17 inch display and keypad work just fine, as long as I can use a mouse. I absolutely despise those touchpads that come with laptops. I have a Microsoft wireless mouse and most of the time it works just great. Today it didn't.

I got the message popup telling me the battery power in my mouse was low. No problem, I just bought a new package of batteries (16) so I proceeded to change the battery. (This mouse uses just one battery.)

It didn't work. I put in a different battery and it still didn't work. I was ready to panic, that keypad was giving me fits! I tried another battery, still no mouse! I searched and found an old wired USB mouse and hooked it up. It moved sooooo slooow! The wire kept getting in the way. Ick! Maybe I just need a new mouse.

I decided to see if maybe I should find new drivers. Yep, new updated drivers were available. So I downloaded the new drivers and installed them. I disconnected the old wired mouse and hooked up the wireless mouse. Nothing doing, it didn't work.

I don't give up easily as most of my family and friends know. I tried yet another battery and lo and behold it worked.

By now I'm rather unhappy that I have a package of sixteen batteries that seem to be a bit old. Two of them didn't work and that is not good! These batteries weren't cheapies either.

So, OK, that's life. I noticed a new icon on my desktop for Microsoft Mouse and I check it out. Oh boy I can customize this mouse! I decide to click that button on the side of the mouse that will magnify stuff and oh boy, was that ever a mistake!

It magnified all right, big time! And clicking that button was supposed to turn the magnification off, but it didn't! I am starting to get dizzy trying to manuever around with this big box following my every mouse move.

So I just did the usual fix for stuff like this. I rebooted and was sure hoping it would work.

Everything is back to normal size now and I am going to forget about 'customizing' my mouse. Sometimes it's best to just leave well enough alone.

My son decided to check those batteries that didn't work. Something fishy going on, the batteries tested OK. I have doubts about that mouse again. I check in the Control Panel, it indicates the battery life is good. But that battery power low message is still poping up, so yes, I think it's time for a new mouse.

Martha

I have a new mouse! It is a Logitech V320 Cordless Optical mouse for notebooks and I just love this little mouse!

BlogSpot Makes You Jump Through Hoops

If you made a complaint to BlogSpot about a thief stealing your Yahoo Groups posts , you probably got in your email what I did. A nicely worded canned response telling us we have to fax our request with a long list of what to include. We can also write the request. Then they will investigate. (One look at the blogs in question would be enough!) In other words, they want us to jump through hoops to get their thieving blog members taken down. They want EACH post where information was compromised! It would take a very long time to provide that! There are thousands of Yahoo posts on those blogs!

It took over two weeks for them to bother with this response. I guess this is what happens when you get too big and don’t really care about the ‘little guys’. In case you didn’t know, BlogSpot, not everyone has access to fax machines!

To date I have identified 21 Yahoo Groups that are being copied to this skunk’s blogs (4). If this makes him enough money by driving surfers to his site he will surely make more blogs and steal from more Yahoo Groups. So if you have a Yahoo Group and you care about protecting your members email addresses and the confidential posts, you have to be on guard. Unless you can identify the thief, Yahoo can’t (or won’t) help you. Unless you have plenty of time and access to a fax machine, BlogSpot won’t help you. Even if you do have time and access to a fax, it will take awhile for BlogSpot to do anything, if in fact they do.

I have always been a fan of Google. I am very disappointed in this side of their operation. They have joined the ranks of companies with disappearing customer service.

You are on your own, Yahoo Groups!

(Don't bother asking me for the thief's blog, I am not sending traffic his way if I can help it.)

Martha
Martha's Web

Update! Hooray at last! The blog is gone! But 3 of 4 are still up. Maybe the Yahoo Groups with their messages being posted to those blogs will act and get them taken down.

Blog Thieves and Why They Steal From Yahoo Groups

There are only two reasons for a blog to steal content from Yahoo Groups.

1. A lazy way to get content to drive traffic to the blog.

2. Greed. Traffic is being driven to the blog for one reason, there are ads on the blog. Ads by Google and other ads. This can 'earn' the blogger money with no further effort on the blogger's part.

Ok, there may be another reason, just to see if they can do it.

However, you can bet the reason is 'too lazy to get legitimate content and greed'.

At the time of this writing, there are at least four blogs exposing at least seventeen Yahoo Groups' private messages for the world to see. Some of them have their email addresses exposed to spam email harvesters. No doubt there are more blogs like this out there, finding them all could be a chore.

I guess BlogSpot thinks these sites are ok and that copying private Yahoo Groups message posts is OK. I say this because many complaints to BlogSpot about DMCA Violation Notice for copyright were ignored by BlogSpot. Either that or no one is monitoring the forms posted for Copyright/Privacy. I would think someone should be monitoring those requests as this is a serious issue and should not have been ignored.
Otherwise take the form down

Yahoo Groups need to be on alert.

No one is looking out for you, Yahoo Groups. Be vigilant!

One more thing, if you find your Yahoo Group is being compromised, look here.

Martha
Martha's Web

No! I Won't Accept Your Invitation!

Lately I see more spam like this;

Hi!
I would like to invite you to visit my Refriendz page and see my latest photos.

In order to visit my space, you must go to:
http://www.refriendz.com/?do=Login.Invite&rid=someone&email=Group@yahoogroups.com (This line edited)

(If this link does not work, please copy and paste it into your browser or go to www.refriendz.com and enter 'someon.sm' (edited)as Invitation ID to Login to the web site.)

P.S. Refriendz is Invitation-Only, so do not miss your chance to visit my page!

Why I would care about visiting a page for someone I don't know is beyond me. I do know this is one way to gather more information about me to sell to spammers. It could be legit, although it is rather dubious.

Some times the invitation is to update some one's 'Birthday list. (My birthday has been the same all my life, don't think anyone who has needs to 'Update') or it could be some other type of invite.

I guess this is a result of all those 'social' websites that are poping up everywhere trying to cash in on the MySpace craze. I can't imagine anyone with a lick of sense actually clicking those links. With all of the malware, phishing and other types of scummy stuff out there, it's a far better thing to just delete this junk.

I suppose this type of stuff appeals to some folks, but no one I know would want it, at least I hope they wouldn't. I hope you won't click it!

Martha

Marketing That Preys on Fear

A lot of people are afraid these days. The reasons are many and real.

Car jackers and road rage are just a few of the things people fear and for good reason. Not a day goes by that someone or maybe several folks are victims of these crimes.
Home Invasions are on the rise, burglars want to take your property bought with your hard earned money and the list goes on and on.
The economy is in the dumper and people are fearful of losing their jobs. Easy credit is now gone and thanks to some really greedy brokers/lenders and some really dumb folks who knew they couldn't afford that expensive new house, the Nation is experiencing a mortgage meltdown and folks are losing their homes. The stock market is in yo yo mode and people are afraid of losing the value in their 401 k funds and other investments. (They have a right to be nervous.)

Health care and medical insurance is way too expensive. If you are lucky enough to have it and there are a lot of folks who don't, your co-payments are higher and the cost of prescription drugs is out of sight.

Enter the fear mongers. Everyday my mailbox is full of this stuff. (Snail mail spam) These are the folks who advertise they can save you by preying on our irrational and sometimes justified fears! They can tell you how to protect your investments, how to play the stock market, which stocks to buy, how to beat the IRS, yada, yada, yada.
They can tell you how to beat cancer and other awful diseases. They can tell you the 'secrets' that will keep you from growing old and keep you looking young.

They will tell you all of their secrets, but not for free. You can buy their expensive (and useless) books! Subscribe to their newsletters! (Not free!) When you receive the books and/or newsletters, read them very carefully. Do they deliver on their promise to give you all those secrets?

Right. The secrets are mostly stuff you should have learned a long time ago, or else the advice given is so ridiculous as to be downright scary!

Along with your paid newsletter subscription will come a lot of other 'free' advice. Just order this stuff and you will really be 'safe'. The only folks really benefiting from all of this extra stuff will be the fear mongers selling it.

The next time you see an offer from someone selling this stuff, read it with a skeptical eye. Do you see any of these phrases? Free Reports! (They aren't free if you have to buy something else to get them.) Super Health Cures! Lose weight fast! Free Cash! Invest with no risk! On and on go the big headlines promising miracles for money, life and who knows what else.

If there really were cures for cancer and diabetes it would be wonderful. It would be all over the news, now wouldn't it? I am rather skeptical about trusting the drug companies, but I don't believe they are hiding cures because they are 'free'. I don't believe the oil companies hid, paid off, or killed to prevent the wonderful invention that got a hundred miles to the gallon from seeing the light of day.

If I were you, I'd throw that stuff where it belongs, in the recycle tub to place on the curb. Tell the fear mongers where to go.

Martha

Internet Content Thieves

Thieves are everywhere, including the Internet.

By now most of us know about identity theft and are aware of all the scams out there. But there is another form of thievery as well, stealing a website or website content.

Webmasters work hard to make their websites. The really good webmasters learn how to program with HTML and write Cascading Style Sheets, commonly know as CSS. They take pictures of the products they sell. They take care to see if the pictures don't take too long to load so their pages will load quickly. They make sure the pages are viewed the same way in all browsers, not just Internet Explorer. This process doesn't happen over night. It takes many days and sometimes nights. Content is king on the Internet and some of us have to really struggle to get that content written. Content needs to be original and not everyone really likes to write. Trial and error is the name of the game until one day they finally get it right. All the hard work pays off at last.

Then one day, someone steals their site. Literally. They steal it by using something called a 'scraper'. It seems there are some folks who decided it would be neat to write a program (which probably consists mainly of scripts) that could capture everything on a website and then post it to another site or blog. These folks offer their site stealing programs for sale and then the inevitable happens.

Someone decided to use a 'scrapper' or something similar on a Yahoo computer help Group with a lot of members, so there is a lot of 'posting' going on. While trying to find a solution to stop this streaming of posts to a blog with the very horrible name of http://how-to-make-a-computer-virus.blogspot.com/ (named no doubt to catch evil surfers). That's when I found out about scrappers or site stealers. Some time back someone on one of my Groups had their site stolen and the wonder was how they managed to do it so completely. Wondering no more, a scrapper was used!

When this article is posted to my blog I am hoping the blog with the scrapper is gone. Complaints have been filed with the bloggers host, BlogSpot, so we will see what happens. In the meantime, everyone of us that has a website/blog has to wonder, 'Will a thief target my site?'

Martha

Caveat Emptor

Read the fine print, always!

Sometimes I get the feeling that 'they are out to get us', 'they' meaning retail or service companies. The old saying 'you get what you pay for' is not always true any more. Sometimes you get a lot less of what you pay for, and I have been reading instances of folks not getting anything they paid for. (I love The Consumerist!)

Recently a major department store had an ad in my newspaper for a mattress sale. (Mattresses are always on sale somewhere.) I don't need a new mattress, but the markdown was big enough to catch my eye. The mattresses were for a major brand and the prices were good, even for this retailer. And of course there was the 'hook', free delivery, setup and haul away of the old mattress listed in large print.

Except one little thing. There was a minimum purchase of $699 for the free delivery, set up and haul away. I found that very interesting. The sale price of a queen size set was $599, double set was $589 and twin sets $549. If you bought a queen set, which is probably the most purchased these days, the delivery was $65 and haul away $40. The only set that would qualify for the free delivery and haul away was a king size set for $999.

I wonder how many people bought one of these sets using a credit card and didn't notice the delivery and haul away charges. I am quite sure the retailer was hoping this would happen. If those folks are like a number of my friends, they carry a balance on their cards and probably just pay the required payments when they are due.

There are a number of retail department stores experiencing low sales these days. I don't suppose they have any idea that legal but deceptive practices like these may just cost them future business.

Martha

Security Risk!

I generally try to stay away from subjects like religion or politics when writing for my website, blog or posting to a list. You can't change people's opinions on these subjects and it is foolish to try. You can also offend some people by a remark that goes against their beliefs.

But this is just too much for me to keep quiet about. I am talking about the poor woman who was humiliated by having to remove her 'nipple' rings before she could board a flight. I have heard a number of stories about bottles being taken away from babies, old ladies being strip searched and a number of other absolutely ridiculous things the TSA has done to hapless passengers, but this one took the cake. If I am wrong, please let me know how a nipple ring can be a security hazard. I really want to know so if there is a nipple ring anywhere in my vicinity I can report it to Homeland Security.

All of this just emphasizes what can happen when you give power to a certain segment of the population. They do these things because they can get away with it. They enjoy humiliating and intimidating people. I think these are the characters that were once school-yard bullies. Now they are airport screener bullies. I believe most of the people who work at being screeners are just doing their jobs as best they can and the few who are bullies are giving all the rest a bad name.

I think the things that we have done to prevent nipple rings, baby bottles and the like from being allowed on commercial flights must have the terrorists laughing.

I am so happy I am not required to fly anymore. I don't go anywhere that I can't go by car. I just hope that one day I don't have to submit to a body search to get in my car to go to the market.

Martha

I Knew Better

Once in a while someone I trust will post something in a Yahoo Group or blog and I take it for gospel. I shouldn't do that, because some things they post are really not what a user should do.

I won't mention any names, but there was a recent post/blog about getting ready for Vista that said I should go ahead and install the drivers that Windows update says I need. The message went on to say that although the writer ordinarily advised against installing drivers from Windows update, this is an exception.

So, thinking that this must be OK, I installed the driver for my graphics card that Windows update said is available and re-booted.

OMG! I have ruined my computer! The display is (and there is no other word to describe it) horrible! No amount of tweaking, changing settings, helps! This is a disaster! It looks worse than Safe-Mode!

Then I remembered System Restore. So I restored the computer to the day before and now everything is back the way it should be.

If I have to install those drivers that Windows update says I need before I can install Vista SP1, then it just isn't going to happen. Vista SP1 will not be installed. Besides from what I have read, it will fix things that don't need fixing on my computer. Hibernation works just fine along with everything else that supposedly needs fixing.

I am hoping that Microsoft will 'fix' SP1 to work with my drivers, especially if one day I see the dreaded message on Windows Update "You must have SP1 installed to update Vista".

In the meantime I'm going to find out what version my video card driver uses, and download it it for safe keeping.

Another lesson learned. I did know better, but I did it anyway. Thank you, Microsoft, for System Restore!

Martha

Nag, Nag, Nag

Last month I wrote about a magazine that keeps nagging me to re-subscribe. If this was just an isolated problem it wouldn't be so bad, but all my magazines are doing the same thing to a certain extent. Not as bad as Money, but they are wanting me to 'renew NOW'.

I keep a spreadsheet to let me know just when my subscriptions expire as I do tend to be a tad forgetful. Since I am sorta forgetful, I guess the magazine people must know that, but a reminder eight months before the expire date is a bit much.

The letters, cards and covers are all telling me I need to 'renew NOW'. If I don't 'renew NOW', I am going to miss out by not receiving every issue. I won't save money by not renewing 'NOW'.

News Flash! I will save more money by not renewing at all. (Maybe that will stop the nagging!)

I think every magazine there is wants me to subscribe as I am getting all these offers for 'Professional' rates. If I did take them up, I suspect I would start getting the letters to 'renew NOW'. No thanks, I will pass.

Magazines are not the only businesses that want me to 'renew NOW'. At least once a month I get a letter from a warranty company wanting me to renew my warranty on my car before it expires. (It actually expired three years ago.) Since my car is now officially five years old it might need some repairs one of these days. But I don't drive much any more (gas is so expensive!) and the car has less than 40,000 miles on it, so I am not going to renew the warranty 'NOW'. (Or ever.) If those repairs get too costly, well, I like new cars and they come with a warranty.

I guess all of these 'renew NOW' cards and letters are helping the Post Office pay their bills.

I can read just about everything I need to know on the Internet. I will save money and be 'Green' at the same time. The recycle bin will be less heavy when I push it to the curb. I am so excited! I can buy more software with all the money I will save by not renewing 'NOW'!

That will teach those 'renew NOW' folks not to be such a nag! (Just think of the postage they will save when they finally quit nagging me!)

Martha

Mr. Modem

Since Dr. Bombay did his disappearing act, he has been replaced with Mr. Modem. (Catchy name!) Mr. Modem is much nicer than Dr. Bombay, but not as much fun to read.

Mr.Modem has a website with lots of goodies. He has a search-able library full of computer tips, questions and answers. He has a page with his favorite links, lots of links. He has a CD which has "more than 1400 of Mr. Modem's favorite Web sites -- the best the Internet has to offer".

He also has a weekly newsletter that sounds like a real help for users who need help. It isn't free, but the sample shows it to be quite comprehensive.

In the column for Mr Modem that appears in the newspaper, he also answers questions and provides a few websites to visit in Mr Modem's Sites of the Week.

While Mr. Modem's column is informative for the average user and easier to read, I have to admit, it isn't as much fun as Dr. Bombay Computer MD. I think sometimes I have an ornery streak!

Martha

Whatever Happened to Dr Bombay, Computer MD?

Last year Dr Bombay just disappeared. No one seems to know where he went. For those who don't know about Dr. Bombay, let me explain. He was a very sarcastic, hateful and knowledgeable computer columnist in my newspaper! When someone asked a question, Dr Bombay would answer in terms that surely made the questioner wish he/she hadn't asked! But the answers were just about always right to the point and they were just about always right. He showed no mercy to hapless users that failed to make backups and lost their data or to users that lost data due to virus, worms or spyware making their computers useless.

He had a column in the paper every Thursday and I really looked forward to that column. (I have a warped sense of humor sometimes.) I just waited for the time when in his sarcastic words he slipped up and gave a wrong answer. Didn't happen though.

When the Thursday came that no longer had Dr. Bombay's column, everyone wondered where he went. The newspaper didn't seem to know. They reported he just left and no one knew where or why. So if anyone there knew, they weren't telling.

Google searches for Dr Bombay are in vain. There are thousands of hits, but they go nowhere. They mostly go to 'Page not found' or other disappointing places. A lot of them go to well known websites, but usually to a page no longer there. There are tons of hits for the Fort Worth Star Telegram (my newspaper) but even those go to dead ends. I did find one page that contained some of Dr Bombay's pithy answers. If you want to, you can view some of Dr Bombay's pithy answers.

Dr Bombay had a website, The Bombay Institute, and it also disappeared, . His website had the archives for his column in the newspaper. I had it bookmarked, but it goes to someplace else now. My guess is when he left and didn't renew his domain, someone else bought it for the page rank.

I like to think Dr Bombay is somewhere out there in cyberspace chortling at the mis-information being given to frazzeled computer users. (There is a lot of that happening!) I feel bad about all that mis-information, but I really have to wonder what kind of sarcastic remarks Dr. Bombay would have made about Vista!

If you know what happened to Dr. Bombay, please let me know!

Martha

Thought About Vista

By now, unless you have been living on a dessert island, you've heard all about Vista. Most of what you have heard is probably not too good. But what is the real truth? Is Vista bad? Is Vista good? Is it better than Windows XP?
From my prospective, here is what I think.

It depends.
It depends on whether or not a user upgraded to Vista over another version of Windows, generally Windows XP.

There are so many variables with upgrading it would be impossible to cover all the senarios. How old was the computer? What kind of video card did it have? (I've seen a lot of problems due to video cards) Is there a new driver that is for Vista for the card?
It depends maybe on what version of Vista was used for the upgrade. This may be stretching a bit and I have no way of knowing if this could be a factor. I think if someone had a good computer running Windows XP, the old saying 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' would have been good advice.

A whole lot of users bought a new computer with Vista installed. They don't like it for any number of reasons. A lot of the gripes are about external hardware like printers or scanners that won't work with Vista. While this may come as a big surprise to some folks, the same thing happened when Windows XP was new. Everyone blames Microsoft for printers, scanners, etc. that won't work with Vista. Microsoft does not sell printers or scanners. Microsoft sells software. Printer and scanner makers write drivers to make their products work. If they don't see fit to write a Vista-compatible driver for their older products, this is probably not Microsoft's fault. Microsoft was supposed to have let all of these folks know what is needed to make those older products work, but the makers of printers and scanners want customers to buy new products so they didn't write new drivers for old products.

Another gripe about Vista is a lot of older software does not work with Vista. (The same thing happened when Windows XP was new.) Some users are complaining that Vista is too slow. There are a number of reasons why this may be happening. Older software that does run, but was not written for Vista could be causing the slowdown. Too many resource hungry programs running in the background can slow any computer down. Since I am not a hardware person I don't really know if there are any hardware configurations that could cause Vista to run slow, but it seems to me that could be a possibility. I do know that no two computers are exactly alike. Two seemingly identical computers can in fact work very differently and over time, one can be running like a top and the other running like a slug.

Perhaps one of the biggest grips is the UAC (User Access Control), one of the biggest security features in Vista. Most of the so-called experts just turn it off and thus remove the security for Vista.

My experience with Vista is pretty good. I absolutely hated it at first, but once I found my way around and discovered how to be 'the boss', I like Vista. There are some things I don't like, Internet Explorer for one and the buggy Windows Mail, but since I use Firefox to web browse and Outlook 2007 for email, those things don't bother me much. However I do think Microsoft made a huge mistake with the changes they made from Outlook Express to Windows Mail (it's buggy). Microsoft chose not fix the bugs in Windows Mail and gave users the option to download Windows Live Mail. My experience with Windows Live Mail was no better than Windows Mail. (Why oh why does Microsoft give some of their products such similar names?) Mozilla's Thunderbird probably has gained a lot of users.

Martha
Martha's Web

How Many Hours are There in a Day?

For a whole lot of folks there are not enough hours in a day and for another bunch there are too many.

Normally there are 24 hours in a day, except twice a year. The first time a day doesn't have 24 hours is in the late Winter/early Spring, when the so-called day has 23 hours. Then late in the Fall/early Winter there is a so-called day with 25 hours. The powers that be change the actual dates this happens and who knows when they will change the dates again. When we change our clocks for the exact dates and times. (You probably thought it was the same down through the years, but no, it wasn't!)

It seems that many years ago, in 1784 to be exact, good ole Ben Franklin wrote a fanciful essay about saving daylight. It was surely written in jest and no one at the time really took it seriously. The people back then seemed to be more endowed with 'common sense'!

Then in 1916, in an effort to save energy resources, it was decided to actually implement the farce known as 'Daylight Saving Time'. Perhaps it did save some energy, but the amount of energy saved surely did not compensate for the effect of changing the time on the population. Losing an hour of sleep once a year may not seem like such a big deal, but statistics show there are more traffic accidents on the Monday following the 'Spring forward' event. In today's fast paced world most people don't get enough sleep as it is and taking a precious hour of slumber away is tantamount to a criminal act. Not to mention all of the aggravation!

A recent study published by Consumer Reports indicates that Daylight Saving Time is actually costing us more money! While we may be saving the cost of lighting, air conditioning and heating cost us more due to the time changes.

However, I doubt the powers that be that make the decisions will even look at the statistics showing the actual cost and will continue to make the population suffer through losing sleep one day a year.

Martha

The Comics

I can remember when I was a kid (even though it was a long time ago!) I loved comic books. I don't read comic books any more, but I do read the comics in the newspaper. I don't read all of them though, because I just don't find some of them very funny and some are just silly, not funny.

My newspaper is always trying changes with the comic strips, removing some and adding others. I just wish they would leave them alone. Most of the time they do a fair job, but sometimes they make changes I don't like, such as when they stopped printing one of my very favorites, Cathy, along with others and added some strips I just don't read because they are either not funny, just too silly or I can't get 'into' them. They move the strips around too. Dilbert is now in the 'Work & Money' section. Mallard Filmore and Doonesbury are on the Editorial page. (They had to make room for some of the not so funny newcomers.)

I think my sense of humor is starting to warp. There is one new strip that is silly, not always funny and I don't always 'get it', but I love it! It's The Piranha Club.

I have several favorites, Pickles, Dilbert, the Pajama Diaries, but my very favorite is Better or Worse.

I discovered I can get most of my favorite daily comic strips on my Google Home page. Now I can read old favorites that disappeared from the local paper. I would have preferred to read them in the paper, but reading them online is pretty cool.

Martha

Sentimental Journey

I suspect that most people my age have a place where many photographs are stored. I wonder how often they take those memories out of their hiding places and look at them. For me, not very often. The reasons are many; not enough time or other things take precedence.

Recently I started thinking about my memories on paper and decided to go through all of those hundreds of photos. A fire that destroyed someone else's paper treasures made me think I should scan my photos and store them someplace safe, like a bank safe deposit box. But as I started looking at those photos a terrible thing happened. I realized there were so many of people whose names I can't remember! So many places I can't really recall. They look familiar but try as I might, the names just don't come back. Why oh why didn't I take the time to write names and dates on the backs of those photos!

The color photos have mostly faded, a great many to the point that scanning and editing won't really help. This is probably due to the fact I am not expert at bringing old photos to life. I am going to try, but I don't hold out much hope. A great many were made with a Polaroid camera and some of those haven't stood the test of time too well.

Hundreds and hundreds of photos, maybe thousands! Albums and boxes of photos! What I really need to do is sort them into 'times' to make it easier to find that certain memory.

One of the disturbing things about looking at those photos is comparing 'then and now'. I see how young we all looked and then how we look now. I think I will have to stop looking at photos or stop looking in the mirror! But the saddest part of all is seeing the faces of those family members and friends no longer here. But I realize how fortunate I am to have these precious memories and now I have to work to preserve them. I suspect after I am gone, no one will really care about these captures from the past. But if a disaster occurs while I am here, I will surely be glad to have my memories safely stored away where they can be retrieved.

So now I have sorted enough and have started the scanning process. This is going to take a long time, weeks, months, maybe years! So guess I'd better get to work.

Martha

WARNING!

When you receive something in the mail that proclaims in big letters 'Warning!', you tend to check it out. So when I received a letter a few months ago with this 'warning' on the envelope I checked it out in a hurry. Hmph, turned out to be a notice to renew my subscription to Money magazine. All well and good, but what's going on? I had just subscribed to this magazine a few months before, so did I forget to pay the bill? I checked the label. There was the date the subscription runs out, July 08. So I tossed the letter. I'll subscribe when the due date arrives.

Then a month later I get another letter telling me how much I will miss this magazine if I don't renew now!

"Marketing is getting out of hand" I think and toss the letter.

Last month I received a third letter saying they just don't understand why I haven't renewed my subscription. I am tempted to send the letter back telling them my subscription is still good for six months so why are they so excited? However, that would mean I will have to put a stamp on the letter, so I toss it.

Today I received my copy of the magazine with a cover over it. This is what over half of the cover looked like.

The second half just had my subscription information.

I have decided I will not renew this magazine; I don't need the harassment.

Martha

Yahoo ID Fun (Not!)

I moved a while back and before I moved, I had SBC DSL (Now AT&T). When I moved to my new location DSL was not available, so of course my email account became disabled.

When DSL became available at my new location, I signed up again.

Here was my problem. All of my Yahoo Groups were tied to the now dysfunctional original email address. I couldn't remove that email address as it was the primary and there was no option to change it. (Yahoo should allow users to change the primary email address! I guess they have a reason for not being able to change it, but I couldn't find out what the reason is.)

Yahoo said AT&T has to fix it, they couldn't. (Why not? No one seems to know.) AT&T said Yahoo had to fix it. They couldn't fix it. (I think someone could fix it if they just would!)

I could log in to the original email account. I couldn't send or receive email from this account. (Every now and then spammers managed to send spam to it!) But I had to be signed in to this account to access my Groups.

Bummer!

So I finally took the challenge and setup another Yahoo ID and joined my Groups again. Some of them are still in a pending status and may or may not be activated. (Some owners/moderators don't check their mail often.) That's another gripe that could have been avoided if Yahoo would allow the primary email account to be changed.

I put this off for a long time, but it was time to do it. Sigh! I belong to too many Groups!

I finally got everything sqared away; Groups joined with new ID and unsubbed from the old ID. The moment of truth arrived and I deleted the old ID. That was a little scary, but the deed was done.

Joy! The old email address that was un-usable is gone! 'I' fixed it! Sorta fixed it, anyway it's gone.

I never, ever want to do this again!

Martha

Another Gripe

My, my, the older I get the more I find to complain about. I think this is a privilege that goes with old age, so I exercise it!

This 'gripe' is about 'come on's'. You know, offers to sell you something that are worded to make you think this is just what you have been looking for all your life, or this is exactly what you need to make your life just wonderful. Right.

I usually don't fall for such drivel, but occasionally I get curious and check out one of those offers. (Isn't the Internet great?) However sometimes I think I already know what the offer is and I bite. You'd think I'd learn.

This time the offer was for a magazine, Prevention. I subscribed to this magazine many years ago and I liked it then, so when I got an offer to subscribe again, I bit. What I didn't realize, what used to be a fairly good magazine is now primarily a purveyor of advertising. I left Readers Digest for that reason. I understand these periodcals have to pay the bills and want to make a profit as well. But get real folks, who wants to pay for more ads! Especially for those obscenely priced prescription drugs that I should 'ask my doctor if it's right for me'.

Out of curiosity I counted the ads. There are 91 full pages of ads! And this isn't counting the articles that are touting products like shampoos, beauty aids, etc! I didn't count the partial page ads either. To make matters worse, there are 'Supplements' inserted by Prevention offering me the wisdom of the ages for books that cost 'only four easy payments of $7.99 plus shipping and handling'. Geeze, this magazine is so full of 'buy me' they should have named it 'The Ad book'!

Since I did fall for the offer, I paid for the magazine, but you can bet your bippy when it comes time to renew, I won't!

Martha

The Wind in My Hair

It was also everywhere besides my hair. Last week the wind blew and blew, up to 59 miles per hour. It was also the day our trash was supposed to be picked up. Notice I said 'supposed'. The wind beat the trash trucks to the trash. Since we have to use unwieldy bins for our garbage and recycle trash, the wind had a great time blowing over those bins. First it would catch the lids that don't latch and then it would swoop underneath and turn the bins over.

That devilish wind was having a blast. Trash and garbage was blowing everywhere. I live on a hillside that runs East and West. The wind was blowing from the West and all the stuff was blowing downhill toward the East. The cacophony of aluminum cans, plastic water bottles and empty boxes bouncing along the street was almost hilarious, but when I realized someone was going to have to pick up all this stuff it wasn't funny at all. I really tried to pick up as much as I could, but that wind was blowing faster than I could run.

After up-righting the bins for I lost count of times, I gave up and moved them back to the garage. Finally the trucks came by and my younger son managed to get the garbage bin to the curb in time for it to be emptied. Missed the recycle truck, but we were too pooped to care.

Now I try to be a good neighbor and when I saw empty bins rolling along the middle of the street and noticed the bins were missing from my neighbor's, I went running to see if those bins belonged next door. Now the wind was still blowing so hard it was almost hard to stand up and that wind was getting colder all the time. I was trying to hurry to get out of the wind and clumsy me caught my foot on the step up to the porch and the next thing I know I am laying on that cold hard cement.

I don't know why I didn't break any bones as hard as I fell. Perhaps there is some good in being on the chubby side, that 'cushion' probably saved me from a broken hip as I landed hard on my right side. To top it all off, those bins weren't my neighbor's after all.

Today is trash day again and the wind is blowing. However, it didn't blow that hard today and the trash has all been safely removed and empty bins are now in the garage. I am still finding sore places from that fall, but I think I will live.

I used to like the wind.

Martha

A Warning About Yahoo Groups

There are Yahoo Groups for seniors, religion, politics (don't join a political Group if you are easily offended), and if you don't find a Group for the subject you are looking for, well you can create a Group for that subject.

Yahoo Groups have so much to offer folks. If you have a hobby, there is probably a Yahoo Group for that hobby. You can join the Group and converse with people who have the same hobby.

There is a large number of computer help Yahoo Groups. If you have a computer problem of almost any kind, there are members who can help you solve your problem. All of this help is available to members totally free of charge. You can 'lurk', (meaning you don't post) and learn lots of stuff about computers, or you can post questions if you have a specific problem. Sometimes it takes awhile to get the answer you need, but usually you will get the answer fairly soon.

Now for my warning. When you join a Group, check to see if it is public or private. If you want to contirbute to the Group by posting messages, DON'T join a public Group. Why not? Because everything you post could end up on a very public blog or website. This includes your email address, all nicely displayed for (gasp) spam harvesters! In case you don't know about spam harvesters, it is a program that scans the web for email addresses to add to spammer lists.

I don't know about you, but I don't need any more spam!

Martha

Blobs, Giant Spider Webs and UFOs

What's going on here in Texas? Last fall I posted about a Strange Blob at one of the area lakes. Later there is a post about a Huge Spider Web is East Texas.

Now there are UFOs! Lots of people claim they have seen strange lights over Stephenville, a town west of Fort Worth. Some of the sightings include objects like 'flying plates' and objects as big as football fields. Nobody knows what they are, but there are UFO buffs from all over the world going to Stephenville!

Some of the folks in Stephenville are having lots of fun with all of the furor over 'UFO sightings'. Alien masks, tinfoil hats to prevent mind control and other strange paraphernalia can be seen about the town. Others seem to think the sightings are signs the world is coming to an end.

So far I have yet to see a blob, a huge spider web (thank goodness!) or a strange thing in the sky. I sometimes think I might like to see a UFO, but I don't think I would tell anyone. Everyone I know would just have confirmation 'She's nuts!'

Could it be a conspiracy? All those UFO folks coming to town will surely jump start the economy in Stephenville. I am just waiting for someone to start a UFO business. Of course some are probably already selling 'I saw a UFO' T-shirt.

I am still wondering what's going on here in Texas.

Martha

Bed Sheets

Seems like a trivial subject, bed sheets. However, if you have shopped for sheets recently, you know it is no trivial thing.

When I was first married, it was a simple enough thing to shop for sheets. There were two kinds of sheets, muslin and percale. Muslin was soft and inexpensive and percale was smooth and required no ironing. Percale was a little more expensive, but worth the difference.

Today it is an entirely different story. I guess somewhere they may sell muslin sheets, but I don't know where. I have seen percale sheets in a few places, but you have to really look to find them. The big thing in sheets today is 'thread count'. The higher the thread count, the more expensive the sheet. According to one website, thread count refers to the number of horizontal and vertical threads in one square inch of fabric.

Theoretically, the higher the thread count the softer the sheets. Sounds good, eh? Really soft sheets! But there is a huge drawback here, they wrinkle. They wrinkle a lot! Wrinkled sheets look terrible! And they cost a lot of money. A really big lot of money!

Now I don't know about most folks, but this old woman is not about to iron sheets! And IF I were foolish enough to pay the high price for these high thread count sheets (I have seen over $400), I would expect them to change the bed when dirty, throw themselves in the washer and dryer, press themselves and make the bed. Since I know they won't do any of that, I ain't buying these suckers! So there.

A Consumer Reports issue some time back reported anything over 400 thread count is a waste of money and 200 thread count will last just as well and provide all the comfort needed. Good Old Consumer Reports, I will follow their advice and I won't sleep on wrinkled sheets. I will also have more money to spend on other things, like software. I do have my priorities straight!

Martha

Romancing the Omelet

I like omelets, but I can't seem to make one without making a big mess when it's time to flip it. I haven't made one is a very long time for that reason. Besides, scrambled eggs are just as tasty with all of the omelet ingredients added.

Back to omelets, have you ever noticed how many people make omelets on TV and in the movies? It seems as though every guy dating a girl for the first (or second) time, takes her to his apartment for an omelet. He doesn't have anything else to eat, but miraculously has everything needed for the omelet like cheese, onions, peppers,etc. Of course the omelet turns out wonderful. Occasionally the guy is all thumbs and the girl takes over the making the omelette. Sometimes it's the other way, the girl can't cook but the guy is a real genius at making an omelet.

Sometimes it's the girl's apartment and she is cooking the omelet to perfection. One thing leads to another and the first thing you know, well, you know! It is definitely because of the omelet! (it seems that way.)

So what is it about romance that inspires omelets? Or is it the omelet that inspires romance? (This reminds me of 'which came first, the chicken or the egg?')

More than likely the omelet has nothing to do with the romance, but it makes a nice addition to the story!

Martha

What is Average?

The average temperature as told by the weatherman on the news is very misleading to me. For instance, he may say the average temperature for a certain date in November is 65 high and 45 low. How do they come up with that average? Do they add up all the temperature readings for that date as long as they have kept records and divide it by the number of days? They don't say how they figure it.

The average size of families in the USA is 3.20. So they say. I don't know any families that are that size, but somewhere there may be one.

An average person in my state is 33.1 years old, according to the US Census information. So does this really mean anything? Nearly everyone I know is older than 33.1 and a lot of my family and friends are a good deal older than that.

Shopping for clothes is a really fun experience too. Just when you think you are an average size, you will get that thought totally out of your head when you try on a few articles of clothing marked 'Average'. Some of them might fit your ten-year old daughter. A few of them may fit your 200 pound Auntie. However, if you are lucky some of them will fit. If you are not average size, but small, large or even extra large, the same thing applies. I recently saw a top marked 'Large' that would have been too small for most skinny ten year old girls. It was on a closeout rack and I suspect part of the reason for it being there was the size marked on the label.

I think average is a misused term. No one I know is 'average'. Some are certainly above average intelligence; I won't mention if any are below average intelligence. However I think there are a number of public officials and school administrators (think zero tolerance) who may fit the below intelligence category.

The next time someone asks me how I am doing, I will just say 'Oh, average'. That should cover everything, from rotten to great. After all, average could be anything based on what I see about 'average'!

Martha

My BS Meter

There are meters for lots of things. Nearly all of them are for charging something for us to pay.

There's the electric meter. (Ouch!)

The water meter. (Ouch again!)

The gas meter. A lot of us don't have one of these because our home is all electric. But if you have one of these, it's in the Ouch category!

A parking meter if we have to go to the business area of our city/town.

There are meters in taxicabs to figure how much the rider has to pay for his or her ride.

I am sure there are other meters for things I haven't thought about.

A meter generally requires someone to read it so the bills can be sent to customers. Parking meters usually are read by the local law enforcement and will cause a parking ticket if there is no time left on the meter when the meter reader comes around. Those are put under the windshield wipers so the driver will be sure to see it.

Last, but not least, there is the BS meter. This may not be in evidence until someone somewhere starts a tall tale. This usually goes off for me when viewing commercials on TV. It really went off when I saw an ad for this product, Detox Foot Pads and another site who seems to debunk but just wants you to buy their product.

Since I first saw this ad on TV I have done a bit of research about these detox foot pads.There are quite a few other products of the same nature, each claiming to 'detoxify' your body by putting a special patch on the bottom of your feet. You can even buy these products at t some of your local drug stores.

I know there are some strange things in this world that apparently work wonders, but my 'meter' is still making loud sounds because I just don't see how this could work. (There is truth in calling Missouri the 'Show Me State'; I am from Missouri!)

If you have tried the detox foot patches and it worked for you, how did you know it worked?

Martha

I Don't Want to Hear Any More

I have a feeling I am not the only one who doesn't want to hear or read any more about misbehaving celebrities, namely Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, etc. At least I certainly hope I'm not the only one! I especially don't want to hear any more about O.J.

The media seems to think we are all avid to hear about everything these people do, and I guess there is an element of the population who has nothing better to do than hear about celebrities and celebrities who have fallen from grace.

I suppose it is a sign of the times. Many Americans do not know who is the Vice-President of the United States or the name of the Speaker of the House, but they can tell you who wore what at the latest Hollywood bash.

I can only hope that they will eventually grow up, but I am beginning to have doubts. Perhaps one day they will 'get with the program' and one can only hope those who will vote in the next elections will stop fawning over the pathetic lives of celebrities that are alcoholics, druggies and certainly shouldn't be role models for the segment of the population who seem to be insatiable about following the media flap.

Maybe I just am too grumpy! I think I need to find some 'fun stuff' to write about.

By the way, Happy New Year!

Martha

Why Do They Want to Ruin Christmas?

Why are some people so mean spirited? They want us to not say 'Merry Christmas'. They seem to think 'Happy Holidays' is more politically correct. Guess what, you meanies! If it weren't for Christmas, there wouldn't be a Happy Holiday for the majority of folks.

I have even read that some people don't want the mall Santas to say 'Ho, Ho, Ho'. Now I know that there is a slang word that rappers use to denigrate folks of the female persuasion. But I fail to see how anyone with an iota of intelligence can think Santa is using 'Ho, Ho,
Ho' to insult anyone. There are must be some folks who must lay awake at night to come up with stuff like this! Santas have been saying that for many years, long before the rappers decided to say their insult.

Some cities have elected not to put up Christmas decorations for fear of insulting someone. I do feel sorry for the people that have been deprived of the beautiful Christmas decorations in those cities. There are some cities that have decided to put up the decorations in spite of the few who are against Christmas. Hurray for them!

I guess it is a sign of the times we live in. One of these years, if this trend keeps up, 'Merry Christmas' may just go away. However, I am in hopes that the 'majority by far' will rise up and take back our favorite holiday expressions and tell the PC crowd to 'stuff it'.

Since this is My Blog, here is what I have to say, "Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the birth of the Christ child".

Have a 'Happy New Year' as well. I just hope there aren't any people that want to do away with that as well.

Martha

Buggy Bits in Vista

I like Vista. I didn't like it at first, but once I managed to find stuff and where to make changes, Vista is OK. I have gotten used to the UAC (User Access Control) and it doesn't seem so much in my face as it did at first. My Vista isn't as slow as a lot of folks say Vista is for them, but I keep my Start-up lean and that does make a difference.

What I don't like in Vista is the buggy replacement for Outlook Express known as Windows Mail. They removed the only redeeming feature that made it worth while for me to use OE, Identities. ( I have a number of email accounts and I like to keep them separated.)

The layout in Windows Mail is fairly similar except for the Address Book, now known as Contacts. After you use Windows Mail for awhile, you can't empty the Deleted folder. Buggy! At least with Outlook Express if a folder started misbehaving you could delete it and Outlook Express created a new one the next time you opened it.

Microsoft knows Windows mail is buggy. They made a replacement and called it Windows Live Mail. Just what is it with Microsoft that they can't come up with totally different names for stuff? First it's Outlook and Outlook Express, then Windows Messenger and Windows Messenger Service. Now it's Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail. There may be some other things with almost the same name, but off hand I don't know for sure.

When I couldn't empty the Deleted folder in Windows Mail, I downloaded and installed Windows Live Mail. I won't use Windows Live Mail much. It's buggy as well. When I tried to mark a spam as 'Junk', I got the same error message I got when I tried to empty the Deleted folder in Windows Mail! Buggy! Funny though, after I installed the new mail program, the Deleted folder in Windows Mail will now empty.

The layout for Windows Live Mail is very different and folks seem to have some problems finding what they need. One user reported her Inbox disappeared. I suspect it is still there but hiding for some reason. Buggy! This just shouldn't happen.

I am recommending Eudora for folks who need help with Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail and need a free email program. Another really good option is Mozilla's Thunderbird.

Another buggy program is Internet Explorer. A lot of folks keep getting the message that Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and has to close. I haven't had that problem, but then I don't use Internet Explorer very much. I know they made some security changes, but why did they have to move the familiar things around so you have to hunt for them? And what happened to the ability to use copy for a web address? Control + C works, but why is 'copy' greyed out when I want to copy a web address from the Address bar? I know Firefox has spoiled me, but sometimes I have to use IE and it just aggravates me!

Martha

To Eat or Not to Eat

In the midst of the Holiday season that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am sorely tempted!

All those goodies that go with holidays just keep calling my name! My problem is I just like food. I mean I really like food, especially the really fattening kind of food. I like it all with one or two exceptions. (I don't care at all for green bean casserole and I am not real fond of turkey.)

Baked ham, pies, cakes and baked anything, I generally like it. I have always had a 'sweet tooth' and this time of year there are certainly a lot of sweet goodies to eat!

So I am in a quandary. I need to lose some weight. OK, I need to lose a LOT of weight. I didn't used to have this problem about weight. I could eat just about anything I wanted and if I gained a few pounds it was easy for me to lose it.

Not any more! If I gain a pound it doesn't want to leave! Someone told me once that getting older sometimes has this affect and for me it is certainly true. I am not sure it is age that caused it, but I sure would like to find a way to 'fix' this problem. I know, I know, diet and exercise will work. That's easy enough to say, but putting it into practice is another thing.

I just don't seem to have any will power. I know that's not true because I quit smoking cold turkey after having been addicted for thirty years. That was almost five years ago and I haven't smoked even once since then. Hmm, that's when I started gaining that weight I need to lose.

So okay, I will give myself a heavy does of will power and lose that weight. But not until after the holidays!

Here's to Happy Holiday eating!

Martha

TXU is Spamming Me!

My electric company is TXU, which was recently sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG, formerly the Texas Pacific Group, both are private equity firms.

The sale is supposed to make our rates go down, according to all the hype during the transitional period when the sale was in the process of being approved by the powers that have the option to approve such transactions.

Deregulation took place in Texas several years ago. Deregulation was supposed to be good for consumers and make prices go down. Except it didn't happen. Before deregulation Texas has rates that were among the lowest in the US. After deregulation we now have the highest rates in the Nation. Two years ago TXU's rates jumped 25% within a two month period! All the new electric companies raised rates as well, so where is that competive price option to save us money?

The rates have come down a bit since then, but nowhere near 25%. The 'new' TXU is offering some new plans that will supposedly save consumers money. The only problem with the plans is they are so confusing it is hard to see how they will save any money. One is offering a 3% cash rebate. Now those folks who know me know exactly how I feel about rebates! I may be looking for a new electric provider.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, came in my inbox this AM. Spam from TXU! Two spams to be exact! One was wanting me to 'refer a friend' and I don't remember the other one but it was something about wanting us to sign up for a new plan .I signed up years ago to get a notice when the electric bill was available online. (Our local postal service may or may not deliver the bill by snail mail.) I signed up for the notification only, not to receive spam! Furthermore, there was no option to remove my email address to prevent these spam messages! So I just blocked future messages using my trusty spam filter.

I went to TXU's website to review their Privacy Policy and nowhere does it say they will or will not send me messages other than the one I signed up to receive. Not only that, the site is hard to read, with a light gray text on white background. I had to copy it all and paste it in to notepad in order to read it! However I am slightly outraged
and I will be checking offers by some of the other electric providers in Texas. (I really, really hate spam!) The only problem with other companies, how do I know they won't spam me as well?

Martha's Web
Martha's Place

Flu Shot

Every year I get a flu shot. I get this flu shot for several reasons; the main one being I don't want to get the flu.

Everywhere I look for 'senior' stuff the advice is to get a flu shot. Medicare pays for the shot; there is no co-pay for flu shots! They figure the cost of the shot is much cheaper than paying doctor bills, medicine, hospital bills, etc. that will incur if someone gets the flu.

Back in 1993 I got pneumonia. It was the worst kind of pneumonia and I nearly died. After I recovered my doctor told me to get a pneumonia shot and to get a flu shot every year. Since I had no desire to get that sick again I took his advice and every year without fail I get a flu shot. One good thing, since I started getting flu shots, I never get a bad cold anymore. Maybe those awful colds I used to get were not colds after all, but were the flu!

This year I found out I needed another pneumonia shot so when the local Walgreen's had their annual flu clinic I decided to get both shots and be done with it. This was a mistake. By nightfall, my arm was hurting. I don't mean sore, I mean hurting! Bad! I had a headache as well. I don't usually have headaches so I figured it was a result of the shots, took some Tylenol and went to bed early.

Sometime during the night it got really cold. Then it got really hot. By morning I thought I might be dying. It went on this way for two days. My arm hurt so bad I couldn't even raise it up. Fever came and went. I felt so bad I didn't even read my email. Folks who know me would have been really alarmed by that! My son wanted to take me to the emergency room. I didn't want to make the effort.

Then on the third day after I got those shots I woke up and I was me again. I felt great! My arm was not hurting. I could raise it up over my head. No more fever. Life was good again.

Now I wonder, which one of those shots made me so sick? The flu shot or the pneumonia shot? The combination? All I know for sure is I am very glad I won't need that pneumonia shot again!

I will still get a flu shot next year, but I will make sure I have Tylenol that isn't out of date! Sadly I had to throw a bunch of Tylenol away; the expiration date was two years ago! I figure the flu would last a lot longer than the time I was down with the side effects from the shot.

Martha

The Garbage Gestapo

Somehow the words 'garbage' and 'gestapo' don't sound like they belong together, but if you live in my city they fit together just fine.

A number of years ago the City Fathers decided they wanted to make the city more attractive and at the same time start recycling seriously. Both of these ideas are good. However, the plan needs work!

They finally contracted with Waste Management to pick up the garbage and recycle stuff and the fun began. It took awhile for the citizens to get used to the idea of hauling those big containers to the curb on their designated day for trash pickup. A number of them still haven't gotten used to only one day a week for trash pickup.

The idea of using those bins is a good one. The bins come with a bar so the trucks can use an automated bin lifter and dump the contents into the truck, thus saving time and eliminating the need for extra workers to lift and dump the containers. The idea was to make the streets look much neater since the containers are all alike, except for color to differentiate between the trash and recycle containers. However, while in theory it is a good idea, it doesn't always work in real life.

When the bins are placed on the curb by the citizens, they are generally lined up fairly neat. However, once the trucks come by, the bins are strewn all over the street. Sometimes cars have to dodge them to avoid hitting them. For some reason the trash sometimes 'spills' out onto the street so the citizens have to pick it up when they come home from work. Occasionally the bar lifter misses the bin bar and knocks the bin over resulting in trash all over the place.Does the truck stop and the driver pick it up? Not likely in this lifetime! So does this should make the city more attractive? In practice it leaves much to be desired.

Because the trash is picked up only once a week, sometimes the citizens dump the overflow into the recycle bins. This contaminates the contents to be recycled and the whole load may have to be dumped into the landfill. There are larger carts to be had, but since they cost more every month, consumers on a short budget don't want to get one. Some folks with large families just can't afford the extra cost, a fact the City Fathers fail to realize. (Maybe they just don't care!)

Enter the 'Garbage Gestapo'. This is a special crew that goes around inspecting people's recycle carts. If anything is found that doesn't meet the criteria for recycling the poor beleaguered culprits get a fine of up to $250!

Personally I have a real problem with other folks rummaging through the recycle bin. So I shred everything and dump it in the trash. I would like to recycle all that paper, but I don't want my identity stolen so it goes in the trash where the 'Gestapo' doesn't search.

I rather suspect residents of nearby cities laugh about our 'Garbage Gestapo'. I wish I could!

Martha

Shopping in the USA

I am not a true died in the wool shopper. I just don't like to shop. I usually know what I want and I either find it or I don't, in which case I buy it and go home, or go home frustrated because I didn't find what I wanted.

Lately I have seen several articles and news items about people buying extremely high priced items like handbags, shoes, etc. An article in the newspaper yesterday was about a woman who finally realized she was embarrassed to carry a handbag that cost more than a medium priced SUV. I had to wonder what took her so long to get to this point of embarrassment?

Today is 'Black Friday', the day after Thanksgiving and the first official day of Christmas shopping. The term 'Black Friday' originated because this is traditionally known as the day retailers go into the 'black' after being in the 'red' all year until now. Every merchant is counting on the crush of shoppers buying up goodies for Christmas. They offer extended shopping hours and special pricing on hot items to get the shoppers in the door.

I have often been guilty of saying nothing surprises me any more. I always have to take that back as something always surprises me. Some of the national branded stores in this area opened at 4 AM today. I cannot think of anything I could possibly want bad enough to be at any store at 4 in the morning, but there was no shortage of shoppers waiting to get in the doors when they opened. In fact, the lines started on Wednesday afternoon and this is Friday! They spent Thanksgiving Day in a queue waiting to shop. Anyone would think this was the only chance to buy anything needed to survive!

Never mind the temperatures at night were in the 30s and last night we had snow as well. There were hundreds of these folks! Some of them had tents and sleeping bags, but the news showed some of them just sitting on folding chairs. All night in the freezing cold sitting on a folding chair, just for a chance to get a bargain on something.

All I can say is I hope it was worth it. I hope they managed to get that bargain that was worth missing one of the best family holidays of the year. I hope they didn't mind not being with loved ones; for the sake of a bargain for a product that may or may not last until this time next year.

As for me, I am doing my Christmas shopping online. But even if I couldn't shop online, I sure wouldn't stay up all night in the freezing cold hoping to get a 'bargain'.

Martha

Why?

I wonder about a lot of things that are probably trivial to most folks. I suppose someone somewhere has the answers.

I wonder why people will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a computer and then plug it into a ten dollar power strip for protection. This is true for expensive TVs and other electronics as well.

Someone please explain to me why Daylight Saving Time saves daylight. There are still the same number of hours in a day. You can't save daylight! You can aggravate millions of people who are forced to either set the clocks back an hour or set the clocks forward an hour, but you can't save daylight. They need to call it what it really is, 'Aggravation Time'!

Why do people think it's funny when someone falls down? There are TV shows that show 'funny' videos of folks falling, getting hit in delicate physical places and otherwise being injured. The producers of these shows seem to think these videos are funny. (They make me cringe.)

Why can't the TV networks get together and broadcast their programming at the same level of sound? Viewers who change channels have to adjust sound up or down to achieve the right sound. Seems like a no-brainer, but no one seems to know why. I think they do it to keep viewers from changing channels, but it doesn't work. Everyone changes channels to watch their favorite programs.

On the same note, please tell me why TV commercials are so much louder than the programs? Do the commercial producers think we will be more apt to listen if our eardrums are being pierced? Don't they know most of us have a mute button on our remotes?

Why does my newspaper always wrap the Sunday comics with an ad for a store I won't ever patronize? Do they think it will get my attention so I will rush right out and go to this store? (It gets my attention alright; I toss that ad PDQ!)

Why do advertisers say you can get something 'free' with a purchase? If you have to buy something to get something else, it isn't free!

I wonder about a lot of things, these are just a few of them.

Martha

Gloom and Doom

Lately, everywhere I look I see harbingers of doom, either on the Internet or on TV.

For instance in a recent newsletter there was this little tidbit to cheer me;

"One in 60 older people might have brain tumors: One in 60 older people may be walking around with benign brain tumors and don't know it. Even more may have bulging blood vessels in the head that could burst." Lovely. I am what is known as a senior.

"Peripheral Artery Disease Up Sharply Among U.S. Women: The condition, which is has no symptoms, can lead to heart attack and stroke." Wonderful. I am a woman.

The nightly news is also full of sweet tidbits. A lot of our food is contaminated with e-coli which can sometimes kill folks and superbugs are going to kill us if we get sick and have to go to the hospital. Nice. Hopefully I won't get sick.

We have to take the toys away from the kids. They are contaminated with lead if they were made in China. These days all toys are made in China. Christmas is going to be tough for parents and kids this year. (What ever happened to 'Made in the USA'?)

People are losing their homes because sneaky mortgage brokers let them buy houses they can't afford. I guess those folks who bought those houses still believe in the tooth fairy as well. Why wouldn't they know they couldn't afford that house?

My used-to-be favorite TV channel, the Science Channel is also full of really nice programs guaranteed to keep us awake at night. Yellowstone National Park is really the caldera of a massive mega volcano which could erupt at any time killing most of the people in the USA and changing the world's climate so much that all of mankind and any other living creature will die. It could happen any time according to the experts.

Then there is the chance the Earth will be hit by one of those asteroids the size of Montana that are out there in space. When this happens, (and it probably will sometime according to the experts) the entire planet Earth will erupt in flames and kill all of mankind and any other living creature.

There is an island, La Palma, in the Atlantic Ocean that has an excellent chance of having a large portion of a volcano named Cumbre Vieja slide into the sea. This will cause a mega tsunami that could wipe out the entire east coast of the Americas (North, Central and South America) with waves of water over 100 feet high. The experts say this could happen at any time. Millions of people will die when this happens.

I may have to quit sleeping so I can stay awake and worry about all of the things the news tells us are going to kill us and the things the experts are saying 'will happen someday but we just don't know when.'

Martha

The Bane of My Inbox, Spam!

I absolutely despise spam. I think I hate it more than most and I spend a lot of time trying to defeat the nasty email. Sometimes I think I'm winning, but the victory soon turns to the agony of defeat. I have created, abandoned and deleted so many email accounts I have lost track of the number.

I have used countless spam filters that only half did the job. The filters either were too aggressive or let too much through and they all slowed the flow of email due to the filtering. My ISP has spam filtering, but I don't use it. I would rather read email that has been downloaded to my computer and the spam filters put too many legitimate emails in the Bulk folder. I have to log onto the account on the web and sort through the Bulk mail, find the legitimate mail and move it to the Inbox. The filters are supposed to 'learn', but they don't 'learn' fast enough for me. Once the spam that gets by the filters have downloaded to my computer it is too late to 'teach' the spam filter.

I think I may have found a solution for keeping spam away from my Inbox. My ISP offers something called AddressGuard™. It's really simple to use; I just create some 'throw-a-way email addresses. I use these addresses for different things. One is just for registering to view content on websites. Once the spam shows up, (and it will, some of those sites lie like crazy when they say they will not share your email address) I just delete the account. I have another just for Yahoo Groups. Once an infected computer owned by a Yahoo Groups member starts sending me spam, I just will delete that account and create another.

If your ISP doesn't offer this service and you would like to have it; there are a number of services that will provide it for a fee. Yahoo Mail Plus provides the same service for $19.99 a year. With Yahoo Mail Plus you can also download your mail to an email client on your computer.

Here's hoping I have found the solution to no more spam for my Inbox! (At least for a while.)

However, if you want to try to prevent spam by using some other methods, you can look at Spam in Your Inbox and use these tips to avoid spam.

Martha

Ugly Houses

There is a business that actually buys ugly houses. You have probably seen billboards advertising 'We Buy Ugly Houses'. A few years ago, they just seemed to pop up everywhere. Apparently a lot of people are selling their ugly houses and investors fix them up and sell them for a tidy profit.

I guess I have led a sheltered life, as I didn't understand what they meant by 'ugly'. I thought they meant old houses in need of repair. I didn't realize they meant neglected, run-down, disgusting, dirty, trashed out houses!

They are having a contest right now about which house is the ugliest. Some of them are perfectly understandable judged ugly just by looking at the outside, but some of them surely qualify by just the inside! If you want to , you can vote on the 'ugliest house of the year'. (I voted!) After looking at these houses, I really appreciate mine!

While surfing around I found a site with a section on what the author considers ugly houses. I have to agree about the color choices and yard decorations. Some of them are quite 'unusual' to say the least. Butt ugly houses of the universe. There is also a saga of the author's van, but that's another story.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I cannot believe anyone ever thought Tacoma's Deriugin house was beautiful. According to the site it has been torn down. I expect everyone in the immediate vacinity was relieved!

For some really unusual looking houses (and some really ugly houses), take a few minutes or an hour to explore Unusual houses (and other unusual items) on Unusual Life. It is astonishing to me what some people want to have in or around their domiciles.

I rather imagine every city of any size has some unusual houses and probably most of them are considered ugly. Take for example some of the unusual homes on Seattle Dream Homes. I always say, 'To each his own'. I wouldn't be interested in owning something like this, but obviously someone liked it.

Want to live in a 'space ship'? Just look on Strange Houses Around The World. Some really weird structures are pictured here and some of them, if not most, are somebody's home, even the melting house! (How about that monster!)

Check out the Architecture From Another Planet - 25 Incredible (Real) Abodes Some of the listings here are on other pages listed above, but the strange houses listed here have neat descriptions that tell more about each house. Fun, but not for me!

Martha

Tiny Houses

Little is Good!

TumbleWeed Houses, an alternative to McMansions and a lot less expensive!

I saw an article about living in a tiny house a while back. I really can't imagine living in one of these itsy bitsy dwellings, but then again, it would be a sure fire way to live back to basics!

They seem to have just about everything you really need (except closet space!) and they are really pretty complete. Cute too! The designer of these houses has even been on Oprah, so if you watch Oprah you may already know about these tiny palaces.

There are even some small house communities. The one in Geneva shows some really nice small houses, a little bigger than tiny, but certainly not big. A Tiny House Community

There is a website devoted to tiny houses of all sorts. A Tiny Houses Website. Some of these tiny houses are play houses or fishing shacks. Some are little garden houses and some are vacation houses, but they are all tiny. (And cute!)

You've probably heard at least once in your lifetime that everything is bigger in Texas. This is true even for tiny houses. Tiny Texas Houses look pretty nice and a bit more roomy that some of the other tiny houses I looked at on the 'net. I could afford one of those and it looks like I could just pick it up and move it if I wanted to as well.

These folks built their tiny house for about $6000. A Boat Builders Little House I don't think I am up to that, but if I had some help, maybe!

These little dwellings appeal to me, but somehow I don't think I would really like to live in one all the time. However, I think it might be fun
to try, just for a little while!

There seems to be more tiny houses than I realized! The tiniest houses in New York City comes with a not so tiny price! And not to be outdone, there is a tiny house in Toronto!  There is an email going around that says this house is in Brooklyn, but 'tisn't so.(The price is more reasonable too.)

Martha

Do Blogs Live Forever?

I wonder about a lot of things. Anyone would think that at my age I should know at least some of the answers. There are a lot of things I do know, even about stuff not computer related. But of course there is more I don't know about everything.

For instance, I wonder about blogs. I guess what I mean is, I wonder about the Blog writers. Do they really pour their heart and soul into an online journal on the Internet for the entire world to see and read? Or do they just make up stuff because they think it sounds good?

I have had a blog on blogger for a long time. Most of what I posted there was of a 'gripe' nature, about rebates, hotlinking and just general computer stuff. I wrote most of those posts because I was upset or mad about events in my life. Some I wrote because I thought it might help someone else that could be having a problem with their computer.

I like to read other people's blogs. Some of them are written by people I have met through online Yahoo Groups. Some are helpful blogs and some are just entertaining. There are blogs that tell about their lives, like Ross's Blog. Others are sort of like mine, a bit of rant and rave. I think some blogs are just a way to vent and get stuff out of 'our systems'. I know some of my blog posts are like that. (Think rebates!)

One of the things I have been wondering about is how long will a blog stay on the web? I came across a blog earlier this year that was written by a man who has reached the ripe old age of 90+. Don is an incredible writer and has one of the most interesting blogs I have read. He thinks a lot about life and death and I certainly understand that! While I am not that old yet, I am not a youngster either, so I think about life and death as well although I try not to dwell on those subjects too much, especially death.

Getting back to Don's Blog; he hasn't posted anything since March. Given his age, you have to wonder "Is he still with us? Has he quit posting because of ill health or is he 'gone'?" I hope he is just taking a break from blogging.

That made me start wondering just how long a blog will exist on a site like Blogger? Anyone know?

Martha

Fun With Geeky Toys

My friends all call me a 'geek' because I am just a bit more computer literate than most folks. I don't think of myself as a geek because I know there is so much I don't know about computers. One thing, I am totally hardware challenged. Well not totally, but almost.

I do like a lot of geeky toys, although some of them are just a little too geeky for me. I found some really cool geeky stuff while 'net surfing. A few of them are on my Christmas wish list, like LED Faucet lights. These are way too cool! And affordable as well!

I think this is kind of cool, but I don't think I will add this to my list.
Turn Your CD Collection Into Workspace Art...

I would really like to have one of these! But since it's a tad pricey I probably won't get one.  A Virtual Keyboard!

This could be handy, but I really don't want one of these, I think it's ugly!
Easy to see keyboard from X-Treme Geek.

How about a washable keyboard from Tiger Direct? Coffee drinkers should like this!

Everyone needs one of these, an any key!

Not a Rubik cube! It's an 'Irregular IQ Cube! Since I could never master the Rubik cube I'll have to pass on this one.

Every blogger needs a geeky blog T-shirt!

Most geeks can be sleepy heads in the morning. A sleepy-headed geek needs 'Clocky'!

And then when money is no object:
Top 10 Toys for Geeks who have Everything (Part Two)

Martha

Spider Webs and Botnets

A while back I wrote about Bugs and Spiders that had reference to a humongous spiderweb. Now those spiders are at it again and are busy spinning a second spiderweb across the lake from the first web. It really makes me wonder what the heck is going on with those spiders? Scary to most people, including me, but fascinating to 'spider people'.

Another scary thing that's going on is in the cyber-world, a 'botnet'. This botnet is a web of computers that have been infected by a nasty piece of malware known as Storm. In February the estimate number of compromised computers was over a million. Since February there have been several onslaughts of phishing emails designed to entrap the un-educated into visiting websites that once visited; secretly installed the worm (or Trojan Horse) known as Storm. This storm worm then added more and more of these zombie computers to the botnet.

The problems with this botnet are many. First, no one knows who is behind it, so there is no way law enforcement can stop it. The infected computers can be used to send out spam emails and other nefarious stuff. They can be used to steal the identity of the computer users, who have no idea their computer is infected. You can read more about all of this on Storm: The Largest Botnet in the World? Keep in mind this article was written back in February. It's a lot worse by now!

About two months ago most of us received a lot of messages telling us we had received an egreeting card from someone. The messages varied; the subject could say it was from a school-mate, family member, etc. It could have said it was a greeting card, an ecard, postcard, etc. but every one of the messages told you to go to a website to collect your greeting and if you did, guess what; you got worms! If you had updated anti-virus it may have protected you, but then again, maybe not!

Then came another little jewel in email that went something like this:

"Greetings, Here is your membership info for Cat Lovers."

Then it went on to provide you with a login and password. This little missive was intended to catch more unsuspecting users and give them a little 'stormy' present!

So as much as I fear spiders (and their webs), I am much more afraid of the enormous web known as a botnet! You should be afraid as well!

Martha

Those Wild Claims!

It seems as though almost every maker of almost everything is resorting to claims of how great their products are and why you should buy them.

There are the myriad weight loss products and each of them promises to make you lose those unwanted pounds. They all make it sound as though all you need to do is use the product and the weight will come off 'guaranteed'! But if you read the instructions you will find that in order for this product to really work, you need to follow the 'included diet plan' and 'get regular exercise'. Now maybe I am missing something here, but if you follow a diet and get regular exercise, why would you need their product?

If you haven't been annoyed by all those NutriSystem ads, lucky you! They promise you will lose weight by eating their 'delicious' meals and if you order NOW, you will get two weeks of food free. (Nothing is free if you have to buy something to get it.) Well, my theory about this and others of a similar nature is you spend all your food money on this product, it tastes so bad you can't eat it, so you lose weight. It seems as though I may be right according to someone else on 28 Days of NutriSystem.

A follow up for the above, NutriSystem: Day 5

One of the wildest claims I've seen in quite a while is for a 'memory pill'. This pill is so wonderful, it stops Alzheimer's in its tracks. It will make your memory so much sharper it's amazing! This pill will make you 33% smarter and even wake up 'dead' brain cells. I received a brochure in the mail for this fantastic pill. I can order a six month supply for only $269.70! Uh huh.

You can't read a magazine or watch TV without seeing commercials for extremely high priced medications. They are supposed to help you get better from conditions ranging from insomnia, 'restless leg syndrome', tummy aches and allergies to name just a few. Some of them are advertising products that would have been censored when TV was young. (I wish it was still like that!)

They show happy folks who have used/are using these outrageously priced drugs and supposedly all will be wonderful if you will just 'ask your doctor' if this product is right for you. (I would expect my doctor to know without me asking, but that's another story.) Then comes the disclaimer telling you about possible side effects. Just about every thing could be listed as a possible side effect, up to and including death!

Other commercials promise you such convenience to use their products. If only you take this drug for osteoporosis, you won't have to set aside time every week to take a pill. I wonder just how long does it take to take one pill?

What about all the car commercials! There is one showing a pickup truck hauling a boxcar out of a steep canyon. Well, maybe, but I have my doubts unless of course the boxcar is made of balsa wood or some other substance almost lighter than air. Another shows a truck stopping an airplane and not a little one either. I rather suspect the pilot has something to do with stopping that plane.

There is supposed to be something called 'Truth in Advertising'. I think the real truth is 'Don't believe it'! (But maybe I should order that memory pill!)

Martha

Natural

I read the labels when I shop for food. Unfortunately some of the labels require a degree in chemistry to determine what the actual ingredients are in a large percentage of supposedly edible food available in the local supermarkets.

One of the most misleading terms for ingredients listed on some labels is 'natural'. Natural for what? The food and drug industry seems to think that telling us everything is natural will somehow convince us that their products are good for us. When a label proclaims the product has 'all natural ingredients' my skeptic sense perks up. If there is anything listed that I have never heard of, I have to wonder who determines if it is natural or not.

I can tell you that although some things may be 'natural', it doesn't mean it's necessarily better to eat or drink. Take for instance bottled water. Well, it is all natural, but is it better? The water from every faucet in my house is also 'all natural'. A very well known purveyor of bottled water has recently confessed the water they sell is tap water, although they claim it has been filtered. Since I have a filter in my fridge for water and ice, is the bottled water better?

To really get nit-picky, bacteria and germs are 'natural', but I don't plan to knowing consume some of them known to kill people. Animal waste is 'natural'. A great many poisons know to kill humans are 'natural'. There are minerals that are 'natural', like lead and mercury. These natural things can kill you!

There is an entire industry of 'Natural Health' products. More than likely some of them are better for you than many of the 'Ask your Doctor' medicines that are being advertised in every conceivable way. However the only thing we know for sure about some of these 'natural' medicines is the fact that every alternative medicine purveyor is trying to get you to purchase them with some very outlandish claims that include everything from curing cancer to world peace. (OK, I made up the 'world peace' part, but you get my drift.)

I just wish that the word 'natural' could be replaced with this phrase, 'naturally occurring and maybe it is good for you or maybe not'. Pay your money and take your chances!

Martha