Ron Paul: The true conservative

After watching this I can understand why Ron Paul attracts many conspiracy nuts.


It then become easy to understand how the liberal media can than label all his supporters as "nuts"... oh, wait they actually intended to say "passionate"

How secure is this?

I received an email today containing the following content:

You have received a secure message from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. To read the message, please open the enclosed attachment.

To ensure your privacy, CareFirst has used software supplied by Sigaba Corporation to encrypt your message. Some of the pages you will see may include their SigabaSecured® logo or company name.

· Your secured message is contained in a file named CareFirstSecure.html which is attached to this e-mail. Click on the filename, then click open.

· You will be asked for your User ID and Password (that you use in My Account), and the message will display.

· Some e-mail systems require a free download from Sigaba Corporation to properly display the secure message. If you are asked to install and run software from Sigaba Corporation, please click Yes.

· After this small download is complete, you will then be asked for your User ID and Password for My Account. Then your message will display.

If you click Open and cannot view the message, try clicking Save. This will save the file on your PC's hard drive. You can then open the message.

Some computers (especially in large corporations) are "locked down" to prevent users from downloading software. Those locked computers may not allow you to read a secured message or to download the required component from Sigaba.

If you are unable to open the attached message, or need other technical assistance, please contact us at 1-877-526-8390.

Immediately I thought that this was a phishing attack as

1. I did not expect any messages from care first

2. had never seen this type of message before

3. the message was suggesting that I launch an attachment

4. The attached .html file contained an active-x control packaged in couriercontrol.cab. A quick google search showed link titles that contained spyware, and other references from HiJackThis.

But just to be sure I navigated to www.carefirst.com and logged into my account and looked for some sort of messaging area. I could not find it.

Then I proceeded to use the care first web site to send a message to technical support. I typed a long explanation of what I had found and wanted to know if this email had indeed come from care first. Upon trying to submit the form I got a 404 error. I was pissed. But as it turned out the message was delivered as I quickly got an email response.

Thank you for reporting your issue to the My Account Technical Help Desk.

The email you received is a secure email sent to you from CareFirst and
requires (as instructed in that email) that you install the Sigaba software
onto your PC. Once that is completed you will need to click on the
attachment (or save it to your desktop and open from there) to reach a
login page. The userid and password being requested, as a final step to
opening your secure email, will be the same as the CareFirst 'My Account'
web page account you created.

I like how it just restates that I have to install the software to view a message. Hmmmm, well let me talk to a human. I called the technical support and said I just wanted to know what the message was without installing any software. They said they could not help me and I would need to talk to customer support. Five transfers later I was back at technical support. I asked if there was a location on my online account that I could view the messages and I was told the only way was using the Sigaba secure approach. They took my information and said they would get back to me.

Now, Sigaba may be providing great security solutions but providing such instruction to retrieve messages is irresponsible.

I believe most of the general internet population has been trained to not save or open attachments and be suspicious of these types of email. If we tell them “well, you can trust these messages” what is to stop malicious hackers from spamming everyone with messages that look like these secure sign in pages.

Napoleon Dynamite an Aspie movie?

Is Napoleon Dynamite a film about Autism spectrum disorders, specifically Aspergers?

Rock Band Drum Skills

Scary, mad rock band drum skills!!!! Check out the fills at 2:40

Rock Band on the XBOX 360

I purchased Rock Band on Saturday for my Xbox 360 and it is by far my favorite game so far. I never would have thought that this game would be so much fun.

I did not expect to have an immediate appeal to the game. I was skeptical how much fun the game would be as I was a professional weekend warrior musician for 15 years in my past life. I played keyboard and during all those years I had a secret rock and roll fantasy to play guitar, bass and drums.

I started playing the game and my kids immediately jumped in and we played multi-player. They loved it right away, of course! Anne then tried it, and after a few times she was really getting the hang of it. Anne and I started and Band and we are starting a tour. I'm playing drums and she is playing guitar. Finally, a game we can play together after the kids go to bed.

The game slowly introduces you on the easy level and then starts to hook you as you "feel" the music and feel as if you are interacting with your band mates. I can say that the experience is as close to the feeling of performing in a real band without needing musical skills. Well, not exactly true that you don't need musical skills. You need to have a sense of rhythm. This is especially true for drums.

I explored some of the Expert level drum tracks and they exactly match the original drum tracks of the songs. So, if you can play them in "Rock Band", you most likely could play them on real drums. Drums are definitely the most challenging.

I finished the Medium level of guitar only. I've listed all the songs with my favorites on guitar highlighted in red.

1960s

• Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"

1970s

• Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"*
• The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
• Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
• Mountain "Mississippi Queen"^*
• The Police "Next to You"
• David Bowie "Suffragette City"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid"^*
• Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
• The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
• Deep Purple "Highway Star"
• KISS "Detroit Rock City"
• Molly Hatchet "Flirtin' With Disaster"
• The Outlaws "Green Grass & High Tides"^*
• Sweet "Ballroom Blitz"^*

1980s

• Rush "Tom Sawyer"*
• Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• Faith No More "Epic"
• Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
• R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
• Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills"^*

1990s

• Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
• Metallica "Enter Sandman"
• Nirvana "In Bloom"
• Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
• Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
• Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
• Radiohead "Creep"
• Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
• Hole "Celebrity Skin"
• Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
• Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"

2000s

• The Hives "Main Offender"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
• The Strokes "Reptilia"
• Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
• Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
• Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
• Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
• The Killers "When You Were Young"
• New Pornographers "Electric Version"

Unlockable Tracks

• Anarchy Club "Blood Doll"
• Bang Camaro "Pleasure (Pleasure)"
• Crooked X "Nightmare"
• Death of the Cool "Can't Let Go"
• Flyleaf "I'm So Sick"
• Freezepop "Brainpower"
• Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives "I Get By"
• The Acro-Bats "Day Late, Dollar Short"
• The Konks "29 Fingers"
• The Mother Hips "Time We Had"
• Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld"
• Tribe "Outside"
• Vagiant "Seven"

Downloadable Tracks (in order of release)

• Metallica "Ride the Lightning"
• Metallica "Blackened"
• Metallica "And Justice for All"
• Police "Can't Stand Losing You"
• Police "Synchronicity II"
• Police "Roxanne"
• Queens of the Stone Age "3's and 7's"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Little Sister"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Sick Sick Sick"
• Creedence Clearwater "Fortunate Son"^*
• Foreigner "Juke Box Hero"^*
• T-Rex "Band a Gong (Get It On)"^*
• The Knack "My Sharona"^*
• The Runaways "Cherry Bomb"^*
• Wolfmother "Joker & The Thief"
• David Bowie "Moonage Daydream"
• David Bowie "Heroes"^*
• David Bowie "Queen Bitch"^*
• Black Sabbath "N.I.B."^*
• Black Sabbath "Sweet Leaf"^*
• Black Sabbath "War Pigs"^*
• Ramones "Rockaway Beach"
• The Clash "I Fought the Law"
• Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen in Love"^*
• Radiohead "My Iron Lung"
• Weezer "Buddy Holly"
• The Pretenders "Brass in Pocket"^*
• 30 Seconds to Mars "Attack"
• 30 Seconds to Mars "The Kill"
• All-American Rejects "Dirty Little Secret"
• All-American Rejects "Move Along"
• The Sounds "Song with a Mission"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd "Gimme Three Steps"
• Black Crowes "Hard to Handle"^*
• Rush "Limelight"^*
• The Hives "Die Right Now"
• Iron Maiden "Number of the Beast"^*
• Stone Temple Pilots "Interstate Love Song"
• Sweet "Action"^*
• The Monkees "Last Train to Clarksville"^*
• Blink 182 "All the Small Things"
• Oasis "Don't Look Back in Anger"
• Oasis "Live Forever"
• Oasis "Wonderwall"

Here's pictures of the drum and the guitar controllers:


I highly recommend this game if you love rock music! You may not like all the songs but the game keeps you coming back. This is a game that you would never sell back. It's just too much fun.

Dangerous Job

And you thought that window washers had a dangerous job...

http://www.flixxy.com/helicopter-cable-inspector.htm

Yikes!!!

And you thought that window washers had a dangerous job...

http://www.flixxy.com/helicopter-cable-inspector.htm

Yikes!!!

Direct Buy - Buyer Beware!

Anne and I attended a Direct Buy Marketing presentation at our local Direct Buy location here in Hunt Valley, MD. We are planning on buying some end tables and a coffee table for our living room and I stumbled across them during some googling.

I signed up for a visit without really knowing what it was all about. Looking back, I should have checked it out before I wasted 2 hours of my life I will never get back.

Here's the summary:

• Membership for 10 years
• Initial signing cost was $5100 for 3 years. - You don't find this out until 1.5 hours into the slick presentation
• It must be payed up front or can be financed at 17%.
  
• $199 each year after that up to the 10 years.
  
• After 10 years you can pay at the current yearly rate.
  
• The prices are at manufacturer pricing
  
• They make claim retail marks up products from 50-70% to justify their financial model
  
• 900+ manufactures (I never saw a complete list)
  
• You must pay a 8% service fee on most items
• You must pay freight on all items
• Of course you pay tax
  
• Prices on electronics are no better if not worse than local retailers.
• and the drum roll please ...... You must take the deal before you leave!

It was interesting how the entire group sat together for the presentation and we asked to "not ask questions until afterwards" Afterwards we were split into individual groups with a sales men assigned to each of us. I can only believe this is so we didn't hear the questions of the other folks.

One couple walked out as soon as the presentation was over. They guys voice was shaking as he made a lame excuse about a dog in his vehicle. Clearly he was embarrassed and wanted to get out of the building.

The presentation was emanating such a feeling of sleaze that I was waiting for a multi-tiered marketing approach to sell my friends for a membership discount. That never happened, oh well. I couldn't help but feel I was about to buy some swamp land south Florida!

The salesman did say we could go over and review all the catalogs and pricing information. I asked for lists of manufactures and percent breakdowns by categories. He just talked around it and never produced paper.

The membership price did not shock me as much as the fact that the offer was only good for my one and only visit. They claimed it was to prevent people from leaving the DB center and using DB pricing as leverage against local retailers and therefor invaliding the trust relationship they have with the manufactures. A slick argument that I don't buy.

Circuit City has a policy that they will match or beat other local advertised prices or give you money back. They clearly state they do not honor club pricing because your discount is based on a membership fee. Apparently local manufactures and retailers don't have issues with Sam's Club or Price Club. Why would they have a problem with Direct Buy?

Related Side Story: I refuse to make any large purchasing decisions before I perform research. As an example, I recently purchased a new Mazda CX-9 and spent quite a bit of time researching and negotiating. When I finally purchased the vehicle (at the invoice price) the financial salesman was shocked when I did not take the extended warranty. It was stated as "you have to get this now or leave it" Or course I said "No, I don't purchase anything without researching it" and we drove home in our new car. When I got home I did some googling and found out that there are plenty of companies that offer extended warranties on any vehicle and the initial price was half of what the dealership was offering.

Things I learned after I got home from Direct Buy:

• Lots of people are unhappy with DB
• a possible looming class action lawsuit?
• You can't place orders via the member website.
  
• Each DB location is franchised. That is why you see so many different membership pricing.
  

I must say the sales tactics were unscrupulous and offensive. "Mike", our salesman indirectly call me an "idiot" by saying "anyone who can not see the value in this program is an idiot". The approach would set off red flags in any half way intelligent consumer.

The financial argument made was that for my income level I would be saving over $125,000 during my 10 year membership. R...i...g....h....t...?!@*&

I can only come to the conclusion that Direct Buy preys on the meek and the uninformed.

The only scenario where you could justify the $5100 is if you were certain to be spending over $30k on major home improvement items or furnishings and they had all the manufactures you were interested.

Personally, I only buy certain things that I can put my hands on or see the actual item. This is not possible with DB. For instance, I recently bought a True treadmill after hours of research. I initially was going to buy one via the internet for pricing reasons. Some sold exclusively via the internet got got great reviews! I just could not bring myself to purchase one without actually trying it out. I purchased one locally from Gym Source on black Friday and got a great deal. It was delivered and 1 hour after use it was shutting down and displaying an error code. My local retailer sent and True professional repair man to my house and it was fixed in an hour due to a connector falling off. Would my experience with that purchase through DB have gone the same way? No. Also, DB does not carry True products.

I hope my stories and justifications help you to not waste 2 hours of your life at a Direct Buy center.

Mark

Read more opinions @ infomercial scams

I showed Alex the last post and he read my opening remarks. He was very upset when he realized that his misunderstanding of the storm trooper saying "skunk". He really wanted to change my post but I said it was cute and I didn't want to change it.

I left for work while he sat busily typing at the computer. I got to work and showed a co-worker the post and there it was, 3 comments from Alex! He commented and retyped all 20 episodes making the correction from "Skunk" to "Scum".

The second comment he made was as "Mark Lindell". I guess that was his attempt to void my post.

That just goes to show you that SpongeBob typing really does improve your children's typing skills.

My son Alex is 7 years old and has mapped out the next 14 episodes in the Star Wars saga. He was practicing his roman numerals and came up with this excellent list. All spelling and punctuation is his own.

My favorite is 18... Storm Trooper's Skunk. This is a misinterpretation of the Storm troopers saying "You'll never get away you Rebel scum"

Alex’s 20 Star Wars Episodes

I. A Phantom Menice
II. Attack of the clones
III. Revenge of the Sith
IV. A New Hope
V. The Empire strike’s back
VI. Return of the Jedi
VII. Jedi Outcast
VIII. Knights of the old republic
IX. Return of Jangofett
X. Anikin Skywalker Ghost’s revenge
XI. Yoda and the sith
XII. U.F.O
XIII. Luke and the revenge
XIV. The Jedi returns
XV. Bobafett returns
XVI. Jedi Pop
XVII. Han Solo’s Light-saber
XVIII. Storm Trooper’s Skunk
XIX. The Rocket and the Death Star
XX. R2-D2’s Pet From the Jedi

Alex says "All these episodes are awesome!"

Here are the pictures from the Royal Caribbean cruise with my brother and sister's family.

Here's a web site that has tons of copyrighted movies and other videos online. They are not hosted on the site but I can't imagine that it will stay online very long.

http://www.videostored.com

Ok... Only one more tonight... I promise...

Revenge is sweet!!!!


Via: Video Blog

Another cool video I found....


Via: Video Blog

Via: Video Blog

A cute picture from a while back...

A shot from our 15th Wedding Anniversary in Bermuda. 

This is what happens when someone loses 75lbs!!! Amazing!!! You go girl!!!