Saturday, January 16, 2010

Network flaw causes scary Web error

This article is a warning to those who post secrets and stuff on Facebook. Beware.

‘Misdirected cookie’ lands Ga. family on strangers' Facebook accounts

“The glitch — the result of a routing problem at the family's wireless carrier, AT&T — revealed a little known security flaw with far reaching implications for everyone on the Internet, not just Facebook users.” Go here to read the rest.

CLICK FOR RELATED CONTENT

Privacy is dead on Facebook. Get over it.
Check your Facebook privacy settings. Now!
Facebook beefs up security with McAfee

Friday, January 15, 2010

Scientists stop burying live pigs in snow

Growing media pressure generated by activists called it cruel and pointless

Excerpt:

“Scientists say they will no longer conduct avalanche experiments monitoring the deaths of pigs buried in snow, after animal rights groups protested their methods.”

Go here to read the rest.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Who reads this blog anyway?

From time to time I like to share tidbits about who’s reading this blog. Here’s yesterday’ stats: 496 viewers total

The breakdown according to my Stat Counter:
335 - 67.00% United States United States, 51 -10.20% United Kingdom United Kingdom, 33 - 6.60% Canada Canada, 10 - 2.00% India India, 10- 2.00%, Philippines Philippines, 5 - 1.00% Russia, 5 - 1.00% Australia Australia, 4 - 0.80% Netherlands Netherlands, 4 - 0.80%, New Zealand New Zealand, 3 - 0.60% Serbia Serbia, 3 - 0.60% Czech Republic Czech Republic 3 - 0.60% Singapore Singapore, 2 - 0.40% France, France, 2 - 0.40% Indonesia Indonesia 2 - 0.40% Trinidad And Tobago Trinidad And Tobago, 2 - 0.40% South Africa South Africa, 2 - .40% Portugal Portugal, 2 - 0.40% Germany Germany, 2 - .40% Latvia Latvia, 2 - 0.40% Belgium Belgium, 1 - 0.20% Italy Italy, 1 - 0.20% Thailand Thailand, 1 - 0.20% Botswana Botswana,1- 0.20% Norway Norway, 1 - 0.20% Poland Poland, 1- .20% Mauritius Mauritius, 1 - 0.20% Mexico, Mexico, 1 - 0.20% Mongolia Mongolia, 1 - 0.20% Turks And Caicos Islands Turks And Caicos Islands, 1 - 0.20% Sweden Sweden, 1 - 0.20% Denmark Denmark, 1 - .20% Finland Finland, 1 - 0.20% Malta Malta, 1 - 0.20% Cambodia Cambodia, 1 - 0.20% Colombia Colombia, 1 - 0.20% Albania Albania, 1 - 0.20% Malaysia Malaysia, 1 - 0.20% PakistanPakistan

This is a pretty typical day as I average about 500 viewers daily. The stats show 78 colleges, high schools, and education related readers.

As indicated above, the majority of my international visitors come from the The United Kingdom. My family comes from the Yorkshire area so this is no big surprise. I’m an 11th generation Stancliff here in the USA.

The majority of my viewers are from the USA (335 or 67%). To break that down further;126 are from California, and the rest from throughout the nation.

The bottom line is, I appreciate everyone who stops by to check out my blog. If you’re not a “Follower” (see information on the left of this page) why not sign up now? As for my regular viewers (those that come at least once a day – currently at 67), I thank you and I will continue to try to provide a balance in my posts. Humor, optical illusions, editorials, news, editorial cartoons, weird news, and even some local (as in Humboldt) items, are served up for your inspection.

AS IT STANDS – Don’t be afraid to make comments on the posts here. I enjoy them, as do other readers. I don’t moderate posts, so I expect that they will be “kept clean” by the posters. So what do you say? 

 

 

1 in 4 teenage girls involved in violent behavior

About one in four female teens is involved in some sort of violent behavior at school or at work, according to a government report.

Go here to read this report

photo source

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Additional As It Stands columns now in worldwide blog/magazine ‘RememMe’

       image                           

  As far as I’m concerned, traveling by airplane has never been a pleasurable experience.

 It’ll never rate as high as watching the LA Lakers play the Boston Celtics, or eating peanut butter fudge ice cream.


  When I look at what happens at airports today, with security problems and extremist Muslim terrorists trying to bring down American passenger planes with bombs, I assure you I’ll grow wings and fly before I get back on an airplane. Go here to read the rest at RememMe.
      

Google may leave China in wake of hacker attacks

Google chief Eric Schmidt, second from left, and executives Kai-Fu Lee, center, and Johnny Chou, right, at the 2006 launch of the company's Chinese-language brand name, Gu Ge. (Doug Kanter / Bloomberg News)

It looks like Google is going to stand up against the economic giant China. It’s about time. Human rights are non-existent in China and the rest of the world turns it head and ignores the situation because they’re a superpower now. I say bravo to the Google gang for getting rid of those thieves!

Excerpt:

The company said it believed that a key goal of the attackers was to access the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, raising the possibility that China's government not only may have hacked in to Google but also may have been using the company's network to conduct political espionage.”

Read the rest here.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Don't be alarmed -- just get up fast and find the flying saucer!

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 01/12/2010 01:30:22 AM PST

I hate getting up early in the morning. Not an uncommon complaint. I recall when my three sons were little, waking them with music. Now, you might be think, “How sweet. He gently woke his children with the soothing sounds of music.”

You'd be wrong. I had a vinyl record of Snoopy and the Red Baron that featured the sounds of World War I planes in combat! At full volume, it never failed to bring them out of their beds in record (pardon the pun) time. I quit using this method when they hit their teens and loud music had no effect upon them.

Go here to read the rest.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Historic Hearings on Marijuana Legalization tomorrow!

SACRAMENTO - The California Assembly Public Safety Committee will be voting on Tom Ammiano's landmark bill to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana (AB390) Tuesday, Jan 12th.  The bill is expected to be heard when the committee convenes at 9 am.

The bill, based on legislation proposed by Cal NORML and originally drafted for former State Sen. Vasonconellos, would legalize the use of marijuana by adults over 21 and regulate its production and sale in a manner similar to alcohol through the Alcoholic Beverages Commission. 

AB 390 would raise an estimated $1.4 billion in revenues by imposing a $50/ounce excise tax on commercial marijuana, according to an economic analysis by the Board of Equalization.   Existing medical marijuana laws would not be affected.  The bill would also allow adult personal use cultivation of up to six plants.

"With the state's budget broken, prisons bursting at the seams, and illicit marijuana smugglers fueling  violence in Mexico, it makes no sense for taxpayers to be paying the costs of arresting, criminalizing and imprisoning marijuana offenders when they could be collecting tax revenues from a legally regulated market," said California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer, who authored an economic analysis of the bill:  http://www.canorml.org/background/CA_legalization2.html.

Marijuana has been illegal in California since 1913.  Only after being made illegal did it become  popular, spreading to millions of Californians.  The state has recorded over 2.5 million marijuana arrests, half of them felonies.  Arrests declined after the state partly decriminalized marijuana in 1976, but have recently resurged, reaching 78,514 in 2008.  There are some 1,500 inmates in state prison for marijuana felonies, over 15 times as many as in 1980, when the war on marijuana was escalated.

      Current (amended) text of AB 390 may be found at: http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0351-0400/ab_390_bill_20100104_amended_asm_v98.html

   There will be a press conference after the bill's hearing in the State Capitol around 10 am.

   Supporters are urged to contact the legislature in support of AB 390; for info see http://www.canorml.org/news/2010blitz.html


photo source

Activists go undercover to thwart puppy mills

 Nothing is more sad that to buy a puppy from a puppy mill and find out it has serious health problems.

Perhaps the new Pennsylvania law aimed at ending inhumane treatment of dogs will set a national standard. We can only hope so.

Excerpt:

Lacking a bone or toy to occupy their time, some dogs go into a frenzy every time they see a human. Other dogs circle endlessly. Still others just sit there, staring, like a "warm statue," says Jessie Smith, special deputy secretary of dog law enforcement at the state Department of Agriculture.”

Go here to read the whole story.

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...