Russia spy HQ has giant batman mural on floor
Friday, December 15, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Been a while, I know
Yes, it's been quite a while since my last blog. Maybe I'll try and keep this thing more up to date.
In the meantime, who says the increasing violence in video games isn't a problem:
Wii Have a Problem
In the meantime, who says the increasing violence in video games isn't a problem:
Wii Have a Problem
Monday, July 10, 2006
Napoleon's Pet
From the files of Things I Learned in Movies That I Never Thought Would Be True:
"It's pretty much my favorite animal.
"It's pretty much my favorite animal.
Daily Affirmations
Sort of fitting, I suppose, that since my last blog was about Credit Card Fraud, that this one should be about the fraud that I often feel like. I constantly feel like I am not as good as people tell me I am, that I cannot possibly live up to their (or my own) expectations. Today that phenomenon hit a real note with me, as I dropped the ball on the new student orientation at my school. The students were all taken care of, and got the essentials out of everything that they needed, but there were a lot of little details along the way that I could have, or felt I should have, taken care of to smooth things out. A few details, but when added all together they made a real mess, at least to my perception and (from the frustrated reactions of coworkers) others as well.
I've felt for months now, ever since I took this new position, that I am a fraud, that I got the position not by merit, but by luck, or by fooling others into believing that I am more capable than I am. I mentioned this to my dad this evening, and he pointed out that the feeling is common, and that it is well documented. Sure enough, the phenomenon is fairly well documented, and is known as "Impostor Syndrome" or "Impostor Phenomenon." Only a few short weeks ago, a friend of mine pointed out the symptoms to me, and finally, thanks to my dad, I was able to put a name to the symptoms that I've been struggling with for, literally, years.
Sad to say that there doesn't seem to be any quick fix from those who have identified the phenomenon- a very modern (American?) hope. In any case, I hope that I can finally begin to wrestle with and overcome it, maybe to be the success that I know I can, if I would only allow myself to be.
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me." - Stuart Smalley
For more information on Impostor Syndrome, check out these sites:
http://www.impostersyndrome.com/
http://www.counseling.caltech.edu/articles/The%20Imposter%20Syndrome.htm
http://talentdevelop.com/impostor.html
I've felt for months now, ever since I took this new position, that I am a fraud, that I got the position not by merit, but by luck, or by fooling others into believing that I am more capable than I am. I mentioned this to my dad this evening, and he pointed out that the feeling is common, and that it is well documented. Sure enough, the phenomenon is fairly well documented, and is known as "Impostor Syndrome" or "Impostor Phenomenon." Only a few short weeks ago, a friend of mine pointed out the symptoms to me, and finally, thanks to my dad, I was able to put a name to the symptoms that I've been struggling with for, literally, years.
Sad to say that there doesn't seem to be any quick fix from those who have identified the phenomenon- a very modern (American?) hope. In any case, I hope that I can finally begin to wrestle with and overcome it, maybe to be the success that I know I can, if I would only allow myself to be.
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me." - Stuart Smalley
For more information on Impostor Syndrome, check out these sites:
http://www.impostersyndrome.com/
http://www.counseling.caltech.edu/articles/The%20Imposter%20Syndrome.htm
http://talentdevelop.com/impostor.html
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Credit Card Fraud
My first experience with online credit card fraud happened today.
When doing my monthly bill paying/checkbook balance ritual, I noticed a couple of charges for $9.95 from two online companies I've never heard of- Moball LLC and U-Webtemplate.com
Now, I do use my credit card online from time to time- most notably with a recent surge of Ebay purchases a couple of months ago- and I'm pretty aware of the transactions. I keep all records of them in my email, so I can go back and double check a charge if I'm unsure of where it came from.
No record of these companies, and just the names sounded off (in particular, the U-Webtemplate one- I do my own html programming, and use Eversoft Firstpage- freeware- for my web design, so I know I've never made a purchase for any sort of web template.)
I did a little bit of research online, and found a couple of places where other people had been victims of fraudulent charges by these two companies. Most notably, at Robert K. Brown's blog. A quick look over that blog shows that many, many people have been the victims of this fraud.
Sadly, outside of blogs, no one in the mainstream media seems to have taken any notice of this, or cared enough to report it. From a lot of the posts, it doesn't even seem like the credit card companies are all that concerned about it themselves.
Anyway, long story short, I called my bank, cancelled my card, and filed a fraud charge with them. Hopefully that will take care of things.
In any case, I hope the awareness of these fraudulent companies will be raised, and hope that this blog will help a little bit. Be careful!
Some links:
A Work In Progress: U-Webtemplate
A Work In Progress: Digital Age Update
Credit Card Fraud Security
Internet Crime Complaint Center
When doing my monthly bill paying/checkbook balance ritual, I noticed a couple of charges for $9.95 from two online companies I've never heard of- Moball LLC and U-Webtemplate.com
Now, I do use my credit card online from time to time- most notably with a recent surge of Ebay purchases a couple of months ago- and I'm pretty aware of the transactions. I keep all records of them in my email, so I can go back and double check a charge if I'm unsure of where it came from.
No record of these companies, and just the names sounded off (in particular, the U-Webtemplate one- I do my own html programming, and use Eversoft Firstpage- freeware- for my web design, so I know I've never made a purchase for any sort of web template.)
I did a little bit of research online, and found a couple of places where other people had been victims of fraudulent charges by these two companies. Most notably, at Robert K. Brown's blog. A quick look over that blog shows that many, many people have been the victims of this fraud.
Sadly, outside of blogs, no one in the mainstream media seems to have taken any notice of this, or cared enough to report it. From a lot of the posts, it doesn't even seem like the credit card companies are all that concerned about it themselves.
Anyway, long story short, I called my bank, cancelled my card, and filed a fraud charge with them. Hopefully that will take care of things.
In any case, I hope the awareness of these fraudulent companies will be raised, and hope that this blog will help a little bit. Be careful!
Some links:
A Work In Progress: U-Webtemplate
A Work In Progress: Digital Age Update
Credit Card Fraud Security
Internet Crime Complaint Center
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Dial "S" for Smell
Alternative title for this blog: Smell My Cell
From Mobile media:
Wow- as if I needed another reason not to get a cell phone. Now people have to worry about their practical joker buddies swapping out their perfumed cartridges with the inevitable "joke fart smell" cartridges that will come out via third party vendors.
Although it does provide people with chronic gas problems an out to cover up their physical dilemma.
"Hey, Joe, did you just let one rip?"
"Not me, man- it was my cell phone. Excuse me while I take this call."
From Mobile media:
Samsung Develops 'Smell Tones' | ||||
Fri Mar 24, 2006 10:14 pm "Samsung Electronics has developed a perfume spraying cell phone to release "smell tones" when incoming calls are received.
The invention uses a pressurized heating chamber to store one or more scents. Using an ultrasonic controller triggered by the press of a button or an incoming call, perfume is excited and released into the air. However practicality may hinder its integration and eventual product release. The spray unit adds considerable bulk, contrary to slimmer and smaller market trends. "It may be difficult to embed a perfume spraying apparatus in a small and lightweight mobile phone," the application states. And more fundamentally, "the perfume may stain the mobile phone or the user's clothes." Mobile multimedia has grown to become a $9.1 billion industry. With ringtones and more recently ringback tones projected at making up 12% of total music sales by 2008, consumers continue to look for new customizations. And Samsung is hard at work to find new ways to differentiate mobile phones." | ||||
Wow- as if I needed another reason not to get a cell phone. Now people have to worry about their practical joker buddies swapping out their perfumed cartridges with the inevitable "joke fart smell" cartridges that will come out via third party vendors.
Although it does provide people with chronic gas problems an out to cover up their physical dilemma.
"Hey, Joe, did you just let one rip?"
"Not me, man- it was my cell phone. Excuse me while I take this call."
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Is he strong? Listen, bub...
Spider-Man 3 trailer is up at Sony's website:
Trailer
It looks pretty cool. I never quite got the whole "Venom" thing, though. The whole appeal of that character. He's, what, an embittered photojournalist in the alien suit that Spider-Man brought back from Battleworld? (Secret Wars reference. Yes, I'm a comic geek.)
In other words, he's just a bulked up, psychotic Peter Parker in black and white with a ridiculously oversized jaw and gigantic tongue who drools all over the place. Big whoop.
(Don't even get me started on the whole "Venom: Lethal Protector" thing from the 90's. Geek.)
Still, it looks like it should be pretty cool, although I fear that they may be going into the Batman Returns "put too many elements into the mixture" bit- I count Sandman, Venom (Parker and Eddie Brock versions), Green/Hobgoblin, and Black Cat (or at least Felicia Hardy, the platinum blonde Pete's dancing with). Overkill? We'll see.
Trailer
It looks pretty cool. I never quite got the whole "Venom" thing, though. The whole appeal of that character. He's, what, an embittered photojournalist in the alien suit that Spider-Man brought back from Battleworld? (Secret Wars reference. Yes, I'm a comic geek.)
In other words, he's just a bulked up, psychotic Peter Parker in black and white with a ridiculously oversized jaw and gigantic tongue who drools all over the place. Big whoop.
(Don't even get me started on the whole "Venom: Lethal Protector" thing from the 90's. Geek.)
Still, it looks like it should be pretty cool, although I fear that they may be going into the Batman Returns "put too many elements into the mixture" bit- I count Sandman, Venom (Parker and Eddie Brock versions), Green/Hobgoblin, and Black Cat (or at least Felicia Hardy, the platinum blonde Pete's dancing with). Overkill? We'll see.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Governmental Efficiency Rant
I've been trying to contact the immigration office all morning, in order to do some investigative work for my job. It took me at least 20 minutes to navigate through the phone options before I could finally find an option that would connect me to, you know, a live person. Then, when I did that, I was informed that the wait would be at least 30 minutes, but a good time to try them might be on Wednesday or Thursday. Then the automated service hung up on me.
Tried again 40 minutes later, and after holding for another 20 minutes, I get through to a person. She begins asking me all sorts of questions that I know are not related to my issue, so I cut her off and ask the real question I need answered. She then informs me that I need to call a different number, since I am a DSO.
Fine. I call that number, and get through to a live operator (once again, about a 20 minute wait). When I get through to her, and describe the problem, she refers me back to the first number. "But I already called them, and they referred me to you," I say. She says she knows, that it isn't the first time that has happened, and that they shouldn't have done that. But I need to talk to the people at the first number.
So that's what, close to two hours of my day gone, and still without an answer to my original question? Geez. I can see where some governmental spending cuts could be made right there.
Tried again 40 minutes later, and after holding for another 20 minutes, I get through to a person. She begins asking me all sorts of questions that I know are not related to my issue, so I cut her off and ask the real question I need answered. She then informs me that I need to call a different number, since I am a DSO.
Fine. I call that number, and get through to a live operator (once again, about a 20 minute wait). When I get through to her, and describe the problem, she refers me back to the first number. "But I already called them, and they referred me to you," I say. She says she knows, that it isn't the first time that has happened, and that they shouldn't have done that. But I need to talk to the people at the first number.
So that's what, close to two hours of my day gone, and still without an answer to my original question? Geez. I can see where some governmental spending cuts could be made right there.
Post the First
Dabbled (ever so briefly) with blogging a couple of years ago, but something in me decided it's time to give this a real shot. Not that I have anything particularly noteworthy to say, I guess, but I'm hopeful that it will help me to focus my thoughts a bit. Anyway.
That's the first one. Yippee!
That's the first one. Yippee!
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