De-Bugging or Re-Bugging the Latest Hack Attacks

Much news is circulating the air waves and text waves about the latest website hacking. 

The latest hack attack is coming from, what news-folk call, “the SQL injection” or “the SQL bug”.  When I read or hear either of these terms, my eyes do that little roll back that makes you feel like the canals in your ears are spiraling shut.  I appreciate news people trying to educate the public.  I appreciate the news.  I don’t appreciate reports that scare people because the person reporting doesn’t exactly understand the subject and masks their words to indicate they are spreading very important news.

MySQL [pronounces My S-Q-L or My Sequel] is a wonderful FREE database tool web developers download for FREE to make websites do all those cool things you love--  log-ins, credit card storage to your favorite shopping site, storage of your name and address, etc.  Any site you use   where you must log-in  uses a database. 

The “SQL injection” term comes from the SQL in MySQL.   SQL means Structured Query Language.  In this case, all you need to remember is it’s referring to a database.

What does that MySQL database do?  It stores your password and all other information you provide.  Any site where you buy something has a database whether you save your information to that site or not.  It stores your purchase request so the store can send you the merchandise you ordered and stores your address so they know where to send.    It may not specifically remember you, but it will remember the purchase.  Get the picture?

MySQL ( a database) has commands it responds  to as part of its normal operation.  One of those commands is to provide a “dump”.  (I’m not trying to entertain you with teenage bathroom humor, the person who created this function may have had a warped sense of humor but this is what it’s called).   The dump command, sends a message to the database to reveal information; like someone dumping a pile of papers on your desk if you asked them to bring you all the names of the men name John is the greater Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. 

A database “dumps” what ever request is queried.  If you have a website that offers users the ability to sign up to receive your monthly newsletter, you need a means to retrieve that information.  In simple terms, you ask the database to dump all names and addresses it has stored to be able to fulfill you offer. Get the picture?

What the “SQL injection” threat truly means:  An unauthorized person accesses a database and is able to retrieve all the information stored inside that database. 

The SQL injection, is not someone injecting anything.  They are merely asking.  The vulnerability lies in the database itself whether it’s a free MySQL or a paid My SQL subscription or another paid database system.   All databases provide means to retrieve the information they store.  Safeguarding the entry is the primary concern.  There are means for the developer to require codes to help lock down the information.  It’s just the hackers have learned the secret password and now stroll in to this pile of information like a person walking in to a store and grabbing a cart to load up. 

The travesty in this hacking lies in sites where developers have not taken the steps to secure the database.  Such was the reported chase of hacksters known as LulzSec, who waltzed in to Sony Pictures website. They reportedly tweeted, “We accessed EVERYTHING.  Why do you put such faith in a company that allows itself to become open to these simple attacks?”

Be mindful that these latest attacks do not involve your computer unless you are running a website that contains a database USING YOUR OWN SERVER (hosting yourself).  Your hosting company should be able to provide you with information about their security if you are concerned about your data’s vulnerability.

What should you as a individual should know about SQL injections: 
IF... you have a website,  IF... it doesn’t have a database (a login of some type), you are not at risk for this kind of attack.

IF...you use websites for shopping, how much information do you provide them?  Are you a priority member, does the site know you?  Do you store your credit card with them?

IF...you use social networking, how much information do you provide?  This goes beyond your privacy settings.  How many times do you access games?  How many times do you answer those fun questions about your favorite beverage or books you’ve read? 

IF...you use the same password for everything....

IF... you answered yes to these questions, your information may be at risk.

My ongoing mantra: 
Play on the Internet as if everything you were
saying (typing) were on a billboard
on the busiest freeway at rush hour. 
People aren’t going anywhere so all they have time to do is stare. 

Cloudy With a Chance of Data?

THE CLOUD!

Beyond the fluffy white diaphanous objects floating across our skyline, ‘the cloud’ means something new.  Maybe you’ve heard words like “the cloud” or lately “iCloud” and wonder if this is something you need to embrace with giggly anticipation or with trepidation like the big needle shot that they say “won’t hurt” and is steals your breath away.

Here’s the basic primer: 

Cloud based services were once places to store data & files like a safe deposit box at a bank.  Cloud-based applications are much more than this.  Cloud computing takes away the need for your computer to install the software required to operate the application.  Simple example: In order to create a document in WORD, you must have Microsoft Word installed on your computer or your laptop.  Now with ‘cloud computing’, the cloud holds that software allowing the device you use to be much smaller, lighter, etc., because it doesn’t have to store it; it “lives” in the cloud.  [also known as “software as a service”.]

In the past, tasks such as word processing were not possible without the installation of software on a local computer.  New Cloud computing takes away the installation and upgrades hassles and needed for higher computing power from users and gives more control to the service providers on administration of the services.

Another analogy to explain cloud computing is to think of it as a public utility such as electricity, gas, or water. Centralized and standardized utilities freed us from the difficulties of generating electricity or pumping water. All of the development and maintenance tasks involved in bringing these commodities to us have been eliminated.  So far, cloud-folk are swearing with Cloud computing, the savings should translate to a reduced cost in software distribution.  Of course, time will tell if this is true.

The principle behind the cloud is that any computer connected to the Internet, can be connected to the Cloud, if you have assess.  iCloud, coming soon through Apple reports free connectivity.  Rumor is ‘free’ translates to mean user who own Late model Apple devices.

If you connect to the Cloud, you can store and access your personal files such as music, pictures, videos, documents and everything else you store.  If you’re like me and own several devices, I could connect to the cloud and retrieve all my latest emails, documents picture….everything from my computer or iPhone or iPad.  I wouldn’t have to worry about copying files and making sure I had the latest version of my proposal.  It would be there.  That’s in a perfect world.

We all know we don’t live in that world, so I think about the times I don’t have an Internet connection or when I visit my father who’s small miraculously and famously has  no 3G connection either unless you drive to the county hospital parking lot.  I also think about flying on planes and the “no Internet” rule.  What happens then?

Cloud computing sounds grand and exciting.  I’m still a little worried about those rainy days when you can’t find your umbrella.

Dusting off the Blog for Important Information: Facebook at it AGAIN!

I've decided to post Blog to Groote's Gaggle only when I feel there's something important to impart to my followers.

Facebook monkeyed with your settings-- AGAIN!

A great friend and techno-genius, posted to his status this very important announcement about the new Facebook sharing  device.  If you like to upload photos to Facebook and then 'tag' faces (a means of identifying people in photographs), that cute innocent action is now being used in a very public way.  

The basics: 

The privacy setting on your photo settings in regard to sharing images, got switched to a default setting of "ON" when Facebook started pushing this technology on an international level.  Read the whole article "Facebook starts rolling out facial recognition feature worldwide."

What to do: 

To opt out of this feature, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Go to your Privacy Settings on Facebook. (under Account)
2. Click on Customise settings at the bottom.
3. Under “Things others share” you should see an option titled “Suggest photos of me to friends. When photos look like me, suggest my name.” Click on Edit Settings.
4. Change the option from Enabled to Disabled.

If you are a Facebook account holder, it's always good to periodically check your privacy settings.  Another very good "check" to make on a regular basis is your Facebook credit. If you purchase or have purchased anything on Facebook (game credits, merchandise, advertising), your credit card information is automatically stored under payment method.  
To fix this:

1. Go to your Account on Facebook.
2. Click on Credits Balance.
3. Click on Payment Methods - manage 
4. A screen asking for your Facebook password appears.
5. If you see "You have no funding sources associate with your account", you are safe from having your credit compromised.
6. If you see your credit card information, opt to delete it.  Nothing bad will happen.  You merely have to re-enter it should you make another purchase.  Do it. Don't be lazy. Protect your credit and money.  

In closing, my standard mantra:  It's a big, bad Internet out there.  Play safe.


Peace.

Hacked Up a Dubious Connection?

Listened to the news lately?  Malcolm Riddell was a tech-savvy guy who lived on the 12th floor of a building where most of his neighbors were retired seniors. He figured he didn't need a password on his wireless router. But after an unexpected visit from the FBI, he changed his mind. Malcolm’s unprotected WIFI (wireless router) was being used by a person to collect and solicit child pornography.

If your Internet connection speed suddenly slows down or you’re constantly losing your connection, it's possible that someone has hijacked your wireless router.   First, you have to be using a wireless router (something that get’s you on the internet WITHOUT a wired connection).  Wireless is like when you go to Starbuck’s or stay at a hotel and they say FREE WIFI.  Which means you can use your laptop or smart phone or iPad to connect to the Internet for free without using a wired connection.  When you use free WIFI, some you merely click and wa-la!  You’re connected!  Hotels don’t like to share their WIFI, so you’re generally going to be issued a password and put in the code before it works. 

 

Nonetheless, if you buy one of these cool little gadgets for your home; even it merely allows you to sit in your lounge chair in front of your flat-screen and play solitaire while watching CSI,  or use your printer in your bedroom while sitting at the kitchen table, you have a WIFI connection.  If you never needed a password to initiate this connection, your WIFI is NOT PASSWORDED.  And I say, “what are you thinking?!”

Yes, we live in a world where passwords are really taking over our lives, with our ATMs codes, logins to social networks, logins to our online banking, our favorite online shopping, and on and on.  Encyption/pass words for your home or business WIFI is a precaution you should take if you have not done so at this time.  After creating a password, write it down, use it to connect to your devices, store it in the memory. Store the password in a safe place if you need to retrieve and the, forget it.  It’s that simple.  

Do it.

..unless you’re lonely and would welcome a knock at your door from the FBI.

-peace.

Dear Facebookers

If you not a person who uses Facebook, then read no further. 

Yep.  Changes on the FB.  Did you know according to “The Social Network”, Mark Zuckerberg originally called it “The Face Book”.  Enough trivia.

The SCOOP:  New settings on your news feed automatically set to show only posts from people who you’ve recently interacted with or those with whom you interact the most. Apparently, you only see and read posts from friends/fans who have interacted with you within the few weeks of this setting change.  It reports the fear, “you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you”.

The FIX:  Scroll down to the bottom of the newsfeed on the homepage and click “Edit Options”.  It should be on the right-hand side.  Click on “Show Posts From” and change the setting to “All of Your Friends and Pages”.  Done. I’ve had reports some Friends have noticed a difference; me- none.

On another note, I have created a VTG Enterprise page on Facebook.  My goal is to create a forum  in the discussion area on website expectations, usage, content, and other subjects surrounding our interaction with this media tool.  

Please go to Facebook.com/pages/VTG-Enterprises and “like”.  Here’s a link to discussion topics currently available for comment.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=105&post=332&uid=153067524746583#!/board.php?uid=153067524746583

Oh, it's You?

Falling…
     off the face of the Earth?

Failing….
     to keep up?

Wondering if your efforts….
     are inspiring or advancing your cause?

Terminal…
     boredom or ennui?

I’ve asked myself all these questions when I see the true time span of vacancy in Groote’s Gaggle. 

Reality lives somewhere between all of this and the fact that again I have been uprooted from my permanent digs to a new location.  I sit in transition in north Tarrant County outside of Fort Worth, TX as my hoped for, final address, is materializing brick by brick.  Most of us have that perpetual desire to set down roots and build a foundation of longevity in a place.

Over this sea of vacancy, I have been gathering in new clients, saying goodbye to some, and continually and constantly learning new avenues and turns in the roads of the World Wide Web.

Clean, easy to use, functioning websites are more and more in demand.  Video, imagery, networking your site to have conjunctive links, and updating, updating, updating!  rule.  Google is the 300 pound gorilla in the room who controls search engines across America.  Jump through their hoop if you wish to show up on a search.  What do you need to do?
Invest in your creation.  This requires some work.  Listing your site on Google, placing their “special code” in your home page, and adding a few extra “Google requested” pages help your site become recognized.

(In my opinion, we’ve googled and oogled ourselves crazy and Google has become the Microsoft bully who in spite of this, is still loved liked the prodigal son.  Even Microsoft’s  new search baby Bing is admitting it uses Google technology to retrieve searches.  Pretty sneaky. So face it, Google rules.)

The other item important to Google is HOW OFTEN DO YOU UPDATE YOUR SITE? Yep.  Google is watching when no one else may be visiting your pages.  Google is looking and calculating to see if you have anything new to say.  If you don’t, Google begins to ignore you.  Chances are everyone else does as well. 

Falling, failing, wondering?  Don’t’ become terminal.

Peace.

Facebook Updated and So did I

Timing is everything.  Last week I posted privacy directions for Facebook and the interface was completely changes two days later.  This was obviously was not my best timed moment.

Never fear!  A new Facebook privacy tutorial is here!

This tutorial is available in a PDF format for download  usage.  Please feel free to share this information.

Download the Tutorial

Get Your Facebook Privacy Tutorial

So much has been in the press about Facebook's privacy settings. The Facebook social network is so large, if it were a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world. Wow! Yep!

With this knowledge, I felt called to share with you the steps to set your privacy in this application if you use it.  I was going to merely share it on this blog but once I began, I must admit, the process was so involved, it demanded it's own document.

So here it is:  A Tutorial for Facebook Privacy.  It's a pdf document I hope you download, print and share.

If you have suggestions or corrections, please contact me and I will make changes and submit improvements.

I highly recommend learning more about this vast application.  TIME magazine has a feature cover story on Facebook.  get a copy or read it here:  How Facebook Is Redefining Privacy

Are U "IN"fluential?

Time magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” for 2010 arrived at my door a couple of days ago. I haven’t begun to get through all the pages of those 100 folks but a double-page fold-out caught my eye, “The Influence Index”. It measured how connected or engaged you were on Facebook and Twitter. Let’s be clear, connected and engaged translates to how many people follow you if you’re on Twitter or how many people are listed in your friend pile on Facebook. The higher the number of followers and friends raised your influence status. (BTW—my following is 2. Yes, I’m humble).

The trend in favoritism leaned toward youth, hip, and artistic. Nonetheless, the article noted that Barack Obama had an almost equivalent following to the latest pop/rock artist, Lady Gaga. Obama lead the pack with other recognizable names such as Oprah, Glen Beck, Taylor Swift, Sarah Palin and the Twitter king, Ashton Kutcher. Out of all of these, I think Ashton Kutcher is the only person who actually tweets some, if not most, of his entries. Others, like Oprah, have their “people” do it for them. Do you really think President Obama is running around trying to update his Facebook status?

These very influential folks have “people” spouting off quips or statements that you as a follower or friend should ooh-and-awe at when you read them and desire to respond. Do you know Facebook offers an application that posts statuses for you? You sign up for a category such as glib quips, or philosophical ideas, etc.  The application then posts once a day, or as many times a day, as you sign up to enlist. The result is to make your friends think you are the most clever, or most pithy, or most intelligent person they know. PLEASE!

It leads me to ponder how we are transforming from a society who leaned over the fence or clothes line to gossip with the neighbor to sitting huddled over a small screen in a bustling airport or mall or other public pedestrian place ignoring the world as we are connected to the aimless pontifications of others who we think are cool. 

Some of us separate ourselves from the world by countless hours at a computer screen being connected to chats, tweets, and IMs to people miles and miles away; feeling ever-so close and chummy. True, you can’t hug your computer or cell phone without appearing somewhat weird, but are these little tools enhancing or eroding our lives?

I don’t have the answers. I don’t know if the ability to reach out and send your thoughts or questions to CNN at any given moment makes me feel more engaged or influential. It somehow seems we are ignoring our immediate surroundings and the people we commune and breathe the same air with when we are so rapt with attention to the screen of those so far away. 

When we have influences that are so strong and enticing, how do we sort through the flotsam and naval gazing to the modicum of reality and truth that exists in the world? If reasonably intelligent adults can get swept up in the tweet/FB syndrome, what happens to the young and impressionable? I guess this is one of the great questions of the day, who shapes your thoughts?  Is all this information making us more intelligent?  Are we gathering in all this information to better our balance of reasoning? Or are we loading up to be the big hit at the next cocktail party or social gathering?

I don’t’ write Groote’s Gaggle to give you the correct slant on life. I hope I write to make you think and try to form answers or seek out more information to a subject or idea. I definitely don’t have the answers, but give me time and I’ll ask you lots of questions. If I influence you to think, not my thoughts, but think about finding out more about your thoughts, or needs, or ideas to try, I feel extremely privileged and honored.

Users Manual Not Included

Ever go site browsing?  Looking around at other websites to see how your's compares, or what’s “in”, or what’s eye-catching?  If no, you should.  If yes, you may be languishing thinking of your site as you gaze and ooh-and-awe at some of the competition.

Next time you go browsing around, maybe even looking at your own site, ask yourself, “Who is this site for?”  Is it for advertising?  Attracting new folks? Use on a regular basis for information?  Directions and times?

Here is the web’s golden rule to follow, above all others, when it comes to a website:  WHO IS THE USER?

If your site’s user is 55 years of age or older, tiny print may not be a good option.  Little tiny print can be interesting in some places,  but can your predominate user read it?

Do you feel users access your site via cell phones on a regular basis?  Guess what?  Those sexy animated sleek flash sites being touted quite a bit by website builders may not be seen on all types of cell phones.  Oops!  Coming out in the very near future is a new interface bridging this gap.  I predict its fluid use in the next 12-24 months.  In the meantime, there may be folks not seeing what you’re saying.

Do you know if most of your users have high-speed Internet?  If not, big downloads or streaming video may not be a good option for your site.

Are your users web-savy?  Do your users IM? (Instant Message) Use Facebook or another social site? Play games online?  Surf the Net on a regular basis?  Know what Twitter is? 

Don’t think these questions are trite.  If your site is predominately used for communication with your congregation, make sure they know basic computer skills OR know their level of Internet expertise.  This may sound crazy.  Trust me.  Not everyone knows the ins and outs of today’s technology.  If you have invested in a website, make sure your users understand the components or you may be putting a great deal of time and effort into a tool not being readily used.

As a web designer, it is part of my training to help my clients develop the best site for their needs.  It irritates me when I see designers selling sites that may look incredible but have little functionality for the user and absolutely no sense of navigational structure.  Websites don't come with users manuals.  That is why it is of the upmost importance for the site to be built to suit the needs of the user.

In the book "The Cider House Rules",  John Irving's main character is sitting one hot night on the roof of the cider house with an African American man who is one of the apple farm's share-croppers. : They come intemporarily for the harvest and stay in the cider house.  He asks the man why no one in the cider house follows the rules posted on the mainframe post inside.  The worker's response does not reveal defiance or disgruntlement against the management.  His response is a simple statement of their life situation.  The occupants didn't follow the rules because they couldn't read.  They had no idea what was on the piece of paper. 

Who is your user? Who is your visitor?  How do you help them know the rules?

It’s a Techie Kind-of Day…Or is it?

a.k.a.- A Self Indulgent Moment

Adobe rolled out its promo for CS5 yesterday.  I know that means absolutely nothing to you.  It means a lot to me.  (It’s that perspective and perception thing we deal with every day.)  The news yesterday from Adobe means I will be learning and educating myself to new technological software if I have any intent in keeping up with this ever changing Internet business.

What about you?  Any new things in your work?

The iPad hit the market this past Saturday.  Over 300,000 iPads where sold in one day.  One comic was reported saying, “We’re now a country willing to pay $500 to find out what something is…”  It says to me, “Wow!  Maybe the recession's over”.   But it also says we live in a society clamoring for new technology and ways to instantly connect and have knowledge or entertainment or communication at any cost.

My real techie experience was watching this live promotional webinar about this new software suite hitting the market while sitting in my office at my computer.  I didn’t have to drive anywhere.  I was participating without travel or cost. While watching, the sidebar of my internet screen, displayed instant Twitter comments about the presentation.  Wow!  I really felt connected to these strangers and decided I work in a field that is constantly changing and creating and pushing the envelope and finding new ways to engage people…. Whee, it was cool!

My prayer, wish, for you is that you can experience something in your profession that challenges you, exhilarates you, engages you and makes you want more.  Peace.

No Access Can Be an Opportunity in the Wings

Last week, as I drove down the road listening to NPR, my mind was captured by a statement that the FCC is exploring ways to bring broadband access to the whole country at an economical price.  It’s a good challenge to try and achieve.  In the meantime, have you stopped to consider what life is like for families who do not have internet access or a computer?

In today’s world, searching for a job or applying for a job often requires submission through the internet.  Most applications now ask for an email address even if you are applying in person.  Students do research for weekly work via the internet and sometimes even submit homework by this means. The internet, its usage and access, has created a silent unseen divide in our communities; those who have computer/internet and those who do not.  

The story I listened to on NPR told the story of a single mother with three children who was seeking a job and her struggles to apply for positions, list an email address, and stay connected to follow-up as she did not have either a computer or internet.  Her children attended a school near an upper middle class neighborhood where students were often required to post homework via computer/internet and the story told of the challenges this family faced trying to get to a library or get the children to school early enough to use the school computer.  Public computers, such as in libraries and schools which aren’t always free, are few and far between.  Getting time on a computer is valuable.  Hours available are small.  A family without a computer or internet constantly struggles with finding access.  

I have become obvious to the inability to be connected as my job uses a computer and I even have access to the web and broadband via my phone with my “3G network”.   If these 21^st century tools fail me, I feel my arm has been severed or my oxygen intact has been dampened and I’m gasping and choking to breath.

What would your life be like without a computer?  Without being able to read emails?  Without logging on to Facebook or surfing the Internet?  Without using a word processor to type out a document?  These are the struggles for many Americans today.  It’s a silent struggle.  You don’t talk about it because it’s embarrassing. You are impaired.  No computer?  No internet?  What???

The FCC’s attempt to meet the challenge to bring broadband across the country is no small task.  Making it economical is no small task either.  So consider this, what if you, your church, could provide free WiFi access and/or free computer usage?  Talk about an outreach program!  What if…..? 

A Parable for Lent

I’ve been having computer troubles. Don’t we all at some time? My computer troubles are never small fixes. They are major, expensive time-consuming workarounds.

My journey this time has taken approximately 14 weeks. From changing a broken, dead HP mainframe tower to an Apple OS/X with a duo platform in Windows. I did my due diligence in storing my files. I even had a high falootin’ mirror that imaged and stored things as I created them so I didn’t have to do a thing to make sure my files were safe.

Despite my efforts, my new Windows 7 operating system would absolutely not read my files. I’ve been slowly and painstakingly connecting my big external mirror storage drive to an old laptop and with a little thumb drive, copying and moving information. It has not been fun. It’s a slow task. Maddening, thrashing, boring, angering, and other endless adjectives depicting the most frustrating straits has been my demeanor through this process.

I also spent 9 hours on Friday slowly restoring data contact files that had been corrupted. I have another storage system that involves cyber storage and links my computer to my phone. Last week, my phone died. I had to restore all the information. During this process, all the contacts began multiplying; yes multiplying!. I had duplicate contacts for some people, triple for others, and even as many as six identical files for one contact. Yikes! It was like the Star Trek episode, “The Trouble with Trebles” where these little furry creatures just kept multiplying and multiplying.

Last night at 5:15 pm, I think I have completed this journey; my small triumph. Finishing this computer nightmare also made me think about my back yard. It was in shambles from the extended freeze suffered in January throughout the Deep South. I finally took the time this past weekend to tear out all those broken branches and prune the dead rotting palm fronds, slimy and mushy, lying in their deadness around burdened trunks. It was a nasty, dirty job. But in the pruning this past Monday morning, at the bottom of one bush was the tiny, delicate, new light green leaf of new growth.

It occurred to me all this cleaning and purging was like this Lenten season. This is the time of introspection and ponder; the time of working through process to prepare for the Resurrection and Joy. Are we not supposed to suffer during Lent? Or at least struggle and wrestle with ourselves? Isn’t that what giving something up is about? Or doing study or meditation practices? Are we not striving to achieve something?

If we cannot clean out, tear out, break down, and sometimes painstaking walk the heavy laden struggles of rendering clean the old broken, stinky, musty time-consuming, wrenching files and leaves that clutter of our minds and lives, the new cannot grow. We must, no matter how reluctant, clean out and prepare for the fresh growth and new sprouts to come or we stagnant.

And there my friends, is my parable: purging the old to ready the way for the new, the spring, and the joy that I can move forward in my work. May you find the way to remove your obstacles for the new to grow in your life.

Peace.

Out of Time

Time has slipped away too quickly since the last Groote's Gaggle. Don't you feel you often just run out of time?

This week's TIME magazine ran a one-sentence statement:



1.26 MICROSECONDS: "Time that each day has been shortened as a result of Chili's earthquake, which shifted the earth's axis about 3 inches".

Where do they learn this? How did they determined this? And who is they?! I find information such as this little sentence fascinating. Where do these pearls come from? Time didn't make a reference. The statement appeared in a little horizontal bullet on page 13; just a little kernel to be plucked like a seasoned pearl from an oyster.

My word of wisdom is to definitely count your blessings and kiss your kids because you string many more of those microseconds together and you'll not have time to turn around.

peace.

Choosing Lent

Lent began yesterday with Ash Wednesday. Many follows choose to give something up during this time before Easter. Several attended Lenten services that were held last night and received the ashed-cross on their forehead. Some will continue to meet every Wednesday until Easter. For me, Ash Wednesday, and the Lenten season is a practice of the Christian calendar I’m still trying to embrace. For my personal reasons, strange as they may be, I struggle with Lent and the rituals surrounding it.

A Facebook friend shared a devotional link yesterday I am going to try and follow these next few weeks. I think I might be able to accomplish this devotional because, there’s not a lot to read. It’s online and the background music is rather soothing to me. Yeah, it’s embarrassing to admit how being faithful must sometimes be in small does and little steps. But here’s a moment of honesty slipping out.

In writing this to you, I learned this devotion is directed toward students. Well aren’t we all students? In life at least? So far yesterday & today’s devotion have not been more than 5 or 6 lines. That holds my wandering attention. It’s plainly written without long theological contemplative passages. So, if you’re a short attention spanner or struggle like me, maybe you’d like to choose to try and walk this journey with me ……

Here’s the link: http://www.d365.org/journeytothecross/

peace. (p.s. today’s devotion: the ability – and responsibility – to choose)

Tidbits to Chew On

This past week I’ve had the good future to have two very interesting conversations with a couple of my clients that I would like to share with you. I think both sets of information are important notes to pass along.

Of course, this is news parallels the good news bad news joke. One item is good information and the other is a warning-which could be taken as good information if you choose to be proactive about it. I’ll share the good first:

An online church donation link by All Saints Episcopal in Salt Lake City, UT (http://www.allsaintsslc.org) last fall has brought in an estimated 12% increase in donations. Rev. Michael Mayor also reported the link was very helpful when someone wished to make a memorial donation. Their check did not have to be sent in the mail. The giver merely went to the church website and made the donation online. BTW, reports are people use debit cards quite often in online donations so the giving on credit debate needs to be aware of this facet.

Many of you know my computer crashed after I moved to Baton Rouge. I LOVE my new Apple computer with dual Windows operating system but recovering old files and reestablishing them is never a fun task. One note I hadn’t shared about the details of my computer mishaps was I had just finished downloading a Windows update when the crash occurred. Talking with Rev. Dick Selby this week, I learned he and his wife experienced the exact same thing on each of their computers. This is quite alarming news as most viruses of this nature make it to the forefront of the news.

Maybe this was a coincidence. I tend to think it most likely wasn’t. I’m not aware of any safeguards but I will plead--- PLEASE, please back –up your documents, emails, contacts, etc. Keep a good back-up of information on a regular basis. I’ve been doing this for years and while I have some challenges with older software versus new software, I am going to be able to retrieve almost all of my data.

I’m heading off to send a note to Microsoft. Play safe out there in cyberland… peace.

Be Very, Very, Careful

Remember Elmer Fudd, the cartoon character. His double-barreled shotgun in hand and he turns to the screen and says, “Shhh. Be ve-wee ve-wee, care-vul, ‘cause we are hunting wabbits!”

Be very, very careful, because you may not be hunting rabbits, but they are hunting you. I’ve spent the last few blogs ranting about the predatory Internet. I apologize for doing the same this week, but I feel this is ve-wee,ve-wee Important!

A few of my clients have received letters from a business named Domain Registry of America. This letter urges them to renew their domain names as soon as possible to avoid risking their control of their name. Losing your domain name is not something anyone wants. Domain Registry of America knows that and that’s why they look so official and scary when they tell you your domain is about to expire.

Many of my clients are registered through my company. If you are my client, and not registered through me, I still know your domain registry company. NONE of YOU are registered through this company. They are luring you. Read the document to notice the carefully placed nonchalant word “switch” or “when you switch”. This word and sets of words is telling you that if you send them money, they become the registry. Every web domain name is registered to some company out there. Some are fairer than others. I don’t know how fair Domain Registry of America is or isn’t, but given the fact they are somewhat innocently sending you this information, I would treat them as the wolf in Gramma’s gown in the Red Riding Hood story and run away quickly!

Whenever you encounter any offer on the Internet or about the Internet, look over it with a fine tooth comb. If it seems too good to be true, IT IS! And as a reminder, keep a picture of Elmer next to your screen so you’ll always remember to be very, very careful.

Cyber Sticks and Stones are Hurtful

“Sticks and Stone may break my bones, but names can never hurt me”. My mother used to make me recite that over and over whenever I came home from school with hurt feelings from some quip by a verbal sword-smith. I did it, but being the person I was and probably still am, the words lingered around my legs like a low lying fog ready to trip me up a any second.

Recently, another child has taken their life due to cyber bullying. This was a 15-year-old girl in Massachusetts (read the story: http://tinyurl.com/yeox9tk ).

Bullying, teasing, trash-talking is not a new sport for the teenage crowd. The new cyber frontier and cellular text land is a dangerous place for our kids these days. These taunts go beyond the name-calling of 30-plus years ago. They are so inappropriate in language and accusation that I can’t even type an example. And things on the Internet can live forever. That is why the devastation can result in such dramatic results as suicide. The unfortunate truth is much of the verbal slash and slang begins with hurt feelings and spins and warps into untruths that spiral and viral into outlandish lies.

(This is one reason why I discourage chat rooms on youth pages on a website. Unless you have a twenty-four hour cyber-monitor, your forum can turn into an unwanted unintentional problem. It can even go as far as to make your organization or church liable should violence ensue.)

Where your organization or church CAN make a difference is through working as a mediator when cyber/text conflict arises. I recently watched a PBS special on teen girl violence. Where boys may walk away after a fight, girls let it fester and this festering is the seed that can spiral out of control into physical or cyber-violence. The answer needed to calm girls from this destruction seemed to be the simple, earnest apology.

What has happened to us that we can’t say those words? We don’t seem to know how to apologize or how to admit a mistake. As I type this blog, I hear the voice of the television commentator recanting recent stories with the Tiger Woods saga. Here is a stellar example of where telling the truth, saying you’re sorry and admitting a mistake would have left a lot of air time open on our tv’s.

We need to teach our young people and apparently, ourselves, the powerful tools of apology and admittance of wrong. The more we run from these strong tenets of decorum, the more we degrade society and lean ever closer a land of chaff where wheat will not grow.