Stay Safe from Phishing scams

I am constantly seeing phishing scams popping up so it's time to get the word out about how to protect yourself. Phishing is similar to fishing, you put some bait out to lure in a victim. The phishing scam is normally out to get your username, password, credit card number or social security number. You could end up being a victim of identity theft if you accidentally give your information to a phisher.
Typical targets include online banking, paypal, and Ebay. The phisher will send you an email telling you that it is urgent that you submit your information so that they can fix a problem with your account. When you click on the link in the email, you are taken to a site that looks just like the site you are used to seeing. Don't fall for this. Instead, contact your financial institution directly by typing the address in the browser or clicking on the bookmark in your favorites.
Pay close attention attention to the address in your browser when you are asked to login or enter personal information. Look for extra characters or misspelled words. For example, mybank.com.bank.com or the @ symbol mybank.com@bank.com.
The rise of social networking sites like Myspace has lead to a spike in phishing scams. One phishing scam that I noticed was from rnyspace.com. Did you catch that? It is actually, RNyspace.com, very clever huh? Of course the site looked just like the myspace login page that I was used to seeing but I was already logged in.
Anti-phishing software is a must for anyone surfing the web, make sure you have it. Also make sure that your browser has Anti-phishing measures. This should protect you from most phishing scams but some have found loopholes, so be careful. One sure fire way to protect yourself is with Lifelock. LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.

And make sure that you report suspected phishing sites to the company that they are pretending to be. We all need to do this to put an end to phishing scams.
To find out more read THIS

American Idol Fever

We are just a few weeks away from another season of American Idol. The season premiere begins January 15th and 16th with a four hour television event. This reality show has shown unbelievable staying power, now in season 7. Somehow the judges manage to find more new talent year after year. American Idol has become a huge part of our culture. Idolonfox.com has its own Myspace style social networking community called MyIdol where members can make new friends, discuss the show, comment on pictures and send messages to other members. There is also an American Idol bootcamp for kids ages 10 to 15 who aspire to be the next American Idol.
If winning American Idol isn't in the cards for you due to age or talent limitations, there is also an American Idol underground. Here you can become a member and submit your music to be posted online. Then other members listen to your music and rate it. The artist with the most votes wins prize money and so does the listener that casts the most votes.
So, there you have it, the many faces of American Idol and the many channels to get your American Idol fix. With anticipation in the air, we will all have to wait and see who will be the next winner. Find out after the break.

Goodbye to 07 welcome 08

Well, 2007 comes to a close and we look forward to a new year.
2007 brought us the iphone and people stood in long lines to pay $600 for a cellphone.
Barry Bonds broke the world record for home runs, hitting 756. Yep, he's like a Hank Aaron on steroids.
Sanjaya proved that you don't need talent, it's all about the hair. But American Idol isn't a popularity contest. Oh wait, yes it is.
Al Gore couldn't win the white house but he won the nobel peace price for the greenhouse. China lead toy sales in the U.S. (pun intended).
Dumbledore got outed by J.K. Rowling. I say she hit on him and he turned her down so she started a rumor. Hard to believe that a woman with that much money gets shot down by her own fictional character.
Myspace topped the social networking charts. It's not really Myspace, it belongs to some guy named Tom.
Microsoft unveiled the "virtual PC" but they charge "real" money for it.
O.J. became a vigilante and set up a sting operation to get his stolen goods back. Wow, he's just like Batman but without the gloves. And we learned not to ask Michael Vick to dog sit for us and don't use the bathroom with Senators. And we've all heard about the little boy that lived in the bubble. Apparently, we all lived in a "real estate" bubble and it burst.
So, what will 2008 bring us?

How to get organized

You are probably not going to get completely organized in one day so work on it a little at a time. Break up your organization project into zones. For example, your kitchen is a zone, your garage is another zone and your closet is a zone. Then, you can tackle one zone at a time and make your project a little less daunting.
Once you've chosen a zone to start on, sort everything in that zone into two piles. One pile is all of the stuff that you have used in the past year and plan to use again in the next year. The other pile is for stuff that you haven't used in a year. If you haven't used it in a year, you probably aren't going to.
Now, organize your zone by priority. Start with the pile of stuff that you have used or will use in a year and put it away in your zone. The stuff that you use often or plan to use often should be the easiest to get to. If it is going back in a drawer for example, pull the drawer half way out and put away the things you use most. Then pull the drawer out more and put away the items that you use less often. Think in terms of "in front" or "on top" for the items you use most.
Storage bags are a great way to organize loose parts that are similar. For example, the receipt, warranty card and manual for an electronic gadget. If you have a junk drawer full of loose items, put them in bags based on similar use like stamps and envelopes, needles and thread, nail files and clippers.
Now for the next pile. If you haven't used it in the past year, do you really need it? Could someone else get some use out of it? Think in terms of reduce, reuse and recycle. If you don't need it, you should reduce the clutter by getting rid of it. If someone else could use it, you can donate it or sell it to someone that can reuse it. And if it is made of metal, plastic, paper or some other recyclable material, then recycle it. That way you can feel like it is still going to good use and you won't have to fill up the landfill.
Make "to-do" lists. Either on a scratch pad or computer program, it's a good idea to make lists to organize your time and thoughts. Some of the newer phones and personal digital assistants have task lists, use them. If you have a pocket pc or smart phone with windows, you can sync these lists with your computer. There are also online companies that offer to do lists and calendars for free. Microsoft works that comes with most windows computers has a task launcher. Even something as simple as using a notepad file saved to your desktop and naming it "todo.txt". Make a list for each day, make it manageable and stick to it.
Use a calendar to organize your time. As I said before, you can even use an online calendar or a computer program like Microsoft works. Choose a calendar that you are comfortable with whether it is a monthly view or daily planner, find one that fits your lifestyle.
Remind yourself. This can be done in a lot of creative ways depending on your lifestyle. You can simply leave yourself a note on paper or, if you are away, you can call your home or office and leave a message to yourself. If your phone has email capability, you can send yourself an email reminder that you will receive the next time you are at your computer.
Get what you need to get organized here.

Reveal hidden comments on myspace

Myspace profiles provide a great way for us to communicate with our friends or make new friends on a global level. How nice it is to be able to send a private message to a friend and know that it is only going to be read by them. And the myspace creators were even nice enough to allow us to have an option to post a public comment on our friends page to let the whole world know how great we think they are. And isn’t it also nice to go to your friends page and see what everyone else has to say, be included in the funny comments or maybe find out if you are the first person to wish them happy birthday via comments?

It seems that some clever people have found a ways to make their comments appear to be hidden from the public. That’s right, somewhere in there profile they have added the code to hide the comments that were posted by their friends for all to see. If I wanted my comments to be private I would send them to you in a message. I wanted all of your friends to know that I was wishing you a wonderful weekend.

If you have ever gone to a friends MySpace profile and noticed that they have hidden their comments, I’m sure you felt very “out of the loop”. Or worse, what if you have kids that have a MySpace and you went to their page and noticed that they have blocked their public comments from the prying eyes of Mom and Dad. Don’t worry, you can still see them if you look in the right place. I’m sure you are even more curious about their comments now that you can’t see them. It kind of makes you wonder what they are hiding.

Well, these comments were meant to be viewed by all so let’s get into the simple trick to get these sneaky little guys back into the sunlight. Go to your friends page, the one that has the hidden comments. If you’ll notice up in the address bar of your web browser there is a long URL that seems to make no sense at all. Look for the part where it says, “&friendid=“. The number to the left of the equals sign is the friend ID number, write this down, you will need it to see the comments.

Now, erase all of that stuff in your browsers address bar and replace it with: http://comment.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewComments&friendID=
And type the Friend ID number at the end after the equals sign. Click on go or hit enter and the mystery is revealed.

This will not work on anyone that has a MySpace account, if their profile is not set to public you have to be their friend to view their comments, even the hidden ones. This little trick only allows you to read the comments that you could normally read if the friend had not set them up to be hidden.

More myspace info at how2life.com

Dove of my life

Blinded by beauty, falling fast from the air
I couldn't break free from cupids rigid snare.
You ignored the childish tricks I would play
to gain your attention at the end of each day.

But then you noticed me, I felt so in love
my heart took to the sky like a soaring dove.
The bird flew onward with grace and ease.
Gently and slowly, you brought me to my knees.

So, here I kneel at your demand.
I eat sweet poison from your comforting hand.
Lay me down easily, let me rest my head
for you have another and I am dead.

The body before me is a symbol of strife
This representation is the dove of my life.

Don't think that

Don't think that you can find a guy that is a total jerk and he will change his evil ways just to be with you. Why would he change his evil ways if it is working for him, he got the girl. He's just gonna try to make you more tolerant of his crap.
I see this happen all the time and it's just crazy. If he's an obnoxious jerk when you meet him, he will be an obnoxious jerk when you leave or he leaves. Tigers don't change their stripes.
It may seem exciting because he is loud, and in your face and commands attention like fireworks. Don't be fooled, fireworks burn out quickly and leave with you burns and ashes.

Oust commercial

I just saw a commercial for "oust" candles. The woman is in the kitchen cooking and complains that the odor from cooking fills the house and creeps into the kids rooms. So, she uses the oust candles to absorbe the odor from her cooking. If I could make a suggestion, maybe she doesn't need candles as much as cooking lessons. If your cooking smells so bad that you have to mask the odor with candles, maybe you should go out to eat. Seriously, I guess these kids never walk in and say, "Mmmm, what are you cooking". Instead they are saying, "Oh God, Mom, you need more candles. I'm going to a friends house for dinner".

Time is money

The economy isn't what it used to be. Many people are struggling just to get by right now. A friend called me and told me that it breaks his heart that he can't afford to buy his little girl the toy that she wants at walmart.
I told him, "Don't take her to Walmart, take her fishing or to the park. Play a game with her or color or watch a movie together". When we look back at our childhood, our fondest memories are not of the things that our parents bought us from the store, it is the moments that we spent together.
This past weekend, there was a lot that I could not afford to buy my kids. But we had a lot of fun spending time making candy sushi and watching movies. And while the toybox may not have gotten more full, the photo album and memories did increase.

Beyond the walls

We get up every morning and we put on our clothes as well as an invisible layer of armor to protect us from emotional scars. We want to hide the fact that we are all very fragile, vulnerable beings with fears and insecurities. It takes less than an ounce of pressure to pierce human skin and sometimes less than that to hurt our feelings. We walk out the door guarded with our masks and walls and daring to face the world.

I've seen a lot of women with their clothes off. Well, Maybe not a lot, maybe a few. But I have only seen one trully naked. I found that when I had let my walls crumble and trully allowed someone to come in and see me as a fragile creature, she revealed herself to me as she trully was. It couldn't have been easy for her. She is a strong woman with a job in the military, a leader in many ways. She is loving, caring and tough. Or so she appears. But what I saw was a woman that had traveled a path of high expectations and mediocre results. She had loved and lost and was reluctant to do it again. She was fragile, vulnerable, scared and beautiful. I did not, for one second, view this as a weakness. This was pure bravery, and absolute trust in another person. This was love in its purest form. To allow someone unrestricted access into your world and trust them not to break anything is an act of sheer bravery. Maybe she just needed that, needed to feel like someone knew her for who she really is. Sometimes, necessity does the work of bravery. But don't we all feel like we need to be understood?

In a dogs mind.

As I was feeding the dog this morning, I accidentally knocked the bowl over. The food spilled out and scattered on the floor. I looked at the dog and he looked at me. I figured he would just eat it off the floor but as I walked away, he looked at me as if to say, "But it is on the floor".
An hour went by and he just sat there and stared at the food on the floor. He never moved once but instead, kept a constant vigile on the spilled food.
The mess was bothering me a bit and I thought that the dog may just not be hungry so I picked up the food and put it back in the bowl. Without hesitation, the dog began to eat. I couldn't believe it. That dog will eat out of the garbage, drink from the toilet, lick his own rear-end and eat his own vomit. But, God forbid, he eats some food off the floor. My kids eat food off the floor all the time. I don't encourage it. But, I have never seen them eat their own barf or lick themselves. I did catch one of them eating from the garbage though.

Story of two pictures

I spent the first six years of my life in foster care, living with the family that would later adopt me. In foster care, I had a case worker and counselors. At such a young age, the couselors do not have kids tell them how they feel, they have kids show them by drawing pictures.
When asked to draw a picture of my home, I drew a giant birds nest with several baby birds in it and the mother bird looking after her young. The counselor explained to my Mom that this meant that I felt comfortable and cared for. The baby birds have a safe home to live in and each one is fed and cared for by the mother bird.
When asked to draw a picture of my family, I drew several small stick people and two larger ones with long lines for arms. I'm sure my mother was a bit puzzled as to why I saw her as having such long arms. The couselor explained that the arms represent love. It is the arms that pick us up when we fall, that give the hugs when we need them and even when we don't. The arms carry us when we are unable to walk and feed and dress us.
To this day, I cannot think of a better way to draw my mom than with big long arms that could easily wrap around all of the smaller stick figures and still have room for more.
I love you mom and I will miss you always.

Cosmo Cracks me up

Okay, so it's not supposed to be a comedy magazine, but still. I go to get groceries and I stand in line and laugh at the cover of Cosmo and all the other magazines that target women. Are these things for real? Do women actually believe this stuff? I want to share my thoughts on some of the headlines:
"How to find out what your man really wants?" I don't know, maybe ask him. Do you need to spend five bucks for that? It seems pretty obvious.
"10 things your man wants in bed but is afraid to tell you." Well, if he's afraid to tell you, he's probably not brave enough to actually do them, so why bother? I actually opened that one and realized there was a lot of men out there lying. Number one should have been Jessica Simpson.
"10 sure signs that your man is cheating" First of all, why is it always 10? People are obsessed with the number 10. Look, here's the deal, if you are buying this issue, you think he is cheating. If you think he is cheating, he probably is. Short of actually catching him, good luck. Stop reading the magazine and spend some time on your relationship.
"75 sex tricks" This was my favorite one. I was in the store with one of my guy friends that is ALWAYS talking about sex. (As a rule, I don't talk about my personal sexual experiences with men). He reads the headline out loud and turns to me and asks, "Is there even 75 of them?" I thought about it for a minute and said, "At least". The look he gave me was priceless. But let's face it, it's 75 sex tricks that you are probably never both going to consent to. You both know what you want, talk, share ideas, put down the magazine and just do it. And don't take time to count. FYI, I counted 84 but I got way too much time on my hands.