Monthly Archives: November 2006

Staying safe while shopping online

Now that the holiday season is rapidly approaching, it’s a good time for some quick reminders about safely purchasing items online. Armed with the proper knowledge and a little common sense, purchasing things online can be as safe as going to the store and purchasing it in person.

It’s getting easier to purchase items online from reputable companies. However, there are also several “companies” that want to steal your personal and financial information. Listed below are some suggestions for making your online shopping experience more enjoyable.

Contact information

Is the sellers address and phone number listed in an easy to find location on their website? Reputable sellers will have their contact information on their website. Look for an address and phone number to call in case you have any questions or problems. If you question their authenticity, call the phone number to see if it works, or speak to them to get a sense of how they handle things. If you spot a lot of typos or grammatical errors, be very suspicious. Reliable online retailers should have very few if any typos and errors.

Continue reading

A look at Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Reports are on the rise of more cases of an anxiety disorder known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). More and more Veterans are experiencing it when arriving back home. This post is to help make others aware of the symptoms and treatments. It is by no means a substitute for seeing your physician. If you think you could be experiencing it, talk to your Doctor.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not new. It’s been around for quite a while. It used to be referred to as Shell shock or combat fatigue among other things. Often times PTSD is associated with war veterans. If you’re a war veteran that may be suffering from it, you will find some valuable information from the Vietnam Veterans of America. Another excellent source of information for war veterans afflicted with PTSD is available from the Iraq War Veterans Organization. There are more resources listed at the end of this post.

That does not mean that PTSD affects only war veterans. Anyone (adults and children) can experience it at any time. Just a few examples of what can cause PTSD include wartime combat, being raped or sexually or physically assaulted, natural or manmade disasters (such as hurricanes or planes flying into buildings), severe accidents (auto, train, boat etc.) … being involved in a life threatening situation or witnessing traumatic situations, and sometimes even learning about a traumatizing event to another family manner can cause anxiety disorders or PTSD.

Any event that causes you to fear for your life or physical harm, to feel helpless (such as watching a friend or loved one die), or something that causes you horror may lead to PTSD.

Continue reading

Emmitt and Cheryl win Dancing With The Stars

Congratulations to Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke. In what may be the most interesting season yet of Dancing With The Stars Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke took home the first place trophy. Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff ended up in second.

Here’s a quick rundown on the season 3 stars:

Tucker Carlson, this seasons version of Master P, was eliminated during the first week. No surprise there. Unlike Master P, he didn’t have people paid to vote. I’m not even sure why he showed up. Definitely should have been the first to go.

Shanna Moakler was in the middle of a potentially nasty divorce and ended up going home after week 2. I gained a new respect for Shanna when she got into a fight with Paris Hilton (which also involved one of her leftover boytoys who’s tough enough to harm a woman). Shanna, I could hug you for doing what I’m sure so many others want to do when you smacked her. Cheryl Burke was there when it happened too.

Note to Paris: it’s time to get over your cranial-rectumitis and pull your head out. Get over yourself. (By the way you are not now and never will be the “Princess Di” of this generation, and I’m sure a lot of people cry when they listen to your music).

Continue reading

11 million bottles of Acetaminophen recalled

The U. S. Food and Drug Admininstration (FDA) is warning the public of a voluntary recall from Michigan based Perrigo Company, a major manufacturer of store brand acetaminophen tablets 11 million bottles are being recalled after they discovered that some of the caplets were contaminated with metal fragments and in some cases, little shards of wire.

Some stores affected include Wal-Mart, CVS pharmacies, Walgreen and Costco. A complete list of stores carrying that brand and the batch numbers affected by the recall is available from the Food and Drug Administration.

Only bottles containing various amounts of 500 milligram caplets are being recalled. Tylenol brand Acetaminophen is not affected. Questions should be directed to the Perrigo Company who can be reached at (877) 546-0454.

Ingesting affected caplets may result in minor stomach discomfort and/or possible cuts to the mouth or throat. You should consult with your physician if you’ve used this product.

Back to Bill’s Blog | Bill’s Links and More

A different type of election day question

How accurate are election day results? I’m hoping someone can explain to me how my mother (a registered Republican btw) who lives in Texas and has lived there for the past 3 years is still receiving absentee ballots from the state of California. Had she wanted to, she could have voted in both states. It makes me wonder how many other people this has happened to and how often it happens, not to mention why it happens. It also makes me wonder how many people can cast votes twice in 2 different tates and how many dead people and illegal aliens are voting in this country?

Reports are already pouring in about all the difficulties going on with the election. Florida (imagine that), Indiana, Ohio to name a few states, are having problems with electronic voting equipment. Accusations of voter intimidation in Virginia are being investigated by the FBI.

People aren’t perfect and we all make mistakes. But with something as detrimental as a nationwide election, every state should have a system in place to make sure that the person voting is alive, and living in the state they’re voting in. There is already lots of debate about the authenticity of electronic voting machines. That debate will be ongoing for quite a while.

Continue reading

Make your vote count on election day

If you’re a registered voter, it’s important to vote tomorrow. It’s easy to wonder if your vote really counts but you have to believe it does. If enough people vote, they can make a difference.

Vote yes on this proposition and no on that one, then the complete opposite telling you to vote no on this and yes on that. One medical group supports this one and one doesn’t. Big oil companies supporting a no on a proposition to raise their taxes. God forbid they lose a portion of their 75 billion dollar quarter profit. Poor smokers in this state have been screwed before and undoubtedly will be again.

Granted smoking is bad for you, but making smokers pay all these extra taxes that supposedly go to teaching non-smoking resources seems more like a form of discrimination than anything else. Like one small group of people is going to pay enough with extra taxes to fund medical care across the state, especially as large as California is. It’s going to take a lot more than that, especially with the medical expenses completely overinflated the way they are.

Continue reading

How to stop automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)

Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) has been released as of November 1, 2006. If you’re not ready for it yet, there are a few options to prevent the automatic installation of it. Personally, I update my computer manually so I can see what’s being installed before it’s installed. IE7 is theoretically more secure and has more functionality than Internet Explorer 6 (some improvements include tabbed browsing and a built in rss reader), I will wait until they get a few more bugs worked out and some patches for the flaws that still exist before I install it myself.

Many users have automatic updates enabled on their systems. Microsoft is distributing Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update through Automatic updates and the Microsoft update sites. Internet Explorer 7 will be available for users of genuine Windows XP SP2, Windows XP 64-bit Edition, and Windows Server 2003 SP1. See the Microsoft Updates IE7 announcement for more details.

If you use automatic updates you will be notified that the update is available and will have to choose whether or not to install IE7. The update will only be available if you run your system with administrator priviledges. If you run your computer with limited privilegdes you will not have to choose to install it or not.

Continue reading

The new school prayer

As with other geeks, I have several email accounts that I use on a regular basis. I don’t have a tendency to put emails I receive online, but this one makes a very good point about the way times have changed since I was a student so I decided to put here. There are 8 verses total.

The new school prayer

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Continue reading