Here's an example of a photo created with the code...

The image was obtained from Wikimedia Commons. It's author is ltshears, and it is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Share Alike license.

The restaurant justified it as they needed to make back the loss they were taking on the gift certificate. I had to make 4 trips to get the food and drinks for my wife and kids to the table, and they couldn't even be bothered to offer a tray, but they felt they were entitled to an 18% tip because they gave me a discount that the tip eliminated.

And Restaurant.com basically said "well, we state that they can charge the tip" and if I didn't like it, I could scan through their listings to find the 6% of restaurants in my area that do have offers with them, but don't have the fine print about a gratuity. I say "scan through" because, of course, they don't actually let you sort or search by that criteria. If I want a restaurant that doesn't have a mandatory tip, the selection of deals in my area goes from 76 to 4.

I don't mind the 18% at a sit-down restaurant where I'd tip around that much anyway. Maybe I'd be out an extra $2 if I felt the service didn't rate a full 18%. But letting a self-serve place, where there's NO service to speak of, tack on the 18% and telling the customer it's "buyer beware" is bull. I'm never going back to that restaurant and Restaurant.com is never getting another penny from me.

Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. This attempt to exterminate an entire people didn't happen in an ancient biblical kingdom where a king went mad or was influenced by evil advisors. This happened in a modern European democracy in the middle of the 20th century.

We need to remember the Holocaust, because it is not an ancient parable, and not only Jews are at risk. "Cleansings" based on ethnicity or religion are still an ever-present threat to everyone, everywhere.

Somewhere in the world, someone who isn't like you doesn't like you and thinks the world would be a better place if people like you were forcibly changed or removed. Remembering the Holocaust means staying vigilant and making sure that those people do not rise to positions of enough power and influence to start another Holocaust against *anyone* ever again.

It's actually very simple. Pour the bag of slaw mix into a large covered casserole dish. Cut the corner off the bag containing the chunk of corned beef and pour the liquid in with the cabbage. Cover the casserole and nuke the cabbage and corned beef juices for 5 minutes on high.

When it comes out, the cabbage will have wilted enough to let you put the chunk of corned beef in, fatty side up. Nestle it in the cabbage and return the dish to the microwave (covered) for 12 minutes per the cooking instructions.

Let it sit for 3 minutes as recommended, then take the corned beef out and slice it against the grain. Nestle the slices back in the cabbage and cover until you're ready to serve.

The cabbage wilts enough so it's not hard, but has a small bit of crunch, and it absorbs lots of flavor from cooking in the juices and with the meat.

My wife and kids gobbled it up, and I had a tasty Sunday dinner that was great for my low-sugar diet.

===================================
This message has been sent as an automated response.
Please do not reply to this email, as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.
===================================

Our security department records indicate missing and/or incorrect information stored for your account(s).

Please click the link below to proceed with verification process:

http://www.schwab-tax.com/

2012 Charles Schwab & Co, Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC (2044-04421)

They didn't make the spelling mistake in the sender address they made yesterday, but they are still impatient. The Schwab-tax.com domain was created at 4:39 a.m. THIS MORNING and registered with GoDaddy's privacy proxy to hide the identity of the actual owners. And they're using Dreamhost (super-low-price web host) to host the site.

Folks, this isn't Schwab. It's phishers trying to get your personal information and/or hit you with a drive-by malware exploit. Don't click the link. Ignore this e-mail.

is a scam.

The phishers were smart, because they got an official-looking domain of scottrade-inc.com, but they made a couple of mistakes.

1: The e-mail was from "scottrade.costumer.alerts@scottrade-inc.com". I'm sorry, but how theatrical is this company that they have costumer alerts?

2: Running whois (can be done from a terminal on a Mac or Linux system with "whois scottrade-inc.com" - if you have windows, use an online lookup like GoDaddy's) shows not only that they're hiding the true ownership of the domain behind GoDaddy's proxy service, but that the domain was registered just hours before the scam e-mail went out. The domain has a creation date of today.

Don't click the link, don't give them any info, mark the e-mail as spam.

Someone's freedom, rights, and dignity are not something that can be put in a Christmas stocking or wrapped up in a bow. They are something built into their existence that we use oppression and degradation to rob them of.

So I created this graphic...

TO PLEAD, PRINT OUT THE ENCLOSED TICKET AND SEND IT TO TOWN COURT, CHATAM HALL., PO BOX 117

Then there's a .zip file attached. DO NOT OPEN THE ZIP FILE.

The e-mail I got actually originated in Spain, not New York. It's disguised to look like it came from nypd.gov, but it didn't. Furthermore, after receiving a number of these kinds of notices (long story, paperwork mix-up that got another guy's tickets sent to me), I can tell you that they don't come from the state. They come from the city or county court that has jurisdiction over the violation. They come on paper and they identify both you and the car involved specifically. They also identify the location of the violation and the officer who is certifying the evidence of the violation.

It's a good trick, seems legitimate. Basically, since they can't shove a virus down your throat, they're trying to trick you into swallowing it. When you open the zip file and double-click the file inside, you're going to get a virus, and you'll have given it to yourself.

Here's a link: Disney Cruise Line Internet and Cellular Services

They charge $0.75 a minute unless you buy a pre-paid block of minutes that lowers your per-minute rate to between $0.55 and $0.30. You cannot upgrade from one pre-paid block to another nor are unused minutes refundable. Service is slower than normal WiFi hotspots and not guaranteed to be available at all times. And if you're on a 6-night cruise, you can buy a package of 100 minutes for $40, but if you're on a 7-night cruise, the same package costs $55.

But the worst part of all to me is not the perminute rates, but that they charge per minute at all. Anyone who knows about networking knows that data is "bursty". Someone will use data intensely for a few seconds while they download something, then they'll spend some time using little or no data while they process/read the data they just downloaded. So you really only need the wifi for the 3 seconds it takes to download a web page, but Disney bills you for the 3 minutes you spend reading the web page.

The amount of time someone is connected to the network is not, in and of itself, a good indicator of how much they're actually using the network.

And it's not like Disney is creating a new connection to the satellite for every user who is on their network. The connection to the satellite provides a data stream which can then be shared throughout their onboard wireless network. There is little or no incremental cost for each user who is connected to the shipboard WiFi network, but not activelty transferring or receiving data. Their cost really only comes in general maintenance for the network and for the data being moved.

Charging each user by the minute is disingenuous, because they're not incurring costs by the minute for each user. Furthermore, their system is slow by their own admission and I've read complaints of it taking 10-15 minutes to send an e-mail. If they charge by data usage, then whether it takes 1 minute or 10 for sending an e-mail, you're paying for the data, so it's the same price. If they charge bt the minute you're paying extra when the system is especially slow. While it would still be annoying for it to take 10 minutes to send an e-mail, it becomes infuriating if every extra minute is costing you $.30 to $.75.

I looked into mobile satellite internet services for businesses and internet-addicted RV'ers who want a connection while they're outside the range of most cellular nets. Prices were generally on a monthly basis with a DSL-comparable speed (3-5 megabit downloads, 1-2 megabit uploads) with a usage cap of 3-9 gigabytes. For a 5 megabit plan with a cap of 9 gigabytes, it was 839 a month.

Assuming Disney is getting better speeds and better rates because of their ability to run more/bigger dishes and negotiate bulk deals, their cost is $0.09 per megabyte or less. If they added on an over 200% mark-up, they could sell a 100 megabyte package that let you check your e-mail and a few favorite sites every day and post a few photos to Facebook for $30. Or maybe they could sell the 100 megabyte plan for $50 and do a 500 megabyte plan for $150. It would still be pricy, but it would be based on how much data you actually used.

But since there's no competition once you're onboard, you pay what they charge and you pay it based on the unreasonable metric of how long you're connected to the network instead of based on how much data you use.

I was surprised and pleased to find out Disney Cruise Lines didn't pull the trick of making juices and other sugared beverages free, but charging you $2 a pop for diet sodas. But I guess some of the cruise line overcharge mentality had to worm its way in somewhere and it's wormed its way into how Disney charges for internet access onboard. Such a shame.

Chicken Tortilla Style Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion
1 lime
1/2 tsp each coarse ground black pepper, dried oregano
1 tsp each caldo de pollo (chicken bullion), kosher salt
1.5 teaspoons each ground cumin, curry powder, ground new mexico chile
3 tablespoons choped fresh cilantro
2 Knorr garlic minicubes
1 Knorr chipotle minicube
7 ounce can fire roasted, diced green chile
14.5 ounce can fire roasted, diced tomato with garlic
29 ounce can hominy (drained and rinsed)
4 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine your spices, bullion, and minicubes (crushed) in a bowl and set aside. You can usually find Knorr minicubes and caldo de pollo bullion in the Hispanic foods section of your local supermarket. If you can't get them, you can substitute 2 chopped garlic cloves, a cube of regular chicken bullion, and a seeded, chopped chipotle pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in your stock pot and begin sauteeing the onions over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, giving them some time to soften and mellow. Add the can of diced green chile and crank the heat up to high and sautee for another 2-3 minutes so you can boil off some of the liquid given off by the onions and chiles.

Add the spices and stir until they bloom and become fragrant, then add the tomato and crank back down to medium high. Cook this for about 5 minutes to get all the flavors melded. Add your chicken broth and hominy. While bringing that to a boil, zest the lime into the pot, then add the juice of the lime and a little bit of the lime pulp.

When the mix is up to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer, and let it bubble away for around 30 minutes. During that 30 minutes, prep your chicken.

While you butterfly each breast and season with salt and pepper, get the last tablespoon of oil hot in a sautee pan. Brown the breasts over high heat, 4 minutes a side, then remove to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes (if you prefer you can grill the breasts). After 10 minutes, cube them up into nice bite-size pieces.

Your thirty minute simmer should have just completed about now. Skim the fat from the soup, then add the chicken pieces and any juices on the cutting board into the soup pot.

Bring the soup back to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer covered for another 15-20 minutes. Around the end of that period, chop your cilantro. Add the cilantro to the soup, stir, and let it bubble away another 5 minutes before removing from the heat and giving 10-15 minutes to cool a little.

Ladle the soup into a bowl, sprinkle with some shredded cheese, mix in a half a handful of broken tortilla strips, and serve.

I will be joining my wife and our children at our ranch outside Everett, Washington, where I can do some soul searching and figure out how I can best use my sexiness to help the American people.

Thank you and God bless.

Here's the text:

Thank you for your interest. After viewing your resume on careerbuilder.com, we have decided to contact you.

We have an excellent opportunity for you.

We are looking for:

Responsible and motivated individuals to assist in Company’s financial business. We value the exceptional people and provide our employees with an environment conductive for productive and long-term employment.

We offer:
- New concept. Commissions without sales.
- VERY competitive salary plus attractive bonuses plus commissions with each order
- No Fees
- You can start tomorrow
- Compensation: $85,000 - $95,000 per year
- Employee Type: Full-Time/Part-Time
- Vacation (2 weeks for Exempt employees)
- 4 paid Company Holidays / 2 paid floating holidays

Large and stable corporation

Requirements:

- MS Office (Word) - basic knowledge
- Internet access and e-mail
- A sufficient level of work ethics
- Ability to learn fast and perform tasks in a timely fashion
- U.S. resident or green card holder
- You are not required to quit your current job.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Assist in company’s financial business.
- Perform financial tasks.
- Make reports.

We offer opportunities for internal advancement for the responsible employees. During the initial stage of work you will receive precise instructions and any possible help from the company’s Manager. Qualified candidates will be offered flexible schedules of work, competitive salary, bonuses and other benefits. Company covers all the reasonable expenses.

You will be able to plan your own working schedule (few hours weekly).

Please reply to this email if you are interested.

Hiring Department

The reply address is diagnosticparts@aol.com.

Read through my "job scams" tagged posts and you'll see this come-on over and over. Financial job, easy hours, work from home, perform financial tasks, good pay. Sounds too good to be true... because it is. The job usually entails receiving "customer payments" via forged checks or hacked PayPal accounts. You cash out the payment, take the cash to Western Union, and wire it off to your "employer" in another country. You're instructed to take a percentage of the payment for yourself as your commission.

Sounds great until the check fails to clear or the PayPal fraud is discovered, as always happens. Then the money for it is pulled out of your account. If you had enough to cover it, you're out the amount of the check. If you didn't, the bank that gave you the money wants it back and will involve the police.

No legitimate company needs a U.S. representative to cash checks for them and wire them the money via Western Union.

If someone you don't know offers you an amazing job cashing checks or receiving and forwarding packages (stolen goods paid for from hacked PayPal accounts or with credit card fraud), they're usually a criminal and they're trying to make you an unwitting accessory. They will leave you owing money you don't have, and maybe a few weeks closer to financial ruin because you weren't out job hunting because you thought you had a new job.

Be safe out there people, and if you are job hunting, good luck.