francis mahon : comhra

about: saving water

2011-08-27T14:46:00.004-04:00

Somewhat bizarrely, while the whole northeastern seaboard prepares for winds and flooding, I was taking steps to save water. While I was in Home Depot yesterday (looking, in vain, for flashlight batteries) I picked up an MJSI dual flush convertor.

The box said it didn't require any tools, installed in under ten minutes, and was within the technical grasp of anyone who can change a light bulb. All of which is true.

I've never really worked inside a toiler cistern before, but the de-installation of the existing handle and flapper was straightfoward, and the installation of the new system was simplicity itself.

It's natural to be somewhat skeptical about a small product with a $20 price tag, that proclaims easy installation and ongoing savings. But having bitten the bullet, I can heartily recommend this little gadget.

The next DIY project is replacing the handles on the the bath...

Romans 12:1-8

2011-08-21T19:06:00.002-04:00

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

about: mta karma

2011-07-22T22:03:00.000-04:00

The Good: I was running a little late this morning, so I caught an S78 instead of my usual S74, with the plan of taking a slightly longer walk to work. Now, the S78 turns off Arthur Kill Road before reaching my workplace, so I asked the driver to let me off at the last stop before the turn. As I was the only passenger left, and he was going to the bus depot directly after I got off, he let me stay on until he reached the depot, cutting my walk in half. That may not seem like much, but in today's heat, even at that time of the morning, it was a godsend.

The Bad: There I was, standing there with one leg as long as the other, at the bus stop right outside my workplace, waiting for the 4:09PM S74 service, which duly appeared, at 4:09PM... and drove straight past myself and the two others who were waiting there...

Luckily, a work colleague was driving past as I trekked towards the S78 stop a piece up the road, and offered to drop me off at Nassau train station, so I got home around five anyway, after a trip on the wonderfully air-conditioned Staten Island Railway.

The Ugly:The above "tale of two drivers" is all well and good, a matter of swings and roundabouts. However, I have real concern about something that happened yesterday. I was driving along the highway, with the needle hovering just above the 50 mph speed limit, when not one, but two MTA express buses sped past me. Even in the short time I have been driving here, I am accustomed to cars and vans being driven in an erratic or dangerous manner, but I have found public bus drivers to be generally responsible.

I didn't have the opportunity to see whether the buses were carrying passengers, but even if the drivers were just heading to or from a depot, their speed in vehicles of that size is unforgivable.

about: dog ownership

2011-06-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

I know, I've been neglecting this blog for the longest time... so a long overdue post...

Since I have become a dog owner, I have reflected quite a lot on the relationship between people and their pets. I've also become a fan of Cesar Millan's show, "The Dog Whisperer".

This post, whoever focuses on a short period of time - a little more than a minute of my life - on Saturday afternoon. I was out walking Bó, and had reached Tappen Park. In that brief period, I experienced examples of all that is best and worst in pet ownership.

Worst

A car approached in the opposite direction. A small terrier type dog was trying to jump out the driver's window to get at Bó. Not only was this owner acting irresponsibly by endangering his unrestrained dog, but he was also endangering himself (in the case of an accident) and other road users (by allowing his dog to become a distraction to his attention). I cannot fathom having anyone or anything unrestrained in the passenger compartment of a car.

I'll bet the idiot walks him on a flexi-leash (illegal in New York City, but that's a rant for another day).

Best

As we made our way through the park, another man was walking his dog, a German Shepherd. He spotted us, stopped and told his dog to sit. We exchanged waves and I continued on my route through the park, without the worry of any negative engagement between the two dogs. It matters little whether the man's actions were due to his anticipation of his own dog's behavior, or a distrust of my American Bulldog - he saw the potential for trouble, and acted responsibly.

about: epsilon security breach

2011-04-04T11:31:00.002-04:00

Hot on the heels of the recent play.com security breach, Epsilon, a major marketing organization which sends 40 billion emails annually on behalf of some of the world's largest companies, has confirmed that their systems were compromised. Among their clients is JPMorgan Chase, of whom I am a customer, so I received this email earlier today:

Date: April 4, 2011 9:12:49 AM EDT

Chase is letting our customers know that we have been informed by Epsilon, a vendor we use to send e-mails, that an unauthorized person outside Epsilon accessed files that included e-mail addresses of some Chase customers. We have a team at Epsilon investigating and we are confident that the information that was retrieved included some Chase customer e-mail addresses, but did not include any customer account or financial information. Based on everything we know, your accounts and confidential information remain secure. As always, we are advising our customers of everything we know as we know it, and will keep you informed on what impact, if any, this will have on you.

We apologize if this causes you any inconvenience. We want to remind you that Chase will never ask for your personal information or login credentials in an e-mail. As always, be cautious if you receive e-mails asking for your personal information and be on the lookout for unwanted spam. It is not Chase's practice to request personal information by e-mail.

As a reminder, we recommend that you:

Don't give your Chase OnlineSM User ID or password in e-mail.
Don't respond to e-mails that require you to enter personal information directly into the e-mail.
Don't respond to e-mails threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing personal information.
Don't reply to e-mails asking you to send personal information.
Don't use your e-mail address as a login ID or password.

The security of your information is a critical priority to us and we strive to handle it carefully at all times. Please visit our Security Center at chase.com and click on "Fraud Information" under the "How to Report Fraud." It provides additional information on exercising caution when reading e-mails that appear to be sent by us. Sincerely, Patricia O. Baker Senior Vice President Chase Executive Office

about: play.com security breach

2011-03-23T12:49:00.000-04:00

As a play.com customer, I received the following emails regarding a recent security breach:

Date: March 21, 2011 7:12:51 PM EDT

Dear Customer,

Email Security Message

We are emailing all our customers to let you know that a company that handles part of our marketing communications has had a security breach. Unfortunately this has meant that some customer names and email addresses may have been compromised.

We take privacy and security very seriously and ensure all sensitive customer data is protected. Please be assured this issue has occurred outside of Play.com and no other personal customer information has been involved.

Please be assured we have taken every step to ensure this doesn’t happen again and accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused some of you.

Customer Advice

Please do be vigilant with your email and personal information when using the internet. At Play.com we will never ask you for information such as passwords, bank account details or credit card numbers. If you receive anything suspicious in your email, please do not click on any links and forward the email on to privacy@play.com for us to investigate.

Thank you for continuing to shop at Play.com and we look forward to serving you in the future.

Play.com Customer Service Team

Date: March 22, 2011 5:42:26 PM EDT

Dear Customer,

As a follow up to the email we sent you last night, I would like to give you some further details. On Sunday the 20th of March some customers reported receiving a spam email to email addresses they only use for Play.com. We reacted immediately by informing all our customers of this potential security breach in order for them to take the necessary precautionary steps.

We believe this issue may be related to some irregular activity that was identified in December 2010 at our email service provider, Silverpop. Investigations at the time showed no evidence that any of our customer email addresses had been downloaded. We would like to assure all our customers that the only information communicated to our email service provider was email addresses. Play.com have taken all the necessary steps with Silverpop to ensure a security breach of this nature does not happen again.

We would also like to reassure our customers that all other personal information (i.e. credit cards, addresses, passwords, etc.) are kept in the very secure Play.com environment. Play.com has one of the most stringent internal standards of e-commerce security in the industry. This is audited and tested several times a year by leading internet security companies to ensure this high level of security is maintained. On behalf of Play.com, I would like to once again apologise to our customers for any inconvenience due to a potential increase in spam that may be caused by this issue .

Best regards,

John

John Perkins
CEO
Play.com

about: google doodles

2011-02-12T20:22:00.001-05:00

Google's "Doodles" have become almost as big a part of popular culture as the name of the Internet behemoth itself.

Since 2000, there have been 10 commemorative doodles to mark Ireland's national holiday. Already, I'm looking forward to a 2011 creation.

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2002
2001
2000

about: aer lingus unfair fares

2010-12-16T21:20:00.006-05:00

We interrupt out regularly scheduled "419" post, to bring you this breaking story...

My wife forwarded an email to me this afternoon, advertising an Aer Lingus sale. So, I decided to take a look - here are some of the options I explored:

JFK-DUB 02/20/2011 184.00 + 21.46 $205.46
DUB-JFK 03/26/2011 184.00 + 73.24 $257.24
------- ---------- -------------- $462.70

This looked like a pretty good deal, but then I realised that the return leg was in March, not February as I intended, so I corrected this information, and tried again.

JFK-DUB 02/20/2011 293.00 + 21.46 $314.46
DUB-JFK 02/26/2011 293.00 + 82.10 $375.10
------- ---------- -------------- $689.70

Hang on! I haven't changed the first leg of my itinerary, but it's cost has increased by $109 per ticket! So, it seems that the cost of the eastward flight has changed based on when I intend to make the westward leg? Surely not?

So, I decided to see what would happen to the cost of the eastward leg if I changed the westward leg...

JFK-DUB 01/20/2011 169.00 + 21.46 $190.46
DUB-JFK 02/26/2011 279.00 + 82.10 $361.10
------- ---------- -------------- $551.56

Yes, indeed - the price has changed again - and this time it has decreased, albeit by $14.

I decided to check what pricing was available if I wanted to book these flights independently...

One-way tickets:
JFK-DUB 02/20/2011 453.00 + 21.46 $474.46
DUB-JFK 02/26/2011 269.00 +111.14 €380.14 ($504.51)
------- ---------- -------------- $978.97

Wow! I couldn't believe these discrepancies, so I double and triple checked each one.

According to these figures, I could pay between $205.46 and $474.46 for the same seat on New York to Dublin leg, and $361.10 and $504.51 for the eastward return.

Aer Lingus have seats available for the itinerary I require, priced at $566.56, which they will make available to me for no less than $689.70, and are prepared to charge $978.97 for the exact same service.

I did take an Economics course in college, having studied it for my Leaving Cert, and quite enjoyed it... so I do have some understanding of the laws of supply and demand. The price differentials above are not the result of "supply and demand" issues. The supply is the same in all of the above cases, as is the demand. The question remains: why the differential pricing?

It isn't even like I am trying to book something last minute; same planes, same flights, same advance booking time. The only difference: $123.14 (21.7%) per person... I can thing of plenty of things I would rather do with $246.28 than give it to Aer Lingus...

Disclaimer: I would have noticed differences even if they were very much smaller. Anybody who has ever been shopping with me would attest to that... I'd pick up two $1.99 boxes of cookies rather than a $3.99 twin-pack.

about: the 419 tale, part 1

2010-12-09T19:58:00.003-05:00

Okay, so by now, you should be familiar with the idea of the 419/Nigeria/Advance Fee scam. If not, take a look at my previous post.

My particular experience is somewhat different, as the scammer, John Scott (probably not his real name, and undoubtedly he is not a New York based lawyer who acts as CEO of "Amerikids Cancer Care Foundation"), is offering me a job as his assistant. "But why would someone contact you, out of the blue, to offer you a job?" I hear you ask... and yes, you would be right... it would take a world-class dumb-ass to fall for so obvious a ruse... but he didn't contact me, I contacted him, because he posted a genuine looking advertisement offering an employment opportunity, on a reputable website (silive.com/jobs). Cost of posting an online advert for one week - $35. I wonder if the website owners will ever see that money? I wonder if I will ever hear back from them after reporting that they published a bogus employment advertisement?

The advertisement may also have appeared in the printed version of the Staten Island Advance, but that would have cost more - of course, if you are scamming the publisher too, what difference would it make?

Unfortunately, I didn't save a copy of the advert, which has by now expired. It was something pretty basic, along the lines of: Administrative Assistant Required, send resume to amerikidsccfoundation@yahoo.com. So that's just what I did...

...and so on to the first response from "John"...

Date: Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 11:45 AM
From: amerikidsccfoundation@yahoo.com
To: Francis Mahon
Subject: Re: Administrative Assistant position

Hello,
I received your resume in response to the ad posted on the site for an Assistant, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities. My previous assistant has been very commendable in her activities and has been part of my life for the past 4 months, she has now returned to her country. I sincerely hope I will be able to find someone again who will be as efficient and diligent as she has been.

I'm John, originally from Australia, but I have spent a whole lot in United States. I'm a lawyer by profession and I have been pretty successful in a handful of ventures i get involved in, from the National Support Group in Canada and United States to various welfare and community service programs, I often get my hands occupied so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep up to date with my activities.

As my assistant, your activities among other things will include and not limited to:
* Running personal errands, supervisions and monitoring.
* Scheduling programs, flights and keeping me up to date with them.
* Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence when I'm away.
* Making regular contacts and drop-offs on my behalf.
* Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities.
* Pay is $600 weekly

This position is flexible, working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that i may come out with impromptu assignment sometimes, so I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings. There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on. This is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially. I'm currently in Sydney,Australia now for a summit. however, I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available. This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship.

Hope to hear from you again.

Regards.
CEO
John Scott
Amerikids Cancer Care Foundation ltd

Where to start? The poor capitalization and the poor grammar are an obvious indicator that all is not what it seems. The fact that a Google search for "Amerikids Cancer Care Foundation ltd" doesn't turn up anything positive was strike two. With a pitcher's count, I went for the "K"... and there it was... strike three... (here comes the science bit) the email originated from IP address 82.128.4.5, located in, where but... Lagos, Nigeria.

You know, the premise of the email is reasonable enough. The guy is out-of-town, which precludes an immediate interview, and opens the opportunity to do him a favor in his absence.

So, it looked like a scam, smelt like a scam... but how was John going to profit from my actions? Did he intend to use me as a drug mule, or perhaps a cog in a complex money-laundering operation?

Tune in next time for another exciting installment...

about: 419

2010-12-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

I am about to embark on a series of blog posts, telling the story of an attempted "419" (aka Nigerian) scam. If you are unfamiliar with the term, click here for the snopes.com summary.

I was tempted to post it on my "scriobh" blog, as, after all, it concerns a masterful work of fiction on the part of the perpetrator.

As the series develops, you will see that this particular attempt at scamming is somewhat novel. I hope this tale will serve as a cautionary tale...

about: dog day of autumn (fall)

2010-12-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

"Keeping Bó" hasn't really been a decision made at a single point in time. Since his arrival, he has settled in to our home, and our hearts. Saturday last was a significant day in our lives as dog owners... our first visit to the vet, and the ordeal of clipping his nails.

- o O o -

Paul Kinnear is so well known as an expert on bulldogs that people bring their animals from far and near, but he has been my wife's family's vet through many years, breeds and species.

The vast majority of animals in the waiting room on Saturday morning were bullies. Bó was, as usual, on his best behaviour while meeting other people and animals. He wasn't overly nervous or aggressive during the examination. He had no problem having his teeth and mouth examined, and while he didn't like the blood draw, he didn't complain.

The result: a clean bill of health.

- o O o -

The nails, however, were a slightly different matter. For the past week or so I have been acclimatizing Bó to wearing a muzzle for short periods. This was to be the acid test. We brought him next door, into what my mother-in-law refers to (in jest, I hope) as her 'chamber of horrors' - the basement. She grooms and clips her own dogs there, and has dealt with her own big dogs in the past, but Bó is big!

We (myself, my wife and both her parents) had quite a fight on our hands keeping him restrained, and my mother-in-law felt that it wasn't her best clipping job. But it got done, and the dog lived! He got plenty of treats when the muzzle came off, and had a lot of fun - running on a treadmill, jumping up and down off the table and swallowing the ear from a stuffed goose toy. Maybe next time he won't resist so much?

- o O o -

So there it is... adversity can be a great bonding experience, and after what we put him through on Saturday, I think we can assuredly say that he is "our dog".

about: halloween

2010-10-31T20:17:00.000-04:00

My first Halloween in New York.

I haven't seen any of the photographs from the party last night, but they will come... myself and Alyson were Gryffindor students.

The "trick-or-treat"ers who ring our bell deserve their candy, after climbing up all those steps... I'd like to say 39, but it isn't quite that many!

I've also carved my first jack-o-lantern. My sister back in Ireland is something of a carving veteran, and produced an awesome howling wolf last year. She challenged me to a carving contest; for that reason, for my initial attempt, I aimed high - a "Beware of the Dog" pumpkin... you can judge the results for yourself. I'll post a better picture after I get my own camera out.

about: public transport

2010-10-28T14:34:00.000-04:00

Those who run public transport systems the world over after almost universally reviled. So it is with the MTA, particularly in this time of fare hikes and service cuts. However, I had reason to contact them today, and have thus far been pleased, nay, astounded by their efficiency.

I sent them an email at 12:38, and was advised in the automatic response that I might not expect to hear from them for up to three weeks. Lo and behold, I received a reply at 2:05, with an explanation and action.

My email:

I note that the incorrect signage is displayed on the S46/S52 bus stop at Castleton & Cebra. The signage indicates (incorrectly) that the S46 direction of travel is towards St. George Ferry.

Their reply:

The installation and maintenance of bus-stop signs is under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT). We contacted their Bus-Stop Management Unit to request that a work order be issued to install a bus-stop sign

If you have any additional concerns regarding signage at this location, you may contact the NYCDOT Bus-Stop Management Unit directly at (718) 894-2816.

I wait at the above mentioned bus stop three times a week, so it will be interesting to see how long the correction of the signage takes. Up until last week, I don't think there was even a sign indicating that the S46 bus stopped there...

about: facebook comment

2010-10-24T14:40:00.001-04:00

Maybe it is because it is Sunday, or maybe my most recent post has something to do with it, but anyway, I'm feeling a lot more expressive (some might say 'didactic') today, and of late. A Facebook friend of mine posted the following status update, and I was inclined to take a little time to reply:

Really don't understand why some churches are so judgmental and put down other churches, religions and beliefs. Some people are simple minded, why???

My reply:
Religion and politics... in order for "our" beliefs to be right, "their" beliefs have to be wrong... is, was, and ever shall be.

No matter how absurd (I'm thinking of the Lilliputians and Blefuscudians in Gulliver's Travels, at war over which end of an egg to open) or profound an ideology, it will have enemies, either actual or invented.

The more progressive religions and sects see the others as opponents, or even unenlightened friends, rather than enemies. Unfortunately, "progressive" and "religion" are all too rarely bedfellows.

about: to my american friends

2010-10-21T15:49:00.002-04:00

My ongoing interest in US affairs of state has, of course, been increased by virtue of my moving here. I also get more coverage, whether from the news networks, magazines or newspaper editorials.

It will be a number of years (2013 at the earliest) before I can have an official influence on the affairs of this nation that I now call home. Having said that, I increasingly feel the need to flex my political neurons...

To my American friends

The Tea Party movement (and it's slightly less blimpish allies in the Republican main-stream) doesn't need your money, being well-financed by it's corporate backers; it doesn't want your opinion, it has more than enough of it's own.

What it does need and want is your most sacred possession as an American - your vote. Generally a vote is a transient thing, yours to gift from election to election. However, a number of factors endanger your ownership of an effective democratic franchise:

Boundary revisions are due before the next election cycle.
As the saying goes, "to the victor go the spoils". I'm not saying that Democratic gerrymandering is any more desirable than Republican district-rigging, but bear in mind that the electoral benefits of incumbency are only reinforced by the power to carve up the electorate.
The most likely solution to the anti-democratic outcome of the Supreme Court's Citizens Unlimited decision is a 28th Amendment to the Constitution. This is much less likely to happen if the main beneficiary of this unfortunate ruling gains significant legislative power.

While these factors may favor the party of the right in the near-term, making the government less responsive to the electorate is always a bad idea. It enables idealogues to pursue their own agendas with much less fear of electoral consequences. It gives government a undesirable inertia which can lead to organizational negligence, and ultimately to voter apathy. In difficult economic times, it is much less challenging to take the short-term view, and react against the controlling party. However, maybe you should ask yourself if this could be a step closer to a government "of the politicians, by the extremists, for the corporations."

Before you throw out the bath water, consider the baby.

about: the end of HDCP?

2010-09-17T13:28:00.044-04:00

HDCP is the High Definition Copy Protection that prevents content passing through a HMDI cable and played from Blu-Ray disks from being copied. The text below is the master key that unlocks this protection. It’s release basically clears the way for copying devices that circumvent the current protection. I know it looks like a lot of mumbo-jumbo, but it is a major blow to the Hollywood studios in their fight to ‘protect’ their content.

6692d179032205 b4116a96425a7f ecc2ef51af1740 959d3b6d07bce4 fa9f2af29814d9 82592e77a204a8 146a6970e3c4a1 f43a81dc36eff7 568b44f60c79f5 bb606d7fe87dd6 1b91b9b73c68f9 f31c6aeef81de6 9a9cc14469a037 a480bc978970a6 997f729d0a1a39 b3b9accda43860 f9d45a5bf64a1d 180a1013ba5023 42b73df2d33112 851f2c4d21b05e 2901308bbd685c 9fde452d3328f5 4cc518f97414a8 8fca1f7e2a0a14 dc8bdbb12e2378 672f11cedf36c5 f45a2a00da1c1d 5a3e82c124129a 084a707eadd972 cb45c81b64808d

07ebd2779e3e71 9663e2beeee6e5 25078568d83de8 28027d5c0c4e65 ec3f0fc32c7e63 1d6b501ae0f003 f5a8fcecb28092 854349337aa99e 9c669367e08bf1 d9c23474e09f70

3c901d46bada9a 40981ffcfa376f a4b686ca8fb039 63f2ce16b91863 1bade89cc52ca2 4552921af8efd2 fe8ac96a02a6f9 9248b8894b23bd 17535dbff93d56 94bdc32a095df2 cd247c6d30286e d2212f9d8ce80a dc55bdc2a6962c bcabf9b5fcbe6f c2cfc78f5fdafa 80e32223b9feab f1fa23f5b0bf0d ab6bf4b5b698ae d960315753d36f 424701e5a944ed 10f61245ebe788 f57a17fc53a314 00e22e88911d9e 76575e18c7956e c1ef4eee022e38 f5459f177591d9 08748f861098ef 287d2c63bd809e e6a28a6f5d000c 7ae5964a663c1b

0f15f7167f56c6 d6c05b2bbe8800 544a49be026410 d9f3f08602517f 74878dc02827f7 d72ef3ea24b7c8 717c7afc0b55a5 0be2a582516d08 202ded173a5428 9b71e35e45943f

9e7cd2c8789c99 1b590a91f1cffd 903dca7c36d298 52ad58ddcc1861 56dd3acba0d9c5 c76254c1be9ed1 06ecb6ae8ff373 cfcc1afcbc80a4 30eba7ac19308c d6e20ae760c986 c0d1e59db1075f 8933d5d8284b92 9280d9a3faa716 8386984f92bfd6 be56cd7c4bfa59 16593d2aa598a6 d62534326a40ee 0c1f1919936667 acbaf0eefdd395 36dbfdbf9e1439 0bd7c7e683d280 54759e16cfd9ea cac9029104bd51 436d1dca1371d3 ca2f808654cdb2 7d6923e47f97b5 70e256b741910c 7dd466ed5fff2e 26bec4a28e8cc4 5754ea7219d4eb

75270aa4d3cc8d e0ae1d1897b7f4 4fe5663e8cb342 05a80e4a1a950d 66b4eb6ed4c99e 3d7e9d469c6165 81677af04a2e15 ada4be60bc348d dfdfbbad739248 98ad5986f3ca1f

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about: serious wind

2010-09-16T17:45:00.000-04:00

From:    swnalert@sendwordnow.com

Subject:  Notify NYC - Alert

Date:    September 16, 2010 5:30:56 PM EDT

To:    nycnotify@francismahon.com

Alert issued 9/16/10 at 5:25 PM. The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning until 5:45 PM in Staten Island. Immediately go indoors and/or to the lowest floor of your building for shelter.  Stay away from windows.

The sender provided the following contact information.

Sender's Name: Notify NYC

Sender's Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov

Sender's Contact Phone: 2126399675

about: facebook places

2010-08-29T19:35:00.001-04:00

Below is a reprint of a recent Facebook Note that I posted.

There has been a lot of interest in the new Facebook “Places” feature, and a lot of the debate/misinformation seems to focus on privacy issues. I’ve taken a look at a number of reputable technical and business computing sites, and read what Facebook itself has to say on the subject.

So friends, here is my own brief summary.

Unless you actually use “Places”, you need have no worries about your location being made public by Facebook. Currently, “Places” is only available on Apple iDevices and selected smartphones.
Even if you do use “Places”, there are privacy safeguards. Take a look at this guide (from the eminently reputable LifeHacker) on how to check and/or disable Facebook Places: http://lifehacker.com/5616395/how-to-disable-facebook-places
The following piece from ABC News may be more accessible to the less tech-savvy: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/facebook-places/story?id=11439480
The very fact that you are connected to the Internet exposed some information about your general location. Click on the following link to see an example of location using the IP address that every Internet connected device must be assigned: http://www.ip2location.com/
If you have a location-aware device, such as a smart-phone with GPS (full-blown or assisted), the following page may spread further light on the information that may be made available: http://html5demos.com/geo

dvd: once (2006)

2010-08-25T14:18:00.000-04:00

The first time I heard the song, “Falling Slowly”, I fell in love with it - a simple, beautiful and haunting piece of music.

The same can be said for the movie, in which Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova feature. The real star though, is the soundtrack. The simple story gives us a chance to share in the lives, work and struggles of musicians as well as those who love music.

The two lead characters develop their relationship from an initial unrequited attraction to friendship, respect and beyond. While this non-romance is a continuous thread throughout the movie, it doesn’t mean this is a chick-flick. There are fine comic moments too; none funnier that the initial busking scene.

The fact that this movie was shot on a somewhat “guerilla” basis around the streets of Dublin adds to it’s charm. There was hardly an external scene whose backdrop I didn’t recognize, and the emphasis on buskers and other street characters on Grafton Street draws in everyone who has ever visited this street.

Listen to the song “Falling Slowly”. If you like it, watch the movie, it won’t disappoint!

dvd: the girl with the dragon tattoo (2010)

2010-08-23T19:33:00.001-04:00

Having read the book on which this movie is based, I had high expectations, perhaps too high.

I enjoyed this movie, but it wasn’t of the same calibre as Larsson’s novel. Maybe it was the complexity of the plot, which the movie oversimplified. Maybe it was the transmutation of the evil doers motives from misogyny to Nazi-inspired anti-Semitism, which I found peculiar, given that the movie was released in Sweden under the name “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor“, literally “The Man Who Hated Women”.

Some of the parts of the book that I enjoyed the most were glossed over, or in some cases ignored, in particular the Wennerstrom affair, and Blomqvist’s relationship with his married colleague Erika Berger.

Overall, a well-crafted movie, worth watching, but not a masterpiece in the same class as the book.

about: stay sane on the internet

2010-08-11T15:09:00.000-04:00

While there is a treasury of information available, there is also a huge amount of misinformation. While Snopes is widely know as the creme-de-la-creme of fact-checking sites, there are a number of useful alternatives:

There are also a number of lesser lights, that tend to be more selective in their coverage, but useful none the less:

Truth Or Fiction - plenty of excellent coverage of the most common pop-culture email "rumors".
Sophos - tends to concentrate of virus and security matters.
Hoax Slayer - Plenty of information on hoaxes and scams, including a "True Email" section.
V Myths - professional grade information from the computer security field.
Hoax Busters - an extremely definitive list.

about: stay safe on facebook

2010-08-06T12:38:00.000-04:00

This is one of the longest pieces I can remember posting, but bear with me - it is important. Below are some extracts from a recent blog post (“How to Save Face: 6 Tips for Safer Facebooking”) from F-Secure, one of Finland’s top security companies, and a world leader in this field. The original source post contains detailed instructions for how to tighten up the privacy settings, but much of the article focuses on safe practices to overcome the vulnerability of the ‘human’ element.

Know what you’re getting into

Facebook is a business. It exists to take your online activity and turn it into revenue. Facebook will always be free. But there is a cost. You’re paying by being exposed to advertising and allowing limited disclosure of your online activity.

Basically everything you post, every person you friend, every group you join will be made public to your “friends”, “friends of your friends” or “everyone”—depending on your privacy settings.

To you this may be simple. You assume that everything you’ve posted could be available to the whole world. Others are still learning. People have lost their jobs as a result of things they’ve posted on Facebook. And when this happens, the newly unemployed person will usually claim that s/he thought that the post was private.

So joining a social network is a leap of faith. On a social network, not only do you have to trust the site to follow its privacy policy, but you also have to trust your friends. Will they reveal your secrets? Will they pass on bad information and scams to you?

And, more importantly, you have to trust yourself to share the right things.

Your financial future could depend on how well your profile and your photos and friends list represent you. So think before you post—always.

Secure your PC

What does five hundred million people on one website look like? To cybercriminals, it looks like a gigantic, unsecured goldmine.

Online gangs and scammers are working twenty-four hours a day to exploit the trust we have for our online friends. Updated Internet security is a must before you use Facebook or any social site.

Use a unique, strong password

‘Password’ is not a good password. Neither is ‘123456’ or your pet’s name or your name any information that is available publicly on your Facebook profile.

Creating a strong, complex password that you can remember is the key to keeping strangers out of your account. Here’s a simple password system we recommend: You should also use different passwords for your all of your various accounts, especially your email accounts, to keep one hack from becoming a total nightmare.

Filter your friends

Facebook works overtime to connect you with as many people possible. When you first join, the site combs through your email account to suggest as many people as possible. Then as you use the site it will suggest more email contacts. Email someone new and Facebook will suggest that you become friends.

Run out of contacts, you’ll see friends of friends, brands you might like, your ex.

It’s a strange social dynamic. When see the person’s picture, it feels like this person wants to be your friend. But who knows? All you can be sure of is that Facebook wants you to be friends.

So ask yourself this: Does everyone you email need to be your Facebook friend?

Maybe you want to limit Facebook to your friends and family and leave professional connections to Twitter and LinkedIn. There’s no perfect formula, but it’s important to have some filter, some limit on what you share with whom. How do you say no when someone you don’t want to offend makes a friend request? Facebook makes this easy. You can just ‘ignore’ the request. That’s a nice way to frame it!

Want to stop Facebook from combing through your email contacts? You can remove your contacts by clicking here. But if you’re using a Facebook app on your phone, first you’ll have to disable the Facebook synchronization feature on your phone.

Want to stop Facebook from suggesting you as a friend to others? Go to “Privacy Settings” click on “Settings” for “Basic Directory Information”. When you get there, set “Search for me on Facebook” to “Friends Only”.

Click carefully

The biggest dangers on Facebook are the links that appear on your wall. With one bad click, you could end up on a site that attempts to serve you malware or scam you using phishing tactics. One, bad ‘like’ and you could end up spamming all of your friends. That’s why you have to remember that links are not your friends.

The most popular Facebook scams involve gift cards and hilarious videos and diet advice. So far most attacks on the site have been more annoying than harmful. But without vigilance, you can be sure that vicious scams and malware are heading your way.

Prevention is your best cure. Realize the more sensational or strange or generic a link is, the more likely it is to be malicious. Again, links are not your friends. Apply the same caution you’ve learned to use when you’re checking email to checking Facebook. And just because your friend or family linked something, doesn’t mean you have to click on it.

If you find a harmful link, don’t be afraid to warn your friends via your wall. The same power Facebook has to spread trouble can also used to protect the community.

Don’t rely on Facebook to protect your privacy

The whole point of Facebook is to “connect and share with the people in your life.” But there’s a point, for nearly everyone, where all the connecting and sharing can be too much—especially as your information becomes increasingly available to people who aren’t necessarily “in your life.”

So whenever you use Facebook, you have to ask yourself two things: Who do I want to see what I’m doing? And how would I feel if the whole world saw this?

There’s no technical tool to stop your friends from sharing your information. But Facebook does offer you the tools to control who sees your activity. That’s why you need to get to know your privacy settings.

Why? All of this information may be public somewhere else, like a phone book, but you’re simply making too much identifiable information public in one easily accessible place. There may not be enough there for true identity theft, but you are giving a stranger enough information to pose as you online convincingly, which could be a problem if some potential employer or date is checking out your online presence.

Facebook is not shy about encouraging it’s users to share and share and share. That’s why you have to remember that Facebook (and your friends) can’t share anything you don’t post to the site. So be careful not to post anything that can be used against you. This includes travel plans and itineraries, complaints about bosses, co-workers and customers, company secrets, threats… There are a million things you shouldn’t post. And you are the only person who can decide what you SHOULD share with Facebook and the world. So choose wisely.

about: big government v big companies

2010-08-04T15:33:00.000-04:00

If there are two sides to every story, then this is actually two stories. First of all, I don’t need to give any examples of how poor government customer service is in Ireland, just take my word for it. Secondly, I have generally found the business sector in dear old Eire to be quite responsive, at least, as far as my dealings have gone. So, on to examples from this side of the Atlantic pond…

Government 1
USCIS

Yes, the forms are in places more cryptic than the Times’ crossword, in places. Yes, supplying the required information is more repetitive than a Buddhist chant, at times. Overall, I think the paperwork is horrific, which is saying something… I generally “enjoy” filling in forms.

When it comes to dealing face-to-face, though, my first experience of this much maligned organization was an eye-opener. I was summoned to the Brooklyn ASC (Application Support Center) to have my biometrics (photograph and fingerprints) recorded. The reception and queueing systems were pretty much on a par with my expectations.

Where I saw real innovation was in the selective line-cutting (that’s “queue-jumping” to the rest of you). If a person had children on infants with them, they were invited by a member of staff to move to the front of the room. Imagine, a government employee showing thought and common sense! I don’t mind waiting on line (that’s American for “queueing”, for the benefit of Old World readers), but noisy kids get real old real fast… I guess the staffer thought so too… let everybody wait a little longer, but get the potential annoyances out of the office ASAP… good call!

Government 2
Social Security

Once my Employment Authorization card arrived, my next step was to apply for a Social Security number. Went to the website, downloaded the form and filled it in. In a previous incarnation I processed applications for PPS numbers, the Irish analog of the SS#, and I found that the form was much easier to complete.

Went to the local office, and was dealt with by a wonderfully friendly woman who seemed genuinely interested in making conversation as she processed my application. I know my Irish charm (which is a big hit with the female population, around here, it seems) was a help, but the manner in which she conducted herself made me feel a little guilty about how “bureaucratic” some of my dealings with applicants back in Ireland had been.

Obviously, once my SS# card is issued, I hope not to have dealings with this branch of government again, for a very long time, but my experiences to date have been positive.

Business 1
One of the first tasks I set myself upon arrival in April was getting a US cell phone. As my wife is an existing Verizon customer, I decided that would be a good place to start. It was pretty easy to pick up a prepaid account, activated and ready to go in a few minutes. I knew I would want to change to postpaid at some stage, probably within a couple of months, and the customer representative (Herbert Portillo, Staten Island Mall) assured me that it was entirely straightforward to do so.

The problem arose when, after opening our joint bank account, we decided that it would be a good idea to merge our cell phone plans. We called back to the same store…

I can keep my number, right? After much conferring with the computer screen it was established that I could.

I can keep my phone, right? More face to screen interfacing, followed by an actual telephone with an actual person, and erm, actually, no, I couldn’t use the same phone! Why ever not? Oh, we can’t unlock the phone from the prepaid network until you have had it six for months… not even to transfer on to our own postpaid network.

I guess I’ll have to wait another three months, or jailbreak the phone myself?

Business 2
First of all, I’m pretty happy with my bank, Chase, let me say. However, I must take issue with some of the “systems” they have in place.

When I went to open an account, I told them I would prefer to register it to my Irish address, as I had no official status in the US at the time. “Sorry”, they told me, “You’ll have to provide proof of a US address.” Well, I jumped through their hoops, including drafting (solely for their benefit) a tenancy agreement between myself and my own wife, which was duly notarized, submitted and accepted. “Great”, I thought! But… a few days later I get a letter from the bank looking for proof of a foreign address, because they can’t register my account with a US address because I’m not a US taxpayer… so I give them the address and documents that they had initially rejected, and everyone is happy!

What really irks me is that they needed to sort out this tax issue because they have to report on interest income to the tax authorities… but I was only opening a non-interest paying checking account! Oy vey!

about: sermons

2010-07-19T16:28:00.002-04:00

I was an altar server from November 1982 to Summer 1993 - in those days it was (at least in our parish) an exclusively male preserve, so the term ‘altar boy’ would be more accurate. After that, I somewhat parted ways with organized religion for a long time. I may have heard a sermon or two in the interim, but certainly not listened - I’m afraid I couldn’t take seriously the pontifications of anyone whose primary loyalty was to the clandestine and labyrinthine Roman Catholic hierarchy.

My wife is active in her local church, so it was natural for me to attend a Sunday service with her on the eve of our marriage. I liked what I saw, and so my own spiritual journey has once again found a faith community of which I feel a part, and so I am working towards being received into the Episcopal Church in September.

For the first time as an adult, I am listening to sermons. I don’t know whether it is a renewed willingness to listen, on my part, or the skilled oratory on the part of our pastor. I suspect it is a combination of both of these factors.

Not only do I reflect on the gospel message while listening to Father Cole’s interpretation and guidance, but I find that the words of scripture come to mind during my daily life too. I find myself striving to live the Christian virtue of neighborliness, and finding that in the modern world, I have over five billion neighbors. I am working to understand that I am a part of an all-encompassing global “us” to the exclusion of the divisive “them”.

It seems to me that divisiveness, in whatever form, is indeed the greatest of all evils. By dividing ourselves from our fellow man, we are separating ourselves from whole swaths of creation, and therefore from the Creator himself.

about: youtube

2010-07-18T15:27:00.000-04:00

Finally got around to posting some YouTube videos…