As you can see I changed my theme once again. This is a custom theme that I am still working on so some things may not work as expected or look weird. Please check back and watch the progress, I hope to have the site completely updated and functional by next week.

Thanks for standing by…

~Phil

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Sorry for the disturbance but once again I am changing the layout of the blog. Please bear with me for the next several days and please don’t worry if things look weird or don’t work. When I am finished everything will be working 100% and it will be for the better, I am making a central area for all my sites and projects.

Thanks for your patience.

~Phil

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As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They’re banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we’ve seen in decades. I’d like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on February 10, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren’t originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children’s books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there’s always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it’s passed testing. It won’t even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can’t sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can’t even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children’s items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you’ll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you’d better start buying now because it’s all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren’t certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react!!!

More Links:

• http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2009/01/cpsia-blog-in.html
• http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-blog-in-updates-clarifications-3324/
  

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All 76 organizations will be affected by the elimination of the ZBGA funding.  Some points of interest:

We all need to tell Governor Paterson that we do not want these cuts, and funding needs to be restored. You can send your message here:

Send a message to Albany

You can join in the cause on Facebook here:

Save ZBGA

Visit the Wildlife Conservation Society:
Wildlife Conservation Society Website

Watch this video that was produced by the WCS:

The video stars a Bronx Zoo porcupine that is being laid off from its job, the WCS has no intention of getting rid of any of these animals, but the cuts do make the future bleak and far from secure.

The zoo does not only keep animals and plants alive, but also adds to our local economy. The Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium had more than 2.7 million visitors last year that generated more than $290 million dollars in economic activity. The Zoo and Aquarium have 819 full time staff and 251 seasonal workers. Imagine the impact on our communities if these institutions were to close.

Please take the time and click the email link above or call the Governor at 518-474-8390.

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UPDATE 1/26/2009 -

Visit: iPetitions.com, savecfcinhalers.org

- - - - - - - - - -

In case you didn’t know as of December 31, 2008 you can no longer buy any prescription inhalers that use CFCs to eject the medicine. The FDA is also expected to phase out the over the counter (OTC) asthma medicine that uses CFC’s as well.

What does this mean? No more rescue inhalers will be sold over the counter like Primatene Mist unless they change their ejection method to not use CFCs.

What the heck? CFCs in my inhaler are that much of a detriment to the ozone layer that they need to ban all sales of Primatene? I for one (and I am not alone) do not like the HFA inhalers, which are the supposed replacement to the CFC ones.

I have had many prescriptions for different inhalers including some steroid ones and not one of them work as well as the Primatene one. Of course doctors don’t want you to use OTC drugs because then you are treating yourself without a doctor’s supervision. All I can say about this is I have had doctors write me prescriptions for all different drugs and none of them worked, except for Singulair which is a miracle drug, at least for me.

According to the FDA’s website,  they are implementing the ban by the end of 2010.  Also according to their website;

Epinephrine MDIs are the only devices currently marketed over the counter. Should this rule become final, epinephrine MDI users will have to obtain a prescription for alternative drug products if a non-CFC epinephrine inhaler still does not exist.

Seems to me it is the drug companies at work here, a $15 product that treats my asthma is being removed so that I now have to obtain a prescription for a drug that costs $200? What if I don’t have insurance? This is absurd.

Something else mentioned was the fact that Primatene is not an optimal treatment for asthma;

But some of the physicians on the F.D.A. advisory committee had little sympathy. They said that despite Primatene’s long history of use, there was little evidence of the drug’s safety and effectiveness. Epinephrine is a synthetic version of the human hormone adrenaline.

These doctors said Primatene could even harm patients because of side effects or because users might forgo better treatments. Removing it from the market, they said, could be an opportunity to switch asthma patients to better medications.

“It is clearly not optimum therapy and I think suboptimal therapy is a disservice to our patients,” said Dr. Mark L. Brantly, a pulmonary physician at the University of Florida.

Not optimum therapy? Try telling that to me when my airway is closed and Primatene opens it almost instantly! Their version of HFA-Alburterol does not have the same immediate effect.

Side effects? What about the side effects of the cortiosteroids that they prescribe to inhale? I tried one of them (on a doctor’s recommendation) for a week and my throat started to bleed, now that is a nice side effect!

Another issue as brought up in this NY Times article, what happens when my prescription inhaler runs out, or I forget it at home and I am out and about? If I ever had an asthma attack while out, I could stop in any pharmacy and pick up a Primatene inhaler, this new ruling will make it impossible to do and putting my life at risk.

Primatene has been on the market for over 40 years, now the FDA finally decides that it is time to remove it from the market? How much CFCs can my one little inhaler contain?

My last thought that I will leave you with, if Primatene is banned and there is no other substitute OTC medicine that is affordable and also effective, then people suffering from asthma will certainly die!

A couple of links to other blogs:

• A New Look, Feel, & Taste for Your Rescue Inhaler On the Way
• Over the Counter Asthma Inhalers Being Phased Out

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If you don’t see the new layout please clear your cache or click reload on your browser. You should be seeing a layout that looks like this:

I decided to get rid of most of the advertising on the blog as it wasn’t making me a ton of money anyway. I felt it was more of a reason not to read the blog, so I decided since I am going to be focusing more on my business life and all things tech that advertising is not needed.

The images up top are brought in from Flickr and change whenever I upload new photos. If you sometimes see photos that just don’t make sense, this is the reason why.

I am excited to launch my new design as it is custom made by yours truly. I did reference several other sites and templates to gather my ideas but the theme is totally unique to me. Much better than the blue pro-sense theme I was using along with a million other Google-Ad-Sense-Get-Rich-Hopefuls.

Let me know your thoughts, do you like it? Hate it? Would like to see some changes? I will be tweaking it over the next couple of weeks, but basically what you see here is what you get.

I will try to post more often as I have many things to talk about, I have started a new business, took my other consulting business in a new direction to scripting Facebook applications, plus I still have my hosting business that keeps me busy.

I will be back soon with a post about helping your slow windows pc get a little speedier, a friend of mine asked why her computer was so slow… One hint RAM.

/Phil

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I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

I hope 2009 will be a better, more successful year for everyone.

I have neglected this blog for way to long, but I have been very busy with other web ventures. I will be back here updating more often, as a matter of fact I have a brand new theme that I will be installing before the end of the week.

I have decided to focus this blog more on what I do on the internet, my projects, my websites, my scripts, coding, computer tips, as well as a bit of personal posts mixed in.

So with the new year comes an all new blog!

Stay tuned…

~Phil

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You can read about the exploit here and here and you can read about the actual flaw on Microsoft’s website here.

Why are you still using IE anyway, Firefox can do whatever IE can and more. If you like living on the bleeding edge why not try Google’s new browser Chrome? It is lightning fast and removes all the junk from your screen except for the webpage that you are looking at. Google just released it from beta but it is far from ready, there are many things that just don’t exist if you are used to using Firefox. If you are an IE person then give Chrome a chance it might just be the answer to your troubles.

The other solution is to use a Macintosh! :)

Happy Holidays!

~Phil

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Many of you followed Hendrix’s story via the blog and website over at NorCalGSPRescue, I am happy to be able to say that Hendrix has found a forever home! He is now living a real dog’s life on a ranch in Arizona where he gets to run around in his wheeled cart on 40 acres of land. He gets to play with other dogs and cats and has an adopter who has fallen for his great personality!

You can read all about Hendrix and also if you would like to help feel free to donate while you are there.

Read all about Hendrix here: http://www.norcalgsprescue.com/hendrix.shtml

—————-

Hello Everyone,

I know I said I would be back to update the blog but I have been real busy with life and my other businesses to come here and keep my personal blog updated. I promise I will try to at least update what is happening in my life and what I am up to.

Anyway today’s post is not a usual post for me, I am passing on an urgent need for a friend of mine. Those of you that know me know that I had a beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) named Sassy. Sassy passed away a while back and I miss her till this day, there will never be another dog like her. I created several sites in her memory G.S.P. Blogs and Pet Rescue Directory have been up and running in her memory in the hopes that these sites might help other pets in their time of need.

I didn’t just want to plug my other sites, I have a reason for this post. My good friends over at NorCalGSP Rescue have an urgent need to place one of their GSP’s. Hendrix is no ordinary GSP, he is an extraordinary dog that has over come many battles in his life so far. He is now facing one more battlein which his time is running out! Hendrix needs a home, however please read below what was sent to me before you say “I’ll take him”, it is not as simple as you might think.

Hi,

As many of you know, we have been looking for an adoptive home for Hendrix, and have not had much luck.  Julie and Shari fostered him for many, many months (thank you so much!), and when they were no longer able to, we found a new foster home for him.  That foster home will not be able to foster him past September 30th.  If we cannot find a long-term foster home or placement for him within the next two weeks, we are out of options for him.We have had him since he was 4 weeks old, given up by a backyard breeder with the story that the pup needed surgery from the umbilical cord having wrapped around and that he couldn’t afford it.  Turns out the pup has spina bifida, not surgically repairable.  Hendrix is neutered, up to date on shots, has had spinal surgery to repair the opening on his back to prevent infection, is crate trained, has completed puppy class.  He is presently 36 pounds and will probably be about 40 pounds when fully mature.  Medical records for all of his care are available.  He is not house trained (bowel or bladder) because of his disability, and wears diapers when inside.  He’s been to therapy essentially weekly to work on strengthening his rear legs.  He just received his wheeled cart and loves it!

I have promoted him on our web site, other web sites, Yahoo group posts for German Shorthaired Pointers and rescue groups, our newsletter, and through flyers.  I have contacted sanctuaries and humane societies, to no avail.  We have been unable to secure another foster home, or an adoptive home for him.  We had two potential adopters that both fell through.  He is sweet, loving, lovable, and smart.  Here’s the information we have been sending out far and wide:Hendrix is now 10 months old, and has a wonderful personality! He was discarded at 4 weeks by a backyard breeder and is in this situation through no fault of his own. He will need an adoptive or foster home that can see past his physical limitations and help him develop his full potential. He gets around the house very well, doing best with smooth floors to scoot himself around. He stands up to eat and to interact. He has a sling that is used to help him walk, and wears wraps or diapers while loose in the house. Hendrix has been receiving weekly rehabilitative therapy to develop his strength and use of his back legs, and his wheeled cart has just arrived - be sure to check out his blog for his newest videos http://www.norcalgsprescue.com/adopt.shtml and click through, or directly at http://gspblogs.com/norcalgsp/category/hendrix/.

Hendrix is excellent with dogs large and small, kids of all ages, and has not shown aggression towards cats (and couldn’t chase one too well anyway!) He loves to play shadow games http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS5ZWdqHxCI

as you can see here in one of his videos! He’s crate trained and has completed puppy class. He’ll do best in a home with another playful dog, and people who are physically capable of caring for him – assisting him in his sling, cleaning up after him, carrying out his therapy routine, protecting his skin, and giving him the love that GSPs demand!

When you meet Hendrix, you will fall in love with him. Despite his physical problems, he’s good-natured, very affectionate, full of playful puppy energy, and incredibly intelligent and eager to learn.

We are offering transportation for him if we can find a suitable place, and he would come with a crate, sling, wheelchair, diapers, toys and a monetary donation to help offset some of his care.  He needs a place that is physically accessible for him, easily cleaned, and will work with his skin issues; and people who can manage his care, which is not inconsequential.  Attached is a flyer (thank you Laura!) for you to forward and/or post.  Please let me know if you can help, time is of the essence.

Thanks!  Barbara

 

Barbara Gale

Foster Coordinator

H 650-325-5543

C 650-207-3501

F 650-324-2147

www.NorCalGSPrescue.com

Support us at no cost to you when shopping online!

http://www.iGive.com/norcalgsprescue

Ok, so if after reading and watching the video you still think you can help then please click through to either the adoption page or the main website of NorCalGSPRescue.com. I was told by Barbara that if someone on the East Coast wants to adopt Hendrix that the airfare to get him here would be covered along with a monetary donation to help with his expenses.

~Phil

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Well to sum up my answer to all those questions, I have been very busy with life around me as well as the strike across the street from my house. If you don’t know what I am talking about you can read all about it here: www.fipna.org , to sum it up there is a nursing home across the street from my house that forced its employees to strike for the last six months. Victory for the workers finally came on August 21, 2008 when all the workers returned to work under an injunction that the union won to allow them to return.

As you can see I have been plenty busy with just the strike alone, not to mention worrying about a strike of my own at my company, which did not happen as we agreed to a contract one week after deadline.

So my plans for the future here are to return to blogging at least once a week if not more, and to add more tech to the blog. Many people have asked for me to add more simplified tech posts like the anti-virus, domain scammers, etc to the blog. So since you all asked, you will receive.

I will be back soon with my first post about internet faxing, everyone associated eFax to faxing over the internet, but are they the best? Are they the only game in town? Stay tuned and find out what my thoughts are.

I also plan to add an “Ask Phil” section where you can post your question and it will be answered here live on the blog.

I also really need to update Wordpress, the underlying software that runs this blog. So please come back soon…

~Phil

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