ComfortablySouthern

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:32:00 +0000

New blog post : How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing http://bit.ly/qFH4gf

Website Creation for Newbies–Complete these 5 Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:10:00 +0000

I must admit that I have struggled for years to develop various websites. Most of them were so horrendous that I would never have recommended them to anyone. In addition, the work involved to maintain them was like having a second career. The whole website thing just baffled me. I use computers most everyday and consider myself fairly literate in the use of a computer and many applications, but creating websites was a skill which I just couldn't master.

I recently realized that I had struggled needlessly. I discovered the simplest way ever to create a great website AND... I did it in fifteen minutes.

So here is what I did and remember, if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it. I had a name for my site in mind so I went to NameCheap.com and was able to purchase the domain. I then needed a place to host the website so I went to HostGator.com and selected a "baby croc" plan (this plan allows me to add a number of domains if desired to my hosting account). Once I had the plan secured I had to copy the DNS Server Names provided by HostGator.com and then go back to my domain name on NameCheap.com and input the DNS Server Names for my domain. This way NameCheap.com knows where my domain is hosted. That was simple! Seriously simple.

I had my site ready to go, but here is where the trouble would typically begin. In the past I would have to create a site in another program (Dreamweaver) and then upload and manage it. However, HostGator.com offers a slick application, called Fantastico, which allows me to install a WordPress blog to my site. That is exactly what I did and what I got was a great looking, fully functional website in which I can add any number of bells and whistles. This whole process took me no more than 12 minutes and literally saved me hours of time.

I can now do this process even quicker because I am now a "web site pro". Well, not really, but I do feel that way. Why didn't I discover this a long time ago?

For more detailed information about how to do this, visit my site (click the link to my site below). The instructions are free. I would love to have some comments about your experiences with creating your own websites. Good luck and thanks for reading.

Rodney regularly posts items of interests for newbies (people looking to learn new ways of doing things, improving their lives, enhancing their health, etc...) at his website:

http://www.newbieknowhow.com

Visit his site and make a comment about this article or other articles that he has written.

Traffic Dashboard Delivers 800+ Visitors a Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:45:00 +0000

One of my favorite bloggers online is Kim Roach over at BuzzBlogger.com.

Kim is one of those rare finds in the IM space that consistently provides
tremendous value in everything she does.

She's a country gal at heart but don't let that fool you...

She's been beating out many of the big-name gurus with
her southern belle charm.

In fact, many refer to her as the 'Traffic Queen'. Which from
what I've seen is certainly a worthy title.

At the ripe 'ol age of 25 she's managed to unlock
the secrets to massive traffic...testing and tweaking
new traffic strategies... plus adding her own little
twists and tricks.

And unlike most other marketers, she spends most of her
time in the trenches, locked up in the marketing laboratory -
cookin' up more juicy traffic goodness.

But every once in a while she surfaces back up into the
real world to share her latest findings.

If you'd like to see what she's been cookin' up in
the lab lately go here:

Kim's has unlocked her very best traffic strategies in her latest
product called 'The Traffic Dashboard'. It's a complete training
center that contains over 20 of Kim's top traffic getting methods.

Thes traffic techniqes are really quite unique as you can see
for yourself by taking a look inside the member's area...

Traffic Dashboard - a sneak peek inside...

Inside 'The Traffic Dashboar' Kim shows you how to go from nothing
to over 3,000+ subscribers in just 30 days. (all in step-by-step detail).

You literally point and click your way to increased traffic with Kim's
unique dashboard design. (as seen above)

You have to actually TRY to mess this one up! Because the point-and-click
learning system forces you to take action.

Here's a sneek peak at what you'll find inside...

An underground tool for extracting exactly
where your competitor's website traffic is
coming from. This is like being given the
keys to the kingdom. (I'm really surprised
Kim is sharing this little gem)

(If you thought Alexa was cool imagine knowing EXACTLY
how much traffic your competitors were getting each day
and knowing exactly where that traffic was coming from.)

"James Bond" tactics for spying on your
competitors and forcing them to hand over
all of their hard-earned, battle-tested,
profit-busting strategies.

A super simple method for cramming your opt-in
list with 200-400 subscribers in a single day...
(and NO this has nothing to do with ad swaps)

A really cool strategy that shows you how to get 10x
MORE traffic from EVERY article you write.

As many of you probably already know, traditional article
marketing is becoming less and less effective. What worked
in 2004 simply doesn't cut it anymore.

So Kim show's you 10 different ways to repurpose your content
for additional traffic and exposure. Use just a couple of the
strategies in this video and you'll have no excuse for not
getting AT LEAST a couple hundred visitors for every article
you publish.

... and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

This thing is packed with over 8 hours of juicy
traffic goodness... NO fluff... NO filler.

With over 8 hours of step-by-step video and
enough how-to information to DESTROY literally
every question, worry and problem you've ever
had in regards to traffic.

A Word of Warning: There's just ONE caveat to this
product. In fact, these traffic methods will NOT work in all
situations. In order for these traffic strategies to reap
their full power - you MUST be creating HIGH QUALITY CONTENT!
(not some auto-generated content that not even your momma would
be proud of...)

If you think you're going to slap together some useless crap,
throw up some auto-generated sites and have thousands of visitors
pouring in...This course is NOT for you.

This training course was created specifically for people who
are looking to build REAL businesses online... People who are
dedicated to providing top-notch value for their visitors,
subscribers, and customers.

This is something Kim stresses a lot, and I agree. If you're
not willing to take the time and effort to put together some
really good content and offer real value, then don't bother
with 'The Traffic Dashboard'. It will just be a waste of time
for you if you don't have good content in place.

But...

If you are dedicated to building a REAL business online and
providing your visitors with REAL VALUE then 'The Traffic
Dashboard' will help you to grow your business 10x faster.

Plus, at an affordable price to boot!

So, if you're ready to turn on the traffic tap, then
click here...

There are no “tricks”, or “magic traffic buttons” here, just
proven traffic strategies that are designed to generate traffic
as quickly as possible.

Plus, for those of you who are more advanced, Kim combines old
school tactics with new traffic twists and tips that you won't
want to miss...

Hot Julianne Hough Video

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:39:00 +0000

The video is definitely hot, but worthy of being banned...I don't think so. Check it out and determine for yourself.

Fire Prevention Week

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:45:00 +0000

The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) has deemed this week (3-9 October) as Fire Prevention Week (FPW). The official theme of this year’s FPW is “Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With”. Please take the time to educate your family members, especially children, of the importance of smoke alarms and what to do in a case of emergency. Smoke alarms are normally battery operated and should be routinely tested to ensure the batteries are charged and the detector is functional. To test smoke alarms, press the test button. If working properly, an alarm should sound. If no alarm sounds, the smoke detector may need new batteries or need to be replaced. Although emphasis is placed on smoke alarms this year, please don’t stop there. Attached are three videos and a short PowerPoint presentation of some common fire related mistakes. For more information, please visit this link.

Dial Before You Dig!!

Great Uncle-Air Force One Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:01:00 +0000

I ran across this article of my great uncle (my Grandfather's sister's husband)

www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jbswindal.htm

Grandfather=Albert Glover
Grandfather's Sister=Emily Glover
Great Uncle=J.B. Swindal

Gone West: Col. J.B. Swindal, 88
Mon, 01 May '06

James Swindal timeline:

Here are a few key years in Retired Air Force Colonel James Swindal's life.
1917: Born Aug. 18 in West Blocton, Alabama
1936: Marries his high school sweetheart, Emily.
1941: Encouraged to join military when Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
1942: Enlists in the military.
1963: Flies with President John F. Kennedy, the same year Kennedy is assassinated.
1971: Retired from the Air Force.
2006: Died Tuesday in Cape Canaveral.

JFK's Air Force One Pilot Flew JFK To Dallas -- JFK And LBJ Back
James Barney Swindal passed away recently, another of the World War II Generation, another retired Colonel whose stories of flying the Hump and the Berlin Airlift were once the everyday recollections of hundreds, thousands, of Air Force transport pilots. But being a standout even in that august company, he was selected for a special mission. That mission led to his most famous flight -- with a casket for cargo and a grim and shocked load of passengers.

You see, Col. James B. Swindal was the aircraft commander for Air Force One when it had to carry the body of murdered President John F. Kennedy from Dallas to Washington on November 22, 1963. Just before takeoff, in a scene that would reach millions through the pages of LIFE Magazine, the oath of office was administered to Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson by US District Judge Sarah Hughes aboard the plane, with Johnson's wife Lady Bird, and Kennedy's shocked widow Jacqueline standing by.

When Swindal slipped away on April 25th at Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, FL, from complications from a broken hip, he was 88 years old and one of the last links to that unhappy flight. Jackie Kennedy, LBJ, Judge Hughes all preceded the pilot in death. His Co- Pilot, Lew Hanson, passed away in January. Kennedy's killer and Kennedy's killer's killer are long underground; even LIFE Magazine is vanished into ancient history. Perhaps it is fitting that the last of the figures remaining from those bleak days was a pilot, a man who simply did his duty as best he could.

The impact of the Kennedy assassination roiled the nation like very few events (Pearl Harbor, the Challenger explosion, 9/11) have done. Anyone who was alive then can tell you where he was at the moment he heard. Afterward, the nation descended into a black night of investigations, accusations, recriminations and conspiracy theories.

But at the time Swindal knew nothing of what was to come, and nothing of what the Kennedy assassination might signify. The idea that a lone crank could have, would have gunned down the photogenic young leader was not on anyone's mind; it seemed that such a terrible crime must have a great significance, and must be backed by a great power or some insidious plan.

There were several orders to start engines, then to stop them.

Finally the go call was made. Air Force One was given a clearance unique, perhaps, in history. "Air Force One take Northwest O-One left, cleared to Andrews Air Force Base by any route, any altitude."

So when Swindal and crew -- co-pilot Lt. Col. Lew Hanson, and flight engineer CMS Joe Chappelle, launched USAF VC-137C 62-6000 (26000 for short) that afternoon, they were prepared for trouble. They carried much more fuel than they needed, in case they arrived at a Washington under attack; they climbed high to be safe. Attack by whom? Safe from what? Well, who could say? But at 41,000 feet over the American interior, in the shelter of a Boeing jet and the hands of a hand- picked crew, the Presidents old and new were safe as could be from whatever it might be.

The crew had done something else to prepare the airplane for JFK's last flight. "[T]here was no place on Air Force One for a casket, and we sure didn't want to put it in the cargo hold," Swindal recalled for Florida Today in 2003. "But back there in the rear were seats for stewardesses, Secret Service and other passengers. So we unbolted those seats -- about four rows, I'm guessing, at least eight seats -- and made a space about the size of a couch. And there was enough room for people to walk around."

They also had to cut a rear bulkhead, the plane's engineer, Chief Master Sergeant Joe Chappelle, remembered in March, 1998. "We knew we would be bringing the president’s body back on 26000, but we didn’t want to put his casket in the cargo hold. He was the president. But it wouldn’t make the turn through the door of the aircraft. We had to remove a bulkhead near the rear so we could turn it. We also removed two rows of seats. That made an area for the casket to rest. I'll never forget Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson helping us load the casket. It was just a few minutes later he was sworn in as president onboard the aircraft."

When the Presidential bier was loaded aboard the jet, Col. Swindal left his preflight preparations to render his President -- his boss -- one last (or was it?) salute.

Swindal has been a VIP pilot at Andrews AFB for a long time when he was selected, after the 1960 elections, to fly the new President- Elect. Kennedy was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1961, and Swindal remained as his pilot. Swindal's qualifications included 11.500 hours, plus the aforementioned experience flying the great airlifts of the mid-20th Century, the Hump (Himalayas) airlift in the China-Burma-India theater, and the Berlin Airlift in the late forties. You might say his career had been shaped by the same events that shaped Kennedy's.
(The president was a PT boat skipper in the war, and always was interested in Berlin as a nexus of the Cold War it fell to him to fight).

At first, their mount was a VC-118, a Douglas DC-6 in military VIP trim, but the Air Force had already experimented with Boeing 707s as VIP aircraft. (One of those early 707s, a VC-137B that flew as SAM 970 when not hauling the President, is in Seattle's Museum of Flight today. It was actually the first jet to carry a President, Kennedy).

But a new era, the Space Age, deserved a new airplane, and in 1962 the Air Force One of the Kennedy and Johnson years was delivered.

Coded SAM (Special Air Mission) 26000 from its Air Force serial number, the plane was only called Air Force One when the President was aboard, but it was reserved for Presidential use, unlike the other planes in the Andrews AFB VIP fleet.

With a paint job created by industrial designer Raymond Loewy and fine-tuned by the aesthetically attuned First Lady, the plane became not just a time management and travel tool, but a flying advertisement for the United States. And James B. Swindal was at home in its left seat. He even told a Chicago Tribune reporter, five years ago, that he turned down chances to go back and enjoy lunch as a guest of the President and First Lady.

"The Kennedys invited me to join them for lunch a couple of times, but I couldn't ever do it. You fellows in the media would've had a field day if I were back there eating steak in the president's dining room and a near-miss occurred."

Kennedy would make sociable visits to the cockpit, but never stay long; a wartime injury left him in constant back pain, and a 707 cockpit doesn't offer room to stand up.

Together, Kennedy, Swindal and SAM 26000 made a number of historic flights. They flew to Berlin in June 1963, where Kennedy roused the spirits of the those in the suddenly walled-off city by declaring, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Language students who smirked at his Hahvahd accent and clunky grammar missed the point, but the people of free Berlin didn't. (Decades later, sister plane 27000 would carry another President to Berlin for another vital Cold War speech).

At Kennedy's funeral at Arlington Cemetery, SAM 26000 conducted an overflight at 1000 feet and dipped its wings in salute. By press time we were unable to determine if Swindal was in the pilot's seat for that mission -- but it sure sounds like something he'd have wanted to do (We know that the other pilot from the Dallas mission, then Lt. Col. Lew Hanson, was on the salute flight).

Afterwards, he flew LBJ several times, but LBJ preferred another pilot, James Cross, and LBJ had a very different style than the Kennedys had done. Swindal moved on to other duties, and retired in 1971 from a job flying a desk in support of Cape Canaveral, to nearby Cape Coral.

Swindal was born into a carpenter's family on August 18, 1917, in West Blocton, Alabama, a tiny village southwest of Birmingham and almost exactly centered in Alabama. He worked in a factory in Birmingham's signature iron industry until Pearl Harbor brought the war to America, and Swindal to the Army Air Corps and adventures in the thin air over the Himalayas and the tense corridors to Berlin.

Many military pilots fly for fun after retirement; Swindal didn't.

Indeed, he didn't even travel by plane, and only flew as a passenger once after retiring, to go to his brother's funeral in California. He didn't care for not being in charge, family members said. He is survived by his wife, the former Emily Glover; two children; two grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

We said that Swindal was the last significant survivor of that flight, and that's not entirely true. The airplane survives today, and can be seen at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. SAM 26000 is the crown jewel of a hangar dedicated to Presidential aircraft at the Museum. If you ride the shuttle to the Presidential hangar, you can still see where Swindal's crewmen cut the back bulkhead of 26000.

To Orwell Today,

Thanks Jackie for the reply and the post WHERE IS JFK'S BIBLE?

Another question that goes with this is "who were the captain and co-captain that flew the Air Force One into Dallas - proof positive". Are there any pictures of these pilots and were they the same pilots who flew out of Love Field?

You know how rumors are, never know till the truth arrives.

-Charles Dismore

Greetings Charles,

Yes, but when the truth arrives make sure to recognize and embrace it (similar to the old adage, "when opportunity knocks, open the door").

The pilot and co-pilot of Air Force One for that entire trip to Texas (and every other trip JFK took in Air Force One while president) were, indisputably, Colonel James Swindal in the left seat, and Lieutenant Colonel Lew Hanson in the right seat. I've written previously about that last flight in the articles LBJ SWORE ON JFK'S BIBLE & LBJ AIR FORCE 2 TO 1 & JFK COFFIN AIR FORCE ONE & LBJ'S FAMOUS PHOTO OP

Above is a picture of the cockpit and Swindal (who died three and a half years ago - in April 2006 - at age 88) holding a model of Air Force One. Below is "the real thing" landing (with Swindal behind the controls flying JFK):

The smoke coming from the tires (normal when breaking) reminds me of an anecdote told by Hugh Sidey in his 1964 book JOHN F KENNEDY, PRESIDENT where he describes flying on Air Force One with JFK from Washington, DC to Rhode Island. When they landed they had a blowout of the right tire and Swindal slowed it down so smoothly (to avoid too much pressure on the left tire) that JFK didn't realize there'd been a problem until after he'd disembarked - and saw all the fire engines and emergency vehicles rushing to assist.

But the most famous anecdotes about Swindal were that he arranged for JFK's coffin to be placed in the back of Air Force One by having several seats removed and bolting it to the floor.

Then he flew the body of JFK home to Washington from Dallas at the highest altitude and the fastest speed the plane had ever flown. And then, at the funeral three days later, Swindal flew Air Force One over Arlington Cemetary, dipping its wings above JFK's grave.

Swindal - like the president he flew - was an anti-communist, democracy-defending patriot. During WWII Swindal had flown risky missions helping India and Burma against Communist China. And after the war he'd gone to Germany's aid flying in food and supplies during the Soviet Blockade of Berlin.

Those were battles close to JFK's heart as, during his presidency, JFK stood up to Communist China and Russia as they again attempted communist take-overs in India and Germany. See ON JFK'S DEATH, CHINA & UN & INDIA, ORWELL, JFK & CHINA & JFK WARMS COLD WAR & JFK & KHRUSCHCHEV

Just five months before JFK died, Swindal had flown him in Air Force One to Germany where JFK stood up to the Communists in one of his greatest speeches ever, closing with the most famous line of all: ICH BIN EIN BERLINER

Swindal didn't fly Air Force One for long after JFK's death - in part because LBJ preferred a different pilot - and in part because Swindal preferred a different president.

I was amazed to recently discover that after JFK was assassinated, and Swindal was replaced as pilot, that Air Force One was used by subsequent presidents to travel to meetings in Communist China and Russia, and also, top-secretly, by Henry Kissinger (official and unofficial warmongering advisor to every president since JFK, see ZIONISM IN AMERICA) who used AF-1 as his own private plane to rendezvous with Communist Vietnamese in Europe setting up detente. Below are two explanatory pages from a 2008 Air Force universtiy research report on THE HISTORY OF AIR FORCE ONE (transcribed underneath in italics):

In the Summer of 1959, Special Air Missions (SAM) accepted the delivery of three identical Boeing 707 (VC-137A) Intercontinental aircraft. Ike used these aircraft interchangeably while maintaining Columbine III as his presidential aircraft. In December 1959, Ike used the new VC-137A on his 11 nation tour to Europe and Russia but it was during the Presidential years of J.F.K. that presidential travel officially entered the jet age.

In 1962, SAM took delivery of a Boeing 707 (VC-137C), aircraft tail number 26000 piloted by Colonel Jim B. Swindal. It was delivered with a striking new exterior designed by Raymond Lowey. This new paint scheme captured a strong tasteful sense of national purpose and the American Presidency. In June 1963, Kennedy used this aircraft on his historic trip to West Berlin where U.S.-German relations were strengthened and strong support of German democracy was established.

On the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy flew to Dallas, Texas to mend political fences where he was fatally shot. After a short period, his body was put aboard the presidential aircraft as it was flown back to Washington. The new President, Lyndon Johnson elected to take the oath of office aboard Air Force One.

Col. James B. Swindal (Air Force One pilot flew slain JFK home). New York Times, May 7, 2006 (...Col. Swindal was monitoring the Secret Service frequency from his cockpit while Kennedy rode in a downtown motorcade. At 12:30 p.m., he heard the voice of a Secret Service agent, Roy Kellerman, from Kennedy's limousine: "Lancer is hurt. It looks bad. We have to get to a hospital." Lancer was Kennedy's Secret Service code name. Soon afterward, the Secret Service communications gear on Air Force One went dead. Col. Swindal, who relived those moments in "The Death of a President" by William Manchester, received a phone call from the Kennedy entourage telling him to fuel his plane for a return to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. But he was given no explanation. Only by watching the plane's television sets did he learn that Kennedy had been shot....)

And more...

Reserved, patriotic and seeing it as his devout duty, he flew presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson as Air Force One's aircraft commander.

But he probably wouldn't have told you that or that he flew missions between China and Burma during World War II.

The Cocoa Beach resident probably would've told you that he was happily married to his high school sweetheart, Emily Swindal, for 70 years and that he's proud of his family.

Retired Air Force Colonel James B. Swindal died Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Hospital. He was 88.

"Jim Swindal will always be a hero to me," said Cecil Stoughton of Merritt Island, who served as an in-house White House photographer. "He was soft-spoken and self-effacing."

Swindal was born August 18, 1917, in West Blocton, Alabama, the son of the late Samuel and Miranda Swindal.

He worked as a crane operator at a cast iron pipe shop in Birmingham, Alabama, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which prompted him to enlist in the Army in 1942, said his 68-year-old son, James Swindal. He was selected as a flying cadet in the Air Corps.

Years later, Swindal served during Kennedy's administration, including on November 22, 1963, when the president was assassinated. Kennedy had appointed Swindal to colonel a year earlier.

"The day of the assassination was one of the closest I got to Jim, when the president passed away," said Stoughton, who did not have a designated seat on the plane that day.

"Jim said, 'If all the seats are taken you could ride up here with us,' " Stoughton recalled. "Obviously, he was a take-charge guy. He knew that my job was important, as was his."

Swindal considered the flight from Dallas to Washington, D.C., after Kennedy was assassinated, his most difficult. Room was cleared in the back of the Boeing 707 to return Kennedy home in a coffin.

Swindal also served during part of the Johnson administration. Swindal had impressed the Texan by landing a Boeing 707 on a grass strip on a ranch, his grandson, Jonathan, recalled.

After Swindal retired, he refused to fly, opting to drive with his wife across the country in a Cadillac, in the sunshine, visiting military bases and golf courses, said one of his grandsons, 33-year-old Jonathan Swindal.

"After he stopped flying Air Force One, he would not fly on an airplane, because if he's not in charge, he didn't want anything to do with it," Jonathan Swindal said.

He is survived by his wife; daughter, Kathryn Swindal of Leesburg, Virginia; son, James L. Swindal of East Hampton, Connecticut; grandsons J. Christian Swindal and Jonathan Swindal, both of Connecticut; and great-grandson, Mason Swindal of Connecticut.

Calling hours for James B. Swindal will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at Beckman-Williamson Funeral Home in Cocoa Beach.

No date has been announced for services and interment, but they will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colonel James Swindal; Piloted Air Force One After Kennedy's Death
By Adam Bernstein
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Retired Air Force Colonel James B. Swindal, 88, who commanded Air Force One for John F. Kennedy and flew the body of the slain president to Washington from Dallas in 1963, died April 25, 2006, at Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He had complications from a broken hip.

Colonel Swindal, a soft-spoken Alabamian with matinee-idol looks, was a veteran of World War II and the postwar Berlin Airlift. He had 11,500 flying hours to his credit, including a long stint flying dignitaries from National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base. He became President-elect Kennedy's personal pilot in 1960.

At first, he flew a DC-6 for Kennedy, but Boeing unveiled a tailor-made jetliner for the jet-setting president in late 1962. On that special-order Boeing 707 -- the first jet-powered craft used for presidential transport -- Col. Swindal took Kennedy to Love Field in Dallas from Fort Worth on Nov. 22, 1963.

From a portable radio inside the cockpit, he first heard the account of the president's assassination.

"We were sort of in a bind, because there was no place on Air Force One for a casket, and we sure didn't want to put it in the cargo hold," Col. Swindal told the newspaper Florida Today in 2003.

"But back there in the rear were seats for stewardesses, Secret Service and other passengers. So we unbolted those seats -- about four rows, I'm guessing, at least eight seats -- and made a space about the size of a couch. And there was enough room for people to walk around," he said.

After rushing to ready the plane for its trip to Washington, he said he left the cockpit to salute the coffin upon its arrival from Dallas's Parkland Memorial Hospital.

By early afternoon, the plane was off the ground, loaded to the limit with fuel to stay aloft as long as possible in case the killing was part of a Soviet attack. As an additional precaution, Col. Swindal took the plane to a cruising altitude of 41,000 feet, much higher than usual.

Moments before the two-hour, 18-minute flight, U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes had administered the presidential oath to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. His wife, Lady Bird, and the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy were at Johnson's side.

Colonel Swindal flew briefly for Johnson and retired from active duty in 1971 from a managerial position at Patrick Air Force Base, the controlling center for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

James Barney Swindal, a carpenter's son, was born August 18, 1917, in West Blocton, Alabama. He was a crane operator at a cast iron pipe shop in Birmingham before enlisting in the Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Assigned to the Army Air Forces, he ferried men and supplies over the Himalayas in the China-Burma-India theater. In the late 1940s, while stationed at Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt, Germany, he participated in the Berlin Airlift that brought supplies to Berliners during a communist blockade of that city.

On Air Force One, he flew Kennedy to West Berlin in June 1963 to give the "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in support of democracy.

In interviews, Col. Swindal said he shared "small talk" with Kennedy, who rarely stayed long in the small cockpit because he wore a back brace.

"The Kennedys invited me to join them for lunch a couple of times, but I couldn't ever do it," Colonel Swindal told the Chicago Tribune in 2001. "You fellows in the media would've had a field day if I were back there eating steak in the president's dining room and a near-miss occurred."

In retirement, Colonel Swindal settled in Cocoa Beach and only went on an aircraft once more -- when his brother died in California. Otherwise, he had an aversion to flying that his family attributed to a distaste for not being in charge.

Survivors include his wife of 70 years, Emily Glover Swindal, who is at a nursing home in Merritt Island, Fla.; two children, Kathryn Swindal of Leesburg and James L. Swindal of East Hampton, Connecticut; two grandsons; and a great-grandson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emily Mae Glover Swindal passed away Saturday, May 17, 2008 in Leesburg, Virginia. She was predeceased by her husband of seventy years, Colonel James B. Swindal, United States Air Force, retired.
She was born in Jefferson County, Alabama, on August 10, 1919, the youngest of 13 children of the late James and Sarah Glover. She began her career as a military wife and mother in 1942 when her husband enlisted after Pearl Harbor. She cared for her family during tours of duty from San Antonio Texas, to Germany, Spain and stateside until retiring in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in 1972.

She always took great pride in the fact that her husband flew AIR FORCE ONE for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Her family would like everyone to know that during her wonderful life, she made every house a home and filled our lives with love and endless joy. She is terribly missed, but I know she is glad to finally be with J.B.

She is survived by a son James of East Hampton Connecticut, a daughter Kathryn of Leesburg, Virginia, two grandsons, J. Christian Swindal of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Jonathan Swindal of East Hampton, Connecticut, and a great grandson, Mason Swindal of East Hampton, Connecticut.

Interment Arlington National Cemetery on 9 July 2008 at 3:00 pm.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWINDAL, JAMES B
COL US AIR FORCE
WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/19/1917
DATE OF DEATH: 04/25/2006
BURIED AT: SECTION 66 SITE 7365
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
SWINDAL, EMILY MAE
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/10/1919
DATE OF DEATH: 05/17/2008
BURIED AT: SECTION 66 SITE 7365
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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Improving Education-Empowering Students

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:50:00 +0000

MIT OpenCourseWare Teams Up with OpenStudy to Help OCW Users Connect and Study Together Thousands of OCW visitors interact on pilot OCW OpenStudy groups; program expanded.
CAMBRIDGE, MA, September 20, 2010 -- MIT OpenCourseWare and OpenStudy are are teaming up to help OCW users connect and study together. MIT has been publishing the core academic materials—including syllabi, lecture notes, assignments and exams—from the Institute's courses since 2002, but since inception, the site has been a static presentation of MIT materials with no opportunity to interact with the MIT community or other users of the site.

Starting last month, however, a pilot of OpenStudy groups in association with three OCW courses has attracted thousands of OCW visitors. OpenStudy groups support real-time interaction between students and independent learners from around the world. OpenStudy members can answer one another's questions, work collaboratively on problem sets and connect with learners who share interests. The study groups are sponsored by MIT OpenCourseWare and OpenStudy, but are not moderated or facilitated directly by either organization.

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Improving Schools-Virtual Instruction

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:44:00 +0000

FORTUNE -- Sal Khan, you can count Bill Gates as your newest fan. Gates is a voracious consumer of online education. This past spring a colleague at his small think tank, bgC3, e-mailed him about the nonprofit khanacademy.org, a vast digital trove of free mini-lectures all narrated by Khan, an ebullient, articulate Harvard MBA and former hedge fund manager. Gates replied within minutes. "This guy is amazing," he wrote. "It is awesome how much he has done with very little in the way of resources."

Gates and his 11-year-old son, Rory, began soaking up videos, from algebra to biology. Then, several weeks ago, at the Aspen Ideas Festival in front of 2,000 people, Gates gave the 33-year-old Khan a shout-out that any entrepreneur would kill for. Ruminating on what he called the "mind-blowing misallocation" of resources away from education, Gates touted the "unbelievable" 10- to 15-minute Khan Academy tutorials "I've been using with my kids." With admiration and surprise, the world's second-richest person noted that Khan "was a hedge fund guy making lots of money." Now, Gates said, "I'd say we've moved about 160 IQ points from the hedge fund category to the teaching-many-people-in-a-leveraged-way category. It was a good day his wife let him quit his job." Khan wasn't even there -- he learned of Gates' praise through a YouTube video. "It was really cool," Khan says.

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I miss my dad! He died from Cancer.

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:06:00 +0000

I never would have dreamed that would be his last visit home. He was in bad shape. He could barely raise his eyes to look at me when I walked in. But he greeted me as always with "hey Rod". God, I would love to hear that again. He couldn't move his legs and his speech was slurred. He very much resembled a zombie. I had driven six hours, going as fast as I could because I could detect the urgency in my aunt's voice when she said, "Rod, you better come get him. He isn't doing good". Once I saw him I had to agree, he wasn't doing good.

My grandmother did her best to put on a good front and tried to be strong. She offered my some food to eat. Once finished, me and other family members loaded my dad into the car. I then realized that I heard wailing coming from inside the house. It was my grandmother. She knew she would never see him alive again. As long as I live I will never forget that sound. It haunts me until today. What a terrible curse, as to live so long to see your children die. God, please never let me go through that.

I began my return trip constantly checking on my dad. He seemed to gradually get worse as the drive went on. I kept asking him questions that I knew he knew the answer to, just to gauge how with it he was. He slept (or was unconscious) for most of the trip. He did awaken just an hour before we arrived back at my house because he had to pee. I had to help him pee into a jug as he sat in the car. I know, in his right mind, it would have humiliated my father for me to have to help him, but hey you do what you gotta do.

Once we arrived home, Lisa assisted me with getting him out of the car and into the bed provided by Hospice. By the way, Hospice was great and made everything so much easier for me and my family. He slept in our den for the next week and a half while I laid close by on the couch watching him and assisting him as needed.

Hospice visited us daily and took care of his personal needs and did put in a catheter much to his displeasure. However, there was a day that I will never forget and truly was the beginning of the end. Lisa and I had to change his sheets one morning as the kids were preparing for school. So we assisted my dad into a wheelchair as we began to change the sheets. I glanced over at him and noticed that he had thrown his head back and was starting to have a seizure. WHAT THE HELL...my dad has never had a seizure. I rushed to him and pulled him out of the wheelchair and laid him in the floor and on his side as he convulsed. Lisa called 911 because he was struggling to breath. The seizure only lasted a minute or two but it truly seemed like an eternity to me. It is then I realized that I was going to lose my dad. The paramedics arrived but really couldn't do anything because he was under the care of Hospice and had they taken to the hospital, hospice care would have ended. They helped get him back into the bed and that was the last time my dad ever left his bed. I completely broke down in front of my wife, kids, God and everybody. I couldn't help it. I was losing my best friend and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. This was the worst moment of my life.

Hospice came over quickly and began to tell us that he was starting to decline and explained the steps that he was going to go through (every step was right on). I was frightened, scared to death. They provided us a 24 hour nurse and began to make my dad as comfortable as possible. We knew he was going to die, we just didn't know when. A steady parade of my dad's friends and workers came to visit and sit with him. This helped Lisa and I to get some rest, make final preparations, and have some peace of mind.

A week later my dad passed away at the age of 70. He had crammed two life times into those 70 years and left a trail of memories for me to kling to. I have never loved anyone quite like I loved him. Of course I love my wife and family members, but my love for him was different. This was my life long friend, my golfing partner, my fishing partner, my teacher, my everything. I just kept thinking how am I supposed to go on without him. It has been a year now and I still haven't moved on. My life is a wreck. I am on medicine for depression. I can't focus on work or basically anything. I have a huge hole in my heart that I am trying to mend, but life just hasn't allowed me the time that I need yet. I wish it would.

I miss my dad yall. I really miss him. I would love to hear him say "hey Rod" one more time...just once. God, please help me to heal and move on before I end up destroying what life I have. I have people that depend on me and I can't let them down. I love them all. I wish I could remove the pain from my grandmother's heart too. She is suffering in silence and has lost so many loved ones. It hurts me to know that she has to live and endure a broken heart.

My dad died of brain and lung cancer. He only lived four months from the time he was diagnosed. I was able to spend quite a bit of time with him during those four months, but it wasn't enough. Treasure your loved ones and talk with them. Record memories, write down stuff, take pictures and videos. You will miss them one day just as I miss my dad.

How to Crack a "Master Lock" Combination Lock

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +0000

How to Crack a "Master Lock" Combination Lock
If you’ve forgotten the combination to a Master Lock combination lock, you have a few options. If the lock isn’t locked onto anything, you can make a photocopy of the serial number and send that to Master Lock for the combination. If, however, your lock is attached to something, you can break the lock, call a locksmith, use a shim, or figure out the combination. Of these options, only the last two will leave you with a usable lock without emptying your wallet. Unfortunately, there are 64,000 possible combinations on a standard 40 digit Master Lock. With this method, however, you can quickly narrow that down to 80 combinations, a workable number to try if you’ve got the time and the inclination to give it a shot.

Look for the Master Lock brand. This method only works with Master Lock combination locks, and may not work with all of them. It is rumored that Master Lock changed the combination algorithm on some of the newer locks, in particular those with serial numbers starting with the number 800. Some people, however, have reportedly had success cracking these with this method, too, so it may be worth a try. Check the discussion page for this article to check which serial numbers others have had success with.

Turn the lock’s dial clockwise to zero. It is a good idea to turn it at least three rotations first, just to make sure it’s clear. Apply steady tension to the shackle and turn the dial clockwise. The shackle is the u-shaped part of the lock that goes around whatever you’re locking. To apply tension you can either pull the shackle up while holding the lock, or you can pull the lock down if the shackle is locked onto something solid. Turn the dial slowly as you apply tension. If you can’t turn the dial at all, release the shackle and turn the dial clockwise just a number or two and then try it again. Find the first sticking point.

As you turn the dial clockwise with tension on the shackle, you will come to a point where you can’t turn the dial anymore. Make note of where it stops. Sometimes it will stick right on the numbers, but sometimes it will be between the numbers. If so, record the number to the half (e.g. 22.5, 7.5, etc.). While continuing to apply tension to the shackle, turn the dial as far left (counter-clockwise) as you can. Make note of where it stops. Now you have a sticking "range." (Note: Some 800XXX locks have a two number range [e.g. 28-30], this sticking point is the last digit of your lock.)

Determine the sticking point by finding the number that's in the midpoint of the sticking range. A range of 4 and 5 would have a sticking point of 4.5. A range of 22.5 and 23.5 would have a sticking point of 23.
Release shackle tension and turn the dial slightly past the sticking point. Turn the dial clockwise about one number from the sticking point in order to allow you to "escape" that sticking point. Reapply tension to the shackle and continue turning the dial clockwise to find all the sticking points. You should find a total of twelve sticking points in one complete turn of the dial. Write them down. Find the third number of the combination.

Look at your list of sticking points and eliminate all those which are not whole numbers (i.e. cross off any number that ends in .5). You should eliminate 7 of the 12numbers with this step. Of the remaining sticking points, choose the one with the unique digit in the "ones" position. Four of the remaining five numbers will share the same number in the "ones" place, so for example, if the numbers left on the list are 4, 14, 24, 27, and 34, the number 27 is the only one which does not have a four in the "ones" place. This is the third number of the combination.

Find the magic number. Divide the third number of the combination (27 in this case) by four and write down the remainder. In this case 27/4 = 6 remainder 3. Remember we are only concerned with the remainder, which will always be 0, 1, 2, or 3. Write down the magic number (3 in this example). Find the possible first numbers of the combination. Add 4 to the magic number (3). Write down the result (7). Now add 4 to that and continue adding 4 to each resulting sum until you have gone completely around the dial once. Write down each of these numbers. Thus, for the example above the numbers would be 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, and 39. One of these numbers is the first number of the combination. (NOTE: For some 800XXX locks this will be the second number of the combination. The next set of numbers will be used as the first)

Find the possible second numbers in the combination. If your magic number is 0 or 1 then add 2 to it, otherwise subtract 2. Since our example magic number is 3, we subtract 2 and get 1. Write down the answer and add 4 to it. Now add 4 to each resulting sum until you have gone completely around the dial once. Thus, in the example, the numbers would be 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, and 37. One of these numbers is the second number in the combination. Cross out the numbers (the possible 2ND numbers) Plus or Minus 2 [25 & 29] from the third number of the combination[27].

Figure out the correct combination by trial and error. You now know all the possible first numbers [3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39], all the possible second numbers [1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 33, 37], and the third number [27]. You’ve just narrowed down 64,000 combinations to only 80. Now try each combination until you find the correct one. If you’re lucky, you may need to try only a few but then again, you may need to try all 80.

After cracking just one lock, the system becomes much easier to understand, so hang in there. If you’re in a hurry, you don’t need to calculate the possible first and second numbers yourself. Once you’ve figured out the third number, you can save time by using a special computer application to determine all the possible combinations. See the External Links section below.

Though not necessary, you may find it helpful to write out the combinations methodically so you don’t forget which ones you’ve already tried in the middle of the next step. Thus, you could make a chart with all the combinations (3-1-27, 3-5-27, 3-9-27, etc.)

This will work only if you get the 12 numbers: 7 decimals, 4 integers with mutual "ones places" and 1 integer with a unique digit in the ones place.
Only consider proceeding with this method if you enjoy a challenge. Otherwise, cutting off the lock and buying a new one makes more sense.

If your lock has a keyway on the back, you can also drill a small hole next to it so that you can view the tumblers. After you align the tumblers, and determine the unlock code, you can seal the hole with a two-part epoxy. Some times the sticking points for finding the 3rd number are not exactly on top of a number or between two numbers.

In this case:
1. turn clockwise (right) the first of the 12 sticking points from 0
2. continue to turn clockwise to the opposite side of the dial
3. turn counterclockwise (left) back to the first sticking point from 0
4. pull up on the lock and turn the dial left and right in the small sticking area and right down the exact range. (e.g. 2.75-3.5)
5. repeat this 4 more times for the numbers 10 more from eachother. (e.g. 3, 13, 23, 33)
6. now do steps 1-5 for the second sticking point past zero
7. do the steps again for the third point past zero.
Each set of numbers will all have the same range. For example, one group may be .0 to .0, another .25 to .75 and the last .5 to .25 on either side of the sticking points.

The third number of the combination is the one that doesn't fit within it's group.On my lock, it was also the one that had the most play in the range (5.25-6.75, 15.5-16.25, 25.5-26.25, 35.5-36.25). So my third number was the 6. If you notice, those 4 ranges are all for numbers with 6 in the ones place, had I followed the directions above, I may have ended up trying for a different number! Steps 1-4 aren't required but it seemed to give me some better results. Some numbers seemed to slide one way or the other by .25 if I didn't do steps 1-4 for every sticking point.

Do not use this technique to crack someone else's lock without permission of the owner. If you do that, you are breaking the law and could be prosecuted accordingly.
When finding the sticking numbers, be very precise. Otherwise you won't get the correct numbers.

Texting and Driving

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:31:00 +0000

This is a must see for all teenagers. To be honest, it is a must see for all of us and doesn't just have to be texting (it could be anything that diverts our attention from the road). Brace yourself...

Tea Party Commercial-Alabama

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:58:00 +0000

This resulted from a Mom in Alabama asking her high school son to help with a commercial for the Tea Party she was involved in organizing. Boy, does it slam the message home. Very impressive. Here is her note: "I asked Justin if he could help me make a commercial for my group's Tea Party. He sat down at the laptop for about an hour, and then brought this to me and asked, 'is this okay, Mom?' After I finished watching it, my stomach was in my throat. Everyone that I have sent it to has really enjoyed it, so I wanted my friends to see it. I am so proud!"

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/15523565/1322781786/name/TeaPartyCommercial.wmv

Pizza Goes Green

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:46:00 +0000

The next time you order a pie for yourself and those near and dear to you, don't just toss the box aside. With a few quick steps, you can transform it into four serving plates and a container for your leftovers.

The video below shows the patented "green box" in action, a pizza box specially designed to break down along perforations to give way to cardboard plates and a convenient storage container for the remaining slices. Obviously you can already do the same yourself without too much extra effort, so feel free to apply the idea to your un-perforated pizza boxes. The innovation seems like a handy and environmentally sound way to ditch the paper plates.

http://lifehacker.com/5325819/turn-a-pizza-box-into-serving-plates-and-a-leftovers-container

Free Music For Ring Tones

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Free Music For Ring Tones
Ripping, Burning, and Capturing Tips

Have you ever ruined your favorite CD (scratches, cracks, spilled something on it). Wouldn't it have been nice to have a backup? This lens will provide specific steps for how to backup your own music collection, burn new copies of the CD, create your cell phone’s ring tones from your favorite songs and even how to capture your favorite songs from the internet. This can all be done for free and is not in any way a scam or will lead you into downloading some virus filled software program (please avoid ALL music sharing websites--they are illegal and full of viruses).
Let me also say that I do not condone or advocate music piracy and would never encourage anyone to get involved in that.

Save the songs on your music CD to your computer (Ripping Music)
How to rip a CD to your computer (Windows)
1. Insert your music CD into your computer
2. Open your Window's Media Player

Note:
Your Window's Media Player may open automatically.

3. Open your My Documents folder
4. Open your My Music folder
5. With the My Music folder open, click File>New and click Folder
6. Type the name of the folder (I name the folder the name of the CD and artist)
7. Return to the Window's Media Player and hover over the Rip tab
8. A down arrow will appear. Click the down arrow and click More Options
9. Make sure the Rip Music tab is selected
10. Click the Change button
11. Expand the My Documents folder
12. Expand the My Music folder
13. Click the name of the folder you created in step 6 above
14. Click the Ok button
15. Click the Ok button on Window's Media Player Options window
16. Click the Rip tab
17. Click the down arrow and click Rip "Album Name"
18. The Rip status of each song will be displayed
19. Once finished, I recommend adding the CD to your Window's Media Player Playlist
20. Eject the CD and store it for safe keeping. I recommend burning a copy of the music saved on your computer to a new CD (who cares if it gets scratched, you still have the original and the music saved to your computer)

Making a Window's Media Player Playlist
Organizing your songs on the computer
1. After ripping your CD, with the Window's Media Player open, click the Library tab
2. Click the down arrow under Library and click Create Playlist
3. Enter the name of your Playlist (I recommend the name of the CD and artist and push the Enter key on your keyboard
4. On the left navigation window, beneath the Library heading, click Recently Added
5. The songs on the album will be displayed. Click the first song and hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and then click the last song
6. All of the songs will be highlighted. Place your cursor on the highlighted songs and click and hold down the left mouse button and drag the songs to the right, beneath the title of your playlist 7. Once moved, let the left mouse button up
8. Click the Save Playlist button at the bottom of the pane
9. The playlist is now saved in your Window's Media Player

Burning a CD with your Ripped Music
Put music saved on your computer on a CD
1. With the Window's Media Player open, click the Burn tab
2. On the left navigation window, beneath the Library heading, click Recently Added
3. The songs on the album will be displayed. Click the first song and hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and then click the last song
4. All of the songs will be highlighted. Place your cursor on the highlighted songs and click and hold down the left mouse button and drag the songs to the right, into the burn list
5. Once moved, let the left mouse button up
6. Click the Start Burn button at the bottom of the pane
7. Once finished, the CD can be ejected and then played in any CD player

Capturing Music from the internet for free
Make your music into a ring tone

Are you fed up with paying high prices for ring tones for you cell phone? Can't find the songs you want?

I have a solution for you that is so easy, you won't believe it!

For the entrepreneurial types, this may even provide an opportunity to make money, legitimately.

I have developed a product that will walk you through the process of capturing the song or video you want (any song or video on the internet), manipulating the file the way you want it, and then uploading it to become a ring tone. Did I mention that you can do this for FREE!

You will feel like a computer guru just knowing how to do this. You will have the power. The only expense you will ever incur is the cost of this product. I debated for a long time on just what to charge for this. After consulting with my wife and children, we decided on very affordable price...I still think it is too cheap.

Keep in mind...YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO PAY FOR ANOTHER RING TONE!!!! What is that worth to you?

There are no viruses here, no gimmicks, no complex programs to learn...YOU CAN DO THIS and it works beautifully.

Check it out. Get it now and impress your friends and family members. Hey, you might even put a little money in your pocket.

Learn to capture music for free and convert your music into ring tones.

This is a link to my website, where if you are interested, you can purchase this very affordable product and potential business opportunity.

Note:
This is an .exe file. It is completely virus free. I just didn't want to alarm you :)

The Best Career Advice, in Ten Words or Less

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:09:00 +0000

The Best Career Advice, in Ten Words or Less

From TheSimpleDollar.com

1. Attending extra training opportunities and taking part in pilot projects.
2. Work to live, don’t live to work
3. Work for yourself.
4. Make eye contact with everyone, and smile.
5. No matter what you do, be prepared to work. Hard.
6. Whether you realize it or not, you’re self-employed.
7. I only need to work hard.
8. Jobs are targeted expressions of our current passion or responsibility.
9. Pursue only what you really love — you’ll be more fulfilled.
10. Diversify income; never rely on one source that could disappear.
11. Show enthusiasm for learning because no career is stagnant.
12. Don’t just chase the money. Find something you love.
13. Trust your gut, and find a mentor.
14. Stay out of collections, and your boss’ wife.
15. Never be afraid to take a risk occasionally!
16. Reputation is everything.
17. Stop whining and do your freaking job.
18. Take time to live life before deciding upon a career.
19. Pick your battles carefully.
20. Get to know people in your desired industry.
21. Find another concept to be the recipient of your allegiance.
22. Let love lead you and never fear the unknown or perceived threat(s)
23. Your work is not just about what you know, it’s about who you know.
24. Stick with your own experience.
25. Find your niche, become an expert, then diversify your strengths.
26. You may be underpaid now, but someday you’ll be overpaid.
27. If it feels wrong it probably is - move on.
28. Develop yourself as your own best career asset.
29. Take an acting class, HUGE for public speaking/presentation skills.
30. Get to know everyone and tell them what you want.
31. Don’t do anything you’d be ashamed to tell mom about.
32. Keep a work diary: what you did/what you liked
33. Don’t be afraid of change.
34. Dress to impress or for success.
35. Follow your heart. Work hard. Success will come.
36. Presence does not equal productivity. Stay on task, work efficiently.
37. Don’t follow the common script; define ‘career’ and ’success’ yourself.
38. Treat every day like it’s your first day at work.
39. Say what you will do, do what you said, then prove it.
40. What would you do for free? Find a career there.
41. Be nice to everyone, even if you have to fake it.
42. Not Tomorrow or the next day, BUT Right NOW!
43. If you work in an office: DO NOT wear t-shirts, faded, ripped jeans or flip-flops.
44. Do what you love and you’ll never hate your job.
45. Watch what you say, compose yourself and be overwhelming honest.
46. Career and spending habits should be in sync.
47. It’s not how many resumes you send out, it’s how many hands you shake.
48. Know what your strengths are and focus on them.
49. Your signature is your integrity. Never sign any false statements.
50. Be careful what you read.

Could It Be? Just don't open it!

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:44:00 +0000

Friday (June 26, 2009) we should all hear the outcome of the finding.

A Lead on the Ark of the Covenant
By David Van Biema
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

When last we saw the lost Ark of the Covenant in action, it had been dug up by Indiana Jones in Egypt and ark-napped by Nazis, whom the Ark proceeded to incinerate amidst a tempest of terrifying apparitions. But according to Tudor Parfitt, a real-life scholar-adventurer, Raiders of the Lost Ark had it wrong, and the Ark is actually nowhere near Egypt. In fact, Parfitt claims he has traced it (or a replacement container for the original Ark), to a dusty bottom shelf in a museum in Harare, Zimbabwe.

As Indiana Jones's creators understood, the Ark is one of the Bible's holiest objects, and also one of its most maddening McGuffins. A wooden box, roughly 4 ft. x 2 ft. x 2.5 ft., perhaps gold-plated and carried on poles inserted into rings, it appears in the Good Book variously as the container for the Ten Commandments (Exodus 25:16: "and thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee"); the very locus of God's earthly presence; and as a divine flamethrower that burns obstacles and also crisps some careless Israelites. It is too holy to be placed on the ground or touched by any but the elect. It circles Jericho behind the trumpets to bring the walls tumbling down. The Bible last places the Ark in Solomon's temple, which Babylonians destroyed in 586 BC. Scholars debate its current locale (if any): under the Sphinx? Beneath Jerusalem's Temple Mount (or, to Muslims, the Noble Sanctuary)? In France? Near London's Temple tube station?

Parfitt, 63, is a professor at the University of London's prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies. His new book, The Lost Ark of the Covenant: Solving the 2,500 Year Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark (HarperOne) along with a History Channel special scheduled for March 2 would appear to risk a fine academic reputation on what might be called a shaggy Ark story. But the professor has been right before, and his Ark fixation stems from his greatest coup. In the 1980s Parfitt lived with a Southern African clan called the Lemba, who claimed to be a lost tribe of Israel. Colleagues laughed at him for backing the claim; in 1999, a genetic marker specific to descendents of Judaism's Temple priests (cohens) was found to appear as frequently among the Lemba's priestly cast as in Jews named Cohen. The Lemba — and Parfitt — made global news.

Parfitt started wondering about another aspect of the Lemba's now-credible oral history: a drumlike object called the ngoma lungundu. The ngoma, according to the Lemba, was near-divine, used to store ritual objects, and borne on poles inserted into rings. It was too holy to touch the ground or to be touched by non-priests, and it emitted a "Fire of God" that killed enemies and, occasionally, Lemba. A Lemba elder told Parfitt, "[It] came from the temple in Jerusalem. We carried it down here through Africa."

That story, by Parfitt's estimation, is partly true, partly not. He is not at all sure, and has no way of really knowing, whether the Lemba's ancestors left Jerusalem simultaneously with the Ark (assuming, of course, that it left at all). However, he has a theory as to where they might eventually have converged. Lemba myth venerates a city called Senna. In modern-day Yemen, in an area with people genetically linked to the Lemba, Parfitt found a ghost town by that name. It's possible that the Lemba could have migrated there from Jerusalem by a spice route — and from Senna, via a nearby port, they could have launched the long sail down the African coast. As for the Ark? Before Islam, Arabia contained many Jewish-controlled oases, and in the 500s AD, the period's only Jewish kingdom. It abutted Senna. In any case, the area might have beckoned to exiled Jews bearing a special burden. Parfitt also found eighth-century accounts of the Ark in Arabia, by Jews-turned-Muslims. He posits that at some undefined point the Lemba became the caretakers of the Ark, or the ngoma.

Parfitt's final hunt for the ngoma, which dropped from sight in the 1940s, landed him in sometimes-hostile territory ("Bullets shattered the rear screen," of his car, he writes). Ark leads had guided him to Egypt, Ethiopia and even New Guinea, until one day last fall his clues led him to a storeroom of the Harare Museum of Human Science in Zimbabwe. There, amidst nesting mice, was an old drum with an uncharacteristic burnt-black bottom hole ("As if it had been used like a cannon," Parfitt notes), the remains of carrying rings on its corners; and a raised relief of crossed reeds that Parfitt thinks reflects an Old Testament detail. "I felt a shiver go down my spine," he writes.

Parfitt thinks that whatever the supernatural character of Ark, it was, like the ngoma, a combination of reliquary, drum and primitive weapon, fueled with a somewhat unpredictable proto-gunpowder. That would explain the unintentional conflagrations. The drum element is the biggest stretch, since scripture never straightforwardly describes the Ark that way. He bases his supposition on the Ark's frequent association with trumpets, and on aspects of a Bible passage where King David dances in its presence. Parfitt admits that such a multipurpose object would be "very bizarre" in either culture, but insists, "that's an argument for a connection between them."

So, had he found the Ark? Yes and no, he concluded. A splinter has carbon-dated the drum to 1350 AD — ancient for an African wood artifact, but 2,500 years after Moses. Undaunted, Parfitt asserts that "this is the Ark referred to in Lemba tradition" — Lemba legend has it that the original ngoma destroyed itself some 400 years ago and had to be rebuilt on its own "ruins" — "constructed by priests to replace the previous Ark. There can be little doubt that what I found is the last thing on earth in direct descent from the Ark of Moses."

Well, perhaps a little doubt. "It seems highly unlikely to me," says Shimon Gibson, a noted biblical archaeologist to whom Parfitt has described his project. "You have to make tremendous leaps." Those who hope to find the original biblical item, moreover, will likely reject Parfitt's claim that the best we can do is an understudy. Animating all searches for the Ark is the hope — and fear — that it will retain the unbridled divine power the Old Testament describes. What would such a wonder look like in our postmodern world? What might it do? Parfitt's passionately crafted new theory, like his first, could eventually be proven right. But if so, unlike the fiction in the movies, it would deny us an explosive resolution.

Encapsulated Mobile Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Here is a recent article about the use of Cellphones being used for education in India. I wonder what impact that would have were the U.S. to adopt this method of education as an additional course offering. Encapsulated learning on a variety of high-interest courses delivered to a student's cell phones. Check it out...i think it is an interesting concept.

View Article

Obama and Odinga

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:28:00 +0000

You tube video of Barack Obama in Kenya supporting Raila Odinga, the election and violence afterwards.

Obama's Birth Certificate

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:24:00 +0000

In “October Surprise”, Molotov Mitchell interviews the plaintiff in a stunning federal case against Barack Obama. The case is nothing short of electrifying, but the mainstream media is doing its best to keep Americans in the dark. Let’s get the word out! Pass this video on to everyone you know.

If Obama’s innocent, then why isn’t he cooperating with the court?

This episode is brought to you by:

www.nohussein.org
www.obamacrimes.com

Overcoming hurdles

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:58:00 +0000

I think that one of the issues with the use of cell phones in the classroom is that many students will have different cell phone pay plans (many of which the parents are paying for). There are other issues but in effort not to be long winded, here is my plan for making accomodations. 1) Rather than buying class sets of books, order the DVD only and spend the extra money allocated for books on class sets (30 or so) of cell phones, with packages including texting and internet usage. 2) With a class set of phones the teacher is in charge of the phones and their usage. Student's personal cell phones will not be allowed in the building.
Yes, I know that is a radical concept but it does overcome some issues with the use of cell phones in the classroom.

Training Students to be Jeopardy contestants

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:33:00 +0000

I was recently helping one of my children study for a history test. While reviewing questions and answers with her it became quite evident that the items being studied were very trivial. The topic was the Revolutionary War. There were many great teaching points that could have been brought out in this series of lessons but yet the subject matter being tested didn't challenge her to examine the causes of the war, what was at stake by those participating, or what were the results. All that I can say is the items on the study guide focused on the more trivial aspects. For example, Crispus Attucks, the great man he was, is still a very trivial aspect to the Revolutionary War. This was just one example of a study guide filled with trivial items. My daughter was able to quickly regurgitate the answers with ease but couldn't even tell you anything about the war outside of the study guide. Today, she probably can remember very few events due to the way the lesson was presented and the assessment of knowledge that was administered. I feel that real learning could have taken place if the students had been challenged to dig deeper and to analyze the various aspects of the Revolutionary War. Yes I hear this all the time, "...but NCLB...". That isn't the case in this situation. NCLB could have been satisfied and the students still could have learned more. The teacher is the one to blame in this situation. Just because you have certain objectives to meet doesn't mean that is all that you should teach. You say time doesn't allow for more. Well then find a better way to teach it. Allow the kids to do group research, make presentations, make a video rather than doing the same lesson each year and never stimulating your student's brain. It is important to you, your school, your students, parents and most importantly, our country, that our students are taught to think instead of becoming gameshow contestants.

IMG_4599

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:43:00 +0000

IMG_4599
Originally uploaded by diammoo67

My baby is one year old...I can't believe it.

Life in the 1500's

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:45:00 +0000

Just interesting stuff... I have yet to verify if it is true. It was emailed to me from a friend. I just thought it was interesting. You can make up your own mind.

** LIFE IN THE 1500'S ***

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June However, they were starting to smell, so Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor -hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children; last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose ! someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby ou t with the bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for anima ls to get warm, so all the cats and other small Animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and Sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the sayingit's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt- hence the saying, dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor t o help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an e d ucation, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happ en e d m ost often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up; hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people a live . So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a...dead ringer.

And that's the truth. Now, whoever said history was boring ! ! !

Great Site

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:13:00 +0000

This is an article I ran across today. Had some great tips for using GMAIL
The title of the article is
Turn Gmail (or any E-mail Account) Into a Social Network Hub
by: Steve Rubel

Wikis as Textbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Rodney) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:30:00 +0000

I ran across this article discussing how a college classroom is using a wiki as their textbook and as a test question respository. The students are creating their own questions, reviewing peer writings, etc... in essence taking charge of their own learning. I liked how the professor described his role in the class.

"[The wiki] has become a really robust tool and has changed the way I teach, primarily because it means I am more of a guide to them rather than a lecturer," Kane said. "My job is to teach them how to navigate this information on the Web. The wiki is now the basis and the platform on which my class is based." ,Gerald Kane, assistant professor of information systems

Real interesting stuff and a great use of a web 2.0 tool.

Here are some comments made regarding the article...please not the student's comment.

What exactly are the students (or their parents) paying for, and what exactly do the students know at the end of the course that they didn't know before? Or does everybody just get a nice fuzzy feeling because they create their own exams and determine their own grades? And how many credits do they get for this waste of time and money?

I'll take "poor assumptions" for $800, Alex. As one of Prof. Kane's students in CiM, I can say that the course is anything but a waste. In fact, I would say it is the most valuable class I've taken.The dynamic approach means much change in class structure has certainly taken place since I took the class in Fall '06, but the CiM I remember covered globalization, collaborative/disruptive technologies, and all the ways businesses have to adapt to the new environment.