Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Nina wrote: "Did you know it was Disney who changed David Crockett's name to Davy? I have done research on him as he was born, as you all know from the song on a mountain in TN and my fifth great grandfather li..."Thanks for telling us, Nina. It's great the way you've traced your family lineage so far back.
Earl wrote: "March 16 - first trip on Glens Falls-Lake George bike path this year. Snow blocks the Rt149 bridge approach. March 19 - Snow on Rt149 bridge approach cleared by volunteer Chris Kope(sp?). Ran into ..."Earl, great to hear that you've already gotten out on your bike and that you're managing the sciatica. I've managed around 3 short walks with the dog. :) Ain't spring grand?! :)
I just heard on the news that actor Robert Culp has died at age 79. After doing the groundbreaking "I Spy" he was featured as a guest star on many shows of the'60s'70s, '80s and '90s such as "Murder, She Wrote", "Columbo", "Dr. Sloan, MD". I last remember seeing him on"Everybody Loves Raymond".
He was a star of "Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice" which was quite risque for its time.
Culp also played the cyborg in "Demon with the Glass Hand", a fantastic Outer Limits episode written by Harlan Ellison. He was the guy transformed into an alien in "The Architects of Fear", also an Outer Limits episode, although I don't recall who wrote it.He was great as Bill in "The Greatest American Hero", playing the straight conservative agent/sidekick to Ralph's liberal hero.
He will be missed.
The NY Times obituary says: "Culp wrote the scripts for seven episodes of “I Spy,” and was nominated for an Emmy for all three years the show was in production. Each year, he lost to Mr. Cosby."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/art...
RIP Robert Culp .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Culp
P.S. Below is a YouTube clip of a Robert Culp interview at the Archive of American Television:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7ZQT...
http://www.emmytvlegends.org/intervie...
Below is his Wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Culp
John Forsythe has died at age 92. I remember him from "Bachelor Father" in the early 60s, and then, "Charlie's Angels". Although he was one of the huge stars in "Dynasty", I didn't watch that show.He always seemed to be the suave, sophisticated gentleman, in real life, as well as on TV.
RIP John Forsythehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_For...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/art...
The NY Times Obituary said:
“I always said life consists of love and work,” Mr. Forsythe told a writer for TV Guide not long after his second wife’s death. “I tried to balance it 50-50. And of course now I’m so happy I did.”
I just heard that Dixie Carter has died at age 70. She was the wife of Hal Holbrook, age 85.I loved watching her in Designing Women. She also appeared as a guest star on many TV programs throughout her career. Sad.
Katherine wrote: "I just heard that Dixie Carter has died at age 70. She was the wife of Hal Holbrook, age 85. I loved watching her in Designing Women. She also appeared as a guest star on many TV programs througho..."RIP, Dixie Carter. I remember her well from "Designing Women". She had a lot of style.
NY TIMES obituary of Dixie Carter, 4/11/10:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/art...
QUOTE: “To me, there’s no feeling as gorgeous as the feeling of singing,” she told Stephen Holden of The New York Times in 1984. “It’s like flying.”
I finally have something to say here. I got a call from my employers today and they have work for me. 2 nice jobs, full restoration, from strip to varnish. It's going to be so nice getting back to work. I start on Thursday, so less computer and TV time, but I'll have a nice paycheck to look forward to.
Jackie wrote: "I finally have something to say here. I got a call from my employers today and they have work for me. 2 nice jobs, full restoration, from strip to varnish. It's going to be so nice getting back t..."Good for you, Jackie. We'll miss you here.
Jackie, that's great news! We're happy for you, and we'll look forward to the times when you can still post here --even if they're not quite as frequent.
Werner wrote: "Jackie, that's great news! We're happy for you, and we'll look forward to the times when you can still post here --even if they're not quite as frequent."Yes, I feel the same. Jackie has been a great contributor to this group!!!
I still be here, maybe less often, but I'll be around. You can't get rid of me that easy, LOL
I'd never even heard of the Ross sisters until I saw this video. WOW! I've never seen such limber chicks in all my life.http://www.flixxy.com/ross-sisters-br...
There's a little more on them here on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sis...
That was incredible! I can't believe anyone could move like that.
Jackie, I am impressed by what you do in your job. what a worthwhile occupation and how fortunate to find something you are good at that you also like doing. Not everyone can lay claim to that. Another item; AMC didn't use to have commercials and that was before TCM came on the scene and they often had good old movies. I saw what I call a good movie the other night; "Message in a Bottle," staring Kevin Costner. Paul Newman played a character part that seemed like he wasn't even acting. Good dialogue. Also, tried reading a book for our book club this month and I thought it dreadful; no redeeming feature. What do I know, it won the Pultizer. The title if any of you out there would like to read it and prove me wrong;"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wau," by Junot Diaz. Setting is Santo Domingo and New Jersey. nina
Thank you Nina, that was nice of you to say. I do believe it's important to love your job, after all, we spend most of our lives there. I saw Message in a Bottle and I really liked it too.
Jim wrote: "I'd never even heard of the Ross sisters until I saw this video. WOW! I've never seen such limber chicks in all my life.http://www.flixxy.com/ross-sisters-br... ..."
Wow, that was almost painful to watch! I didn't know it was possible to sit on one's own head! LOL
Nina wrote: "... Another item; AMC didn't use to have commercials and that was before TCM came on the scene and they often had good old movies. ... Also, tried reading a book for our book club this month and I thought it dreadful; no redeeming feature. What do I know, it won the Pultizer. The title if any of you out there would like to read it and prove me wrong;"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wau," by Junot Diaz. ..."
Yes, I remember when AMC had no commercials.
As for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I read part of it when our library group selected it. Couldn't get through it. It seemed too rambling and disjointed. Most of it didn't interest me.
See my topic at:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Jackie wrote: "I still be here, maybe less often, but I'll be around. You can't get rid of me that easy, LOL"Jackie, I do hope you'll try to drop by when you can. You always have something interesting to say... and you say it so well!
Today I'm going to whine how much my arms hurt, LOL
Jackie wrote: "Today I'm going to whine how much my arms hurt, LOL"LOL - Well, at least we're hearing from you, Jackie. Hope your arms will stop hurting soon.
They will, I just have to get back into the swing of things. It'll be good to work tomorrow and use them again. But I am looking forward to the weekend. That part comes back fast, LOL
Goodreads has been nominated for a Webby! The Webby's have been called "The Internet's highest honor." Goodreads is competing in the Social Networking category against top sites Twitter, Digg, Bakespace and Cute as Hell!Head on over to the Webby site and cast your vote for Goodreads! Voting ends on April 29, so hurry!
http://webby.aol.com/
Jim wrote: "Goodreads has been nominated for a Webby! The Webby's have been called "The Internet's highest honor." Goodreads is competing in the Social Networking category against top sites Twitter, Digg, Bake..."Thanks for posting this, Jim. I just now cast my vote for Goodreads! Yay!
I can't find it. Nothing for Social Network, I found Best Use of Photography, Best Use of Animation, Branded Content, Game or Application, etc. Can someone send me the direct link to the Vote, not the site.
Thanks, made my vote. Goodreads only has 17%.
I tried to vote for Goodreads but they kept telling me that I had an incorrect password. I kept retyping to no avail. So, I did try. nina
E for effort, Nina! :)
Just to let everybody know, I'm officially off the sick list, and headed back to work later today --a day with no physical or mental exertion really did me good! Thanks to everybody for their good wishes (on another thread). I now have a renewed appreciation and gratitude for good health!
Werner wrote: "Just to let everybody know, I'm officially off the sick list, and headed back to work later today --a day with no physical or mental exertion really did me good! Thanks to everybody for their good..."That's good to hear, Werner. Stay well.
Congrats, Werner! Glad you're feeling better.
Thanks, Joy and Jim! (I'm glad, too! :-))
Hello all - Joy is having computer problems but they're being worked on. She'll be back soon. She says hello to everyone.
Ed, we'll look forward to having Joy back online! Glad to see you're part of our group, too; she's blessed to be able to share Goodreads with her spouse! (Mine loves to read, but she's computer-phobic, alas. :-))
Thank you, Werner. Eddie loves to read too, but prefers to stay in the background of our group. I don't blame your wife for being computer-phobic. I'm that way too, even though I enjoy my laptop. My recent computer problem was caused by a window warning me that my computer had a virus. So I had to wait until I could get help in clearing up the problem. The window struck fear in my heart. At times like that I want to throw in the towel, but after things are put right, the feeling passes.
Yes, Joy, cyber-space would be a lot nicer and less scary place without the moral imbeciles who create viruses. They're enough to make all of us a bit phobic; I've had to have my computer's hard drive replaced twice because of viruses since I went online in 2001, and another of my Goodreads friends had the same experience already this year, so I can relate! But I'm too fond of Goodreads and the kind of interchange and fellowship we all have here to let my fears make me throw in the towel, and I know you are, too. Cyber-vandals may think they're tough stuff --but we're tougher. :-)
It took me a day's work to get the last virus/trojan off a machine here - just last week, in fact. The worst part is, you don't get one virus, usually the malware sucks in a dozen more almost instantly. I cleaned 17 different ones off that machine last week & it got hit once with scareware. Well, it's job security for me, I guess.
Werner wrote: "Yes, Joy, cyber-space would be a lot nicer and less scary place without the moral imbeciles who create viruses. They're enough to make all of us a bit phobic; I've had to have my computer's hard d..."Werner, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my family to help me with my computer problems. I know there are tech services out there, but that can get expensive.
Yes, I love the fellowship here at GR. We're all drawn together by our love of books and stories. It's always satisfying to find people on the same mental wave length as ourselves. Sometimes when I'm looking for someone to agree with me about a book, I go to the GR reviews and sort them according to the number of stars given. It's especially gratifying, when I DON'T like a book, to sort according to the one-star group. Then I usually find folks who agree with me. LOL
I have a theory that I think makes the most sense. Who benefits from new viruses? The anti-virus companies. I believe they create them so we have to keep buying their products. I don't see anyone taking the time to create viruses just for the hell of it; there's no satisfaction in it.Anyway, here's an excellent free anti-malware that was recommended to me from a childhood friend who now works in a sensitve government position and it's what he uses:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
It manages to catch the malware that gets through other anti-virus programs. It's not real time, so you have to run a scan yourself but when you have a virus warning, it's the best thing to run because it'll get it out of your computer.
Another thing that's important is to fix the problem immediately. The last problem I had is because I didn't pay attention to the warning and then forgot about it. It shut my computer down completely. I paid HP $50 to help me sort it out and guess what they used to get the virus out of my computer? That's right, malwarebytes. It's worth downloading.
Jackie wrote: "I have a theory that I think makes the most sense. Who benefits from new viruses? The anti-virus companies. I believe they create them so we have to keep buying their products. I don't see anyo..."Jackie, that same idea crossed my mind recently. I wonder if there's anything to it.
No AV company would even begin to THINK about creating a monster to fight. There are far too many watchdog groups out there tracing the real monsters back to their source. AV companies are fiercely competitive & are constantly trying to cut each other's throats. They won't even agree on a naming convention amongst themselves. Not long ago, a multinational taskforce shut down an entire ISP in one of the 'bekistans'. Supposedly, it cut the traffic caused by one trojan (common name Zeus) by a huge amount - 1/3 to 1/2, depending on the article. International cooperation is becoming more common place, but is still far from normal & that gives these rats (my apologies to actual rats) the ability to hide.
Actually, viruses & malware are big, multilevel businesses. Many are SOLD as kits to others, who then use them to hack computers. Sometimes these people use them to send SPAM, other times to get information (logins, banking, credit card info) & still other times, they are sold as 'zombies'. Zombies are computers that are compromised & the key to them is sold.
I read an article not long ago about the Zeus trojan being sold as a modular trojan; $5000 for the base module, $2500 for this module or that, some up to $10,000. One module would crack passwords in Firefox, another would allow a man-in-the-middle attack. This is where a person goes to their bank online & then gets a fake login page where the login & password are captured & sent to the owner of the trojan, who then transfers the money out of the country.
I read another article which described how 2 guys in Russia were compromising computers & auctioning off the keys in blocks; $20,000 got a block of 20 computers. They earned millions. They didn't actually steal anything & the authorities had no laws in place with which to prosecute them. By the time a law was passed, they were vacationing elsewhere under new names.
One of the biggest problems in all of this is Microsoft. They made their place in the world by going head to head with Novell & Unix, both which were far better networking systems. By default, no client was allowed to do much of anything except login & even that could be tricky. It required expertise to set up a network.
Along comes Microsoft who allowed any idiot to set up a network. Their security was the reverse, give everyone access to everything unless it was specifically taken away. Not a huge problem until these networks all became available on the Internet at high speed rates. Now that the cows are long gone out of the barn, Microsoft is trying to close the door, without losing market share. Since they now have most of the market, there is a big target on every Microsoft product. "Crack me to get the best bang for your buck!" they tell the hackers.
No, there are enough real monsters out there to fight. No need to come up with conspiracy theories for more.
That's just it, what exactly is the 'bang for your buck' for the hackers? What do they get out of it? How do they sell trojans without being tracked and caught? How would one find a trojan to buy if one wanted it? Seems like too much work for a scammer. I don't think it's a 'conspiracy theory', just a logical thought. And watchdogs or no, anyone can be paid off or corrupted, I have no faith in any agency. And I don't expect an AV company to have virus creators on their payroll. There are ways around that.
The first thought in solving crimes is, Who benefits?. I simply followed that formula. I'm not asking anyone to believe me, it's only what I believe. I've been right before and I've been wrong before, I'm sure it won't be the last time for either, LOL
WE will welcome you back, Joy, with our best wishes for a successful computer break through. In the meantime think up one of your wonderful quotes and give us one on your return. nina
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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Here in Saratoga Springs, NY the crocus are blooming. buds are popping out, and the tiger lilies and lilies of the valley are up about two inches. Robins are nesting in the tree outside my window.
This is the finest first day of spring that I have seen in many years. Enjoy.