Windows Scam
There's a new and very nasty scam going around. You get a phone call. The person on the other end says:
We are calling about your computer. We got a notice that your computer is downloading some malicious programs. We know that because you are using our operating system Windows.
Yeah, they want you to believe they are calling from Microsoft. Obviously the intent is to sell you some bogus virus cleaning service.
Please warn your less computer savvy friends.
2011-09-06
2003-02-28
A point for Michael
Michael Jackson claims he hasn't had anywhere near as much work on his face as gossip claims. There is some support for his this claim, namely that he and his sister Janet look very much alike. And he and Latoya look extremely alike. So unless his sisters have been having parallel work done, i'd say Michael's current look is mostly him.
Michael Jackson claims he hasn't had anywhere near as much work on his face as gossip claims. There is some support for his this claim, namely that he and his sister Janet look very much alike. And he and Latoya look extremely alike. So unless his sisters have been having parallel work done, i'd say Michael's current look is mostly him.
2003-02-27
Mental Handicaps
Attention deficit disorder, either by itself, or with hyperactivity (aka ADD or ADHD), is a big topic these days. Apparently more people, especially children, are being designated as having it than ever before.
Some people claim there’s something about modern life, perhaps drugs or tv, that’s causing more children to get it. Others say it is merely that doctors have better diagnostics now and are able to recognize cases that might have gone unnoticed before. Still others say that it doesn’t really exist or if it does, it’s greatly exaggerated, an excuse for unruly children, inadequate parents, lazy doctors and mendacious drug companies.
Here’s my theory: diagnosis is relative to lifestyle requirements.
Mental functionality exists on a continuum. At one end are the walking computers, people with the ability to focus on whatever they want, and file away every bit of information in a coherent fashion. At the other end would be those who are literally unable to string two thoughts together. Presumably these would be victims of brain damage as being born that way should be fatal.
Most of us are in the range we think as human normal. We receive our sensory input with something less than icy clarity. There are things we just soak in, things we tend to tune out and things we struggle to keep track of. That’s one of the ways we choose our majors in college.
And within this range there are differing degrees of acuity. There are occasional brain glitches, where a word is temporarily forgotten, or the wrong one comes out. There are sporadic memory losses, absent mindedness and instances of zoning out.
Beyond that range is attention deficit.
But where is the break point? Where do we say *this* is a normal person who just has difficulty tracking sometimes and *that* is a person with attention deficit?
As I said above, it’s relative. A person whose daily activities require constant attentiveness but has trouble coping might go to the doctor, get tested, and be
characterized as having attention deficit disorder. But a person with the exact same capabilities but who had less call on them wouldn’t have the same problems, wouldn’t get tested, and would be considered normal.
Our modern, frenetic, complex cultures bombard us with more and more input, and we are responsible for handling it. This does not cause more attention deficit, it merely exposes more of the range in functionality that has always existed.
It is not that much different from other ranges in human characteristics such as intelligence, height, resistance to disease, or hair color. Or tendency to eyestrain: I find myself needing reading glasses 30 years sooner than my parents did, who had far less to read.
So we’ve all got things we wish we could do better, and personal obstacles in life. Attention deficit is just one more.
Attention deficit disorder, either by itself, or with hyperactivity (aka ADD or ADHD), is a big topic these days. Apparently more people, especially children, are being designated as having it than ever before.
Some people claim there’s something about modern life, perhaps drugs or tv, that’s causing more children to get it. Others say it is merely that doctors have better diagnostics now and are able to recognize cases that might have gone unnoticed before. Still others say that it doesn’t really exist or if it does, it’s greatly exaggerated, an excuse for unruly children, inadequate parents, lazy doctors and mendacious drug companies.
Here’s my theory: diagnosis is relative to lifestyle requirements.
Mental functionality exists on a continuum. At one end are the walking computers, people with the ability to focus on whatever they want, and file away every bit of information in a coherent fashion. At the other end would be those who are literally unable to string two thoughts together. Presumably these would be victims of brain damage as being born that way should be fatal.
Most of us are in the range we think as human normal. We receive our sensory input with something less than icy clarity. There are things we just soak in, things we tend to tune out and things we struggle to keep track of. That’s one of the ways we choose our majors in college.
And within this range there are differing degrees of acuity. There are occasional brain glitches, where a word is temporarily forgotten, or the wrong one comes out. There are sporadic memory losses, absent mindedness and instances of zoning out.
Beyond that range is attention deficit.
But where is the break point? Where do we say *this* is a normal person who just has difficulty tracking sometimes and *that* is a person with attention deficit?
As I said above, it’s relative. A person whose daily activities require constant attentiveness but has trouble coping might go to the doctor, get tested, and be
characterized as having attention deficit disorder. But a person with the exact same capabilities but who had less call on them wouldn’t have the same problems, wouldn’t get tested, and would be considered normal.
Our modern, frenetic, complex cultures bombard us with more and more input, and we are responsible for handling it. This does not cause more attention deficit, it merely exposes more of the range in functionality that has always existed.
It is not that much different from other ranges in human characteristics such as intelligence, height, resistance to disease, or hair color. Or tendency to eyestrain: I find myself needing reading glasses 30 years sooner than my parents did, who had far less to read.
So we’ve all got things we wish we could do better, and personal obstacles in life. Attention deficit is just one more.
2003-02-25
Public Service Announcement
(creak. slam.)
A: Hey Mom, i'm home!
B: Hello Dear, stop a minute, i have to say something...
A: Yes?
B: According to this PTA flyer, some of the kids at your school are taking drugs! You know how i worry about you-- promise me you'll stay away from those kids, i don't want anyone giving you bad messages.
A: Ok, Mom!
(creak. slam.)
C: Ug, another lousy day. But it just got better!
(*smack*)
B: Hee hee, you always know what to say, Honey. And speaking of what to say, you have to say something to your son. Remember?
C: Oh, yeah. Hrrmph. Hey, Buddy!
A: Yeah, Dad?
C: Your mother and i are concerned about some things going on. You know-- drugs? We love you and we know you'll make the right decision, right?
A: Yeah.
C: I mean, there's all kinds of peer pressure, but you can think for yourself, right?
A: Sure.
C: Good boy! Now get your dad a beer, please. Oh, almost forgot-- Darling?
B: Yes, Honey?
C: There was a package for you-- says "E-Medistore.com"
B: My Prozac-- thank goodness, i couldn't make it through the day without it!
A: Here's your beer Dad, i'm gonna go do my homework now.
(*plop* clunk. clunk.)
D: Hey, Squirt, you dropped your lameass shoes on my side of the room!
(thump-thump!)
A: Hey! You almost hit me!
D: Just keeping you sharp, that's what big brothers are for.
A: It is? I thought it was to keep getting on my case.
D: That too-- it's my responsibility to keep riding you so you don't make mistakes.
A: Gee thanks.
D: Like with drugs, they can really mess you up you know. You better not be getting into that scene, clear?
A: Loud and clear!
D: Keep it that way. I gotta jam now. Me and the guys are gonna go kill some 6 packs of Jolt over at the skate park, then we're going out for espressos.
A: Whatever.
(slam. slam.)
A: hokay.
(click. click. d-r-a-a-a-g.)
A: Ahhh!
A: Hypocrisy, it's my *pro*-drug!
(creak. slam.)
A: Hey Mom, i'm home!
B: Hello Dear, stop a minute, i have to say something...
A: Yes?
B: According to this PTA flyer, some of the kids at your school are taking drugs! You know how i worry about you-- promise me you'll stay away from those kids, i don't want anyone giving you bad messages.
A: Ok, Mom!
(creak. slam.)
C: Ug, another lousy day. But it just got better!
(*smack*)
B: Hee hee, you always know what to say, Honey. And speaking of what to say, you have to say something to your son. Remember?
C: Oh, yeah. Hrrmph. Hey, Buddy!
A: Yeah, Dad?
C: Your mother and i are concerned about some things going on. You know-- drugs? We love you and we know you'll make the right decision, right?
A: Yeah.
C: I mean, there's all kinds of peer pressure, but you can think for yourself, right?
A: Sure.
C: Good boy! Now get your dad a beer, please. Oh, almost forgot-- Darling?
B: Yes, Honey?
C: There was a package for you-- says "E-Medistore.com"
B: My Prozac-- thank goodness, i couldn't make it through the day without it!
A: Here's your beer Dad, i'm gonna go do my homework now.
(*plop* clunk. clunk.)
D: Hey, Squirt, you dropped your lameass shoes on my side of the room!
(thump-thump!)
A: Hey! You almost hit me!
D: Just keeping you sharp, that's what big brothers are for.
A: It is? I thought it was to keep getting on my case.
D: That too-- it's my responsibility to keep riding you so you don't make mistakes.
A: Gee thanks.
D: Like with drugs, they can really mess you up you know. You better not be getting into that scene, clear?
A: Loud and clear!
D: Keep it that way. I gotta jam now. Me and the guys are gonna go kill some 6 packs of Jolt over at the skate park, then we're going out for espressos.
A: Whatever.
(slam. slam.)
A: hokay.
(click. click. d-r-a-a-a-g.)
A: Ahhh!
A: Hypocrisy, it's my *pro*-drug!
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