Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dumbass Mofo

Wirecutter over at Knuckledraggin My Life Away had a a post about the report below.

I just don't know what to say about this idiot, who, after admitting texting whilst driving, should have his licence taken away for a year or two - or until he grows up anyway!


HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A college student from Texas believes he is lucky to be alive after a terrible crash. He was texting and driving when his truck flew off of a cliff. 
Chance Bothe's truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed indicated what almost happened to him.
He wrote, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."

English: A sign that states "No Texting W...

After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened. 
"They just need to understand, don't do it. Don't do it. It's not worth losing your life," he said. "I went to my grandmother's funeral not long ago, and I kept thinking, it kept jumping into my head, I'm surprised that's not me up in that casket. I came very close to that, to being gone forever." 
Person using cell phone while driving.
Person using cell phone while driving. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chance's father said, if he had a child just learning to drive, he would disable texting and Internet on their phone. 
As of August 1st, drivers in Alabama will face a $25 fine the first time they are caught texting behind the wheel.





 kthanxbai!http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Olympic Cost to the Athlete

Old NFO came up with these interesting stats. I say 'interesting', but I really mean 'mind-blowing'.

Tax
After reading the below I had to wonder what the taxes on guide dogs and wheelchairs are...


Interesting...

Because conservatives are scrooges, the good folks atAmericans for Tax Reform have gone through the fine print to find out what our Olympians will have to cough up to the IRS should they be lucky enough to win any medals in London.

Even by the standards of our government, the numbers are insane.

For instance: Americans who win bronze will pay a $2 tax on the medal itself. But the bronze comes with a modest prize—$10,000 as an honorarium for devoting your entire life to being the third best athlete on the planet in your chosen discipline. And the IRS will take $3,500 of that, thank you very much.

There are also prizes that accompany each medal: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.

Silver medalists will owe $5,385. You win a gold? Timothy Geithner will be standing there with his hand out for $8,986.


It gets even worse. Not only do our Olympic athletes have to pay taxes on their medals and prizes – chances are their competitors on the field will face no such taxation when they get home. Because the U.S. is virtually the only developed nation that taxes “worldwide”income earned overseas by its taxpayers, our Olympic athletes face a competitive disadvantage that has nothing to do with sports.

I can only wonder if there is any way the athletes can deduct the cost of their training???

Personally, I think this is just beyond stupid!!!  At least Rubio has sponsored a bill to relieve the taxes for Olympic winners!


kthanxbai! http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Friday, July 6, 2012

The Future Looks Good

In a world where everyone has their phone, iPod, laptop, and every other personal toy out there, Joe decided to see if the people out there still gave a hoot about their neighbour.

And he made a film about it. It looks pretty inspiring to me, not that I would ever take on such an endeavour!



It's nice to know that we're all still human underneath it all.

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July



Happy Independence (from the British) Day!

kthanxbai!

Hat tip to His Most Majestic Wirecutter

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Sunday, July 1, 2012

How Not To Get Hacked


I just received a direct message on twitter from a chap I've known for 25 years. I know it wasn't from him. He's in a different time zone so I haven't called hi yet, but I KNOW his account has been hacked.

It is not nice, it is somewhat scary, so here are the main ways that will protect you from getting hacked;

1. Use A Strong Password

No, 'password' is no longer the most prevalent password out there, but apparently '123456' is. Quite sad really.

A very strong password should ideally include random upper and lowercase numbers and symbols but the latest articles I read about this state that the best password must have a 4 word based password. Quite complex to create but once done, is basically impossible to break.

In order to create an unforgettable password it is suggested that you look around your workplace for inspiration.

An example might be ‘telephoneWhiteOutiPhonemouse’ or in the case of the chap in the cubicle above, 'filefileboxpen'

A memorable phrase

Take a memorable phrase and use the first letter of every word varying he cases. I would use something such as “Do you feel lucky punk?” and convert it into “DyFlP?”

I would consider adding numbers at the end to further confuse hackers thus creating the best password ever on the planet “DyFlP2012”. So please don’t tell anyone…


2. Upgrade Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X
Older software simply means that the hacker has had a longer time to work out where the ‘backdoors’ are in the software. Updated software has patches for these issues.

3. Install Modern Wed Browsers
Que? What you talking about Willis? What the puck is a web browser? In simple talk, a web browser is what you use to visit Facebook, Gmail and Boobies.
I use Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer, each of them fights hard to ensure secure systems.

4. Use a password manager software such as RoboForm or kaspersky or you can look at a review of 10 different password manager software platforms here

5.  Write down your passwords! A colleague of mine just lost access to his Gmail account. The account he uses for accessing google Analytics. Its not the end of the world and only data can be stolen, nothing can be changed, but the hoops he (and I ) are going through to get it sorted out are quite time consuming



kthanxbai!


http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Friday, June 29, 2012

Back To The Future - In The Future

An advertising company for the just released Blu-Ray version of Back To The Future created a fake image for their campaign. And it went super viral!



Nice stuff! 5 minutes on Photoshop and everyone starts thinking about Marty McFly and Biff!

So we all know where Michael J Fox is today. But whatever happened to Biff?

Here is the quite humorous answer:


Cover of "Back to the Future"
Cover of Back to the Future


kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Please Help The Blueberry

Yes, I know it is an odd title but our friends over at The Blueberry need our help.

A bit of background:

The Blueberry Cove Inn is a 1870's home which has been lovingly restored into a gorgeous get-away in Narrangansett, Rhode Island.


They've had their blog going since '08 explaining how they converted the neglected house into a warm and welcoming B&B.
Christmas at the Blueberry Cove Inn


They're good peeps and they need our help! 

In an effort to expand my business I have applied for a business grant sponsored by Living Social and Chase Bank. In order to be considered for the grant I need 250 votes from Facebook users to get to phase two of the application process. I have 170 this morning.
What can we do to help?

So, if you are a Facebook user and could take a minute to help, go to www.missionsmallbusiness.com
At the bottom right hand side there is a button that says "log in and support." Hit that, use your facebook sign-in and then you will see a page with search boxes at the bottom of the page. Search for Blueberry Cove Inn and register a vote. Very simple. You don't have to like my page on Facebook (although you would be more than welcome!) or do anything else.
Go - do it here, now!!  

kthanxbai! 

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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A Day in the Life of a Pilot

Ever wondered what pilots actually do before, during and after a flight? How does turbulence effect them? What do they eat and drink in the cockpit?


This is Captain Aux's first video blog so why not swing by his website 'Adventures of Captain Aux' to say 'hi' and see what else he has to offer?

Thanks to Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Facebook - Hey, your rules.....

Facebook logo
Facebook logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Just in case you missed it, here is a rather naughty-but-nice discussion.

And yes, I hurt myself laughing at this one!

Knuckledraggin My Life Away: Hey, your rules.....

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Happy Father's Day (advertising)

As I'm sure you'll understand, in my household every day is Father's Day!

The best present I could get is, as these amazing ads will show, just a series of 45 minute naps.

For those of you Fathers (and kids) out there who now want to see what you should, could and would have got for Father's day, here are my favourite ads from 2012:

1. A fun ad from the US of A, a tad unusual but that's what makes it fun



2. A heart felt ad from Thailand. And yes, there are subtitles.





3. Irn-bru (Thats iron brew to you non Scottish folk) And the word 'Fanny' in the UK is not just a name, but sadly a female front bottom. Just to set the tone for the ad.









 kthanxbai! http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
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