Group Information- Members: 1724
- Category: Quotations
- Founded: Jul 24, 2002
- Language: English
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Greetings, Quotaholics,
When people discuss privacy, whether they are talking about the government listening in on private phone calls or surveillance cameras in public places or random drug tests, someone invariably says "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear".
This argument always upset me. I don't think I have anything to hide, I just don't want to give up my privacy for no reason.
I recently found an article at ComputerWorld.com that sums up rather nicely some really good reasons why you might want to think twice about this argument.
In the article author Toby Stevens had this to say, "`Nothing to hide, nothing to fear' (NTHNTF) is a myth that is built on certain false assumptions, and these assumptions are never questioned when it is wheeled out as an argument to support whatever draconian surveillance measure is being pushed out in the face of citizen opposition (commercial organisations rarely try such an approach, since it dooms them to failure from the very beginning)."
Among these assumptions Mr. Stevens lists Continuity, the belief that the people gathering the information will always be the keepers of data, Context, the belief that the data will not be shared with other interested parties, Control, the belief that the data will never be lost or stolen, and Consistency, the belief that there will be consistent use of accurate information across all authorities and all individuals.
Of these assumptions Mr. Stevens finds consistency the most troubling. He says, "Let's consider consistency in more detail. When databases work from 100% accurate information; when that information is used in accordance with the original consent purpose; when processes work correctly; when outcomes are as expected for every subject in the database; then, arguably, individuals have nothing to fear. Unfortunately, this is a Utopian state that is never achieved in a real world system."
He goes on to list some cases where inaccurate data or misuse of data had a very big impact on peoples lives. Cases like the German national who was held as a terrorist because his name was similar to a wanted terrorist, a student who was wrongfully arrested for stealing mail because his fingerprints were on file from a previous arrest, to people who were victims of errors in the Criminal Records Bureau database.
He concludes his article with this, "`Nothing to hide, nothing to fear" is a myth, a fallacy, a trojan horse wheeled out by those who can't justify their surveillance schemes, databases and privacy invasions. It is an argument that insults intelligent individuals and disregards the reality of building and operating an IT system, a business or even a government. If ever you hear someone at a dinner party crank out this old chestnut, grab your coat, make your apologies, run fast and run far."
So do you believe in the saying "Nothing to hide, nothing to fear"? Do you think that the more surveillance there is the safer we are? Are you concerned about government agencies sharing or losing data they have collected? Do you feel comfortable with data about you being shared with private companies? Do you think you have nothing to hide? Do you think you have nothing to fear?
Privately,
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Isn't it worth $1 a month to you to keep RGQ in your mailbox? Please click the link and direct your contribution to reallygoodquotes@....
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"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education." - George Bernard Shaw
"Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: the mad daughter of a wise mother." - Voltaire
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"Reminiscing"
Three old ladies were sitting side by side in their retirement home reminiscing. The first lady recalled shopping at the green grocers and demonstrated with her hands, the length and thickness of a cucumber she could buy for a penny.
The second old lady nodded, adding that onions used to be much bigger and cheaper also, the demonstrated the size of two big onions she could buy for a penny a piece.
The third old lady remarked, "I can't hear a word you're saying, but I remember the guy you're talking about."
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"Freedom is for honest people. No man who is not himself honest can be free – he is his own trap."
"The evolution of knowledge is toward simplicity, not complexity."
"There is only one way, really, to get into a state of living, and that's live! There is no substitute for an all-out, over-the-ramparts, howling charge against life. That's living. Living does not consist of sitting in a temple in the shadows and getting rheumatism from the cold stones. Living is hot, it's fast, it's often brutal! It has a terrific gamut of emotional reactions." - all from L. Ron Hubbard, born on this day in 1911
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E-Mail the Imp
Many years ago I read "The Drifters" by James A. Michener and was enthralled by the story. Everything that Michener wrote enthralled me. A small part of the story really intrigued me, the part about the underground in Torremolinos, Spain.
The imp in me back then had me thinking about how far mankind had come, and how short a distance we had really travelled. Humans lived in caves in southern Europe 100,000 years ago. Then we'd developed civilizations, built truly magnificent cities (often on top of previously magnificent cities) and here in the 20th century we still had people living in caves in southern Europe. Remarkable.
In 1974 I was on a NATO cruise to the Mediterranean area, and was selected as one of four Officers and Senior Enlisted personnel to head up the Navy Task Forces Shore Patrol on the Spanish El Costa del Sol. We anchored in the port of Malaga and we set up our Shore Patrol HQ in Torremolinos, by then a major resort area and troop magnet down the coast a few miles.
Most of the cave homes had long since been turned into gift shops, small restaurants, and some fairly large taverns, but it was still intriguing. I could imagine living underground and my normal claustrophobia didn't give me any anxiety.
There are advantages and disadvantages to living underground. The temperature in a cave is fairly constant, so heating and cooling costs are minimal. Many years ago there was a story in Popular Science about a home built from concrete and concrete blocks and then covered with earth. The occupants heated the house, made their hot water, and cooked using junk mail as fuel and occasionally some fire wood in the winter. The cost was less than $100 a year. Electricity for lights, TV, and kitchen appliances (no computers back then) cost them less than $300 a year. No termites to worry about either, but nothing was said about bat infestations, if any. Of course there's no back door so there'd better be no hanky panky on the home front…no way for the milkman to escape.
There are several underground homes for sale in the USA, at least one in Missouri and one in Arizona. Both are out of my price range.
One thing about a cave home, or an earth covered home…you get maximum use of your land. My conventional home, with garage, driveway, and walkway uses up half the lot it's built on. If my home were underground, my yard would be twice as big. I could have one hell of a vegetable garden, and really put my lawn tractor to work.
Living on the coast an underground house isn't practical. I'd either be under water or have to build a mountain to cover a home. I found a few for sale on the internet but the cost of either one is out of my league. Since I retire my mortgage this month I think I'll take a vacation on house payments for a few years, putting what had been house payments into savings. As soon as I get about $10K put aside, I'll start building.
I'll buy a hummock with about an acre of dry land above the high tide line. I'll have twenty foot pilings sunk and build up the hummock with concrete from about six foot below mean water level to about ten feet above. That will give me lee way in case the ocean rises. Then I'll move in about ten feet of earth, replant trees and brush, and build a new house, on stilts. With global warming set to raise sea levels, my new house will still be above water like those stilt houses in Miami…but I'll probably be 20 miles off shore.
Since I'll be beyond the three mile limit, will I be able to run a gambling casino and sell duty free booze and cigarettes? Maybe I'll ground the oil barge I wrote about and turn it into a floating casino and restaurant instead of a dance pavilion and restaurant and start recouping my investment early.
The Bad Sied 
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Patty has a personal story and thanks to share. Here's her 15 minutes
Hi, I know you're use to my fits in the comment's section, or a rambling tale in 15 Minutes Of Fame. However today's story is different, and one that I feel must be told. I hope that if any one is having troubles like the ones mentioned in this story that you'll seek help. It is with much love to all of you readers that I pass this story along.
I am a diagnosed Bipolar of a mild version, and I am fortunate to be alive to tell this tale.
As I sit here a little over a week after a scary moment for me I think about how close I came to making a fatal mistake and how sad it would have made some of my closest friends and family had I been successful. I attribute my not making this mistake to the holy Spirit and a good friend who knew to listen to the small still voice that some times shows itself completely out of no place. Rewind to a little over a week ago to a dark moment in my life, and here's the story.
On Monday morning I woke after only an hour's sleep to find that I felt much like some one who has just stepped off the edge of the world. I felt as if there was no light at the end of a long tunnel and that the only way I would find that light would be to end my life. However, something deep with in
me did not really want this to be so. I felt as if I at least should say good-bye to a special person who had made himself a big part of my life with out even asking to do so.
Some years back I had started on a journey that would teach me much, but that would also bring to me a certain amount of pain. Now as I lay there on my bed, unable to stop crying and unable to see any thing but sadness in my life I felt that pull to call my special friend. My fingers trembled as I dialed the phone, and my heart sank as I heard the voice mail answer instead of a volunteer's voice. I felt I must at least leave a message and after I'd done so, I suddenly became scared that he'd not hear it and that he might never know how I felt. The guilt from how badly I'd treated this friend over these last few weeks ate at me, and finally I tried the number again. This time a caring voice answered, and I asked her to please make certain that he heard the message I'd left. Something in my voice made her ask if I were okay, and I honestly told her that I did not feel well.
She must've called him right away because just a few moments later my phone rang and it was him on the other end of the phone. As he and I talked, it did not take him long to realize that I was in serious trouble, and after a few direct questions and some hard persuasion he was able to talk me into going
to the hospital with him. As I got ready to leave I figured he'd just dump me off on some one else and be on his way, just as so many before him had done. I couldn't shake the empty feeling I had, nor could I feel any thing but the sad numb feeling that had been plaguing me for days. Now at the emergency room he was telling me he'd not just leave me to face this horror alone. I did not understand how some one whom I'd treated so badly just a few days before could possibly be so caring. I did not understand the fact that he had forgiven me, and that although I'd hurt him badly he was still willing to stay with me, and to see to it I got the help I so badly needed.
As the day progressed, I felt many different emotions. I felt fear, and deep sadness. I felt anger, and deep regret for the way I'd behaved, but most of all I still felt that same admiration for this strong man who had such great faith in God and followed his teachings to the letter. At first I thought
that maybe he'd just forgiven me because that is what God instructs us to do, but as the day wore on, and as I sat in the middle of the bed there in the exam room crying and feeling very frightened and as he patted my leg or hand to reassure me that it would be alright, I began to realize that he'd forgiven
me because he did for sure care about me and what happened to me. It dawned on me that he could've very easily just sent the police to my home, and turned me over to them and gone on with his day, but he hadn't chosen to do that.
After six long hours in the emergency room, the hospital staff decided that I would be admitted to a psychiatric hospital there in the area, and it was only then that my friend told me that he would have to go now. I was again very afraid, but before he left me, he put his arms around me and hugged me tightly, repeating over and over to me that I would be alright, and that I would not stay over the edge forever. The love and care that he showed to me that long horrible day stayed with me all through out my hospitalization and now I'm back home, and feeling much better. All because some one was willing to give me just one more chance, and all because God had spoken to him as he listened to that message I'd left, and had told him to not wait but to call me back right then. Had he let his human side win that day, I do not think I'd be here, but he chose to let the Spirit lead him, and because of that I'm here to tell the tale.
Thanks to you God, and thanks to you Lynn for caring enough to be firm and for making me do what I couldn't do alone. I am going to be okay now, and I will rise above this and I will go forward and be successful. I am going to take your advice seriously. You've told me, "Don't Let A Set Back Hold Me
Back.". And I'm not going to. I have a new story to add to my testimony and now God can truly work in my life. He couldn't before because I stood in his way, but that has passed, and although I still have some bad days, I know in my heart that there are people in my corner, and that one of them is you.
May God give to you a most wondrous blessing and may he remember the most loving act that you performed that snowy cold, and very empty day for me.
With Love, and Friendship, To Lynn Sorrell - Patty/Tazz
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Air Travel
Isn't it amazing we can sit in a chair and be whisked around the globe without any effort on our part at all?
Air transport has blossomed to encompass just about every type of cargo in the short time since humans devised a way to get airborne. We ship small parcels halfway around the world with assurances it will be delivered the next day by a certain time. We climb aboard flights to intermediate points knowing another flight awaits us to get us to our ultimate destination.
A simple design, an airplane is a tube full of chairs with wings taking in people at one terminal, and spitting them out at another somewhere else. This simple design takes an engineering marvel to accomplish, however. There are so many mechanisms just to keep the machine in the air. Add in the need for 'creature comforts' and the engineering to keep everything operational and make it airworthy is nothing short of a miracle.
When the SST was operational, a person could travel one quarter around the planet in less than 4 hours. Conventional fleet aircraft take longer, but they are still effective to get a sizable population from here to there efficiently.
There were approximately 11,361,283 passenger flights in the USA alone in 2006. Yesterday, according to FlightAware, there were 35,743 flights in the USA, with up to 5,664 in the air at the same time.
We complain about delays due to weather, mechanical circumstance, security, and other causes, but air travel has become one of the best transportation methods ever devised. Considering each airplane averages 80-100 seats (let's use 90 for sake of argument), there could have been approximately 3 million people ferried from place to place in the USA yesterday. That's a city's worth of people.
With the advent of technology, air travel may enter a new realm soon. Aircraft will actually go into space to shuttle passengers to their destinations. It is hoped this method will decrease travel times significantly, especially for international and intercontinental flights. Conceivably, it could be faster to travel between Rome and New York than between Cincinnati and New York.
Here's your quiz:
How often do you fly?
Are you a pilot of a privately owned airplane?
When did you last travel by air to another country?
Was your last flight more time efficient than other transportation methods available?
What is more important to you, expediency or scenery?
Air Travel - The City In The Sky
Cliff (the High-Tech Redneck who doesn't rate a fancy 'signature pic') 
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Email Kirsten
"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."
~ Aesop - Fables ~
I try not to watch the news these days. It's too depressing, and it tends to be the same from one day to the next. There are always stories about thousands of people being laid off, contracts not being renewed, small business going out of business, and the economy just generally going more and more pear-shaped by the day. It's tough out there, and we are feeling the crunch within my own family. My husband is self-employed in an ailing sector, and there is a chance that his twenty-year-old business will not survive 2009. And I consider us to the one of the lucky ones, because at least I have a job. It's a contract position, but still. It's a job with a regular income that puts food on the table and shoes on the kids' feet. I am working on a project that is slated to go well into 2010, so while nothing is cast in concrete, there is an excellent chance of me being employed for at least another year. And who knows - by then things may have started to pick up again. As I say, I am one of the lucky ones. I really and truly feel for all of the people who find themselves without employment with families to support.
Ironically, in a time when some sectors are failing, there are some that are actually doing better as a result of the recession. One of them is adult education. Many people are getting laid off, and not seeing many short-term prospects for employment, are enrolling in training courses to gain new skills or expand on current ones. Another sector that seems to be doing well is therapy. When I was reading the paper in the subway this morning, I saw a full-page, full-colour ad for a therapist. "Is the recession getting to you?" the ad asked. "Is the economic downturn driving a wedge between you and your spouse and alienating you from your children?" Cripes. That all sounds a bit drastic. It does happen to some people, though. Stress can really tear families apart, whether the cause is financial hardship, the illness of a child, or a war. Anyway, the therapist featured in this ad promises to get ailing family relationships back on track and teach people how to constructively deal with stress. And I cannot help thinking that this particular therapist must be doing pretty well. I mean, this ad was impressive. You can't get a full-page full-colour spread in a newspaper for the same amount of money that you would pay for, say, a Diet Coke.
Interestingly, a couple of pages later, there was an article about stress relief in times of recession. It was similar to many other articles I've read about coping with stress. Diet, exercise, open dialogue with your spouse, adequate sleep, de-stressing hobbies, and so on. I've read it all many times before. After all, stress is stress is stress. The cause doesn't really have a lot to do with it. Stress resulting from the recession has the same mental and physiological effects as stress resulting from divorce or the loss of a loved one. What was different about this article, though, was a little sidebar entitled "De-Stress Tips". The brief point-form tips - five of them - are no doubt well-intentioned and accurate, but I cannot help taking them with just a little bit of salt.
Number One. Go for a brisk walk. OK, I can see the wisdom of this, as long as it's a nice balmy day out and you're not trying to balance on sheets of ice that refuse to melt from the sidewalks. We are in that awkward time of year where the temperatures vary by forty degrees from one day to the next. Forget one day to the next. This morning it was snowing. Later in the morning the freezing rain started and it was miserable to be outside. By the time I was coming home from work in the late afternoon, the sun was out and it was lovely. Going for a brisk walk is all very well when it's not cold enough for you to need to wear all the clothes you own, and when it's not hot enough for your skin to bubble. We have maybe nine days a year when the temperature is optimal for invigorating outdoor exercise.
Number Two. Rediscover your local library. Rediscover? That would imply that on some previous occasion, I had discovered it already. I have not discovered my local library. I have, however, discovered the gigantic central library in the city centre, which has free public wi-fi for me to use at lunch times, but I'm not sure this is what the author of "De-Stress Tips" had in mind.
Number Three. Take a guilt-free power nap. Are you serious? I read this seven hours ago, and the laughter still hasn't stopped.
Number Four. Play with your dog or cat. I don't have a dog or cat. Well, I do, but my cats are way over in South Africa at my Mom's place, and that's an awfully long way to go to scratch an animal behind the ears and rub its tummy.
Number Five. Start a journal. This one I have done, assuming a blog and a forum count as journals. I only seem to get time to post to them once in a blue moon, but they're there. I think the problem with this tip lies in the wording. Starting a journal serves no purpose at all. The tip should read, "Write in a journal more frequently than the lunar eclipses happen".
So there it is. If you follow these simple tips, you too can de-stress and survive the tough times. All I have to do to accomplish them is fix the weather, find out where the local library is, get a pet that lives in the same country as me, and add about eleven hours to every day.
Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten
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Today I want to talk about antivirus software. As you are probably aware, criminals are using move devious and sophisticated methods of trying to gain control of your computer or steal your personal information. A good antivirus program is your most important too in keeping your computer clean and virus-free. Chances are you have a program on your machine now. But if you have a new PC, it probably only came with a trial version of the software. While it will still run after your trial period runs out, it won't update its virus definitions. It is *critical* that you keep your virus definitions up-to-date.
Now, nobody likes to pay to keep their computer safe, so today I'm going to tell you about three free antivirus programs. They all do the same thing, so it doesn't matter which you pick. I'm going to tell you my opinion of them, your opinions may vary. And this is not an all-inclusive list, these are just three programs that either I have used or been asked to evaluate. Each of them is free for personal use, but if you're a business, you'll need to pay for your choice. With that said, it's on with the reviews.
The first one I'm going to talk about is Avira AntiVir. This program is pretty easy to use and does a good job. There were a few things I didn't like about it. If you want to include the anti-spyware module, it's going to cost you about $25/year. There are free anti-spyware programs available, but I like the convenience of having both in one program. Another thing is that when I ran a scan, I went to bed expecting it to be finished by the morning. Instead, it had found an old DOS program laying around that I used to use to reboot Windows and thought it was a virus. Now, all anti-virus programs will occasionally come up with a false positive, but what Avira did was stop and ask me what I wanted to do. I would have preferred that it finish the scan and then ask me. But over all, this is a good program that will fill your protection needs.
The next product I tried was Avast!. This one did have an anti-spyware component, which is good. However, it seemed to slow down my web surfing. Mind you, it just seemed that way to me, I might have been imagining it. But the user interface isn't the easiest to negotiate. Again, this could be because I'm a techie and I expect things to work in a certain way. It could work just fine for you.
The last one I'm going to tell you about is AVG Free. We decided to use the paid version of this at work because Norton Antivirus had become too expensive. This also has anti-spyware protection included. The scans will finish even if a virus is found, and it will ask you what to do or in a lot of cases, just take care of it itself. The down side is that it wants to schedule a scan every day, often when you first turn on your computer. You can turn the scan off, but I don't recommend that. Instead, you should adjust it to scan at a certain time of day when you aren't using your computer much.
Even with this protection, I highly recommend you scan with Malwarebytes at least on a weekly basis. So check your AV to make sure it is updating, and if it is a trial version that has expired, download one of these free versions. Keep yourself protected, and surf safely.
Tim a'Musing
Having a Ball with Yarns
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Uses for old newspaper:
Line a pet's sleeping box. - NorCalKat
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Not too bad. Give this one a go!
Next opening line...
A young politician from Maine...
Hints: Here's a great new rhyming/composition tool. http://www.writerhymes.com/
There's also a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/
Limerick rules. http://freespace.virgin.net/merrick.sheldon/limerickrules.htm
Submit Opening Line
Submit Limerick
The last time I went to a bar
I lit up a Cuban cigar
But the barman said, 'Hell!
Put that thing out, Fidel!'
Which struck me as somewhat bizarre - Julian, England |
The last time I went to a bar
I took my electric guitar
I did two one-hour sessions
Of Hendrix impressions
But nobody called me a star - Julian, England |
The last time I went to a bar
I thought I'd behave like a star
But they thought me insane
When I shouted, 'Champagne!
And bring out your best caviar!' - Julian, England |
The last time I went to a bar---
Was the last time I drove my car---
I was so blind drunk
that I hit a big skunk
that flew far, far, far, far, far, far, far. - Cassandra in New York |
The last time I went to a bar
I wanted to be a rock star
So, Karaoke I did try
Raising my voice to the sky
And playing on my air guitar. - Bonnie |
There once was a stripper from Vegas
Who had a very bad case of gas.
She broke the city code
When she did explode
And bad things did come to pass. - E. Cole Aye |
There once was a stripper from Vegas
Who would refuse to show her ass
She'd show all her breasts
But her butt she detests
For it's as big as a bus. - E. Cole Aye |
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Links to online editions of RGQ
http://www.reallygoodquotesonline.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reallygoodquotes/
Re: Cell Phones
A cell phone can be invaluable to folks in the course of a days work, particularly those who need to maintain contact with their office while they're out and about. But not when you're driving. And definitely make those calls private...most of the idiots with an ear piece talk louder than normal.
In October 1995, I bought a 1996 Buick Century. I kept the car in good condition mechanically and had 72 K miles on the clock. In 2005 I decided to keep it until the wheels fell off...I was getting fairly good gas mileage with overdrive and it was paid for! Over the next two years I invested in a brake overhaul, new headliner and upholstery, a paint job, and even replaced the motors for the driver and passenger side windows that often stuck in really hot or really cold weather.
In October 2008, I was headed for my Computer Maintenance store. I was behind a lady that was speeding up and slowing down, drifting from side to side. I passed her as soon as I could and put about a half mile between us. When I slowed down to turn into the parking lot in front of the computer store, she rear ended me at 50 mph. She was still on the phone. I got out of the car and went back to hers to see if she was hurt (Dammit, she wasn't), and with her phone to her ear said, "I didn't see you".
Although my car was drivable, the insurance company totaled it. I loved that car. I hate cell phones. - sied
I have a cell phone that I got to take to court with me. I have 400 free minutes per month. I never remember to take it with me, and only use it when I am walking my dog and remember to take it, and owe someone a call. I truly don't understand the attraction to places like Twitter and Face Book. Instant messaging baffles me. There are so many cheap ways to stay connected, that people seem to need to use all of them to feel worthwhile. I call, therefore I am. - Lucille
Re: Cliff's Quiz
I have 4 evergreens at the street, and a large Maple behind the house. The local forests are mostly cleared for farming, but there are some remaining and some recovering. When standing among trees at my friend's places, my chances of seeing beyond them is about 30%. Dry, standing firewood is free for the asking, along with a few good saw logs. I'm not good at identifying most trees, but our "weed" tree is Poplar. Black Spruce is another local feature. My favourite shrub is the Saskatoon, which produces a variation on the Blueberry theme, at a more convenient height.
BTW, Newfoundland has a bush that produces "Redberries." A visitor saw some red berries, and enquired "Are those Redberries?" "No, maam," came the lilting reply "Those are Blueberries. They're only red because they're green."
Bob's Quiz: Who's turn is it to answer the next one? - Bob of the Northern Boreal Forest, Southern Fringe.
I decided to respond to Cliff's Quiz, and grabbed a pad and pencil. Then a pen since the pencil wasn't sharpened. Then opened this up to jot down notes since the ballpoint pen was dry. I drew the line at using a Sanford Magnum 44 Permanent Marker with a three quarter inch chisel point tip. (That does have ink!) Here's my responses:
How many trees: Twelve and a half. One pine is still waiting removal after it snapped in pieces during a wind storm. The estimated costs for removal I received from three different tree removal companies has me shopping on line for a do-it-yourself termite kit.
Large stands of trees: The government plants Loblolly pine everywhere there's a 'nekid' spot. Loggers keep cutting them down. Developers clear cut the land and then plant trees in between houses. Answer...Yes and No, depending on what part of the cycle you're in.
What kind of trees: Gorgeous oaks, some a few hundred years old. Pines. Palms. Pecans. All sorts of fruit trees, many growing wild where old plantations once stood.
Identify a tree: What sort of tobacco do you smoke Cliff? I never heard a tree bark before and I can't tell the difference between dog breeds by their bark either. The best I can do on dog identification by bark is identify rat dogs (Little ones your wife carries in her purse), small dogs (Like pekes that get so nervous they pee themselves), medium size dogs, (That play fetch with you and salivate down the side of your car when you take them for a ride with the window down), and big damned dogs (The ones who mostly growl and lust for the marrow in your leg bones). - sied
Gee Cliff, we live in the Pacific Northwest--so there's a lot of trees here. Our house (rental) has apple, cherry, Rhododendron (they get tree size here), holly, and nearby are pine, spruce, fir and innumerable deciduous trees. We live in an older housing complex where many of the original trees were left around the homes that were built, and it's away from the city more. We have large stands of what I would call forest near us, this being trees of some age with impenetrable undergrowth. And yes, believe it or not, I can identify a lot of trees b bark and leaf! Not from being ordinarily perceptive though, it comes from coaching my husband 25 years ago when he was going through his Forestry Tech classes. I'm better with birds actually since my grandmother used to bird watch out he windows when I was a kid.
I took a trip back to Oklahoma for a visit a couple of weeks ago and I just now figured out what kept bothering me about the city. (Other than my sinuses, of course!) I've lived here for ten years now and gotten used to being surrounded by a lot of trees that don't drop leaves or needles. The trees there are mostly deciduous so they are a little bare right now. In warmer weather it's very green there, where I'm used to it year round here. - Ruth in WA
There are 3 trees in my yard, all leafy, and one huge old pine tree directly behind the back fence. The nearest WOODS is about two blocks from the house. Here in northern Ohio we call a collection of trees a Woodland area. I guess some of the big parks can be called forests.
The forests that bother me A Lot are the ones out west. I've walked through the Lincoln Forest in New Mexico, where Smokey the Bear was found as a cub during a major fire many years ago. He's buried in a special park in Capitan, NM that the state's firefighters built to teach people about forest fires. Lincoln Forest is so different from Cliff's or my area, I was amazed! I always though of a woodland as a place so thick with trees one could hardly see into it very far. Out there, the pines are all growing so far apart one would think they're in one of England's manicured parks! And every tree in the forest IS a pine tree. Since pine sap is what causes fires to spread so fast, and since those forests are all pine, it doesn't surprise me at all when the news announces that hundreds of acres are burning in California and other places out there. My favorite part of forest / woods watching is in the fall when the leaves turn and you can see huge areas of quilt-patch-like sweeps of colors as you drive along. The most impressive area I've ever seen was in West Virginia, along I-77 through the mountains in October. I guess Vermont looks good, too, but you can't beat our own display! Pine forests don't look that good in any season. - Nancy L in Ohio
Re: Kirsten's Krazy Kaleidoscope
I enjoy Kirsten's family stories more than the regular articles: sorry!
NOT that I don't enjoy the regular articles, but... - Jan from Chicago
Re: Malware Problems
Ruth in WA said: Tim--just wanted to say thanks for helping us again. I decided to download the Malware program last night after reading what you said about it. Woowee did it find stuff that shouldn't have been there! A Trojan, a virus our scanner missed, and 13 infected issues! Hopefully that will clear up some problems old "Cranky" has been having lately. Well, other than age and needing to be replaced, that is!
My pleasure, Ruth. And thanks for reminding readers that *everyone* should download and scan with Malwarebytes on a regular basis. Like I mentioned, we had a Trojan get loose behind our firewall and nothing else we normally use could detect it, let alone remove it. I'm proud to include it in my "must have" security list, and will be sure to pass your comment on to them. Tim (Buffalo, NY)
Reader Submission
Dora sent in an article about "declawing" plutonium and making the world a safer place.
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