A long time ago I heard these words of Wisdom from a tech: There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who do back up their files and those who WILL back up their files. If your are like most people in the world, you don't think about backing up until you experience some kind of fatal error. You get a virus, your hard drive begins to fail, etc. Then you scramble around trying to back up your crucial files. I have learned form experience (read "I didn't do it the first couple of tim...
This is not officially confirmed, but has been reported in a number of places. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is believed to have been captured in a raid east of Baghdad. Al-Zarqawi was recently dubbed as Bib Laden's senior deputy and "as al Qaeda's leader in Iraq." Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian by birth, is one of the senior terrorists in the Middle East. On Sunday, his group released a video tape of five Iraqi security men being brutally executed. The five were lined up with their hands tied behind t...
America has committed $350 million in aid to the survivors of the tsunami in Asia, becoming the second largest financial donor. (Japan, bless it's generosity, has committed $500 million in aid.) The US has also committed our ships, planes, helicopters and a 1000-bed hospital ship, the the USNS Mercy, to the efforts to help the victims of the devastation. President Bush has also enlisted the aid of former Presidents Bush and Clinton to help with fund-raising. What makes these efforts partic...
I'm a little late this year, but let me wish Happy Hanukkah to all. Although best known as a Jewish holiday, Hanukkah is a celebration of the triumph of freedom over oppression, a theme that we can all relate to. If you are not familiar with the story of Hanukkah, I have posted a link to my JoeUser blog which explains the history behind the holiday. At this time of year, I encourage everyone to reflect on their freedom to follow their own traditions and how hard won that freedom is and...
Interesting article at CNN. Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year. Their definition is "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks." How do I get them to add "See JoeUser.com for example?"
Last night there was a riot in Detroit. I can think of no other word to describe what happened at the Pistons/Pacers game. Fans attacked athletes, athletes went into the stands after fans, security couldn't control the melee. It was a nightmare. I'm a sports fan. I root for the Pistons. I was overjoyed that the Pistons beat the Lakers for the Championship last year. Until last night, I would have used the word "character" in a positive way to describe the Pistons team. But his morning, I a...
I have been trying the new Desktop Search utility from Google. My first reaction is that it is good. Really, really good. The utility lets search for a topic from your email (Outlook or Outlook Express), AIM chat logs, Word Documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets and even web history. Easy to use, easy to configure. A very useful utility. You install the software and it creates an icon in the task tray. It takes a short while to index all the data on your hard drive. The...
In a little over two hours, it will be my birthday. Forty-nine years old, or NOT-YET-FIFTY as I prefer to think of it. A time for retrospection and introspection, but not any inspections I hope! "Ya say its yer birthday, well happy birthday to you!" I was born on September 30th, 1955, the day that James Dean died. I was born in Da Bronx, Nu Yawk and lived there until I was thirty. My earliest memories are of those streets. It was always cold in the winter, the boiler in our building wou...
With great reluctance, Wal-Mart has agreed to stop selling "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion," an infamous anti-Semitic tract. Yet, in a memo to Reuters, a Wal-Mart spokesperson refused to label the book as a fake and simply said that it was withdrawn as a "business decision." From the 1880's until World War I, Czarist Russia conducted a campaign of harrassment and murder against the Russian Jewish population. Jews were exiled into the area called the Pale of Settlement, where n...
Still in Beta, Amazon is developing a new search engine aimed at dethroning Google. Actually the search engine is based in part on Google technology, but boy is it slick! Here are some of the features: A9.com remembers your information. You can keep your own notes about any web page and search them; it is a new way to store and organize your bookmarks; it even recommends new sites and favorite old sites specifically for you to visit. With the A9 Toolbar all your web browsing history wi...
In the wake of the Russian school massacre, President Putin ripped what he sees as an hypocritical US policy toward terrorism. The US has met with Chechnyan separtist leaders in the recent past. President Putin offered this comparison: "Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?" the Russian leader said. "You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealing...
If you have not followed the hostage taking and subsequent murders in Russia, I must urge to do so. Unpleasant as it is, as a member of humanity, you must bear witness to this. 322 dead. At least 155 of those killed were children. CHILDREN! The terrorists had taken over 1,000 people hostages. First reports indicated that most of the deaths occured when Russian security forces blew holes in the building to storm it. But as details emerge, we find that many of the dead were shot in the back,...
"Mighty Rome is fallen...." When last we left this history, the Roman Empire under Constantine had adopted Christianity as the state religion, the Gnostics had been driven underground and the Jews were suffering from intermittent persecutions within the Empire. We should perhaps look at the Roman Empire. At the height of the Empire, Roman power spanned to the North and South, to the East and West of the Mediterranean Sea. A map of Rome at the height of it's glory can be found at http://...
We have seen how, after Nicea, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. But what about the Jews? In 70 AD, after a bitter rebellion, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The rebellion lasted from 66 AD to 73 AD. According to both Tacitus and Josephus 1.1 million Jews died and 97,000 were sold into slavery. (Personally, I think this figure is over-stated and that Tacitus accepted Josephus as his source. But regardless of the exact numbers, there was a tremendo...
I have been writing a series of articles on religion and history. The response has been more favorable than I would have imagined. I haven't offended anybody.....yet! Which is good, because, although I am careful, religion is a touchy subject. But I will tell you that I have put a LOT of work into this. Why? Well, I am teaching a 7th Grade class that deals with comparative religion and I think electronic notes are better than handouts. But that is not the reason. I am teaching the class a...