Surf The Net, Walk Dangerously
Don’t you know that while you’re surfing the Net, you’re like walking dangerously? Dangers abound — avoid these menaces by getting yourself familiar with them. Get yourself aware with these landmines that litter the internet.
Are you new on the internet? You will get invitations as fast as you can say yes. You’re surely come across pop-up advertisements or e-mail messages inviting you to join a program and you will receive rewards or will make you rich.
I believe that there is really this dark side of cyberspace. And the American watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission has warned and has listed these scams that are most likely to arrive in your e-mail inbox.
Here are some of them:
- Bulk E-Mails. This is considered spamming. Internet service providers prohibit their users to send bulk e-mails. This scam will send you e-mail offering from a list of e-mail addresses. This is by the millions, where you can send your own bulk solicitations. With the promise of scammers that this will make you rich. And they will offer you the service of sending bulk e-mail solicitations on your behalf. Or software will be offered to you that will automate the sending of e-mail to hundreds or even millions of recipients.
- Business Opportunities. This is an illegal pyramid scheme. Scammers will entice you to start a business without investing on it, without much work and promises lots of income. That you’ll receive cash without selling anything and someone will do it for you.
- Chain Letters. Don’t believe it. Chain letters are only chain letters, there are no valuable in them. You’ll be ask a small amount of money, let’s say $5, to each names on a list, replace one of the names on the list with your own. Then you will be instructed to send the revised e-mail via bulk.
- Work-At-Home Schemes. You’ll pay a small fee to get started. A promise of income while you stuff envelopes at home. But you will be offered to buy supplies or even equipment. Spammers promise to buy those later, but never will.
- Health And Diet Scams. These are pure gimmicks. Scammers will brag about their herbal formulas and pills. About cures for hair loss and impotence. Believe me, this will never ever work.
- Effortless Income. This is what they call, get-rich-quick schemes. This will give you promises of unlimited profits or income. Newsletters with a variety of easy-money opportunities, exchanging money on world markets. The perfect sales letter — the secret to making $4 million in one day! Hahaha.
- Free Goods. Another form of pyramid schemes. The scammers will get all the money — little or none at all goes to people who pay to participate. You’ll receive e-mail messages offering valuable goods, such as computers, phone cards or electronic items. You’ll be asked to pay a fee to join a club and you have to bring in a certain number of participants.
- Vacation Prize Promos. An electronic certificate will be received, congratulating you on winning a grand vacation for a very attractive price. Believe me, the cruise ship you will be book on may look like a tugboat. Huh!
Don’t allow yourself to be a victim of these landmines that litters the internet.
Chinese-made Toys, No way!
Chinese-made toys contain dangerous chemicals!
Toys are expected to be hot seller this holiday season. No matter what, just to maximize profit is what really matter to these retailers and manufacturers. Is this a prize for a cheap labor and bigger profit?
Retailers around the world including nations around China scrambled to pull popular toy brands off the shelves. This is after selling all of them to not suspecting consumers, our innocent children. Too late! The chemicals from these Chinese-made toys were found to mimic the effects of the so called date rape drug. Spin Master Ltd. Distribute these health hazard toys in North America.
These Chinese-made toys are being sold by all retailers here in America and that includes Target Corp. and Wal-Mart stores. Are these manufacturers and retailers exists just for mere profit? What the heck! Know what? This is substituting toxic chemical with a safe type of glue during manufacturing. What is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission doing?
Are these Chinese companies don’t know better? Are they using cheap products or just cutting corners? Their issue about child labor has not been resolved yet. And now there is another bigger issue. And come to think of it, it is about safety issue of children — of our children.
Recognized one of these? Aquadots, Bindeez, Moose Enterprises of Melbourne, Australia.
Crash Of The US Economy
Slowing US Economy
Companies will be forced into bankruptcy. And so their valuations and stock prices are falling down across the board. There will be belt tightening this coming year for workers and their dependents.
The heart of financial system of America will announce a painful write-off of loan accounts. Hedge funds will be closing its doors and equity funds will have a disappointing report on returns. Interest rates are set by people who run financial institutions — Central Bank.
Is the US economy aging? Slowing down? Is this the beginning of the crash of US economy? Are the US economic planners to blame? The one that benefited from this is the Bush Family, who is with an insider government connection — Carlyle Group.
The US economy, weighted down by the subprime credit crisis that started in the middle of the year. The global investment banks ended on losses, disastrous note, layoffs and marred by profit warnings. The signs are clear, indeed there is slowing and aging of US Economy.
There is a slowdown in the US economy and one of the reasons is the tight competition among exporters. There is an anemic performance of exports in the first 10 months, short of meeting the target. Government should protect our exporters.
There should be overhaul and reform to get back our economy on the right tract. The real cause of this crisis is monetary. Income assurance policy should be set-up for the benefit and welfare of every citizen of this country. Or should we say “In God We Trust”.
Happy New Year to All!
Merry Christmas “Baby Boomers”, Merry Christmas “Mom” and “Dad”
The “baby boomer” generation is generally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. Since there was indeed a “baby boom” after the second world war.
“Baby Boomers” are the most educated and successful generation ever. They are taking an active role in their own career and wellness as well. This is a switch from their parents’ generation, who trusted that “doctor knows best.” Distrustful and skeptical, “Baby Boomers” are more likely to seek out information for any given situations. As they reach their golden years, this penchant for challenging authority will no doubt carry over into investigating the best solutions to any given problems.
Far from growing old graciously and fading away, the generation that taught us to rock and roll, to shop till you drop and to be “Me”, with attitude, with style, is doing it their way, and better than anyone else before. And as life expectancy continuous to increase, they will be doing it for longer period of time.
The rebellious and carefree attitudes that epitomized the “Baby Boomer” generation have begun to change as they enter the mid-century mark. In their youth, they could afford to fight the establishment, mock the authority, and champion causes. They were looking for something to rebel against, and their parents were an easy target. Now, they are the establishment and their parents are older and need assistance and not resistance.
The first baby boomers are now in their 60’s and 50’s and are just as “Me” as ever. And unlike their parents, they want to remain active and to carry on working. They want to rediscover learning — often something different from the profession they have practiced in their working lives.
Bill Clinton, the first “baby Boomer” president, is also the youngest former US president at age 56. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and action star Sylvester Stallone are in their 50’s. Gray is cool for the “Baby Boomers”. Harrison Ford, who was recently voted “The Sexiest Man Alive” at age 56 by People Magazine. Some relatively older women are also cast as sexy stars, like Sigourney Weaver, Cybil Shepherd and Susan Sarandon, who are in their 50’s. And surely our next president would be a “Baby boomer”. Wanna bet?
Most of all “Baby Boomers” want to keep looking good. Plastic surgery, face-lifts, Botox, Spas, gyms are the booming business to be in. As “Baby Boomers” got adapted and older, they never quite forgot the obsession with youth. For them, what in means to be middle-aged is now re-defined. No more or no longer is it “over-the-hill”. Now, when they want to do something, it is a new opportunity to do what they want to do. It’s “baby Boomers” second chance to relive their youth.
Recognize any of these? Jackie O, JFK, Women’s Lib, Mary Quant, Mrs. Robinson, Viet Cong, My Favorite Martian, hot pants, bell bottom, Love Story, Let it be, “I like to teach the world to sing”, and disco fever. hahaha
Merry Christmas “Baby Boomers”! Merry Christmas “Mom” and ” Dad”!
Eyes Looking at You
Security measures have a quantum leap from what we knew before. This is a result of increasing paranoid world where the fear of terrorist attack looms.
Today, there are many kinds of surveillance devices available. They sound straight out of science fiction but they are, in fact, very real and are actually being used especially here in America. This includes covert video surveillance cameras, video transmitters, recorders, monitors, wireless security camera systems and remote video surveillance technology.
Here, we use the “backscatter x-ray machines” that can enable a person to see through truck walls to detect weapons, explosives, bombs, drugs or even illegal immigrants trying to cross our boarders. Extreme surveillance such as the infrared thermal imaging cameras are being used as security accessories to government, commercial, law enforcement agencies and even residential houses.
In Great Britain, the government has saturated the nation with closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTVs). An average visitor to London gets captured on surveillance video about 300 times in a single day. Would you believe that there were more than four million CCTV cameras all over Great Britain? This will translates to around one CCTV camera for every 15 people! Huh!
Surveillance cameras are not just to deter terrorism or a crime. They can also help with employee quality assurance, productivity and traffic flow. By having these cameras management can make decisions about safety, compliance and the best service to their customers.
BIOMETRICS: Highest Security for your Business
Companies of today use the state-of-the-art technology or computer systems that identify and verify authorized personnel to access their facilities. This system is called biometrics.
Here at Meeks Management, Inc., we employ biometrics to give authorized personnel access to our facilities or data centers. Information are kept in confidential and in high-performance and high-speed computers.
This advancement in biometric technology that we use is the same as the ones used by banks to prevent unauthorized access to or fraudulent use of automated teller machines. It can be used during transactions conducted via Internet and telephone (e-banking and e-commerce). This is the same technology used in mobile phones, smart cards. We use biometrics on our desktop personal computers, workstations and computer networks.
There are various types of biometric techniques for real-time identification and verification that you can use. The most popular are the face recognition and fingerprint matching system. In addition, there are other systems that use retinal scan and iris, facial recognition, hand geometry and speech.
So, why not say goodbye to the primitive and the traditional methods of identification, the use of passwords and Personal Identification Number (PIN). Here are my reasons using biometrics system in our workplace:
- Point-of-verification. On our time-clock and work stations, the person authorized to access the facility is required to be physically present.
- Biometrics avoids the need to remember a password or carry a token. This token-based method of identification, such as driver’s licenses or passport may be forged, stolen or lost.
In this information age and increased use of computers, we need to restrict access to sensitive data, company secrets, financial information and other data confidential and important to our line of business. This biometric system is either a verification system or an identification system. I suggest that in designing the system, it is important to know where, when and how you will use this system that counts.
