Friday, March 18, 2011

A "cabin fever" walk, and a serious note on donating.

Went for a walk up the hill today.  It hasn't rained for, oh, 6 to 10 hours, so we didn't have the water running down the hill in a creek.  So I figured it was ok.  And going UP the hill, it was.  However, when I reached the top, there were ponds, puddles, and the UPPER creek was running.  I was already up there, and decided, darn it, I want to walk.  So I did walk, a little.  If hopping over puddles, fording small creeks, and trying not to swamp myself with water counts as walking...  I made it to the 4th lap, before the combination of my ankle acting up, (I think I Tae Bo'd too much yesterday), and the difficulty of staying upright in ankle deep water made me a bit timid, I guess. 

But the thing that ended the merry game, was Rudee.  The neighbor dogs, as usual, started barking once they saw us.  They ran to the fence, and Rudee ran over.  Next thing I know, he's on the OTHER SIDE, running with the other dogs!  I got out my "p****d drill seargent" voice (Thank you for the term, FIL), and called Rudee back.  I wasn't angry at him, just didn't want him to run over to the neighbor's, after all the problems I have had with said neighbors keeping their dogs home!

So, I think I have finally got to admit, I shouldn't walk for a bit, at least laps.  I will still take Rudee out, but we might just wander around the lower pasture, or up and back a few times, because when I need water wings, it's just too wet.  Tae Bo...  Well, at least it's fun, even if I can't have Rudee work out with me.

However.

On the bright side, I hadn't been able to figure out how the dratted mutts kept coming over.  Now I know.  I am planning on bringing up some T-posts and putting them in the way of the hole.  They are diggy little snots, I will put posts there, and the little suckers can dig away.  Hopefully the posts will fall on them!  Then they can check if they have carbide teeth, otherwise, they will have to dig a new hole through the fence.  I suppose I should do it today, we shall see, my ankle is uncomfortable, might be tomorrow.  It will be done, however, now that I know where the hole is, I don't want to make the way easy for either side's dogs.

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 And, I don't know if anyone reading is wanting to donate online, but a gent from the SO sent over this article, if you are thinking of donating, you might do some reasearch...  This is from Watch Guard Security.

Unfortunately, it almost goes without saying in this day and age; when some big event or unfortunate disaster happens, scummy malware pushers will jump all over it in hopes of enticing the news hungry masses to malicious sites and downloads. This unfortunate trend hasn’t failed to disgust me yet again with Japan’s recent earthquake and nuclear catastrophes.


Within hours of the first earthquake, scammers had already launched malicious campaigns to lure the worried global audience to phising sites masquarading as aide sites, and had also started massive spamming campaigns targeting donors who want to help Japan.

One of the techniques attackers increasingly use in these situations is called Black Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is a technique where attackers leverage the same SEO methods marketers use to get their web sites to prominently display with certain search results; only the attacker falsely links popular search phrases to a malicious site. Attackers are aggressively leveraging these Black Hat SEO techniques to tie their malicious phishing sites to the Japanese earthquake disaster. So you should definately be careful when searching for earthquake news on Google and other search engines.
 I have a strong personal tie to Japan. I lived there for four years in the 80s, when I was younger. Many of my childhood memories are distinctly Japanese. So when I hear about these despicable criminals trying to make a buck off a country’s pain… well, I can’t really put to words how angry I feel. That’s why I want to make sure these crooks don’t succeed. As you receive email about the Japan disaster, or search for the latest information, please be wary of the links you click. While I encourage you to help out in some way, you should also be careful of who you are donating to. Finally, tell all your friends about these potential scams. If we all band together, maybe we can prevent these hoodlums from profiting from Japan’s pain. – Corey Nachreiner, CISSP


http://watchguardsecuritycenter.com/2011/03/16/scummy-attackers-preying-on-japanese-disaster-for-a-buck/

 


So, please don't let scum suckers win, donate, but be careful!  One way to avoid fake sites, type in the name of the place you want to donate, ON YOUR OWN.  You can use a search engine (i.e. Google) too, just make sure you have https  on the donation portion of your web page.  (The "s" part stands for secure.)  Or, you can always go "old school" and donate by mail, or through a charity you know and trust by other means.

Not an expert, just something that tripped my trigger.

Thanks!

4 comments:

Sharon said...

Walking not in the cards for you huh? It shouldn't be long and the mess will dry up, although April Showers, does tickle my memory.

I have a hard time trusting any sites anymore. I think best to watch the news on tv and not search sites for the latest.

Rain said...

Thanks for the heads up-on your trigger being tripped! Very important-people need to donate-but then later do not need to hear about the scams-before is so much better! Keep your feet dry!!~~stay well!

messymimi said...

There are walking exercise videos that you can do in your living room, and a couple of sites that sell them have "try before you buy" demos you can use free. Those might be an alternative to check out if you get tired of the videos you have.

The organizations i donate to anyway, like World Vision and Samaritan's Purse, as well as the Red Cross, are already on site within hours of a disaster, so i just give a little extra to them. That way, i know it's not going into some sleazy jerk's pockets. Thanks for the reminder to be careful, though, because sometimes the scum try to mimic the sites of even the reputable charities.

bon bon said...

good point to make, cat! i just went to redcross.org as i've never encountered problems with them in the past.

if i may also add, remember to search out animal rescue organizations as well.