Cyber Stalking

I saw this today on LinkedIn:

It is funny and a meme, but it's also true(for the most part). In the old days, pre-internet, if you knew just about everything about someone's business background prior to dealing with them face to face, you were flattering them by having taken the time out to research them.

Today, it's a lot easier to pull off, but I have to wonder...couldn't this be considered cyber stalking? I know it's bullshit, but that is basically what's going on.

This happens on social media sites like Facebook all of the time. Some people are not aware how much of their life they publish online. Or if they are, they don't realize how they are giving up their privacy.

A lot of times, people they are connecting with aren't even real. I know of someone who set up a fake profile  on Facebook using pictures that were made public on the actual person's timeline. The person with the fake account started sending friend requests to students at a nearby university and had amassed almost 100 "friends" in just ONE DAY!

WTF, people?

The moral of the story is be careful with your personal data online.

BBC News - Nexen's Buzzard North Sea oil field shut down after 'steam release'

BBC News - Nexen's Buzzard North Sea oil field shut down after 'steam release': 'via Blog this'

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

SMBC Time Travel funny...

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

'via Blog this'

Houma-Thibodaux ranks high among ‘mega-commuter' cities | HoumaToday.com

I made the local paper!

Talking about my Mega-Commute to work every day.
Houma-Thibodaux ranks high among ‘mega-commuter' cities | HoumaToday.com: 'via Blog this'

SMBC on Surveillance & Privacy

Funny!

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: 'via Blog this'

$#! + Roni Sez

So we took the kids to eat at Raising Cane's, a local chicken tenders chain Saturday. Roni takes her kids meal bag and crushes the top closed, saying that she is "saving some air".

We didn't think much of it at the time. When we got home later, she said "here... Smell the air, it smells like chicken & French fries! ", while she held out the bag. We got a kick out of it.

The next morning, she was very upset. We asked why and her reply was that "all of the air was gone and it didn't smell like chicken anymore!"

The shit that kid comes up with...

WH Petition to Investigate HAARP, CHEMTRAILS, and...

Editor's Note:This was supposed to go in my Interesting News Items blog not sure if it was my mistake or if the updated Blogger for Android app sent it to the wrong blog.

Not sure what they are trying to accomplish with this petition...if this is really going on, do you think that the government would actually admit to it?

We, the People, DEMAND an immediate, thorough and honest investigation into GEO-ENGINEERING, HAARP, & "CHEMTRAILS" | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government

Fairly Accurate Though Sensationalized Article on Deepwater Oil and Gas Industry

This guy has most of it right, though he makes it sound like they are using a lot of untried tech. Also, the water depth that he states is not the deepest water drilled in for the Gulf of Mexico.

The offshore drilling life: cramped and dangerous - Yahoo! Finance

OFTAS Podcast (Or Roni Giving Game TIps for Wipeout on X-Box)

I have been thinking about starting a podcast...mainly about the same stuff or similar things I post about here. I have been waiting for the time and the motivation to do it.
Well, I finally got it. My youngest daughter was playing around with my wife's iPod Touch and decided that she was going to pretend that she was a host on the X-Box game from ABC "Wipeout". So she recorded an intro and then started giving game tips. It was too cute coming from a 5 year old, so I had to post it somewhere.

I found a free podcasting host called Podbean. They have free and paid solutions, so I signed up for a free account. It was really easy to do from my PC, but I had trouble when I initially attempted to create the account from my Android tablet. Unsure what the issue was.

They host *.mp3 files, so I found a free *.m4a converter and turned it into an *.mp3. Uploading was easy on the Podbean platform. Now the OFTAS Blog has a podcast also. I embedded a player here to the right that will play the latest episode.

Click to DOWNLOAD an *mp3 file of Roni's first podcast.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

7 Signs We Are Heading for a Mass Extinction?

7 Signs We Are Heading for a Mass Extinction

So what I want to know is if this has been building up for a while (ref. Part about extinction of megafauna), and the climate change we are experiencing is not entirely the fault of human activity, how can we avert a Mass Extinction? I am all for conservation and preserving/repairing the environment where we can, I don't see how we can impact this natural process enough to change this trend.

Photo Christmas Card Giveaway

Go read this post and comment for a chance to win a discount on some photo Christmas cards.

Valeroni: Shutterfly Christmas cards!! (and a giveaway!)

TiVo settles lawsuit against Verizon for $250.4M

Could bring Verizon/Redbox joint venture for streaming titles to Tivos.

TiVo settles lawsuit against Verizon for $250.4M - New Orleans Local News, Weather, Sports, Investigations: 'via Blog this'

File this as "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? "

So, the neighbors in the back had roof damage from Hurricane Gustave...

Twice since then we have believed that they were beginning to repair the damage. Twice we have been disappointed. They only put up more tarps.

Here we are 24 hours or so from landfall of Tropical Storm / Hurricane Isaac and they decide to "Tarp Up"!

Watch "Idiot neighbors prepare for Isaac" on YouTube

Let me know what you think.

The Naive Optimist • Video: Six principles from my life

The Naive Optimist • Video: Six principles from my life: 'via Blog this'

And that’s how my whole week has been going. — TheBloggess.com

Kudos on the almond milk!


And that’s how my whole week has been going. — TheBloggess.com: 'via Blog this'

Cajun Justice! I am SO Embarrassed!

Just in case anyone watches this excuse for a reality show and thinks that the situations were real and that people around here are that stupid... ALL FAKE!

Record-setting 2012 Warmth!!!

I found this interesting. We have been having record-setting high temps...leading some to say "See, I told you so! Global warming is real!"  Funny thing is, I have never denied that it appears that the world is getting warmer. I just don't believe that we humans are affecting it that much. Either side of the debate can use this to support their case, so I make no claims either way.


Record-setting 2012 warmth largely confined to North America, western Europe | Ars Technica:
'via Blog this'

How YOU Can 'Stick It To The Man'!

You may or may not have ever had thoughts of getting one over on the government...other than whatever deductions you can take on your taxes. There are many ways that you can 'Stick It" as evidenced by the list described by the CNI Blog.

 I picked my favorite ones to discuss here. I didn't invent the ideas I cover below, but I believe in them.


Save your money instead of spending it.

     If you don't spend your money, you don't have to pay taxes on it again. If you don't spend your money, you have it available in case of emergencies. If you don't spend you money, you have a resource that can enable you to purchase something if a great deal suddenly pops up. (yeah, I know, kinda like a Yogi statement.)

Pay cash for your car. 

     This one also deals with not spending your money, just that it may not be as obvious. If you pay cash for your car, you are buying what you can afford to spend. You don't have to worry if you suddenly lose your job or illness or disaster hits your family leaving you unable to pay a car note. You also don't have to worry about the extra money that you have to pay for the privilege of using a bank or finance association (interest).

Become self employed.  

     There is no better way to stick it to the man if the man happens to be your boss or the company that you work for. Tired of watching them make wrong decisions? Tired them killing innovation? Tired of short-sighted management practices? Start your own business and show them how it should be done!

Learn how to follow the rules.  

     By learning to follow the rules, you learn what the rules are. By knowing what the rules are, you know how far you can push the envelope. These days, it seems that the only way to succeed is by pushing the envelope further than most people are willing to go, while still staying within the rules.

Don't get on the government dole. 

     This one is PARAMOUNT! If you are existing on government money, then you have no freedom to do what you want. They want for you to think you have freedom, but the whole while, they restrict what you can do, where, & when you can do it. Plus, there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that you did it on your own!

Code Name Insight: 10 Ways to 'Stick It To The Man':

'via Blog this'

RFID Tracking in the Oilfield

RFID tracking has lots of uses in lots of places these days. A Norwegian firm is bringing a drillpipe tracking solution to market for commercial use in the oilfield. The technology was developed as part of a Joint Industry Project with ENI, Statoil, and ConocoPhillips.

For those of you who aren't sure what this means or what this is about, here are some key terms and ideas:


Drillpipe - this is the term used for the pipe that drilling rigs use to drill wellbores. multiple "joints" of drillpipe are connected together by threaded ends to create the drillstring. This conveys the bottom hole assembly (BHA) down the wellbore to drill the rock.
 

Drillstring fatigue - Since drillstring lengths can be upwards of 40,000 feet long, the combined weight of all of the drill pipe and the BHA can be many thousands of pounds. Running the drillstring in and out of the wellbore stretches the metal in the drillpipe and weakens it, causing drillstring fatigue.

Drillpipe is normally rented or owned by drilling contrators such as Transocean, Ensco, Stena, or Maersk. Manual tracking of this drillpipe activity gives an idea of how many times and how much stress lots of drillpipe may have been under, but is not always accurate.

With RFID tracking, companies will be able to implement "Cradle to Grave" tracking of individual joints of drillpipe, thus enabling better predictability of drillstring fatigue, since they will know exactly how many times each joint of drillpipe has been run and exactly how much strain it has been under.

You can read the original article from Rigzone at the link below.

RIGZONE - Statoil, Trac ID Deal Marks Breakthrough for RFID in Upstream Industry:

'via Blog this'

Extra Knowledge

Most land wells in "Shale Plays" are drilled to depths of 8,000 - 12,000 feet.

Wells drilled on land, inland waters, or the outer continental shelf can be upwards of 20,000 feet deep.

Wells drilled in the deepwater arena regularly are 20,000 - 30,000 feet deep, with some approaching 40,000 feet and some upcoming wells are planned for 50,000 feet. That's almost 10 miles!

CNI Blog: Links to "Subversive" ideas that are common sense!

These should be no-brainers, but since most of the country has been brainwashed into keeping up with the "Joneses", everyone just keeps on doing stupid stuff.


Code Name Insight: Link Round Up: The Subversive Edition:

'via Blog this'

Do You Have an Evacuation Plan?

June 1st is just around the corner...we have already experienced our first named Atlantic storm...time to brush up on your evacuation plan. The link below has some general evacuation tips, plus links to other recommendations.

Code Name Insight: Your 5 Step Evacuation Plan:

'via Blog this'

We generally have a go/no go decision based on the predicted storm path and storm intensity. If a storm looks to land anywhere east of our location and is not a monster storm, we plan to ride it out at home. I have a propane burner (practically who doesn't in South Louisiana?), a propane BBQ pit, a generator capable of running my freezer and refrigerator, plus some fans & lights, and a bunch of food, so we will be moderately comfortable. Keep lots of bottled water and non-perishable food items on hand. Experience dictates that if the power goes out, and it will, it takes up to at least a week to restore it. Also make sure to have a couple of weeks reserve of any maintenance medication that you need whether you ride it out or evacuate.

If the storm is passing nearby to the west of here or if it is a really big one, we evacuate. Our evacuation destination depends on where the storm is projected to make landfall. If it is going to Southwest Louisiana, then we can opt to bug out well enough ahead to travel to the Houston area or travel back east towards Alabama or Florida. If it gets really bad across the whole Gulf Coast, then directly north is the plan of action. It is also good to travel on alternate routes, since most people will be trying to use the main routes such as Interstates and likely to have them clogged up.

Be Safe. Be Prepared.

The Real Zombie Apocalypse?

Could this be the real Zombie Apocalypse?

Flesh-eating bacteria: New South Carolina mom in 'critical' fight - latimes.com:

'via Blog this'

Annular Volume Calculator

Below is an annular volume calculator that I created on FormLoop.com. It allows you to build formulas and save them, then create widgits using those formulas to paste into your web page (in an iFrame). Try it out & let me know what you think.

How to Wipe Yourself Off the Grid

Interesting tips on how to get "off the grid". This concept has recently been mentioned in an episode of "Person of Interest" and also pointed out on the No Agenda Show - Ep. 396. It would take a lot of discipline and I don't know if I could do it myself...unless there were extreme circumstances. This can be considered a survival skill.

How to Wipe Yourself Off the Grid | PCMag.com:

'via Blog this'

Strategy For Startups: The Innovator’s Dilemma | TechCrunch

This is a TechCrunch article on how to be successful as a "disruptive" startup...Interesting strategy...I like it a lot. Start out tackling your competitor's least profitable or smallest segment of the business and disrupt it by being successful with lower overhead or by doing it better or whatever...then capture all of the market share for that segment. The competitor will not feel obligated to spend money to hang on to it's least profitable segment, so it gives it up.

Next, you go after it's next smallest/least profitable segment...WASH / RINSE / REPEAT!



Strategy For Startups: The Innovator’s Dilemma | TechCrunch:

'via Blog this'

Six Powerful Web Tools For Getting Unusual Things Done, From Audio Editing To File Conversion | Fast Company

A Fast Company article on cool web-based tools that replace what used to be strictly desktop applications.


Six Powerful Web Tools For Getting Unusual Things Done, From Audio Editing To File Conversion | Fast Company:

'via Blog this'

New Tech for CGI Overlay, Holodeck Potential?

Article on OTOY's new technology that could allow an actor to forever look the same age in future gigs...AND could lead to the development of a HOLODECK!



Banking Youth: Otoy's Technology Allows Actors To Stop Time | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce:

'via Blog this'

Code Name Insight: 25 Ways to Cut Your Gas Costs

CNI Tips on cutting your gas spend. A must, thanks to rising prices.


Code Name Insight: 25 Ways to Cut Your Gas Costs:

'via Blog this'

March Update | republic wireless

Here's an update from the company offering a hybrid cellular/wifi mobile service previously mentioned...they are opening the beta again.


March Update | republic wireless:

'via Blog this'

Code Name Insight: Some Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Shooting

All rhetoric aside, CNI blog provides sound reasoning should you find yourself in a similar situation.

Code Name Insight: Some Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Shooting:

'via Blog this'

A Round Up of ALL of Google's April Fools Jokes.

Sadly or not so sadly I missed all of these! I did notice the "Really Advanced Search", though. Just didn't have time to check it out.

A Round Up of ALL of Google's April Fools Jokes.:

'via Blog this'

Consumer-Grade Nuclear Generators! Available via the Internet!

Now I can totally be off the grid and not worry about paying the power company for my energy!

Good April Fool's joke...

[NOW AVAILABLE] TigerDirect.com - INTRODUCING THE WORLD'S FIRST HOME MINI-NUCLEAR GENERATOR:

'via Blog this'

Code Name Insight: Challenge: Get your Bug Out Bag Together

I have been reading the CNI blog for a few months now and have been wondering what a BOB was. It comes up a lot in the posts.

Finally, I got to see what it is and what it should contain.

So, I figured that the three of you who read my blog might want to know also!

This list also can double as your hurricane kit for a quick evacuation.


Code Name Insight: Challenge: Get your Bug Out Bag Together:

'via Blog this'

American Carbon Registry Initiates Approval of World’s First Carbon Offset Methodology for Deltaic Wetland Restoration | Ecosystem Commons

This is a pretty cool deal!

I don't normally care for the idea of carbon credits, but this group has developed a methodology for using marsh creation as a basis to sell credits for carbon sequestration. And they are based in New Orleans. Hopefully they will be able to finance coastal restoration projects with funds from the sale of carbon credits.

American Carbon Registry Initiates Approval of World’s First Carbon Offset Methodology for Deltaic Wetland Restoration | Ecosystem Commons:

'via Blog this'

Been a While

It's been a while since I have posted here...too damn busy! I have some topics drafted, so I should get caught up with them shortly.

See ya soon!

Organic Hot House for Germinating Pumpkin Seeds

We planted some pumpkin seeds last year to try to make a Jack-O-Lantern. We only had one pumpkin grow out after Mel pollinated the flowers. The problem was that it didn't grow out until mid-November.

It has been sitting on our back porch until I could get around to cutting it for the seeds. I decided to do that today since I had a little time before Veronica's birthday party.

What I found was that about half of the seeds had germinated and were either sprouting or starting to sprout, INSIDE the pumpkin. I know that this is normal for seeds to do that, but it is weird because it has been fairly chilly around here the last couple of months. Not really cold, but cooler than I would expect pumpkin seeds to start growing in.

The only thing I can figure out is that because of the sun shining on my back porch in the afternoon, it must have made conditions just right for the seeds to start growing.

Go Figure...

The old one ends & the new one begins...

2011 was a crappy year. I just wanted to start off with that. There were so many things that were crappy that I will not even try to list them. Anyway, I think most would agree without evidence provided by me.

That being said, there were some good things that happened. We got to meet our neighbor from the next street over, who is a fellow blogger, (though waaay more prolific than I), the girls did not visit the doctor's office near as many times as in years past, we paid off the house and were debt-free for a couple of months until we decided to buy a new truck, I finally was able to get a couple of people helping me at work, I got approval to start officing in Lafayette, La. instead of traveling to Houston so much, and finally, Mel, the kids, and I are still here to see the marble travel around the ball of flame at least one more time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, happy, and satisfying new year!

P.S,: I got this in an e-mail from Tiger Direct:

I want one of these...it can display part of the screen on the bezel of the device!

It's an obvious photoshop error, showing the wifi, cell signal, etc. on the bezel.

Peace

icaughtsanta.com

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They are also giving you 50% off with the code "SANTA50" (without the quotes).

In three simple steps anyone can upload a holiday photo, add Santa Claus and print it as proof… or share it via Facebook and Twitter. Last-minute shoppers can purchase Gift Cards and eGift Certificates for loved ones with children, making iCaughtSanta.com a great gift idea even if you don't have kids yourself. 

Merry Christmas! 








(I'm trying to win an iPad...)

Ladybug

Here is a pic of a ladybug on my front porch.

I took it with my Blackberry Torch. It's not great, but it was handy.

I was surprised to see such a big lady bug around the house.