Posted 10:51 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Avoiding phishing

This tip may be already understood by many of you reading this, but if it saves one person the grief of getting ripped off, it will be worthwhile. My email addresses are spread all over the Internet, so I get a lot of junk email, and many of them use a technique called "phishing", or pretending to be a legitimate company you may do business with, and tricking you into revealing confidential information, such as passwords or even credit card numbers. The emails can appear to be very legitimate, often warning you about the very trick they're trying to pull on you. Typically, you'll see a link to what appears to be a legitimate URL, such as the one in the email below...



The link (with the arrow) looks like the legitimate and secure Paypal URL, but look at the bottom of the picture. Outlook Express, when you point to a link, displays the actual URL a link will go to, and it's not Paypal at all... it's to a Danish (dk) website that, when you get there, will look exactly like the Paypal site, and try to get you to enter your Paypal information. If you do that, you've given that information to someone who can now log in and use your Paypal account, no doubt to send themselves your money.

If you don't use Outlook Express, search your email program for a way to display URL's in a similar way. Even if you don't find that capability... when you go to the link, notice the URL displayed at the top of your browser. Even though the page may look exactly like Paypal, the URL will be wrong. Another clue is that if the site is legitimate, the URL will begin with https, meaning "secure site", not just http.

Most legitimate companies who handle financial transactions will appreciate knowing about the phoney email you received. Check their website for a place to notify them about phishing.

Posted 1:38 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

A simple theft

Several months ago, I bought an old, well-used single-speed bicycle. It wasn't much, but I wanted it for exercise, so pretty, light weight, and fast were beside the point. I bought a cable lock and kept it locked to the bike stand provided by my apartment building. I was delighted with it. My exercise jaunts increased in distance, and the exercise was clearly better than walking... much more aerobic. It was clunky, ugly, and work to ride... just what an old man needed.

Given the spectacular array of fancy bikes on the street these days, you might think that few, if any other, people would want such a "beater". I thought that too, until my bike was stolen. The cable was cut and it was just gone. The $40 I was out is not such a big deal, but that simple theft, that couldn't have benefited the thief much, was a major upset for me. I quickly realized that it made no sense for me to replace the bike unless I was willing to haul it into and out of my apartment for every exercise jaunt. With a heavy bike, for short trips, that just makes no sense. The result has been for me to give up on the whole idea of having a bike for exercise. To a retired guy who spends most of his time on the computer, it's a big deal... a change in lifestyle.

Just because some destructive asswipe too lazy to work for a living wanted to cop a few dollars, my daily lifestyle took a nosedive. If he and I were to confront, with proof of the theft, he would probably be amazed at the anger I could display about what he undoubtedly thinks of as a puny theft. I would really love to catch someone in the act, because all the exercise stolen from me would be unleashed, with a personal fury that he couldn't begin to comprehend.

I may save my money until spring and buy a folding bike that I can bring into my apartment. It'll cost several times as much as the old one, and many times what some creep gained from the theft. On the outside chance he's reading this, I issue an invitation to him... c'mon in and try to take the new one from me face-to-face, instead of creeping around in the dark like a gutless, thought-free scumbag.

Posted 11:13 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Should the U.S. have invaded Iraq?

That was the simple question the Libertarian Party of Minnesota presented to booth visitors at the recent State Fair. A simple question, but one filled with emotion for most voters. Many people were delighted to answer NO to a question nobody had asked them before the invasion took place. Others seemed angry that we should even ask a question that seemed disloyal to them. We frequently had to prevent people from voting multiple times, to express how strongly they felt about their answer.

For 12 days, 12 hours/day, thousands of Minnesotans expressed their opinions to our question, with the following results:

Should the U.S. have invaded Iraq?
Yes - 36%
No - 64%

Draw your own conclusions.

Posted 2:55 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

Politics makes strange...

Friend Forrest Wilkinson has hosted Freedom Day in front of the Minnesota capitol for, I think, 12 years now, on May 1st. Each year he invites several "public servants" to speak or fire off one of the Civil War cannons as part of the festivities. This photo is of Forrest and Governor Pawlenty, taken by Forrest's brother Drew, who couldn't resist modifying it to reflect what the two of them might really be thinking, despite the big smiles.

Posted 3:02 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

A mini-tribute

Gunsmoke is a legendary TV series that I still enjoy watching, and it was live for so many years that I wonder whether I'll ever see all of the episodes. I remember the years of Dennis Weaver's deputy Chester, and I remember when Burt Reynolds was the town blacksmith. I was sure that nobody could replace Chester as the Marshall's sidekick after 10 years, but I was wrong. Ken Curtis arrived and turned the character Festus Hagen into a "purely deelite". Curtis, now gone, has a fascinating personal history, including a long career as a singer... one of the Sons of the Pioneers, and even taking Frank Sinatra's place with the Tommy Dorsey big band. Festus was a masterpiece of a character. The ongoing verbal banter with Doc almost overshadowed the plots.

Here's one of many web sites about Curtis/Festus, the Ken Curtis Appreciation site, and a couple of photos I put together, of Curtis and Festus side-by-side.