TECHNOLOGY: Printers with e-mail addresses

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2010/06/hp-introduces-printers-with-e-mail-addresses-cloud-access.ars

HP introduces printers with e-mail addresses, cloud access
By Casey Johnston

*** begin quote ***

Hewlett-Packard has announced a new line of printers designed to work directly with smartphones and cloud services without the need for a computer intermediary. The printers are designed to take print jobs that are e-mailed to them or uploaded to a cloud service they can access. HP hopes the increased accessibility will encourage the use of printouts, as files can increasingly be carried on a single pocket device.

The new range of printers have Web access, either wired or wireless, removing the need for a print server or connection to a computer. They have touchscreens and e-mail addresses, and can print documents that are e-mailed to them from any source, as well as items from Web services like Google Docs. Users can schedule print jobs on the printers and set up regular print runs of their documents, like weekly menus or itineraries.

*** end quote ***

(1) SPAM! Can you think of junk mail faxes? How long do you think it will take for “Dr (Mrs.) Faith Zenwakolo, a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to charity through any thoughtful and selfless someone” to guess what the email address is? Or whatever the complicated “security structure” that’s put in place to “protect” it. Wanna bet you’ll get HP advertisements?

(2) I want to print a sensitive document to my HP printer. Email? Unless it’s encrypted — in transit and at each place of residence — and the User controls the keys, and there’s no backdoors.

(3) And is there storage on the printer? How does it get erased?

Seems like a lot of questions!

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: Another reason to get the gooferment out of the schools

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/05/30/keep_government_out_of_the_schools/

Keep government out of the schools
Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe

*** begin quote ***

America is a land of religious freedom, in which people decide for themselves what to believe and how to worship. No religion is funded by government. Elected officials have no say in the doctrine of any faith or the content of any religious service. Religion flourishes in America because church and state are separate. And it flourishes so peacefully because no one is forced to support anyone else’s faith, or to attend a church he isn’t happy with, or to bring up children according to the religious views of whichever faction has the most votes.

Religion is peaceful because it is government-free. Liberate the schools, and they too would be at peace. Taxpayer-funded, one-curriculum-fits-all schooling makes conflict inevitable. There would be far less animosity if parents were as free to choose how and where their children learn as they are to choose how and where they worship. Separation of church and state has made America an exemplar of religious pluralism and tolerance. Imagine what separation of school and state could do for education.

*** end quote ***

Aside from the fact that “gooferment education” is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient, we can add to it the fact that it causes subsets of “Americans” to fight over the mechanism to brainwash the youth. Neither side sees that the mechanism is the problem. No one wants their kids being brainwashed by the other side. So let’s eliminate the problem.

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Posted by reinkefj

RANTING: Opened sold as new

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Went to WalMart to get a smaller table and cheap printer.

Had some “excitement” with the old lady, but that’s another story.

Got the printer home! It was only 40$. (Yeah, I know they screw you on the ink.)

And, the printer doesn’t work.

It’s been used and repackaged.

I knew it when I opened the box. The plastic around it was not like a factory seal.

The contents aren’t right. Stuff is missing. And the cartridges are either gone or in the machine.

I’m pissed that this is another example of a return sold as new. I didn’t think WalMart did that. I know Officemax, Staples, and Office Depot do.

And it had a very complicated anti-theft device around it. So that means the Store has to have done it!

Back it goes today.

Very disappointing WalMart. I thought you were above that. At least Best Buy has an open box sale area and you know it’s not brand spanking new.

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Seats for everyone?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/7809871/Why-pregnant-women-cant-get-a-seat-on-the-bus.html

Why pregnant women can’t get a seat on the bus

Pregnant women are being left standing on public transport because commuters are too afraid to offer their seat in case they are simply overweight, researchers claim.

By Nick Collins

Published: 7:30AM BST 08 Jun 2010

*** begin quote ***

The majority of expectant mothers cannot find a seat on buses and trains because their fellow passengers cannot distinguish between a pregnant woman’s bump and the figure of an obese woman, it was claimed.

*** end quote ***

May I suggest that standees are, in an accident, both at risk and a risk to other passengers?

When I visited London (a long time ago) on a mixed business pleasure trip, saw two buses accidents in a week. A lot of ambulances and police at both scenes. No idea of the casualties if any. (In NYC, bus accidents magically attract additional passengers seeking a payoff. I assume similar happens there. And, everyone is “hurt”?)

So shouldn’t it be required that ALL passengers have a seat? You might even require all to belt in.

“My” commuter bus company between NYC and a NJ suburb REQUIRES every passenger to have and take a seat. Otherwise, the driver is instructed not to move the bus. Granted that this route travels on a “high speed” route. (What you’d call a motorway, we call a limited access expressway. Or turnpike. Or parkway. A rose is a rose is a rose.)

In an accident, even at low speeds, a body in motion tends to remain in motion. A body (i.e., standee) motions until it’s stopped by something (i.e., windshields, seats, other passengers). Hard to imagine a worse scenario for a standee?

So perhaps, instead of worrying about pregnant standees, you should be worried about ALL standees. If everyone has to take a seat, then by definition we’ve “solved” the “pregnant standee” problem. Of course, it may require more and better hardware, but that’s a different problem.

I never understood the Japanese Rail passengers crammed in like sardines. What happens in an accident with them?

Nope everyone should take a seat, and hold on for dear life. It might make commuting a lot less stressful.

Just a suggestion from across the pond.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: fear.less is a free online magazine

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

http://fearlessstories.com/

*** begin quote ***

fear.less is a free online magazine that empowers people through unique stories of overcoming fear. From entrepreneurs, business leaders, artists and scientists to survivors of extreme experiences, these stories demonstrate the hidden potential we have to confront our fears and come out victorious. Fear.less is our answer to an emergency.

*** end quote ***

Technology-wise it appears slow. But content-wise it’s “interesting”.

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Posted by reinkefj

GOLDBUG: In your back yard; not your IRA or 401k

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/put-gold-and-silver-in-your-ira-or-401k/

Put Gold and Silver In Your IRA or 401k

*** begin quote ***

“It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” George Carlin

In my opinion, any consideration about investment income right now is a big mistake. Your NUMBER ONE CONCERN should be protecting the purchasing power of your money.

Buy gold and silver coins and keep them in a safe at your home. Then, with your retirement accounts, transfer your positions in money markets, bonds, mutual funds and stocks into gold and silver.

*** end quote ***

I’m not sure how viable IRAs and 401ks are in the scenario where gold and silver makes sense. The politicians can “seize” the accounts via the “custodians” and you are screwed. You know that in a hyperinflation scenario that the gooferment will be desperate for funding. In even a moderate inflation, a la Carter of the 80’s, the metal in your IRA won’t help you. And, you must always remember the FDR seizure of gold.

I think 5-15% metal holding is appropriate in today’s economic climate.

BUT, BUTT (there’s always a big but), that metal is in one ounce rounds in your physical possession.

Despite Milton Freedman’s “People must work hard to dig gold out of the ground in South Africa – in order to rebury it in Fort Knox or some similar place.”, better buried in your back yard than in OHB44’s spending plan.

imho!

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Posted by reinkefj

SOFTWARE: Trying Safari5 (It’s free!)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Apple today released Safari 5, the latest version of the world’s fastest and most innovative web browser. This release features the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30-percent performance increase over Safari 4, and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo!, or Bing as the search service powering Safari’s search field. Available for both Mac and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites.

*** end quote ***

Downloaded and am trying it now. No science; just feel. Seems snappy. Have the Fox and Chrome. Who needs three browsers?

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MONEY: Social Security is like a Ponzi scheme

Monday, June 7, 2010

http://www.doughroller.net/personal-finance/what-is-social-security

What is Social Security? by Michael on June 7, 2010

>Have you ever wondered how Social Security works?

The Gooferment, using its gun power, has stolen and continues to steal from the workers taxes under the guise of “insurance”.

Like a Ponzi scheme, it uses what it steals from current workers to pay off older workers. Unlike a Ponzi scheme, it’s almost impossible to avoid this theft.

In practical terms, this program transfers money from poor minority men to rich white women.

It’s intergenerational theft!

And, as an “investment”, it’s the rough equivalent a negative rate of return estimated between 2 and 5%.

>President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to assist the elderly

While we’ll never know what he wanted, but we do know he was a “progressive” who admired socialism.

It was asserted that “social security” was a big step on the road to socialism. Huge societal changes were initiated by this action. In effect, he put the old on the dole.

>impact on Americans by the Depression

A Depression that was caused by the Congress in passing the Smoot Hawley tariff and exacerbated by the (unconstitutional and monopolistic) Federal Reserve Bank. So, the answer is, of course, “more gooferment”!

>Before Social Security, care and monetary funding for these individuals

Was their own responsibility. And that of their family. Multi-generation family farms were common BEFORE social security.

>

And, don’t overlook the fact that Congress changes the rules as it sees fit. Try doing that if you were an insurance company.

Social Security is a disaster. And, as such, everyone should be VERY careful in including it in their financial plans.

And, bear in mind that the Gooferment needs money, and the IRA / 401ks are held by “Custodians”. So everyone should be worried that they will have their IRA and or 401k when they need it to retire.

Lest you think “it can’t happen here”, then think back on the Bank Holiday, the Gold Seizure, and the Japanese Internment.

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.” George Washington

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POLITICAL: Helen Thomas steps in it

Monday, June 7, 2010

http://bigjournalism.com/jdunetz/2010/06/04/helen-thomas-jews-should-get-the-hell-out-of-palestine-
and-go-back-to-germany-and-poland/

Helen Thomas: Jews Should ‘Get the Hell Out of Palestine and Go Back To Germany And Poland’
Posted by Jeff Dunetz Jun 4th 2010 at 11:43 am in Featured Story, Mainstream Media, media bias

*** begin quote ***

Helen Thomas’ comparing of the IDF to Nazi Germany is nothing but an attempt to water-down the horror of the Holocaust, and to dehumanize Israel. And her advice to the Jews to get the hell out of Palestine, and go back to Poland and Germany is nothing short of anti-Semitism. If Thomas’ comments were directed toward any other group but the Jews, she would have been out of work a very long time ago. Maybe it’s time for Helen’s bosses to retire her to the The Home For Crazy Old Anti-Semites.

*** end quote ***

“Liberals” are always so sensitive and caring. But every once and while, they show their true colors. Hateful.

Us little L libertarians despise them for their two-faced presentation.

“Fair minded journalists”? Don’t make me laugh!

“Liberals” were once the champions of the People. Now they are just small-minded control freaks.

Maybe Helen Thomas should just do interviews with Robert Byrd about the KKK’s opinion of Jews?

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SERVICE: Surprise GMAIL CONTACTS has quotas? Who knew!

Monday, June 7, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Over contacts quota

Because problems can occur when you have an extremely large number of contacts in your Google Account (note that this number includes the people you’re following on Google Buzz), we’ve implemented some quota restrictions. If you take an action that would put you beyond this limit, we’ll show you an error message.

One common reason for having a large number of contacts is having many duplicate entries. We recommend using the merge tools in your Contact Manager to consolidate your duplicates and make room for new additions.

You can also back up your existing contacts by exporting to a CSV file.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

Another reason “cloud computing” won’t work. Surprises!

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