Email and Billboards

I want to mention something that's been on my mind, because the issue was brought up at a recent spouses' meeting.  Apparently, this is not common knowledge.....here it is....

We were given a briefing by our local police department on security...not just home security but also other kinds of security and the conversation moved on to internet security.

Did you know that whatever you post in a regular un-encrypted email is like writing something on a billboard?  Did you know that any email that you send out can be easily intercepted and read?  You know how your mother always told you not to say anything bad about anyone to anyone unless you want to broadcast ito the world?

Well, apparently.....no.  If you post your husband's deployment date and any other OPSEC information in emails back to family and friends, it is now common knowledge, and you've got your own Wikileaks going on.  Remember when Hurricane Katrina was in its infancy and Homeland Security staffers were joking and making inappropriate comments in their emails?  The ones that were posted all over the internet?

Did you know that if you send your credit card number, expiration date and other identifying information in your email, it can also be easily intercepted?  The few times I had to send sensitive information, I would always put it in two or three emails, with the numbers and information split up.  I don't know if that's good enough, but I probably shouldn't even do that I think.

Bottom line....don't write anything in an email you wouldn't mind having someone else read.  Many of you already know about not posting sensitive information on Facebook and other networking sites but sometimes, email etiquette security gets lost in the shuffle.

If you have anything you want to add, please add it below.

Accidental Discoveries & My New Invention

Do you ever wonder about the everyday products you use? Do you ever dream up things yourself? For some reason, I am always looking for a more streamlined way to do something. I always say....and very proudly too...that I dreamed up the idea of electric socks...my feet always got cold skiing when I was a kid, but someone got it to market before I did...and also a bottle with a double chamber, so when I clean...I have both glass cleaner and the other cleaner in the same bottle...but I looked that up on US Patents and someone already invented and patented it...there are a few more too. So anyway, since I know I am not going to pursue this, I just thought of a way to never pick up doggie doo again.

Yes, we have a doggie and a big one. Big doggies have big doo doo...there's no way around that. And our doggie has the strange habit of walking and doo doing....at the same time. Picking up his stuff is always like an Easter Egg hunt. So then I thought...how could I get his stuff in a bag before it touches the ground? How about a thin telescoping pole...it can double as a walking stick somehow! It would have some kind of loop and bag contraption on the end. As the dog squats, you hold it "under there". Once collection is complete, you pull some kind of switch on your stick and it seals the tops. There would also be some kind of release catch, so when you hold it over the trash or dumpster, it would release. There would be no touching and your stick would still be clean. You could close it back up and continue on your walk.

Do you have an idea you think would work? I'm not talking doggie doo...just with anything from your daily life. I had fun looking at these accidental discoveries. Now those were interesting to read. Check out this list of the top 10 inventions of all time or how about the 10 oddest inventions ever invented. If you've got an idea, go to US Patents and do a search. I'm amazed at what you can find here...and what people take the time to patent. Hey look it's the Roomba! Here's a basketball hoop and backboard for a trampoline. Most of the records also have a line drawing or image. Please share your ideas or your favorites.

Are Apples Becoming Extinct?

Did you know there are less than 1000 varieties of apples here in the US? That doesn't seem like a problem, does it? How about if I tell you, in the 1800s, here in America, there were over 7,000 different varieties of apples, which leaves us with about an 85% extinction rate! I was listening to a 60 Minutes podcast two weeks ago. Yes, this is the audio version of the show. Feel free to download it and take a listen. Why should I care that there are less than 1000 varieties of apples left? What if I told you that the cure to cancer, the cure to some obscure disease that could wipe out the world's wheat supply, the cure to some unknown disease, could lie in the genes of just one of those apple varieties? Now you know why this is so important and what one man is doing about it.

When I first started listening to this podcast, frankly, I thought...who cares? Animals and plants get extinct every day...and I'm not talking about the ones humans are pushing to extinction but the millions of species that are disappearing through the natural progression of evolution and the ways of nature. But when they started talking about possible cures and keys to our future, my ears perked up. There is this guy, who made it his life mission, to construct a kind of Noah's Ark, depositing and saving the world's seeds in one place. A place up North in Norway that can survive for something like 10,000 years, regardless of global warming or wars or even a nuclear winter. It's called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and is truly a global project. Think about this the next time you bite into that almost one-of-a-kind apple or eat whatever it is you're eating. I am reminded that life truly is precious and that God gave us brains to help ourselves. In today's world, it is really something to see countries from around the world, working together on something that may eventually save all of us. Norway owns the bank but all countries are free to deposit their seeds and many hundreds have already done so.

Have you read anything lately that leaves you with a spring in your step? Have you read something lately that really restores your faith in humankind?