Happy, Sad, Mad and Glad,
Moved in down the street
Cautious watched them, from her window,
Wondering, which one should I meet?
Confused came in with overwhelmed and said,
“The Panics have come to town”
Then Hopeful called the carefulls,
And said that Happy was a clown.
Anxious came in with the news,
Confident had called a town meeting
To take a vote for Mayor,
And to Welcome the new neighbors to Feeling.
Feeling was a busy town,
Always on the go
Happy was voted as Feeling’s Mayor,
While Confident decided to go.
Happy took the Mayors Job and took it seriously.
Thinking the town,
Would be so much better off,
If everyone were Happy.
Now Happy asked for their suggestions,
Saying yes to everyone.
Soon, Happy was out and Chaos was in,
Chaos was on the run.
Gathering the folks from Feeling,
Chaos ran from house to house,
While Bored and Lonely ran into town,
And were quiet as a mouse.
While Chaos was running with Crazy,
Happy called Confident and Calm,
They knew that Lazy was out of the question,
For it was nearly dawn.
When the two groups came together,
They wondered “Who will it ever be?”
Who would watch over the town of Feeling,
and keep it rodent free?
Happy, Sad, Mad and Glad,
Were chosen on the spot
Then balanced and joyful came to town,
They were the best house on the lot.
The people that lived in Feeling,
Well, they came and then they went
The time they had with neighbors and friends,
Was definitely time well spent.
When you find yourself in Feeling,
Remember to take it slow,
Making friends in this wonderful place,
Is the only way to go.
Mary Pat uses the recovery process to get to know her feelings in a personal way. You can too. http://www.reflectingrace.com
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading online poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide and more than 13,000 in Colorado, today expressed its support for efforts to appeal a ruling in state intermediate court that poker is predominately a game of chance as part of Colorado v. Kevin Raley. The defendant, Kevin Raley, will file a petition in Colorado Supreme Court requesting an appeal of the intermediate court’s ruling that poker is gambling under Colorado law. “The PPA is going to do everything in its power to support Mr. Raley’s efforts in order to protect PPA members and all poker players in the state of Colorado,” said Gary Reed, PPA’s Colorado State Director. “I am especially alarmed because this ruling ignores the abundance of research that proves poker is a game of skill and confuses rather than clarifies the matter for law enforcement that may use their scarce resources to raid and arrest poker players instead of investigating real unlawful activity in the state.” In the original case, the county court allowed the jury to hear expert testimony by Professor Robert Hannum, Professor of Statistics at the University of Denver, that poker is a game of skill. Based on this testimony, and other evidence presented, the jury found Kevin Raley not guilty of illegal gambling. The Weld County District Attorney appealed that ruling, claiming that the testimony of Professor Hannum should have not been allowed because Colorado courts have already concluded that, as a matter of law, poker is gambling. Unfortunately, the district court overruled the trial judge’s determination to allow Professor Hannum to testify. The district court’s decision does not overturn the jury’s “not guilty” verdict, but it does put the future of casino online poker in Colorado in legal limbo. “Given the Weld County District Court judge’s ruling that poker is gambling because of the small element of chance in the dealing of cards, one could easily presume that any game that depends even a little on chance - from Monopoly to Yahtzee to Candy Land - is gambling and therefore illegal in the state of Colorado,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. “We clearly think this is the wrong interpretation of the law, especially in regard to poker, and the PPA is committed to helping demonstrate to the Colorado Supreme Court the broad academic research that exists showing that poker is indeed a game of skill.” PPA has been involved in similar cases across the U.S., such as South Carolina, Kansas and Pennsylvania, where the question of skill versus chance is being reassessed in the courts in order to clarify existing law.
The internet has quickly become a dangerous place to take your computer without first having sufficient security equipment installed and running. Intruders using viruses were the first threat and spyware has become the most prevalent threat against user’s privacy and computer functioning. Having only anti-virus and firewall protection will no longer fully protected your computer from the many internet threats.
Signing online without first having good anti-spyware protection will now invite in privacy intruders you would not normally allow in. With spyware in you computer there is seemingly no end to the personal information that can be extracted. The information the intruder desires is easily logged by spyware programs and sent back to the originator.
Spyware can steal information about your computer’s operating system, the computer’s address and system specific information such as what type of processor and the type internet browsers you have. It will also record what web sites you visit and other internet usage information. All this information collected by spyware intruders is used to create a profile for you that the intruders use for advertising purposes by bombarding you with annoying pop ups and email ads.
A spyware program with a keylogger can be potentially the most dangerous for of spyware because it works by logging each key stroked into your computer. You user names, passwords, instant message chats, email messages, credit information and more can all be caught and sold or used by third party intruders. Other forms of spyware take snapshots of your screen as you work online at different times. Any type of spyware infection should be taken seriously and measures to minimize the privacy invasion should be taken.
Users will most likely know they have been infested with adware because it almost always come with numerous annoying pop ups that signal an infection. Spyware is usually more difficult to detect because it is programmed to work silently. As it build on your system the computer’s functions will become noticeable slower and browser pages will take longer to load.
Spyware can also take control of a computer causing browser crashes among other annoying and potentially dangerous malfunctions. If you internet browser page has been abruptly changed or you printer and CD players begin acting odd they your computer is usually infected with spyware.
You can begin avoiding spyware by knowing what types of programs come with spyware or adware packages when downloaded. Many of the popular freeware and file sharing applications come with adware. Kazaa is widely known for having several adware applications piggy backing their way into your computer as does the free download of Weatherbug and DivX. The newer version of DivX has rid itself of adware so users can feel safer.
Even anti-spyware tools can trick users into installing more spyware because some of the scan and removal tools are produced by the spyware distributors. Spyware Nuker is one such programs which tells users it will eliminate spyware when it actually skips over some infections during the scan and can install or let in additional infections. The best spyware tools immunize your system and then block spyware packages from getting in the system.
Any spyware removal tool you choose to use should be updated before each scan and the scans should be run at least on a weekly basis. Many anti-spyware protective tools can be programmed to run automatically at whatever schedule you choose. Some of the top rated anti-spyware tools include AdAware, Hijack This, PestPatrol, Spybot Search and Destroy and SpySweeper and each is a free download. Once you have found a free product that suits you consider paying for a more advanced version to get greater protection.
To continue surfing the internet safely while keeping your privacy it is vital that all users arm themselves with some sort of spyware protection tool. Many computer malfunctions and technical support calls stem from spyware infections.