June 2008
Monthly Archive
Sat 28 Jun 2008
This post is an attempt to explain the reasoning behind the conversations between Zhenren and Selene. Zhenren represents an individual looking for enlightenment. Selene represents Zhenren’s personal god.
Our family likes from time to time to go out to Sunday brunch. One Sunday, we chose to go to El Torito Restaurant. When we entered the restaurant close to our house, I noticed something different going on inside the restaurant. Very close to where the omelets are prepared was a layout of clothing, looked like shirts in piles and some product information on the same table. As we were seated in a separate room, I noticed that behind my wife was a family seated in a booth that seemed to know what was going on as people would come up and chat. I decided to walk over and ask if my suspicions were true or not. A women that looked like your typical soccer mom, the apparent mother to a number of children at the table, told me that indeed the restaurant had agreed to host the event. It seems that their daughter had committed suicide a few years earlier. As a tribute to their daughter, to keep her memory alive, they decided to form their own teen suicide prevention organization called Hope. The mother told me how their daughter’s suicide had totally shocked them and led to their realizing that this is a more common problem than most people realize. Their efforts were to make families with children aware of this in an effort to save lives. I agreed to put their web site as a link to this one. When I got home I did some research and found out that indeed this is a serious problem. I just could not get it out of my mind as to why some young person would end their life.
The conversations between Zhenren and Selene is my extremely small attempt to contribute to aiding in preventing teen suicide.
I some times kid around by saying that I sort of have given up on helping adults because they had their chance at life, old enough to have enjoyed all this for a while, made their choices, and now must live the choices they made out as results or outcomes. Poor choices naturally and typically result in poor outcomes. Adults become set in their ways and typically chose not to be open minded to new ideas and new information which stops mid course adjustments and even realization that former assumptions about life were wrong. So, the dialogues between Zhenren and Selene are my attempt to provide a new philosophy for young people. It just might be too late for adults to come to enlightenment if they have not yet attained it. The conversations try to bring truth rather than authority for your consideration. All the posts here try to reveal, examine and share truth elements.
Zhenren represents a person looking for answers, looking for enlightenment which might also be a teenager somewhere. Selene is that person’s personal god. What is ironic is that Selene does not exist. Selene tells Zhenren what I want her to say. That does not make me god, I just take what I have learned and put them out for Zhenren and others to accept or deny.
This embedded philosophy is an attempt to base this belief upon truth and not existing authority or any type of authority. This philosophy tries hard to start with a clean slate of logic, if that is possible, look for the truth elements and come up with answers that work for now and into the future.
What is most disappointing to me is to study other religions and find that they are based upon a foundation that just does not hold up to the truth. There is no reason for a philosophy to be complex beyond anyone’s everyday complete comprehension and many religions seem overly complex probably because they are founded upon evolution of thought and principles by many people who did not share the same ideals but had a hand in the outcome. There is no reason for a belief system to require a priest to read a thick book that is difficult to comprehend by the masses and open to interpretation and manipulation by the priest. There is no reason that a belief system needs to be based upon paying others money to subscribe. There is no reason why a belief system requires attendance at certain functions. There is no reason why a belief system requires a person to show homage to any person living or dead, icon, or imaginary figure. A religion’s sole reason for existing is to give comfort to the individual, not a tool for manipulation. I encourage you to find your own enlightenment based upon science and not suspicions or authority.
Mon 23 Jun 2008
We live in a Meridith built home. My wife tells me that Meridith is a very good home builder. In my opinion, it IS in some regards but NOT in others. I believe many home builders intentionally cut costs in a number of ways especially items that will take you some time to figure out. Our very large house has one door bell and it is located in the family room, north east corner, ground floor. The door bell can NOT be heard upstairs where the bedrooms are. The assumption, I guess is that all occupants hang out in the family room, dusk to dawn. As a result, of this knuckle dragging design, we miss package deliveries. The wiring for the existing door bell runs in an air space between floors. To tap into that wiring so we can install an upstairs door bell sounder, probably means opening a ceiling and finding a way to feed wiring up to the top floor from the bottom floor.
New expensive homes have hub rooms and I would hope that door bell wiring is broken out in that room.
If a shipper were to knock on the front door loudly, any person in the master bedroom would probably hear and come rushing to the front door but the other three bedrooms might not.
With energy costs sky high the gas costs for shippers is eating into profits. I just wonder how many times a delivery is made to a private residence, the person is home but the door bell and knock on the door is not heard. If one stops to realize, some if not most home builders might have set the shippers up to loose a lot of money. The shippers should do a study to find out how much profits they loose with this type of building deficiency, how many shipments should have been made if the house occupants could hear the door sounder. Individuals work in back yards, people watch TV with the sound up loud, portable audio listening devices are used and can result in diminishing door bell sounding devices.
One option, for the customer to use if a delivery is missed, is is to travel to the shipping store/depot and after a set hour, typically 6PM, you can pick up your package. The trouble here is the customer is inconvenienced and charged by paying money for gas to get to and from the shipping point. I recently filled out a customer survey from a well known manufacturer who has Internet sales and store sales. One of the last questions on the survey was this: would I purchase again on line. My answer was no. I was asked if I would recommend to others to buy on line. My answer was no. I have found out that, from my experience, the vendors can not seem to consitantly ship expidited orders. I never get merchandise when I need it. This is NOT the fault of the shippers but the Internet sales businesses. This problem trickles down for the shippers and the customers. The shippers are loosing money by not being able to make fast and accurate home deliveries. This is because the vendors some times screw up the ordering process making the customer base angry at the shippers and not willing to use Internet purchases again. Next, the homes with inadequate front door signaling means that the shipment might not be completed on time and might make the customer spend time and money to retrieve a package making even more customer less likely to use Internet sales. The shippers are being set up to fail and they do not currently have any way to fix this problem.
Solutions:
#1. I recommend that the shippers bring a class action lawsuit against any home builder who has in the past and is currently not offering a meaningful method for providing a signal system that someone is waiting at the front door. As part of that class action I would require the home builders to come up with a solution and pay for total cost for each and every home that needs this added.
#2. I think the shippers need to come up with a creative solution by developing an automated system where the customer is notified just prior to the delivery, requiring a signature, being made. With GPS technology the shipping truck location is known. The shipping routes are typically generated by computer to save fuel for the shipping company. It is not much of a stretch to offer a service where the customer can be notified to home phone or cell phone that the delivery is pending in a short time and that lead time prior to delivery to be specified by the customer. Furthermore, it should not be a stretch to go on line with a computer and view the truck route and see the best guess estimated time that the driver will arrive at your door.
Sat 21 Jun 2008
I placed an order for Apple laptop, iTouch for my daughter and Apple protection for the laptop.
I added 3 day shipping so I could get my laptop in the hope it might arrive before the weekend. Here is what went right and wrong with Apple’s shipping.
June 17, Tuesday, order was placed late in the evening so statistical purposes the order should start on the 18th.
June 18, Wednesday, The clock starts. Credit card company called to authorize large charge against credit card by leaving a message on our answering machine. We did not spot the message until later that day, which delayed the transaction from proceeding.
June 19, Thursday, iTouch shipped from China.
June 20, Friday, iTouch arrived in California (before 10AM) – simply incredible speed by FedEx! This item was shipped 3 day, which was not my intent. I really wanted the laptop to arrive in 3 days.
Note: Later I contacted Apple and their representative took a screen shot of the iTouch FedEx tracking screen. The iTouch reaching me in one day from China. The Apple representative had never seen that before. We were both impressed. I fantasized that FedEx had developed a cannon and shot the order over the Pacific Ocean.
Next we are to see that Apple screws up the 3 day shipping completely for the laptop. I can only figure that they took it upon themselves to ship the iTouch as a 3 day and NOT the laptop. The Apple representative told me that ALL items should have been shipped 3 days. From my point of view, if I were to choose which item to ship within 3 days, the laptop should be the 3 day shipping item and NOT the iTouch. When you are paying $15 for 3 day shipping does it make sense to apply that to a much lower cost item? I think not, unless you specify otherwise. Apple representative said all items were paid for to be received in 3 days.
June 20, Friday it would appear that Apple has finally put my laptop together and it is ready to ship, two days later from when the order went in.
8:28 AM Package data transmitted to FedEx
3:12 PM Picked up. Package received after FedEx cutoff.
3:35 PM Left FedEx origin facility
June 21, Saturday,
10:00 PM, In transit; “Location Shanghai CN”. Called Apple to find out why laptop showed still being in Shanghai. I was told that once a day FedEx will scan any item still at their facility. Apple drops 3 day shipping charges for this mistake.
June 21, Saturday,
3:46 PM Int’l shipment release, location Anchorage Alaska! Looks like Apple never intended shipping the laptop within 3 days.
June 21, Saturday,
7:49 PM, Departed FedEx location, Anchorage Alaska.
I am still waiting to receive laptop. This story will be updated as I find out more.
Here is what I think might have happened but I can not prove it. I paid for 3 day shipping. They provided 1 day on an item that comprises way lower weight and size. Apple might hope that the larger item, the laptop, because it has to be built to specifications, allows them the argument that it will arrive later. If the customer does not track the shipping, but only relies on the Apple notifications, they might not be any wiser.
Customer support is just wonderful. The Apple product is wonderful. Too bad that the Apple octopus has some arms that are working at hay seed level.
Our recommendations:
Buy your items from the Apple store. I was told that the 4 gig memory would be put into a new machine in one day. That was the only item that the Apple store needed to change for my purchase. I feel so stupid ordering on line.
From our experience from Apple and other companies, 3 day shipping is a dice roll. Each time we encountered a problem the fault lay with the vendor, not the shipper.
Our experience is that enhanced shipping methods do not work. The fault lies with the vendors and not the shippers.
Watch out when you order any item using the Internet and you specify any enhanced shipping modes. Take screen shots of what you pick at each stage of the ordering process so you can review and prove what you purchased. Shipping charges typically come toward the end of the on line buying process and thus it is very hard for you to go back later to figure out what the process was that you and the vendor agreed to.
Good luck ordering on line with some vendors.
Wed 11 Jun 2008
Zhenren: I have at times a feeling that all of this is a dream. Some times I feel I am at the center of the universe and this is a contrivance for some purpose. I feel at times that this is all a put up play for my benefit. Out of all the strange thoughts, I feel, at times, that I am destined to achieve great things just because I am at the center of all that is going on. It is this center viewpoint that is naturally so important to me. I feel cursed some times that because I see myself at the center people are looking at me, expecting me to become something special. At other times I think all this is a huge accident, I came through the wrong door and entered a place I do not want to be in. I wonder if this world will continue after I die. Is what I am seeing every day, what I experience every day, some god play thing? Am I just a sophisticated toy for some giant being and this world is just a sophisticated game? At times I am very much alone with these thoughts. All these ideas run in my mind and I can not set straight what is going on, what to do. I can not tell anyone about this or they will think I am insane.
Selene: A child in some far off land who has barely enough to eat or lost one or both parents, or is in the middle of a war will not have time for such thoughts. That child’s existence is so close to death that their only thoughts are of hunger and sorrow. The purpose of life is to survive for that child any you. You have been suddenly thrust into an utterly brief absurd existence full of sensory overload of sound, sights, touch, emotion, and thoughts. You are different from that child barely clinging to life because you have the time to reflect, think about a much better future for yourself. Reflection opens up possibilities and you can, at times, see yourself alone within this huge stage play we call life. You do have a degree of freedom to write your own lines in this play, set a course for yourself in the play, to gain some reward for your efforts. This is not a game contrived by a giant. You are not an ant inside some sophisticated ant farm. You have been dropped into an utterly fantastic evolution continuum for no purpose at all except what you can make out of all this. Out of this evolution continuum a species of animal evolved to such a high degree that it can understand its own existence. It can see itself separate from everything surrounding it, blades of grass, clouds, air, water, other animals. That ability to reflect is both a gift and a curse. Sit back and be stupefied by being suddenly dropped into this life theater or move forward, become a principal actor in this utterly fantastic absurd life you now lead. The choice is yours. The choice you should not make is to not finish this out.
Sun 8 Jun 2008
Posted by Score Card under
Home ImprovementNo Comments
Lock Bumping and Key Bumping
Pertains to:
- Home
- Business
- Storage facilities
- Other
Lock bumping is a silent, undetectable method of home, business or storage facility invasion. The perpetrator can walk in though your front LOCKED door quite easily and quickly! Because this method of invasion leaves no evidence, insurance claims might be denied. This method of crime is currently being taught on web sites to anyone who looks for this information. The tools used to perpetrate this crime are readily available for purchase from Internet sales and are cheap to buy.
Search words to use when conducting Internet research on this subject:
The following web sites offer you an education on this type of home invasion.
- http://www.lockbumping.org/ This web site is devoted to this subject and has nice graphics to show you how this break in can take place. There is a lot of good information provided at this web site. Beware that this web site has a number of paid advertisements.
There are three types of locks available today, electronic, mechanical and a combination of both electronic and mechanical. In reality, electronic locks have a mechanical component, a latch, pin or bolt that moves in or out of place to allow a door to swing open.
Typically, quality locks are purchased from good locksmith establishments. Many of the locks listed below are not sold at Home Depot or Lowe’s.
Look for a lock that meet the Underwriters Laboratories UL437 standard.
“For those of you that are not familiar with UL437, this is the “higher security” standard for cylinders that are employed in government, business and by some consumers. These cylinders are by definition supposed to be resistant to covert and forced methods of entry for specified minimum times. UL437 is touted by high security lock manufacturers as one of the primary criteria to assure certain minimum levels of physical security in their rated cylinders.” (http://www.thesidebar.org/insecurity/?paged=2).
Following is a list of lock sets offered by manufacturers that claim they are bump proof:
Videx Cyberlock This system is electronic, sophisticated, and expensive (about $200 to $300 for each lock and keys can cost $100 each). This is a high end product with capabilities most home owners will not need. Their low end product should be considered for the home owner looking for top end solution.
This is a lock system intended for businesses. The key holds the power source for this lock system. The key holds a battery that needs to be replaced once a year. The key is more bulky than the typical house key. This system is pick and bump proof due to its inherent design. The system can offer the following options (at higher cost):
- Scheduled open and close times.
- Lost key deny access.
- Delayed access.
- Multiple key required to access.
- Audit trail
Evva MCS The company sent us this e-mail: “We don’t have any distributor in the US, our products are
produced for the European market, according to the European standards. As the US market requires different standards we are not able to supply our cylinders for your market.
Our standards are Europrofile, oval or swiss round cylinders, Scandinavian cylinders and some special profiles for European countries.”
Abloy Protec A very complicated mechanical key and lock system.
- A statement from one of their sales persons:
“Abloy lock works on a rotating disc principle similar to a bank vault tumbler, when you insert a key it has no effect on the lock it’s the 90 degree turn of the key that unscrambles the discs, if the combination is wrong it will not turn any further then 90 degrees. Pin tumbler locks when your key is inserted the combination is either correct or incorrect, the pins are always ready to be bumped up to align them, Abloy Protec locks are also Pick-Proof and we are the only lock manufacturer to make completely hardened steel locks with drill protection as opposed to brass with drill protection like our competitors.”
Mul-T-Lock The web site for this manufacturer is located here: http://www.mul-t-lockusa.com/ Cost for the lock is around $100 and a key might cost close to $20. This lock is mechanical. Quite close to being comparable to Medeco. Key bumping video can be found here: http://www.mul-t-lockusa.com/movies.asp
Farpro CX-5 (Scorpion)The web site for this manufacturer: http://www.farprosecuritysolutions.com/ This lock is mechanical and is thought to be comparable to Medico but much less expensive for lock and key.
Medeco These locks are expensive but have a very good reputation. There are two sets of pins, each set offset from the other to foil the bumping process. They are drill resistant.
Slage Primus claim to be bump proof but are not fool proof. “…if the bad guy can get a Primus-type key blank from the same region or dealer as your locks, the side-cuts are effectively neutralized” http://www.lockergnome.com/techronin/2007/04/17/lock-bumping/
Quickset Smart Keys (we have yet to confirm their method for preventing lock bumping). Allegedly, not a fully UL437 rated lock.
One question to ask when comparing locks to buy is the cost to buy a new key. One local locksmith claims that Farpro Scorpion keys only cost about $6 to make while a Medico key might cost close to $15.
Another factor to beware of is the warranty period of the lock. Some locks come with only a few year period while other locks extend the warranty well beyond. Know what exactly the warrantycovers and get it in writing.
One option for you to consider is having special bump resistant pins installed into your existing locks. If you take the cylinder into a lock shop the cost will typically be less than $20 for each cylinder. Call the locksmith first to see if they offer this service. For a locksmith to drive to your home or business and change out the pins will typically cost around $110 or more.
We recommend that you consult with a local reputable locksmith for advice to protect your home and business.
After you buy a lock, keep all documentation, warranty and receipts together in a folder for future reference.
Disclaimer: We in no way, endorse any lock manufacturers or model locks listed above. We do not make any guarantees that locks we have listed are actually bump proof. That is up to you to determine. We do recommend that you contact a good locksmith for advice. We do not guarantee the information written above is accurate. We have tried to present the information on this page only as a step to help you to find the best product for your needs.
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