With the Valentine's Day holiday approaching (well, it's here now ;-), be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.
The Storm Worm virus has capitalized on various holidays in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail. Valentine's Day has been identified as the next target.
Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided.
If you have received this, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
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Thursday, February 14, 2008
FDA Advises Seafood Processors About Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Near the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a letter to seafood processors, advising them of recent illnesses linked to consuming fish carrying the ciguatera toxin, which has led to cases of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) in consumers. The toxic fish were harvested in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, near the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which is located in federal waters south of the Texas-Louisiana coastline.
FDA had considered CFP from fish in this geographical area extremely rare until recently, when several outbreaks were confirmed in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo. The illnesses were linked to fish caught near the marine sanctuary. FDA now considers CFP to be a food safety hazard that is reasonably likely to occur in grouper, snapper, and hogfish captured within 10 miles of the marine sanctuary and amberjack, barracuda and other wide-ranging species captured within 50 miles of the sanctuary.
FDA’s letter urges seafood processors who purchase reef fish and other potentially ciguatoxic fish directly from fishermen to reassess their current hazard analyses and update their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans as necessary. FDA’s seafood HACCP regulation requires processors to have and implement written plans to control food safety hazards. This updated information differs from what is currently listed in FDA’s Fish & Fisheries Products Hazards & Controls Guidance, Third Edition.
Ciguatera poisoning is caused by the consumption of tropical reef fish that have assimilated ciguatoxins through the marine food chain from toxic microscopic algae. The toxins that cause ciguatera cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing, and toxic fish do not look or taste differently from nontoxic fish. The only way to detect CFP is through laboratory testing.
Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness and tingling of the mouth, hands or feet; joint pain; muscle pain; headache; reversal of hot and cold sensation (such that cold objects feel hot and vice versa); sensitivity to temperature changes; vertigo, and muscular weakness. There also can be cardiovascular problems, including irregular heartbeat and reduced blood pressure. Symptoms usually appear within hours after eating a toxic fish and go away within a few weeks. However, in some cases, neurological symptoms can last for months to years. There is no antidote for CFP; symptoms can be treated most effectively if diagnosed by a doctor with 72 hours. CFP is rarely fatal.
If you think you may have ciguatera poisoning, report your symptoms and what fish you ate to your doctor, local emergency room or health department. If possible, save meal remnants. For more information on the treatment of ciguatera poisoning, contact the National Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222.
FDA will continue to monitor the presence of ciguatera in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the application of seafood HACCP controls by seafood processors. Failure to meet the requirements of the HACCP regulation may result in enforcement actions by the agency.
FDA’s letter to industry http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/haccp4f2.html is part of the agency’s efforts to take preventive steps to minimize the risk of foodborne illnesses. Prevention is the cornerstone of the FDA’s new Food Protection Plan, launched in November 2007. The plan combines science and a risk-based approach of prevention, intervention and response to ensure the safety of domestic as well as imported foods eaten by American consumers.
For more information
Ciguatera fish poisoningwww.cdc.gov/nceh/ciguatera/default.htm www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/aquatic/index.html
---
FDA had considered CFP from fish in this geographical area extremely rare until recently, when several outbreaks were confirmed in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo. The illnesses were linked to fish caught near the marine sanctuary. FDA now considers CFP to be a food safety hazard that is reasonably likely to occur in grouper, snapper, and hogfish captured within 10 miles of the marine sanctuary and amberjack, barracuda and other wide-ranging species captured within 50 miles of the sanctuary.
FDA’s letter urges seafood processors who purchase reef fish and other potentially ciguatoxic fish directly from fishermen to reassess their current hazard analyses and update their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans as necessary. FDA’s seafood HACCP regulation requires processors to have and implement written plans to control food safety hazards. This updated information differs from what is currently listed in FDA’s Fish & Fisheries Products Hazards & Controls Guidance, Third Edition.
Ciguatera poisoning is caused by the consumption of tropical reef fish that have assimilated ciguatoxins through the marine food chain from toxic microscopic algae. The toxins that cause ciguatera cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing, and toxic fish do not look or taste differently from nontoxic fish. The only way to detect CFP is through laboratory testing.
Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness and tingling of the mouth, hands or feet; joint pain; muscle pain; headache; reversal of hot and cold sensation (such that cold objects feel hot and vice versa); sensitivity to temperature changes; vertigo, and muscular weakness. There also can be cardiovascular problems, including irregular heartbeat and reduced blood pressure. Symptoms usually appear within hours after eating a toxic fish and go away within a few weeks. However, in some cases, neurological symptoms can last for months to years. There is no antidote for CFP; symptoms can be treated most effectively if diagnosed by a doctor with 72 hours. CFP is rarely fatal.
If you think you may have ciguatera poisoning, report your symptoms and what fish you ate to your doctor, local emergency room or health department. If possible, save meal remnants. For more information on the treatment of ciguatera poisoning, contact the National Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222.
FDA will continue to monitor the presence of ciguatera in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the application of seafood HACCP controls by seafood processors. Failure to meet the requirements of the HACCP regulation may result in enforcement actions by the agency.
FDA’s letter to industry http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/haccp4f2.html is part of the agency’s efforts to take preventive steps to minimize the risk of foodborne illnesses. Prevention is the cornerstone of the FDA’s new Food Protection Plan, launched in November 2007. The plan combines science and a risk-based approach of prevention, intervention and response to ensure the safety of domestic as well as imported foods eaten by American consumers.
For more information
Ciguatera fish poisoningwww.cdc.gov/nceh/ciguatera/default.htm www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/aquatic/index.html
---
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The melting pot is headed for a melt down
Two articles below, not exactly related other than loosely because they both discuss on minorities.
We live in an ever-shifting culture and it looks as though major shake-ups are happening as I type. After reading the second article I understand now why our Government is stepping so lightly when it comes to immigration, the Hispanic vote and the amnesty issue.
The efforts to put a wall on the Mexican border may be like trying to put a plug in a dam that is already crumbled. If the population of Hispanics is as large as it seems, before the wall is built, they'll be voting to put in welcome centers.
I watch and wonder about the future of America. We're dependent on cheap, lead contaminated, Chinese products, our computer industry and much of our help desks are dependent on cheap labor from India, the Chinese and Japanese own huge portions of our businesses and industry, and our workers are cheap labor from Mexico and other countries.
At the top of the heap are elected officials wanting to give away the farm to stay elected. Universal health care? bridges to nowhere? checks to everyone? welfare? the list of handouts goes on and on.
We quibble about economic injustice and making amends for past hurts. We focus on the past instead of the future. We're busy pointing fingers rather than trying to work together for a better future. We fiddle --- and piddle with inconsequential things in the big scheme of things --- while our Rome burns.
The melting pot is headed toward a melt down.
Green "Disparate Impact"
It was front-page news on the January 14th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle that blacks by the tens of thousands have left the San Francisco Bay area since the 1990 census. Since my book Applied Economics analyzed this situation a few years ago, it was nice to see that the information has finally reached the San Francisco Chronicle, though they have yet to explain the politics and the economics behind the exodus.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/01/15/green_disparate_impact
Whites to become minority in U.S. by 2050
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Non-Hispanic whites will become a minority in the United States by 2050, with immigrants and their children driving 82 percent of U.S. population growth in coming years, a new study said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080212/ts_nm/usa_population_immigration_dc
We live in an ever-shifting culture and it looks as though major shake-ups are happening as I type. After reading the second article I understand now why our Government is stepping so lightly when it comes to immigration, the Hispanic vote and the amnesty issue.
The efforts to put a wall on the Mexican border may be like trying to put a plug in a dam that is already crumbled. If the population of Hispanics is as large as it seems, before the wall is built, they'll be voting to put in welcome centers.
I watch and wonder about the future of America. We're dependent on cheap, lead contaminated, Chinese products, our computer industry and much of our help desks are dependent on cheap labor from India, the Chinese and Japanese own huge portions of our businesses and industry, and our workers are cheap labor from Mexico and other countries.
At the top of the heap are elected officials wanting to give away the farm to stay elected. Universal health care? bridges to nowhere? checks to everyone? welfare? the list of handouts goes on and on.
We quibble about economic injustice and making amends for past hurts. We focus on the past instead of the future. We're busy pointing fingers rather than trying to work together for a better future. We fiddle --- and piddle with inconsequential things in the big scheme of things --- while our Rome burns.
The melting pot is headed toward a melt down.
Green "Disparate Impact"
It was front-page news on the January 14th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle that blacks by the tens of thousands have left the San Francisco Bay area since the 1990 census. Since my book Applied Economics analyzed this situation a few years ago, it was nice to see that the information has finally reached the San Francisco Chronicle, though they have yet to explain the politics and the economics behind the exodus.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/01/15/green_disparate_impact
Whites to become minority in U.S. by 2050
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Non-Hispanic whites will become a minority in the United States by 2050, with immigrants and their children driving 82 percent of U.S. population growth in coming years, a new study said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080212/ts_nm/usa_population_immigration_dc
Saturday, February 02, 2008
FBI Identifies Recurring Fraudulent E-mail Scam
The FBI has recently developed information indicating cyber criminals are attempting to once again send fraudulent e-mails to unsuspecting recipients stating that someone has filed a complaint against them or their company with the Department of Justice or another organization such as the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, or the Better Business Bureau.
Information obtained during the FBI investigation has been provided to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS has taken steps to alert their public and private sector partners with the release of a Critical Infrastructure Information Notice (CIIN).
The e-mails are intended to appear as legitimate messages from the above departments, and they address the recipients by name, and other personal information may be contained within the e-mail. Consistent with previous efforts, the scam will likely be an effort to secure Personally Identifiable Information. The nature of these types of scams is to create a sense of urgency for the recipient to provide a response through clicking on a hyperlink, opening an attachment, or initiating a telephone call.
It is believed this e-mail refers to a complaint that is in the form of an attachment, which actually contains virus software designed to steal passwords from the recipient. The virus is wrapped in a screensaver file wherein most anti-virus programs are unable to detect its malicious intent. Once downloaded, the virus is designed to monitor username and password logins, and record the activity, as well as other password-type information, entered on the compromised machine.
“Through FBI investigations we frequently uncover information about ongoing cyber attacks and scams. We share this information through our partnership with DHS to alert the public and the private sector,” noted James E. Finch, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division.
Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided. To receive the latest information about cyber scams please go to the FBI website and sign up for e-mail alerts by clicking on one of the red envelopes. If you have received a scam e-mail please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov. For more information on e-scams, please visit the FBI's New E-Scams and Warnings webpage.
They're comin' to get you...
All you speed freaks better watch out, it's gettin' easier and easier for those spinning red and blue lights to catch you... (my nick-name when I was younger was lead-foot. While my foot has gotten a tad lighter, it's simply 'cause I made myself get a vehicle with less pickup that shakes when it hits those higher speeds!)
Laser Atlanta Rolls Out the Latest Weapon in the War on Speeders
ATLANTA (BUSINESS WIRE)--Law enforcement officers battling dangerous speeders have a new high-tech weapon in their arsenal, and it fits in the palm of a hand. The new SpeedLaser® B, for its compact binocular shape, is the smallest, lightest SpeedLaser on the market. (To see the SpeedLaser® B in action, go to http://www.laseratlanta.com/speedlaser_b.htm.)
“This is the latest in a long line of innovations from Laser Atlanta and SpeedLaser to assist law enforcement officers in their daily efforts to make our highways safer places to travel,” said James Kelly, President and CEO of Laser Atlanta. “The new SpeedLaser B puts all of our frontline features like stealth, jammer detection and inclement weather modes into a rugged package that fits in the palm of your hand.”
Designed for use in a comfortable, horizontal position, the IACP-listed SpeedLaser B is as easy to use as a pair of binoculars. The vehicle’s speed in miles or kilometers and other user selected information appear in the intelligent LED head-up display that automatically rotates to either vertical or horizontal position. SpeedLaser is independently tested to obtain measurements in any type of weather and on vehicles at a farther distance than any other system. Jammers and detectors also failed to prevent a reading because of SpeedLaser’s proprietary Stealth Mode technology.
SpeedLaser is LIDAR or laser-based as opposed to RADAR, which provides several advantages including the ability to target a single vehicle on busy roadways and fast measurement speeds. With a target size of only 3” at 100 feet and the ability to take a reading of a targeted vehicle in just 0.3 seconds, speeding motorists have very little chance of detecting the SpeedLaser or slowing down before a speed reading is taken.
About Laser Atlanta
Since 1989, Laser Atlanta has been one of the leading innovators in the design, manufacture and sale of LIDAR products. We use our unique laser platform to provide ranging solutions for the military and civil engineering community. Since 1991, Laser Atlanta is the trendsetter for LIDAR speed detection devices for law enforcement. With the fastest acquisition time, longest range and proprietary Stealth mode, SpeedLasers produce tickets that stick even against drivers using jammers. With three models from which to choose, the best warranty in the business and all-weather use, SpeedLaser is the World’s Best for the World’s Finest.TM Visit http://www.laseratlanta.com/ for more information.
SpeedLaser and Laser Atlanta are registered trademarks of Laser Atlanta, LLC.
Laser Atlanta Rolls Out the Latest Weapon in the War on Speeders
ATLANTA (BUSINESS WIRE)--Law enforcement officers battling dangerous speeders have a new high-tech weapon in their arsenal, and it fits in the palm of a hand. The new SpeedLaser® B, for its compact binocular shape, is the smallest, lightest SpeedLaser on the market. (To see the SpeedLaser® B in action, go to http://www.laseratlanta.com/speedlaser_b.htm.)
“This is the latest in a long line of innovations from Laser Atlanta and SpeedLaser to assist law enforcement officers in their daily efforts to make our highways safer places to travel,” said James Kelly, President and CEO of Laser Atlanta. “The new SpeedLaser B puts all of our frontline features like stealth, jammer detection and inclement weather modes into a rugged package that fits in the palm of your hand.”
Designed for use in a comfortable, horizontal position, the IACP-listed SpeedLaser B is as easy to use as a pair of binoculars. The vehicle’s speed in miles or kilometers and other user selected information appear in the intelligent LED head-up display that automatically rotates to either vertical or horizontal position. SpeedLaser is independently tested to obtain measurements in any type of weather and on vehicles at a farther distance than any other system. Jammers and detectors also failed to prevent a reading because of SpeedLaser’s proprietary Stealth Mode technology.
SpeedLaser is LIDAR or laser-based as opposed to RADAR, which provides several advantages including the ability to target a single vehicle on busy roadways and fast measurement speeds. With a target size of only 3” at 100 feet and the ability to take a reading of a targeted vehicle in just 0.3 seconds, speeding motorists have very little chance of detecting the SpeedLaser or slowing down before a speed reading is taken.
About Laser Atlanta
Since 1989, Laser Atlanta has been one of the leading innovators in the design, manufacture and sale of LIDAR products. We use our unique laser platform to provide ranging solutions for the military and civil engineering community. Since 1991, Laser Atlanta is the trendsetter for LIDAR speed detection devices for law enforcement. With the fastest acquisition time, longest range and proprietary Stealth mode, SpeedLasers produce tickets that stick even against drivers using jammers. With three models from which to choose, the best warranty in the business and all-weather use, SpeedLaser is the World’s Best for the World’s Finest.TM Visit http://www.laseratlanta.com/ for more information.
SpeedLaser and Laser Atlanta are registered trademarks of Laser Atlanta, LLC.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Having a hard time getting tech support help?
80 percent of India's Internet service went down Wednesday night. Turns out two cables snapped and poof, Internet doesn't exist of much of the Middle East. As I type, Egypt is still almost completely down. Yep, the article below says they're getting sporadic service at best.
As I'm sure most know, India is now handling a large portion of our tech support and other type calls. I recently had a HUGE problem with Amazon and could only talk to people who definitely weren't located on this hemisphere. Snotty attitudes, horrible follow-up, such poor service that I cancelled my account with Amazon. I'll pay a bit more for good service any old day and I'll do without if it means dealing with attitudes.
If I had known that India was down yesterday, I might have spent a portion of the day calling tech support, Amazon and a few others just to have the refreshing opportunity to talk with someone without an accent.
I have yet to talk to someone from India who talked to me like I was not a bug they wanted to flick off their shoulder. I KNOW there are some great people in India, I have a good friend who originally hails from there. Love her, she's great people. Had a couple of doctors from India some years back, no problems.
I think these companies just hire snippy people. Could be a factor of how much they're being paid, too. Somehow it's cheaper for Amazon and other companies to pay long distance phone bills and pay the people than it is to hire folks here in the good ol' USA.
Wonder how the outage is affecting the financial markets here, and in the Middle East and Asia?
Here's an irreverent thought that will probably have folks yelling at me... Cows are sacred in India. I bet you won't find McDonald's, Burger King or any other meat selling company outsourcing to India.
India works to resume Internet services
NEW DELHI - Bandwidth providers said they expected India's Internet service to be back to about 80 percent of its usual speed by the end of Friday, a day after Internet service across a swath of Asia and the Middle East was disrupted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_hi_te/internet_outages
As I'm sure most know, India is now handling a large portion of our tech support and other type calls. I recently had a HUGE problem with Amazon and could only talk to people who definitely weren't located on this hemisphere. Snotty attitudes, horrible follow-up, such poor service that I cancelled my account with Amazon. I'll pay a bit more for good service any old day and I'll do without if it means dealing with attitudes.
If I had known that India was down yesterday, I might have spent a portion of the day calling tech support, Amazon and a few others just to have the refreshing opportunity to talk with someone without an accent.
I have yet to talk to someone from India who talked to me like I was not a bug they wanted to flick off their shoulder. I KNOW there are some great people in India, I have a good friend who originally hails from there. Love her, she's great people. Had a couple of doctors from India some years back, no problems.
I think these companies just hire snippy people. Could be a factor of how much they're being paid, too. Somehow it's cheaper for Amazon and other companies to pay long distance phone bills and pay the people than it is to hire folks here in the good ol' USA.
Wonder how the outage is affecting the financial markets here, and in the Middle East and Asia?
Here's an irreverent thought that will probably have folks yelling at me... Cows are sacred in India. I bet you won't find McDonald's, Burger King or any other meat selling company outsourcing to India
India works to resume Internet services
NEW DELHI - Bandwidth providers said they expected India's Internet service to be back to about 80 percent of its usual speed by the end of Friday, a day after Internet service across a swath of Asia and the Middle East was disrupted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_hi_te/internet_outages
Using taxes to get kids off their butts...
So this new group in New Mexico, "No Kid Left Inside", wants to use taxes to try and get kids off their butts and into sports. They are proposing, pushing, to add a one-percent sales tax onto video games and televisions. The money would be used to fund more sports.
Uh huh.
I understand the sentiment, it is a good idea for kids to participate in sports IF they want to do so. However, having more programs to entice video playing kids to pack up their game and head outdoors isn't going to work.
They like what they're doing. Plus, it's easier on the parents. All a Mom or Dad has to do to get peace and quiet is pick up a baby-sitter at the local video outlet for twenty buck or more, depending on the game, and park their kids in a chair.
They don't have to take their time to tote them to a game, sit there for hours watching the rug rats torture a ball, then pay for snacks when it's their turn and, heaven forbid, interact with other parents and children.
Nope, they can get their nails done, clean the house, finish that brief, relax in front of the boob tube... the list is endless as to what the parent would have to give up. It's easier for them to complain about the growing obesity problem we are facing in this country. It's easier all around.
I contend that if parents wanted their children involved in sports, they would have started them on that track long before the kids knew how to push the video game buttons. Well-rounded kids can do both.
There are some children who will never play sports. They may want to paint, sculpt, play music, work on cars, re-program Dad's computer or have some other interesting ideas as to how they want to spend their time.
I'm never for raising taxes. There's plenty of money for sports, we just have to stop building bridges to nowhere, supporting dead beats and funding stupid research projects.
By the way, what you want to bet that if they DO manage to push through the tax that the end result will be more managers and staff? They'll have to put together committees or oversight Boards to watch and spend the money. How long before there's a shortfall in one area and the funds are re-directed to build roads to get to the local parks? Let me count the ways our government can spend tax money...
N.M. tax would target TVs, video games
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Dave Gilligan remembers being pushed outside to play baseball and other sports, but feeling it just wasn't for him. So the 24-year-old business owner is skeptical about a proposal to nudge kids off the couch and out the door by taxing televisions and video games sold in New Mexico. The idea could backfire, he says.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_re_us/no_child_left_inside
Uh huh.
I understand the sentiment, it is a good idea for kids to participate in sports IF they want to do so. However, having more programs to entice video playing kids to pack up their game and head outdoors isn't going to work.
They like what they're doing. Plus, it's easier on the parents. All a Mom or Dad has to do to get peace and quiet is pick up a baby-sitter at the local video outlet for twenty buck or more, depending on the game, and park their kids in a chair.
They don't have to take their time to tote them to a game, sit there for hours watching the rug rats torture a ball, then pay for snacks when it's their turn and, heaven forbid, interact with other parents and children.
Nope, they can get their nails done, clean the house, finish that brief, relax in front of the boob tube... the list is endless as to what the parent would have to give up. It's easier for them to complain about the growing obesity problem we are facing in this country. It's easier all around.
I contend that if parents wanted their children involved in sports, they would have started them on that track long before the kids knew how to push the video game buttons. Well-rounded kids can do both.
There are some children who will never play sports. They may want to paint, sculpt, play music, work on cars, re-program Dad's computer or have some other interesting ideas as to how they want to spend their time.
I'm never for raising taxes. There's plenty of money for sports, we just have to stop building bridges to nowhere, supporting dead beats and funding stupid research projects.
By the way, what you want to bet that if they DO manage to push through the tax that the end result will be more managers and staff? They'll have to put together committees or oversight Boards to watch and spend the money. How long before there's a shortfall in one area and the funds are re-directed to build roads to get to the local parks? Let me count the ways our government can spend tax money...
N.M. tax would target TVs, video games
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Dave Gilligan remembers being pushed outside to play baseball and other sports, but feeling it just wasn't for him. So the 24-year-old business owner is skeptical about a proposal to nudge kids off the couch and out the door by taxing televisions and video games sold in New Mexico. The idea could backfire, he says.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_re_us/no_child_left_inside
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