Image: JDHancock

Throughout everyone's life there are certain events that - for the individual at least - are remembered as being "A Brush With Greatness." I have had a few such times in my life that I remember fondly and imagine that If I do not chronicle them perhaps some day I may well forget. As they occur to me I will share them with you from BlogDogIt.

One of my earliest brushes with greatness - one I share with a multitude of people - occurred seated in front of the television set; witnessing those famous first steps by Man upon the Moon [See BlogDogIt: That "One Small Step..." 43 Years Ago.] Although the action was occurring - literally - "A World Away", I was there and saw it live. It was greatness; even at the tender age of ten I knew it to be so.

A little over seven months later I was to find myself standing in the cold February sun with my Mother, Sister and Brother at a rally in downtown Indianapolis where I saw President Richard Nixon deliver the following remarks: [Click To Read Transcript]

While I did not get to shake his hand (or even get very close) I saw the man, I heard his speech, he was my President, it was very awesome indeed.

And so... The World turned... several years later - as a Professional/Commercial photographer - I would occasionally share the same air with some big-name local politicians; each great men in their own right: Richard Lugar, Otis Bowen, Robert Orr, Evan Bayh, William Hudnut, Stephen Goldsmith. All of these folks have been viewed by yours truly - in uncompromising detail - on the ground-glass of assorted Yashica and Nikon cameras - in my quest to pay the rent. (For the record I did actually shake hands and speak with three of these gentlemen.)

Once upon a time... I attended (worked) a private luncheon at which Hillary Clinton was seated at a table (among the commoners.) I was floating around the room photographing the event and made a point to pass close enough to Mrs. Clinton to tug her tresses - but of course this was not a playground and I was not a brat. I remember thinking at the time: "How cool is this?"

Well, that about covers it for the political scene... I have had several other brushes with greatness that I look forward to sharing with you as time allows.

Of course none of these compare with how great it is that you took the time to visit BlogDogIt - I appreciate that!

Following The Oatmeal for all these years has been one of those activities that could arguably be called a "good use the internet." The unique talents and clever wit of Matthew Inman has earned him a loyal following. The way I see it there are a good many followers who love to hate him and a fair amount that hate that they love him. Probably most never gave it much thought and merely chuckle right along.

The RSS Feed from TheOatmeal.com is among some of the earliest content to be offered on BlogDogIt. Ever since I turned to TheOatmeal for assistance with the Semi-colon that fateful day so many years ago I have never missed a single post from this prolific (if sporadic - thankfully) arteest. Through the years Matthew Inman has used TheOatmeal as a voice to the World. Loyal followers of his comic genius have gotten to know a bit about the man as a result of his ability to share deeply rooted sentiments in the guise of the funny pages that are TheOatmeal.com

Today I wanted to feature TheOatmeal so as to draw attention to his latest offering. It is a rather lengthy strip entitled "When your house is burning down you should brush your teeth." A spectacular flashback into Inman's childhood for the reader/viewer as can only be delivered in TheOatmeal. Share and Enjoy!

[Don't Stop Now - Click Image to Continue Reading]

Source: TheOatmeal.com

-Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitch-Hikers's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Noel Adams, writer, 1952-2001

It happened again today. For the better part of my adult life, I have been haunted by a vision from my past and there is little (if anything) I can do other than welcome this specter from days gone by. The apparition takes the form of a face. With skin of yellow and eyes of oxidized copper. The vision always comes without warning although it is obvious what has summoned it. A smell through the portals of time.

[ please continue... ]

My Side

I have always held the position that this blog should strive to avoid controversy and present a non-political, non-denominational face to the world. However, in light of the horrifying atrocity that has befallen our kindred in Mother Earth I feel the need to lift the vail and editorialize in this instance.

I have never been a gung-ho Facebook guy but I do use RSSGraffiti to keep my "time-line" busy with BlogDogIts and I am not without my "friends." Over this past weekend I was alerted to the following friend status messages and (against my better judgement) entered the fray. I have omited the comments of the others involved feeling that my statements stand on their own but you may infer the remarks to which I address.

Please understand that I am not reproducing these comments here to incite debate. I am posting simply because I think these qualify as masodo's musings and I do have the freedom to express my opinion so express I shall...

I am often asked to recommend software for virus and malware protection. I sent the following information to a colleague in an email and decided to post it here for future reference. I hope you find this information useful:

To get free anti-virus go to the following page:

http://free.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download

Click the “Download Basic Protection” button:

a download.cnet.com page will open...

click on the green download button:

============================

Welcome AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2012 users

To complete your download, click on the link below:

============================

choose to save downloaded file to your computer.
file is named similar to: avg_free_stb_all_2012_####_cnet.exe

double click downloaded file to install AVG following prompts...

Basically

·         be sure to select free version

·         do not allow program to provide information to AVG (product improvement – or whatever)

·         I do recommend the installation of the AVG toolbar for browser and setting AVG as default search provider.

·         update AVG (possibly a couple of times) to get latest protections

·         run a complete scan as soon as possible

The complete process may take 30~60 minutes.

On Windows 7 (and Vista) the install places an AVG “widget” on the desktop with a scan button and an update button – as long as you occasionally do each you will be secure and up to date.

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and for good measure...

One of the best resources for instructions on cleaning up an infected computer can be found on the following page:

http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/PC_Cleanup

Of particular intrest here is the proper procedure for the installation and configuration of the following programs:

• SpywareBlaster.
• CCleaner.
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
• SUPERAntiSpyware.
• Spybot S&D.

For best results download and use the recommended Anti-Malware_Toolkit
to download the above listed programs.

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Keep in mind: AVG should be all the Anti-virus you will need. Installing more than one anti-virus on a system is inviting problems.

Best of luck && Watch what you click!

Using the above resources I have been able to protect and clean several computers; from XP to Windows 7 - I have had success with these products. I have never seen the need to investigate the purchase of anti-virus or anti-malware products for personal computers. On rare occasions a system may be so infected that an operating system may need to be reinstalled or repaired; I have found that system stability is greatly restored using the above techniques, allowing for file recovery and backup efforts prior to the dreaded reformat.

yadda-yadda your results may vary yadda-yadda