Snoopy likes to spend lots of time demanding attention and trying to sit on one or the other of us when we’re on the computer. Not exactly the best material for getting pictures. But tonight he finally got comfortable with one of the, um, many dog toys we have around here and he got to work on it. This happens to be a $0.69 special we got on sale sometime after Christmas. Here are some of the photos of him sitting on the ottoman and enjoying himself.
Snoopy!
Nope, I’m not talking about Geoff’s obsession with dogs named after Peanuts characters. Though, in this case, the dog in question is, in fact, named after the famous beagle. This time I’m talking about the pup we’re dog sitting this week. He’s a cockapoo, properly called parti-colored, and he’s pretty funny.
Looks like Congress is getting involved now
That bit we talked about earlier where employers were asking job applicants for their passwords to their personal e-mail and social media accounts? It looks like it has gotten the attention of a few Senators, and they are not happy. Some state legislatures (California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey for starters) are also working on laws to prevent this sort of thing. So now it appears that a great national debate is in the making, and I welcome it. Personally, I find nothing wrong with Googling potential employees, but asking for passwords seems to cross a line, legally and ethically. In my mind, it is similar to the difference between doing a credit check of a potential employee and asking for that applicant’s ATM card and pin. One seeks information that is clearly in the public domain, and the other clearly is asking for something that is not.
-Geoff
A hero of mine gets the cold shoulder
Many of you who know me know that I am a great admirer of Bruce Schneier, a renowned cryptology and security expert who has been a thorn in the side of those who believe all security issues can be solved with big, expensive machines and the push of a button. He is the inventor of the term “security theater”, or measures that are more effective at looking like you are doing something than actually doing anything to make you safer. I have several of his books and I highly recommend them. Anyway, recently Bruce was uninvited from testifying in front of Congress at the insistence of the TSA. I imagine this has something to do with the fact that he is a very vocal critic of the TSA and many of their policies.
Making some progress for once
This past Thursday was the first day in a VERY long time that both Kelly and I were working. And that, in my mind, is progress. I now have two part-time jobs at historic sites, and even if I find full-time work again, I think I am going to try to keep these jobs. I like them a lot so far. And what’s more, with all the walking I have to do now I am getting a lot more exercise, and it feels good.
-Geoff
Why we don’t have Facebook- part the second
Or Twitter for that matter.
This popped up on Boston.com today and horrified us both. This is why we have an open and public blog. If you want to know anything about us it is right here.
Job seekers getting asked for Facebook passwords
Continue reading “Why we don’t have Facebook- part the second”
Concertizing and Audience Behavior
I’ve been reading The Hub Review a lot lately. It’s well written and he gets to see and review a lot of things that I would never make it to see. What initially caused me to finally bookmark the blog was his story about some audience misbehavior, something I have talked about in the past.
A follow-up to my earlier post on emergency planning
Now that almost everyone is back on the grid, NStar recently announced that it has no intention of reimbursing customers for any financial losses they may have suffered during the power outage this past week. And for some of those customers, I would imagine that the loss is a bit more than pocket change, to put it mildly. Imagine all of the restaurants that had to throw out all of their meat, seafood, produce, and dairy products. And that is on top of the loss they suffered for having to let customers leave without paying. Plus a couple of days where those businesses made no money. And so the wait staff and bartenders made no tips. It is not as bad as it could have been, but it was certainly bad enough. And that is why I will continue to harp on this issue of planning for events like this.
Continue reading “A follow-up to my earlier post on emergency planning”
The Eatin’ of the Green
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. As I write this thousands of Bostonians are going out to traditional Irish-like watering holes to drink themselves into oblivion on green beer and bad bar food. Geoff and I didn’t have much to do today other than a doggie play date this morning and a few errands. On his way home from running errands, Geoff stopped at the nearest Burger King and got us each a meal.
All cats, all the time!
Just kidding folks, no need to stop reading the blog. I know we’ve been talking a lot about cats lately. I swear we’re not turning into ICHC. That’s just the way things have worked out lately.
Geoff and I stumbled upon this today and thought that it was worth sharing. If you can watch it without tearing up a bit you’re doing better than me.
The Books are Taking Over... 