08.22.14
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Take a stand for YOUR Freedom, YOUR Rights, and YOUR Protection.

I’ve had several thoughts lately surrounding the protection of myself, and that of my family.
With the crazy stuff going on around the world, the idiotic decisions from the powers that be, and the sporadic decisions of any random person in the USA causing a nationwide uproar (or just something extremely stupid, like the San Antonio Spurs winning the Championship…), our safety and security is put into check time and time again.

If something like what’s happened in recent weeks in Ferguson, Missouri were to happen in your town/city, would you be prepared to protect yourself, your family, and your home against those who wish to defile it? My guess is no.

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans (and I’m sure many more world-wide) live with the idea that the Government and Local Authorities will retain peace and order to prevent wide-spread chaos within a specific area of the USA. Don’t feel bad, I myself have taken this stance for quite a while too.

How about the security of your family at their place of work or school? Surely, you can’t be there all the time to protect them… are they able to protect themselves in a moment’s notice?
This happened earlier in the year here in San Antonio: http://www.democraticunderground.com/107817310

So… the main problem I’m trying to bring awareness to is that whether you’re utilizing things such as weapons or body armor to increase your overall protection, you need to be more aware and accepting that we’re simply NOT in a SAFE HAVEN anymore! A single person or group’s STUPID decision can change your life for the worse… don’t let that happen… take a stand for YOUR Freedom, YOUR Rights, and YOUR Protection.

Thank you for reading.

08.21.14
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#IceBucketChallenge up to $41.8 million! More than $10m in donations a single day!

http://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-challenge-082114.html

Considering the government spends a mere $80 million per year in research for ALS, this campaign is a HUGE win for the fight for a cure!

For those of you who believe this challenge is nonsense, consider the fact that this funding may just provide that edge in finding a cure! We can only hope!

Thank you to all who have supported the A LA Association thus far, and if you’re still on the fence about the challenge, now is the time!

08.21.14
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“Ahh… so you didn’t see my tweet, or video!? Let me introduce U to the #IceBucketChallenge!”

The entire Virgin Family World-Wide getting involved with the Challenge from Sir @RichardBranson! So awesome!

08.20.14
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Children and their responsibilities

We just finished having one if the usual talks we’ve had many times over with our son. The talk usually consists of a consequence, followed up by making him take care of his “chores” or responsibilities.

While we had a friend living with us, we had split up a set of chores between all of the kids… pretty simply, if a floor, walkway, or seating area had anything on it that shouldn’t be there, it needed to be taken care of before anything else (like playing the Xbox).

Today, our son neglected every responsibility he has, and proceed to the Xbox just after getting dressed for school, and again when they got home about 30-minutes ago!

Perhaps pouring up a white board again with the listing of his responsibilities will help him “remember”, then again, having a “chore list” pop up when he logs in to the Xbox would be even better. Perhaps I’m on to something!

I come to wonder, what would old school parents do in this situation? … Time to call my mom and ask!

08.20.14
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Should I use a Hosted or Self-Hosted Solution?

“Do you prefer to host something yourself, or rely on another provider to host your data?”

I’ve had this question come up quite a bit in the recent years. Any hosting-related need you can think of, there is a handful of providers to choose from.
Unfortunately, the question is not easily answered. In most cases, the question is even heavily skewed.

One of the more recent questions I’ve been asked is:

“What file hosting service should I use?”

This is one of those that is heavily skewed… To make this even more confusing for you, how about we “try” to compare nearly all of those services in one page: http://goo.gl/P6Uv03

Feeling overwhelmed? Ask yourself another question; who would you ask or rely on to answer questions you had about a specific service offering? That’s where people like me come in.
We love to share our knowledge, and guide parties to the option(s) that fit their needs and their budget.

Here are just a few of the products we’ve used ourselves, and followed over the years:

  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive
  • Amazon Cloud Drive
  • Box
  • Bitcasa
  • OneDrive
  • SpiderOak

Now… which one fits you? My guess is, likely all of them!

Some of them have “FREE” offerings… AWESOME! … Right? Well, here’s where you get back into questioning yourself about your real needs.

  • Do you need a large amount of storage space for your data?
  • Do you need to store things such as media (Video, Audio, and Pictures)?
  • Do you need to share the media with anyone else?
  • Does your data need to be truly private?

Mind you, that’s is just a handful of questions that come to mind. There are obviously many more to take into consideration, but you need to understand the decision is not as simple as “choosing the free provider who offers the most”. Given the amount of uncertainty there is surrounding privacy among US-based Internet Service Providers, you need to consider things such as the security and privacy of your data. Does the provider you’re interested in offer 2-factor authentication? Does that provider encrypt all of your data in which even their employee’s can’t access it?

Do a good amount of research on the provider’s past security or compromise/hacking related incidents. How did they handle that incident? Don’t put an extreme amount of prejudice on them having a security issue… look at the amount of transparency they provided to their users… the resolution path they used… and the roadmap adjustment to prevent it from recurring in the future.

I believe that pretty much gives you quite a bit of homework to do, if you’re on the market for a new provider. If you have any questions surrounding this topic, or have a bit more specific situation, feel free to reach out to me, and I’ll be happy to provide some guidance.

08.19.14
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Lorri Carey – Diagnosed with ALS 10-years ago!

Check out http://kids4cure.com/ to learn more about their cause, and to learn more about this great family.

 

My wife shared this today on her Facebook. When you encounter a story of someone who’s been diagnosed with a disease, or anyone what-so-ever whom has made a plea from their heart in a public video on the internet, take a moment to share it with someone else! Their public plea could be their last.

Nearly everywhere on the internet today, sharing information with others is nearly at the click of a button. It may take you 10-seconds to share someone’s story that is truly meaningful, and not being pushed by major media. In a situation like this where they’re trying to raise money toward a cause like ALS Research, you may not be able to donate currency at this time, but sharing is free for you! While you may not be able to help the cause financially, someone you know, or someone who stumbles across your share may be able too. That makes all of the difference in the world!

As I’ve said in prior tweets and posts on Facebook, any one person can truly affect change in this world. Use your voice to share a story with those around you, whether that voice is verbal or digital text on the internet, it matters! It counts! It makes a difference!

08.19.14
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The ALS Association’s #IceBucketChallenge… what it stands for.

I feel rather fortunate to have had the means of giving to the ALSA during this campaign, and hope that some day, the funding received from this event will save lives of those world-wide fighting this horrible disease.

This is one of the few organizations I’ve donated to, and hope that the others who have also donated truly feel as strongly as I do about this cause.

I’ll definitely encourage anyone and everyone to take part in this campaign to raise awareness for the disease, and hope that people understand the true meaning of this challenge. It has nothing to do with “dumping a bucket of ice water over your head”… it has to do with the feeling you get from it. That same sense you get when you jump into a cold lake or pool… that moment your body’s senses are in shock, and your muscles freeze up… That moment of helplessness. THAT feeling is what this is about.
You know that saying “I feel your pain”?… that’s the intent here. FEEL for those who’ve been affected by ALS!

Please take a few moments to read more about the ALS Association via their website: http://www.alsa.org/about-us/what-we-do.html

Of course, donate whatever amount you reasonably can to help fund the research to #StrikeOutALS via their donation page @ https://secure2.convio.net/alsa/site/Donation2?df_id=27420&27420.donation=form1

Additionally… you can start your own campaign to fight ALS @ http://web.alsa.org/site/PageNavigator/one_dollar_home.html

08.19.14
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The tweet heard round the world… of Virgin.

If there’s one thing I believe, it’s that anyone, anywhere, can affect change. Whether that change is in your daily life, someone around you, or someone you don’t even know, the opportunity to touch someone’s life is everywhere!
There is never a better moment than this one, right now!

While I certainly have not had the opportunity to meet Sir Richard, he is certainly a part of my “bucket list” so to speak.

“Why would I want to meet him, he’s just another billionaire?” – There are very few people on this planet that have a true passion for life. Few people that I share similar views with… Sir Richard is one of those I believe I can “see eye to eye” with.

When Paul Walker died in that fiery crash back in my home state of California, I honestly died a bit inside. When Robin Williams more recently died, I felt as though I’m losing my chance to meet those people that have affected real change in the world. Be it through their talents, their voices, their beliefs, or their money… I’m simply missing out on the opportunity to meet those visionaries who can help me in solidifying my personal views in affecting change on a global scale.

Sure, I can affect that change on my own, and I WILL! Although learning from those who have done their part far longer than I will allow me to better affect change. Someday, I shall take mental notes from those visionaries.