Virtual firewall

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Amy

There has been so much talk about hackers and viruses attacking the computers around the world that it is becoming more difficult to feel secure when I turn on my computer! I always wonder when I go to bed if my computer is going to be infected during the night and be completely useless in the morning. There seems to be frequent news on television about how some major company or organization or government branch has announced that their computer system was somehow compromised and that a lot of sensitive information has been exposed to potentially devious people who might use it for their own personal gain, stealing people’s identities, and causing general havoc.

One way to help protect a computer from being hacked into is by purchasing a service that makes your own IP anonymous. I had never heard of a service like this before, but my sister told me about it recently and suggested that I look into it. After all, if my computer was hacked it would be a major personal disaster. Yes, I back up my files religiously, but it still would be a major disaster for me to have to deal with it. She called it a vpn service.This service keeps your own IP address blocked so that it makes it more difficult for hackers to get into your system. So this is something I will definitely check out!

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Making your own karaoke music

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Amy

Oftentimes, when I go shopping I see machines for sale that are “home use karaoke” machines. I’ve looked at them and thought about how much fun they would be at parties. I have a very large musical family that would really enjoy doing something like that at a home party. I might even be tempted to get up and sing in front of my family. After all, they already know how badly I sing, and if they are willing to encourage me sing in front of them anyway, well, I could do that! As I mentioned previously, I’d be embarrassed to “perform” karaoke in a public setting because my singing voice is bad. (Although I’ve often thought about taking voice lessons to improve it!)

When I’ve looked at those machines at the store I see that they come with a certain amount of karaoke music and I’ve thought about how sad it was to be limited to only those songs. And I’ve wondered about how one could go about making your own karaoke music. Well, I’ve just discovered that there is a software program on the market that enables the consumer to strip the vocals out of music so that the consumer can make their own karaoke music! How cool is that! And the software is very reasonably priced too. I’m very tempted to buy it and give it a try!

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An instrument that plays without even touching it

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Amy

Have you ever seen a video of someone playing a moog theremin from musicians friend? I had never heard of a moog theremin before, so I decided to check out YouTube and see if I could find a video of someone playing one. I found this video, and I am completely fascinated by it! I’d love to buy one and try one out. I can imagine the reaction of my cats if they ever came across one!

Here’s a video giving a lesson on how to play one! Pretty interesting!

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Weight loss

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Amy

I have seen so many people worried about their weight that have no reason to be worried about their weight! Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of obese people out in the general population that SHOULD be worried about their weight, but there has been so much “hype” about how people should be toothpick skinny that it really worries me. I see young girls, just barely in their teens, wearing size 2 clothes complaining to their parents that they are too fat!

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Love is the word

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Amy

Let’s talk about love…They say there are two kinds of love-unconditional and conditional. How can love be divided by type? Is it possible to have/give both?

Unconditional love is: to do good to, to care for and to provide for. Sounds like the love one would have/give for a child or pet. A love that comes, when in later years of a child’s life, with freedom to choose. Freedom to decide their own destiny. You cut your “hold” on them and hope they can live with the choices they make. Hope also that they always stay close and don’t turn into a conditional love relationship. Which is, unfortunately, all too often the case.

Conditional love is: to like, to be fond of, to have affection for, but on your own terms and conditions. For instance-if you let your pet off the leash will it bolt from you or stay loyal, by your side. Even if it bolts from you, you grieve until it returns. And if it doesn’t return, the unconditional love wasn’t there on their part.

Similar to a child growing older. A lot of times, they bolt until they need something. Unconditional love based on they love you as such until they get what they want or need, and exit your life again-back to conditional. This is a repetitive cycle until the unconditional lover breaks it.

Love hurts! They say a dog is capable of unconditional love, even in the case of abuse or neglect. How can that be? Makes one wonder what is wrong with the human race. When a child who is of age to know that they are being loved in a wrong way, they bolt and don’t usually return.

So, are there really two kinds of love? Is one capable to love both ways or only one way? I think dogs do both but, people no. My thought is this world is full of conditional love. What do you think? Something to ponder and, perhaps, change?!

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