Password Protection – Work Fails & Job LOLs – Monday Through Friday.

I must admit, I am totally guilty of this one! I’m all for security, but constant changing of passwords is one I pretty much disagree with. Who is it going to keep out, other than the poor bloke who has forgotten his latest password for the four different systems he uses, eg. ME?

If correct procedures are followed, any former employees would have had their user logins disabled at the time of their leaving the company, so that would just leave current employees to worry about. For current users, it would obviously be easier to remember the one (set) of passwords than having to update to a new password whenever the programs feel it is necessary, wouldn’t it?

For myself, I find it difficult to keep track of all of the different passwords for different systems and sites I use, so I inevitably end up recording them on paper somewhere, saving them in the web browser I use (Firefox allows you to password protect your saved passwords which is handy. Just have to remember the password to the password file then. ), and worst of all, on a sticky note stuck to my monitor. *shakes head in shame*

Very much one of those ‘do as I say, and not as I do’ situations.

Teen passenger in speeding car sues driver who was hit – SalemNews.com, Salem, MA.

So an idiot doing 80mph in a 30mph zone crosses the centre line and smashes head-on into a van, and according to the passenger in the speeding car the van driver, who was in her lane and driving at the speed limit, was the one at fault!

Since its America I’m expecting the poor lady to be dragged across the coals and wind up with a huge lawyer bill. Would be great if she turned around and sued the lawyer for undue stress etc. At the end of the day though, only the lawyers win…

I saw the following pic and had to laugh… We’re trying to sell our home currently so I’m comparing the look and feel of our place to others. All of the Real Estate programs tell you to de-clutter and present your place in the best way possible. De-cluttering would include removing the umpteen family photos you have littering your lounge.

Potential buyers don’t care what little Johnny looked like at the school formal with the chick he tried to bone down at the park… Besides that, what would make you think that covering your coffee table in photos would add to the decor of your room? Buy a bloody photo album. This place just screams “Nanna”. I’m disappointed with the agent obviously not pushing the point that this looks crap, but it does help make our place look a bit better

Here’s my tips, stolen from others, in how to present your home… not that it’s worked for us, yet. Grrr

1. De-Clutter – Remove the knickknacks (eg. the porcelain elephants and your school photos) you have accumulated over the years. You are selling your house, and need to make it look as spacious as possible. There is a difference between de-cluttered and bare though, so keep a few tasteful ornamental items out to make the place look homely. De-Clutter the yard too, by getting rid of the kids’ toys, the dead tree and mowing the lawn for starters.
2. Clean – Don’t do a normal weekly clean. We’re out to impress, so make sure everything is gleaming. Our favourite word at home currently is “Gumption”. A magic abrasive paste for cleaning off the nasty stuff from your sinks, cook top, you name it.
3. Fix it – Those little jobs that you have been putting off, get them done. The drawer that doesn’t shut in the kitchen, the light that doesn’t work; they all add up to something that either makes a buyer walk away or ensure the offer they put in is lower than it might’ve been.
4. Paint schemes – Keep it neutral. Add your colour with furnishings and paintings. That feature wall you have put in each room might look great to you, but Sam down the street probably thinks it looks awful. “Its only paint”, I hear you say. That is true, but that requires the buyer to ‘imagine’ what it looks like without the ghastly colouring, rather than ‘see’.
5. Ask for constructive criticism – Ask impartial people what they think about the presentation of your home and what they’d change if it was theirs. An outside perspective from an honest viewer can make a World of difference in the saleability of your home. As in the pic above, all they needed was some constructive criticism, eg. “The photos are nice, but how about we pack them away just for the home opens? We need to make the buyers look at this spacious room, not your lovely family.”

Hope you got something from my tips, Nanna. Now get rid of the bloody photos… after we sell our house.

Update : See, I’m not full of it… We have received an offer on our house after two home opens. A combination of realistic price, good presentation and a decent agent lead to a successful transaction.

Smoko should call it quits, Quit says – Yahoo!7 News

I really don’t understand some of the things that people go on about, such as whether a tea break is called a ‘smoko’. For me, ‘smoko’ means tea break, and, as a non-smoker, it doesn’t make me all of a sudden have the urge to grab a pack of cigarettes. Now calling the break ‘quito’ makes me think of the end of the day… quitting time. Where I work no-one calls a cigarette break, ‘smoko’, its more like, “Mate, are you going out for a smoke.”

Imagine if this got passed as a law that no-one is to use ‘smoko’ to describe a tea break, or a hefty fine will ensue. I wouldn’t be surprised in these worsening times for litigation and general pettiness that something as preposterous as this would be put through.

Rantification » Previous blog post about these nefarious companies.

Our company’s branch must be on a scammers… sorry, legitimate business seekers mail-list, because once again ‘they’ have sent us a solicitation to pay for an advert not requested by us.

This time the Queensland company/charity requesting us to pay is Awareness of Children’s Safety. Something that is interesting, perhaps a typo, is that the ABN (20172187) quoted doesn’t exist on the business.gov.au website. This time the advert in the pretty little book that no-one would ever see, other than those targeted by this crew, is again wrong, with a web address that points nowhere, product picture of something we don’t sell and incorrect company name.

The thing is, the little book is really quite interesting and is well worth the $1.65 it cost them to send it to us!

Unfortunately for them, its not the type of publication we would advertise in and in this climate we’re not likely to advertise in anything similar to this, especially if its going to cost $450 each time… So, if you do read this, please stop trying to rip off fellow Australians!

Primary teacher charged with sex abuse – ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

I have to assume this poor bugger has prior convictions for a Court to refuse bail for a crime supposedly committed 23 years ago, and if that is true then why is he still a teacher? That’s a hell of a long time for someone to keep something bottled up for too, because if it happened when they were 11 or 12 that makes them 34 now, so what have they been doing? I guess they may have been playing it over and over in their minds, rocking in the corner, planning their revenge for when the laws were made severe enough?

I’m not for or against either party, I just think that its pretty poor form for the ‘victims’ to wait all this time to accuse the bloke. Who’s to say how many other children he could’ve allegedly had indecent dealings with in those 23 years, using his position of authority as a teacher to coerce more victims?

Yes, I am cold-hearted and not empathising with the ‘victims’, but it just amazes me the sorts of cases tying up the Court time.

I bought a JVC KD-AVX44 head unit for my car because it looked like it would suit all of my requirements, and for the most part it appears it does.

Thinking it would be a convenient (and safe) feature to have the factory steering wheel radio controls of my VY Commodore able to control the head unit I looked into interfaces that would work with the KD-AVX44.

Discovering the PAC SWI-JACK unit I thought my needs would be filled (as it is listed to work with a Pontiac GTO (similar to my car) and KD-AVX44), and indeed it would have if I lived in America or other countries around the World. For some unknown reason JVC, in their wisdom or lack there-of, have deleted the OE-Remote Jack that the SWI-JACK connects to from the Australian version of the KD-AVX44.

So now I am left with an expensive gizmo that is unable to do as I wanted.

I hope other Aussie people see this post before they fork out for the combination I did, expecting it to work as it would in other countries.

Thanks again JVC…

WA Premier flags housing buyback for Ravensthorpe/Hopetoun – ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

I totally feel for the poor buggers that have been caught out by BHP Billiton withdrawing from the Ravensthorpe site and I hope that those effected can find new jobs in the area. This rant, however, is about the story itself…

A quote from the story.
“This would be unsual, it’s not usual for the Government or the taxpayers to protect people form the consequences of thier house purchase decisions, but these are unusual circumstances, some people would have made recent desisions to buy in Hopetoun, now they may owe more than the house is worth.”

This is one sentence. Do you people not have a spell check or a proof-reader to make sure the articles you write are correct for publishing? Yes, we all make mistakes (typos), but three in a sentence from a professional News site is poor.

British teacher suspended over push-up punishment – ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

What the hell is it with the world now days? The teacher is punished for making students who were late for class do push-ups. How is this a bad thing? The students were late and there should be a penalty. In this case it was a non-confrontive punishment and even healthy for said students! Perhaps it should be a standard rule in schools to help cut the ‘obesity epidemic’?

The dude should be applauded for his actions, not suspended.

It is time for the school administrations to grow a set and make a complete rule book for students. The parent signs a contract to say their child will abide by the rules and the school can appropriate the punishment necessary for any insubordination. No more rights for children. You come to school to learn. If you choose not to learn then you are not welcome at the school.

Every child has the right to an education… in a safe environment.
Addendum : If a student chooses to impede the learning or safety of others then they forfeit their right and are no longer welcome to attend class.

I think that rule could work well… Take the troublemakers out of the school environment as they only help make the next generation of school leavers dumber.

Pensioner Jaimi Carlin feigned cancer to get cosmetic surgery | The Australian.

Another story showing the awesome caliber of some of the people in our fine country, taking advantage of people seeking love. Why this bloke wasn’t seeking love from his own wife I am not sure, but its pretty rude of this chick to take advantage of him and his gullibility. I’m wondering what his missus said about all of the missing money.

Having been ripped off recently for something I thought was happening but didn’t, I can understand the bitter taste that is left in your mouth. Thankfully I didn’t lose as much as this bloke, but still money is money and if it isn’t used for the purpose it was given then it must be returned in full!

You’ve had the lipo and the breast implants, love, now get on the stripper pole and pay the bloke back what you owe him.