I believe the same thing. Dieting is like budgeting.
You could actually save money by changing your diet. There isn't much nutritional or financial value in buying that large bag of potato chips or 12 cans of soda.
I agree with you Xin Lu. It seems like delinquent borrowers who qualify for the loan modifications will be benefiting more than those responsible borrowers who have always paid on time. It just doesn't make sense, but to just come to the conclusion that the Government and Lenders are covering up for their mistakes. I think that Obama's Administration needs to give some sort of incentive or benefits to those Homeowners who are current with their mortgage payments. Otherwise we are going to have more foreclosures, due to the fact that homeowners will no longer care about making their payments since their house is so upside down.
I think Obama said before that he wants to raise taxes on more wealthy families in the interest of fairness. I forget the direct quote, but that has been his campaign for a while and he is implementing it. I think the modification plan is just another extension of robbing from the hard working/well to do to help those who cannot help themselves in the interest of "fairness".
The maximum amount refinancable is 105% of the homes value...
What happens to all the people who are in homes with mortgages that are 20-30-40-50-60% more than the homes value....are we forgetting the collapse of the housing bubble here??? Houses aren't worth anywhere near what they were a year ago.
Are they un-financable or is the portion above the 105% cap going to be wiped out????
The way I see it only people with a HUGE equity stake will eligable...and if you have that much equity you shouldn't need to be refinanced anyway.
And EXCUSE ME...but since when does an Investor who bought a 2-3-or 4 unit building and lives in one of the units get the priviledge of keeping the units he rents out and the loan modified????? He should lose all but he one he lives in IMO.
Borrower Pay-for-Performance Success Payments:
Borrowers are eligible to receive a Pay-for-Performance Success Payment that goes straight towards reducing the principal balance on the mortgage loan as long as the borrower is current on his or her monthly payments. Borrowers can receive up to $1,000 of Pay-for-Performance Success Payments each year for up to five years.
Why do irresponsible, bad payers get a $1000 incentive, while people who struggled to make a mortgage payment every month get nothing. Once again, we're rewarding bad behavior. This is like sending those kids who miss a bunch of school to a vacation resort, while the good kids stay behind and work their butts off.
I was cracking up over this plan now that the details are coming out (all you can do is laugh). The ONLY people NOT helped by this plan are the ones who were responsible.
– I put 20% down when I bought my house
– My mortgage is less than 31% of my income
– I’m not living off credit cards
All these factors have now put me in the bucket of people who will be paying for those who don’t meet those criteria.
Oh yeah, and we're paying the same loan officers who fudged income data and pushed buyers into teaser rate mortgages to fix the mess. Incredible!
It actually looks much better then what I expected. The guidelines are pretty strict at least.
Question though.. I don't see where the borrower gets 1k for making their payments.. I see the servicer getting that.
And to the comment about lenders being competitive... most can't be now anyway, since the only secondary market that really exist is Fannie, Freddie and FHA, your options are pretty limited.
I have a dresser that my boyfriends parents were just going to put on the curb because they had two kids moving out and no need for it anymore. When I started stripping it, I found out this thing had at least 6 coats of paint on it. My boyfriend kept saying "I remember when it was yellow" and "It was pink when my sister had it" until there were layers of paint even he couldn't remember. Once I got it down to the wood, I sanded it and painted it with a beautiful cherrywood finish. It is the most beautiful dresser I own.
What also troubles me is the prospect that when it comes time for me to buy, I'm going to be made to make up for the loss of income that these lenders are going through thanks to this program. The government can't just wave a magic interest rate wand and lower rates to 2% and expect people with good credit to not be affected when they go in for a similar loan.
This is going to make lenders much less competitive, not to mention put some out of business. It's also going to keep some people who could have entered the housing market from doing so, now that banks will be making up the difference on people like me. Hoohoo.
Isn't it the job of government to make sure that private contracts are honored? Instead it looks like the government now has the power to change contracts, such as a mortgage. Troubling.
And I'm there with you Xin, why is it that those who really screwed up get the most help? And aren't we just kicking the problem down the road by offering people another 'teaser' rate of 2% for 5 years? Does anyone want to take bets on what will happen when this deal runs out?
I only rent, but this sets a very strange president.
I have also tried graham crackers with miracle whip and then drizzle sugar free chocolate sauce on the miracle whip. Add another cracker and freeze. Also, you can add a little drop of vanilla extract to flavor the miracle whip!
no the cheap converter boxes will not help with getting digital cable channels.
Some new digital tvs have QAM tuners and that will allow you to see some digital channels, but not all. mostly locals and YMMV on this. this would not work on TV hooked to a cable box, just the tvs that are hooked directly to cable.
For those who really want to rock out on whole-wheat baking, I highly reccomend the : King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I've been using it for a year and the breads, cookies, cakes (even whole wheat genoise!) have all worked for me and are fantastic.
I now bake all of our bread (100% whole wheat,) biscuits, (also 100% ww,) cakes, crackers and cookies to avoid trans-fats, HFCS, and to cut the white sugar and white flour, out or down.
So NOT true...last time I checked people can change, and I know dozens of students who have either started out with a 4.0 first semester freshman year but ended up with a 2.5 by the end of their sophmore year! Or vice versa...people who did badly freshman year (still adjusting or hating their original college so they transfered) and ended up raising their gpa and having the best college experience possible! Where as one student I know well had a VERY high GPA until his sophmore year when he just suddenly decided not to come back! So the first 90 days are the adjustment period, but kids don't be scared it does NOT determine your entire college career!
I agree completely! Its not all about book learning, that can really only take you so far! Learning to build better relationships and how to manage time and money are just as important as knowing all about ancient Greek customs or anything like that. At least when you look at the long run, good grades are important & they can help you get valuable scholarships/internships that'll help you pay for school & gain experience. But the key thing is balanace, which I know is a shitty word at times, but its true, college (at least the early 20s college experience) is only once a lifetime, even if you go back, its not the same so make the most of it in everyway possible!
Also visit www.calnewport.com/blog if your in school or taking any type of classes! He's a master at hacking studies to make life more enjoyable! My school experiences would not be even close to as wonderful as they are if it weren't for his advice!
I've worked glasses retail in the past and my husband is an optician in a wholesale lab. I am well acquainted with the crazy markup on glasses and can fully understand wanting to save money, but just be aware that you definitely get what you pay for! Cheap frames may break easily and lenses that are not edged well may not fit in the frame properly. Problems could happen particularly since you're cutting out the optician fitting you for the frames by ordering online.
Last thing: if you have any additional coatings on your glasses, such as anti-reflective, I'd personally think twice about using something like Armour Etch. The coating could wind up splotchy or scratched. Really, your best bet might be the (usually small) splurge on a scratch-resistant coating when you purchase lenses.
And don't forget you can almost always put new lenses in your existing frames! That can be a HUGE money-saver!
I accepted a Trial Membership to the $9 Fare Club for $9 while booking a 4-person itinerary online in Nov. 2008. It promised a $9 Discount on each flight I booked with Spirit as a member of the club. When the discount didn't show up on my completed booking, I called the 800 number and was told by a customer service agent in India that the $9 discount does not apply to your current booking, only to future bookings (it didn't say this anywhere in the "pitch" or in the fine print)! What's more, the customer service agents in India cannot "unjoin" you from the club - you can cancel your membership at any time, even the same day you join, but once your credit card is charged, the charges stick! To add insult to injury, last month they converted the Trial Membership to a full year membership and charged my credit card another $39.95 without my permission! Again no luck with Customer Service. Does anyone know how I can get these charges refunded?
Thank you for this article. I almost skipped it due to it's length, but am so glad I decided to read it. You caught the essence of what it is to be an artist. Also, creativity is not limited to visual or written talent as demonstrated by the inventive means of acquiring space for growth in the arts (as well as life for that matter). It does indeed require 'acting as if' one believes in one's self - and sincere networking.
One American student sent major corporations, governments and even the Vatican on the defensive after coming up with Wikipedia Scanner, a software program that reveals who changed Wikipedia entries.
Wikipedia.com is an online encyclopedia edited by general users, who write articles on every imaginable subject. Since it is written by users, anyone can edit, delete and arrange the articles on Wikipedia.
What Virgil Griffith did was come up with a program that reveals who edits these articles, via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory.
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted.
Among many revelations, Wikipedia Scanner reported that:
- Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate
- Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
- Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
- The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page
- In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11”
- Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article
- FBI edits Guantanamo Bay, removing numerous pictures
- Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company
- Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page
- Al Jazeera TV station adds that the foundation of Iraq was just as bad as the Holocaust
- Amnesty International removes negative comments
- Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries
- MySpace removes paragraph when their website was hacked
- EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods
- Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans
- US Republican Party changes the "Post-Saddam" section of the Baath Party article to a different account of the war, changing the language from "US-led occupation" to "US-led liberation"
- Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page
- News of the World deletes a number of criticism against the paper
- Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page
- UN address calls journalist Oriana Fallaci a racist ‘prostitute’
- Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals
- DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments
- Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce
- Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems
- Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”
- Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects
- British Conservative Party removes negative references of its MPs and deletes paragraph of the party’s old policies
- US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page
- Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”
- MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page
- BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush”
- Someone from The Guardian edits the Wikipedia page of rival newspaper The Times. Originally in the article it is said that The Times sells more than The Guardian. After the edit, The Guardian sells more.
Griffith created the tool to "create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike," he said on his web site. He admitted that it's impossible to be sure if the edits were made by someone working at one of the organizations, although the I.P. address reveals that they were made by someone with access to their network, he says.
Griffith came up with the idea when he "heard about Congressmen being caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages," he said.
"If the edit occurred during working hours, then we can reasonably assume that the person is either an agent of that company or a guest that was allowed access to their network," he wrote.He said he believes that anonymous speech is important for open projects like Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia works fine today for "noncontroversial topics," he said, but tools like Wikipedia Scanner can help make the site more reliable for controversial topics, he said.
I have been a big baking fan since my mom started me at like age 5. I have to concur that if a recipe calls for butter, use butter. You will never get the same taste or consistancy using margerine (ick). Also the apple sauce trick. That is able to be done in say breads, cakes, but never in cookies.
Once you have had something baked with butter and try to change it trust me you will notice the difference. If I am going to spend an afternoon in the kitchen baking (which I love to do), then I will only use what the recipe calls for to ensure everything is to perfection.
of saying that Oprah and Suze Orman need to spend just a fraction of their income and give the rest away. Both of them deserve their success and it's probably worth noting that they are both exceptionally good with their money.
They may have a lot more than you or I, but I guarantee they spend it better. Which is why they're in the position they're in. Remember, both of these ladies rose from nothing to be successful, and when successful people speak, I listen. Take their advice and focus on your own situation. It's a lot easier to say "huh, give me some of their money" but without the skills to use it wisely, you'd waste it anyway.
Look how many lottery winners go broke after a few years. It's about money management, not how much money you have. Some people have a $500k a year salary and are in deep debt because they outspend their income. Others are on $80k a year and have no debt and savings. It's all relative folks. This is no conspiracy theory, it's just simple, good advice from two smart ladies.
I have a question I have not yet seen clearly answered. I understand that CATV subscribers don't need digital converter boxes yet. However, some of us have multiple cable-ready TVs hooked up to cable but only rent one "cable box" to get the CATV provider's digital channels. The crooks at Charter Cable want $5/month/box. We have 5 TVs in the house and it would add $20/mo to get 4 more boxes. That $240/yr we can't afford right now.
So, the question is can one use one of these cheap digital converter boxes to get the digital channels from a CATV provider WITHOUT the CATV box? Note, I'm NOT talking about illegal descrambling of HBO, etc. We PAY monthly for the service that includes all of the CATV digital channels. But we must pay AGAIN to actually watch them!
Also, can newer TVs with digital tuners get CATV digital channels without a CATV box?
I believe the same thing. Dieting is like budgeting.
You could actually save money by changing your diet. There isn't much nutritional or financial value in buying that large bag of potato chips or 12 cans of soda.
I agree with you Xin Lu. It seems like delinquent borrowers who qualify for the loan modifications will be benefiting more than those responsible borrowers who have always paid on time. It just doesn't make sense, but to just come to the conclusion that the Government and Lenders are covering up for their mistakes. I think that Obama's Administration needs to give some sort of incentive or benefits to those Homeowners who are current with their mortgage payments. Otherwise we are going to have more foreclosures, due to the fact that homeowners will no longer care about making their payments since their house is so upside down.
Hi Paul,
I think Obama said before that he wants to raise taxes on more wealthy families in the interest of fairness. I forget the direct quote, but that has been his campaign for a while and he is implementing it. I think the modification plan is just another extension of robbing from the hard working/well to do to help those who cannot help themselves in the interest of "fairness".
will get much help.
The maximum amount refinancable is 105% of the homes value...
What happens to all the people who are in homes with mortgages that are 20-30-40-50-60% more than the homes value....are we forgetting the collapse of the housing bubble here??? Houses aren't worth anywhere near what they were a year ago.
Are they un-financable or is the portion above the 105% cap going to be wiped out????
The way I see it only people with a HUGE equity stake will eligable...and if you have that much equity you shouldn't need to be refinanced anyway.
And EXCUSE ME...but since when does an Investor who bought a 2-3-or 4 unit building and lives in one of the units get the priviledge of keeping the units he rents out and the loan modified????? He should lose all but he one he lives in IMO.
Hijo Del Sol,
The $1000 for borrowers is in this document:
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/modification_program_guideli...
It's on page one:
Borrower Pay-for-Performance Success Payments:
Borrowers are eligible to receive a Pay-for-Performance Success Payment that goes straight towards reducing the principal balance on the mortgage loan as long as the borrower is current on his or her monthly payments. Borrowers can receive up to $1,000 of Pay-for-Performance Success Payments each year for up to five years.
Why do irresponsible, bad payers get a $1000 incentive, while people who struggled to make a mortgage payment every month get nothing. Once again, we're rewarding bad behavior. This is like sending those kids who miss a bunch of school to a vacation resort, while the good kids stay behind and work their butts off.
I was cracking up over this plan now that the details are coming out (all you can do is laugh). The ONLY people NOT helped by this plan are the ones who were responsible.
– I put 20% down when I bought my house
– My mortgage is less than 31% of my income
– I’m not living off credit cards
All these factors have now put me in the bucket of people who will be paying for those who don’t meet those criteria.
Oh yeah, and we're paying the same loan officers who fudged income data and pushed buyers into teaser rate mortgages to fix the mess. Incredible!
So much for the American Dream…
It actually looks much better then what I expected. The guidelines are pretty strict at least.
Question though.. I don't see where the borrower gets 1k for making their payments.. I see the servicer getting that.
And to the comment about lenders being competitive... most can't be now anyway, since the only secondary market that really exist is Fannie, Freddie and FHA, your options are pretty limited.
I have a dresser that my boyfriends parents were just going to put on the curb because they had two kids moving out and no need for it anymore. When I started stripping it, I found out this thing had at least 6 coats of paint on it. My boyfriend kept saying "I remember when it was yellow" and "It was pink when my sister had it" until there were layers of paint even he couldn't remember. Once I got it down to the wood, I sanded it and painted it with a beautiful cherrywood finish. It is the most beautiful dresser I own.
What also troubles me is the prospect that when it comes time for me to buy, I'm going to be made to make up for the loss of income that these lenders are going through thanks to this program. The government can't just wave a magic interest rate wand and lower rates to 2% and expect people with good credit to not be affected when they go in for a similar loan.
This is going to make lenders much less competitive, not to mention put some out of business. It's also going to keep some people who could have entered the housing market from doing so, now that banks will be making up the difference on people like me. Hoohoo.
Good times are here to stay.
Isn't it the job of government to make sure that private contracts are honored? Instead it looks like the government now has the power to change contracts, such as a mortgage. Troubling.
And I'm there with you Xin, why is it that those who really screwed up get the most help? And aren't we just kicking the problem down the road by offering people another 'teaser' rate of 2% for 5 years? Does anyone want to take bets on what will happen when this deal runs out?
I only rent, but this sets a very strange president.
if you are having reception problems try going to
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45
look for your region to find people who live by you to help you with getting better reception
I have also tried graham crackers with miracle whip and then drizzle sugar free chocolate sauce on the miracle whip. Add another cracker and freeze. Also, you can add a little drop of vanilla extract to flavor the miracle whip!
no the cheap converter boxes will not help with getting digital cable channels.
Some new digital tvs have QAM tuners and that will allow you to see some digital channels, but not all. mostly locals and YMMV on this. this would not work on TV hooked to a cable box, just the tvs that are hooked directly to cable.
Check out the new amero banknotes shown at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25630685@N03/
For those who really want to rock out on whole-wheat baking, I highly reccomend the : King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I've been using it for a year and the breads, cookies, cakes (even whole wheat genoise!) have all worked for me and are fantastic.
I now bake all of our bread (100% whole wheat,) biscuits, (also 100% ww,) cakes, crackers and cookies to avoid trans-fats, HFCS, and to cut the white sugar and white flour, out or down.
So NOT true...last time I checked people can change, and I know dozens of students who have either started out with a 4.0 first semester freshman year but ended up with a 2.5 by the end of their sophmore year! Or vice versa...people who did badly freshman year (still adjusting or hating their original college so they transfered) and ended up raising their gpa and having the best college experience possible! Where as one student I know well had a VERY high GPA until his sophmore year when he just suddenly decided not to come back! So the first 90 days are the adjustment period, but kids don't be scared it does NOT determine your entire college career!
I agree completely! Its not all about book learning, that can really only take you so far! Learning to build better relationships and how to manage time and money are just as important as knowing all about ancient Greek customs or anything like that. At least when you look at the long run, good grades are important & they can help you get valuable scholarships/internships that'll help you pay for school & gain experience. But the key thing is balanace, which I know is a shitty word at times, but its true, college (at least the early 20s college experience) is only once a lifetime, even if you go back, its not the same so make the most of it in everyway possible!
Also visit www.calnewport.com/blog if your in school or taking any type of classes! He's a master at hacking studies to make life more enjoyable! My school experiences would not be even close to as wonderful as they are if it weren't for his advice!
Good luck,
Ash
I've worked glasses retail in the past and my husband is an optician in a wholesale lab. I am well acquainted with the crazy markup on glasses and can fully understand wanting to save money, but just be aware that you definitely get what you pay for! Cheap frames may break easily and lenses that are not edged well may not fit in the frame properly. Problems could happen particularly since you're cutting out the optician fitting you for the frames by ordering online.
Last thing: if you have any additional coatings on your glasses, such as anti-reflective, I'd personally think twice about using something like Armour Etch. The coating could wind up splotchy or scratched. Really, your best bet might be the (usually small) splurge on a scratch-resistant coating when you purchase lenses.
And don't forget you can almost always put new lenses in your existing frames! That can be a HUGE money-saver!
I accepted a Trial Membership to the $9 Fare Club for $9 while booking a 4-person itinerary online in Nov. 2008. It promised a $9 Discount on each flight I booked with Spirit as a member of the club. When the discount didn't show up on my completed booking, I called the 800 number and was told by a customer service agent in India that the $9 discount does not apply to your current booking, only to future bookings (it didn't say this anywhere in the "pitch" or in the fine print)! What's more, the customer service agents in India cannot "unjoin" you from the club - you can cancel your membership at any time, even the same day you join, but once your credit card is charged, the charges stick! To add insult to injury, last month they converted the Trial Membership to a full year membership and charged my credit card another $39.95 without my permission! Again no luck with Customer Service. Does anyone know how I can get these charges refunded?
Thank you for this article. I almost skipped it due to it's length, but am so glad I decided to read it. You caught the essence of what it is to be an artist. Also, creativity is not limited to visual or written talent as demonstrated by the inventive means of acquiring space for growth in the arts (as well as life for that matter). It does indeed require 'acting as if' one believes in one's self - and sincere networking.
Congratulations (on your recent prize).
dont open it!
dug from cache:
One American student sent major corporations, governments and even the Vatican on the defensive after coming up with Wikipedia Scanner, a software program that reveals who changed Wikipedia entries.
Wikipedia.com is an online encyclopedia edited by general users, who write articles on every imaginable subject. Since it is written by users, anyone can edit, delete and arrange the articles on Wikipedia.
What Virgil Griffith did was come up with a program that reveals who edits these articles, via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory.
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted.
Among many revelations, Wikipedia Scanner reported that:
- Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate
- Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
- Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
- The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page
- In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11”
- Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article
- FBI edits Guantanamo Bay, removing numerous pictures
- Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company
- Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page
- Al Jazeera TV station adds that the foundation of Iraq was just as bad as the Holocaust
- Amnesty International removes negative comments
- Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries
- MySpace removes paragraph when their website was hacked
- EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods
- Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans
- US Republican Party changes the "Post-Saddam" section of the Baath Party article to a different account of the war, changing the language from "US-led occupation" to "US-led liberation"
- Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page
- News of the World deletes a number of criticism against the paper
- Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page
- UN address calls journalist Oriana Fallaci a racist ‘prostitute’
- Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals
- DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments
- Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce
- Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems
- Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”
- Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects
- British Conservative Party removes negative references of its MPs and deletes paragraph of the party’s old policies
- US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page
- Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”
- MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page
- BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush”
- Someone from The Guardian edits the Wikipedia page of rival newspaper The Times. Originally in the article it is said that The Times sells more than The Guardian. After the edit, The Guardian sells more.
Griffith created the tool to "create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike," he said on his web site. He admitted that it's impossible to be sure if the edits were made by someone working at one of the organizations, although the I.P. address reveals that they were made by someone with access to their network, he says.
Griffith came up with the idea when he "heard about Congressmen being caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages," he said.
"If the edit occurred during working hours, then we can reasonably assume that the person is either an agent of that company or a guest that was allowed access to their network," he wrote.He said he believes that anonymous speech is important for open projects like Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia works fine today for "noncontroversial topics," he said, but tools like Wikipedia Scanner can help make the site more reliable for controversial topics, he said.
I have been a big baking fan since my mom started me at like age 5. I have to concur that if a recipe calls for butter, use butter. You will never get the same taste or consistancy using margerine (ick). Also the apple sauce trick. That is able to be done in say breads, cakes, but never in cookies.
Once you have had something baked with butter and try to change it trust me you will notice the difference. If I am going to spend an afternoon in the kitchen baking (which I love to do), then I will only use what the recipe calls for to ensure everything is to perfection.
of saying that Oprah and Suze Orman need to spend just a fraction of their income and give the rest away. Both of them deserve their success and it's probably worth noting that they are both exceptionally good with their money.
They may have a lot more than you or I, but I guarantee they spend it better. Which is why they're in the position they're in. Remember, both of these ladies rose from nothing to be successful, and when successful people speak, I listen. Take their advice and focus on your own situation. It's a lot easier to say "huh, give me some of their money" but without the skills to use it wisely, you'd waste it anyway.
Look how many lottery winners go broke after a few years. It's about money management, not how much money you have. Some people have a $500k a year salary and are in deep debt because they outspend their income. Others are on $80k a year and have no debt and savings. It's all relative folks. This is no conspiracy theory, it's just simple, good advice from two smart ladies.
I have a question I have not yet seen clearly answered. I understand that CATV subscribers don't need digital converter boxes yet. However, some of us have multiple cable-ready TVs hooked up to cable but only rent one "cable box" to get the CATV provider's digital channels. The crooks at Charter Cable want $5/month/box. We have 5 TVs in the house and it would add $20/mo to get 4 more boxes. That $240/yr we can't afford right now.
So, the question is can one use one of these cheap digital converter boxes to get the digital channels from a CATV provider WITHOUT the CATV box? Note, I'm NOT talking about illegal descrambling of HBO, etc. We PAY monthly for the service that includes all of the CATV digital channels. But we must pay AGAIN to actually watch them!
Also, can newer TVs with digital tuners get CATV digital channels without a CATV box?