Security Guidelines for SMD
Here is a brief list of what SMD members should do to ensure reasonable security.
1. Get an antivirus program. (I got Norton 2008 for zero dollars after rebate.) Run a "full system scan" every couple of weeks.
2. Make sure that you have a firewall. (Most likely, it is part of your network setup. Ask your kids if you don't know about this (although Milo might not be able to answer this one!)
3. If you don't know who sent you an email:
-don't click on any links in the email
-don't open any attachments in the email
-better yet, don't open the email!
4. Phishing is real. (Phishing is someone trying to trick you into logging into a fake site, stealing your login or credit card info.) Be careful if logging in to your bank, or providing credit card information. Be ware the site is one you went to from an email sent unsolicited to you. Use common sense (why is the Bank of America web address "www.124.170.us/gov/stealfromdoug"?)
5. Keep an eye on the address bar in your browser.
6. Turn your network off when not using it, if you can. Turn your computer off if you can when not in use.
7. Set up your email to block images. In Yahoo Mail, that's in "Options->Spam". Then select the choice:
Show images only from my contacts and certified senders.
A Tale of Two Morons
With the recent publication of books confirming the obvious, that Barry Bonds was a steroid junkie for many years, I had to stand back and contemplate my bizarre behavior in defending him for so many years. In traveling to various parts of our country on business over the last several years, I often discussed baseball with the denizens of whichever part of the country I happened to be in. While I am more fan than fanatic, I am able to hold my own and talk about the original "national pastime" with fans of Tampa Bay or Cleveland or Seattle. And, more often than not, Barry Bond's (let's just call him "BB") name would come up.
Typical comments about him would include:
- How can you stand that scumbag?
- I hate that jerk.
- Everything he says makes him sound like an arrogant SOB.
In my personal informal nationwide opinion poll/survey, BB's approval rating was 0%. Why in the world would I consistently try to point out Paul Harvey portion - you know, the "rest of the story"? I blush thinking now of the stupid arguments I used to try to defend him. But I had my reasons and my logic....
Let's start with the first Moron, BB himself. He stood as one of the best ballplayers of his era. He had a pretty clear track to the Hall of Fame. He had more money than any rational person would need. If what is written is accurate, he had access to that other perk that pro athletes love, hot running babes. He is and was reputed to be someone extremely consciencious about his body.
What was missing for Barry, before he made the decision to shoot up? Three things:
- The World Series ring
- The respect and love and admiration of the fans
- A place on the pedestal as the greatest, the centerpiece, the main attraction
He purports to care about the ring. I have no independent data to validate that he does or doesn't deeply care, or whether his illegal drug use was done in some way to help the team way, rather than to promote himself as one of the greats of all time.
He continually declines to care about the respect and love of the fans, both in word and in deed. There are stories about his kinder side in the Bay Area - how he had no one to warm up with before the 4th inning of a game at PacBell last year, and an little kid with a glove volunteered to throw with him, and BB invited him out and played catch with him until the inning began. I think it a reasonable conclusion is that he probably does have the capability to perform such random acts of kindness or simple reasonable behavior, but that he spends the great, great majority of his time in EgoLand, where people do his bidding and suck up to him. This land is no pleasant place.
Apparently, he also had a desire to be viewed as an equal to Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, to not be shut out of the limelight or have anyone else share the spotlight that glows brightly on the best hitters in baseball, whether it be Ruth or Dimaggio or Williams or Aaron or Rose. On reflection, this seems to be more of the giant Ego expressing itself. But it seems in contradiction with two things that seemed to be true about him for a long time. He cares about his body; he takes great care of it. He doesn't care about the fan's opinions or love or what the media writes about him.
With this logical construct of a reasonable outsider's view of number 25, enter now Moron number two, your faithful author.
In the face of such obvious evidence as BB's body changes and his home run production (from a man who was not really a home run hitter as much as a power hitter with good but not great hr production), why in the world would I stand there in Chelmsford or Orlando or Irvine or Charleston and dispense my logic about how the guy was clean and how we should root for him? And what was this mysterious logic that I thought would defend him?
The argument/logic was simple. (Or my faith in a fellow human was held by a simple trusting heart.) The guy had no motive to use steroids, and he had motive to not use them. There were explanations for the visible changes.
- He had no need for money. He had no reason to drive his performance to greater heights to drive his income.
- He had so much money that he could afford to take the very best care of himself. He could have the best nutrition, the best exercise regimen. He had the money and the ego to demand and get the very best.
- He took pride in taking care of his body. The conclusion that he took this pride comes from his explanations for his jogging to first base and not stretching with the team. He would always claim that he knew what was best for his body, and was very careful to treat it in a way that would promote longevity.
- Since he was so knowledgable and cautious, he wouldn't take steroids - any simpleton knows that these things will cause your man parts to shrivel and tumors to grow.
So this wealthy athlete has the resources to reshape his body the right way, and the time and commitment and dedication to do it. Combine that with an attitude that betrays fouling yourself with these Faustian horrors, and you are obviously dealing with someone who could never take steroids.
Or not.
That was the sum of my logic, but this construct was not enough to turn my into faithful, loyal Moron #2. That is a more personal story which starts with my son and my father. My son was just coming to baseball as Barry exploded in deeds and in physique. When the school questionaire asked: "Who is your hero?", my son would put in "Barry Bonds" with no thought required, just as I would have easily written "Carl Yastremski" or "Jim Lonborg" in 1968.
I did not want my son's hero to be a cheat, a liar and a fool. I was so vehement in this desire that I created the logic above, and worse than that, I believed it and argued against the conventional wisdom (of every other person I discussed it with).
The "arguing against conventional wisdom" is where my father comes in. During this same period of time that Barry was bulking up and my son was growing up, my father was fading away. He was in his mid 80s as this transpired, and his mind became very gradually diminished to the point where he eventually did not recognize his sons.
He did not care about Barry Bonds, by the way, but what I did learn from him is best stated like the Berkeley bumper sticker: "Question Authority." My dad's bumper sticker could have been "Question Conventional Wisdom." I can illustrate this simply by describing his belief about O.J. Simpson...that he may be innocent and we should give him the benefit of the doubt. This was his belief, and is not mine. It flies in the face of what we know at face value; so does arguing that Barry Bonds is clean and jumped from 49 home runs in a season to 73 without cheating. As my Dad grew old and faded, his tilting-at-windmills moved up the coast and into my brain.
For those of you who have heard my bizarre attempts in defense of BB over the years, I hope these reasons demonstrate to you why I became Moron #2...and why I would probably do the same thing all over again.
