The beggar dug into his worn out pouch….

And out came a fist full of silver coins.
This is how a parent of one of my students explained in a witty manner, his present position when he had to pay his daughter’s tuition fee.

Frankly, I did not understand what he was conveying.
He explained to me in a sad voice, that he has dipped into his last savings which are nothing but 21 silver coins each weighing about 10 grams.

This he bought years ago when the gas still selling at 25 cents a gallon. At that time you could take a dollar down to the gas station and buy four gallons for a buck! And he assured me that the same amount of silver still buys four gallons of gas!

With a touch of melancholy he was speaking to me about the misconception people held that the price of essential commodities has gone up over the years and how it is not true.

There was a time our dollar was backed by REAL money, real silver. That just shows that real money like gold and silver holds its value and it is the green paper money that is now worth a lot less.

He was taught by his shrewd father to buy a few pieces of silver or gold here and there during his life journey which he did exactly.

Like so many Americans, he used to depend on Monex for authentic precious metals. They are one of the country’s oldest and largest
Precious metals dealer and has sold over billions of dollars worth of gold, silver and platinum coins.
Their 30 years of experience since 1967, is very valuable for small investors like us.

He took the liberty of advising me to take his word and invest in bullion. Who knows when it will come handy?

Looking at his tragic face, I refused to accept his silver coins as my tuition fee. After all who knows when it will come handy again?

Short of gifting ideas?

If I introduce to you about novel gift of flowers, will you listen to me with open mind?

Before proceeding further, let me write about monograms.

Monograms are also known as symbols or logos, which are designed specifically for a company or a product.

Monograms are made usually with letters which are generally affixed on top a company’s stationery.
We have also seen monograms etched metals like police badges.

Have a look at what Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza from the DIY (Do It Yoursef) Network has accomplished. They teach you a new idea of gifting with flowers!

Wait! I am not talking about bouquets but about a great new gift-a Floral Monogram.

In their blog, they teach you step by step how to create a floral monogram with hydrangea petals of eye catching pastel colours. With the use of velvet ribbons, you can customize to suit the season like summer, fall or winter.

In their nicely designed blog, it is mentioned that Cathie first made this project as a gift to her mother-in-law’s birthday to decorate her front door.

Next, her innovative craft was by using all the letters in her first name instead of just initials.

The way to create this cute floral monogram is explained in their blog.
What you need:
* 6-inch wood letter of choice
* white craft paint & paintbrush
* floral print scrapbook paper
* glue stick
* hot glue
* tacky glue
* 1 large silk hydrangea
* 1/4-inch decorative ribbon (enough to go around your letter, plus 10 inches)
* small rhinestones or ultra fine glitter
Plaque Steps:
1. Paint the back, front and sides of the letter with the white craft paint and allow to dry.

2. Lightly trace the letter onto the scrapbook paper. Cut out the tracing and use a glue stick to attach the paper to the front of the letter. Use your fingers to press out any air bubbles.

3. Cut 10 inches off your decorative ribbon. (This will be your hanger) Turn the letter over and attach the ribbon hanger by forming a “U” shape with the ribbon and hot gluing the ends of the ribbon to the back of the letter about 2 inches from the top.

4. Using your hot glue gun, attach the remaining ribbon around the outer edge of the letter.

5. Break apart the silk flower so you have lots of little petals. Use hot glue to attach the petals to the front of the letter. (You can glue them in a random pattern or a design of your choice) Use a drop of glue and add a few sprinkles of ultra fine glitter to the center of the petals or add rhinestones for decorative effect.

Think of this gift when next time you want to treat your teenager’s birthday.

Yahoo groups vulnerable to new virus.

So we thought yahoo’s security measures against virus is near impregnable?
But hackers are proving their mettle again.

Symantec warns of Yahoo e-mail worm

Symantec’s has issued a warning to us all who use yahoo.com as our email id.
I hear you heave sigh of relief “Thank God, mine is not yahoo.com”
Wait gentleman! Do you participate in yahoo groups?

Then read this News
“The worm is called JS.Yamanner@m.
Affected are users with an e-mail address that is @yahoo.com or @yahoogroups.com
Users of Yahoo Mail Beta do not appear to be affected.

If users open an infected e-mail, they will also see their browser window redirected to display another Web page ".

"This worm is a twist on the traditional mass-mailing worms that we have seen in recent years," said Dave Cole, director at Symantec Security Response.

"Unlike its predecessors, which would require the user to open an attachment in order to launch and propagate, JS.Yamanner makes use of a previously-unknown security hole in the Yahoo Web mail program in order to spread to other Yahoo users and harvests user information for possible future attacks."

What a news!
But it seems only a fraction of 200 million accounts are affected.

Be ware if your mail box contain an email with the subject, ‘New Graphic site’.
Yahoo advised users to update virus and firewall software on their computers and to block any e-mail sent from the address av3@yahoo.com.

"We have taken steps to resolve the issue and protect our users from further attacks of this worm," Yahoo spokeswoman Kelley Podboy said in a statement.

And the ever dependable yahoo has kept their promise.
24 hours later Yahoo Says E-Mail Worm 'Yamanner' Has Been Contained.

firewall,anti virus

Yesterday I received a call from my ISP and alerted me promptly that my usage was beyond normal.

It shot up to 600 mb, where as the mormal is only about 30 mb. I was concerned.
They advised me to check my system for virus, but they didn't know the type of virus to look for.

I searched the internet for nearly an hour and came up with this trojan named QAZ Trojan.
This virus is also known as W32.hllw.qaz.a or Qaz.worm.

What exactly happened?
A hacker was searching for open ports. When he finds such an unprotected opening, he inserts this virus to gain control over my system remotely. It is primarily distributed through 'notepad' and gets into he registry.We often save web pages as text. Qaz.trojan rewrites the System Registry to load itself every time the computer is rebooted.
It is supposed to be originated from China.


Notice the symptoms:
• Programs may start slowly.
• You may receive the following error message when you start your computer:
'Cannot find Qazwsx.hsq '
.Sudden increase in usage of your ISP traffic
.A lot of 'undeliverable' msg appears in your outlook express

Solutions:
To overcome this problem, use an antivirus program to detect and remove the virus.
But I had to reinstall the windows to flush out the infection.

Acknowledgements:
http://Microsoft.com
http://www.pchell.com/virus/qaz.shtml
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=archive&id=analysis-qaz

Have you ever had to tow your vehicle?

If so, was it a safe hitch? Can your offer your safety tips while towing?
It doesn’t matter mate, if you have nothing to say.

While looking to buy some interior accessories for my friend’s SUV, I came across a site which offers excellent safety suggestions while hitching.

By using the right equipment, hitches says, you can be sure of transporting your stuff with ease and free of tension.

Be it an SUV, or van or truck, you are assured of secured shopping experience for your accessories need.

BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com offers a vast product range for SUV, Van and Truck Accessories.

You can avail free shipping on all orders over $100 (for FedEx ground services within the Continental US - Excluding oversized items).

Moreover, you can shop really in a jiffy by just selecting your vehicle year, make and model and leave the rest to them.

The search results will show exactly the right accessories that are compatible with your vehicle because they are conveniently categorized into exterior and interior accessories, contractor accessories, and Towing and Cargo.

Make use of their great tips and safety suggestions throughout the site. For instance read below what they say about safe towing.

“Towing safely requires the right hitch, receiver, brake control, and trailer wiring, to ensure that trailer hitches and receivers are properly installed and working correctly”

Discount:
You can avail a 1% discount on all your purchases, if you sign up with ez-cash from this site.

While visiting their site, please bookmark it, for you may need their services one day either for self help or to help someone stranded on the road.

Vacation Home demand in Orlando.

Ask any one “Which place you always wanted to visit?”
‘Florida’ the reply will come without hesitation.
That includes yours truly, who never stepped out of India.

No wonder, Orlando welcomes more visitors each year - over 43.3 million. This makes Orlando the number one tourist destination in the world.

Seven major theme parks are the main destinations for every tourist to Orlando.

Its hospitality industry is well equipped with nearly 100,000 hotel rooms.

Orlando’s economy which is mainly dependant on tourism is worth several billion dollars.

Consequently Orlando is enticing major investors from all over the world to capitalize on its tourism potential and real estate bonanza.

On top of all this, Orlando offers wonderful climate through the year, which makes it one of the most sought after location in the US.

“Orlando Vacation Home” presents various accommodation to suit everyone’s preferred life style in the upscale neighborhoods, golf course communities, urban style bungalows.

You can spend your holiday leisurely in pool homes, condos and town homes in the vicinity of Thorton Park, Lake Eola Heights, Lake Lawsona, Lake Cherokee, and Lake Copeland.

The downtown is trendy with diversity of restaurants, retailers, discos, and bars all within walking distance.

Enjoy with your family, festivals, outdoor concerts near beautiful Lake Eola. You can even take a gondola ride on the Lake.

The sports complex, theater, and opera are all located centrally makes your entertainment venues easily accessible.

Rolling Hills:
A 45 minute drive from the theme parks takes you to countryside very similar to the UK with rolling hills and oak trees. Here you are in horse breeding country.

Airboat Rides:
Travel south and take an airboat ride across the Everglades.

Since the demand for vacation homes near Disney is expected to be high this year, rush to book in advance with Lowerys Vacation Homes.