– U.S. enables Chinese hacking of Google – CNN.com

– Yes, that stuff is snow – ContraCostaTimes.com

This is an amazing, groundbreaking technology that Google has announced today.  While other companies have focused on recognizing product bar codes Google has skipped all that and just lets you take a picture of the book cover!  Genius.

Apparently Google also has the ability to do face recognition but hasn’t released the functionality due to privacy concerns.

If you haven’t been to Pompeii before now you can go for free!  As of this last week Google has added it to the growing list of cities on Street View!

What do the following companies have in common?

		Intelius	Shutterfly
		MovieTickets.com
Classmates.com			USAirways
ColumbiaHouse		Priceline	VistaPrint
Confi-Check	InQ	RedcastsUSA

Answer:

They’ve all made $10 to $30 million by handing over your credit card information!!

In emails released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation the companies have been receiving customer complaints for years that they were tricked into signing up for a service they didn’t want.  What really boggles my mind is that these major, trusted, companies ever, EVER, thought it was a good idea to hand over credit card and financial information to a third party advertiser! What in the world were these CEO’s thinking?

Unfortunetly, the list above is only of the companies that made over $10 million from this scheme.  Over 450 web companies have participated in these schemes.  Many for 5 years or more.  Avon, Hertz, Pizza Hut, Tier Direct, Victoria’s Secret, and Yahoo all made between $1 and $10 million by handing over your credit card information to a third party advertiser.

Trust on the internet is a difficult thing to gain and now that I know how little regard these companies have for my personal information, how can I trust them?  I have no choice but to boycott their sites.

It pains me because I have used Orbitz to plan many vacations and have purchased many movie tickets on Fandango, as recently as last weekend.  I’ve seen the pop-up ads but have never signed up for the offers, although, I have been tempted once or twice by getting a free movie ticket or discounts on my next hotel stay.  I have already closed any accounts I had with these services and I encourage you to do the same.

To learn more about how this scheme works I have linked to PDFs provided by the U.S. Senate Committee’s investigative committee.

11.16.09 Exhibits of Staff Report

11.16.09 STAFF REPORT

Representative Documents Part I

Representative Documents Part II

Representative Documents Part III

Information Week has a good article on the deceptive advertising.  I also would encourage you to check out the official website of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation.

Wait a minute, I thought the recession was over?  10.2% unemployment is the national total.  Michigan is still around 15% and California, Rhode Island and Nevada are all over 12%.  Somehow the Dakotas never felt this recession, at least in the unemployment numbers.  They are both around 4% unemployment and have been there for decades.

See the Unemployment graph

Sadly, I’m not surprised by this at all.  I predicted this when I first heard about the program.

60th Anniversary, 2004

Every now and again, as in this past week, the media is swamped with news covering the death of a famous or influential person. Talking heads debate the impact of the person’s life and what their legacy will be. The major networks will air specials and documentaries on their life story and replay footage of their best moments.

Today the world lost a great man. He slipped into the next world with no pomp and no flurry of media. My grandfather, my namesake, Eugene Roland Carlson, died at age 87 in the home he and my grandmother raised four children in.  The evening news will not speak of his achievements, most people never knew him, yet for me, he was one of the greatest men I have ever known.

Grandpa and me setting up Christmas decorations in Wrightwood. 1984

Strong, brave, loving, softspoken, and with a twinkle in his eye, he loved life and those around him.   I never heard my grandfather say a mean thing about anyone and he was always quick to lighten the mood with a witty remark.  Even when I last saw him a couple weeks ago, frail and with barely the strength to eat, his sence of humour still shown threw.  He loved wife, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; and they loved him.

My earliest years were spent in a stroller watching my grandpa and the rest of our family build a cabin in the mountain town of Wrightwood. These early memories may have subconsciously contributed to my desire to enter the building industry. We spent many holidays and weekends at the cabin and I always looked forward to spending the night in the attic bedroom. We would stay up late playing games and then we would climb up the retractable ladder to our fort in the attic. These times, and the many Christmas’ and other holidays we spent together were a great time to learn how to play horseshoes, start a fire, carve a turkey, and play Yatzee.

May, 17th 1944

Besides building two cabins in Wrightwood, my grandpa built my grandma and his first home in Red Wing Minnesota.  Durring his career as a general contractor he helped with the moon landing mission managing the construction of some of the research facilities in the sixties and built hundreds of structures throughout Minnesota and California.

Prior to this, he served his country bravely in the Navy at the close and after World War II.   He became a Navy pilot on an aircraft carrier and did reconnaissance work throughout the Pacific theater.

What I didn’t fully realize until three years ago was just how much my grandpa loved his wife, Audrey.  When she passed away he lost a piece of himself.  The change was notable.  He loved my grandma more than anything else and their sixty-two years of marriage were a testament of that.  I don’t remember him ever telling her he was too tired to help, he never put her down, nor said negative things about her.  He was always the perfect example of how a husband should treat his wife.

My grandpa was my hero.  Through his selfless life and his persistent smile he has made me a better person.  For that I will be eternally grateful.

I love you grandpa, I can’t wait to see you again.

– White House projects bigger deficits, bigger debt – Yahoo! Finance