Archive by Author | Springwolf

Olympic Humor

Future Olympic Diver

2012 Summer Olympics – London

Opening ceremonies were made interesting by a little observation by the Prince. At 9 years old, most of the ceremony was boring to him. Finally he sees someone he knows, J.K. Rowling author of Harry Potter. Right after seeing her, the big finale….they finally light the Olympic torch. As soon as they do, the Prince says:

“Well, there’s no going back now.”

Which conjured an image for Daddy Evil of a fight to death in each Olympic sport. And the Queen envisions the Tri-Wizard Cup which creates a binding contract for all participants.

It seems the Queen’s vision was closer to what the Prince meant with his comment. There’s no way to quit, once the torch was lit!

Family Fun Time!

Jul29

Bonding Through Online Games

Aedan Thundercloud & Penny
Level 42 Storm Wizard

Wizard101 is a multi-player adventure game and fun for kids and adults of all ages. We’re certainly proof of that. And because the game is designed to encourage social activity and interaction among the players, it’s a great form of entertainment for families.

My son saw a commercial on Cartoon Network and asked if he could play the game. Trying to be a responsible Mom, I did some research and checked out the game first. I quickly became satisfied with how the company protects kids within the game, what type of violence might be in the game and what the overall reviews from other players. When teachers are recommended the game, it can’t be all bad. But the more I researched, the more I was impressed with the approach KingsIsle Entertainment (creators of Wizard 101) take to provide a safe and fun game for kids.

Of course I kept an eye on him while he first started playing. It was long before he asked me to play with him. I figured he’d like that for a few short sessions, so ok. Pft…little did I know how addicting this game can become for adults too! We love playing together, battling monsters, achieving goals and sharing time together. If you’re familiar with the World of Warcraft, this game is similar, but with a little more help for kids and certainly ‘G’ rated.

As a Mom I love this game because of the many things it has taught my son. He began playing when he was 6 and he’s 9 as of this posting. Continue reading →

A.J.’s “B” Sample Tests Positive

Jul25

Nascar Driver A.J. Allmendinger Indefinitely Suspended

A.J. Allmendinger

On Tuesday July 24th, Aegis Analytical Laboratories in Nashville completed it’s evaluation of A.J. Allmendinger’s ‘B’ sample provided by the driver several weeks ago at the Nascar event in Kentucky.

As with the first sample, this one too came back positive for what Allmendinger’s business manager, Tara Ragan, said was an unspecified stimulant, adding that the results “were within nanograms of accepted standards.”

Nascar defines stimulants as:
Illegal substances: stimulants (such as methamphetamine, Ecstasy), narcotics (oxycodone, heroin, codeine), ephedrines (pseudoephedrine), benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium), barbiturates, muscle relaxers, sleep aids (Ambien) and beta blockers. Drivers and over-the-wall crewmen also are tested for performance-enhancing drugs such as hGH. Continue reading →

Battery Plugged In, Not Charging

Jul14

Windows 7 and Vista Software Issue

I can’t believe this is even an option in battery management. What in the world was Microsoft thinking?! Why would you NOT want to charge the battery when it’s plugged in?!

So here’s the issue, no matter what brand of laptop you have, HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer or some other brand; if you’re running Windows 7 or Vista you will eventually have a battery management issue. It’s NOT a battery problem, a driver problem, or a BIOS problem. It’s a Windows OS problem! Now it’s a good idea to double check your system now and then and ensure you’re running the latest versions of all that software. But that’s probably not the problem with this issue.

The problem seems to occur after a Windows update. If you have automatic update turned on, you may not even know that has occurred.

Update: 07/15/2012
If you have applied the latest Windows update, you may have noticed that your laptop stops recognizing the battery in the middle of a session. That means, while this fix may probably work for you, there are no permanent fixes to this problem as yet. The following and other processes like it, will only work for a short time. Before this latest Windows update, it would correct the issue until the next update. That’s no longer the case. Isn’t that special?! Friggin’ Windows!

Update: 08/20/2012
After the latest batch of Win7 updates; this problem has gone away for me. We’ve always known the issue is an OS problem, not a physical computer problem. So it appears Microsoft may have corrected the problem in their software. At least for me..the issue has been resolved and the battery recharges simply by plugging in the AC adapter as it should. Continue reading →

Tony Stewart Wins His 3rd ESPY

Jul12

2012 Best Driver ESPY

2012 Best Driver ESPY Winner
Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart is a 3-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. His run for the Cup title in 2011 was epic as he took the lead in 5 of the final 10 races during the Nascar Chase and won. An unprecedented feat that brought the point standings to a tie with rival driver Carl Edwards. Tony’s 5 wins for the year (all of which were gained in the Chase) broke the tie and gave the 2011 Cup Title to Stewart.

Last night in Los Angeles, California he was honored for that stellar effort with the 2012 ESPY for “Best Driver” at the 20th annual ESPY Awards on ESPN. Other drivers in the category were four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, F1 champion Sebastian Vettel and NHRA champion Del Worsham. All great drivers and champions in their own series events.

Tony was not present at the awards in Los Angelese, but he did release a statement. “I am thrilled to win the ‘Best Driver’ award after what turned out to be a great NASCAR season last year. I was fortunate enough to be able to take the checkered flag when it mattered most,” said Stewart. “There were some great drivers and great champions in this category, so I cannot thank the NASCAR fans and everyone who voted enough for their unbelievable support.”

Winners for the ESPYs are determined by fan vote and who they want to win in each category. This is the 3rd time our Anthony has won the “Best Driver” honors from the ESPYs. He also won in 2003 and 2006. Continue reading →

When Sports Idols Fall From Grace

Jul9

How To Talk To Your Children

AJ Allmendinger
Nascar Driver

On Saturday July 7, 2012 Nascar announced the temporary suspension of A.J. Allmendinger driver of the #22 Dodge for Penske Racing. ‘Dinger as he’s known, failed one of the racing series random drug tests that it administers to Officials, Drivers, Crews and anyone who works on a car driven in any level of Nascar.

In Kentucky officials approached the well liked driver, who immediately complied in the in-field care center. Nascar collects a sample which is immediately divided into two containers, sealed and initialed by the testee. These become the ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples. On Saturday Penske Racing was notified that Dinger’s ‘A’ sample failed.

Nascar has a long list of banned substances, from the mundane to the extreme. Neither Nascar, Penske nor Dinger released the substance that was initially found in the sample. Dinger has until Tuesday to request testing of the second ‘B’ sample. (Story updates at the bottom of this article.) Continue reading →

Vicious Malware – DNSChanger

Jul7

Are You Affected?

DNSChanger is malicious software (“malware”) that modifies your PC’s connections to the internet. This malware modifies a computer’s Domain Name Service (DNS) settings and thereby directs the computers to receive potentially improper results from rogue DNS servers hosted by the hackers.

In other words, when you think you’re going to a secure website; you’re not. Which of course can compromise your logins, identity, financial accounts and more.

There are many sites that offer to help search your PC to see if you have been infected with this malware. If you’re like me, you should be suspicious of all these websites. How can you tell the good ones from a Hacker’s site trying to get information from your computer or infect a computer that hasn’t been infected.

Here’s a piece of advice for the PC novice. NEVER click on a link without looking at where it’s going to take you. Many scam sites and emails will attempt to show you the link, but the code behind the text is totally different. So it pays to look at where you’re really going. When you hover your mouse over a link, either in email or through a browser, you will be able to see where the link is going to go. In email, you’ll usually see some type of pop-up or line in your web browser you’ll usually see the link pop up at the bottom of the window.

The FBI has provided a PDF for information on how to determine your DNS settings, along with other technical details about DNSChanger here: FBI DNS-Changer-Malware. If you are infected, this page will also provide websites you can visit to correct the problem.

You can also go to the FBI’s website to check your computer and determine if it’s using the rogue DNS or not by going here: Rogue-DNS-Checker

The FBI Site will ask you for your IP Address. If you don’t know how to find your public IP; or if you’re using a wi-fi service (like Xfinity), you can ask Google to find your IP. Simply go to Google and type in: My IP Address. Google will show you the public IP you’re coming from.

Upgrading WordPress Is A Pain In The Butt!

Jul5

Upgrading to 3.4.1

Today I went to update the links or SirEvil’s blog here. Easy enough. When I login I see a message that WordPress needs to be upgraded. Ok, no problem. Pft…famous last words.

Explain to me why any software package upgrades and replaces the data it’s designed to display. Say what?! The posts aren’t changing, the meta data for the posts, such as the categories and tags weren’t changing. The links weren’t going away, and the images used on the site weren’t going to disappear. So explain to me why the hell any system software feels the need to remove the data as part of it’s upgrade!?

Thank the hosting gods at BlueHost who run weekly backups of the databases or we would have lost EVERY THING! But I got it upgraded, and we’re running a new theme. Which I had to recreate from scratch! How extraordinary annoying!

All Passengers Aboard!

Jun26

Rain Or Shine

Even on rainy days it’s fun to watch the trains. Even if we’re munching on lunch inside the car, we’re still right next to the tracks and able to get a good view of Amtrak as they pass by.

Amtrak

Of course watching them in the sunshine is much nicer. Especially on a sunny warm day.

Amtrak 91

And it’s especially nice when we get there as the local commuter train is pulling into the depot to drop off passengers from Richmond.

Amtrak 91

05/06/2012 – Tony Stewart’s Post Race Interview at Talladega

May7

Bizarre or Vintage Tony? I say: Welcome Back Smoke!

Tony Stewart - May 6th Talladega Interview

Tony’s comments immediately after his frustrating finish at Talladega on May 6th have been labeled as funny, sarcastic, bizarre, disrespectful, a mockery and degrading to the sport. Questions have been raised about potential fines by Nascar for violation of Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR rulebook, which covers everything “detrimental to the sport.” If Nascar fined him for this, fans would be all over the sanctioning body raising cain!

Thankfully Nascar announced today they will not be penalizing the People’s Champion for his comments, saying they are not detrimental to the sport.

For those of us who know Tony’s sarcasm, the interview was vintage Stewart and we LOVE it! His sarcasm is part of what we like most about him. And truth be told, his comments were making a point! NASCAR needs to make a few changes before they return to this 2.66-mile track. Continue reading →