Lexical Light

JAN-U-ARY'S Outgoing Message

An annual part of my January phone message is adapted from the pledge of the Little Rascals' He Man Womun Haters Club during which they say, "JAN-U-ARY!" (Next time I run across it, I'll have to note the
whole text here.)

For some reason it cracks me up. Maybe it's the official sounding, false baritone voices they use. Maybe it's the exaggeration of the syllables. Whatever it is, it is stuck in my brain forever...and on my phone message each January.

This year I added a little U2 for background music, offering bonus points to callers who could I.D. the song.

Other than the January pronunciation and the music, it's a pretty standard "leave your name and number" note.

(I posted this on March 4th, though the date says January 31st. Oy vey.)

Internet Filter Recommendation: K9 Web Protection

I've been in search for a good internet filter since I switched all my other computer maintenance tasks (anti-virus, firewall, off site backup, etc.) to Plum Choice. When I used Trend Micro they had a decent filtering components, but they don't offer it separately. (It didn't always response well to "adding" sites so I don't miss it terribly.)

I bought Net Nanny 5.0  and didn't like the way it mucked up the computer. Ugh. The customer support wasn't much help either. They do have a subscription service I considered, but I wasn't ready to go there.
During my search I had heard of K9, but never installed it. Then a mom in home school co-op mentioned it last week. This weekend I installed it and it has worked well.

K9 Web Protection from Blue Coat offers free internet filtering and parental controls.

I just installed it today, but so far I'm pleased with:

*ease of installation 
*it didn't muck of the computer
*seems to work fairly well (It missed a few seemingly innocent sites that had links in them. I just added them to the blocked list.)
*easy and effective administrator override

A few things it doesn't do:
*set users at multiple security levels
*monitor different users' time on computer

Hey, it's free. If they added those few things, I'd be willing to pay. Within the next year or so I may go with Cyber Patrol's paid option because it does have a few more bells & whistles. (But if they muck up my computer, it's outta here.)

So, if you're looking for a quick, easy, cheap answer to filtering the web, check out K9 Web Protection from Blue Coat.

U23D Austin: Not IF, but HOW MANY

The question is not IF i will see this, but HOW MANY TIMES? The closest I've come to seeing a U2 concert was in 1987 when I saw, from the interstate, their trucks being unloaded at the Erwin Center in Austin. I'm thinking this film will be a comparable experience - not exactly the same, but close enough and without the crowds.

How will the audience react? That would be a plus of the concert - the energy expended while standing through the show. I may have to go opening night and then go another night to compare the show. Ahh, a blog project in the making. Pity I haven't finished my other U2 blog project. Yes, I am lame.

Christy, you want to go to a quasi U2 concert, maybe opening night, Jan 23? (Here are the showtimes for the Austin IMAX at the Bob Bullock TSH Museum.) I think 1 or 2 of the my kids may basketball games, but they'll have other games. Let me know.

A Socialization Funny

For my homeschooling friends - there's a hilarious cartoon and a nice post on socialization at Do Life Right. Take a minute to go read it. The cartoon illustrates something I'm hesitant to articulate because I don't believe it for every child, but it strikes a chord with me. (I couldn't get the cartoon to post here, though the artist gives permission to use his work on blogs.)

No offense to my dear friends and readers who choose to use public schools. I know plenty of awesome kids who go to public school* -a few of them might even be yours.

*Reminds me of the, "I even have colored friends" line people use to prove they aren't racist. 

Help Webkinz Update

The Complaint Desk at helpwebkinz.com is still open. Though NOT an official Webkinz site, you can still get some satisfaction from posting there, knowing your two cents may add up to change a glaring weakness in an an otherwise fun website.

Helpwebkinz.com  has received over 200 visits its first four days, largely due to referrals from links at I, Lamont. That tells me there is some interest, maybe even need for it.

Webkinz Problems

If you're not satisfied with the customer support at Webkinz, head over to Webkinz, help! and file a complaint. It's a blog I started to compile Webkinz issues in hopes that Ganz will improve their customer service.

(There's no logic to why I'm blogging about this instead of other things going on. I guess it's light and easy. Maybe I'm just...oh, look...a chicken. Oh, yeah. Happy New Year. Oy vey.)