Signing The Back Of Your Credit Cards?

The conventional wisdom says you should sign the strip on the back of your credit card immediately upon receipt. This is supposed to be a deterrent to fraud.

On a casual level, this may be true. However, how often have salesclerks actually checked the back-of-the-card signature against your receipt signature. And, if it's a digitally signed receipt, my signature seldom bears even a remote resemblance to the one on the back of the card. And, that's assuming it's not blurred or worn away altogether.

But, don't leave that strip blank, either. golbguru suggests writing "Ask for photo ID" in the space as a more effective solution.

Read more ... Sign The Back Of Your Credit Cards - Useless Fraud Prevention Advice?

Baker Mansion, Altoona, PA

Baker Mansion, a Greek Revival mansion of thirty-two rooms, was built in Altoona, Pennsylvania, between 1844 and 1847, for ironmaster Elias Baker who lived there with his family until 1914.

Home of the Blair County Historical Society since 1922, guided tours are offered through period furnished rooms and historic exhibits on such topics as transportation, leisure activities and the Civil War. Native American and railroad artifacts are on display as well as several carved oak pieces that were imported from Belgium.

The Haunted Wedding Dress at Baker Mansion is said to be the wedding dress of a daughter of a prominent local man, Mr. Bell who founded and gave his name to the nearby town of Bellwood. It's said his daughter was to be married in this dress. Visitors claim to have seen the wedding dress move within its glass case, thus the wedding dress has gained a reputation as being haunted.
Slideshow added Oct 11, 2007.

Do you know how much this is?

The Bush administration is seeking the astronomical sum of $190,000,000,000 to continue to prosecute the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan next year.

Administration seeks $190B for wars - USATODAY.com

Can you imagine the scope of this budget request? Do you grasp how much money $190 billion dollars is?

190 billion seconds would take more than 6000 years to tick off on your clock! That would buy one and a half million new Ferraris. You could provide every kid enrolled in any US school with 2 new high end computers.

The more things change ...

Hilarious!

American Trivia

Here's a really interesting bit of trivia I picked up while watching the Penn State-Michigan game on ABC.

Four American colleges have graduated both a US president and a Super Bowl quarterback.

• Miami (OH) - Benjamin Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger
• Michigan - Gerald Ford, Tom Brady
• Navy - Jimmy Carter, Roger Staubach
• Stanford - Herbert Hoover, Jim Plunkett, John Elway

The Hope Diamond

On a TV show called "Mysteries of the Smithsonian", I learned that the famous Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian in 1958 by New York jeweler Harry Winston.


That however was not the interesting part. It seems Mr. Winston shipped the 45.52 carat diamond by registered U.S. mail! The total postage was $145.29. It was insured for a million dollars, but apparently Mr. Winston had a lot more confidence in the security of the USPS in 1958 than I have in it 50 years on.

Pictures from the Smithsonian Institution web site

Need to supplement your income?

Al-Qaida in Iraq offered $100,000 for the killing of Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks because of a drawing depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

Thousands offered for cartoonist's death - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

These people need to get over themselves. Somebody needs to explain to them that things like this do nothing to promote the Muslim position in the world. Only lunatics and idiots could actually believe they could win support for their cause pulling stunts such as this. Only other like-minded fools will be attracted.

Brit Cars

Last Sunday, 9 September, DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton, PA, hosted an exhibition of British cars. I would estimate approximately 60 cars ranging from a 1933 Rolls up to a current Mini were on display. Most of the cars were Triumph and MG open roadsters, which were first made popular in the US by returning servicemen.

How to clean your home in 19 minutes

For those of you who are challenged in this area --

How to clean your home in 19 minutes - CNN.com

It seems like the thrust is to keep on top of things, do frequent little jobs rather than allowing jobs to grow into big chores.

The EDSEL, 50 Years On

September 4, 1957, was "E-Day", the day the much anticipated, highly promoted Edsel appeared in dealer showrooms. The name "Edsel" would become a synonym for failure.

First year sales were projected to be 200,000, but just over 63,000 rolled out of six manufacturing plants in the US. During the entire 3 year run, fewer than 111,000 Edsels were turned out. An estimated 6000 remain.

In a brief promotional scheme to boost sagging sales, new Edsel owners were given a chance to win a pony.

One of the Edsel's many innovations included ignition-transmission interlock which is standard today.


More ...
1958 Edsel Page - Wikipedia: Edsel - E D S E L

TIME's 100 Best All-time TV Shows

What are your favorite TV shows ever?

TIME magazine presents a list of their top one-hundred TV shows of all time. The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME - TIME


My top five are shows I can watch over and over again -

• Sienfeld
• Green Acres
• 'Allo 'Allo
• One Foot in the Grave
• I Love Lucy

Use the Comments link below to add your favorites.

El Presidente once more

Speaking to Australia's Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, Mr. Bush once again exhibited his prowess with the spoken word by, not once, but twice referring to the host organization as OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) ...

"Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit. I appreciate -- APEC summit," President Bush said Thursday, ... . "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year -- the APEC summit." (source: ABC News)

In a related story: Was Osama Bin Laden at the APEC conference?

Bocce Ball

Earlier today, my uncle Jim introduced me to the Italian game of bocce at the Buccinese Club in Altoona. I can recall as a little kid, going with my Dad when he played bocce outdoors in Coupon on Sundays.

My experience today was enjoyable. I didn't actually play any contests. My uncle met me there about an hour early and gave me some coaching as well as a chance to practice on the court. In some ways it reminded me a lot of putting. You have to read the surface and work out the speed and the break.

I then met most of the participants and watched a contest between my uncle's team and another of the club teams. I might be interested in getting into this when the winter leagues form.

Respect Appalachian State

I'm getting really tired of everyone talking about how Appalachian State's 34-32 win over Michigan could be the biggest ever upset in all of sports, let alone college football.

Appalachian State has won two consecutive national championships in Division I-AA where there is a real playoff system. They have won their last 19 games. These are notable achievements, I don't care who you are. This isn't Temple or Florida International.

The difference (aside from actually playing off) between what used to be Division I-A and Division I-AA is 85 scholarships versus 63.

Beating Michigan was an upset. But, I think it's disrespectful to Appalachian State to say it is an upset of enormous, historical proportions.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I received a couple of these National Guard promotional cards with movie tickets. Do you recognize the error?


Public Law 94-344, known as the Federal Flag Code, contains rules for handling and displaying the U.S. flag. If displayed flat against the wall on a speaker’s platform, the U.S. flag should be placed above and behind the speaker with the union of the flag in the upper left-hand corner as the audience faces the flag.

The National Guard really ought to know better.

Source: United States Department of Veterans Affairs

The Refurb Depot

I'm a real believer in buying refurbished products when I can. Both my Apple computers, my Kodak camera, and several other things were bought refurbished with no problems.

The Refurb Depot | #1 Source For All Things Refurbished

These products often (but, not always, check) come with the same warranty as the new product. Usually, any bugs have already shown up and been corrected.

Many refurbished items were not defective, just returned for various other reasons.