The Wine Commonsewer

112 Degrees & SCE Takes A Powder

Gentle Readers,

It's not like we live in some third world burg like Mogadishu, Queens, or St Louis so TWC was not happy that the juice was off at Casa de las Rocas Grande from early Saturday afternoon until well past midnight. Dude, it was miserable hot too. 112 with thunderstorms (lots of humidity but it still wasn't Memphis).

Flex Your Power and Negawatts don't work so hot when most of the Sierra Club is home with their Birkenstocks up on the sofa and the A/C dialed down to 78 (more like 72, truth be told) hoping that Hell's gonna freeze over. I'm down with that though. Especially since a nature frolick this weekend woulda been a literal hike on the Highway to Hell. That'd be okay with that guy in the white F-350 4X though. Had a sticker in the back window:

Just the weekend for it.

I'm pretty sure Californicate is part of the first world and I'm pretty sure that this is the 21'st Century. Absent a drunk driver taking out a power pole, utilities should be able to meet peak demand without resorting to recorded messages indicating that they're clueless as to the cause of the outage but we're workin' on it by gosh.

Col Hogan was mad too.

As Ever,

TWC

Mozilla Firefox Review

Gentle Readers,

I've been doing a non-scientific, one-commonsewer test of Mozilla's hot browser for about a year now. I like it. A lot. 

I like it even better since MicroSoft has bloated Internet Explorer with downloads, hole plugs, and security measures rendering it a somewhat neutered, performance-less slug (remember your ancient 386?).

Although many users (not drug users)  have drifted to  Firefox out of fear of invasion through IE's flaws, that really isn't an issue for me because I have a miniature Israeli military presence at my firewall to discourage unwanted attacks.

With the exception of some government sites that aren't fully compatible, Firefox performs at least as well and generally better than IE. The controls and settings are easier to use than Internet Explorer as well.

To keep it simple I'm not going to do an in depth review as there are many available reviews online and Firefox has received the blessings of a plethora of techie magazines. Suffice it to say that my experimentation has evolved to the point where TWC uses Firefox 90% of the time. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it's on a whole higher level than the competition. I'm sold. 

And it's free. Download it here if you're interested. It's also available in other languages here.

Full Disclosure: Nobody paid me to write this nor did I get any freebies as a result.

As Ever,

TWC

Opt Out of Credit Card Spam

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

I didn't know this was possible and I am SICK and TIRED of the relentless barrage of credit card offers arriving daily (talk about spam). Fortunately TWC has a Tim Allen paper shredder powered by a blown Chevy 454 out of a '70 Chevelle that makes short work of that (envelopes and all).

Citibank and MBNA have spent more on postage than they could ever recoup in interest charges should we, in a moment of weakness, sign on the line for the perfect credit card.

....if you're sick and tired of getting 50 million credit card solicitations in the mail, you can now opt out at this site run by the major credit bureaus.

As Ever,

TWC

tip of the glass to Virginia Postrel

Company Pic Nic Rules

Gentle Readers,

Our fine legal minds over at Dewey, Screwem, & Howe, LLP asked us to alert our clients to the exponential increase of legal actions involving alcohol consumption on company premises, which would include company-sanctioned off site meetings and company sponsored events.

Consider it done. TWC recomends limiting alcohol consumption at company events to one drink per employee.

As Ever,

TWC

tip of the glass to Chuck

Californicate Worker's Comp

Gentle Readers,

When the rubber meets the road, Californicate Governator Schwarzengroper's promised reform of the worker's compensation system has meant very little real change. In a system where more than half the claims are fraudulent, where normal rules of evidence do not apply, and where the entire system is tilted in every way possible to find in favor of the injured worker, that comes as no surprise.

Here is reality:

TWC just finished a tax return for a woman who owns a small beauty salon. You tell me if this makes a dime's worth of sense:

Total Gross Revenue: $80,991.00

Total Wages Paid: $39,882.05

Cost of Worker's Compensation Insurance: $4,432.00

Thank the Lord for small favors. Without reform she might pay as much as 12% of wages for Worker's Compensation. But wait.............

As Ever,

TWC

I Feel Safer Now

Gentle Readers,

Earlier this week a client wire transferred a substantial amount of money to a business account. Imagine his surprise to learn that he's a fargin terrorist.

Mellon Bank, duly deputized by Homeland Security, dropped the funds into a deep freeze pending a hard look at my guy.

Interestingly enough, the other three wire transfers, also significant sums, didn't raise a solitary eyebrow on the laid-back, kinder-and-gentler West Coast. Apparently the Iron City terrorist list isn't available elswhere or the slushy, miserably cold, March weather in the 'Burgh leaves people with little else to do but scrutinize The List.

Best part? They called him up to give him the bad news. Was he listed in the Yellow Pages under Terrorist?

What's entirely lost on middle America is that this never happens to actual bad guys. And sticking a half million Americans on a terrorist list because they happen to share an especially common name with a suspicious character somewhere is well beyond inefficient use of scarce resources.

And the answer to the question de jour? Confidentiality dictates that I can't tell you what it is, but his surname isn't of Arabic origin. Not even close, boys.

The Patriot Act didn't come out of a vacuum though. It is the logical outgrowth of a series of ever tightening banking laws, Rico, and IRS privacy invasions dating at least to the mid-1960's, all of which was fine with the lefties, including the ACLU.  But now the pot's begun to boil, the dratted Republicans are in power, and somebody has just got to do something.

Here's a heads up: being a mouse click away from babes.com ain't freedom. And ignoring Constitutional (and moral) niceties like probable cause, warrants, or court orders, isn't likely to enhance our security.

Not sure if civics is even taught in high school any more but for those of you who spent your class time chewing gum and giggling, smoking dope in the Senior Bathrooms, or gawking at the hot chick sitting next to you here's a brief refresher:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

But hey, if you've got nothing to hide why do you care if the government pokes around in your private affairs?

As Ever,

TWC 

Nyxem Ain't For Indigestion:but it might give you some on Friday

Gentle Readers,

Many, if not most, virus warnings circulating around the Internet are false or misleading. Apparently this one is not. As if on que my AV program is downloading over 8 mb of artillery to fight off this bugger.

Here's the dope:

There's a virus out there that will rear its ugly head on Friday.  It's known by various names including 'Nyxem' and 'Blackmal' and could delete Office and Acrobat documents from your computer. On the third of each month, starting this Friday it will destroy Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Acrobat files plus Access databases among others.

If you have anti-virus software (and if you don't, why not?) then make sure it is up to date then run a full scan over your computers.

Your AV software should have detected any nasties when they first arrived, but some can slip through so regular full scans are a wise move. For the same reason, you might want to do a backup of your documents.

The original virus might have arrived as an email message with one of the following subject lines:

Funny :)
My photos
Crazy illegal sex  (ed note: does your wife know you opened this?)
Real show
Miss Lebanon 2006
Give me a kiss
School girl fantasies gone bad (ed note: tell me you didn't open this)

Once running on a computer it can infect other computers on the network so even computers that don't have normal email access could be infected.

Symantec has details here as well as a fix if you've already been infected.

As Ever,

TWC

tip of the glass to Office Watch

So Long, Al

Gentle Readers,

Alan Greenspan, former jazz saxophonist, hard core free-market capitalist, and member of Ayn Rand's inner circle is taking a hike after presiding over the 14th hike in the nation's benchmark interest rate that now stands at 4.5%. While nobody is happy about a bump in interest rates, compared to the double digit figures from Jimmy Carter's self-described era of malaise, 4.5% still seems a bargain basement rate.

TWC always wondered how Greenspan reconciled his role at the Fed with his free-market writings. Maybe it was just a simple case of being Stuck In The Middle With You or Making The Best of a Bad Situation.

As Ever,

TWC

   

Sony Tech Support: Two Thumbs Down

Gentle Readers,

Mrs TWC has been dealing with Sony Tech Support all morning. Her brand new laptop is malfunctioning and it's clear that Sony's staff has zero specific knowledge about this laptop. Sony's advice? Turn it on and off a bunch of times. The crack tech team isn't even capable of asking questions that might get closer to the source of the problem. Bah.

UPDATE:

Worst of all, Sony Tech Support asked Lisa to remove the memory modules in her computer and reinstall them even though doing so voids the warranty. Dorks.

In frustration, we put together a work around and were able to back up the critical stuff. Then Mrs TWC took it back to Best Buy where it was purchased. It took the techs at Best Buy exactly 30 seconds to diagnose what the Sony techs couldn't diagnose in several hours. Feeling gun shy, she swapped the Sony out for a Gateway.

TWC is happy anyway because I'm still fuming that Sony refused to stand behind my digital camera which went south on the 92nd day I owned it. A three month warranty? Guy at the store told me it was a year. Long story short, I had it fixed for 40 bucks by a hot shot camera guy who simply upgraded the firmware. Sony's best offer: TWC coughs up a minimum of $150.00 upfront + shipping to Texas + three week turn-around-time just to have their tech guys take a look. Naturally, I told the supervisor to pound salt. I'd throw the camera in a dumpster before I'd give Sony another dime. I figured a $500.00 camera ought to last longer than ninety days.

I wasn't happy when Mrs TWC came home with a Sony laptop last week, but this is the new millenium and our women have to make their own way. But Dude, I'm gloating now on the inside. Toldja so. Toldja so.

I've bought a lot of Sony products over the years but I wouldn't give you a nickel for a whole bag full of anything Sony makes today. I hear that says Mrs TWC.

At one time, Sony was a class act producing high-quality products. Sony was at the forefront, dragging Japan out of the dregs of war and into it's adolescent stint as 1950's junk peddler. Then on to global electronics powerhouse. But, like Cadillac, whose name once symbolized the creme de la creme, a name plate only takes you so far.

My advice to you, Gentle Readers? Buy something besides Sony.

As Evoir,

TWC

One Week Left To Comply With New Californicate Sexual Harassment Regulations

Good Morning Gentle Readers:

UPDATE: I've already received several emails so let's clarify: It is the problems connected to sexual harassment in the workplace that are growing and not the incidence of legitimate sexual harassment, which is by all accounts declining since the days when, at sweet sixteen, Mrs TWC worked at that famous Corvette shop with 15 relentless pigs, er, ah guys. And the customers were nearly as bad as the help.

Californicate's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide a minimum of two hours of sexual harassment training to supervisory employees prior to January 1, 2006 and every two years thereafter.

Lots of solid information here. General employment law information here.

In addition, Commerce Clearing House offers a free class (via email) geared to smaller employers dealing generally with the ever-growing problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. Some of the issues covered are:

• The Growing Problem of Sexual Harassment
• Practical Steps for Day-to-Day Harassment Issues
• Essential Steps for Investigations
• How to Write Your Harassment and Complaint Policy
• Liability Issues That Could Stem From Inter-Office Dating

Commerce Clearing House is a premier publisher of legal and tax information to the professions of law and accounting as well as the business community (in the United States and worldwide).

As Always,

TWC