Richard T. Mindler, Jr.

Justin Bieber Snubbed For Polaris Prize, Again

Justin Bieber was snubbed by the Polaris Prize committee — again.

The long list of potential Polaris Prize winners was announced Thursday, with glaring omission. Justin Bieber, Canada’s biggest 19-year-old pop star, was snubbed by the Canadian awards committee — again.

Bieber, who recently complained publicly about not being taken seriously as an artist (and then wore the outfit at left), has yet to make it on the Polaris Prize Committee’s list.

That’s not completely shocking, given that the $30,000 best album prize is voted on by critics and often rewards a more eclectic style (past winners include Feist and Arcade Fire). This year’s potential honorees include, as HuffPost Canada notes, the popular electro-rock of Metric and noise-rock of Metz to electric powwow crew A Tribe Called Red and turntablist Kid Koala to the art-pop of The Luyas and the pop-pop of Tegan and Sara. Carly Rae Jepsen was not on the list.

Still, Bieber has released five albums, none of which have been recognized as great by the Polaris committee. The short list for the award will be released July 13, with a gala announcing the winner set for Sept. 23.

All of this isn’t to say Bieber should be too upset. The pop star has won so many awards that even WikiPedia agrees that listing them may be impossible. See which artsits did get the nod in the gallery below!



 

Richard T. Mindler, Jr.

What is spam?

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services. Spam costs the sender very little to send — most of the costs are paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender.

There are two main types of spam, and they have different effects on Internet users. Cancellable Usenet spam is a single message sent to 20 or more Usenet newsgroups. (Through long experience, Usenet users have found that any message posted to so many newsgroups is often not relevant to most or all of them.) Usenet spam is aimed at “lurkers”, people who read newsgroups but rarely or never post and give their address away. Usenet spam robs users of the utility of the newsgroups by overwhelming them with a barrage of advertising or other irrelevant posts. Furthermore, Usenet spam subverts the ability of system administrators and owners to manage the topics they accept on their systems.

Email spam targets individual users with direct mail messages. Email spam lists are often created by scanning Usenet postings, stealing Internet mailing lists, or searching the Web for addresses. Email spams typically cost users money out-of-pocket to receive. Many people – anyone with measured phone service – read or receive their mail while the meter is running, so to speak. Spam costs them additional money. On top of that, it costs money for ISPs and online services to transmit spam, and these costs are transmitted directly to subscribers.

One particularly nasty variant of email spam is sending spam to mailing lists (public or private email discussion forums.) Because many mailing lists limit activity to their subscribers, spammers will use automated tools to subscribe to as many mailing lists as possible, so that they can grab the lists of addresses, or use the mailing list as a direct target for their attacks.

Any spam sent to me will be dealt with by virus!

Try me!

Richard T. Mindler, Jr.

Lois Lerner, IRS Official, On Leave Of Absence: Reports say

Lois Lerner, the embattled head of the Internal Revenue Service’s exempt organizations division, has been placed on administrative leave after invoking her Fifth Amendment rights during a hearing examining the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, according to a report by the National Review Online.

“Due to the events of recent days, I am on administrative leave starting today. An announcement will be made shortly informing you who will be acting while I am on administrative leave. I know all of you will continue to support EO’s mission during these difficult times,” Lerner wrote in an email to employees in the exempt organizations division, according to National Review.

Congress and the Department of Justice are investigating allegations laid out in a Treasury Department inspector general’s report that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative organizations applying for tax exempt status for deeper review and harsh questioning from 2010 through 2012.

Before taking the Fifth at the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday, Lerner told the committee in an opening statement, “I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated IRS rules and regulations and I have not provided false information to this committee.”

Kelly O’Donnell and Frank Thorp, both of NBC, tweeted Thursday that Lerner was on leave. Lerner’s leave of absence was reported on the same day that Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) issued a joint statement pushing for Lerner’s suspension, saying that they have “lost confidence in her abilities to fulfill her duties.”

“We are writing to urge you to suspend immediately Lois Lerner from her office as Director of the Office of Exempt Organizations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),” Levin and McCain wrote in a letter to incoming IRS commissioner Danny Werfel. “We believe that Ms. Lerner failed to disclose crucial information concerning the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of some conservative 501(c)(4) organizations during the course of a Subcommittee investigation into how the IRS enforces the 501(c)(4) law, leading to an incomplete account of the full operations of her unit.”

Levin and McCain are, respectively, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Investigations. It is the only committee that has announced plans to investigate, but that has not yet held a hearing.

Lerner, who was in charge of the division that targeted conservative groups, preempted the release of the inspector general’s report when she responded to a planted question at an American Bar Association meeting on May 10 by acknowledging the targeting and apologizing for it.

See the full Levin and McCain letter to Werfel below:

Dear Acting Commissioner Werfel:

We are writing to urge you to suspend immediately Lois Lerner from her office as Director of the Office of Exempt Organizations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We believe that Ms. Lerner failed to disclose crucial information concerning the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of some conservative 501(c)(4) organizations during the course of a Subcommittee investigation into how the IRS enforces the 501(c)(4) law, leading to an incomplete account of the full operations of her unit.

Since March of last year, the Subcommittee has been examining whether the IRS adequately and appropriately enforces tax code provisions and implementing regulations regarding the extent to which tax-exempt 501(c)(4) groups may engage in political campaign activity. The Subcommittee asked the IRS why it was not enforcing the 501(c)(4) statute which states that social welfare organizations should be used “exclusively for the promotion of social welfare” and instead enforcing the more lenient IRS regulation which states that a social welfare organization may be used “primarily” for social welfare. It also asked the IRS about how they reviewed applications filed by certain Democratic and Republican leaning 501(c)(4)s. Our investigation has included a year’s worth of correspondence between the Subcommittee and the IRS, as well as document productions and repeated consultations with IRS staff.

On April 30, 2013, Ms. Lerner and seven IRS colleagues spent six-hours being interviewed, on a bipartisan basis, by Subcommittee staff. That interview covered, among other topics, how the IRS determines which groups to review, what actions are taken in connection with the IRS reviews, and how the laws and regulations are used to examine those groups. Ms. Lerner failed to disclose the internal controversy over the search terms used by the Cincinnati office to identify 501(c)(4) groups for further review, the actions taken by that office in reviewing the identified groups, the investigation and imminent findings by the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA); and TIGTA’s conclusion that the IRS had used inappropriate criteria to target Tea Party and other conservative groups. Ms. Lerner also failed to disclose that she was fully aware of these issues as early as June 2011, and, according to TIGTA, had been personally involved in reviewing questionable actions taken by the Cincinnati office.

Given the serious failure by Ms. Lerner to disclose to this Subcommittee key information on topics that the Subcommittee was investigating, we have lost confidence in her ability to fulfill her duties as Director of Exempt Organizations at the IRS. Ms. Lerner’s continued tenure in the office she holds, where she is responsible for overseeing 1.6 million tax-exempt organizations, would erode public trust and confidence in the IRS and its professional integrity. We believe that the immediate removal of Ms. Lerner from office would be a vital step in helping to restore public trust in the agency.

Sincerely,
John McCain
Carl

This is an outrage and act of arrogance of a public official, that should be fired immediately and all pension, salary and benefits halted. Anyone in the private sector would have been history!   If she didn’t do anything wrong there is nothing to worry about?  The fact’s most undoubtedly she is being schooled by council and heads of state in this reporters opinion, furthermore there should be a full investigation of the IRS and the Benghazi implosion, this administration has all the tactics of Al Capone the city of which our fearless leader ( I say that in jest!) has come from!

America is spiraling out of control and is viewed as weak, letting the door open to all of us who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it!

Powerball Lottery Jackpot Soars To $600 Million Ahead Of May 18 Drawing!

The Powerball lottery jackpot grew to $600 million Friday ahead of the game’s May 18 drawing, making the prize one of the largest lottery jackpots ever.

Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game’s history and the world’s second largest lottery prize.

Lottery officials say the prize is growing quickly Friday because so many people have been purchasing the $2 tickets. The jackpot has grown by an estimated $236 million since the last drawing on Wednesday.

The last jackpot was won on March 30, so it’s been growing for about six weeks. The next drawing is Saturday night.

The largest jackpot ever was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in March 2012. The prize was split three ways with winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 175 million.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

The numbers sum up the frenzy that has taken over the Golden State since it joined the madness over Powerball, which has seen its jackpot soar to $550 million for Saturday’s drawing.

California has sold $83 million worth of Powerball tickets since April, when it joined 42 other states that offer the game. Since then, the most populous state has accounted for 11 percent of the game’s sales, fueling such fast-growing mega-jackpots like the latest one that has the potential to be a record-breaker.

The state expects to generate well above the originally estimated $50 million for public education, California lottery director Robert O’Neill told The Associated Press.

“One thing California has brought Powerball is sunshine and good fortune,” he said. “It has surprised us. We’re very happy.”

Californians have Nevadans to thank for some of that good fortune.

California’s biggest ticket-seller is the Primm Valley Lotto Store, which straddles the state line in tiny Nipton, a 19th century mining and ranching town on the edge of the Mojave desert whose booming lottery sales have put it on the map in modern times.

Roxie Handley figured all 80 of its residents would have a ticket in hand by Saturday. That’s if they can find the time.

“Here in Nipton, it’s crazy,” said Handley, 59, who manages the Nipton Trading Post, which also sells Powerball tickets. “We’re stocking up on everything. Last night, I heard some people had to wait nine hours in line.”

The town is about 35 miles from Las Vegas on the main interstate from the Los Angeles area. Residents of the nation’s No. 1 gambling state do not have access to the lottery. The Nevada state constitution contains a prohibition on lotteries, which are seen as competition to the casino industry.

Norma Wagoner was among the Nevadans trying their luck. She and a group of friends pooled their money to buy 20 tickets and sent one over the state border to endure the long lines.

“Everybody has dreams,” she said. “All it takes is one ticket.”

Officials expect the jackpot to keep growing before Saturday’s drawing that could break Powerball’s November 2012 record of $587.5 million.

The latest kitty leapt nearly $200 million since Wednesday’s drawing, which was an estimated $360 million. The $550 million jackpot is the second largest in Powerball history and third biggest overall.

Lottery officials expect jackpots to continue growing faster and bigger, thanks in part to a game redesign in January 2012 that increased the odds of winning some kind of prize of a lesser amount. On Wednesday, $1 million prizes were won in 16 states, and $2 million prizes were won in two states. California had six tickets among the winning ones Wednesday, including one sold in Nipton.

More than half of the all-time jackpot records have been reached in the last three years. The top two all-time jackpots – $656 million from a Mega Millions jackpot and $587.5 million from a Powerball jackpot – were achieved in 2012. Some states, like California, now sell tickets for both games.

The last major jackpot win came when a New Jersey man won a $338.3 million jackpot March 23. It is now considered the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history.

For Nipton, folks feel they’ve already won thanks to the boom in business.

“It kind of disrupts our peace and quiet,” said Handley, although she admits she too plans to snap up a ticket.

Most of the talk she hears around town these days, she says, is of people daydreaming about quitting their jobs and traveling with their millions: “Everybody wants a piece of the pie.”

But she said she would likely give most of it away.

“Having a lot of money I think would be a lot of headache,” she said. “Nipton has a lot of history. It’s the place to come if you want to get away. We have a five-room bed and breakfast with no phones, no TVs, where you can sit and watch the trains go by. It’s our little piece of heaven. I have things money can’t buy.”
Don’t bother, I have the ticket!

17 Things You Should Always Buy New!

Richard T. Mindler, Jr.

In the day and age of online swap meets and the ubiquity of reseller sites like Craigslist, eBay, and Etsy, there’s hardly anything you can’t get secondhand anymore. But should you?

For some items, saving a few bucks by buying them secondhand isn’t worth the potential safety or health risks involved.

We’ve put together a list of 17 products that you should always buy new.

Digital cameras

This also applies to video cameras. Since you’ll be using this to capture important life moments, you want to make sure you’re not getting a faulty product.

Buying tip: February is usually a good time to buy a new camera, since they often go on sale before new models come out around President’s Day.
 

Twitter Verification Has More To Do With Being Good At Twitter Than With Identity

Richard T. Mindler, Jr.

Posted By: Richard T.Mindler, Jr.     5-8-2013

Twitter has done a great job at keeping the whole “blue badge” verification process a mystery. If curiosity eats away at you like it does me, you’re in luck. A new video from comedians Hari and Ashok Kondabolu, featuring Anil Dash who has around 500k followers, shows the magical transformation from start to finish.

First off, it’s important to know that you can’t ask to be verified. Twitter only offers this blessing upon those with enough followers and popularity to deserve it. However, the company promises that follower count has no bearing.

We don’t accept verification requests from the general public, but we encourage you to continue using Twitter in a meaningful way, and you may be verified in the future. Please note that follower count is not a factor in determining whether an account meets our criteria for verification.

If you have been chosen, the Twitter account @verified will hit you up to let you know you’ve been selected, and tell you that you’re only “three steps away” from having that bright blue badge pinned to your account.

But Twitter’s process for verifying its users has absolutely nothing to do with verifying identity, so don’t worry about whipping out a drivers’ license or anything. Instead, Twitter uses a painfully easy multiple-choice quiz to test your badge-worthiness. It asks questions like, “Which tweet is more likely to double your followers?”

It then gives the option of a live-tweet about the Oscars, complete with hashtag, or option B, “I watched the #Oscars last night.” Anyone with enough followers to be verified knows that Twitter is about real-time communication. All three questions are of the same stock and breed, all stupidly simple.

Chances are, Twitter probably does go through some sort of analysis of your Twitter feed and other things to verify that @LadyGaGa and @finkd and @aplusk are legit. But this quiz is pretty silly, considering that all it verifies is that people with a lot of followers are good at Twitter. Which, of course, seems obvious.

I had reached out to Twitter to see if they can possibly shed a little more light on this.  I’ll update if we hear anything.
Until then Twitter, this is really me, where is the blue badge!

The latest redesign of the U.S. $100 bill is set to enter circulation in October, and along with its sleeker look, the bill has new security features designed to thwart counterfeiters. For instance, some portions of the new $100 are printed in a color-shifting ink that would be extremely difficult for counterfeiters to duplicate: The Liberty Bell on the note will appear to shift from copper to green when the bill is tilted.

These changes to the bill are part of an ongoing effort to help distinguish real currency from fake. “It is a constantly evolving process of putting more and more features on the bill to allow the common citizen to detect counterfeit,” said Ed Lowery, a special agent with the Secret Service.

Most of the counterfeit notes that change hands now are computer-generated, and easily distinguishable from genuine U.S. currency under a bit of scrutiny. “The process utilized to manufacture genuine notes is so detailed that there are very few systems out there that can match that level of detail in the printing,” Lowery said. People who hold both a real bill and a counterfeit bill in their hands should be able to notice a difference in texture between the two notes. From there, they can go on to look at other factors that would separate the two bills.

Though technology has made counterfeiting easier, computer-generated notes are usually of low quality and are unlikely to pass muster with an informed merchant. Nevertheless, “most people don’t realize that they have counterfeit [money] until they try to make a deposit at the bank or [spend it with] a merchant,” said Joe DeSantis, an assistant special agent with the Secret Service.

Bars and nightclubs are easy places to exchange counterfeit money since they aren’t well lit, said Jason Kersten, an expert on counterfeiting and the author of “The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter.” To combat this, many of these establishments check their bills under ultraviolet lights, which can help to detect phonies.

If you want to avoid getting stuck with a counterfeit bill, the trick is simply knowing what to look for. These are the eight best ways to spot counterfeit money.