Z Gamblin Man Dot Com

When buying gift cards make sure you don’t fall prey to gift card scams. Never buy gift cards that are on a display rack in a store. Crooks can copy the card number and pin in the back of the card. They wait a few days and check to see if the card has been activated. When it has, they go online and deplete the account. Crooks can also scan the cards with a mini scanner and follow the above mentioned procedure. If you must buy a card on a display rack, be sure that there is a pin associated with the card and that it can’t be seen. You must scratch the card to reveal the pin number. If they are technically savy, crooks can charge a small amount to a card then reprogram the card with a stolen ID number. Thieves can also open the packaging of new cards and replace the new cards with used cards.

Be very careful when buying gift cards on online sites such as eBay. Look at the seller’s rating to see what others are writing about this person. It’s no secret that many counterfeit cards end up on online auction sites. Sellers have been known to overstate the value of the cards. You can’t physically look at the gift card until after you have paid the seller.

You should only buy gift cards directly from the store or a secure website. If buying in store, ask the salesperson to scan it in front of you to check the amount on the card. This will also insure that the card is valid and ready for use. Always keep a receipt of your gift card purchase in case it is lost or stolen. This will help you replace the card if the card issuer gives you a replacement option. Never give out personal information such as social security number, driver’s licence number or date of birth. No reputable card company will ask you for that information.

Before you buy that gift card, be sure to read my post on gift cards so you get the maximum use of that card. Please click here to read the post.

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The choice of a wine will be dictated by what you order. As a general rule, try to avoid the house wine. Do ask waiters for their recommendations. It will endear them to you and they know the wine list. Obviously this advice is only good if the waiter seems to be knowledgeable about wines. You will be asked to taste the wine before it is served. This is simply to check if it is corked or “oxidized. If it is corked, it will have a pungent smell like old cardboards. You taste the wine by swilling a couple of time and smelling it.

There are many books on wines so if you are not an expert, spend a good deal of time on the subject and try out as many wines as possible. There are red, white, rosé and sparkling wines. Some wines are associated with certain types of meal. Red wine is often served with red meats and pasta and white wine with fish. Rosé can be served with meat and fish and a sparkling wine is served with dessert.

Most red wines do benefit from aging while white and sparkling wines can be consumed right away. The only exception is champagne which improves greatly with age. France produces some great wines but the US makes equally fine wines. Other countries such as Australia and Argentina are starting to produce good wines.

Wine preference comes down to personal taste. It’s only after sampling many types of wines that a person can develop choices in wines.  

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Anytime you log into a public place the odds are great that someone else is looking at your info. It’s no secret that public wi-fi is not secure so you must protect yourself in order to keep your data private. All of your traffic is sent in the “clear” meaning that it is readeable in plain text. Anyone armed with “sniffable” software can see your data in real time while you are checking your email. The software can record your usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and copy any files sent to your computer. You may think that your firewall is enough protection. It may help stop some network attacks  but it won’t stop your outgoing traffic from being observed.  

In order to protect yourself against this type of spying you will need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN as its name indicates is a private network that encrypts your data as it leaves your laptop. Your encrypted data is sent to the ISP who then sends your data unto the Internet.  You don’t need to install any software or add any hardware.  If your company uses a VPN, you should use your VPN client to log into your corporate network. This way your traffic will be protected as your laptop goes to your business VPN and from there to the Internet. If you don’t have access to a corporate VPN, you can get one from many ISP’s. It takes minutes to configure and you’re protected from hackers while online. To find ISP’s that cater to the individual user,  do a search by entering the text VPN and hotshot.

Now that your laptop is protected, you should also protect other mobile devices such as your Palm, iPhone and other devices that use wi-fi.

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Next year we will be electing a new president. Whether it is a Democrat or a Republican, let me make one thing perfectly clear, whomever is elected will most likely be wealthy, very wealthy. We have to go all the way back to Harry Truman to find a president who did not enrich himself through the political process.

Let’s take a look at the scorecard of the presidential candidate:        
(2006 income in parentheses)

• Hillary Clinton -      Net worth: $34.9 million - ($12.1million)
• John Edwards -     Net worth: $54.7 million - ($ 3.7 million)
• Rudolph Giuliani -  Net worth: $52.2 million - ($17 million) 
• John McCain -        Net worth: $40.4 million - ($3.9 million)
• Barack Obama -     Net worth: $   1.3 million - ( $ .9 million)
• Mitt Romney -        Net worth:  $202 million - ($37.6 million)
• Fred Thompson-    Net worth:  $  8.1 million - ($ 9.4 million)

By looking at these numbers, can you tell which politician is fairly new in politics? It would be interesting to hear the opinions of the founding fathers regarding the net worth of our politicians. Not sure they saw politics as an enrichment program. Some of them like Washington and Jefferson were wealthy but they did not make their fortunes while in office or after leaving the government (Mr. Clinton has earned $41 million in speaking fees since leaving office, no wonder Ms. Clinton wants his job!) 

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Whoever said that technology would give us more free time and relieve us from the daily grind was obviously wrong. Most of us are technology junkies waiting for a bigger and stronger fix. This comes in the form of wanting more features on our computers, cell phones and other assorted gadgets. We will wait in line for days to get the latest phone so we can be the first one to show it off to our friends. Technology can save us time if applied properly but how many of us truly use it toward that end. We find reasons to stay on the Internet for hours when we could be reading a book, tend to a garden or take a walk.

We find all kind of excuses why we need to be on the Internet. The addict also can rationalize his addiction. Wonder what would happen if the Internet totally stopped one day. I know, I know, that’s why the Internet was invented so that mass communication could never be completely halted. But imagine it happening, would you have Internet withdrawal symptom? Would you crave to check your email just once even if there was only spam in your inbox? Would you feel technology naked without your cell phone? Would the inner peace you felt by not being disturbed at anytime cause you anxiety attacks? 

Time to end this post now. It’s already been 30mn and I have to check my voice messages, my email, download photos I took today, do some editing on my website, add several podcasts to my ipod and Skype a couple of friends in Paris.  

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