The Literary Times Blog
Saturday, April 19. 2008
I really hope no one is falling for the fake IRS refund email they might be getting. It comes from addresses like "easytref@tax.ref.co.us", and look like: A Secure Way to Receive Your Tax Return
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $620.50.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 3-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access the form for your tax refund, please click here <http://www.t1501.org/Events/20040515_TroutCave/Thumbnails/secure/online_form/www.irs.gov>
Note: For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time.
Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service
Copyright 2008, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.
There are several varieties floating around, just don't trust any of them. The IRS will NEVER email you about a refund. You can read more about scams on the IRS web site at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=170894,00.html.
Thursday, July 26. 2007
Okay, you may have seen and heard just about enough of the Harry Potter news, but I found a few tidbits I thought were worth covering because they seem to bring out the best in people...which is always under covered in the news.
This story came from BBC NEWS:
Richard Yates, a local postman from Harvington in Worcestershire, England was unable to do his normal rounds due to the recent flooding. So, he loaded up his car (4 wheel drive) with copies of the new Harry Potter book from the depot and decided to deliver them around the village.
It was understandable that fans in the area were resigned to not getting their eagerly awaited copy. Evesham was the scene of dramatic rescues over the weekend as it became cut off by flood water.
Chris Haynes, a Harvington local said, "We had seen the flood water and all the post vans outside the main post office earlier in the day and were resigned to not getting the copy. But, about an hour later, a 4x4 came up the drive and out got this chap with a big grin on his face and explained what he was doing. It was wonderful in the midst of all this horror and misery."
Mr. Haynes had spent the previous evening helping to salvage the village hall and toys and books from a play group from the floods. "It was a lovely gesture," he said.
The following story came from several sources, but I first saw it on the NBC Nightly News. It broke previously and was picked on by the AP.
Fifteen hundred copies, each one 10 volumes, each weighs 12 pounds and stands a foot tall. This is the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...in Braille.
The National Braille Press in Boston worked overtime, mostly on a volunteer basis, to get these very special books out on time. They were determined to get them into the hands of blind readers at the same time the printed copies were released...at 12:01am July 21, 2007. And they did. But the story gets better.
The National Braille Press is a not-for-profit establishment and relies on charitable donations to operate. With the Deathly Hallows title, their cost was three times that of it's sister print version. And the NBP refuses to charge one more cent than others will pay for the print copies. Which means that for every one printed, the Press looses money.
Bill Raider said, "This is about the biggest (print run) we've had... All stops are out to put this one out on time. We just have to go on faith. We can't hold the book up to wait for the charitable support to come in."
This was great news to youngsters who didn't want all their friends to know what was happening with Harry before they could even hope to get a Braille copy.
Two of these readers, fourteen-year-old Ashley Bernard and eighth-grader Adam Roberge heard about the Press's efforts on their behalf and started a fund-raising drive which ultimately led to them raising $20,000! Herculean efforts on their part, but it still falls short of the estimated $60,000 that will be needed. If you would like to make any donation to the National Braille Press to help with the cost of Deathly Hallows, or any Braille book, check out their website for ways to give.
As we have seen over the years, the Harry Potter books have positively effected so many readers (yes, blind children have discovered a love of reading by being introduced to the Harry stories just as sighted children have), but they have also had a wide reaching effect on others who have indirectly been touched by them. I raise my glass of butterbeer to people like Richard Yates, Ashley Bernard and Adam Roberge, and all those who have become better readers thanks to Harry's adventures!
Friday, July 20. 2007
As the bewitching hour approaches, I wait, like millions of others, with baited breath for the release of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. I will do just as I have for the previous book releases, I will cover all the bases. I pre-order a few copies from Amazon which will be delivered tomorrow morning, and as a faithful patron of my local bookstore, I will pick up a few copies there, too. (I have three children, a husband and myself to supply at the same time. There is no way we could buy one or two copies and then decide who will wait until someone else finishes!)
This particular release is bittersweet however, as it is the last time I, and the millions of other readers who share our love of these wonderful adventures, will ever experience the unique excitement of these events. Regardless of how this book ends, J.K. Rowling has said from the very beginning that there will be seven books, and only seven books in this series. Like many authors, Rowling has 'seen' the entire story of Harry and his companions through to the end from the first book on. Many series authors will revive a story line and characters when the readers request it, gladly revisiting old friends when sales are sure to be good. But I believe Rowling is quite sincere in her determination of exactly what she will do with her beloved characters and what she will do to protect them.
If you go to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble and search for Harry Potter books, you will surely see the books themselves, but you will also find a load of 'Unofficial' books about Harry, Rowling or anything anyone can possibly dream up to try to capitalize on the Potter name. So it is not a far stretch to think that, in years to come, there will be loads of others trying to revisit the 'magic' of Harry Potter much like they have tried to do with other successful novels. Remember the 'sequel' to Gone With the Wind? Unfortunately, Mitchell had no clue when she left her heroine with words like "Tomorrow is another day" that, in future tomorrows, a publishing company would decide that that day has come and get some other writer to continue Scarlett's story. Look how that worked out. And Margaret Mitchell was adament that she would never write more about Scarlett because that is where she wanted HER characters and HER story to end. I guess she never figured on someone else trying to write about them.
My personal opinion is this. Harry and his friends (and foes) were created entirely and completely by J.K. Rowling. No one knows them better, no one knows the hundreds of details about them that never made it into the books, and no one can speak with their unique voices except for the one who created them. And I'm willing to bet that the woman who brought them into the world may very well take them out if that is what it takes to protect them from future violation. While I don't believe that she would kill off the three young heroes, I do believe that whatever the ending may be, it will be a fitting one and one that will, hopefully, make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for anyone at any time in the future to try to continue their story.
And so, it is with mixed emotions that we all will shortly be turning the final pages of Harry's story, and closing the book, as it were, on our grand adventures with Harry and his friends, safe in the knowledge that although we will know how their futures will play out, we will always be able to revisit them all at any time by simply opening to page one and embracing The Boy Who Lived.
Happy reading!
Friday, April 20. 2007
A little trivia. Do you remember the names of the two killers at Columbine eight years ago? (Unfortunately, I do, too.) Do you remember the names of the victims? Any of them? Neither do I. And I'm ashamed. But the shame is not just mine. Most of us would answer the above questions the same. Why? The media. The media would tell us what we are eager to hear and see...over and over and over again. If you saw the photos of the killers today, you would recognize them. But would you recognize any of the victims if someone handed you their photo? Neither would I. At least not until today. In the aftermath of this week's tragedy in Virginia, the pattern remained the same. We all saw the pictures of the killer, again and again and again. But we only saw pictures of some of the victims once in a while. Then the package gets delivered to NBC and the news media claims that because we want to know why someone would do such a horrible thing, that naturally means we have to hear and see the video of this killer again, and again, and again. Only when we all were disgusted enough to let them know that our understanding does not mean it gives them the right to play such a shocking video in the name of news and ratings, did they start making excuses and apologies. If this wasn't enough, all the news programs in the evenings dealt with 'The Mind of a Killer' and 'What Made Him Do It' and 'Why Weren't the Warning Signs Heeded.' When you go to the store you are confronted with the killer on the front page of every newspaper! In between regular programming on cable channels you are faced with clips such as "We Go Into the Mind of The Virginia Tech Killer at eleven." Thirty-two other people died and all they have to talk about is the one that deserves the airtime the least! They have learned nothing. Two days ago I caught a bit of the Oprah show and was delighted to hear of the efforts of Columbine victim Rachel Scott's family to educate students around the country about this type of violence and what they can do to help those who may be troubled or feel like outcasts. It is believed that they have already helped to stop many such troubled kids from acting out in this manner and helped students to be more compassionate and understanding of their fellow classmates. They reiterated what I discuss here, that many troubled kids see how much attention is paid to the ones who commit these crimes and how the more devastating the act, the more attention is paid. Oprah voiced her disgust of how the media covered the event as well. I'm thinking, 'Great! Maybe, just maybe the bone-heads with the if it bleeds, it leads mentality will get the message if enough of the right people complain.' The second the Oprah show went off, the news came on with a picture of the killer. Good God people, give us a break! For myself, I refuse to let the mindless media dictate what I remember about these tragedies. I spent much of today learning about the victims of Columbine and their wonderful lives and the people they left behind. These people have made a difference in the world. Though their lives were cut short they have been a positive influence on so many others. I would invite you to check out these heroes and read some of the many writings they left behind, or that their families have written to honor their loved ones. There are also many great websites that introduce you to these amazing kids. I would also recommend learning about Rachel's Challenge for yourself and having these wonderful people touch your lives and those of the kids in your schools. And now... Cassie Bernall, 17
Steven Curnow, 14
Corey DePooter, 17
Kelly Fleming, 16
Matthew Kechter, 16
Daniel Mauser, 15
Daniel Rohrbough, 15
William David "Dave" Sanders, 47 (teacher)
Rachel Scott, 17
Isaiah Shoels, 18
John Tomlin, 16
Lauren Townsend, 18
Kyle Velasquez, 16 Try to remember.
Thursday, April 19. 2007
Somewhere around April 12th, a new version of a worm virus that was wreaking havoc back in January returned. The Storm Worm is making the rounds in email boxes looking like an attached Zip file. The subject lines vary, but usually have something like Trojan Detected, Worm Activity Detected, or Worm Alert. Others have had subject lines right out of current news items. The attached Zip file also comes under different names, but the key to watch for is that the attachment is a password protected Zip (compressed) file. The worm gets activated when the user opens the Zip file by typing in the password given them. The worm then installs a tiny program on the victim’s computer hard drive called a rootkit. Rootkit’s can hide from most security systems, or even shut down the ones you have running! From there, the program will follow its instructions, uploading personal information from your computer, and scanning your whole system to find any email addresses stored. It uses these to replicate itself, and be sent to all the addresses it just stole from you. If your computer is online all the time, and the infection isn’t stopped, it can turn your computer into what’s called a zombie. A zombie computer acts as a server to send out more infected spam to others! It’s too simple just to say “don’t open suspicious attachments”, because people keep doing it anyway. Everyone who gets email should have an antivirus software, and a firewall on their computer. There are too many good ones to cover here, and if you can’t afford one, go to www.grisoft.com and download the free antivirus software. For a firewall, you could try ZoneAlarm, found at www.zonealarm.com. We’ve used both before, and they do work very well. No matter what software you use, it’s crucial that you keep them updated. I believe all types of security software can be set to keep themselves updated automatically.
Continue reading "Look out for a new email threat!"
Thursday, April 12. 2007
We really hope everyone will start using our new forums. Anyone can read what's there, but to post your own topics, you will need to register on the forum. This is not hard to do, but I have added a bit more security features to protect everything and to save us all from the hassle of spammers.
Message forums and blogs are magnets for spammers. To make things as hard as I can for potential spammers, I have added an extra step to our sign in form. When you sign in to post on the forums you will be directed to our About Us page. There at the bottom of the page you will see a four digit number called the "Vip Code". When you return to the forum registration form, you just paste the Vip Code into the box provided for it. This makes it virtually impossible for automated spam bots to gain access to our forums and ruin an otherwise good thing.
We hope you will take this one extra step to ensure everyone enjoys a pleasant environment here at TLT.
Thursday, January 12. 2006
What better way to celebrate our 20th year of serving readers and writers than starting new interactive programs using the best of today's technology! The Literary Times main purpose has always been to support authors and inform readers. We're looking forward to taking some giant steps toward each of these goals in the coming months and we look forward to having you join us! Watch for more blog categories in the coming weeks, and be sure to check out the homepage for more ways to be seen and heard at TLT.
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