Here we are at mid-term. Unbelievable. Hopefully we can finish the semester before we start loading the ark. Speaking of which… if anyone wants a free, cuteeeeee kitten, give me a call. My next door neighbor moved and left behind a cat she had been feeding, so naturally I inherited the cat. Then it turns out the cat is pregnant. The gift that keeps on giving.
Mid-term
Oct 13
Here is a sample photo from a deer trail camera.
If anyone follows my blog, especially over the past year or so, they would know I’m really into the outdoors.
And ever since Sept. 1 rolled around, I’ve been a rejuvenated individual. The first split of dove season took me to Tchula for some hunting with Steve and Stan Diffey. Those guys open their arms with hospitality and fellowship each year, and whether or not we have a successful hunt, the day is a fun one.
Now, the state deer season is under way, and though I haven’t gotten into the woods yet, I am sure to this weekend. It’s going to be tough on Saturday afternoon (if I’m hunting) because of the little football game taking place up in Oxpatch! We shall see what takes my attention!
I’m really excited about a new gadget I just bought from Academy … a trail camera for spotting deer while I’m away. What a cool way to pattern the critters on some property.
I’ve talked with several faculty, staff and students who swear by these cameras, so I can’t wait to see what it captures!
If you guys have any fun outdoors stories to share, I’d love to hear ‘em!
This is a very funny video that demonstrates patience. LOL! I love it!
Country recording artist Eric Church will perform a free concert 6 p.m. Tuesday on the Hinds Community College Rankin Campus.
Country recording artist Eric Church will perform a free concert 6 p.m. Tuesday on the Hinds Community College Rankin Campus.
The concert will be limited to 100 ticketholders, about half to be students on the Rankin Campus. The other tickets are being given away by US 96.3 Country radio station, one of the hosts of the free concert.
The concert will be in the George Wynne Hall lecture room.
Church’s songs speak plainly about the human condition in the vein of such greats as Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings to John Prine and Steve Earle.
“Honesty is my number one responsibility,” Church said. “If you listen to this, you’ll find out who I am.
Church grew up in Granite Falls, N.C., in an area known as one of the world’s furniture capitals. He recalls being four years old, standing on a table at a local restaurant, singing “Elvira” to a waitress and a handful of patrons who would reward him with change.
“I was 13 when I started writing,” he says. “It was before I learned to play guitar. I had a lot in me that I wanted to get out, and I started writing lyrics and singing, and I thought, ‘If I’m going to play these for people, I’m going to have to learn how to play guitar.’” He bought a cheap, hard-to-tune one and taught himself to play, influenced by his parents’ eclectic tastes, which stretched from Motown to bluegrass.
A talented athlete, he played basketball, baseball and golf in high school, but in college, he turned to music, riding those early gigs to regional acclaim and then a trip to Nashville.
“I wanted to move two years before I graduated,” he said, “but my dad made me a deal. He said, ‘If you’ll graduate, I’ll pay for your first six months in Nashville,’ which I thought was a pretty good offer. I graduated with a degree in marketing and he was true to his word.”
His family and his small-town background had given him a diamond-pure work ethic, which served him well. “I just kind of threw muscle into the writing, so we had a large pool to draw from when it came time to record,” he said. “I think I demoed 60 or 70 songs at Sony last year, and you probably demo one out of every four you write, so I wrote a lot. I figure they’re paying me to be a songwriter and that’s what I’m here to do.”
He began getting cuts, including Terri Clark’s “The World Needs a Drink.” Then, Arthur Buenahora at Sony Tree introduced Eric to producer Jay Joyce; the two clicked instantly, and began cutting demos.
“The night I got the record deal with Capitol was a really good gig,” he says. “I knew that whether I got the deal or not, this was as good as I could do. It clicked. You just have those nights. During ‘Lightning,’ the whole crowd was hushed and I knew they were listening. I knew they were with me on the song, and there’s nothing as great as a performer as to capture the crowd.
Two days later, on his birthday, he was in Capitol’s office being offered a recording deal; he and Joyce then set about capturing his essence in Joyce’s basement studio. The result is a CD that launches Church with a firm identity both musically and lyrically, and gives him his own niche in a diverse country landscape.
Time for another year!
Aug 10
The summer vacation is over for most of you, and it’s time to buckle up and get ready for a new school year.
Although it was a rough few weeks at the beginning of the summer with regards to Legislator support and funding, it seems as if all is well for the time being, and Hinds CC is prepared to take on the new year.
Record numbers of applications have been flooding in, a hopeful sign of a productive year for the District.
Good luck to you all in 2009-10! I anticipate a fun year!
Getting Green!
Jul 24
After a visit from those friendly folks Jason Pope and Mindy Stevens from the Energy Education department, I was surprised to find out just how much savings could be achieved through being stewards of energy conservation.
I think we are saving a six-figure amount monthly on electric bills. That’s amazing!
I wonder if I can do this at home? 
My colleague Daniel Irby put me on to this Web site this week.
This is a cool place to find some deals in the Metro!
See if you find something you like. 
Effective July 1, 2009, AT&T 411 calls will be $1.99 per call plus airtime charges if applicable.
Are you kidding me?! That’s crazy!
All the more reason to use online phone directories and such for calling folks!
At Hinds, you can use this link to find people around campus! And it’s FREE!
Although it was nice to have a couple of weeks of quiet sidewalks and peaceful lunch days out-of-doors, I admit it’s a pleasant sight to see students back on campus.
Not only are we filling up our summer classrooms, it camp time for some of the athletics programs.
I saw soccer and football setups this morning on the practice field down from the Wellness Complex. This should be a fun week for everyone!
My buddy Tre’ Thornhill sent this interesting article from Information Week about the Mac and viruses. If you use a Mac, give this a read.
Apple Recommends Antivirus Software For Mac OS X
As Apple’s computers have become more widely used, malware authors have been targeting its products like iTunes, QuickTime, and the Safari Web browser.
By Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek
Apple has always boasted that “Mac OS X isn’t plagued by constant attacks from viruses and malware” because its operating system was “designed with security in mind.”
But about two weeks ago, Apple updated an old note on its support Web site advising its customers to use more than one antivirus application to make their computers more secure, affirming a longstanding divergence between its marketing and its technical concerns.
“Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult,” the note explained.
Apple suggested three possible options: Intego VirusBarrier X5, McAfee VirusScan for Mac, and Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh.
Mac OS X has long been more secure than Windows by virtue of its obscurity, not to mention the arguable merits of its BSD Unix foundation. Because more than nine out of 10 computers ran Windows, malware authors had very little incentive to look for or exploit holes in Apple’s operating system.
But the market share of Microsoft Windows among online computers has been falling, according to Net Applications. In 2004, Windows had 96.36% market share and the Mac had 3.25%. Windows has declined steadily since then, while Mac OS has gained. As of November 2008, Windows had 89.62% market share while Mac OS X had 8.87%, plus an additional 0.37% if you include the iPhone, for a total of 9.24%.
What’s more, Apple’s products, such as its iTunes software, its QuickTime media player, and its Safari Web browser, have become increasingly popular among Windows users.
As Apple’s products have become more widely used, malware authors have also been moving up the stack, toward the application layer. Both Apple and Microsoft have made strides securing their operating system software, and that has encouraged malware authors to look for holes in higher-level applications like Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime, Microsoft Windows Media Player, and various Web browsers.
Furthermore, some of the most profitable attacks these days rely on social engineering rather than a technical exploit. There’s no need for a Trojan keylogger if an attacker can dupe the target into divulging his or her login name and password with a simple phishing message. There’s no patch for gullibility.
Apple’s advice to use multiple antivirus products may signal the end of an era of carefree computing for Mac users, many of whom have never bothered to install antivirus software. Consider that last week, CA identified two new Mac OS X Trojans.
“Mac OS X threats are still incomparable to Windows threats, but with the growing popularity of Mac systems we are unfortunately seeing attackers taking more interest,” the CA blog post said.
This article was edited on 12/2 to clarify the release date of a brief posted by Apple’s security support staff.
