Mrs. Mecomber’s Scrapbook

I am just more and more amazed at the leaps and bounds with which Internet technology is progressing, particularly remote access LAN management technology. I have utilized it on a very small scale with my home LAN, and on a broader level when I assisted a family member in another state, to fix his computer’s software issues. But a new development, the Uplogix Envoy appliance, enables network administrators to oversee and maintain technical stats and problems from a single location– the administrators could stay at their own designated location and never have to travel! It’s like an omniscient IT guy for businesses! Uplogix claims to use the strongest security standards, and, reading over the credentials and articles, it looks quite impressive. Their clientele is impressive, as well.

Imagine, never having to call the IT guys for your network problem, wait for them to arrive, and never have to rearrange the office to allow them access. Interested? Check out their website for demos and a plethora of informative articles. This could mean a totally new world of virtual administration. Amazing.

Mummified Times Five.net is not about the contents of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. I admit, when I see “mummified” I do think mummy first thing (I’m an American, after all!). I forget that “mummy” is the word for “mommy” in the UK and Australia!

Mummified Times Five.net is a classic mommy blog. It’s even colored with bright pinks and yellows! I actually love the bright colors and the perky design. Reminds me of Johnson’s baby oil bottles, lol. The blog’s author, Tina, lives with her husband and brood in NSW Australia. Fascinating. I love Australia and hope to visit it someday.

Tina’s blog is outstandingly organized. Buttons and badges are minimal, colorful, and aligned neatly in smooth columns. Niiiiice. Her About Me page is short but sweet. Her posts are short and sweet, too. Either she is a master at short posts, or she squeezes in what she can between diaper changes and bottle runs. I had four little ones running around not too long ago (they are older now), and some of the posts brought back sweet memories. I liked the freezing the milk tip, too; didn’t know milk could be frozen. There’s more to the blog than handy household tips, however. Like the post titled, If I Get Sent…

….one more of those stupid emails that have you looking closely on the screen for something, or doing a silly maze, or listening for something and then a scary face pops up on the screen and screams, somebody is going to pay!!! lol. I’m sitting on the lounge with the laptop on my lap (duh! It’s a LAPtop) I received an email from a friend saying ‘listen closely’. I don’t have the speakers up too loud because the baby is sleeping so I put my my face closer to the screen to hear it better and of course, the scary woman pops up screaming. …I nearly dropped my laptop!

LOL! Having a laptop set with low speakers and having received such emails, I could sympathize completely. I get mad, but Tina makes her anger seem so funny!

Mummified Times Five.net has some great things about it, but as always, I have a few suggestions.

Firstly, consider enlarging the font for the posts. And that would include the title for each post. It’s just a suggestion– not a crucial one– but the posts seem short overall, and the blog’s theme has a narrow column for posts. Enlarging the fonts would give a little visual boost to the posts, where the emphasis truly belongs.

I would also love to read longer and more frequent posts! I really enjoyed reading the posts (my daughter always slept with her bum in the air, too! And she loved “dummies” as well!) which were fresh and delightful and very entertaining. Gimme more! I’d love to learn about what life is like in Australia! Photos were sparse– gimme more!

Mummified Times Five.net is very enjoyable. It’s got good content, good design, and a crisp overall look to it. I’ll be checking in to read the latest!

I’ve heard about this in the news from time to time (not major media news, but the small quirky Internet news I read). It’s about Zion Oil and Gas. Here’s the scoop on a press release I recently saw:

Source: Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.
Zion Oil Announces Follow-on Public Offering to Fund Its Exploration Program in Israel
Friday February 1st
Proceeds of $25 Million Offering to Enable a Multi-Well Drilling Program

DALLAS & CAESAREA, Israel — Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (AMEX: ZN - News), announced today the filing of a registration statement with the SEC, for a follow-on public offering of a minimum of 325,000 units, up to a maximum of 2,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit. Each unit will consist of one share of Zion’s common stock and one warrant to purchase a share of Zion’s common stock at $7.00 per share.

Zion is raising funds in order to pursue its planned multi-well drilling program. Depending on actual amounts raised, Zion intends to carry out, to the extent possible, the following work program: drill Zion’s second well to the Triassic Formation (at a depth of 15,400 feet under Zion’s Joseph License) and/or to the Permian Formation (at a depth of 18,040 feet), drill a test well on Zion’s Asher-Menashe License to the Triassic Formation and, if appropriate, the Permian Formation and prepare for the drilling of an additional well on either its Joseph or Asher-Menashe License.

The offering will be placed through Network 1 Financial Securities, Inc. and other selected licensed broker-dealers, on a ‘best efforts’ basis. If the offering does not raise the minimum amount of $3,250,000 by 90 days after the registration statement is declared effective by the SEC, (a date that may be extended for up to an additional 60 days), the offering will be terminated and any funds subscribed returned. If the minimum is timely subscribed, the offering will remain open until the earlier of a maximum raise of $25 million or 180 days after being declared effective by the SEC, (a date that may be extended for up to an additional 60 days), subject to termination on notice of two trading days.

Zion’s common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol ZN. Zion has applied for the listing on the Amex of both the units and the warrants to be offered in its follow-on offering subject to its registration statement being declared effective by the SEC and the successful closing of the minimum offering.

A registration statement relating to the securities described above has been filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission but has not yet been declared effective. The securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. The information in this press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or country in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration, qualification or exemption under the securities laws of any such state or country.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering can be obtained by contacting Ashley Chatman at Zion Oil & Gas, Inc., 6510 Abrams Rd., Suite 300, Dallas, TX 75231; telephone +214-221-4610; email: ashley@zionoil.com. A copy of the preliminary prospectus can be downloaded from the Zion Oil website at www.zionoil.com . A copy can also be obtained from Network 1 Financial Securities by contacting 800-886-7007.

Zion Oil & Gas, a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located onshore between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. It currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, including statements regarding the future effectiveness of Zion’s registration statement, matters regarding the offering and possible closings thereof dependent on the declaration of effectiveness, Zion’s planned operations, potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon, including selection of potential drilling targets and locations, are forward-looking statements as defined in the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements are based on assumptions that are subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are described in Zion’s periodic reports filed with the SEC and are beyond Zion’s control. These risks could cause Zion’s actual performance to differ materially from the results predicted by these forward-looking statements. Zion can give no assurance that the expectations reflected in these statements will prove to be correct and assumes no responsibility to update these statements.

Zion’s homepage may be found at: www.zionoil.com

Contact:
Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.
Ashley Chatman, 214-221-4610
Email: ashley@zionoil.com
________________________________________
Source: Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.

The Internet has been a terrific source of news for me. I have seen this company in the news sources- they are a U.S. company looking for oil in Israel. Yow! The entire landscape of the Middle East would change significantly if oil was discovered in Israel (which is why I have been keen to news stories like this). Very interesting. We’ll see what develops.

I’ve been getting a lot of hits on my post I wrote about some great educational software programs. We use them all the time here at home. Maybe other folks are going on a geography blitz or something, lol. Well, I wanted to bump up the information to the top, to give others the chance to see and take advantage of some great software. Best of all, it’s FREE!

It’s called Owl & Mouse software. We have downloaded all their programs and we love them! Check out the website, as they have a variety of online games and downloadable software.

It’s been floating around in the blogosphere and media for quite a while now, but it bears constant exposure. It’s about Raelyn Campbell, a woman who left her laptop with Best Buy’s Geek Squad, for repairs. Best Buy “lost” her laptop but falsified reports and did not inform her of the theft/loss of her laptop (and personal information in said laptop) for months. She has a blog, Best Buy vs. Consumer Protection, and it’s wonderful. Best Buy has a long history of abuses and frauds. Here’s hoping they don’t get away with it this time. It’s amazing that in a world where not only do people need life insurance policies, they now need computer insurance, fraud protection policies, identity theft policies, etc– outrageous! Best Buy’s abuse is over the top! In this case, Best Buy tried to buy off Ms. Campbell (with a measly $2500) and force her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (i.e., to promise to keep her mouth shut). The nerve! Thankfully, Ms. Campbell refuses to be pimped off. Here’s an interesting video.

This is one excellent example proving that we need to shop locally. Everything from our food supply to government to electronics to education– we need to stay within our local community. There is no accountability with the bureaucracy– none. Small businesses, on the other hand, operate amongst us; the bosses and workers and repairmen and farmers are our neighbors and fellow workers. There is accountability within small groups. America needs to get back to basics, because the bureaucracy is too large and growing so powerful that we may never have control over our food and consumer goods. And who knows– maybe we’ll even have communities again!