Free spring training baseball Webcasts

Play-by-play radio broadcasts of almost 400 spring training baseball games will be Webcast free, beginning Friday. MLB Advanced Media is offering the streaming audio programming to promote its regular season, $4.95 a month Webcast subscription service. The spring training schedule gives visitors to MLB.com the option of hearing the “home” or “away” feed of games, as well as foreign language feeds where available. MLB said its regular season paid service last year had 1 million subscribers.

This was received via e-mail from My Uncle Bill and Aunt Nancy and I found a few things it said very interesting and possibly “Good Practice” and “Preventive Medicine” for us all:
Subject: Good Advice

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his
company:

The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first
name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your check book they
will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first
name but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT
put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the
last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and
anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the
check processing channels won’t have access to it.

Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you
have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO
Box use your work address.

Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) — you can add it if
it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides
of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your
wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.

Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my
passport when I travel either here or abroad.

We’ve all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in
stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc.
Unfortunately I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last
month. Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell
phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to
buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving
record information online, and more.

But here’s some critical information to limit the damage in case this
happens to you or someone you know:

We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the
key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know
whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily.

File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was
stolen, this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step
toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here’s what is perhaps most important: (I never even thought to do
this).

Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to
place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard
of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application
for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any
company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have
to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised
to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.

There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves’ pur
chases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then,
no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away
this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their
tracks.

The numbers are:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

Sun-Sentinel: News
Who says Americans don’t pay attention to international affairs? Down in Palm Beach, the county commissioner — Burt Aaronson, has decided that he’s had enough of the French. He’s lobbying to have the district officially change the name of “french fries”:

For a fee of $5.00 per word (5 word minimum), our customers can have telegrams
delivered to people who have passed away. This is done with the help of terminally Ill
volunteers who memorize the telegrams before passing away, and then deliver the telegrams
after they have passed away. We call this an “afterlife telegram”.
Just When I thought I saw it all…… ROFLOL!!!!

Click here for some example mobile phones to inspire politeness…What if mobile phones came with a “politeness button.” It would be great to use the button in situations where it would be impolite to talk on the phone.
The politeness button would come in handy when I was in a movie theater, for instance. I would set my phone to vibrate-only, and if a call came in, I would check the caller ID and either choose to ignore the call and let it roll over to voice mail, or press the politeness button, which would answer the call automatically and play a message for my caller that said, “Hi. I’m here, and I’m going to take your call, but please wait just a moment while I go someplace where I can talk.” Then I’d walk into the lobby and take the call. That way, the moviegoers wouldn’t be bothered.(This also applies to a varity of other public places too!)

A USB toothbrush. Seriously.Could someone please explain why in the hell anyone would need an electric toothbrush that can plug into the USB port of a computer? Is it to power the toothbrush, since a USB port can be used to power some gadgets?

This one was sent in via e-mail by “EVOC4292″, Thanks Eric!

Submitted via e-mail by Uncle Herb in FloridaWith all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the
moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPRISE,
the man who wrote the song “The Hokey Pokey,” died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting
him into the coffin. They put his left leg in - and then the trouble started. Thanks Unc!

The Spiral Stairs have Finally Arrived!
Well, only after going to the “Overnight Express Trucking Company’s” depot and picking them up myself…..(you may or may not know that they were supposed to deliver the stairs to us this past saturday between the hours of 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Dad and I waited all day until around 7:00 pm realizing that they weren’t going to make it. And of course after trying to call thier office, no one answered thier phone. Gee! you’d think they would, at very least just CALL to say “Sorry Folks, not today” But NOT! For the rest of the weekend I played classical music to lower my blood pressure. This is a shot taken at the “Overnight Express Trucking Company”This was taken after the stairs were safely tucked away in Mom and Dad’s garage!……. and this is where they are going to be installed by Dad and I this coming Sunday..……..Stay tuned

Jeff Smith The Frugal GourmetWhat a great cooking show this was, I wish it didn’t disappear after Jeff was rumoured to be gay!