I did it. I bit the bullet and order a MacBook. After a few months of recognizing that I need a new laptop, combined with some financial number crunching and analysis, I’ve settled on the 13.3″ Macbook. Now I get to enjoy that sense of anticipation while I wait for the big box to appear on my doorstep.
Bryan and I had an e-mail exchange last week on the topic of whether I should get a PC or a Mac as my next laptop. Here’s a brief summary of what I learned.
Looks like I’m going to have a tough decision on my hands soon (very soon, given my keyboard is starting to break).
After realizing a two weeks ago just how old my laptop is, I decided the need to find a replacement was a much higher priority than it was. I know that I’m looking for a dual processor with a 13.3″ screen, and built-in optical drive. However, with the converison of Macs to Intel processors, the whole OS X thing, and two solid programs in Parallels and VMWare Fusion, I’m in something of a bind.
Yesterday’s Derby party was a fun time, as parties in Sparta usually
are. The typical cast of characters was there until later in the
evening, and there was even some live entertainment and dancing
courtesy of one of my uncle’s friends who is a pretty good piano player.
As far as the race itself goes, Big Brown, the expected favorite, won the race.
Though the sad part was the filly, Eight Belles, came in second but was
euthanized immediately after the rest because she broke both front
ankles. Of course, given the rather sleazy underside to thoroughbred
racing in the US, it’s sadly not a surprise.
P.S. At any rate I did win my bets. Thank you Beyer figures.
Update: A NY Times article on Eight Belles and another aspect of the debate on safety in horse-racing.
Today is the Kentucky Derby, perhaps the largest social event of the year at my cousins’ house in Sparta. So it’s off to the races for me today.
Sentencing finally concluded for Lillian Pair over her embezzlement of funds from her concrete business (the charge, technically, was wire fraud investigated by the FBI since money was wired from NJ to SC). She’s been sentenced to six years in a federal prison and restitution, which will include the seizing of her house.
The Post & Courier in Charleston has more.
I finally have vindication over my many-years frustration with TD Ameritrade and the spam they’ve been generating to my e-mail account I use with them. Below is an e-mail I received sometime in the past three days. Additional info is available at TD Ameritrade’s website.
Let me tell you why I am sending you this email. While investigating client reports about the industry-wide issue of investment-related SPAM, we recently discovered and eliminated unauthorized code from our systems. This code allowed certain client information stored in one of our databases, including email addresses, to be retrieved by an external source.
Please be assured that UserIDs and passwords are not included in this database, and we can confirm that your assets remain secure at TD AMERITRADE.
What we want you to know:
Once we discovered the unauthorized code, we took immediate action to eliminate it. We are confident that we have identified the means by which the information was accessed and have taken appropriate steps to prevent this from reoccurring.
You continue to be covered by our Asset Protection Guarantee, which protects you and your assets from any unauthorized activity that may occur in your account through no fault of your own. If you lose cash or securities as a result of such activity, we will reimburse you for the cash or shares of securities you lost.
While Social Security Numbers are stored in this particular database, we have no evidence to establish that they were retrieved or used to commit identity theft. To further protect you, we have hired ID Analytics, which specializes in identity risk, to investigate and monitor potential identity theft. ID Analytics provides identity risk services to many of the country’s largest banks and telecommunication companies, as well as government agencies. Following its initial evaluation, ID Analytics found no evidence of identity theft as a result of this data breach. We will retain its services on an ongoing basis to support your TD AMERITRADE accounts and to monitor for evidence of identity theft. We will alert and advise you if any is found. As always, we encourage you to remain alert in guarding your personal information, regularly review your account statements and monitor your credit activity from the major reporting agencies.For more information on protecting yourself against the possibility of security threats, please visit our online Security Center.
We sincerely apologize to you for this situation and want to assure you that protecting the security and privacy of your assets and information remains a top priority. We have made and will continue to make significant investments in security software, systems and procedures, and we will remain vigilant about protecting you.
We want to answer any questions and address any concerns that you may have about this matter. For more information, including a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and an additional message from me, please go to www.amtd.com or contact Client Services. Please note that we are anticipating increased call volume during this period, which may lead to long wait times. We encourage you to review the FAQs and, if you have a question, to log on to your account and send us a secure email. Once again, please be assured that your assets are secure at TD AMERITRADE.
Today was one of those slow, dreary kind of Mondays. The kind where the flat, gray sky, dampness, and cool weather sap your enthusiasm and motivation.
With work cooling off, as we sit in a wait-and-see mode for one of the projects I’m heavily involved in, and the upcoming cycle just firing up, it’s hard to become too excited. Given everything else that has gone on there, too, it’s even less so. A “Blah” kind of Monday just has you asking when it’s time to go home.
Coming home to look over your finances, though, isn’t much help in elevating the mood. Unless, of course, you discover that the blue book value of your car is around $21,000, and the buyout on your lease expiring in April will be around $14,000. With the cost of the lease plus the cost of the buyout actually equaling the MSRP of the car at the time of purchase, that doesn’t seem like such a bad deal after all. No wonder the sales guy kind of choked at the monthly price I was looking for at the time.
Suddenly the day doesn’t seem as bad. Nor does the fact that I’m going to end up over my mileage allowance, since I’ll likely keep the car after all.
A brief update on Lillian Pair and her case winding through the court system, based on conversations with the family in the past week or so.
She reached a plea bargain with the prosecutors office that will send her to jail for several years (somewhere around 6 – 8, I believe). During the course of the court process, additional information was apparently discovered that led to the prosecutor being able to negotiate a stronger sentance than might otherwise have been reached, including information about Medicare fraud and also, apparently, her attempts to extort money from someone even while she was appearing in court, which was caught on tape.
Currently she’s undergoing a 45 day psych evaluation at a federal detention center. Efforts to find the money have been less successful thus far.
This is only my recollection from family members, who have received most of their information second-hand as well. However, it does appear as though she will soon begin serving some time for her crimes.
So, like millions of others, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the latest Harry Potter book. So I’ve taken the steps below to try to get the best possible deal.
1. Pre-order book from Amazon.com with best price and Saturday delivery guarantee with no sales tax. Price comes to $21. Enjoy add-on $5 off an Amazon.com coupon for later use as a bonus.
2. Drive around the nearby Barnes & Noble and Borders, enjoying the crowds and lines while trying to ignore the idle speculation.
3. Swing by the local A&P to pick up a copy at 12:50 am to get a jump start on reading while waiting for the Amazon.com delivery the next day. Note that cost will be slightly higher than Amazon.com.
4. Return one of the books to A&P after you’ve finished reading and received the Amazon.com copy.
5. Use $5 off coupon on Amazon.com
Total cost: ~$16, the opportunity to label those in lines at the bookstores Chumps & Chumpettes, and a few hours of missing sleep on a Friday night.