At this time of year, it seems like everything you read is about setting New Year resolutions; how to make them, how to keep them, etc. This article is the same, but different. To me, it doesn’t make much sense to write down a list of ways to improve your life if you don’t care enough to follow through anyway. So I got to wondering, what if we made resolutions that will not only help you but will help make the world a better place? What could be better than that?

So here’s a list of resolutions that are easy to make, easy to keep, and worth their weight in platinum. And, as an added bonus, I’ve already written them down for you!

1. Put virus checking software on your computer and keep it updated. The majority of virus’s that are being passed around via email are known and can be easily detected and destroyed. They continue to live on because many people don’t do this simple step.
2. Don’t open email attachments if you’re not expecting them and you don’t know what they are. For those few virus’s that are new to the world, the vast majority are spread through email attachments. If you don’t open these, you’ll decrease your odds of infection dramatically.
3. Email: To Forward or Not to Forward? Feel free to forward the cute email you receive to all your friends, but keep two things in mind: First, they might actually read it. Second, they might not want it. Generally speaking, I’m in the first camp. I read most of the forwarded emails I receive and I occasionally enjoy them. But I do wonder about what it tells me about the sender. Which leads me to…
4. Don’t cajole, threaten, or demean. If you choose to forward all of that email, take 30 seconds to remove the part at the bottom that tells me I’ve lost touch with my friends, my nose will fall off, and I’ll be hit by a bus if I don’t immediately forward it to ten other unsuspecting, generally innocent folks.
5. Get to know Snopes. The Urban Legends Reference Pages are the internet gold standard of debunking myths and urban legends. Barbara Mikkelson spends a great deal of time hunting down the facts behind the majority of the legends that pass through your inbox. So before you continue spreading dubious information, take another minute to find out if it’s true. The Urban Legends pages are the best place to start, but if they haven’t covered your particular email yet then you should try to verify it before you pass it along. Sometimes all this takes is a quick search for the topic of the email on Google.
6. Buy a shredder. This has nothing to do with the topic and everything to do with protecting your identity. Small personal shredders cost about $20 now, so you’re running out of excuses. Believe me, it’s worth the investment: it can cost thousands of dollars and take years to restore your credit once your identity has been stolen.

Char and I have been laughing a bit lately at her new Mother moments… It seems that sleep deprivation– coupled with high-octane days– produces a slightly odd side effect: the inability to perform the simplest tasks. Our most common reference for this is reminiscent of the day that she was warming a chicken nugget (or possibly two) in the microwave… for twenty minutes. We call these moments “20 minutes in the microwave.”

Yesterday she decided to wrap a couple of Christmas presents, two of which are identical and are shaped in the rough equivalent of a roll of wrapping paper. After she had wrapped the first one, she then proceeded to wrap the roll of wrapping paper. (Did you follow that?) So, when she finished she had:

– One wrapped present

– One unwrapped present

– One wrapped roll of wrapping paper

She gave up wrapping presents for the day.

Anyone who’s a fan of movies (and especially those of us who are amazed at some of the trash that actually gets made) will get a kick out of Query Letters. This blog is written by a Hollywood insider who receives actual query letters, or pitches for movies. Some highlights:

• A treasure hunter (Matt) joins a gay deprogramming camp (on land that once belonged to his family). While searching for the treasure, he must contend with other students, one of whom is an undercover reporter. When the reporter turns up dead, Matt becomes the chief suspect.
• Dream recording software opens the unconscious mind to exploration in this thriller about a genius who outsmarts himself while trying to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder.
• 1968. Vietnam. Navy SEAL Gabriel Hemloche leads his team deep into enemy territory. Gabriel and his unit are torn apart….by vampires. Bitten, Gabriel starts to change.

You get the idea. For more, be sure to see Query Letters, and be (slightly) thankful that at least some of these ideas are actually turned down.

Turns out that doctors in Vienna have confirmed that Yushchenko was poisoned. They found “high concentrations of dioxon — most likely orally administered.” His facial disfigurement is likely permanent, but he’s still alive.

Incumbent: 0

Yushchenko: 1

Apparently, this hasn’t been the only attempt to kill the upstart challenger. The night before the election, police found a car parked outside his headquarters loaded with two kilograms of special plastic explosives, along with a remote-control detonator. Two Russians were later arrested.

Incumbent: 0

Yushchenko: 2

Now we’ll just have to wait and see what the results of the new election will be. It’s scheduled for a “do-over” on December 26.

Have you seen the pictures of Viktor Yushchenko? He’s the opposition candidate running (again) for election in Ukraine. If you haven’t been paying much attention, the recent election in Ukraine was riddled with fraud and abuse. It appears that the incumbent rigged the system to retain power, after which the parliament immediately held a “no confidence” vote. They have since decided to hold the election again. But I digress…

In these photos, you can see a breathtaking alteration in the appearance of Yushchenko from July until recently. He fell ill in September and there is some speculation that he was poisoned. I don’t know what the truth is here, but something is definitely fishy.

[See the photos]

[Read the related story]