Author: Michael Swayze

  • Lights Out For Earth Hour: Saturday, March 23, 8:30 – 9:30PM

    For one hour the lights will be turned off in over 5200 major cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide as part of a global statement of concern for climate change and commitment to finding solutions to environmental issues.

    For more information about Earth Hour, check out www.earthhour.org

    Thank you Whole Foods for this socially responsible advertisement in my local store and for letting me use it to spread the word.

  • New Jersey SHARES Launches New Facebook Page

    Today New Jersey SHARES, our statewide nonprofit energy fund sent out their monthly newsletter. The lead article announced the launching of their Facebook page. If you want to receive timely information about our statewide energy fund, get news about energy assistance, or related social service resources just add NJ SHARES to your Facebook community. Their article reads as follows:

    We are pleased to announce the NJ SHARES Facebook Page has officially launched. Please “Like” us on Facebook and consider sharing with your network.

    “Like” Us:
    It’s easy to “Like” the New Jersey SHARES, Inc. page. First, log into your own Facebook page. Next, click on this link http://www.facebook.com/njshares OR manually type that address into your own web browser, and you will be transported to our page. Underneath our cover photo and next to our name, you will see an icon that says “Like” with a thumbs-up graphic. Simply “Like” the page by clicking on that icon.

    Share with Network
    Once you have “Liked” New Jersey SHARES, Inc.’s page, consider sharing the page with your friends and other networks. Visit New Jersey SHARES, Inc.’s Facebook page – underneath our cover photo, next to the icon that says “Like,” there should be another icon that looks like a wheel or gear. Click that icon, and a drop down menu will appear. Next, click on “Share.” which is listed underneath “Create a Page.”

    Other articles in their newsletter covered the following: “Find Out If You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit”, “Tax Credit Available for New Jersey’s Working Families”, “Poverty Presents Risks for Children in Newark” and a spotlight on HOPES Community Action Partnership.

    To subscribe to NJ SHARES newsletter, Sharing Neighborhoods, please visit http://www.njshares.org/aboutNJShares/newsletter.asp.

  • Power Station Crippled By Cyber Attack

    Last Sunday 100 million television viewers became aware of a power surge at a stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Very few Americans on the other hand are aware of dangers facing our electric grid and power plants. The danger comes to us with new coined terms such as cyber warfare, cyberstrikes, and cyber attack. In a speech today to a Georgetown University audience, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned his audience with the following, “I believe that it is very possible the next Pearl Harbor could be a cyber attack… [that] would have one hell of an impact on the United States of America. That is something we have to worry about and protect against.” For details read the Defense Department new release titled, “Panetta Warns Cyber Threat Growing Quickly”.

    What is just as alarming as the threat is the lack of news coverage about the current state of preparedness against computer attacks from either foreign terrorists or foreign countries. In a news article published in the New York Times, “Broad Powers Seen for Obama in Cyberstrikes” reporters David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker write the following, “The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that an American power station, which it did not name, was crippled for weeks by cyberattacks.” The incident was reported in a one sentence entry in paragraph 13 of the February 4th edition. Perhaps it is time John Q. Public be given more information by both the press and our elected officials.

    There are things each American can do to protect themselves against computer hackers and computer threats, even in their own home. You can become aware of actions you can take to protect your home computer. The Department of Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued a Securing Your Web Browser report. Read it, study it, pass it on to your organization IT Department, but don’t think that computer security is someone else’s job.