Reviews and More

Although I do a pretty good job of managing my finances now, things weren’t always this easy for me. I got my first credit card when I was in college (even though I didn’t have a job at the time) and racked up thousands of dollars of debt on frivolous items such as clothes and gadgets. Then, my parents were going through financial problems of their own and couldn’t pay for my tuition anymore, which meant that I had to take out student loans in order to stay in school. Finally, the financial pressure mounted to the point where I had to drop out of school and get a full-time job in order to start paying off my creditors.

That was the most difficult time in my life, and I seriously considered filing for bankruptcy in order to get out of paying for some of my debts. But before doing so, my mom convinced me to get some credit counseling first. She was convinced that my situation wasn’t as dire as I was making it out to be, and wanted me to avoid bankruptcy if at all possible.

I decided to take my mom’s advice, so I made some phone calls and talked to a knowledgeable credit counselor. I discovered that filing for bankruptcy wouldn’t automatically give me the fresh financial start that I wanted. In fact, doing so might actually be considered a setback since a bankruptcy would stay on my credit record for many years and would hinder my ability to obtain a mortgage, get an auto loan, or even just get new credit cards in the future.

I learned that debt consolidation would be a smarter move, so I decided to go that route instead. It took me a long time to pay my off my mistakes, but I eventually did so, and I now have a pristine credit record.

All in all, I would advise against filing for bankruptcy. There are other ways of dealing with financial missteps, so don’t put yourself any deeper in the hole by taking such a drastic step!

We’re finally getting into the homestretch of Season Six here. Things are winding down in traditional 24 style, which means that the plot has taken a distinct turn. The threat that opened the beginning of this day (the suitcase nukes) has been handled, but there’s another major problem to deal with. In the past, this secondary problem has also been used to set up the plot for the following season, so now I find myself looking for clues every time I tune in. Anyway, here’s what happened on episode 6×18, which took place between 11:00PM and 12:00AM.

Jack/CTU: Cheng told Jack what he wants in exchange for Audrey: a circuit board from one of the recently recovered suitcase nukes. That particular circuit board contains a special algorithm that, once decoded, will give the Chinese access to all of Russia’s defense technology. Good thing Jack doesn’t even think twice about complying with this request. After all, he reasons, Audrey was willing to sacrifice her life in order to save him, so he should do the same.

Jack’s first phone call is to Chloe. He needs her to send the schematic for the circuit board to his phone so he knows what to look for. Problem is, the schematic is on Morris’s computer, so she has to grab it from there while Buchanan is making a long-ass speech about the good work everyone at CTU did. Of course, after Morris gets back to his terminal, he notices that someone hacked into his system. He installed a log to track all activity after Nadia got nabbed by Doyle. Anyway, he makes Chloe tell him what’s going on, then demands that she tell Buchanan what’s going on.

She does, and Bill can’t let Jack go through with his plan. He alerts Doyle who goes in to stop Jack just as he’s removing the circuit board. Jack is apprehended, then he talks to Bill to explain what’s going on. Bill can’t authorize the mission, so Jack talks to Wayne Palmer instead. He lays out what he’s going to do to ensure that the Chinese don’t actually get the circuit board, and then tells Palmer that letting Jack go through with this mission is the least he can do. Palmer reluctantly agrees. So Jack sets up a plan with Doyle’s team and they head out.

White House Bunker: Wayne finds out what Tom Lennox held over Daniels’s head to get him to back off his 25th Amendment lawsuit. Then, Wayne turns around and uses that info to blackmail Daniels into resigning. Of course, a few minutes later when Wayne is giving a press conference to announce the end of the nuclear threat, he starts fumbling with his words, repeating himself, and sounding generally addled. Then he collapses to the floor, at which point Daniels puts away the letter of resignation he had just drawn up.

Daniels takes over the Oval Office and his first act as President is to put the kibosh on Jack’s mission. So Jack goes rogue by the end of the hour.

My reaction: I thought this was a pretty boring transitional episode. There wasn’t any tension or suspense at all; we just watched these events unfold as a matter of course. I don’t understand why Jack has to continually justify his various missions and schemes to whoever’s in the White House. I mean, the man has saved L.A. and the freakin’ country SIX times now. Shouldn’t he be able to do anything he wants?! I hope things pick back up next week. Not a lot of time left in the season….

These days, developing a secure IT environment should be one of the top priorities for nearly every business organization out there. Companies face so many threats — both internal and external — on a daily basis, that it would be foolish not to address IT security concerns as soon as possible.

Over at Symark, they make it their business to protect yours. Symark offers a full range of password management software that can give you greater control over your IT environment. From privileged access to audit technologies, Symark has the solutions that will have an immediate impact on your network. You can’t afford to skimp on security, so check out the Symark site today for more information.

The newest episode of Desperate Housewives was called “Liaisons” and dealt mostly with the relationships between the women of Wisteria Lane and the various men they’re involved with. In addition, we got a glimpse of what will likely turn out to be a very dark side of someone who up until now has just been a minor character on the show. Anyway, here’s a closer look at what happened on episode 3×18.

Susan/Ian/Mike: Susan and Ian keep running into Mike all over town. The latest incident occurs at the Farmer’s Market, and Ian comes out and tells Mike to stop following them. Mike laughs it off, saying Fairview is a small town.

On the drive home, Susan wasn’t paying attention to the road and had to swerve at the last second in order to avoid hitting a deer. The car runs off an embankment and ends up in the middle of a pond. Susan can swim, but Ian can’t so it seems that they’ll be stuck there for a while. But Mike comes along and saves the day, much to Ian’s chagrin.

After that, Susan buys Mike a thank you present, which irks Ian to no end. He first proposes moving to London, saying that there’s intense corporate restructuring at work and that it would be for the best. Then, he keeps harping on Susan and Mike, which affects his performance in the bedroom. Finally, Susan can’t take it anymore. She goes over to Mike’s to give him his present and they end up kissing. At the end of the ep, Susan makes an offhand remark about not wanting to sell her house because everyone she loves is on that street. Obviously Ian takes this the wrong way, so they bicker again.

Carlos/Edie: It’s revealed that they had really bad sex, so the two of them go out of their way to avoid each other the next day. But then Travers overhears Carlos telling someone that Edie was “bad in bed,” and he mentions that to his mom. Edie is furious because she thinks Carlos was the one who brought the whole experience down. They basically dare each other to try again, which results in a few minor accidents and a trip to the hospital. Later on, they have sex after spending a whole day out with Travers (as a family) and it’s finally good, so it looks like we’ll be seeing more of these two for now.

Gabby/Victor: Gabby finally sleeps with Victor, but is miffed when he doesn’t call her for two days afterwards. She decides to get her revenge by showing up at a mayoral debate with another guy and making out with him in the front row. That certainly grabs Victor’s attention, so he sends flowers and apologizes, and they make up. It looks like these two might be getting pretty serious as well.

Lynette/Tom: Lynette’s trying to hire a manager to help her out at the restaurant while Tom recovers from back surgery. The only problem is, all the candidates are duds. The only good one is a guy who used to be a sous chef at a four-star restaurant. Why’s he slumming at a pizzeria? Because he’s a recovering coke addict. Lynette’s willing to give him a chance, but Tom says no way.

But later, Tom pisses off Mrs. McCluskey, so she refuses to babysit for the kids anymore. She drops them off at the restaurant, where they of course run wild. Lynette can’t take it, so she demands that Tom apologize to Mrs. McCluskey (which he does). Then, when a customer berates Lynette about the quality of her calzones, she has a breakdown right there in the restaurant. Luckily, the new guy (I think his name is Rick) is there to pick up the slack. Looks like he’s hired.

Mrs. McCluskey: A couple times during the episode we see her talking to a picture of her dead husband in her house. Turns out she could just as well be addressing the freezer because it seems like he’s in there! Well, someone’s body is in there at any rate. We don’t find out anything else in this ep, though.

My Reaction: Ok, is there anyone on Wisteria Lane that doesn’t have a major skeleton in their closet? Kind of funny how all these murderers and adulterers ended up living on the same street. Makes my neighborhood seem downright Puritanical. This McCluskey storyline feels like it was cobbled together at the last moment — not authentic at all.

I hate that Edie and Carlos are together because it just seems like they don’t have any chemistry at all. Victor and Gabby are a little better, but I still think that Gabby and Carlos are meant to be together and will reconnect sometime soon. Still not interested in Ian/Susan/Mike at all. So boring.

I like that there will be a new (adult) character at the pizzeria. This should be good — I’ve been waiting for Lynette to open her eyes about what a whiny, pathetic loser Tom is. She needs to be with someone different, so here’s hoping that this Rick guy leads somewhere worthwhile.

Today’s businesses are always looking for ways to improve the bottom line in order to increase profits, decrease costs, and remain competitive in their industry. Of course, there are many different ways to go about improving the bottom line, but I just read about one that is often overlooked. I’m talking about saving money on the voice and data systems used within the organization.

I just read about a unique service from a company called Network Mapping Associates. They’ll conduct a thorough telecom audit and generate a detailed Telemap in an attempt to uncover cost-saving opportunities that your organization might not have been aware of. The Telemap includes information such as usage patterns and service records, which can then be analyzed to determine where and how any extra savings can be realized.

Obviously, this can have a tremendous impact on your company’s finances, so I recommend checking out the Network Mapping Associates website today to learn more about their services.

Several friends of mine run their own businesses, and each of them takes a slightly different approach to what they do. For example, one of the guys likes to wing it and play everything by ear. After hammering out an initial business plan to help secure start-up money, he has hardly done any formal planning or paperwork since. Meanwhile, another friend does everything by the book, from keeping meticulous records to hiring a consulting firm to conduct market research studies on a regular basis.

As you might expect, this second approach has yielded tremendous results for my friend. He is highly successful and always seems to be a couple steps ahead of the competition thanks to the valuable data turned up by his consultants. If I ever start my own business (outside of freelance writing), I would definitely want to do things this way too.