Digital Scrapbooking Day is Coming 3 November!

A new "holiday" is coming next month: Digital Scrapbooking Day! This inaugural event, launched by the makers of FxFoto Creative photo organization and digital scrapbooking software, will celebrate all that today's technology does to help preserve our precious memories. They want to encourage scrapbookers, photographers, crafters, and genealogists to set aside some time to preserve, document, and archive their memories digitally.

Susan White, Director of Marketing for Triscape says, "While we get excited about all the fun digital kits and techniques, we also know that digital scrapbooking isn't just about creating digital layouts. Digital scrapbooking also means sorting and organizing digital photos, scanning and restoring heirloom photos and memorabilia, creating a keepsake recipe album, learning new editing techniques, and experimenting with new graphics software (such as FxFoto Creative). We want Digital Scrapbooking Day to be an annual reminder to make sure your memories are documented and archived safely, creatively, and more efficiently."
Read more about it here.

Aye, matey! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!

I dug up some FREE booty for all you landlubbers! Yarrr!

You might recognize me treasures...they were offered as freebies a while back. Now, I've complied them all into one big treasure chest fer ye! So grab yer mouse and click to find me goodies...remember, X marks the spot!

I don't want to see any of you swingin' from me yardarm...so no piracy from ye...ARRR!
Just give yer mates a map to me treasure so they can dig for it themselves, aye?

Slainte,
Cap'n Cat

Clans, Pipe Bands, Highland Dancers, Athletes! Come one, come all!!

If you ever considered visiting Scotland, NOW is the time!!!
[I'll be there!]

Some of you may have already heard of The Gathering in Edinburgh 2009. It is planned as a massive international gathering of the clans and the largest Highland Games EVER held in Scotland. The dates are set for Saturday and Sunday 25-26 July, 2009.

The Gathering will be one of the key events of Homecoming Scotland. This spectacular event will be made even more unique with a special clan parade on the Royal Mile culminating in a commemorative pageant on the magnificent esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Many Clans and Scottish associations will attend this celebration of Scotland's rich history and cultural traditions.

Contact info:
The Gathering 2009 Ltd
27 Queen Charlotte Street
Edinburgh EH6 6AX
Phone: +44 (0) 131 561 1323
Email: info@thegathering2009.com
Web: www.thegathering2009.com

Evil Trojan E-mails

Tattoo the phrase above on the back of your hand where you will see it every time you open an email!

I have been getting a lot of spam e-mails wanting me to click on things to "confirm" a subscription or "view" a greeting card. Now there's another one out there using the popularity of YouTube videos.

Security pros are warning that spammers are distributing the Storm Trojan via e-mails supposedly coming from friends and containing a false link to a YouTube video.

Contained in e-mails with subject lines such as "sheesh man what are you thinking," the malicious link claims to go to YouTube.com, but actually goes to a URL harboring exploit code. The e-mail has a variety of subjects and body text but always contains a hidden link to a Web site infected with the Storm Trojan.

Clicking on the attachment associated with this particular attack will infect your machine and it creates a back door that the virus creators can exploit anytime they want...usually looking for your personal identity and banking information.

This same evil group is also the one responsible for all the emails saying you've received a greeting card, those referencing a major storm in Europe or a nuclear act of terrorism, and some appear to come from a legitimate organization and offer you a temporary login confirmation details for a Web site. The spam uses text such as "for security purposes, please login and change the temporary Login ID and Password" and includes a link to an IP address that is actually a Web site infected with the Storm Trojan.

Here's a link to the alert and a link to the article in eWEEK magazine.

Stay safe,
Catriona

The pipes are calling...

Whew! July is ALWAYS my busiest month...camping trips, family visits, and the biggest Highland Games in the area where I am a volunteer. I may not be able to post much so here's a few bagpipe jokes to tide you over...

Q: Why do bagpipers walk when they play?
A: To get away from the noise.

Q: What's the only thing worse than a bagpiper?
A: Good question. We're still trying to find out too.

I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made object never equaled the purity of sound achieved by the pig.
~ Alfred Hitchcock

Q. How do you get two bagpipes to play a perfect unison?
A. Shoot one.

Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and an onion?
A. No one cries when you chop up an bagpipe.

Frankly, I love the music of the pipes! Stay cool this month!