This is about as random as random can get – not sure where it is coming from or where it is going – but it is on my mind so here it is.

1. Is there anything in life you want?  Yes, I would like to hit the Powerball too, but that isn’t necessarily what I’m talking about.  It could be you want to make your grass as green as it can be like my sister or you want to get a scholarship to college.  It could be you want your kitchen floor to be spotless or want to help cure cancer.  From something very small and personal to something huge, is there anything you want?
2. Is what you want realistic?  Do you know anyone who has all the answers and plans on almost literally doing it all?  If I say I want restore a car, it is very different from saying I want to own a car dealership by this time next month.  Don’t get me wrong, anything is possible.  However, most of us will never have that BOOM moment where things just happen.
3. The last and most important thing running through my head today.  Are you (am I) doing anything to get what I want?  Unfortunately, many of us cannot dedicate our lives to that singular thing we would like to do because there 24 hours and 7 days isn’t enough.  For instance, I want to be able to play the piano.  I don’t want to do this for fortune or fame, I just want to be able to sit down at a piano and play.  I have a keyboard in the other room right now.  I could afford to take lessons.  What I don’t have is time to do it.  That is just my own personal example, but it will remain something I want to do, without action, until I take/find the time to do it.

This is just one of many (probably thousands) thoughts that run through my head on a daily basis.  I could go the whole “Life is short” route, but that really isn’t what I’m talking about.  I’m maybe leaning more towards procrastination because what you (I) want isn’t that big of a deal.  It just takes some action.

This morning, as I surfed the net, getting caught up on the goings on in the U.S of A, I came across an article asking 10 Random Questions about the current top news stories.  The article was thought-provoking so I decided to re-print five of the questions and see what your responses/opinions are to the questions.  Here goes:

1.  Can someone explain to me why women (especially Black women) think that supporting Palin will in any way further the cause of women?

Commentary:  “This woman is Ultra-Conservative (including being anti-Roe v. Wade) and if she had her druthers, would roll back the accomplishments of women in this nation over the past century. She can see Russia from her front yard and I can see the devil when she speaks.”

2.  Why is the media constantly comparing Hurricane Ike to Katrina to downplay the death and destruction?

3.  Are we supposed to be dancing in the streets now that gas prices have begun to come down?

4.  Why does anyone care about that fool OJ Simpson?

Commentary:  “This loony senior citizen was foolish enough to think he could posse up and gangster somebody—hell he deserves to go to jail. I’m just tired of seeing his ignorant ass anyway. He still doesn’t understand that he’s on trial for chasing white girls. The court of public opinion has found him guilty and would love to see him jail.”

5.  Why the hell are we propping up Welfare Queens?

Commentary:  “Ha! I’m sure you thought I meant women on Welfare, when I was actually talking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While both institutions were initially launched by the US Government, both eventually became privatized. Now that they are failing, the government is bailing them out. Of course, we can all come up with reasons why they absolutely must be salvaged, but the reality is that goofy people talk poorly about average citizens who need help, yet have no problem with abuse of government funding directed towards military spending or corporate bailouts.  The housing industry, regulators and the media saw the subprime lending scam bring on the housing disaster, but no one did anything to stop it.”

So, tell me, what are your thoughts/responses?  I am especially curious to hear what you have to say about Question 1 as it relates to Governor Palin.

I know some of you don’t need this, but believe or not there are those out there who do and we (people who understand it) can help them.  Wireless networking is hardly anything new; if you have a laptop you are likely to have a wireless network at home.  I’ve recently ran into several people who didn’t know how to configure their wireless router and I think it is something the owner should have a handle on.  Additionally, my router (A Belkin, the simplest in my opinion) somehow messed up last night and I had to re-configure it.

I want to just look at some concepts because all routers are slightly different and I couldn’t possibly cover them all.

Configuration - Every router that I’ve set up needs to be connected physically to configure – most of them come with a network cable (ethernet cable or CAT5) in the box.  If not, you can buy one at Wal-Mart, Circuit City or Best Buy.

If this is a re-configuration, you will more than likely need to reset the router to factory defaults.  This can be done easily by using a paperclip or ball-point pen to push in the reset button that is on the back of the router.

You will be able to configure your router via an Internet browser (IE, Firefox, etc.).  Most of the time you will go to the address bar and type in either 192.168.2.1 or 192.168.1.1.

This is important.  Your router probably came from the factory with a blank password.  If you are configuring for the first time or re-configuring, don’t forget to change this.  I know from experience, recent experience.

LAN – Your Local Area Network (LAN) is the first thing you should set up.  Again, don’t get too intimidated by all of this.  You will see some DHCP settings which is where your computers, all of them, will get their IP address from.  Make sure it is enabled and you shouldn’t have to do much else.

Wireless – This is the big one.  This is why you have this router to begin with.  First thing you will have to do is come up with a SSID or a name for you wireless network.  Think of a name that is totally arbitrary and even your next door neighbor wouldn’t associate it with you.  Call me cautious, but I don’t want someone to be able to know which wireless network belongs to me.  Knowing your network will get someone half way to getting into your network.  Once security is set up a password will be required.  If someone knows you they can begin to try passwords like you phone number, your dog’s name, etc.

Don’t worry too much about the channel.

You need to choose your security.  Keep in mind this is only for your wireless connections.  If someone can physically plug into the back of your router it is safe to assume you trust them.  You will have to choose WEP or WPA for security.  I use WPA because it is the newer method and supposedly superior.  After choosing this, you will need to come up with a password.  Once someone finds your wireless network, they will be forced to enter the password you choose.  Like I said before, if they have no idea whose network it is, they will have to start randomly entering passwords.  Make your password somewhat difficult to guess, but don’t forget it.

Odd and Ends – There are additional settings, but you should be up and running with what we’ve covered so far.  The added benefit of all of this is you will have a couple more dollars in your pocket if you didn’t know what was going on with your wireless router before.  The Geek Squad and the Firedogs get paid decent money to do what we’ve covered.  Now you shouldn’t have to pay them.

I mentioned Belkin before as my router of choice.  I’m going to be a little biased and say if you see a D-Link router in the store, run fast.  If you see Netgear approach with caution.  If you see Linksys, I don’t know what to tell you.  My experience with Linksys is the configuration wasn’t as easy as Belkin and the range wasn’t what I needed at the time.

If you live someplace where range of your wireless network is important – townhouse or a house with a basement – look for MIMO.  MIMO stands for multiple in, multiple out and normally has a better range than other routers.

Another benefit of Belkin – I’m not a paid sponsor – is their dummy lights.  When my router goes out, I can look at the router and tell where the problem is.  For instance, last night something was actually wrong with the Internet connection.  These lights really help the troubleshooting process and I think some other manufacturers have started to use something similar.

Sorry if this is old hat to you, but I feel like there are some people out there who need to know this.

OK let’s start this week out with a bang.  We have been finding some things that are downright appalling and this one is right up there!

Do you know who Natalie Dillon – this may not be her real name – is?  While doing some things around the house last night, we had the TV on one of those weekly entertainment/news shows and we were introduced to Natalie.  Hello, nice to meet you Natalie.

Natalie is running an auction which is pretty normal these days.  Now that I think about it, I have a cell phone I want to sell on EBay.  But I digress.  Natalie’s auction was rejected on EBay so she had to go elsewhere to hold her auction.  She chose the Moonlight Bunny Ranch as the location.  I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but the Moonlight Bunny Ranch is a brothel in Nevada.  It is a legal house of prostitution – another story all together.  It is the perfect place for Natalie’s auction.

Natalie is auctioning off her virginity.  Yes, you read that right.  The highest bidder gets to be her first sex partner.  To think, some people think strippers have low moral values.  Here is what an article I found on the Internet said about this:

The woman, who has a degree in Women’s studies, wants the cash to fund a masters degree in “marriage and family therapy”. How many families will want therapy from someone who’s happy to auction their virginity remains to be seen. The student told a TV station:

“I don’t think auctioning my virginity will solve all my problems, but it will create some financial stability. I’m ready for the controversy, I know it will come along. I’m ready to do this. We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?”

Wow!

Has our society really got to the point where people think it is worth it to “capitalize” on the fact that they are a virgin?

She hopes to make around $1 million dollars for the auction.  I don’t know about you, but if I had some money – that Bill Gates or Oprah money – I would make sure I bid and won this auction.  I would win the auction, give her the money and instead of taking her virginity I would give her a swift kick in the pants!

Just when you think you’ve seen how low a human being can go…

I feel sorry for the people in Houston, Galveston, Beaumont and any other city being ravaged by Hurricane Ike. Having recently come out of a shelter for Hurricane Gustav, I know how it feels to be displaced due to a storm like this. However, I’m still baffled by some action, or lack thereof, by the people in these areas.

I think if we learned anything from Katrina, and the people in the Gulf Coast region exercised this knowledge two weeks ago, we should have learned to evacuate when a hurricane is on the way. According to some reports, as many as 100,000 people didn’t leave Houston.

I don’t really want to come down too hard on them because we don’t know how they are doing at the present time and we don’t really know there circumstances for staying. I just wish things could have worked out better so they would have been able to leave.

I, like the rest of the world, will be watching this situations with hopes of things turning out as good as possible for the Texas residents.

One thing to note is the fact that this hurricane went through Houston.  Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans “Opened the doors to the city” for Texas residents.  The ironic, and sad, thing is the fact that some of those residents moved to Texas from New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina.  Now, they could be on the move again and possibly back home to New Orleans.

I have already said a prayer for them.  This is pretty sad.

Said Charles Gibson of ABC World News to Sarah Palin, in her first interview without John McCain being attached to her hip.  As I watched this interview, I came to the definite conclusion that this lady was coached on how to answer certain questions.  The one thing that is very clear is that she cannot (or will not answer) questions simply with a yes or no.  She answered with a lot of words, but no substance behind them.  From this interview, and I understand there will be a couple more, I came to the conclusion that this lady is extremely inexperienced for the Vice-President position.  The only experience she has (as I see it) is within the energy realm.  To me, her experience with energy only aids the concerns that she is of the same mindset of Bush and now McCain, which cements for me the notion that if McCain is elected, we will definitely have another four years of Bush!

Palin is a good talker, no doubt about it.  But aren’t all conmen (or in Palin’s case, con-women)?  At least, this is my take on the Alaska Governor.  Am I off track?

This sale is on eBay and it is, in my opinion — sick!  Of course, you may think differently so here’s the details…

Michael Jackson’s notorious tighty whities are up for grabs. A pair of size-28 Calvin Klein white briefs once belonging to Wacko Jacko will be auctioned on eBay tomorrow, with a reserve price of $1 million. The unwashed underpants have a sensational past. They were part of the evidence confiscated in 2003 by then-Santa Barbara DA Tom Sneddon, who wanted a DNA sample for his unsuccessful child-molestation case against the washed-up King of Pop. The briefs are part of a stash of Jacko artifacts offered by New Jersey businessman Henry Vacarro, who obtained them in a bankruptcy case. For extra authenticity, the briefs come sealed in an evidence bag and wrapped with police tape.

Michael Jackson

I had this conversation with someone at work, my sister mentioned it and then the ladies on The View said the same thing. We all think/know this selection was made with this partially in mind and it is rather smart.

How many of you have looked at Governor Sarah Palin and envisioned her as a school librarian in a cheap movie who takes off her glasses and lets her hair down at some point?  I’m not being sexist, really I’m not.  I would be willing to bet someone, at some point, purposely told her to at the very least wear her hair like that just for this reason.  I would like to know if anyone else has had this conversation because I hope nobody is naive enough to think this sort of thing isn’t done on purpose.

Hey Everyone.  As previously stated, 7DayBuzz has been on a brief haitus due to Hurricane Gustav.  During our haitus, so much has happened – most notably, McCain naming an unknown (Alaska Governor Sarah Palin) as his vice-presidential running mate.  It appears that Ms. Palin has rejuvenated the Republican Party.  Talk about a shot of adrenaline, right?  She is the topic of everyone’s conversation.  I mean we all want to know  who is she; how did she become McCain’s “soul mate”; what are her beliefs?, etc.  Up until now, she has not been interviwed by anyone.  It’s like the GOP is protecting her, right?  Are they scared of what she will reveal in an uncontrolled setting?  Well, sometime this week she will be interviewed in World News on ABC.  Hopefully, she’ll answer all of our questions.  With all the excitement (and controversy) about Sarah Palin, I wonder if the McCain-Palin ticket has silently become the Palin-McCain ticket.  What do you think?