May 3rd through May 9th is the American Humane Association’s “Be Kind to Animals Week” (registered trademark) and while we’re about to honor mother’s everywhere, it’s also time to acknowledge our “pets.”

Personally, I’ve never once considered any animal living with me as “my pet.” The animals that are kind enough to be my companions and friends are just that… and so much more. There is a huge amount of responsibility when taking another living creature into your home. A responsibility that is not “throw away,” but for life.

So this week means a lot to me. Each animal we’ve been so lucky to have in our home arrived either at our door or we found via pet fairs. The idea of any animal being put to sleep due to lack of love is horrifying.

The other horror would be to lose your dear friend and never get them back! That’s why Be Kind to Animal Week is even more important!

So that is why the Home Again Web Site is making a massive move to get your friend tagged. If in the event they are “lost” and cannot find their way home, that tag will mean a world of difference!

And, in conjunction with this eventful week, Bringpetshome.com is a fundraising Web site specifically created to help shelter animals.

But their generosity does not end there! For each of your friends you register into their program, they are donating $1 to the Humane Association!

That’s a lot of potential lives saved just for being responsible and doing the right thing.

The HomeAgain program (amazing results!) has recovered over 500,000 lost pets! Over 500,000! That’s remarkable. And all because you took or will take the time to ensure your friend’s well being.

Microchipping is a permanent form of identification that cannot fall off or become impossible to read, giving pets the best chance of being reunited with their owners when lost.

Don’t let this week go by without taking care of your animal loved one! Become a part of this program and make sure Fido or Sparky is safe and well loved.

I found the most extraordinary site this evening, totally legitimate, that actually trains you how to be a hacker but more “in reverse.” In fact, it’s all about IT Security.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of the show NCIS. Computer forensics is fascinating to me, I just wish it had been around in my day (though it’s never too late in life to pursue your dream).

The website I discovered is EC-Council University, and it is absolutely amazing!

I’ve spent about an hour or more looking around with my focus on our son about to graduate from high school. He has a huge interest in all things computer, and this is one field that is not going down the tubes with the current economy. Unfortunately (for now) for us, you need to have a minimum bachelors degree to enroll (or at least that’s what I believe I am reading) to start taking their training and get accredited.

Your ultimate goal appears to be to fulfill the requirements to get a master’s degree (levels) in IT Security and Information Technology. You can accomplish this in under two years! Online – meaning you learn at your own pace, worldwide, anytime, anywhere. Yes, in the process, you literally become an “ethical hacker.”

Now more than ever, there is a call for computer specialists. But, until I explored their website I never contemplated the term “ethical hacker” before. Let’s face it, most of us think of hackers as the nefarious individuals out to cause wreck and ruin.

To be honest, I had to go put the search phrase “ethical hacking” into Google to get a clear definition. Wikipedia states:

White hat hackers, also known as “ethical hackers,” are computer security experts, who specialize in penetration testing, and other testing methodologies, to ensure that a company’s information systems are secure.

So yeah, I was right… in fact my reference above to NCIS was a good one. If you’ve watched the show (yes I know they are actors), they do amazing things with computers to track down the bad guys.

Training through the programs at EC-Council University can set you up to be that guy or gal in shining armor… the one that saves the day for corporate and government and even smaller businesses. Best of all, your skills (your role in IT security) would be in high demand!

Yes, a field still wide open for those willing to take the time and get the proper training! A paying field in high demand even in these tough times.

Honestly, to fully translate everything on their website would be impossible (and most likely illegal), so I’d like to give you one direct quote about getting training in IT security:

You will be able to access courses and resources using the Internet, anytime, anywhere. Download assignments, read and contribute to class discussions, review faculty feedback, and more at your convenience.

EC-Council University will provide you with an easy-to-navigate and rich volume of digital libraries and services. As a part of the Online learning system, you will be able to interact with other students enrolled in your courses so that you may share ideas, debate issues, and access messages left by your faculty. You will constantly be provided feedback on your progress by your faculty.

If you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, or newly arrived, you’ll know we are always trying to find you the right “get paid to” programs, and what better way to get paid then to earn a respectable, useful, paying degree in a field that is never going away. The dinosaurs would have to return before IT is no longer needed.

So stop and rethink your priorities. Training is available to you, right now, online in:

o Security fundamentals
o Ethical hacking
o Penetration testing
o Computer forensics
o Disaster recovery
o Secure programming.

My ONLY regret is that my son could not start immediately (again he’s just graduating high school), but if you have struggling “kids back at home” or looking for retraining or a new job that has endless possibilities, be sure to visit their website for more information soon!

IT Security

EC-Council

I don’t know about you, but in the past 10 years or so being online, I don’t know how many times I’ve changed hosting companies. It really has gotten so out of hand, that I cannot count on one hand the number of times I’ve moved websites.

I wish I’d known about the reviews you can find over at webhosting geeks.

Visiting their website today I was astounded at the number of hosting companies – not only out there – but listed in an easy-to-use directory. Yep, they’ve taken most of the work out of finding a decent one and posted it all there in black and white (and other cool colors) so you can select a hosting company just right for you.

A visit to just their front page immediately shows you:

o  The top 10 highest rated hosting companies

o  Features like how much space you get, how much traffic you can have without it impacting your bandwidth, and the price

o  Bonus features! Every hosting companies offers something extra (okay maybe not every one, but those listed in the top 10 certainly do) like a free domain forever, and marketing bonuses to get you headed on the right track for doing business online.

You also can easily click on any link for even more information.

But it doesn’t end there!

Down the left hand sidebar you’ll be astounded at even more ratings, the awards these “geeks” have won since 2004 (I love a website with longevity, that says a ton), along with links out to the Web Hosting Geeks’ Blog.

Loving blogs, of course I had to click.

Their most recent post (at the time of the writing of this post) is their April 14th, called Is Your Business Website Secure?.

Excellent advice to read, especially with the increase in attacks and hackers apparently with a ton of time on their hands. Why be sitting on hosting that does nothing to protect your hard-earned, hard worked asset – your online domain!

Here’s another post I found, that I think you’ll also find fascinating. It’s called Fantastico: cPanel’s Best Kept Secret.

Of course you’ll find even more information and stay up to date just by bookmarking the webhostinggeeks blog

If you’ve chosen the “lazy man’s (or woman’s) way” of creating a website, you might find your current hosting company short on this amazing feature. Fantastico is a wealth of ready-made, one click installations of a large variety of extra goodies for your website:

o  Forums
o  Shopping carts
o  Blog installations
o   Drupal (community building)
o  Wikis
o  and a whole lot more.

The great thing is you don’t have to know how to install a single thing, if your hosting includes Fantastico!

Frankly, I could spend hours looking around Webhosting Geeks at all the tools, resources, suggestions, and recommendation the folks over at webhosting geeks provide (and you should, too!)

Never, ever rush into choosing a hosting service. Always do your homework. And again, their website is the perfect stop to begin to make sure you choose the best hosting for your needs.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Barbara over at GoalForTheGreen, who was kind enough to send this wonderful free resource, we’re able to call your attention to a truly marvelous (I did mention free to use) graphics conversion tool.

Have you ever been stuck with an image that just won’t do the trick? Need a spot to convert your image into something more suitable?

Well head on over to Picturesize.org.

Honestly we were astonished at the huge variety of image conversion choices. Not just your typical change a .gif to .jpg or .bmp to .jpg, etc. The list of conversion choices goes on seemingly forever. Formats, frankly, I did not even know existed!

So the next time you locate a great image, but it’s in the wrong format, head on over to Picturesize.org and change it to exactly what you need.

Again, thanks Barbara!

DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT! If you’re not commenting, you are missing out on some sensational free marketing and advertising for yourself. Of course, do make your comment relevant to the post above, and be sure to leave your name and link to your own website!

And… Scroll down for a whole list of additional posts… there’s sure to be something else that also catches your attention