A New Book is in the World!

My father is a writer. Like Harry Chapin sang of a lonely singer, “[writing] was his life, it was not his livelihood.”

At nearly 73 years old, my dad has published two books of his collected writings—poetry, and essays in verse.

The first book, “Pathways: Through My Mind” was a labor of love for him, and he had it printed several years ago, and it has been greeted with great respect and enjoyment by all who read it.

Now, the ‘sequel’, for want of a better term, arrives in 2006—NOW!

“Other Pathways: Through My Mind—Continuing the Journey” is a self-published volume as well. However, unlike “Pathways”, this volume has been published under the auspices of Trafford Publishing, one of the leading self-publishing housed in the world, and a true leader in the print-on-demand publishing community.

I wrote a preface for Dad’s book, and I would like to share it with you here, before I get on to the ad for “Other Pathways.”

An Introduction to My Father

I have grown up listening to my father speak. Often, it was him reading us a bedtime story; sometimes, it was just him talking about the day’s events to my mother or, as we grew older, to one of his four children.

I loved hearing him talk. My father has a voice that rumbles in a tenor pitch, with eloquence and distinction in every syllable. His voice can carry great kindness or blistering vehemence, but always with the same strength of character.

I have listened to his poems for as long as I can remember. His love of language as a medium of communication and thought fostered my own facility with words. I credit him with teaching me to think, both creatively and independently.

The poems that are contained in his considerable body of work are not of the greeting card variety. To be sure, there is humor contained within these pages, and much warmth and feeling. My father’s poems, however, are first and foremost, as he has put it, “pathways” through his mind.

It is to this mind, and the man who allows it to flow freely into the written word, that I would introduce you.

So venture into this convoluted, complex, and fulfilling experience in life, communication, and faith.

World, meet my Father. He has much to tell you, if you will but listen.

Other Pathways: Through My Mind -
Continuing the Journey
by Marat M. Bandemer, Jr.

Introducing the second most exciting, provocative collection of poetry in years,the first being Pathways: Through My Mind



About the Book

Building a sidewalk takes but a few days...to build a road takes weeks, but to create a pathway takes years of wandering down the same route-always taking the familiar way, always finding the unfamiliar. In Marat M. Bandemer, Jr.'s second book, Other Pathways: Through My Mind - Continuing the Journey, the author has once again put into words nearly fifty years of travels down the road of his life... poignant, angry, sad, hilarious, and always honest...now, and once again, he is prepared to share that pathway with us. This book may be one man's pathway, but it is truly everyman's journey.

About the Author

Marat M. Bandemer, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1933. He attended Chicago Public School, graduating from high school in 1950, and then spending a brief time at the University of Illinois Undergrad facility at Navy Pier. Although too young for the draft, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1952. It was during this time that he met, and married his wife of more than fifty years, Jean. Together they have four children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Bandemer retired from the corporate world in 1995, and has spent the past ten years working part-time in fundraising and sales for the Houston Symphony. The couple has resided in Houston, Texas since 1991.



Catalogue Information

www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=11341
283 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-3004; ISBN 1-4120-8006-1; US$23.95, C$27.54, EUR19.67, £13.77


And so it goes…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
(IF YOU’RE GOING TO OWN AN INTERNET CONNECTED PC IN TODAY’S HAZARDOUS WORLD)


You’ve pushed the ‘on’ button on that new box of yours, and a bunch of cryptic gobbledegook flashed across the screen in front of you. Then, a few seconds later, a weird piece of music played, and your computer desktop appeared.

So, now what? What do you want to do with your computer? If you’re going to play minesweeper or solitaire, you already know what to do. But if you’re planning to ‘surf’ the internet, check email, or download mp3’s, there are certain things you need to know.



The one thing that most people forget when they’ve purchased a computer is that they have bought a major appliance. Yes, the prices have dropped dramatically in the past few years, but that doesn’t change the fact that, with the exception of the humans (or most of them) in your household, your now have in your possession what is nearly the most advanced piece of equipment ever built by human hands. However, most people treat their computer (and the tech support personnel who keep it alive) with the utmost disdain.

Let me ask a multi-part question—and you can answer it silently to yourself, and blush in embarrassment when you do. When you needed your washing machine fixed, or the dryer went out, or your furnace needed servicing, did you call a technician to come and fix it? And if you did, did you expect them to come to your house, spend time and effort fixing the problem, and then leave empty handed? And even if you did expect that, did they leave without charging you? Answer truthfully.

If you answered this question honestly, the answer(s) should have been: Yes, I did call a technician. No, I didn’t expect them to leave empty handed. And No, they didn’t leave without charging me.

Now, think back to the last time you needed bailing out of some major problem with your computer (or, if you are among the rare breed to whom this has never happened, think about someone you know—and you know someone like this!—to whom it has happened). Did someone come over to your house and spend anywhere from one to several hours fixing your system because it was viral, or full of spyware, or something equally disastrous? Or did you take your computer over to someone’s house and drop it off for fixing? The answer is probably Yes.

Now, after the problem was solved, and your system was up and running like new, did you offer any compensation to your tech support friend? Did you even thank them? Try getting away with that at your local computer store, and you’ll get a bill that will make you wish you had been nicer to your friend.

But I digress. The purpose of this article is not to berate the cheapskates among you who have no appreciation for the thousands of man-hours that have gone into making your tech support friend as savvy as he/she is; rather, this article will hopefully inform and educate those of you who are new to the world of computing (and those of you who aren’t, but might as well be) so that you can stave off all but the most dire consequences of your internet related actions.

Don’t be surprised at the sarcasm herein; it’s how I write, and usually gets the point across (kind of like a warship shooting a cannon across your bow).

So, if you would learn something, read on…


Surfing the net is a lot like driving around in a big city. Sure, there's a lot to see and do, but if you don't take at least some basic precautions, you can wind up in a lot of trouble. Everyone should know how to fix a flat tire on their car; similarly, you should know how to do some basic maintenance on your computer to keep it running well and safely. Here are a few tips for making your surfing relatively safe:

Ever have a cold? The common cold is caused by a virus, and has a detrimental effect on your performance. . Malicious software can have a similar effect on your computer, and so these programs have been given the name of ‘virus’. A cold can be caught by coming into contact with an infected person. A computer virus can be caught in a similar fashion, by coming into contact with an infected file. These files can be transferred in many ways, but the most prevalent way of spreading virii has become the email virus. The easiest way to avoid this problem is by never opening email from someone you don’t know! However, some of the worst virii can be sent by someone you know who isn’t using an antivirus program on their own system.
Having and using an updated antivirus program is a necessity. Use its auto-update feature and scan your system at least weekly. Sure, it takes time, but so does a checkup at your doctor, and it can save time and money down the road. Try http://free.grisoft.com/ for AVG Antivirus or http://www.avast.com for Avast! Antivirus. Both programs are free for personal use, and have daily update and scan features.

Spyware (or malware) is just bad. “What’s spyware?”, you ask. Wikipedia defines it thus: Spyware is a broad category of malicious software designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the informed consent of that machine's owner or legitimate user. It eats up bandwidth, spies on your personal information, flashes unwanted advertisements on your desktop, and can allow others to ruin your Internet experience. Install at least two reputable anti-spyware products, update them regularly, and run them weekly. I recommend Lavasoft Adaware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ and Spybot Search & Destroy at http://www.safer-networking.org/ as both are good (and free) programs that will get the job done.

All users can benefit from a good software firewall. A firewall acts as a barrier that keeps intruders out, and the better ones will keep unwanted applications such as Trojans (A specialized computer virus that enters via stealth or through another program and deposits and/or executes an often destructive bit of computer code) from sending out any information as well. Zone Alarm Free from http://www.zonelabs.com/ is an excellent solution for this problem.

Do not use Internet Explorer, but do get any security updates for it. Windows settings rely heavily on Internet Explorer files, so even though you don’t use it, you can open yourself up to nasty things. Do use a better browser, such as Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ or Opera Free from http://www.opera.com/ or an entire browser/composer/email suite from Mozilla at http://www.mozilla.com .

Do not use Outlook Express, Hotmail, MSN Mail, or Yahoo mail (except as throwaway accounts) as all are riddled with imperfections that can open your computer to problems. Use Pegasus mail from http://www.pegasus.com/ or Thunderbird from Mozilla at http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/ . Both programs allow the importation of your Outlook address book, and are marked improvements on Outlook in both functionality and security.

Avoid porn sites and ‘Warez’ (pirated software and cracks) sites as both are well-known for planting virus or trojan files on unwary computers. Not to mention that in many areas legal issues are involved.

Avoid P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing (with programs such as Limewire or KaZaA), but if you must share, scan every downloaded file with an updated antivirus program before opening it.

When you are looking for answers (and I recommend that you look on your own first), check your Windows HELP files. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to help someone with a basic problem, arrived at their home, and sat in front of their system—then opened the help files only to get a message that says “Windows is configuring help files for first use.” And this is on systems that have been up and running for months, if not years! If the help files don’t help, then ‘google’ it at http://www.google.com/. Google is the best search engine yet, and it’s generally accepted that if Google doesn't find it, it isn’t there.

Keep informed! Subscribe to a newsletter that keeps you up to date on the changes in the Windows world—and posts fixes and ideas that can be of help. The Langa List is a good one to watch for (google it—good practice); The Lockergnome Report at http://www.lockergnome.com is another useful one, and they have an entire stable of more specific newsletters that you can subscribe to for free.

Backup data! Let me say that again: BACKUP DATA!!! Save all of your important files somewhere other than My Documents or My Pictures. A good place to save your important files is to a separate partition on your hard drive; the best place to save your data is to a writeable medium such as CD-R. Bad things happen, and backups insure that you will cut your losses.

Respect the person who does your tech support. He has spent hundreds or thousands of hours learning to make easy what boggles your mind. Many of us will do repairs or upgrades for a small fraction of what the big box computer/technology stores will, and most of us have more knowledge than the young techs at those places. Appreciate that, and don’t balk at paying us what we ask--we're not usually greedy. But we are hungry, and time is money. The time we spend working on your system is time away from our own—and many of us have projects going that are much more time intensive than you can imagine. Yet we grudgingly take time away to fix the mistakes of others.

Last, don’t be afraid to ask questions—but make sure that you have some basic information in hand before you do, because just as a mechanic needs to know the make and model of your car to begin servicing it, your tech support will need to know a few things about your system in order to give you a meaningful, accurate answer. Some of these things are:

Operating system. This is the version of Windows/Linux/MacOS/etc. that is running your computer.

Processor. This is the heart of your system, and will have a name like Intel Pentium 2.8 GigaHertz, or Athlon 3200.

RAM. This is the quick memory of your computer, and is also called Random Access Memory. It is usually measured in multiples of 32, 68, 128, 256, 512…megabytes.

Hard Drive. This is the semi-permanent storage media inside your computer. Know what you have—size matters.

Optical Drives. This includes cd-rom drives, cd-rw drives (recorders), dvd-rom drives, and dvd burners, or combinations of the above.

Anything else that you know about your system will be of great assistance. Knowledge is power, and the more we know, the more we can be of use.

Any questions? Just ask.

And so it goes...

The Way It Should Be...If Our Leaders Had Balls

America used to be a great place to live...but more often than not these days, it has become a fragmented and diverse society that is breaking down under the weight of a tiresome burden--a failure of its people to communicate, to work together, to UNITE.

In 1907, Theodore Roosevelt put these ideas forth about immigrants and being an American:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes and American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.

"But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here.

"Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and this is the English language. And we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Eloquently put, and simple to understand. We must join together as a people if we are to survive. Under our roof there are many houses, but it must be remembered under whose roof they are. If we are to understand our neighbors, our friends, and the strangers next door, we must speak a common language. If we are to move forward as a people, it must be as one people, not a group of many different peoples.

The "melting pot" that was once America has soured, and there are chunks of unmelted people floating in the pot, all clamoring to be heard as they swim around, pulling others under in order to have their say, their way.

I am an American. Are you?

And so it goes...