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You would be surprised at what raises the paranoia level in some people and how strangely they can react to what others might see as being quite normal or acceptable. This morning I saw a real attack of paranoia that left a lot of people scratching their heads.

Steve belongs to a couple of Yahoo! groups that deal with a hobby that's of great interest to him and lots of other people too. Like all the people in those groups Steve gets the emails that people circulate within the group and this morning everyone in the group received one from a member who had decided to leave the group.

The reason this guy had for leaving the group was that Microsoft was buying Yahoo! and so he was removing all his files and photos from the group's site. For some reason the fact that Microsoft had expressed some interest in buying Yahoo! was enough reason for this guy to cut all his ties with the groups that he was involved with on Yahoo!

And that certainly did leave a lot of people scratching their heads ... as someone pointed out, there's something from Microsoft on just about every personal computer on the planet so running away from Yahoo! because Microsoft was thinking of buying the business was pretty pointless.

Someone else pointed out that Google probably had more personal information stored away about this guy than Microsoft ever had but that didn't seem to make any difference either. This guy is paranoid about Microsoft and nothing will change his mind.

I wonder if people like this guy realize that Google and Microsoft are perhaps the least of their worries and there could be some very nasty key loggers and trojans lurking in their computers.

Another spammer bites the dust
Another spammer has taken a hit from the FTC. A federal judge has found that Sili Neutraceuticals LLC and Brian McDaid violated the FTC Act and the Can-Spam Act when they sent out unsolicited emails advertising hoodia and HGH products.

The fine was over $2.5 million and the case only came before the courts for the first time in August last year. It's good to see that at least some spammers are being tracked down and prosecuted and it's interesting that it doesn't seem to take long to go from first mention in the courts to final outcome.

Gambling – it's all about national security
Now while you're killing yourself laughing let me tell you that the US government is quite serious, to them gambling really is about national security. At least that's the excuse the used to explain why they aren't going to release some information and the Freedom of Information Act.

It seems that a freelance writer found that out when he wanted to look at the details of an agreement that the US had reached with the European Union over the US ban on internet gambling. When he filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act he was told that he couldn't have the details because it involved national security.

So be careful the next time you sit down to play poker around a real table. If gambling online is a matter of national security then the spooks are probably peering through your windows right now because how much more serious must gambling be if it's happening in the real world?

Sometimes you have to wonder if some national governments don't have a secret department hidden away in their bureaucracy to handle situations like this one. The Department of Dumb Decisions or the Federal Commission for Stupid Statements ... I think I could handle a job in a department like that.

The real world
Meanwhile those of us who have to make a real wage ... because we don't get a government pay check for making dumb decisions ... have to get on with life in the real world and we're definitely living in interesting times.

Sales for many are down and money is tight and yet here where we live ordinary people are spending big on computers and the computer shop we share office space with is experiencing a real boom in business. Our mainstream business is seeing a bit of a surge too and that's very surprising because the local industry that usually brings in a lot of money to this area around this time of year has had quite decline in income due to the weather.

So don't be too scared by the stories of recession and people who want to talk gloom and doom. There are still a lot of people with money out there and they want to spend it so all you have to do is help them to achieve that goal.

You might have to work a little harder right now but the income levels you want are still achievable so don't give up!