Uncommon Sense Ideas A Written Works Portfolio

A Sensible, Common Sense Approach There is a sensible and common sense approach to doing things that can help us achieve our goals and overcome the challenges that we face in our daily life. What we have been accustomed to may not be the best way of undertaking the common tasks that we face from day to day. Often, the simplest approach is the best route to take. The articles included in this booklet offer thoughts and ideas that may prove useful to everyone who wants to be successful at what he intends to accomplish. They have been published in the web sites created by the author in the Internet. Most of the articles came from the Uncommon Sense website located at https://sites.google.com/site/ournewapproach/home. In “The Nature and Purpose of Writing,” the writer believes that the written textual form remains as the strongest medium for organizing and cataloging information. “How Secure is your Windows Password?” advises the readers to have strong passwords by using small and capital letters and by including punctuations. “Use Sensible Accessories to Extend the Useful Life of your Laptop” exhorts the readers to ensure that the laptop accessories that they buy can make their notebook computers last longer. In “Reflections on the Golden Rule,” the author talks on how the rule can be reversed for people who do not observe it. The article, “Positive Ideas to Live By,” discusses a few thoughts and ideas that can help us become more effective in whatever task we wish to undertake. This booklet has been created to serve as a written works portfolio for the person who wrote the articles. This work is copyrighted to the author, 2010.

The Nature and Purpose of Writing A good number of men, more erudite and intelligent than me, have written about the nature and purpose of writing. I ask your indulgence for adding my contribution with the hope that this addition will serve to further rather than confuse the discussion. Writing is the art of preserving ideas and feelings using a visual textual representation. It is undertaken using a language that contains words and idioms that is unique to that particular language. Different languages are spoken by different people around the world. The choice on which language to write on depends on the knowledge of the writer on using the language and the number of people who know how to read and understand using a particular language. Face-to-face conversation is the best way of communicating between people. However, verbal communication is fleeting, existing only on the brief moment that words are spoken and it ceases to exist when the vibration that it occasions in the air has subsided. The written form of communication is limited, in its power, lacking therein the facility to include the nuance of gestures and facial expression. Yet it is permanent and more enduring and can still be referenced and enjoyed long after its writer has vanished from the face of the earth. The written textual form of communication remains as the strongest medium for organizing and cataloguing information. This is because the written form is more susceptible to digital processing by electronic computers. Thus, I believe that writing will remain relevant despite the prevalence of other multimedia forms like audio and video. Much has been said about the learning effectiveness of the multimedia form but the written textual component will still be needed in documenting and processing their content by search engines in the Internet. People write for different purposes. Some use writing as a medium for self-expression. Others use it to share their beliefs and feelings toward something that they are interested in or passionate about. Some writers write for the pleasure they get from writing. Still, others write to simply document whatever they were thinking at that particular moment in their lives. But a greater purpose is achieved when writing is used to serve the needs of humanity living on the planet Earth. Writing attains its pinnacle of usefulness when it is used to help people cope with the challenges of daily living in an increasingly modern world. It best fulfills its true purpose when it is used to furnish the mind with ideas on how to resolve problems concerning the predicament of human existence. I feel that writing can greatly help in transferring ideas that lead to solutions for the myriad of problems that people around the world are up to. I believe that writing's true purpose is to impart intelligence that will further the enjoyment of man's life on Earth. I firmly insist that writing should enable the transfer of generational knowledge that will raise the level of man's enjoyment for his brief sojourn on the planet where we live.

How Secure is your Windows Password? It may be time to review the Windows passwords among millions of Microsoft operating system users around the world. With the ready availability of Windows password crackers which can easily be downloaded from the Internet, it might be a good practice to review and reset your Windows passwords now. One of the best free Windows password crackers claims to be able to recover a seven-character password that contains big and small letters, numbers and special characters at 99 percent accuracy rate. It can also crack eight-character passwords containing big and small letters plus numbers but no special character or punctuation at the same success rate. In the light of these developments, using an eight-character password that contains big and small letters together with numbers and special characters would be a safe enough option. This Windows password configuration cannot be cracked using the free available password recovery programs. Don't use an eight-character password that contains only big and small letters with numbers. This type of password can be easily found using the free crackers available at the Internet. You should also never use a dictionary word or a string containing only numbers as your Windows password. These passwords types can be easily cracked in a few minutes or less using the available free download crackers. You can try using a password recovery tool so you can realize how vulnerable your current Windows passwords are. The most notable of these tools are programs that run under a Linux operating system that can be run from a CD or DVD ROM disk. The programs access the files where hashes of your Windows passwords are hidden. To be able to crack complex passwords, you need to download the so-called rainbow tables that range in size from a few gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes. There is also a type of recovery tool that can remove the password of any Windows user account including the Administrator account which can be used to change your Windows configuration settings. This tool also comes in the form of a complete Linux operation system and recovery tool that can be run from a CD or DVD ROM drive. To use it, you need to download its ISO file and burn this file to a blank CD or DVD disk and change the BIOS setting of your computer to boot from the CD or DVD ROM drive. A person with malicious intent can run this program on you computer and remove the password on your computer's Administrator account. He can then log on to your computer, read or delete files, and change other configuration settings including your password settings. You will then be unable to use your computer the next time. A good practice on using passwords is not to let your Internet browser remember the passwords for critical websites that you use like for example your bank's web site. Most

browsers will by default ask you if you wish a website password to be remembered so you don't have to enter it when visiting the website a second time. This is a dangerous practice that can cause you a lot of problems when your computer is lost or stolen or used without your permission. A malicious hacker may for example surreptitiously get hold of your laptop, run a password cracking tool and discover your password, and then log on to the computer using your user name. He can then access your bank's account or email messages or maybe read confidential files in your computer. This shows you how critical your Windows password is and how important it is not to let your Internet browser save passwords for sensitive websites that you visit. Another way that a malicious user can make use of your computer is by using a Windows recovery disk. The Windows recovery disk can be freely downloaded from the Internet and burned to a blank CD or DVD disc. It is run by putting the recovery disk in your CD or DVD ROM drive and setting up your computer to boot from this drive. Someone with bad intent can run a Windows recovery disk on your computer, change the administrator password and account settings, and do other malicious things on the files in your computer. So if you think that no one can use your computer because you need a user account and a password to use it, you are greatly mistaken. I have shown you above at least three ways by which a malicious hacker can get into your computer system. So if you have sensitive information contained in your computer, it would be a good practice to always make sure that your computer is physically secure, that is, no one is able to use it without your knowledge or it is safe from being stolen or getting lost. Or, if you're unable to do this, make sure that you do not store sensitive and highly confidential information in your computer or laptop. Remember that to prevent your Windows password from being readily cracked using free tools from the Internet, make sure that it has at least eight characters in it and it must include big and small letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.

Use Sensible Accessories to Extend the Useful Life of your Laptop Laptop accessories can add to your enjoyment of your laptop and can make your laptop easier to use. But the most important reason for using accessories should be to extend the useful life of your laptop. We would want to avoid a major breakdown that would render your laptop useless or a minor breakdown which would require cash outlay for buying alternative replacement for the defective part. Perhaps the most important investment in accessories that you can make for your laptop is to buy and external USB hard disk. You can use the external hard disk for all the data that you create and leave the internal hard disk for storage of operating system and application software files. This way, there will be less pressure on the internal hard disk and it will hopefully last longer. Heat is the number one enemy of the hardware components inside your laptop. A laptop cooler would be of help in reducing the heat that can accumulate inside your laptop and endanger electronic components and the hard disk. Coolers without fans are perfect to use when the weather is not so hot while those with fans could prove of immense help during warmer weather. You should avoid cheap coolers that contain low quality fans that start to vibrate after one year of use. Change your cooler when you hear humming sounds from the cooler fans. Your laptop's keyboard is a fragile equipment that is not as durable as that of the desktop laptop and yet is more expensive to replace. To avoid early breakdown of your laptop's keyboard, buy a USB keyboard and use it when you're using your laptop at home. You can be less careful when using the USB keyboard since you can easily replace it at a lesser cost. A USB mouse can be easier to use than the built-in pointing device on your laptop. You can use it when using your laptop on a flat surface and work faster and more conveniently too. The only drawback would be that it could help drain your battery faster but if you're inside a house or a building you can always connect your laptop to an electrical outlet. Using a headset instead of the built-in speakers on your laptop would help conserve battery power and prevent speaker vibrations from affecting your internal hard disk. If you really can't help but hear loud music, then you can buy an external speaker but you must position the speakers as far as possible from your laptop and preferably on another location separate from the table where you are working. The internal DVD writer in your laptop is not designed for heavy duty disc writing. You should use it only for making backups of your data into DVD discs. If you plan to do a lot of disc writing, then you should buy an external DVD writer which you can use for writing to a lot of discs or making several disc copies for your family or friends. You will surely have very important personal files on your laptop that you want to have a backup of just in case you experience a major breakdown and are unable to use your laptop. Use a USB

flash disk to store important personal and confidential files from your laptop. This pen drive should not be left lying around nor should it be used as transport mechanism for the office files you're working on. It should be kept under lock and should only be used for backup purposes. You should not buy accessories because they are cool to have or they look great on your laptop. Investment-wise what you want to happen is to be able to use your laptop for the longest time possible without having a major breakdown. Sensible accessories are those that help extend the useful life of your laptop and at the same time may be make your use of your laptop more convenient and enjoyable.

Reflections on the Golden Rule "Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you." This guideline to human behavior is as old as the sea. But it remains relevant as when it was first articulated a very long time ago. Today, almost nobody applies it anymore in their day to day lives. It seems that it has been conveniently forgotten. A lot of conflicts in human relationships could be avoided if people would reference it before an action that can affect others is executed. One possible reason for the decline of the golden rule is the general deterioration of moral value brought about by the impact of economic realities among individuals. Everyone is competing for scarce economic resources and people's action are becoming more and more purely based on what is economically more advantageous. It doesn't matter if other people are inconvenienced or negatively affected in other ways. People have become accustomed to acting in brazen self-interest. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there as the saying goes. To be sure, there remain a small number of individuals that are conscious of how their actions can potentially affect other people. These are persons that are imbued with high moral values and concern for the well-being of others. They operate with the golden rule deeply etched in their consciousness while the others take advantage of their good nature. They are often at the losing end when it comes to gaining economic preferences. Perhaps it is time that these good-natured people re-examine how the golden rule should be applied based on real situations that they encounter in their daily life. Maybe they should consider revising the rule a little bit to make it more attuned to the present-day realities. Or maybe they can apply the original golden rule in their relationships with some people and apply another version of the rule with respect to others. The new version of the golden rule I am referring to is: "Do unto others as they are doing unto you." It is perhaps a more elaborate version of the advice that says fight back. If a person acts with total disregard of any negative effect his action has on you, then he is in fact saying that he is not worthy of your concern for his well-being and that you should act accordingly. Thus, if someone is disrespecting you, don't be kind to him and instead be disrespectful towards him also. The original golden rule should be used in relating with people who are also using it in their relationship with other people. By knowing how a person behaves, one can categorize him as worthy of the original rule or not. Then one should apply the relevant rule based on what type a person one is relating to. One group of people deserves to be treated with the golden rule advantage while the other group should be slapped with the application of the revised golden rule.

People who are physically adjacent to you and who obviously do not care about you should receive the same cold treatment from you. Those that exhibit genuine concern for your wellbeing deserve the best that you can give and should be treated with kindness and respect. There is a Christian value that says do good things to those who do bad things on you. This bad thinking should be removed from our heads forever. It will damage our self-esteem and lessen our self-worth. We will remain without empowerment and will result in unhappiness with ourselves. In the golden rule scheme, both parties in the relationship gain immensely from the give and take of good actions between them. On the other hand, both parties at the revised golden rule scheme suffer as a result of their disregard for the welfare of the other party to the transaction. The advantage for those who practice the original golden rule is that they retain a source for developing self-empowerment which can lead to a greater degree of happiness. In sum, there are two kinds of people that you will encounter in your everyday life. One group practice the golden rule in their behavior toward you and should be given reciprocating good actions from you. The other group does not really care how their actions will affect you and they should be treated in the same way that they are treating you. Show no mercy for them for that is what they deserve. Limit as far as possible any relationship with them. On the other hand, cultivate more mutually satisfying relationships with people who deserve to be treated with goodness and respect. Let us encourage more people to practice the golden rule by reinforcing any action that shows concern for the welfare of others. Minimize your relationships with people who do not care whatsoever what happens to you. Let us show them that apathy and indifference can lead to unhappiness. Let us teach them that kindness and respect leads to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Positive Ideas to Live By Negativity leads to despair. Faith and hope lead to positive actions. Giving positive ideas more prominence in your thinking process can turn out amazing results. As long as you are able to do something about your situation, you cannot lose hope. Here are positive thoughts that are worth playing over in your brain. The aim is to banish all negativity from your life forever. Give them a try. The Importance of Mental Congruence Mental congruence is the state of mental readiness that features the similar alignment of all the positive mental elements in a person's mind. It connotes the absence of a disjoint idea that gets in the way of the optimal use of a person's mind. It is important to get rid of negative thoughts that linger on and render our mental construct ineffective. There is no compromise here. If you want to have an effective mind, you have to start with a clean slate. One more use of a negative idea strengthens it and drains the power of other positive thoughts. You might be wondering why you haven't achieved your goals despite the changes in your mental processes that you have accomplished. It could be that there are still lingering negative ideas that persist despite your desire to get rid of them. The desire for revenge is an example worth mentioning. You have been mistreated and when the opportunity comes, you strike back. You achieve a temporary reprieve for your ego but your mental readiness had been damaged. You have weakened your strong mental state by succumbing to the temptation to get even. Your energy has been wasted. Now, negativity has triumphed in your mind. Wave goodbye to all negative thoughts and stick to your position to never again allow the negative ideas to take control of your mind. Rather than waste your energy on useless efforts, focus on the goals you have set and relentlessly pursue them. Never for a moment be distracted by any negative nuisance. Stay on course and you will arrive at your destination in due time. The Words that are Not Being Said are What Matters Talk is cheap says and old proverb. Words that have been said many times cheapen in value. In fact, if they have been repeated so many number of times, they could attain a negative value. If you do a good deed and later talk about it, the deed loses some value. It is better not to talk about it. There are many good deeds that men have done and not talked about much. These are the things that really matter. That is why it is better to judge people by their actions and not by their words. Actions are the true indicators of one's mental and emotional state. When there is discrepancy between what one says and what he does, go for what he does rather than what he says.

When you ask someone why he did something, some reasons may be given but are they really the driving force behind such actions? Past observed behavior may be a better guide as to the why a person does a certain thing. The true reasons may never be known for they may never be said. Actions speak louder than words. Thoughts about Yourself that You Should Always Remember Always keep these thoughts close to your heart: that you have an innate capacity to survive; that you've got what it takes to succeed; and that you are worthy of all the good things that life has to offer. Never for a moment doubt that you will survive man-made difficulties, including those that you have dragged yourself into. The Guiding Hand has given you a brain to work things out. Use it to ride the tide or extricate yourself from difficult situations. The Guiding Hand has likewise filled your brain with creative genius that you are to use in your quest for success. You have been given unique talents for creating something of value to others. You only need to find those who might need your creative work. You have been grateful of all the good things that have been given to you directly or through other means. You have a noble purpose and you do not have any intention of causing harm to others. You have a goal and you are intent at achieving it. You may have done bad things to others and have regretted doing them. But you have also done good deeds that no one knows except you and the persons for whom you have done them. You are now open to all the good things that you expect will come your way. The Power of Now You will have been faced with a question on when to start something that you think can generate more income or reduce your current expenses. You may now be experiencing a healthy financial situation and are adamant at starting something that you're not sure will provide good results. Now is the best time to start it. Today is the best time to start something good that you have thought about. Don't wait until the situation got worse and you have become incapable even of starting a project. It is during good times that we should be preparing for the worse times. Choose an activity that can weather the changing preferences of people, preferably creating values that are enduring and can withstand the test of time. So if you're wondering when to start implementing a project you have in mind for quite a while, the answer is do it now. Don't wait for tomorrow that may never come. There is Always One More Thing to Do

This is another way of saying never give up. You may be faced with a dilemma that eludes resolution. You have used almost every conceivable solution to resolve the problem, yet nothing seems to work. Do not lose hope for there will always be one more thing that you can do. There is but the situation is that you have not yet discovered it. You may have become so desperate and wanted to end it all. Don't. There will always be one more opportunity to create value. There will always be one more step to get off of a difficult situation. There will always be one more thing that you have been destined to do and it will take more time to accomplish it. Let the Guiding Hand show you what you should do and you will be fine.

About the Author The author has been educated in journalism and information technology. He has worked as editorial assistant, project assistant, senior technology officer, computer instructor, and supervising specialist in both business and governmental organizations in the Philippines and overseas. He holds a master's degree in public administration and has attended seminars and training on management, financial systems, and Microsoft technologies. In the website, "Uncommon Sense" (http://sites.google.com/site/ournewapproach/), he writes about ways and means of how a person can become more effective in everything that he does. He includes articles on how to accomplish tasks in a more sensible way and how the right mental and emotional attitudes can drive someone to become a successful person. In his personal homepage, "The Mighty Pen Project" (http://sites.google.com/site/themightypenproject/), he includes articles on life stories and poems that empower and motivate people. He published the website "Write on Laptop, Post at Google" (http://laptopwriting.blogspot.com/) where he wrote on how to setup and promote a personal web site, how to go about writing articles for the site, and how to use the tools available in the Internet to improve the site's performance. He also wrote articles on issues related to obtaining and taking care of the laptop computer. In the website, "Publish Online with Vista and DLink" (http://publishtoweb.blogspot.com/), he wrote articles on how to make the Vista operating system work in your computer and how to better use your home wireless network. He also created another website, "The Technical Journal (http://sites.google.com/site/thetechnicaljournal/Home)", where he offered advice and tips on buying computers, fixing computer problems, connecting home computers together, creating personal websites in the Internet, and making videos with computers.