When your phone rings, the copyright police may come calling | Mobilize - InfoWorld

When your phone rings, the copyright police may come calling | Mobilize - InfoWorld

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Chippy just died

Well, it was bound to happen. I've known this little chipmunk for a good 4 or 5 years and lord knows how old he was then. Chipmunks in the wild usually don't live for that long. I think it was in part because I made sure he had sunflowers, fruit and other snackies. This year I noticed he was getting really gray, although he still moved pretty fast.

But a little while ago, he didn't move fast enough when I let the dogs out. Phoebe went right for him. I got her to drop him, but he was gone. And I can't yell at her. It's her instinct to kill little animals like that.

I called Chris and he came home to help me bury Chippy. He had a good, long life and I had fun teaching him to sit in my hand and on my shoulder.

RIP my little Chippy.

WHO@ Newsletter - June 29, 2009

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .This is pretty cheesy
Tenn. couple accused of assault using Cheetos
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_cheetos_assault

Authorities said a couple got into a fight using Cheetos. The Bedford County Sheriff's Department said a 40-year-old man and 44-year-old woman became involved in a 'verbal altercation.' Somehow, the orange puffy snacks were used in the assault.

Deputies said they were charged with domestic assault. No one was hurt.

According to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, both posted bond of $2,500.

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Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG!

(DISCLAIMER: The following news items were found on the web and were not written or endorsed by WHO@; they are for informational purposes only)

Mythbuster Adam Savage fights $11,000 AT&T bill with Twitter army - 06/29/09
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/258949/tv-star-busts-att-bill-with-twitter.html
The star of MythBusters, Adam Savage, has had an $11,000 charge for data roaming dropped thanks to his 60,000 Twitter followers.

Thieves net fish with Google - 06/28/09
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2505087/Thieves-net-fish-with-Google.html
CUNNING crooks are using Google Earth to locate and steal expensive koi carp, cops say.
The crooks use internet mapping systems to find gardens with ponds so they can nick the valuable fish.

Internet harassment - 06/27/09
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090627/jsp/calcutta/story_11164826.jsp
Sourav Hazra, 25, was arrested on Friday for allegedly posting an indecent profile of a woman on social networking website Orkut and sending her lewd text messages.

Apple Bans 'Hottest Girls' iPhone App - 06/26/09
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101614
Apple threw cold water on the "Hottest Girl" iPhone app, removing the software from the App Store after the developer started showing pictures of topless women.

Lesbian conwoman jailed for tricking people she met in internet chatrooms out of £100,000 - 06/26/09
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1195539/Lesbian-conwoman-tricked-people-met-internet-chatrooms-100-000.html
A lesbian, who conned users on gay website chatrooms out of over £90,000, has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Facebook prisoner faces inquiry - 06/25/09
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8118092.stm
A convicted robber from Greater Manchester is being investigated after he was apparently able to update his Facebook page from his prison cell.

How Facebook nearly destroyed our marriage - 06/25/09
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/femail/article-1195294/How-Facebook-nearly-destroyed-marriage.html
After they married, Jane and Gary Sherbrooke enthusiastically posted their wedding photos on Facebook for all their friends to see. And on their six-month extended honeymoon, shots of their travels through India, Nepal and Sri Lanka were uploaded on to their home page on the popular social networking site.

Turmoil brings out 'hacktivists' attacks on web - 06/24/09
http://www.wbbm780.com/Turmoil-brings-out--hacktivists--attacks-on-web/4669809
For about 90 minutes Wednesday, visitors to the Oregon University System's Web site found themselves taken for a ride they didn't ask for. They were redirected to another site under the control of a hacker, who posted an 89-word screed criticizing the protests in Iran.

Oscar-winning composer, 71, 'raped 11 women using Craigslist to lure victims with promise of film role' - 06/24/09
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1195157/Oscar-winning-composer-Joseph-Brooks-raped-11-women-using-Craigslist-attract-victims-promise-film-role.html
The Oscar-winning composer behind 'You Light Up My Life' raped 11 women he lured to his apartment with the promise of a starring role in a movie, prosecutors said today.

Cyberstalking charge filed - 06/23/09
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090623/NEWS01/906230327/1002
An Otis woman who reported being battered by four people in May was arrested herself Friday in connection with reportedly harassing those arrested for her battery, authorities said.

Google executives in landmark trial for allowing YouTube video of autistic boy being beaten by schoolmates - 06/23/09
]http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1194934/Google-executives-trial-landmark-case-privacy-allowing-YouTube-video-showing-autistic-boy-beaten-schoolmates.html
Four Google executives go on trial today accused of allowing a video to be posted on YouTube showing an autistic schoolboy being abused.

LOCAL NEWS ANCHOR FILES RESTRAINING ORDER - 06/22/09
http://1410wizm.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=2718
A local tv anchorwoman is seeking a restraining order against someone who has been sending her harassing emails. Channel 19 morning news anchor Amy Dupont has been receiving nasty emails for about a year now. Never threatening, but harassing, with comments derogatory about her, and her on-air work.

Bolivian TV falls for Air France crash hoax - 06/22/09
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/22/air_crash_hoax/
Bolivian TV channel PAT has been left looking a bit daft after broadcasting extraordinary images of the last moments of Air France flight 447, lost over the Atlantic on 1 June

Teen sentenced for indecent MySpace photos (OneNewsNow.com)

Teen sentenced for indecent MySpace photos (OneNewsNow.com)

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Join our facebook groups

I just started two Facebook groups - one for WHOA and one for WHOA-KTD

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113876081404&ref=mf

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=97745043769&ref=mf

Please join if you are on Facebook.

Scarborough Middle School Talks

On Tuesday, I spoke to the middle school students in Scarborough. They were divided into two groups. The principal, Joanne Sizemore was just pleased I could do the talks, even though the last day of school was the next day.

Pam Joy, from Fairpoint Communications came to hear me speak, not only as a parent (she has three kids in middle school), but also to see how I did my presentations for a collaboration with Fairpoint in the fall. She had some folks from their marketing department come as well.

The first talk went well, and as usual, when I showed what I found out about *them* on Facebook and Myspace, the auditorium quieted right down.

Here's what I found on Facebook:

85 were asked to be a friend of my alter ego
81 approved my alter ego as a friend; 4 never responded
5 asked to be my friend (without me requesting it) for a total of 86
Only 1 asked who I was, but still approved me
62% were boys; 38% girls
Over 75% are current middle school students
50% list their cell phone number in their profile - 60% of those were boys
5 boys and 2 girls also listed their home phone
60% list their AIM screen name
96% list an email address (sometimes two)
2 girls listed their home address

Then on Myspace:

50 profiles were looked at
Half were boys/half were girls
Just over half marked their profiles private
25% were boys
75% were girls
But 12 listed their first and last name as their profile name or in their profile
And most of those were Private Profiles

And the photos. Oy. Middle fingers, drinking what appears to be beer out of a bottle, seductive shots - we're talking 13 & 14 year olds here. It's bad enough when the high school students do it, then you have them putting up this crap when they're younger.

I think it got through to them that sexting can put you in jail and on the sex offender registry because it's child porn; that they could ruin their chances of a summer/after school job or admission to the university/college they want to go to because of what they post online.

What was interesting was finding out only six of the students removed my alter ego from their friends list. The comments on their status updates on Facebook were interesting:

Jeri: who is that weird woman from internet safty on face book!!!! i want to confront her, about like being a creeper.

Kassandra: did anyone find out who that speaker's facebook was? aha, its kinda bugging me.

Samantha at 4:41pm June 23
nope. she's not telling people becuz it's pretty much forcing the students to delete anybody they don't kno

Kassandra at 4:54pm June 23
hmm, okay. (: like seriously this bugged me, then when she showed pictures i was scared i was gnna be up there. but i only add people if they have a lot of mutual friends wit me.

Samantha at 4:56pm June 23
but thats one of the points she was trying to make. 81 people excepted a request from somebody who doesn't even exist...

Grace at 4:56pm June 23
Me too I was on that slide show haha

Kassandra at 4:58pm June 23
haha, wow. is she your friend
i think its kinda embarrssing if she just had like you up there.

Samantha at 5:02pm June 23
guys! just delete all the people u don't kno!

Kassandra at 5:05pm June 23
well jenny sora's faceboook pic is weirrd.. ahahha

Grace at 5:22pm June 23
Haha I was up there when it showed 6 of the friends of certain people

---------------------------

Ralph: you know those school presentations where they try to scare you from the internet and use others facebook's to make examples and your just HOPING that it won't be you, I was that guy today, my entire ensemble was on the big screen with my face blacked out drinkin root beer ahahah.

------------------------------------
Amanda kinda knows how it feels to be miley cyrus now.....

Alexandrea at 10:30pm June 23
.... are you talking about inappropiate pictures missy??

Amanda at 10:55pm June 23
or what middle schoolers would find "provocative"

Alexandrea at 10:57pm June 23
uh oh. and what are these pictures that you speak of? do they show off your massive derriere?

Tori at 10:57pm June 23
omg. yeah i heard about that :(

------------------------------------

So it's a deal with Fairpoint. Over the summer we'll work out the details, but they are going to pay me to speak at schools in the fall, as many as three a week. Which is a big phew! Money has been really tight and if we can make it to September, we'll be okay.

London Observations

1) Not everyone in London has bad teeth. I saw this firsthand

2) I was told all Londoners hate us Yankees. Every person I met, from taxi drivers to hotel staff to waitstaff were absolutely wonderful and very sociable.

3) Do call your bank (or credit card company) before you go there. Let them know you are going out of the country on vacation and where and for how long. A friend (who warned me about this) ended up on the phone with his credit card fraud dept convincing them he was really in London and no one was fraudulently using his card.

4) I brought about $100 in US dollars and then used my debit card at an ATM at the airport to get 100 pounds. I ended up with almost 20 pounds on my return trip to the airport and spent it at the off duty store. The best place (besides an ATM that your bank honors) to get pounds is a post office. Seriously.

5) I don't know if all hotels are like this, but mine gave me a bath towel and a hand towel. No facecloth. So pack one.

6) Make sure you have a travel converter for your American appliances. 1600 watt or higher is recommended. I had two - a 1600 watt and 3000 watt - the higher one for my laptop. The hotel had a hair dryer and iron, so I didn't have to bother with bringing those

7) Things are redundant. In my hotel room there was an iron and ironing board - yay! Set up the ironing board, plugged in the iron. Now I had to flip the switch on the wall outlet to turn it on (yes, each outlet has an on/off, like a light switch). Then I had to flip the switch on the iron board that the iron was connected to, yes, other than the wall switch. *THREE* switches for one appliance. Hellooooo?

8) My hotel made you put the credit card room key in a slot to be able to turn the lights on. I found out afterwards sometimes you can put a business card in the slot to do the same thing. I don't know why they do this. It must be a British thing.

9) Tipping isn't necessary unless you get really wonderful service at restaurants - but look at the slip first. Some restaurants automatically add 10% to the bill.

10) You don't need to worry about wearing jeans/casual wear if you're playing tourist. I got one tourist guide that claimed jeans make you appear rude to the brits. Not true. Unless you're going somewhere formal or meeting the Queen, wear whatever you damn want (within reason, of course). I found that jeans, a top, a light jacket and sneakers were the best for running around in. Undies and a bra helped, too.

11) Keep an eye on the dollar/pound exchange rate and try to remember how much you're really paying when buying things there. Something costing 10 pounds seems like a bargain until you realize it's really almost $13 (the exchange rate was $1.63 to the pound when I was there)

12) Don't be afraid to ask people for directions. I found that going into a pub got you some friendly folks, or a store or just on the street. What was funny was British people asking ME for directions (and I actually knew where they needed to go, ha ha)

13) ALWAYS cross in a crosswalk. ALWAYS look left *and* right even if you have to only look one way or the other and remember they drive on the OTHER side of the road there. The black taxicabs don't give a shite about pedestrians, so go with the crosswalk lights or make sure it really is clear before crossing.

I think I thought of everything. If you do go, have FUN - I did!!

Digital Safety Conference Photo Slideshow

Find me!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/learningwithoutfrontiers/sets/72157620131124485/show/

Day 4 in London - Home again, home again jiggity jig

I checked out of the hotel, then put my bags into the locked room by the front desk and walked to a local grocery store. Well, more of a convenience store (no slurpees, though, ha ha). I wanted to try to find the dogs a little something. So I got a can, er, I mean a "tin" of dog food that had tripe in it (yummy) and a box of Pedigree mini bites dry food. Then at the counter I found giant Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars. Yes, Joanne, I got you two of them, so calm down. And one for me.

BTW, if you do go to London and don't mind not staying in the center of town, save some bucks and book yourself at the Days Inn (not to be confused with the Days Inns here - this one is part of the Wyndham hotel chain). The room I had was not too small, a double bed, new and clean and it cost the Digital Safety folks only 79 pounds a night (about $100). I really liked the hotel and staff and food (well, most of the food)!!

Went back to the hotel to have a cup of coffee and wait for the car service to come get me. It arrived promptly on time and the driver looked just like John Turturro. I kid you not. This guy drove like a maniac! He was going over 80 MPH (I checked the speedometer, it was in both MPH and KPH, that's Kilometers, folks) at times. Yikes. Guess he wanted to get this Yankee out of his country fast, ha ha.

At the airport, got to upgrade again to Premium Economy for half of what I paid just a few days before. Turns out Virgin Atlantic was celebrating it's 25th birthday and rates were slashed. I was a happy puppy.

Went through customs (a breeze) and then all passengers are put in the duty-free shopping zone. They don't give you a gate where your flight is until about 30minutes before it leaves. They MAKE you shop. I bought souvenirs for family, then found out the cigarettes were $10 less a carton and got Chris some Marlboro Lights. I called and talked to him for a few minutes, then my gate was called.

I got an aisle seat, some champagne, then we were off! Watched two movies, Inkheart (pretty good) and Madagascar 2 (funny - I laughed out loud a few times and people were staring at me). On the way over I watched Hotel for Dogs, which was pretty stupid, but good for kids. For lunch/dinner had the beef dish, some red wine (I swear Virgin wants to keep you drunk on their flights, ha ha), then put some classical music on, put my eye shades over my eyes and crashed for a while.

I remember hearing the flight attendants walking by offering Bailey's on the rocks or cognac. When I woke up, they were giving out ice cream cups (Haggen Dazs!), then came back around a bit later with cereal bars.

Off the plane to customs. It was a breeze to go through - they didn't even check my carryon bags - damn, should have gotten more cigs! And they didn't check my checked bags, either.

Took C&J Trailways to Portsmouth, where Chris and Phoebe were waiting. Big hug and kiss for Chris, then to the car and Phoebe was just a wiggle bear! In the Siberian Husky book I read, they said the huskies are not loyal to one person. I beg to differ! She really missed me!

We stopped off at Fresh City to get dinner to go, then it was home, eat, a shower, then to bed.

It was nice to be home.

I'll post some insights and tips for London if you ever plan on going later today or tomorrow. Also hope to get to my photos from there!

WHO@ Newsletter - June 22, 2009

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Stupid criminal!

Lobster, wine and sleep follow Maine break-in
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090620/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_lobster_theft
A man suspected of breaking into a Maine restaurant will have to get used to jailhouse food after workers at the eatery discovered lobsters and wine missing ­ and the suspect asleep on a bench.

Police say Paul Bruneau broke into the Portland Lobster Co. through a rear window and stuffed his pockets with cash before chowing down on the better part of 11 prepared lobsters worth about $300. He washed it all down with a white wine.

The Portland Press Herald reports Bruneau also left a refrigerator open, causing about $1,000 worth of food to be thrown away.

Bruneau, who was already out on bail, was being held Friday at the Cumberland County Jail. He couldn't be reached for comment.

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Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG!

(DISCLAIMER: The following news items were found on the web and were not written or endorsed by WHO@; they are for informational purposes only)

A reminder that you are what you eat - 06/22/09
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1719735
Near the end of Food Inc., director Robert Kenner asks one of his subjects -- a woman whose son passed away after contracting E. coli from a hamburger -- what she eats. There's a pause before the subject explains that she can't reveal what she eats because she might get sued.

Fraudsters Try to Scam Security Expert on EBay - 06/22/09
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090622/tc_pcworld/fraudsterstrytoscamsecurityexpertonebay
When security expert Bruce Schneier tried to sell a used laptop on eBay, he thought it would be easy. Instead, a sale was aborted twice -- first by a scammer using a hacked eBay account and then by a buyer who tried to trick Schneier into sending her the laptop after she cancelled payment.

Missoulian gets 3 years for cyberstalking - 06/21/09
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/06/21/news/state/68-missoulian.txt
A Missoula man was sentenced Friday to three years and one month in federal prison for cyberstalking.
Jeffrey Grob, 28, pleaded guilty in March to sending threatening e-mails to his former girlfriend. Prosecutors say Grob sent the e-mails from October through December 2007.

Muggers caught by Google - 06/20/09
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2491610/Muggers-caught-by-Google-Street-View-pic.html
TWIN brothers have been arrested over a mugging after their victim spotted them on Google's Street View.

Authorities powerless against online death threats - 06/20/09
(I say, and pardon my french, this is bullshit - ed)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/20/2603745.htm
Anonymous abusers are apparently getting away with obscene and violent bullying tactics against teenagers in Western Australia because they are doing the cyber bullying on a US-based website.

Cyber Bullying Stopped: Go Daddy Web Site Pulled - 06/20/09
http://www.bloggernews.net/121320
Numerous articles, including Sandy Maple’s on parentdish.com, “Teen Insult Web Site Shut Down,” have reported that online free speech has bowed to the pressure of community values. A web site, “People’s Dirt,” has been pulled out of cyberspace by Go Daddy, the internet host, in an effort to stop online harassment, cyber bullying and abuse. Calling it an “insult site” is misleading. It was much worse.

Australian Parents Fight to Shut Down Teen 'Revenge' Web Site - 06/19/09
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,527383,00.html
The man behind a vicious Australian Web site used to harass teenage girls has dared authorities to take action.
Melton Web site designer Andrew Pallant claims his site, which has more than 1,300 posts containing unsubstantiated and often vulgar allegations, is designed to protect freedom of speech.

Suicide man minutes from death is saved by police thanks to tip-off from chat-room user in Australia - 06/19/09
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1194117/Police-save-British-man-online-threat-kill-15-minutes--tip-woman-Australia.html
Police arrived in the nick of time to save a suicidal British man who was found semi-conscious with a cord around his neck - after a tip off from a woman in Australia.
The drama came after the man posted an online message from his home in Oxfordshire on a chatroom site saying: 'I will kill myself in 15 minutes'.

Man accused of stalking, trying to extort money - 06/19/09
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090619/NEWS01/306199932/-1/XML15
A Somerville, Mass., man is accused of stalking and trying to extort money from a Wilton man who once employed him, according to police and court records.

Bozeman City job requirement raises privacy concerns - 06/19/09
http://montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=10551414&nav=menu227_3
Applying for a job with the City of Bozeman? You may be asked to provide more personal information than you expected. That was the case for one person who applied for employment with the City. The anonymous viewer emailed the news station recently to express concern with a component of the city's background check policy, which states that to be considered for a job applicants must provide log-in information and passwords for social network sites in which they participate.

Texting, checking e-mail during office meetings can be costly - 06/19/09
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW061909/content.php?id=081
A political coup in New York’s statehouse can be traced back to an incident in which a top lawmaker so enraged a wealthy backer by peering at e-mails on his BlackBerry that his patron engineered his ouster.

Criminal charges upgraded in 'upskirting' case - 06/18/09
http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_169164525.html
A Missouri man accused of taking photographs under the dress of a Boscov’s shopper Tuesday is facing more serious charges.
State police at Selinsgrove filed third-degree misdemeanor invasion of privacy and summary harassment charges against Brian Thomas Hoy, 43, of Maryville, Mo., for using a digital camera to take photos under the dress of an unsuspecting 39-year-old Selinsgrove woman while she shopped at the store in the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Monroe Township.

Angry Milton Man Baffled By Internet Harassment - 06/18/09
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_35449.aspx
Jason Mansur wants you to know something about him: he's never been to jail, he's not a high risk offender, he's never committed a crime and he's not guilty of anything. The Milton man has been the subject of Internet harassment, after someone posted false and defamatory information about him on popular websites Kijiji and Craigslist.

Grand Island toll collector seeks reduced charge in e-mail threats - 06/18/09
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/707202.html
The Grand Island toll collector in hot water over allegations he sent threatening e-mails to an anti-toll activist is seeking to have aggravated harassment charges against him reduced.

Man gets two years in cyberstalking case - 06/17/09
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1258308.html
Every night for months she lay in bed, frightened and alone, waiting for the next knock on her door.
More than 30 men showed up “at all hours” looking for sexual encounters they thought she was offering.

Conviction Upheld In E-mail Harassment Case - 06/17/09
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/48276202.html
The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and $250 fine for a man who sent profanity-laced e-mails to a former Nebraska professor.

New Keylogger Bypasses PC, Snoops Keyboards - 06/17/09
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/zd/20090617/tc_zd/241471
Keyloggers, which monitor what you type into your computer, are a common and pernicious form of malware. But now attackers may be able to steal your keystrokes without even installing software on your PC.

Police: Guard pimped wife on Craigslist - 06/16/09
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/crime_krqe_albuquerque_police_say_guard_pimped_wife_on_craigslist_200906152304
A man given the responsibility of protecting one of America's top nuclear labs is accused of prostituting his wife through Craigslist.

London Conference Video

You can view my London presentation - gads, I look tired.

3rd day in London - Playing Tourist

I meant to post this yesterday before I flew home, but I ran out of Internet time at the hotel. A day late, but here it is:

After a good night's sleep and breakfast, took a car service to Russell Square Park to meet my WHOA UK Law Liasion (and good friend), Katherine, and her husband, Bruce. I told the driver I was meeting them at a diner in the park. He told me there was no diner. I showed him the email she'd sent me and he was curious. Sure enough, because Saturday traffic is slow, there *is* a restaurant in the park. So a London driver learned something new!

I got a latte, sat outside and people-watched (and pigeon-watched - boy, there are a lot of pigeons in London). It was nice just to relax. Bruce and Katherine came a little bit later and we headed to the bus stop for our first stop of the day - changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We got there at 11 am, the change would take place at 1130, so we had to try to find the right spot. We came close. After much excitement, and a Metro Policeman making sure latecomers didn't try to get in front of me - I was there first, after all, LOL), a band came marching down the street towards the Palace, all with those tall bearskin hats. Got that on video and photos (will post when I get home). They went thru the gates of the Palace and we didn't get to see the actual changing of the guard. Damn! But got them coming out. We asked the policeman where the guards were that we could get photos of (the ones with the tall hats). He said they weren't on duty yet. No worries! I asked if I could take my photo with him. He was pleased as punch. So Bruce took a photo of me with this policeman.

Next Bruce and I walked to the Hard Rock Cafe so that I could get a t-shirt (I always try to visit the Hard Rock if there's one where I am to get a little something). This is the flagship, opened in 1971. Very cool!!! On the way back to get Katherine at the Palace, we stopped at a sidewalk vendor and I got a London hoodie sweatshirt for me (it was just a bit chilly, not enough for my jacket, which I'd left at the hotel) and a t-shirt for my mom (Nancy, tell her I got what I warned her I would get).

We then took a taxi to the Thames River to find the cruise we wanted to go on. Finally found it on the other side of the river, near the London Eye, which Bruce and I were going on later (Katherine's done these things zillions of times, so she let me have my touristy fun with her hubby, who was a good sport all day). We took the City Cruises cruise (redundant, eh?) up and down the river. It was a good three hours, changing boats once. It was great to get a closeup view of the Tower Bridge, Tower of London (which we didn't have enough time to actually go into) and other places. I just loved the boats! It was sunny, then cloudy, a little sprinkle, then back to sun - so it was a perfect afternoon!

We made it back to Westminster for our London Eye ride. Katherine begged off - she was tired and headed back to their hotel. The ride was phenomenal - it's like a giant ferris wheel, but goes slowly around so that you get a terrific view of all of London. I hope the photos come out okay.

Bruce then took me on the Tube, London's subway system. This was after getting lost trying to find the darned station - we kept seeing signs pointing to it, then it was not where we thought it would be. Finally found the tube and it was quite the experience! Hang on tight!! We had to change once to get to the station near the restaurant we'd be eating at. Then we got lost again. Bruce ended up calling the restaurant three times to get us there and we finally made it to Porters Restaurant, an authentic English pub. So I of course had to have an authentic English ale and selected St. Peters Brewery Golden Ale (shown on their main page). Neat bottle, nice ale and very much needed after all the walking we'd done. Bruce opted for a screwdriver. I had to have the Shepherd's Pie, made tradionally with lamb. It was very, very good (I probably could have had two, ha ha). We also had dessert and Bruce ended up chatting with the guy sitting next to us. Turns out this guy was originally from the same town Bruce and Katherine live in! What a truly small world it is!

We took the Tube to the station nearest my hotel, then had to ask someone how to get to the street the hotel was on. This nice old British guy pointed our direction, then actually followed us for a bit to make sure we were on our way in the right direction. At the hotel, I bought Bruce a Bailey's on the rocks as a thank you for the fun during the day and dinner. We hugged, I went up to my room, called Chris on Skype and finally crashed at around midnight.

Got up yesterday am and packed and as soon as I posted this, headed downstairs to checkout and go to the airport. I loved my time in London, but I really couldn't wait to go home and be with my honey and my furry babies. I talked to Bandit on Skype Saturday night and watching the video of him facing the webcam and whining broke my heart. I got them both a good treat. And did my souvenir shopping at the airport (I know, I know, shame on me, but it was a busy day Saturday).

I'll post about the flight home, etc later today.