…. And other mobile based Windows phones!

First and foremost, I would like to say that I absolutely love my HTC Touch Pro.  The calendar on it?  Fabulous.  The browser?  Great!  I really don’t have much to complain about (unless finger prints get all over my screen, but doesn’t that happen with any touch phone?).

As an HTC Touch Pro user, I have a lot of tips and tricks for other users.  These tricks would also work for the Touch Diamond, as well as many other windows based mobile phones.

So, here we go!

• First, visit myphone.microsoft.com/install and install the My Phone software for Windows Mobile.  You can visit this site directly from your phone, and it will allow you to sync directly to this website.  Not only does it save your files (sans notes), it will also save your memory card files in case something were to happen!  It also saves text messages, which the ActiveSync does not do.  Make sure you install it on your phone.  You just have to have a windows mobile ID (you can register for one using your e-mail account), and voila!  Everything is backed up.  It’s fully customizable — mine backs up every 24 hours at 2 AM!
• Next, go to your notes.  Go to your options.  Save these files to your memory card!  These files do not save with the above sync function, but they will sync to your computer.
• Make sure you get yourself a phone cover!  There are many sites available, that will give you excellent deals on your phone covers.  I got this one from onlytouchpro.com,  and it’s a much better deal than the covers you will find from your cell phone provider.  They also have a great selection of colors, for all different providers!  HTC phones from different carriers have a different shape/different camera shape, so you’ll have to get a cover that will fit your specific phone.  (Check out The Only Phone Network, they own onlytouchpro.com and have quite the variety of accessories for different phones to choose from!)
• Here’s a way to get to some shortcuts on your Touch Pro, just hit and hold this letter on your keyboard!  These will work in your messaging folders.  H – List Shortcuts, A – Reply All, R – Reply, K – Mark Read/Unread, F – Flag, M – Movie, O – Forward, D – Delete, L – Download Message, S – Send/Receive.
• Always, always, always check for updates.  You can do so by visiting htc.com, and going to your settings and updating your PRL and profile.  Here’s the link for software updates for your Touch Pro right from the HTC website.  It also includes hotfixes for some problems, make sure you check your ROM version prior to installing to ensure that this fix will work for your ROM!  May not work on newer ROMs…. (do so by going to Settings –> System –> Device Information.)
• Hate that “message sent” every time you send a text message?  Visit this forum to learn how to get rid of it, and here is the link for the software you need to download to edit the registry.  It’s incredibly easy, and free!  You must install this on your phone.  If your phone is synced up to the computer, it should automatically recognize the software.
• Get fun games that use your G-Sensor!  The G-Sensor is what allows you to play games like Teeter on your Touch Pro/Diamond.  Here is a comprehensive list of a variety of G-Sensor-sensitive games!

“Our nonviolent tactics are not as effective. We ask nicely for years and get nothing. Someone makes a threat, and it works.”
- Ingrid Newkirk, in the April 8, 2002 issue of US News & World Report (April 8, 2002)

I can never trust an organization like PETA.  When I see ads that are anti-fur and pro-animal rights that contain leather and suede furniture, I’m definitely thrown off.  This was paid for by PETA?  Using materials that they themselves deem inappropriate?

We’re talking about an organization that instead of a no-kill shelter, instead has a kill shelter.  Between 1998 and 2008, PETA has “destroyed” more than 21,000 defenseless dogs, cats and other companion animals.  Within the last five years (just to add insult to injury), they’ve found homes for less than 5% of the animals that were put into their care.  The rest?  Put to sleep.  But why?  PETA rakes in nearly $30 million every year.  Since most of these are donations, they are also tax exempt — that’s nearly $30 million in cash.

In January of 2008, the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom formally petitioned Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), requesting that the government agency officially reclassify PETA as a slaughterhouse.

The  SPCA in PETA’s hometown of Norfolk, VA managed to find homes for 73% of animals put into their care.  A vast difference from the amount PETA saves.  We have to keep in mind that PETA offers no open-adoption centers in Norfolk, and they choose to instead spend part of their income on crematory service to periodically empty hundreds of animals from a large walk-in freezer (the same you would find a slaughter house to keep meat fresh — they filed it on their taxes as a business expense).

Let’s look at this fact: In 2006, PETA euthanized 97.4% of all pets that were in their care, while the rest of the state’s average for humane societies was less than 35%.  In this year, PETA transferred 46 animals to other agencies, and in the end PETA themselves only adopted out 12 animals.

PETA, in the end, wants to ban hunting, fishing, rodeos, circuses, and zoos.  They also want to end the assistance of using animals to cure terminal illnesses such as AIDs and cancer.  They’ve also taken assitance animals away from their needing owners (like a seeing-eye dog away from a blind owner).

Lucky for us, since PETA is run mainly off of donations — we get to see what they spend the money on, as well as how much they bring in, how many animals are killed every year, and other important information.

Such as the fact that this organization has donated money to criminals — including the North American Earth Liberation Front, an FBI-certified “domestic terrorist” that received $1,500 from PETA in 2001.  And let’s not forget that in the 1990’s, PETA paid $70,200 to Rodney Coronado from Animal Liberation front.  Coronado is a serial arsonist convicted of burning down a Michigan State University research laboratory.  During his sentencing memorandum, a federal prosecuter implicated PETA president Ingrid Newkirk in the crime.  PETA campaign coordinator Bruce Friedrich has told an animal rights convention that “blowing stuff up and smashing windows” is “a great way to bring about animal liberation.”  He then adds, “Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do it.”  So, committing crimes really helps people want to join your organization in praise, eh Friedrich?

How about the PETA ad that is obviously geared towards children — “Your mommy kills animals!”?  A PETA vice president told Fox News Channel that “our campaigns are always geared towards children, always will be.”  Almost sounds like Marlboro instead of PETA.

“Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation.”
- Ingrid Newkirk Harper’s (August 1, 1988)

“One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild … they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and watch TV.”
- Ingrid Newkirk The Chicago Daily Herald (March 1, 1990)

PETA states that keeping domestic animals is cruel and must be abolished.  For some reason, they don’t think we are capable of giving an animal a good home — so what would become of all of these animals?  I’m sure most of them would end up getting killed.  PETA officials even show up in cases involving pit bulls to make sure these “unpredictable” breeds are destroyed.  Any dog can be unpredictable, not just the breed.  It’s not like an animal can communicate to us in words what they’re feeling.  Not only does PETA mention this about “pit bulls” (a now extinct breed, but 3 breeds are currently referred to as pit bulls), but also about rottweilers, and doberman pinchers.

I don’t get it, eliminating breeds that are raised and bred to be aggressive by their breeders and owners is better than eliminating these breeders from being able to breed the animal?

So, dogs that were created for domestic breeds, should no longer be domestic?  It would be difficult for them to survive in the wild, and I would hate to see what would happen to my boston terrier, who follows me from room to room, goes on walks with me every day, and is my best companion.  I don’t think he’d do so hot under such circumstances.  Not to mention the amount of animals killed by vehicles would increase dramatically…. I agree that puppy mills are awful and terrible, however I don’t see anything wrong with breeding animals to be companions for humans.  Has it not been that way for over a millennium?  Let’s not forget that animals become extinct in such instances.

PETA is an outrageous organization who is willing to take radical steps in order to meet their agenda — including slaughtering more animals than any animal shelter in the state of Virginia, as well as not allowing open-adoptions so that these animals can find a good home.  How are these animals supposed to get a good home if they are not given the opportunity?

Links:

• PETA Kills Animals
• AnimalScam
• PETA Children campaigns
• Working Pit Bull
• PETA Tax &  Spending information (PDF file, right click and click “save as” to save to your harddrive)

This really touched me, and the moral of the story is oh-so true.

“The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget“

I’m writing this blog in light of the release of “The Last House On The Left (2009).” There is a very graphic rape scene in the movie (don’t go see it if this bothers you, though I do expect the general population to know since it was also in the 1972 version), and people are upset saying that they’re using rape for entertainment.

Fact: Most women who are murdered are raped prior to their murder, or sometimes even post mortem.  The writers (Wes Craven) included this to show that it’s not quick and easy to die, and I think it’s helpful making women aware to be weary of strangers — just because someone seems like a nice person, doesn’t mean they necessarily are, and going somewhere private with them could indeed lead to something very sinister.  I mean, look at serial killers, many of them had PETITIONS going around their hometowns because people who knew them didn’t think they were capable of such atrocities!  They come off as nice, law abiding citizens…. Until they get caught doing unthinkable acts.

I’ve decided to compile information for my readers to stay safe, or to provide to their children to keep them safe.

In a survey conducted by Diana Russell in 1978, of 930 randomly selected women, 44% of women will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.  Some estimates indicate that about every six minutes of every day, someone is sexually assaulted in the United States.

Please click here for myths and facts regarding rape.

Many women are abducted after being followed or by someone observing pedestrians on the street.  It’s important to know what triggers these assailants to want to pick you from a crowd of others.

An important thing to be aware of is your surroundings, the number one place assailants find their victims is college campuses.  Second is cosmetology schools, massage therapy schools, and nursing schools.

Rapists don’t just choose their victims at random, there is a method to their madness.  When convicted rapists were shown a video of pedestrians walking on a New York City street, the majority picked the same victims with astonishing accuracy.

How do you prevent yourself from becoming a victim?

• If you’re out, don’t drink anything that is just given to you.  Rapists have a very easy time getting access to medication that can knock you out and are tasteless in a drink.  They could go to a walk-in clinic, saying that they just got out of a break-up and are suffering from depression, and unable to sleep at night.  They’ll be prescribed a very decent amount of sleeping pills, and enough of them when powdered up (especially in an alcoholic beverage) can make a woman feel groggy in even under two minutes.
• Dressing in a “sexy” manner doesn’t make you more of a victim — they actually tend to look more towards women dressed more conservatively.  Women who dress provocatively typically have a high self-esteem and are more aware of their surroundings than a woman who’s dressed in baggy clothing and staring at the sidewalk.
• Being on your cell phone is considered a distraction.  If you’re walking and texting, talking on your phone, or fumbling for your keys in your purse you’re more likely to be grabbed.
• Don’t let people stop you.  Don’t ever follow a stranger.
• Be aware of your surroundings!  I cannot stress this enough.  If you walk with your head held high and you’re confident you’re considerably less likely to be grabbed.  They don’t want a woman who will put up a fight!
• Don’t park in an unattended garage; park in a public garage where they have supervision — even if it means you have to pay when in another instance you wouldn’t have to.
• When going to your car have your keys in your hand, don’t be fumbling inside your purse for your personal belongings.  I have bear-strength mace on my key chain, so I like to have them handy when I’m getting to my car and I’m alone

But if someone grabs me, what can I do?

If you’re grabbed, you’re likely to be grabbed from your wrist, or from behind.  If you are grabbed from your wrist, swing your arm down and away — you’ll likely break free.  Otherwise, if that doesn’t work, or you’re grabbed from behind, there are some great pressure points to pinch that will help with a release!

Reach for the inside of your armpit — no don’t pinch there! — and go about one inch up your bicep on the inner part of the arm…. PINCH!  That hurts without much effort, I’d hate to see what would happen if you dug your nails into an assailant with such precision.  That would offer a lot of pain (plus you’d get some sweet DNA to take to police!).  The other place is obvious, the innermost part of the thigh.  PINCH HARD!  When this was tried on football players wearing even two pairs of pants, they were still in pain and let go during defensive procedures classes where they taught women to get away from assailants!

And remember, rape isn’t just about sex — it’s about power, control, and often they feel that they cannot control their urges.  Sexoffender.com will let you look at how many sexual offenders are in your area.  Be aware!