Final Notes on The Warm Hugs Project

The Warm Hugs Project has a failure status for this year due to lack of interest, not enough pre-planning, and not enough advertising. Not a single blanket was collected. And while I hate to have to report on a failure, especially a failure of this magnitude, I still want to praise God for putting me through this experience. It showed me a lot of weaknesses that I have in some areas that I need to improve and I can definately grow from this. But, please keep watch and plan for The Warm Hugs Project 2012, beginning in January and going till March!

~Miri

St. Valentine: The Man Behind the Chocolates

February 14 has become a day of love around the world. We hand out little cards, chocolates, various candies, and hope to receive some roses from that oh-so-special someone. But St. Valentine's Day started with a courageous act by a Christian martyer. (Didn't see that one coming, did ya?)

In the third century, A.D., there was a priest named Valentine who served in Rome. At this time, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than married men and so outlawed marriage for all young men. Valentine, instead of following the unjust decree, married young lovers in secret. When he was discovered, he was thrown into jail. It is said that then was when the first "Valentine" was sent by Valentine himself. Lengend has it that he fell in love with a young woman (possibly the jailer's daughter) who visited him during his imprisonment. Just before his death, he wrote her a letter which he signed, "From your Valentine."

Although these stories may or may not be true, St. Valentine paints a picture of a heroic, courageous, sympathetic and (a collective sigh from the ladies) romantic man. And he, this martyer of the faith, is the reason you'll get those chocolates.

Happy Valentines Day!

~Miri

Voices of the Innocent

The day for this coming up soon. I'm going to do it and you should too! Voices of the Innocent is a pro-life project started by two teenage girls. The basic thing of it is that on February 14, 2011, people write out letters to their local newspaper and stick them in the mail. Their hope is that if enough people all send these letters at the same time, it will make an impact for life around the country. You can read more about it at http://www.voicesoftheinnocent.blogspot.com/.

~Miri

Update on Karissa

Karissa is now awake! I don't know how long she's been awake, but I do know she is now able to sit up and move around a bit. Read more about it on the new blog post at http://www.purpleforkarissa.com/. And please keep praying for her!

~Miri

Facebook and Web Security

Wait, I promise the post isn't as boring as the title! Keep reading!

You see, Facebook has enabled an account preference the lets you log in over HTTPS, which is far more secure than plain old HTTP, especially if you are logging in on an unprotected Wi-Fi network. Besides that, it makes the whole thing more secure in general. I don't know about you, but I am constantly updating my security preferences because, quite simply, I don't want friends of friends of friends reading my page. If I did, you'd be my friend anyway. Facebook is a nice utility for keeping in touch with my family when I'm away traveling. However, I don't want Joe Schmoe also keeping up with my wall updates and conversations. That negates the whole point of being able to selectively "add friends."

There is an article over at Wired.com that tells you more about this option in depth. Down at the bottom of the article, there is also a tiny paragraph that tells you how to browse even more websites over HTTPS for more general security.

~Sarai~