Hello again,

Hope you are doing well with 2013, and the year of the snake. We have already had the Western new year, the Chinese new year, and this month we get the Persian new year. So the year is well and truly begun. I recently upgraded this site from Joomla 1.5 to 2.5, it seems like it never ends. I have to keep up with the newer versions, which include improved security that thwarts some of the hackers and their exploits. It is never foolproof, as I have long ago learned. These days I just keep backups for when I need them. Trying to hunt down any malicious code and clean it out is usually impossible, and a restore from a recent backup is the easiest solution.

There does not seem to be an anti-virus yet available for websites. I tried building one in PHP a while back, and it catches a lot, but of course the game keeps changing and I can't afford the time to keep up with armies of hackers out there.

When I upgraded the site, I took a look again at the articles. Some of them are not bad, and some I could do better. I try not to be a perfectionist, or I would never publish anything. I do try to set a reasonable standard. You have to work out for yourself where the balance lies, but don't let it stress you out. You never know what articles you write will have an impact on the lives of others. Over the years, I have put a lot of content out, and sometimes I get feedback that touches my heart. Much of it just falls by the wayside. No worries, hakuna mutata!

A topic that recently came up was trustworthiness. Being able to be relied upon to be reliable or truthful. Upon reflection I see acts of service as a path to trustworthiness. As you do things for others, they will know how much they can depend on you. I recall a quote from Muhammad Ali "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.". So, it follows that if you pay your rent, then you are trustworthy.

Duncan