Micheal Espinola Jr's Blog

This was originally written on February 8, 2008.  I recently got back into the notion of blogging, and surprised myself when I found this buried at the bottom of my draft posts.

I found this to be very moving… Almost as moving as the original speech it is based on. Having watched various documentaries that have reflected upon Dr. Martin Luther King’s power in spoken words for a better society, and the tragic loss of the dream that he tried to share with us all – I’ve grown up in a society that has become increasingly cynical, distrusting, and disenfranchised from what was the American Dream – myself included.

Listening to Barack Obama speak has been inspirational for me. He is the only living political or social figure in my lifetime to make me feel that there is still hope for this country – a hope that we can overcome and fix what is wrong in our society, as well as how we behave as people on a planet that we share with others.

I like to think I look past the boundaries of political parties, and judge people for the values and decisions that they have and will make. I hope in my lifetime I can see the two party system abolished. I think that the current party system intentionally divides people that would do better to come together in solidarity for improving our great land as well as our lives.

Adobe has released an update to fix the security vulnerability that I told you about back on February 25th. Please apply this fix as soon as possible.

To fix the problem, Adobe Reader must be upgraded to version 9.1.  This applies to all Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh users of the Adobe Reader. You can download and install Adobe Reader 9.1 here:

• http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Note: This fix is currently only for the version 9 Reader.  Fixes for version 7 and 8 Readers are in the works and scheduled for release by March 18 2009. The version 9 Reader can exist with older versions of the full Adobe acrobat product if need be.

Feel free to reuse the following text in your own notifications, as I wrote it to notify users within my company. It would be nice of you to send me a hello/thanks comment if you do!

Adobe has recently announced that there is a critical security vulnerability in their Acrobat and Reader products, and that they will be unable to release a patch for the issue until March 11, 2009.  This is a serious security issue that affects all current versions of Acrobat and Reader, going back to 2005 (which includes versions 7 through the current version 9.) Adobe Acrobat and Reader are the applications used to create and view .PDF files.

To help reduce the exposure you have to this security vulnerability, please make the following changes from within the Acrobat and Reader applications:

1. Launch Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader
2. Select Help → Update
   • After the update has completed (if necessary), complete the next steps within the application:
3. Select Edit → Preferences
4. Select the JavaScript Category
5. Un-check the “Enable Acrobat JavaScript” option
6. Click OK

Please note: These steps will not protect you completely from the security issue, but it will lessen the potential for being hacked. The actual fix for this issue is scheduled for release by Adobe on March 11, 2009.  Until then, as with other files you may download from the Internet, you must be careful and diligent regarding the source of any file you choose to transfer to and open on your computer.

Because of the lack of a patch or update for such an extended period of time, everyone needs to be particularly careful when opening PDF documents from potentially untrustworthy web sites on the Internet, via email, or from other sources.

It might not be the right time
I might not be the right one
But there’s something about us I want to say
Cause there’s something between us anyway
I might not be the right one
It might not be the right time
But there’s something about us I’ve got to do
Some kind of secret I will share with you
I need you more than anything in my life
I want you more than anything in my life
I’ll miss you more than anyone in my life
I love you more than anyone in my life

I just learned with great sadness that George Carlin passed yesterday, apparently because of heart failure. Myself having been born in the early 70′s, George Carlin has always been a cultural icon to me, and one of my all-time favorite comedians.

I had the great fortune of finally being able to catch his act last year.  He was just as cleaver as ever, and his routine was all that I could ever have wanted it to be. Although branded as a counter-culture troublemaker, his comedy was always well grounded and sensible.  Sensible in that we have to occasionally look back at ourselves and our culture, and see the wrong we are doing in our quest to be right and righteous.

George, you will be missed.