"X" CLASS SOLAR FLARE SHOOTS FROM SUNS SURFACE

[DON'T WORRY - BE HAPPY]

Just before it disappeared from our view Sunspot 1515 shot an "X" class solar flare out into space. Fortunately for us, because of the angle, we only have a slight chance of a glancing blow to our Planet. These things usually take a day or two to get here, so usually there is time to change the altitude on the satellites above us that provide phone, video feeds, and other communications. I don't if you'll remember this or not, but I think it was back in 2006 when we were hit dead-on by a lower level CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) which affected the power grid in the Midwest to the East coast.

Regarding the hype about hundreds of thousands of people losing access to the Internet [ed. - scroll down a few posts to read mine], like anything, the news reporters are going to make it sound like the end of the world, and "by-the-way-don't-change-that-dial-or-you-may-miss-the-latest-reports". We get a lot of that here on the Gulf coast, usually weather related, but from what I've read, the fact remains official estimates predict only 60,000 computers in North America are affected. When you consider how many people there are on this Continent that have computers and Internet access, the odds that you have one is astronomical.

There are several safe places to check your computer (I have a link for one of them), but please don't fall for any emails sent to you saying you are infected with this bug and they can fix your computer for $59.95. Trust only your trusted sources, whether it be pcworld.com, pcmag.com, cnet.com, or even SugarlandPC.

If you Google for a site, hopefully you're using Symantec Internet Security 2012 or Norton 360 which will tell you, via colored dots, whether or not to click on a link that came up on your Google search. Green dots = the website checks out and the links on the website are good too. Orange dots = the website is generally good, but it has some suspicious links on it. Red dots = Don't click on that link.