President Mike Moffat received the following email message that may be of interest to anyone in the club who might want to visit Africa.
The purpose of this correspondence is to announce an upcoming trip to Mombasa, Kenya, East Africa in May 2019 to participate in the 2nd Annual East Africa Rotary Projects Fair, and engage in a hands-on work project. Go here for information about this trip. Please feel free to share this information with the Rotarians in your club as soon as possible as we have a limited amount of space and expect this trip to be filled in the next week or two.
Trip Dates: April 30 – May 6, 2019 Travel to: Mombasa, Kenya, East Africa Per Person Price: $1,619, double occupancy
Program includes: Hotel accommodations, transfers, most meals, hands-on community service field work, East Africa Projects Fair registration, special Rotary and fellowship events, sightseeing, etc.
In May 2019, North American Rotarians will travel to Mombasa, Kenya for a life changing experience. Have you spoken about or heard a Rotarian speak about their personal experience participating a work on a humanitarian grant? These trips have a profound effect upon the individual. For those of you who have gone on one of these trips you know, and for those of you who have yet to enjoy this experience, you should.
The East Africa Project Fair is endorsed by Rotary’s Reach Out to Africa Committee (ROTA), who is trying to generate greater connectivity between the African and North American Rotarians to generate greater support of the projects of Africa. This committee needs your help, leadership and motivational skills, to generate awareness, interest and action to support these projects. Further, projects fairs are an expanding program, encourage by Rotary and The Rotary Foundation as an extraordinary opportunity for clubs to find viable, qualified humanitarian projects.
Recently, the trustees of the Rotary Foundation announced that District Grant funds could be used for travel to a Project Fair.
The hope is that you can participate. However, even if you are unable to join us this year, please feel free to announce this program in your club and District over the next month, get it on websites, and get it in newsletters. Encourage your members to participate – help Rotary Be the Inspiration.
Let us know if you have any questions. We hope to hear from you soon.
During my training to be an RSVP volunteer with San Diego Police Department, I learned about the increase in the fines for traffic and parking violations. There has been a significant increase in the fines, especially for parking in a handicap space or in the hashmarks next to a handicap space. The fine is now $1000 versus $400. This doesn't include other associated fees that go along with the fine. Be aware that if you park in a handicapped space, you car will be photographed to provide evidence of the violation.
Here are some of the additional fines for traffic violations ( not including processing fees!)
Traffic Fine Rule (Violation)
Fine
Forgot to bring a driver's license
$214
Forgot to change the address (more than ten days)
$214
Uninsured car in accident
$796 and’ driver's license revoked for 4 years
Did not stop at red light or turning right
$533
Crossing double yellow line
$425
Violation of the turn or turn around
$284
Stop sign, but did not stop
$284
Pass the flashing light of school bus
$675
Parked at a bus stop
$976
Not wearing a seat belt
$160
Driving with high beam lights
$382
Child did not wear a seat belt or not in a child seat
$436
Covering car door
$178
Driving with headphones on
$178
Speeding 1-15 miles $224
Speeding 16-25 miles $338
usually the police determined that speeding is over 5 miles.
On rainy day you are not allowed to exceed 65 miles. With fog, the speed of car should be slower than usual.
Talking on cell phone first time $76,
second time $190,
(same penalty even if you are just holding the cell phone in your hand!)
Note: You are required to have your headlights on if it is raining. Rule of thumb - if you have to have your windshield wipers, you must have your headlights on.
I couldn't find a complete list of fines, but you need to know that the fines have all increased significant, You need to be very careful when driving or parking your car. It isn't any fun to have to pay these fines!
At last week's meeting, we were informed about how to make it more difficult for cybercriminals to access data on our computers or other devices that we use to connect to the internet. We have heard of computer virus protection software and malware protection application. However they are not enough because they can only detect problems that are already on your devices after these providers learn about them and engineer a solution. By that time, you could already be affected.
UPDATE
During the last week I took four days of training to be an RSVP volunteer in Rancho Bernardo. While I was at San Diego Police Department Headquarters on Thursday for a class on cyber security, I asked the officer instructor about the application (NordVPN) that I am using for my virtual private network (VPN). I learned from him that it was a very good one.
I have been using a password manager storage application for years. Today, we have easy access to information that we need - information such as bank transactions and balances, investment account balances, access to information about insurance and medical record account information - to mention just a few. Then there are websites that allow us to shop online. Each one of these website require us to set up an account with a logon and password. Because many of these websites we may only visit occasionally, it becomes a problem to store passwords. Since best practices require that we use unique passwords for our internet accounts, it quickly becomes a problem of having a secure place to store these passwords. You should never use just one simple password for all your accounts. Using only one allows anyone learning about it to gain access to every site you use.
For years, I have been using a password manager application that stores encrypted passwords and other sensitive data in a dedicated file in the cloud. This application allows me to store such things as account numbers for bank and insurance in addition to passwords for numerous websites. Because the application I use is available for not only on my computer, but also my phone and tablet device, I can literally be anywhere and have the ability to have access to important data.
This brings me to the other piece of this puzzle. When we travel, we often are in places where the most convenient source for access is the free access in coffee shops or hotel lobbies. However, this allows anyone else using these connections to "see" your computer and get important connection information that they can use to later gain access to your device or computer in order to use your devices to be the source of viruses and malware - all without your knowledge.
The answer to this problem is to set up a Virtual Private Network. There are numerous sources on the internet for applications for websites that allow you to easily set up a VPN. The process is surprisingly simple and relatively inexpensive. The way that a VPN works is that once you set it up, anytime you access the internet, no one can "see" your IP address, which means that they can't see you. In fact, the VPN application allows you to select what country you are coming from ! Even though you are here in San Diego, you can connect to a VPN server in places such as Germany, the UK, France, Spain and Japan. (This really makes for some annoying responses from websites that want to sell you something because they don't know where you are.) I found that the only problem was with my access to the digital issue of the Union Tribune newspaper. Since they are affiliated with the LA Times, the LS Times restricts information going out to foreign countries. The fixit here was to change my connection to a VPN website in the US.
I was also surprised to learn that Yahoo collects and distributes by way of cookies data that it gets from your computer and there is no way to opt out,
The way to find out what choices there are for a VPN software and service provider is to do a search for VPN software. You can see what each will do and how many of your devices that you use that can be connected. In my case, the one I chose allows me to connect a total of 6 devices and computers. A multiyear fee brought the cost for this to less than $100. The cost will vary according to which application you choose.
One thing I have noticed is that my computer seems to be faster. I just wonder whether I there were things happening in the background on my computer that were causing it to slow down. VPN software does not affect your email except that it encrypts your connection to your internet service provider and make anyone who is looking for your connection information to be unable to do so.
I hope that this information can be useful to you in making your digital devices more secure.
Facilitators are needed for the 2019 RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Conference. Join 280 enthusiastic high school juniors from throughout the District at this outstanding Rotary youth leadership program scheduled for April 12-14, 2019 in beautiful Idyllwild. Join the fun and be inspired!
As a facilitator, you will have the unique opportunity of helping guide students through a proven program promoting leadership, self-awareness, and community building. Details and an application are located at www.ryla5340.org or contact Paul van Roon at paulvanroon@icloud.com for additional information. There is NO COST to your club to participate and there are only a few positions remaining. PLEASE APPLY SOON!
District Training Assembly
Held only once a year, the District Training Assembly (DTA) offers training on a variety of subjects to Rotarians, including current and incoming officers, directors and committee chairs to help them become effective leaders. ALL Rotarians - especially Red Badgers - are welcome and encouraged to attend. This year's DTA will be on Saturday, March 30.
Come learn about Rotary programs, tips on program and project management and best practices from other Rotarians. DTA is also a great opportunity to meet and connect with other Rotarians. Classes fill up quickly, so don't miss out - REGISTER TODAY! Registration ends March 27, 2019.
MANDATORY TRAINING
Two members of any club planning to apply for a District Grant MUST register and attend the District Grants Seminar (Session 4 of DTA), which will be held from 12:10 to 2:00 p.m. There is no charge to attend.
