North Park family takes a Chance

I'm glad this story got a happy ending!

A North Park family got the go-ahead Wednesday to adopt the young dog found shot and wounded on the side of an East County road at the end of February.


Chance, a 19-month-old retriever mix, officially has a home. He was hit by a bullet that narrowly missed his heart and was in critical condition when found on the side of Viejas Grade Road on Feb. 20.


Sean and Adria Cavanaugh and their children, 6-year-old Finn, and 3-year-old Molly, formally adopted the 40-pound dog at San Diego County Animal Control's North Shelter in Carlsbad.


They had met him March 17 and all four bonded instantly with Chance, Adria Cavanaugh said.


"We are just thrilled, we feel so lucky," she said. "We are touched that we are able to be the ones to take him home and be part of our family."


The Cavanaughs lost their rescued 12-year-old golden retriever, Buddy, just over a year ago and were one of five families who were being considered to provide a permanent home for Chance. They had been searching for a new dog for months, Adria said. After seeing photographs of Chance online, she said, "we all just sort of fell in love."


Sean Cavanaugh works at home and will be able to provide the extra attention Chance will need as he continues to heal.


Adria Cavanaugh grew up in Alpine and her parents still live there. She said that her mother told her, "He's from Alpine, you're from Alpine. It's meant to be."


Finn Cavanaugh agrees.


"I really, really like him and also I think he's the best dog ever," he said. "He likes to cuddle with me."


Lt. Dan DeSousa said Chance still has a ways to go to recover from the gunshot that damaged his lungs.


The dog's original owner, who called him Jersey, relinquished him to the county. The cost of the dog's care was $8,000 and was paid for through donations via the Animal Services' Spirit Fund.


The shooting is under investigation; no tips have been forthcoming, DeSousa said. Crime Stoppers and San Diego Animal Advocates are together offering up to $3,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Read more at UTSanDiego.com.

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Missing 1.50 Carat Diamond Found and Returned to 86-year-old Woman

Absolutely amazing. How’s this for a feel good story?

On December 9th, 2011, Gloria DeMent finished her string of errands by visiting Leo Hamel Jewelry Buyers in Escondido, where she sold some unwanted valuables to the office's manager, Henry Chaplin. Later that day as she and her 88-year-old husband were getting ready to go to a community play, she noticed that the 1.50 carat center diamond from her wedding ring was missing. "We were married 65 years last May," she wrote. "My first set of rings wore out and after my mother died in 1983, we had a new ring made with her diamond." Although she was disappointed, at 86 years old, this was not her life's first misfortune-tragically, she and her husband had lost their 64-year-old son in August 2011. She continued in her letter, "I did treasure [the diamond], but compared to losing a son, it paled in significance." DeMent alerted Chaplin and the other businesses she'd visited earlier in the day that her diamond had disappeared, but nobody had seen it.

Three weeks later, something sparkly in the parking lot caught a stranger's eye. He picked it up, suspected it could be valuable, and seeing Leo Hamel Jewelry Buyers  just yards away, walked in to inquire about it. "I told him that this stone was indeed a valuable diamond," said Sara Mullert, a Leo Hamel employee. Mullert told him she hadn't heard of any missing diamond reports, but that it was most likely accidentally dropped by someone on their way in or out of the office. The man said that he'd rather just leave the stone with her, so "I thanked him profusely for his honesty, and told him that I would file a report right away," Mullert recounted. She immediately phoned her manager Chaplin, who remembered that DeMent had called him weeks ago reporting a lost diamond.

"After nearly two months, I'd given up hope that it would be found," recalled DeMent, until Chaplin called about the found diamond. She immediately drove to the Escondido Leo Hamel location to inspect it and was astonished when it fit perfectly into her diamond-less setting! A distinct and noticeable flaw in the gemstone confirmed that it was indeed the very diamond that she had lost three weeks earlier. "It is incredible that in all that time, people were parking, coming and going...there was lots of rain, weather, mud, etc. Finding a needle in the proverbial haystack would have been easier," said a still stunned DeMent. "[Sara] didn't pocket it, but turned it in to Henry, who remembered that one of his customers had lost her diamond."

As she, Chaplin, and Mullert weaved their parts of the story together, DeMent was sure she had witnessed something miraculous. "I have always believed in miracles and cannot help thinking that this whole bizarre circumstance has to be... for some purpose," she penned in a letter of gratitude to Leo Hamel. "It does build one's faith in humankind....[our] hearts have been warmed by your wonderful young people," she gushed, "...we [felt] blessed even before the diamond was found, but words cannot describe how touching, how unreal, how miraculous it all seems."

"The honesty of your employees is very impressive in this day and age of 'finders-keepers' or worse," DeMent wrapped up her letter. "I am so very, very grateful and want to attest to what a valued staff you have."

The Leo Hamel repair department set DeMent's diamond back in her ring free of charge. "We were just happy that we were able to reunite Mrs. DeMent with her cherished diamond," said Chaplin.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/15/prweb9282229.DTL#ixzz1pDSJZsFM

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San Diego Voted #9 in Trip Advisor’s Top U.S. Beach Destinations

What? Only #9? We so should have had 1st place! Well, maybe next year :)

If San Diego is known for one thing, it would be for our gorgeous beaches. And Trip Advisor agrees! San Diego was included in their list of top 10 Beach Destinations in the U.S. Sure enough, 70 miles of pristine coastline and legendary weather, you can enjoy the surf and sand almost any day of the year.

From expansive sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, reefs, tide pools and everything in between, the beaches in San Diego are as varied as the beach communities that were built around them. And there are so many kinds of beaches to discover: ones perfect for families and dogs; ones coveted by the world’s top surfers; even some that you can enjoy in the buff (although nude sunbathing is illegal!)


Whether digging your toes in the white mica sands of Coronado, roasting s’mores by the fire, playing an intense game of beach volleyball, exploring sea critters in tide pools, or simply relaxing as you’re lulled by the sounds of crashing waves, one thing’s for sure: On any given day at any beach in San Diego, you’ll find a front row seat to a magnificent display of the western sky as the sun descents into the Pacific.

So grab your beach towels, slather on the sunscreen, and get out to explore some of the finest beaches in the U.S.!



Tell us in the comments below, what’s your favorite beach in San Diego?


Read more at blog.sandiego.org.

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How To Prepare For Google's Privacy Changes

Google's privacy setting changes have been in the news a lot recently! Have you changed any of your settings, or are you planning to? The changes were actually implemented on Thursday, so some of you may have already noticed a difference in your online experience. 

To say that the change has stirred concern on the Web would be an understatement. Public officials and Web watchdogs in the United States and elsewhere have expressed fears that it will mean less privacy for users of the Web giant's multitude of products, from search to Gmail to YouTube to Google Maps to smartphones powered by the Android operating system. 

Google points out that the products won't be collecting any more data about users than they were before. And, in fairness, the company has gone out of its way to prominently announce the product across all of its platforms for weeks. 

The major change is that, instead of profiling users separately on each of its sites and products, Google will now pull all of that information together into one single profile, similar to what's found on Google's dashboard page. 

The result encapsulates perhaps the most basic conundrum of the modern Web. More information means better service (and potentially, more targeted advertisements). But that service (in this case more accurate search results, more interesting ads and new features that work across multiple sites) requires you to give up some of your privacy in return. 

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz has called it "a somewhat brutal choice." 

Google, not surprisingly, takes a different tack: The payoff for the company collecting your data is cool new services. For example, they could push cooking videos to you on YouTube if you'd been looking for recipes through Google search, privacy director Alma Whitten wrote in an editorial for the Sacramento Bee. 

"We just want to use the information you already trust us with to make your experience better," she wrote. "If you don't think information sharing will improve your experience, you don't need to sign in to use services like Search, Maps and YouTube. 

"If you are signed in, you can use our many privacy tools to do things like edit or turn off your search history, control the way Google tailors ads to your interests and browse the Web 'incognito' using Chrome." 

Wednesday is the last day for people to tweak those Google settings before the new policy begins, although they can change them afterward as well. 

Here are a few tips on how to keep your data a little more private on some of Google's most popular features. 

Don't sign in 

This is the easiest and most effective tip. 

Many of Google's services -- most notably search, YouTube and Maps -- don't require you to sign in to use them. If you're not logged in, via Gmail or Google+, for example, Google doesn't know who you are and can't add data to your profile. 

But to take a little more direct action ... 

Removing your Google search history 

Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation has compiled a step-by-step guide to deleting and disabling your Web History, which includes the searches you've done and sites you've visited. 

It's pretty quick and easy: 

-- Sign in to your Google account 

-- Go to www.google.com/history 

-- Click "Remove all Web History" 

-- Click "OK" 

As the EFF notes, deleting your history will not prevent Google from using the information internally. But it will limit the amount of time that it's fully accessible. After 18 months, the data will become anonymous again and won't be used as part of your profile. 

Clearing your YouTube history 

Similarly, users may want to remove their history on YouTube. That's also pretty quick and easy. 

-- Sign in on Google's main page 

-- Click on "YouTube" in the toolbar at the top of the page 

-- On the right of the page, click your user name and select "Video Manager" 

-- Click "History" on the left of the page and then "Clear Viewing History" 

-- Refresh the page and then click "Pause Viewing History" 

-- You can clear your searches on YouTube by going back and choosing "Clear Search History" and doing the same steps. 

Gmail Chat 

When you start a chat with someone, you can make the conversation "off the record." Off-the-record chats will not be stored in your chat history or the history of the person with whom you're talking. All chats with that person will remain off the record until you change the status. To go off the record: 

-- Click the "Actions" link at the top right of the chat window 

-- Scroll down to "Go off the record." Both you and your chat partner will see that the chat has been taken off the record. 

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/science_tech/google-privacy-change-what-you-can-do-to-keep-your-data-a-little-more-private#ixzz1ny4zvS3Y

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