Money Coming Your Way! Tag...you're it!

Money Angel
This is a money angel Pass it to 6 of your good friends,
or family and be rich in 4 Days.
Pass it to 12 of your good friends or family and be rich in 2 Days.
I am not joking. You will find an unexpected windfall. If you delete it, you will never know!                            
SHE WORKS SHE REALLY WORKS!!

1. If you are over forty, and you have a washboard stomach, you are gay. It means you haven't sucked back enough beer with the boys and have spent the rest of your free time doing sit-ups, aerobics, and doing
the Oprah diet.

2. If you have a cat, you are a Flaaaaming homo. A cat is like a dog, but gay -- it grooms itself constantly but never scratches itself, has a delicate touch except when it uses its nails, and whines to be fed. And
just think about how you call a dog... "Killer, come here! I said get your ass over here, Killer!" Now think about how you call a cat..."Bun-bun, come to daddy, snookums!" Jeeezus, you're fit to be
framed, you're so gay.

3. If you suck on lollipops, Ring-Pops, baby pacifiers, or any such nonsense, rest assured, you are a Gaylord. A straight man only sucks on bar-B-que ribs, crab claws, raw oysters, crawfish guts, pickled pigs feet, or tits. Anything else and your in training and undeniably a fag.

4. If you refuse to take a dump in a public bathroom or piss in a parking lot, you crave a deep homosexual relationship. A man's world is his bathroom; he goes wherever he pleases.

5. If you drink anything other than regular coffee. A straight man will never be heard ordering a "Decaf Soy Latte". If you've put a Decaf Soy Latte to your lips, you've had a man there, too.

6. If you know more than six names of non standard colors or four different types of dessert other than ice cream and pie, you might as well be handing out free ass passes. A real man doesn't have memory space in his brain to remember all of that crap. If you can pick out chartreuse or you know what a "fressier" is you're gay. And if you can name ANY type of textile other than cotton or denim, you are a fag.

7. If you drive with both hands on the wheel, forget it, you're dying to tune a meat whistle. A man only puts both hands on the wheel to honk at a slow-ass driver or to cut off the jerk. The rest of the time he needs that hand to change the radio station, eat a burger, or hold his beer.

8. If you do not send this off to all the males on your email list because you are afraid of hurting their feelings then you are definitely on the verge on being a fudgepacker!! Send this out to all the pretty women out there so that they know how to tell if a guy is gay.

DESCARGAR CHAIN LETTERS, Supastition, 2005.- / CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOAD

Tracklist

01. Chain Letters (Intro) [produced by M-phazes]
02. Don't Stop [produced by M-phazes]
03. Split Decisions [produced by M-phazes]
04. Soul Control [produced by Illmind]
05. Rise [produced by Nicolay]
06. That Ain't Me [produced by Illmind]
07. Hate My Face [produced by Jake One]
08. Special Treatment [produced by Illmind]
09. Ain't Going Out [produced by Illmind]
10. A Baby Story [produced by Nicolay]
11. 100% [produced by Illmind]
12. Yesterday Everyday [produced by Nicolay]
13. Nickled Needles [produced by M-phazes]
14. Appreciation [produced by Johnny Madwreck]
15. Blood Brothers [produced by Illmind]
16. Always [prpduced by M-phazes]
17. Soul Control (Solo Version) [produced by Illmind]

Escuchar " A Baby Story" / Listen to " A Baby Story"

Escuchar "Soul Control " / Listen to " Soul Control"

Ain´t Going Out live

Hate My Face live

George taught people to think outside the box and not take things at face value; to wonder and question and think for ourselves. He challenged us and taught us how to challenge ourselves. And he did all this while also teaching us not take ourselves, or even him, too fucking seriously.

In light of George Carlin's recent death, his name is popping up all over the internet. This is to be expected. One thing that is being wrongly attributed to him, however, is a piece entitled The Paradox of Our Time. Since George did not want to be associated with this and, in fact, called it "a sappy load of shit", it is in his honor that I write this post.

More inside the crack:

George Carlin did not write The Paradox of Our Time!

Variations: Numerous versions are prefaced with this:
What a difference a sad event in someone's life makes.

GEORGE CARLIN (His wife recently died...)

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent... and so very appropriate.

Origins: In May 1998, Jeff Dickson posted the 'Paradox of Our Time' essay to his Hacks-R-Us online forum, loosing it upon the Internet. The essay has since been attributed to comedian George Carlin, an unnamed Columbine High School student, and that most prolific of scribes, Anonymous.

George Carlin very emphatically denied he had had anything to do with "Paradox," a piece he referred to as "a sappy load of shit," and posted his comments about being associated with this essay on his own web site. With reference to the "His wife recently died" line found in many of the forwards, Brenda Carlin, the comedian's wife, died on 11 May 1997 of liver cancer.

The true author of the piece is neither George Carlin nor Jeff Dickson, nor is he anonymous. Credit belongs with Dr. Bob Moorehead, former pastor of Seattle's Overlake Christian Church. (He retired in 1998 after 29 years in that post). The essay appeared under the title "The Paradox of Our Age" in Words Aptly Spoken, Dr. Moorehead's 1995 collection of prayers, homilies, and monologues used in his sermons and radio broadcasts:

Snopes.com

Here is what George had to say about it:

One of the more embarrassing items making the internet/e-mail rounds is a sappy load of shit called "The Paradox of Our Time." The main problem I have with it is that as true as some of the expressed sentiments may be, who really gives a shit? Certainly not me.

I figured out years ago that the human species is totally fucked and has been for a long time. I also know that the sick, media-consumer culture in America continues to make this so-called problem worse. But the trick, folks, is not to give a fuck. Like me. I really don't care. I stopped worrying about all this temporal bullshit a long time ago. It's meaningless. (See the preface of "Braindroppings.")

Another problem I have with "Paradox" is that the ideas are all expressed in a sort of pseudo-spiritual, New-Age-y, "Gee-whiz-can't-we-do-better-than-this" tone of voice. It's not only bad prose and poetry, it's weak philosophy. I hope I never sound like that.

GeorgeCarlin.com

So, please don't think you're honoring George Carlin by posting this sappy load of shit and attributing it to him. If you don't recognize it as clearly not his style, you weren't paying attention to the man.

Thanks to PhysioProf for "inside the crack"!

Four Jobs I Had

I worked at a bagel bakery for like 2 months of my sophomore year of high school. I got in trouble for making out with some dude there after closing. And then my parents made me quit because my grades were crappy. News flash: I was bored.

For close to 3 years I worked as a hostess at Red Robin. I started as a hostess cos I wasn't old enough to be a server (I was  17) and then once I turned 18 I was too lazy to train as one. Plus, I was the only hostess who wasn't like 15, so I was the official trainer of the squeaky bitches earning me 10 bucks an hour. Pretty good for restaurant wages...

For a blissful year I worked as a Game Advisor at GameStop. It was super fun when no one was in the store. Working at night was hell, but during the day you'd get to talk to all kinds of gamers about the cool stuff out there, what games were coming up etc. It was even better when I was paired with one of my friends. Goofing off and trashtalking were a staple. I still miss GameStop. Just not that awful bathroom.

Um, I used to work at AOL. I think we all know how that turned out. (See below post.)

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over

Grandma's Boy

Dawn of the Dead (Remake)

Resident Evil

Supertroopers

Four Places I've Lived (Ah, my sheltered life.)

Stafford, Virginia

Woodbridge, Virginia

Ashburn, Virginia

Sterling, Virginia

Four TV Shows I Like

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Futurama

Home Movies

Ghost Hunters

Four Favorite Foods (Here's where it gets WEIRD)

Artichokes

Asparagus

Popcorn (Homemade)

Mushrooms

Four Places I'd Rather Be

New York City

California

Colorado

Italy

Four People I'm Tagging (oh MAN, is one ok? everyone else has been hit!)

Lauren @ http://laurengoestoitaly.umwblogs.org/

At the risk of offending you all and p*ssing you all off....

I am NOT a Christian. I am NOT interested in being forwarded "amazing miracle pictures" of the proof of God's existence which actually were most likely Photoshoped anyway, otherwise it would have made the news. I am not interested in signing my name to a prayer chain letter to heal a sick child that never existed. I have already seen the angel email more than once that tells me to send it to X many friends to have a wish come true...I sent it to all my friends once, maybe twice before and my wish did not, in fact, come true. Either the Angel doesn't exist or is pissed because I am a Buddhist...either way, it doesn't work. I don't care about Jesus' or Mary's likeness showing up in french toast, grilled cheese, or potato chips. It isn't a miracle to me, just a weird random coincidence that someone sees a pattern in melted butter and pancake syrup.

I am also not interested in sending along to all my friends' the same hoax about cookie recipes or dying children. Many of those emails are either not true, or outdated as the kid either died or is living a healthy life as an adult. There is no real way to track emails that are forwarded either, unless it eventually gets sent back to the original recipient...which they almost never do as the email address is usually bogus...and if not, then again that email is outdated. Old Navy, Macy's, or any other department store or restaurant isn't going to give you a discount or free items or coupons just by forwarding an email...they may do that if you give them your email so they can sell it to spammers, however.

Just in case you never realized, the above scenarios are an easy way to pass on computer viruses to all your friends. The crooks count on helpless computer illiterate people to do their work for them by making chain letters. Best case scenerio it will lock up your computer or email because you have received too many. Please...don't send that stuff to me...just hit delete. Delete is your friend.

Also, for the love of all that is holy use BCC (blind carbon copy) and do NOT hit REPLY ALL unless you are replying to a family email about showing up for a family function (or something similar). I don't know everyone you know and I don't know everyone your friends know and on more than one occasion I have actually been spammed by fowarded emails from people I have never heard of because my email was on the TO list somewhere. If you use BCC it hides everyone's email addresses so people who don't want their email known to complete strangers won't have their names added to the forward list of 20 people they never even knew existed in the world.

Also, please don't ONLY forward me crap. Take a few minutes to actually write me an email. It doesn't have to be long, just a "HI howyadoin...we are fine" kinda email. I want to know how YOU are, not worry over chain letters.

Thanks!

Me

I have had a prepaid phone with you for the past few years and have been happy with it so far. Because of our satisfaction with the phone, I had decided to purchase a second phone for my husband for Father's Day that he can use for his main number to his martial arts classes he teaches. I was also happy to see that, at any time, we could change from a prepaid minute by minute plan to a monthly plan should he get more calls than we anticipate.

However, I wrote you about having an issue with your website, specifically ordering the phone for my husband. I wrote that there was an error on the website that made it impossible to complete my transaction to purchase the phone. I even gave you the error that showed up on my screen and what I did to get said error. It obviously was some kind of coding issue that needs to be resolved.

In return you said that you were sorry I was having issues, but that I could call a number and order the phone, or go to your website and order it. Somehow I think you didn't read the entire email or you didn't pay attention to the template email you sent me telling me I can order the phone online or you would know that I could not, in fact, order the phone off of your website because of this error. Now, I realize that you are probably very busy and not in charge of coding the website, but could you at least take the time to review my email before sending me a response?

Again, we have been happy with the service (so far) your company has given us with our original phone and I still intend on buying the other phone at an actual store. However, in the interest of good customer service I suggest you review how you deal with questions and complaints...at the very least have someone actually read the emails customers send you and send out and appropriate response.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Me

Ever wonder where all the bad jokes come from? (me, too!) While we may never know the answer to that question we can surmise that it's our darling aunts and uncles who are perpetuating this blight on the existence of our email in-boxes. These are the family members that send every bad joke ever written...the stuff seems to stick to them like leaches.

This is also the relative who believes "If it's in my email it must be true!" They forward urban legends, virus threats, consequence filled chain letters and often, any scurrilous rumor attached to the democratic party. They send all that is is sent to them to everyone on their list, thereby clogging the arteries of our already plaque infested email. Oddly enough, they immediately forget about it right after they send it out. Can you imagine any of them actually admitting they never use their cell phones near a gas pump because they are afraid of an electrical spark? Bah. It would never occur to them to check out the rumor on a website like snopes.com (Even tho they've many times before been sent proof of the hoodwink with a helpful link to said snopes).

If this syndrome has descended upon your family you will doubtless know they are also prone to send out the type of emails that blast away at "Those liberals!" and tend toward the stuff that either tries to save you or damn you saying "If you don't send this out you don't believe in Jesus!" ...guilt complex is a regular on their menu. As they happily punch away at the poor worn out FWD: button they seem to have this strange notion that everyone on their email list feels the same way as they.

My in-box valiantly fights off all kinds of spam (poor thing). The last thing I want to do is be terrorised by "God Botherers", "Jesus Thumpers", "virus vigilanties" and last but not least, threatening chain letters. You know the kind, "Your hair will fall out and you will have bad luck for 100 years if you don't send this out to 85 people in the next 6 seconds. If you DO send it out you will receive, FREE , a lifetime supply of M&M candies, watch what happens, you won't be sorry, NO! It really does work!" And then there's the, "A women in Uzbekistan broke this chain and went mad from Frog Fever and bit everyone she met with a french sounding name." Did the "FWD: Happies" ever consider that this missive might make it's way to someone who is prematurely bald, or lives in Paris....hmmmm?)

Ah well, the sun comes up and there is hope for the "FWD: Happyies" of the world. It's quite simple and in the case of threatening chain letters, if you are superstitious you don't even have worry about breaking the chain. Just cut and paste the message into another clean, fresh un-FWD'd email. If the message is a good one and you want to send on the sentiment (it DOES happen on occasion) all you have to do is take the sting out, meaning take out the part about, "You must send this to 57 people in the next 5 second or you will catch Frog Fever and die!". It can be replaced with "Send this to as many people as you like because it's a neat story" ...and Viola! You have taken your first steps to overcoming the "FWD: Happy Syndrome." Your grateful family will love you for it.

Just a thought I caught flying by, what do you think?

Eh, whatever. I'm honored to be included on this particular short list, because do you remember waaaaay back before I had like six readers, and I joked about both of my readers? One of them was Zen Yenta. I like having her around, because her insightful and wise comments remind me that there's a very good chance I will survive this whole parenting thing. Thanks, Zen.

I'm so over the ones of these that circulate by email and you tell a bunch of folks "four things you don't know about me," or "send a recipe to one person and you'll receive 36 recipes by email!" I usually respond to the sender but don't forward them on, because I don't know anyone who would even bother to participate. I remember when chain letters were popular when we were kids (dated reference alert!) - I loved the idea and willingly participated, until I suffered repeated disappointments by some people who kept insisting on breaking the chain. (You know who you are.) I am sure their lives have been little more than a series of unlucky events since the 1970s. That'll teach you, nyah nyah.

This meme, however, is easy. Here goes:

1. Write the title to your memoir using 6 words:

Life's short: Party now, laundry later.

2. Link to the person that tagged you:

Zen Yenta's Senior Moments

3. Tag five more blogs:

WashWords

Gift of Green

Life in Mathews

Meg Casey

Mom, Ma'am Me

Tag, ladies - you're it. The rest of you? Click on these links and read these blogs, because these writers ROCK.

Little did I know that my dear friend had somehow missed the memo about proper etiquette for rekindling one’s middle school friendships on Facebook & was planning on using her newfound power for evil. Before long, I started getting emails from this friend, who had clearly poached my address from my Facebook profile. At first, I was excited. Yay, I thought, my friend was surely emailing me to find out how my life has turned out since she fled to Wisconsin. So you can imagine my shock & disappointment upon discovering that all the emails I got from her were---prepare yourself---chain letters & forwards.

That’s right, my Facebook reconnection had put me on her mass mailing list. Soon, my other friends who had also friended her were bringing it up uncomfortably in conversation & we were all dismayed to discover that not only did our dear old friend see our joyful reconnection on Facebook solely as an opportunity to add more people to her spam list, but she also had apparently never gotten over the great chain letter craze of the 90s.

So sadly, this experience really not only led to me wishing we had never reconnected, but also that we had never been friends in the first place so that I wouldn’t have been in the position where I’d WANT to reconnect, 10 years later. But hey, at least I found out that if I passed this email on to 50 of my closest friends, my crush will reveal himself to me.

-Amy Yen

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

Send this to your twenty-something friends... maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion...

FATE DETERMINES WHO COMES INTO OUR LIVES.....HEART DETERMINES WHO STAYS

To succeed in any line of work you have to be inventive and stay ahead of the game. It is no different for Internet scammers. They have been seizing their rods and 'going phishing' and this phishing rarely allows the big ones to get away. Here we see the Bonnie & Clyde versions of the digital age and some of the biggest multi-national companies like Citibank and Visa International, Ebay and PayPal have all been targeted.

The FBI called phishing one of the “hottest and most troubling scams on the Internet”.

Many scams are started by small time hackers, just flexing their muscles on the Web. But phishing has moved into the ‘big boys’ league, as more and more of these attacks are now being linked to highly sophisticated criminal syndicates, in areas as widely spread as Europe and Asia.

"Phishing is motivated purely by financial fraud and gain. And organized crime is now just using the Internet as one pillar alongside gambling and human trafficking," said D.K. Mata, founder of mi2g, a British-based security firm.

What is Phishing? It is a high-tech scam where hackers (the phishers), posing as legitimate companies, send out spam e-mails (the bait) and try to fool the e-mail recipient, (the fish) into volunteering passwords, personal and financial data and other sensitive information.

If the recipient responds with the requested information, he has unwittingly become the victim of fraud and has then been ‘phished’. The information goes not to the legitimate company, but straight into the hands of the scammer. This is then used to raid bank accounts, obtain new credit cards, order goods and services online and play havoc with personal credit ratings. Bottom line, these scammers are stealing identities.

Those banks, credit card companies and e-commerce sites already targeted so far, have dismissed the costs of these phishing scams as negligible. But mi2g, estimated that total costs to companies back in 2003 ran to as high as $5 billion. This takes into account customer and productivity losses, business interruptions and damage control to reassure the millions of apprehensive customers and victims already targeted.

So how do they do it? According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), these phishers target customers of businesses which deal with online payment, i.e. Internet service providers, shopping sites and banks.

The e-mails sent out appear to be 100% legitimate but, as ever, appearances can be deceptive. Both the initial e-mails and sites to which they try to link you are only dummy copies - perfect look-alikes in every way. Easily achieved by those with the know how, everything can be forged, from a company logo to a replica site with an apparently authentic return address.

Even the address you see in the window can be made to match a legitimate URL. This is made possible by a bug in the Internet Explorer browser and the way in which URLs are displayed in the address bar.

Simply put, the browser is unable to display the special character '%01', or anything that follows the web address. So, where as previously you would have been able to check the authenticity of the address in the bar before you entered sensitive information, this bug has made that impossible.

In the hands of a hacker with knowledge of URL obfuscation techniques, it is easy to change an obvious fake address such as ‘www.lookalikes’ ‘www.citibank.com%01@211.239.150.170/login/login.htm’ into the undetectable counterfeit ‘www.citibank.com’.

These e-mails warn that fraudulent activity has been detected in connection with the company's accounts. You are urged to click on a link and check your account balances, to 'update' or 'validate' their billing information in order to keep your account active. With a heavy dose of irony, these bogus e-mails may even urge you to report any signs of fraud.

The following is an example of a phishing e-mail that arrived in my inbox even as I was writing this. This is a simplified format compared to others, but a hoax nevertheless and not hard to spot as I do not own a Visa credit card!

Subject: Visa Security Update

Dear Sir/Madam,
We were informed that your card is used by another person or stolen. It could happen if you have been shopping on-line, and someone got your "Billing information" including your card number. To avoid and prevent any billing mistakes and to refund your credit card, it is strongly recommended to precede filling in the secure form on our site and applying for our Zero Liability program. Program is free and it will help us to investigate this accident as soon as possible. Sincerely yours,

Visa Support Assistant, Alwin Desagun.

This particular e-mail plus many others can be found at www.antiphishing.org/apwg.htm. A good place to check if you unsure.

If these hoax e-mails are so sophisticated how will you be able to spot them? By now the alarm bells in your mind will be ringing and you might be thinking that Money Plus The Internet Equals A Dangerous Equation.
Generally if an e-mail doesn't sound right, look right or smell right there is a good chance that it isn't right. Common sense can go along way here.

Stick to some basic guidelines and you should have less chance of falling hook, line and sinker for these scams.

• Remember that NO reputable business would ever ask you to update or change sensitive and private information via e-mail or online. It would be done in person or over the phone.

• E-mails that bear dire warnings and request sensitive information, right down to your inside leg measurements, are scams. Do not reply via the e-mail, instead contact the company by phone or by personally typing in the genuine URL address.

• Never send personal or financial information via e-mail. If you are submitting financial information on a Web site, check first for space the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. It indicates that your information is secure during transmission.

• Check credit card and bank account statements for any discrepancies as soon as you receive them. Call your credit card company immediately if something looks amiss. Likewise if your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call to confirm your billing address and account balances.

How are companies fighting back? EBay and Citibank have posted tips and examples of fraudulent e-mails on their Web sites, to help customers identify them. PayPal, one of the first targeted, are offering an extra level of security through a verification system.

Visa International is going one step further. Not only are they buying all Visa-related domain names in the regions in which they operate, but by using Web crawler technology, they are hunting out and shutting down hoax sites carrying their logos and text.

Visa International has also set up the site www.mymoneyskills.com to inform and educate consumers.

Who is going to stop it? The IE bug was discovered, not by a Microsoft security expert, but by a British 18 year old Graphic Designer, alias "Zap the Dingbat". He publicly 'outed' it on his personal website on 9th December 2003.

It took scammers a full week to begin taking advantage of the bug and from then on the problem snowballed. One month after its discovery it was still a free-for-all, for every hacker in the cyber world. Microsoft have since released a patch (a virtual plaster) to resolve the issue, however it does not seem to have contained the problem, as the Web is still rife with phishing e-mails.

To make matters worse, many people tend not to keep their software up-to-date. This leaves their computers exposed and vulnerable to hackers. Using pirated software gives the user even less or no protection at all, as many of these illegal copies are unable to benefit from the updates released.

Anti-virus and anti-spam companies are also adding additional filters to their programmes in an effort to target these e-mails. GIANT, an anti-spam software company, claims that 'Spam Inspector 4.0' has ’a unique 'Phishing Hole Filter’, preventing these potentially fraudulent e-mails from making it to your inbox.

One step towards solving the problem, says Jevans, Chairman of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, is to use digital signatures on e-mails, as they are harder to fake. Further down the line, tougher, biometric security measures might well be called into play. Combinations of fingerprint or iris scans, with a password or Smartcard, might well become the norm when accessing accounts and conducting online transactions.

Sweeping changes will need to be developed first and then implemented, and this will take both time and money.

To date, only one U.S. federal case of 'phishing' has been settled. A teenager posing as AOL, sent hoax e-mails to the company's customers, asking for their billing details. Using the information gained he went on an online shopping spree and opened accounts with PayPal. When brought to court in July 2003 he was ordered to repay the $3,500 of his 'ill-gotten gains' and barred from sending any further spam.

Today, the FTC is working alongside the FBI and the Justice Department on a number of other phishing cases, although no others have yet been settled.

With every new advance in technology there will be those who hijack this progress and use it for their own means. The struggle to maintain Web security will be an on-going task, whether aired in the public arena or behind locked doors. It is, therefore, imperative that Web users acquire a little more Internet savvy and learn to take more control.

After all, the first line of defence for a computer is its user.

t.

: : : : : : : : : : :

t.

Here's a quote from a specific page at www.BrazilianArtists.net:

Icaro Doria is Brazilian, 25 and has been working for the magazine Grande Reportagem, in Lisbon, Portugal, for the last 3 years. He is part of the team (with Luis Silva Dias, João Roque, Andrea Vallenti and João Roque) that produced the flags campaign which has been circulating the Earth in chain letters via e-mail.

The site displays 8 flags from eight countries: Angola, Brazil, Burkina, China, Colombia, the European Union, Somalia, and the United States.

On each flag, there's a small legend telling you what each color on the flag stands for...

To all my friends who in 2007 sent me best 'wishes', chain letters, 'angel' letters or other promises of good luck if I forwarded something,

NONE OF THAT  CRAP  WORKED!

For 2008, could you please just send money, Tequila, chocolate, movie tickets, gasoline vouchers or airline tickets instead?

Thank you! 

Now there's a study by Cornell University about chain letters. They found out that information spreads in straight lines through narrow social networks, rather than fanning out widely throughout society. This is true of both the Internet and in daily life. Computer science professors at Cornell and Carleton College studied two Internet chain letters and discovered that messages echoed through overlapping circles of friends. That explains why I've gotten the same chain email letter from different people who know me, but not necessarily each other (yet another reason not to forward them).

It's good to know that even though chain letters are annoying, they're reaching a more limited audience than I previously thought. If I continue to delete them rather than forward them, I can not only break the chain, but also the straight line in which they were travelling.

Anyway, that's what my brain feels like today. I've been drain-bread brain dead for writing posts lately. Then, Wham! Bam! Thank ya, Mam!....I've got words and ideas out the whazoo.

First.....

Dusty (who, BTW, is not bitchy) from GiftedlyOutspoken tagged me to do this:

Here are the rules: 1) Link back to the person who tagged you (that= me!). 2) Post the rules on your blog. 3) Write six things about yourself. 4) Tag six people at the end of your post by posting links to their blog sites. 5) Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their site. 6) And let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I'm honored. Not by the fact that I've been tagged to do something again, but by the fact that somebody thinks that I am smart/reliable enough to follow these rules without screwing up. This is my third tag in the last 3 days. I got tagged by snail mail Saturday for a chain mail book thingy. I was tagged by a really good friend that I have known for about 25 years. And, really, she should know by now that I either

(a) forget the rules

(b) have good intentions but never keep a chain going

(c) lose the letter which has the addresses of whomever it is that I am suppose to send a book, a dollar, a dishtowel, a poem, a chicken, or whatever to. In other words, I am the most unreliable person that you could ever pick if you want to keep something going.

(d) all of the above

Crap....I can't even remember what the second tag was now. I think it might have been a send-a-gallon-of-gas thingy or sumptin'. I might have done that one if gas had not risen to a bazillion dollars a gallon now.

Now, on with the show....

1. I started this blog 14 months ago. I never told anyone in real life including my family. I seriously thought that no one would read it. I have had over 87,000 hits and my family still does not know that I blog. Except for one family member who is now blogging, too. Shout out to VV! And, of course, my little TrailerparkSkipper who is just like her Mamma (bless her heart).

2. My pastor asked my husband what it was like living with me and my zaniness. Hubby told him that it was like living in a constant "I Love Lucy" episode.

3.I recently acquired a dog. I nagged my husband constantly for over a year to get a dog. Secretly, I hate that little effer. It bites and scratches. It is the most hyper animal that I have ever encountered. But, I pretend to love it because I will not admit that I wish I had never laid eyes on it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not mean to it. I feed it, walk it, pet it, etc. But, the whole time, I am wishing that I could give it back.

4. I blog at bipolarchicksblogging, also. I blog with 3 friends that I met on a forum over 5 years ago. They know more about me and the way that I think then anyone else in the world. AND, although, we've never met, I sincerely love each and everyone of them. That's where I go when I can't see the light at the end of the dark hole of depression tunnel....to them. They coax me thru bad shit. But, they, also, share any joy that comes my way with real happiness. No pretend crap. Raw, honest, and open. Shout out to D,C, and AC. I love you guys!

5.Geraldo Riveria makes me want to vomit. So, does Keith Olberman. And, Lynn Spears. And, oh hell, I've got a whole list:

Paris Hylton

Virgie Arthur

All the greedy fools behind the Miley Cyrus debacle.

Oprah Winfrey

Tom Cruise

Xenu

Warren Jeffs

Olsen twins

Rosie O'Donnell

Lying politicians

Child molesters (I would personally like to castrate them)

Lying drug company reps

Michael Moore

Barbara Streisand

Osama Bin Laden

Welfare cheaters

......and plenty more.

6. I play the "airhead" card a lot in life. I'm Oscar worthy at playing gullible, innocent, naive, and stupid. Behind the character, I am really wordly, intelligent, shifty, manipulative, bawdy, brass, and opinionated. I am white trash with money. I know the difference between bad taste and shabby chic. And, I'd choose bad taste anytime over shabby chic. I am not pretentious nor do I brag. I state the facts as I see them. I want to be adored but will not kiss up to anyone.

So, that's that. Now, I have to tag six people. Let's see.....how 'bout.....

The Vinyl Villager

Moonbeam McQueen

The Girl From The Ghetto

Southern Fried Fatty

Going Like Sixty

Salted Lithium

I DID IT!!!!!!

So, what's everyone's thought on Miley Cyrus? Listen, I am not insuiating anything but those pics of her and her dad give me the heebie-jeebies.

What I think is this pic is a pedophile dream pin-up poster. If you think that I have a perverted mind, then read this post that I did a while back.....

PervertForum

Had more to write about but I'm still trying to get over bronchitis and sinus infection. I'm pooped!

Nite y'all

The First "Chain" Letter, Track 5

Chain letters have been around since just after the release of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album Rumours, when a Sacramento woman, after listening to the song "The Chain" for the 236th consecutive time was inspired to "never break the chain" her boyfriend had just broken, known as their relationship, by sending him 53 copies of the same letter stating "if you don't love me now, you will never love me again...and unless you send this letter to 15 more people, you'll have bad luck for the rest of your life." While her boyfriend didn't mail the letter to anyone or get back together with her, he did come back three weeks later to pick up his Fleetwood Mac album. She considered this a small victory and never sent another letter again.

However, at least 12 of her 53 letters did accidentally reach the wrong recipients and confused them to the point where they felt it necessary to mail copies out to as many people as possible for fear that they may face the ultimate curse of life long bad luck at the hands of the anonymous psycho witch with an obsession for letter writing campaigns and Stevie Nicks. It's this same letter that has been circulation for more than 30 years, though various adjustments have been made to bestow particular rewards on those who participate and incur certain penalties on those who do not. As for the aforementioned boyfriend...he's now living in Billings, Montana with his wife and four kids... and if living in Billings, Montana with a wife and four kids isn't validation that the hex of the chain letter works...then what pray tell is?

Brought Back Economy, Fleetwood Mac and Chain Letters

Since the 1970's The chain letter has fallen in and out of popularity, enjoying a resurgence around the time of Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential Campaign thanks to the usage of "The Chain" as his campaign song. These days the chain letter is once again on the upswing due to Hillary Clinton's candidacy and her choice of Fleetwood Mac's slightly less inspiring "You Make Loving Fun" as her campaign song. Thanks to the miracle of email and social networking sites these kindly threats are much more easily delivered to a greater mass of people and adorned with pictures of kittens with just a click of a button, though some hard copies do circulate via the less than reliable postal service.

It's even become trendly to turn blog posts in to chain letters. In other words, if you read this post and email it to 20 people in the next 15 minutes the love of your life will contact you and give you a massage and 45 cents will be donated to a little boy in Nova Scotia who desperately needs a matching Dolce & Gabbana belt to go with his sweet sunglasses. If you don't email this blog post to 20 people...not only will you be accused of being totally untrendly...but you'll also be dead before the dawn.

Minsan, pag nakitang kong forwarded message, nag-aalangan akong buksan, malamang kasi eh miracle, miracle nanaman yan, pass to 25 of your closest friends or something bad will happen to you, Mr. Adolfo dela temptasyon lost his life when he did not forward this e-mail. Yung mga ganyang tipong mail na ang sarap ipakain sa kung sino mang gumagawa niyan. Hindi kasi nakakatuwa na may mga taong naniniwala diyan. Isa lang yang e-mail or text message. Hindi yan sumpa. Hindi ka mamamatay pag hindi mo ginawa, hindi mauubos ang kabuhayan mo at mas lalong hindi mauubos ang pamilya mo na parang may fratwar ang sigesige sputnik at batang city jail, hindi mawawala ang pinakamalapit na tao sa buhay mo. Hindi. Hindi. Hindi.

Anak ng tokwa. Maniwala kayo mga pards, sa sobrang dami ng natatanggap kong ganyang e-mail, wala pa akong ibinalik, ipinadala, pinamahagi. Hindi ako naniniwala sa mga ganyang chuk chak chenes. Hanggang ngayon ay buhay pa ako. Ang tanging nangyari sa akin? napuno ang trashbox ng Gmail account ko. Pramis. Kung may kilala kayong namatay dahil hindi sumunod diyan, magpapainom ako!

Sa larawang ito, makikita ang namimilog kong mata, Si jem na nasa itaas ko. Si Mikey na may hawak ng gitara, at si Oscar, ang Dennis Trillio ng Batch 12 sa Dell. Kaya lang mukhang natabunan siya.

Kanina pagkagaling ko sa DFA, isang damukal na e-mail galing kay wordpress at sa mga kaibigan ko ang sumambulat sa akin. Yung iba, binura ko kasi alam kong spam. Yung sa wordpress inaprub ko dahil comments. Nakita ko and e-mail sakin ni Jem Joya, Kaibigan ko noong nasa Dell International Services pa ako at kaibigan ko pa rin naman hanggang ngayon. Si Jem ang Boses sa likod ni "Dennis" sa Anime na Ghost figther (pasesnsya jem dahil inilabas ko ang iyong sikreto! haha!). Isang talentadong, mabait at down to earth na tao yan si Jem, pramis. :) May e-mail siya na akala ko isa nanaman sa mga jokes na palagi kong natatanggap galing sa kanya. Hindi siya joke... basahin niyo na lang... forwarded message lang siya pero meron siyang kwenta. :)

Reality... Pagtanda natin, sana maging malibog na lolo at lola tayo, masaya tayo at kontento sa buhay na ating inilagi sa mundo. kahit umiihi na siguro ako sa saluwal ok lang, sa future kasi may mga shorts na na hindi nababasa at hindi nangsusulasok ang amoy kahit isang linggong hindi palitan. :)

Anti-forward (origin unknown; if you know the origin, please enlighten me, thanks):

Hello, my name is Basmati Kasaar. I am suffering from
rare and deadly diseases, poor scores on final exams,
fear of being kidnapped and executed by anal electrocution,
and guilt for not forwarding about 50 billion chain letters sent to
me by people who actually believe that if you send
them on, then that poor 6 year old girl in
Arkansas with a leg growing on her forehead will be able to
raise enough money to have it removed before her
redneck parents sell her off to the traveling freak
show. Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to
give you and everyone you send "his" email to $1000?
How stupid are you? So basically, this message is a big YOU
ARE DUMB to all the people out there who have nothing better
to do than to send me stupid chain mail forwards. Maybe the
evil chain letter leprechauns will come into
my apartment and kill me in my sleep for not
continuing the chain which was started by Jesus in 5
A.D. and was brought to this country by midget
pilgrims on the Mayflower and if it makes it to the
year 2000, it'll be in the Guinness Book of World
Records for longest continuous streak of blatant
stupidity. Yea right. If you're going to forward
something, at least send me something mildly amusing.
I've seen all the "send this to 50 of your
closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a
human being will somehow receive a Nickel from some
omniscient being" forwards about 90 times. I don't care.
Show a little intelligence and think about what you're
actually contributing to by sending out forwards.
Chances are it's your own unpopularity.

THE THREE BASIC TYPES OF CHAIN LETTERS:
---------------------------------------------------
Chain Letter Type 1:
(scroll down)

Make a wish!!!
<Keep Scrolling

Here's one which I received in my inbox on Friendster. Take note that I don't mind the intention, just the wording and the recipient:-

----------------------------------
Original message from aRe:
> ----------------------------------
> Original message from satun:
> > ----------------------------------
> > Original message from Ms may:
> > > ----------------------------------
> > > Original message from MuhD aMin:
> > > > ----------------------------------
> > > > Original message from iSmi:
> > > > > ----------------------------------
> > > > > Original message from mazuan:
> > > > > > ----------------------------------
> > > > > > Original message from ashal:
> > > > > > > ----------------------------------
> > > > > > > Original message from zaza:
> > > > > > > > ----------------------------------
> > > > > > > > Original message from johari:
> > > > > > > > > > Carlsberg baru sahaja mengeluarkan dua produk minuman tin terbarunya bernama JOLLY SHANDY berperisa LEMON dan ORANGE. Malah corak dan warna tin minuman tersebut seolah2 sama seperti tin minuman biasa F&N, PEPSI, Coca Cola, Drinho, Yeos, etc. Apa yang membimbangkan kita semua umat Islam ialah kemungkinan ia dipasarkan secara terbuka dan meluas sehinggakan ada nanti umat Islam yang terbeli minuman tersebut. Tambahan pula perkataan "Contains alcohol" hanya di tulis kecil sahaja di belakang tin tersebut. HARAP SEBARKAN MAKLUMAT INI UNTUK KEBAIKAN SEMUA UMAT ISLAM.................
> > > > > > > > > > JANGAN LUPA SEBARKAN X G2 ANDA AKAN DOSA SEUMUR HIDUP KERANA MENDAPAT INFO TAPI X SEBARKAN....
> > > > > > > > > > mari lah kita berihat bersama-sama..
> > > > > > > > > > demi islam

Talk about being released late, but sent to the wrong audience! I take wine, shandy, beer, sheridan etc. every now and then. While it is not a practice, I'm supposed to take the wine with bread at least once a week! While I don't take personal offense, I do find it irritating when I have my inbox flooded with forwarded unnecessary mail.

Another on is the all time favourite "forward-this-before-you-die" mails.

How would you feel? You've warned via profile/shout out that you would not like these type of emails/messages. Yet, you find yourself clearing up your inbox of these clutter?

While I do not have these problems in the political simulations - that's what the forums are for :-p - it's so common in these social websites. Another source of irritation is one line messages from complete strangers.

Messages with just "Hi" or "Hi how are you?" can be a source of irritation. The idea of a social networking site is that you follow that line with a "Oh, we share the same interests! What type of kata do you like the most? Which one do you find difficult?" or "Corporate writing? Sounds neat. What are your market? Do you do specs? How much do you charge? Have you been writing long?" etc. etc. The difference between email and social networking sites are I have access to your information which are displayed in your profile. (Reminder: be careful of what you put up! Some information should be guarded like it's your life, e.g. date of birth, pet's name, first school attended, favourite colour and any other information which can be used to recover your password!) A cliche one-liners indicate that the sender probably did not read your profile. It's proven when he or she asks you the questions that are already available there.

Here's another collection of messages (recovered through the history section of this particular website):

25 Mar 2008, 08:00

Sender: Hello Mr.E.T Toyad, good morning. I like you, but why must you be so elusively charming? The reason why i asked is sometimes students hang around the faculty coz they visit the library and meet up friends around there. Perhaps you dont have many friends eh? see you later alligator.

25 Mar 2008, 20:58

Recipient (Me) : I don't have an 'E' in any of my initials... >_>

26 Mar 2008, 00:36

Sender: Ok if u dont have.Perhaps its Aldric Tinker Toyad? May be I got yr first name wrong but Tinker Toyad is definitely you

I know what you are up to..but its ok I am enjoying this exchange of msg. Good nite Mr Toyad

26 Mar 2008, 21:50

Recipient: I prefer to be known by my own name, thank you. I hate living in the shadow of any one else.

26 Mar 2008, 23:31

Sender: Wow! I cant help you there mate! Its your sir name and you`re born with it. If you hate it then ,"..Houston you sure have a problem!!!!" Ha ha ha! Sorry. Perhaps you should visit National Registration Department and have the sir name changed to a new one. May be some English name rather than Toyad or get adopted by some English parent

27 Mar 2008, 15:33

Recipient: It's not part of my name. It's not in my IC. It's not in my birth certificate. How is it part of my name? It's my family name, but it ain't my surname...

28 Mar 2008, 01:26

Sender: Oh! Is that so? So who is this Leo Michael Toyad to you? Uncle? or Fathere? or former father? or what? Its ok if you are not comfortable wit it, I understand..

29 Mar 2008, 00:07

Recipient: I fail to see how that information is relevant. >_>

29 Mar 2008, 01:14

Sender: You are just being thick in yr head. That was not an information. Its a statement.Just because he`s a Muslim now you dont hv 2 be UNgrateful brat.we`ll see. You aren`tas ver as you tot.

29 Mar 2008, 23:16

Recipient: How am I being ungrateful? I don't remember me asking you family and personal details. Did I? Come to think of it, you're the one who started everything out.For Leo Toyad to embrace Islam is none of my concern. I fail to see how and why I should be a busy-body. So enlighten, O PhD holder, how on earth am I being ungrateful?

What has the world come to? Apparently you should be wary of people who think they know you and feel obligated to correct you of your own history, heritage and lineage. It's like someone have been living your life for the past (your age) years and you just returned from holiday. As you can see, apparently the sender thinks I do not know my own name. LoL. If you think I'm forgetting my lineage, I recommend interviewing those who are close to me. My relatives, especially.

Haih...

Yes, social networking sites are fun. But virtual reality in no replacement of reality and the real world. You still need to hang out with friends and meet new ones. Conferencing via Y!M isn't a replacement to attending family/social gatherings. Now, I better halt my blogging spree here and get back to reality - by hitting the bed covers... ;-) See you in the morning. :-D

A big hello to you guys, forward this to at  least 11 people and see  what happens on your screen. You will laugh your head  off!!!!!!!!!!!

ps: it is really true. Pass it around.

If Ne one of you trried this please let us know...