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my mail was stolen

This isn’t a good way to start the new year. I had a couple of checks in the mail for me too, so now I must get these people to resend them. I hate losers who are desperate enough to break into mailboxes.

Having called my banks and credit companies, it seems that putting my card on fraud alert is either costly or timely. It’s costly because with one account I must actually activate a service which requires a fee. I’d rather check my online statement very actively to watch for fraudulent charges than pay a fee that I could cover myself.

It’s timely because two of the customer numbers require you to call other service centers, some of which don’t operate at this hour. So inconvenient if something fraudulent happened without me knowing!

Whoever these bastards are, they’ve been reported to the police and USPS and if they try anything stupid on me, I’m gonna track their asses down and get them thrown in jail.

laptops for sale

Inspiron 9300 – $1100
Dell Inspiron 9300

* Intel Pentium M Dothan 730 (1.6GHz, 533MHz FSB)
* 1.5GB (1GBx1, 512MBx1) DDR2 ram at 533MHz
* PCIExpress x16 – Nvidia Go 6800 256MB
* 60GB hard drive 7200RPM
* 17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA with TrueLife (1900×1200 – Glossy)
* Dell 1450 dual band internal wireless solution (802.11a/b/g) + TrueMobile 350 Bluetooth
* Gigabit Ethernet LAN
* 8x DVD+/-RW
* Windows XP Home
* 2 6-cell 53watt/hour batteries
* 90W AC power supply
* ~7.5 pounds
* One FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394)
* Six USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) compliant 4-pin connectors
* SD Memory Reader
* Video: 15-pin monitor connector
* Digital Video Interface (DVI)
* S-Video: 7-pin mini-DIN connector
* Audio jacks: Stereo headphones/speakers miniconnector (same as line-out), microphone miniconnector
* (ADDITIONAL) 6 port plug powerstrip
* (ADDITIONAL) USB TV adapter (You can watch TV on this laptop!!!)
* original Box

* Windows XP Home Edition
* All original disks that came with computer
* WordPerfect Office 12
* WinDVD
* Dell Jukebox – Easy-to-use music player and CD burning software
* Dell Media Experience
* Paint ShopTM Studio® Trial plus Photo AlbumTM Starter Edition
* Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
* Just under 450 days left on warranty

craigslist laptop scams

I listed two laptops for sale on Craigslist this weekend. Ecstatically, I received two responses for each listing in quick time! So, after replying to the initial interest emails, I noticed that both are asking for me to go about similar procedures to sell my laptop.

Response 1:

Am buying it as a gift brithday for my uncle who happen to be a Rev. Father …i am located in castlemaine trail birmingham,Alabama,United State. And i should have come to pick it up but deal to my job that will not be possible.. I work as USPS agent…so i will be prepare to make the payment through (United State Postal Money Order) because it is very safe and secure for both of us cos i dont want any confusion or any fraudulent activity to dwell in this transaction .

You can attach the pics of the item for me to see,Am a deaf person so if
you want me to call i will not be able to do that …Therefore i am expecting your (name,address,zipcode,city,state. with your phone number) so that i can know where the money order should be send to, Since the item is still in good
condition, i will offer you $2,335 and $50 to repackage the item, As for the shipping i will handle that myself cos my fiance is working at the fedEx shipping company so he will help me for the shipping… Get back to me if you
are satisfied with this

Response 2:

Am fully okay with the condition of the items ….Am located at Texas …..Well, i will let you to know that am sending this packaged to my Son in College with my Grandmother at NG means North Georgia…Okay I will paying you through Alertpay International Payment , all i just need from you is where you want the money to be deliver to you your Full name , address ,zipcode…Okay If you will accpet my offer , I will be offering you $1,400 for the item so that we can end auction .

Payment confirmation receipt will be sent to you that my payment has been appproved to you ….So , immediately that it clear with you and alertpay ….I will send you the shipping documents for the shipping ….

For the shipping i will be hanlded the shipping with my personal account with fedex .I will send you the shipping slip so you don’t need to worried about the shipping i will handled it by myself…Okay
I Shall wait for your reply
Phone Number: 949 -287 -4867
Thanks….Cheers

Here are the similarities between the two responses:

  • Both are out of state.
  • Both are offering more than I listed, even though this isn’t an auction.
  • Both use poor grammar and type seem rushed.
  • Both are HTML emails.
  • Both are using sketchy methods of payment, such as USP Money Order or Alterpay International Payment
  • Both will handle shipping through Fed-Ex with their own accounts
  • Both emails are sent through Yahoo.
  • Both emails are in similar formats, such as name_name###@yahoo.com
  • Both claim to be in different states, one in Texas and one in Alabama, but are sent from strikingly similar IP addresses: 66.196.101.144 and 66.196.101.15 which from a tracert are from yahoo webmail

These are very interesting similarities and I’m surprised it’s so common still. But, I guess plenty of people fall for it. Initially, it seems safe and legit. I’m glad I’m smart enough to know better and Craigslist even lists what you should avoid in its scam page.

List of others who get similar results:

OS X annoyances

Having spent the majority of my personal computing life on Windows PCs, I am now using a Mac G5 at work and my brand new Macbook Pro at home. OS X has many great features that I’d love to see in Windows.

Despite OS X’s positives, I still have a lot of problems of quirks and drawbacks that dissuade me from completely switching. Here’s my list of the top OS X problems.

(more…)

hunger

I did it.

Apple Logo

prove yourself right

I think it’s time I made a sensible New Year’s resolution. I’m not one to make silly, random resolutions that I’ll never live up to. I see other people say they will then quickly fall back and move on like nothing ever happened. 2007, however, needs to become a big year for me. I have lots of plans to take on in the next few months so unless I plan everything sensibly, I might not go anywhere.

A friend of mine called me recently distressed out. She had been talking to her mom about where she is with her life and why she isn’t where she needs to be. So she decided to flat out lie to her mom and say she was going to do the traditional, stereotypical thing of going to college and getting a degree instead of doing what she truly wanted. Her mom, her friends, most of the people in her life who she calls friends have been doubting her and her decisions. Each year passes by and more doubt is cast upon her by those who she loves most.

After questioning her and finding out what they were saying, I told her she had many options to choose from. Changing her mind wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it’s obvious she thinks she can live her dream. So it’s important for her to be true to her feelings.

There are two major ways she could look at trying to make this dream come true. The negative way is to prove her family and friends wrong: to show them that she had it in her the whole time. But what good is it to focus on the negative?

Realizing that this wasn’t a new concept, I told her to, instead, prove herself right. She should prove to herself that she’s not all talk, that she can withstand the pressure and negativity of other people and fight to do what she loves the most. It was then I realized that I’m talking to myself just as much as I’m talking to her.

I know I could be doing anything I wanted to do, and I feel like I’m on the right path for me. But I could be so much more right now. So what’s the most positive way to make these changes in my life? It’s to stop thinking about my doubts and fears and just prove myself that I can do what I want. No one is stopping me but me.

I’m not unhappy with my life, I’m not upset that I am where I am. I just know there’s so much more that I expect of myself and I won’t feel personal success until I am on the tracks which lead me to my passions, dreams and desires. This means making sacrifices and changes to my personal habits, to my mentality and to my accountability. Until I can achieve this goal, my dreams will stall.

2007. This will be the year of new beginnings. It will mark a new chapter in my life. I can’t wait to see what happens.

christmas should be cold

i can’t imagine being anywhere else for christmas.

LA on Christmas = 70s
Colorado on Christmas = 40s

Weather makes such a huge difference.

what’s up, doc?

Me lately:

  • Thanksgiving in Houston
  • Christmas in Colorado
  • Preparation for a new laptop…
  • Research into new ventures

New things coming soon.

Windows OS X

I will soon post an entry describing my personal annoyances about OSX and what bugs me about the way it works. Until then, I give you a link to show the killer app. It’s called Parallels with a mode called Coherence. This is it; once the bugs are worked out, you can now seamlessly run Windows in OSX and have two side by side. That’s what all people have been looking for.

http://flickr.com/photos/gruber/311690002/

Honestly, I’m excited about this. If I am able to afford it, I am now considering the Macbook Pro only because of my desire to do audio editing with software like Pro Tools. I’ve always had a desire to do that anyway, but with Parallels being able to run Windows apps and OSX apps side by side, that gives me the ultimate setup.

So now I wanna know, why hasn’t anyone figured out how to do the opposite? I love knowing this is now available (even if it is still a little buggy) but I prefer the functionality of Windows over OSX.

Houston bound

I’m spending Thanksgiving in Houston for the first time in several years. I think it’s even been since last decade if I’m not mistaken. If you read this and wanna see me, contact me.