Tell Me Something I Don't Know - Sunday, October 26th

On the on The Chris Matthews Show, October 26th Chris Matthews leads with: "A different country. America changes. It did in 1932 with the coming of New Deal and in 1980 with the Reagan era. Will the election of 2008 bring an American epoch of Obama? Frustrated by a fitful war. Shaken by a financial free fall. Is the country turning to something truly new?" The panelists: -- Anne Kornblut is covering the campaigns for The Washington Post. -- Clarence Page is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. -- Andrea Mitchell covers the race for NBC News. -- John Heilemann covers politics for New York Magazine, which has his latest story on the cover this week.

Yoiks, I lost my files!

Ye, it can happen ... and our first reaction is a blank stare that says "What do I do now?" ... and then, we kick ourselves "Why didn't I backup my files?" "For want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost." ~Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, June 1758~

Google Image Search may not be as efficient as hoped

I was writing about that scam site, Olympicbux. Hoping to adorn my post, I tried searching for its original banner (but failed) on http://images.google.com.sg . I used the keyword olympicbux . For http://images.google.com.sg , somehow my 3 posters on peace, loneliness and wealth came up as part of the search results on the first page. For http://images.google.com , the one on peace came up on the first page. The ones on loneliness, wealth, driving, existence, time, game over and flexibility are on the second. Together with these, 7 more pictures from my blog appeared. I practically monopolize this search word olympicbux that I really have no "connection" with. Isn't Google efficient? O.o

Yea! We've got another scam! - Olympicbux

Enters Olympicbux. This one has been down for quite a while but I had delayed a bit as I don't want to assume the worst just because a site possibly e.g. delayed/forgot in paying the hosting fee. The last message I remember reading was "We are temporarily off-line for the new script. Come back soon." But I don't know how long this "temporarily" is. Whether you are changing script or not, it is easy enough to maintain your site and put an Under Construction sign. Not to say this means you are therefore impeccably trustworthy but at least, you give us reason to extend the grace period. Anyway, now that the China Olympics 2008 is over, I guess the scammer(s) saw it fit to call it a day. I really don't quite understand what is in it for scammers. I just need you to email me (yes, I am sure you have my email) to let me know that e.g. you have tried your best but you did not manage to make the business work. That's fine. I will try to give you the benefit of the doubt and understand. I might even lend you my shoulder to cry on. You don't just go disappearing without a word. That only screams scam.

GiantBux - kaboom

There goes GiantBux. This isn't really a scam but an example of how people can go rushing into setting up a PTC site then claim that they don't have time, need to walk their rabbit, feed their roaches, whatever, etc. There is now a new owner for GiantBux who is possibly banned by both PayPal and AlertPay. I mean, why else would he/she only pay by Liberty Reserve? PayPal is strict - I can somewhat (but not really) understand but AlertPay? I really wonder what the new owner has done to get banned (I am just speculating). So now, the payment mode is changed to Liberty Reserve only. You know, I am really tired of getting an account with every single shady payment processor in the world. It has taken me quite a while to overcome my resistance to AlertPay - and that is only because I have an arrangement with a friend to combine our earnings, forgo the exorbitant withdrawal fee then use the money to have a little meal together. So until GiantBux starts offering PayPal, AlertPay or even e-gold, I will pass on this freedom-not-reserved opportunity. Adieu.

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

October 12th, on The Chris Matthews Show, Chris asks his roundtable to "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" ... this weeks roundtable: Gloria Borger of CNN Howard Fineman of Newsweek Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution David Ignatius of The Washington Post

AlertBux - one of the lamest scam PTC sites

I don't know why I was hesitating. Probably I wanted to give this site a chance since there have been too many revealed scams recently. Well, I guess my patience has finally run out. I can't remember if AlertBux was supposed to go on vacation for a while but placing a blog post discussing whether Bux.to is a scam is already real lame * 10. Here, we can aptly use the idiom, "Pot calling the kettle black". But they did not just stop there. They scammed and continue to laugh at us like how a hyena would cackle as it sinks its teeth into your flesh and gobble you up while you are still alive. (Yes, hyenas are perfectly capable of that. They have a very powerful digestive system with highly acidic fluids, making them capable of eating and digesting their entire prey, including skin, teeth, horns and bones. Source: Wikipedia) They must be enjoying the confusion among their members and relishing every moment of their anticipation. Today, they placed another overriding ad on their site, beyond the usual Google Adsense ones. Perhaps that was the last straw and final trigger I need to declare AlertBux a scam. PTC clickers, be warned!

Fall 2008 TV: dNeero-ites want to know

Many, many good questions from dNeero-ites about TV shows and viewing habits ... '24', House, genre, time, hi-def ... we'll do more in future convos. "Today, watching television often means fighting, violence and foul language - and that's just deciding who gets to hold the remote control." ~Donna Gephart~