Fraudulent Tax Refunds
I’m getting a couple of these e-mails every day now.
Tax Refund Spam E-Mail
My ISP marks them as spam. But they are.
Note that it is not specifically addressed to me in any way and that there is no mention of my name or tax number.
Don’t ever login. This one was hosted in Korea.
The Russian Attack
It would appear that Russia has been using Twitter, Facebook and other sites to silence a Georgian with whom they disagree.
I take a dim view of this, as I’m a great believer in free speech, but it doesn’t really matter that much. The fact that it’s now clear that the Russians attempted the silencing does them more damage, than one Georgian blogger.
Technology will continue to improve over the next few years and censorship of the Internet will make these sort of attacks much more difficult.
I do find it strange that Russia should use the Internet in this way, when according to Internet spam experts like SpamHaus, three of the top ten spammers are based in the Russian Federation. I think of phrases that use pot, kettle and black.
Copyright Please!
This post on another blog is mine!
Where’s the copyright?
Nowhere!
I just tried to post a pleasant message on his site, but it asked me to answer the challenge and didn’t give me any challenge. Not good!
Looking After Your Appliances
How many domestic appliances do you have?
Do you keep all the serial numbers safe?
A friend of mine in Holland, has a Rosieres cooker and one of the burners, well burned itself out. It was impossible to find the new part in Holland, so I tried the on-line spares company, Spares To Go, in the UK. They weren’t sure of the part, but after I’d e-mailed them the serial number of the cooker, they were able to despatch the part.
Rosieres Hob
It just slotted in, but for some reason only after I’d drilled a hole out in the part. Perhaps, as it appears to fit several cookers, the installation was different in each.
But it does show the importance of keeping track of all those serial numbers, even after the guarantee has run out.
It also shows that with companies like Spares To Go, there is no need to summon an expensive service engineer.
How to Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly
This post really has been brought about because many of my friends seem to struggle keeping their computers working smoothly. And it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are Macs or Windows PCs.
Children and Young Adults
A lot of the problems I have found seem to stem from allowing teenage and sometimes older children to use the machine, as they gum it up with massive video and music files and inappropriate software. This would not normally be a problem, but many older people are careful with their computers and often run one that is a bit older and therefor short of both disc space and memory.
So the answer should be no, when your child asks if they can update their iPod.
Not Enough Memory
I also find that a lot of PCs don’t have enough memory, so make sure that you have at least two gigabytes. To find out how much you have go to the Control Panel and display the System. This should tell you. It is usually a simple matter to purchase more memory from someone like Crucial over the Internet. Installation is not difficult on many machines, but if you can’t do it yourself, there are plenty of your friends who can do it.
Slow Starting Up
Slow start-up of a computer is often caused by loading too many programs at the beginning. Many software companies think that their products are so important that they preload every time you start the machine. But do you really want them loaded every time. This page says how you remove them for Windows XP. For Vista it is quite similar except that you’ll need to find the Run command, which is in Accessories.
Updating Windows and Programs
I also always update my computer to the latest versions of Windows. Some people set the settings to do this, but set it for the middle of the night and then it either doesn’t get done or makes your computer extremely slow in the morning. If your computer always seems to have a hangover when you start it up, move the update download to a more convenient time.
Backing Up
And then there is the need to backup everything regularly. I backup all my important documents and my e-mails to an external hard disc at least once a week. Good external hard discs, usually cost about £50 and just plug in to your USB ports.
You can also back-up to SD cards, like you get in digital cameras. This is to be recommended for important documents and pictures, that say go with a particular project you have worked on. Can you be sure that DVDs will still be readable in twenty years? I suspect they will, but I reckon SD cards are a better bet. You can get very affordable and good ones from Memory Bits.
Cleanliness
A last point and one that is often forgotten. Keep your computer clean!
Text Message Accident Scam
A few minutes ago I got a text on my mobile from +447849031791 which said.
You may be entitled to 6000 pounds compensation for the Accident you had. To claim for free reply with YES to this msg. To opt out text stop. HBXA
As I haven’t had an accident, it’s either a cyber ambulance chaser or a scam. Take your pick!
I will not reply.
I did search the Internet with Google and found a useful site called WhoCallsMe. They had several copies of the same message registered on their site.
Note – I put quotes around “You may be entitled to 6000 pounds compensation for the Accident you had” to do the search.
This isn’t the first time I’ve come across these sort of people. A few months ago to get one off the phone, I had to use the F-word many times and put the phone down on him at least six times.
Raising the Anonymity a Bit
I was going to keep this blog completely anonymous, but a lot of my friends have seen it and if you follow me on something like Facebook or Twitter, you’ll have sussed the connection. After all the Twitter account is on the page anyway.
At the moment, I’ve more than one blog going and the other concerns my new Management Software System called MX73. So that I can post in fewer places, I’ll put odd comments about that here.
Worst Spam Yet?
I got this spam message from IRISH LOTTERY[awarded@winner.com]
Ha ganado 801,613 euros. enviar sus datos personales completos para procesar su reclamo.
Irlandés Lotería
Hmm! I can’t understand a word of it!
By worst, I mean least intelligent! If anybody falls for this one, they deserve to be conned.
Trinny Relaunches Herself
Trinny Woodall relaunches herself more than the space shuttle.
I first came across Trinny and her business partner, Susannah Constantine, at a presentation given by First Tuesday at the height of the Dot Com boom. They were launching a website for women and like many others launched at the time, I think it failed. Interestingly, I liked the idea and in common with others at the time, did they launch before the punters were ready for it?
Few sites have survived from those heady days, and most of the ones that have, have either have backers with deep pockets or no backers at all. It probably says that if you want a successful business, make sure you have control of the finances.
Perhaps, her latest relaunch is the most spectacular, as she has turned the clock back with her body.
There is a lot of truth in the old motto.
If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try, try again.
Or perhaps in Trinny’s case.
If you’ve succeeded once, you can always do it again.
I wish her the best of luck.
Especially, as at the age of nearly 62, I’m trying to get really fit. But perhaps more importantly, I’m creating a whole new suite of software, which is the successor to all of the stuff I wrote in the 1970s.
It’s hard, but it’s fun!
National Pandemic Flu Service
So the government has got their flu service web site up and running at last.
Who thought up the URL of http://www.pandemicflu.direct.gov.uk? It’s not very user friendly is it. As the web site is down because every Tom, Dick and Harriet is trying to use it, perhaps it should be called the National Panic Flu Service!
The Anonymous Widower 