No More Corresponding

On June 10, 2009 By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Remember the day when you would sit at a desk and write a letter to someone with an actual pen and paper? Sometimes you mess up so you have to crumble up the paper and throw it away and the trash can would be halfway full of crumbled up paper. You wanted to get it right because there was no delete button and there was no spell check. Then once you were finished you folded it up and stuffed it into an envelope and wrote your address and their address and put a 10¢ stamp on it then put it in your mailbox to go out the next day. Remember that?

Well, then the internet came along and that made it so much easier to sit at your home computer (mac or pc) and you could email your letter instead. You sat there thinking what you wanted to say so you didn’t sound too weird or something. Now of course you could delete and spell check then the person gets it in the blink of an eye.

What happened to that? It seems that I don’t get any emails from family or friends anymore except for the ones that are forwarded to me from other people who have either jokes, funny pictures of dogs or cats or some old lady comic strip. Most of the emails people forward to me are all telling me about some kid who has cancer and you have to forward it to 10 people. Or about being careful not to get out of the car with the keys in the ignition because you see a note in the back of the car.

For once I’d like to get an email from someone telling me how their day or week was. An email saying hi how are you. I email people constantly and sometimes they actually respond but then that’s it. If I don’t start a conversation then the conversation never gets had.

What is the point of having email if nobody will actually email you something that they wrote instead of just using other crap people have sent them.

I think that’s one of the reasons why I blog so much because I’ve gotten to the point where nobody emails me so why should I email them. So if I have something that I want to get out, I’m just gonna blog it and if someone cares enough to read it then they can respond either in email or they can leave a comment.

I know someone out there knows what I’m talking about.

Big Brother Good or Bad

On June 4, 2009 By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

No I’m not referring to the reality show Big Brother but the real reality of Big Brother.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and paid $59, then I went home and paid my cable bill, my phone bill and then I paid for 1 month of EverQuest to keep my account alive. SOE had 2 transactions of $1 each basically to verify my account but then those 2 charges disappeared. But as soon as I paid for that I got an email of suspicious activity on my checking account.

I call the number in the email and go through the process of pushing buttons to verify that yes I did make those charges and it was all fine and dandy, or was it? I tried to buy something from Nashbar for my bike and it kept declining my debit card. I just figured that they have a debit card limit and I’ve probably passed that limit so I waited until today.

So today comes and I come home from my bike ride and go to Nashbar’s website again to buy my bag for the rear bike rack and a new skull cap so in the middle of my ride I can switch to a dry cap to make me more comfortable. It declines me again so I just ended up using PayPal to generate a temporary credit card number then I called the bank.

After finally getting to an associate I told him what was happening and explained I was just paying bills, he puts me through to one of the fraud analysts who just wants to verify every transaction.

The woman who I spoke to was very nice, she had a nice voice and she was very helpful. I told her what happened and that yes I did make all of those transactions. She asked me about each item. SOE. She asked what that was. I told her it’s Sony Online Entertainment. She said she has seen SOE before but she never knew what it was. Then we talked about the 2 $1 transactions and she said that they do that to verify that it is my debit card then they erase them.

Then we get to Brighthouse. She had no clue what that was and of course if you have never heard of it then yeah you aren’t going to know but it’s my cable company. Then I said to her you will see ATT DES, that is the phone company. So then she mentioned Bike Nashbar which I had just paid with PayPal and I was like oh wow that is already showing up on the bank site? I just paid for that. I told her I had to use PayPal to pay for it because my debit card was declined.

Oh well, she unlocked my debit card so I can use it again. You know, I have mixed feelings about all of that. She said that they locked my card out because it was unusual spending for me. Well, the day I get my check every month I pay my bills and buy something from a website so how is that unusual spending for me when I do it every month on the same day, the 3rd of each month. On one hand I’m happy that the bank is looking out for my best interest but on the other hand I’d like to not be embarrassed if I had to go back to the store with a grocery cart filled with food then have my card be declined you know?

Oh well, I’m sure this post was totally unnecessary but who cares lol.

RapidShare AG Scam

On April 25, 2009 By Michel McDonaldIn ScamsLeave a comment

Today I was sitting at the computer looking at YouTube videos and my email program told me I had email. So I went to look and here is this one email from a business called RapidShare AG showing me my account information. Then a 2nd email which came at the exact same time from PayPal showing that I had been charged €29.99 EUR.

At first I thought it was just another email phishing scam asking me to click a link and give up my password so I just opened a new browser and manually typed http://www.paypal.com. I entered my password and sure enough there was that euro dollar charge and they did the exchange rate thing so the total that will come out of my checking account in 3 business days is $37.34.

So without hesitation I searched for the PayPal phone number and called them and told them “I DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS!!!!” I told the guy on the phone that I don’t even know what RapidShare is and he said it’s a file sharing website. How did he know that? Perhaps PayPal knows about this yet they are still allowing people to be charged for this? I don’t know. He walked me through the process of disputing the claim but said it could take 10 days.

10 Days? It only takes 3 days for them to take the money directly out of my checking account. I only have $18 available until my next check. So I called Bank of America and told them what happened and I told them that I talked to PayPal about it and I wanted to make sure that they don’t get their money from me through my checking account which should be in 3 days. Well, that costs $20 and like I said, I have $18 available so now I gotta put $2 in the bank to cover my ass because if they take $20 and I have $18 they’re going to charge me $20 insufficient fund fee lol. That’s $40.

Why should I end up having to pay $40 when I’m the one being scammed?

OK so I went to the Google search engine and found out that this is indeed a scam. Someone didn’t just sign me up for this website or service, this company somehow got my PayPal password and they charged me for an account that I never asked for.

I was going to call them because PayPal has all the details but they are in Switzerland. I can’t call Switzerland! First of all they would probably put me on hold for 20 minutes and my phone bill would skyrocket. I could use my PSP with Skype but then I’d have to pay Skype more money to make an international call. The details also provide the company email address so I emailed them telling them that I disputed the claim with PayPal so they might as well just reverse their charge because they are not getting any money from me.

So now with all that out in the open, I have to go to the ATM machine to deposit $2.

UPDATE: This transaction did go through to the bank on that Monday which means the stop payment thing through Bank of America didn’t take. In fact when I called them they said that it wouldn’t have worked anyway because that is supposed to be for a monthly stop payment, not for a 1 time stop payment. I don’t know why they were going to use that then if that wasn’t for what I needed. Gawd!

Our dog Flower had a medical emergency so Darrin had to call his brother to ask him to NOT cash my rent check which means that since it did go through to my banking account I didn’t go in the negative so I don’t have to worry about insufficient funds fee… for now.

The refund did go through with PayPal and the money is back in my PayPal account. However, they didn’t put it back in my checking account. I wish they just put it back where they got it from. But, I think I’m going to just leave it in there just in case something happens like this again. Also it’s good to save money right?

So everything worked out in the end.

Credit Card Theft

On March 31, 2009 By Michel McDonaldIn ScamsLeave a comment

I wasn’t going to blog about this because I had resolved it with the bank so it was a non issue. But I did a search on it and find that it is a huge issue.

This company who goes by many different names, or maybe, possibly there are many companies doing the same thing. One of the names is MyLiberia.com, another is Digismarket. The name on my statement is Electronic Business Res. They charge you $4.95 for services that are never rendered. They are an online bookstore or so they say they are, selling e-books but you never get an e-book. You don’t even get an email telling you that they are ripping you off but in the bank statement it gives me a transaction number and a phone number which is out of service.

As I said I wasn’t going to blog about this but I feel that it’s something that people really need to know about. Make sure you check your bank statement or credit card statement often to make sure it’s not there. Or better yet, call the credit card company or your bank and just request a new card so you can have a new credit card number just in case.

Good luck

MySpace Sex Fiends

On February 4, 2009 By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Why is it that these people are always sending you emails through MySpace with their sexy profile pic of a woman with nothing on but a bra, panties, hose with hose suspenders and they are always in a provocative pose.

I usually get emails that say something like “hey sexy, do you remember me? we had a nice conversation the other day” or something to that effect.

In my opinion, if a man gets this then his wife checks his MySpace email, or even his regular email because MySpace sends me an email whenever I get a MySpace email. But can you imagine how the wives must react? Not good, not good indeed. Or what if you are a teenage boy and your parents are checking up on you while you are at school and they are logged into your MySpace and see those emails? They will tan that boys ass as soon as he comes home and he doesn’t even know why.

The problem is, there is nothing you can do about it besides canceling your MySpace account.

I got an email just a few minutes ago with this picture (next paragraph and to the left) and the subject was hello but there was nothing in the email. I then sent her an email that says this:

Excuse me, when you sex fiends send me these emails, do you even bother to check the sexual orientation of the people you send them to or do you just send them to everyone including women? It clearly says on my profile that I’m gay. If you are trying to thrill someone you are barking up the wrong tree.

And with that, I’m reporting you for spam abuse now. Have a lovely day.

Google 411

On November 22, 2008 By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I just got an email about this. It’s new Google 411. Wow, is google going to start making cell phones next? Oh wait, they do! What about microwaves or television sets or dishwashers?

Well, this new thing is actually a very good thing. Before I had blogged about 411 calls now costing $1 per call and that you can call 1-800-free-411 but you have to endure listening to a 15-30 second advertisement. But, this is even better because there are NO advert’s and they automatically collect you to who you want to call. I’ve added 1-800-goog-411 to all our handsets in the house and to my cell phone and you should too.

If you have a cell phone with internet or with maps or whatever they will send you a map for your GPS so you can get there and/or they will text message you the information you asked for but you have to tell them that. Oh it’s also a recording so you won’t talk to a person but their voice recognition software is pretty good so you probably won’t have to. Hey, don’t bitch about it, it’s free.

Call 1-800-goog-411 or visit their website at www.google.com/goog411

Update: As of November 12th 2010 Google has shut down their free 411 service. It’s a shame because it was pretty frickin’ awesome.

Dell DJ Battery a No Go

On September 25, 2008 By Michel McDonaldIn Gadgets, MusicLeave a comment

Well, I got an email from that website about their Dell DJ battery and the one they sell is definitely for Gen 1 DJ’s and that will not work on a Gen 2 DJ. They said that people have bought it in the past and found it did not work and had to return it and pay a restocking fee. This sucks.

They told me to go to 2 websites pdaparts.com or pdasmart.com. The first website didn’t have anything for Dell. They had lots of batteries that looked like mine but they were specifically for iPods. The 2nd website has a battery but it doesn’t specific generations. It just says “DELL Digital Jukebox, DELL Digital Jukebox DJ, DELL Digital Jukebox Series”. I emailed them asking if it will work on a 2nd Gen so I have to wait for their email.

The thing that really bites here is that the battery from this other site batteryship.com is that they were only charging $25 for a battery plus shipping which was like $7.50 or something and it would’ve been more economical to buy 2 because they offer a 10% discount for the purchase of 2 or more. So because their battery won’t work for me I have to go to pdasmart.com and that battery is a whopping $48.

It just occurred to me to check via part number and came up with 1 thing on eBay. Someone is selling the exact battery I need and the starting bid is .99 cents and there are no bids. I’m tempted to bid $30. The auction ends the day before I get my check. The only thing is if I buy it on eBay I have no warranty and no guarantee that it will actually work and not die within a couple of months.

XP Antivirus 2008

On August 9, 2008 By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, Scams, Tech1 Comment

I was looking at a website and it said that I needed to download active-x or something to view a video and we had to go to the grocery store real quick. When we came home I noticed Norton Anti-virus was going nuts saying it was blocking a virus and I saw this program running called Antivirus XP 2008 on my screen saying I had all these viruses on my computer and wanted me to click something to get rid of them. I knew something was wrong because I didn’t install that program and for some reason it wouldn’t allow me to uninstall it through the control panel. I used the laptop to search for it on Yahoos search engine and found this:

http://www.xp-vista.com/spyware-removal/xp-antivirus-2008-removal-instructions-xp-antivirus-2008

Please, take a look at the pictures and memorize them so if this happens to you then you will be able to arm yourself. You don’t have to bookmark this site or keep the email if you don’t have this issue but just remember to search for it through a search engine so you can be able to get rid of it. I was able to get rid of it but I had to follow the instructions on this website. I hope for your sake you don’t get this but in case you do make sure you get rid of it right away. Oh, one of the things you will notice is that your screen will be blue or maroon, your wallpaper will be gone. That is a good indication that you have problems.

Update: After I went through all the steps to remove this thing I went to lay down on my bed to watch TV and I noticed that it went to the Windows Login screen so I got up and clicked my name and went to see the screen saver settings, I right clicked the desktop and clicked Properties and there are 2 tabs missing. Desktop and Screen saver. They are gone! I don’t know how to get it back. If I have to reformat my hard drive I’m gonna be pissed.

Another update: I get these email supposedly from CNN. They are usually 1 line emails with a link and I clicked it to see the video for a news story and it said that I needed the active x thing and that is what happened. I was trying to see a news story. I am not going to click any of those emails ever again and just assume it’s a link to a virus. My Norton is still finding virus’s left over from that and deleting them. So, if you get emails from CNN make damn sure they are really from CNN and not a fake website. Just go directly to CNN.com instead just to be safe.

Kodak

On August 5, 2008 By Michel McDonaldIn Products I Like, TechLeave a comment

I sent an email to Kodak the day before yesterday and yesterday I got an email back from them asking for the serial number and the model number etc as well as my home address and phone number. I did the tests they asked me to do and it really pissed me off that all those tests sucked up an entire cartridge of color and black ink. That’s $22 of ink that is gone now.

Thankfully they are sending me a new print head because they think mine is defective but I wont be able to test out the new print head with no ink so hopefully they will send me new ink cartridges. I told them that it sucked up all my ink and so I have no more ink.

I will cross my fingers that they send me ink too and not just the print head. They are sending me an envelope to send them the defective print head as well and I will include the ink cartridges as well to show them that it’s brand new ink and it’s all gone. If they didn’t send me ink with the new print heads then perhaps sending them the empty ink cartridges will make them see that I was telling the truth and they will send me more ink.

New Blog

On March 29, 2008 By Michel McDonaldIn BlogLeave a comment

I know it’s been awhile since I blogged here. Ever since I found out that I can’t type that much anymore because of my carpal tunnel I just decided not to blog as often. I hate using voice recognition because I can’t write a private email or blog without the world knowing what I’m saying. I do still like my privacy.

Ok now that I just had to dry my desk off I will end this blog. I took a drink from a 1 liter bottle of Lipton Green Tea and went to set it on the desk and it decided it wanted to jump out of the bottle since I put it down to hard on the desk hehe.

Xanapus` Lair

Tag: email

No More Corresponding

Big Brother Good or Bad

RapidShare AG Scam

Credit Card Theft

MySpace Sex Fiends

Dell DJ Battery a No Go

XP Antivirus 2008

Kodak

New Blog

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