A Bad Day of Phishing Is Better Than a Good Day of Work

I have been the target of a phishing scam before. Fortunately I was wise enough to avoid it.

Here is the e-mail I received:

Dear Friend ,

My name is Mrs Judith Williams (Mrs Williams is not real, Google her name.) I am 79yrs old of age, i stay at 6618 Flowermound Dr, Sugarland TX 78479 , USA. (Well the address is real at least, Google Maps confirms it!) I am a good merchant , I have several industrial companies and good share in various banks in the world .I spend all my life on investment and corporate business. All the way i lost my husband and two beautiful kids in fatal accident that occur in November 5th 2003.

I am a very greedy woman with all cost i don’t know much and care about people, since when I have an experience of my it difficult to sleep and give rest . (I can understand that in other countries they may not understand our grammar, but since when have periods ever gone a space after the last word?) Later in the year 2004 February i was sent a letter of medical check up, as my personal Doctor testify that i have a lung cancer, which can easily take off my life soon. (The same way an accident with an ax can take off your hand?) I found it uneasy to survive myself, because a lot of investment cannot be run and manage by me again. (It appears she has actually become a threat to herself, which I guess with lung cancer, this does make sense.)

I quickly call up a pastor / prophet to give me positive thinking on this solution, as my adviser. He ministered to me to share my properties ,wealth, to motherless baby/orphanage homes/people that need money for survivor both student that need money/ business men for their investment and for future rising. (A very long, but informative sentence!) So i am writing this letter to people who really need help from me both student in college, to contact me urgently. (That's me! I am a student in college!)

So that i can make available preparation on that especially women of the day, who are divorced by their husband, why they cannot survive the mist of feeding theirself. Please contact me and stop weeping . (You are assuming a lot of my emotions.)

Probably let me now what you really need the money for, and if you can still help me to distribute money to nearest orphanages homes near your town. (For an e-mail with such rush and importance in its tone I find it odd she would suddenly suggest I PROBABLY do it.)

Now am so much with God, am now born again. (I think this counts as using Gods name in vain. Great job!)

May you be blessed, as you reach me, (I may be, but PROBABLY not.)

I will give more information to you as i await your response immediately.

Best Regards ,
Mrs . Judith Williams

My Reply:

Dear, Mrs. Williams,

I am very interested, how may I help? I myself have come into some rather bad times as of late and could use the joy helping others brings. Hope you feel better.

Nick

"Her" Reply:

Dear Nick Jade ,

Sorry for the late response.

Your mail received and noted with every understanding. (Every single one?)

I am on a bed rest here at the hospital and I cannot move around but i really want this fund to be distributed through you.

My money is clean and generated from my late husband company at United Kingdom . I want to give out the money soon because the doctor has told me that i will die soon. (It is true, you can't take it with you.)

I will be going in for an operation soon and I want you to come and see me after this operation. (I would love to! I hope we can stay life long friends!)

Can you come and visit me after the operation here in Harlem Hospital ? (You left your coushy home in Texas to get treatment in Harlem?)

My case is different from what you think so please pray for me for survival after this operation . (Didn't you state earlier it was lung cancer. I am confused!)

I just want to you help me distribute this funds as support from me to Motherless baby home in your state . (I used Reference USA to find the local Mohterless baby home but was unable to.)

The amount in my bank account is $2, 800.000.00 and i want you to keep $800.000.00 with you for business establishment then distribute the rest to charity & motherless homes etc around your state .

My funds was deposited by me at ( Standard Life Bank Plc , United Kingdom ) and i have asked my attorney to proceure an irrevocable Power of Attorney in your favour so that i can sign .

I spoke with the bank manager yesterday and he told me as i am not present in there bank at United Kingdom , my attorney should provide an irrevocable Power of Attorney in your favour so as soon as they receive documents from my attorney Robin Gibbs (Wasn't he in the Bee Gees?) instructing them to wire the funds to you , they will proceed so please comply with them and make sure that the desires of a dying woman are accomplished.

Am hoping and asking for Gods healing, though the doctor said that i must be operated upon, the attached file is my drivers license and passport before i got ill.

Please in your next mail, kindly send Your Full Name and Address .

Your message has been forwarded to my attorney now for proper documentations to enable the UK bank transfer the funds to you .

As soon as my attorney Mr. Robin Gibbs get across to you along with the documents , you will proceed and contact the bank for payment directives so that the bank will transfer the funds to your bank account and after my recovery i will make a way for us two to see and discuss about other way of helping our selves like other international businesses that others can benefit from.

You will have nothing to fear because I will always be there for you. (This is a very moving line.)

I also expect that the mutual trust which I have placed on you will not be neglected, as it is the only way for us to successfully conclude this agreement.

Lastly, always write to me promptly.

I wait for your mail and please reply soonest.

Mrs. Judith Williams.

Push It To The Limit

I always want to push my skills in organizing my life and work to the limit. That is why I am willing to give my first born child to Google. They have forever changed the way I conduct my business. At any time and place I have access to my most important files. I am always on the lookout for new programs and applications that can assist me. That is why I am attracted to Life Hacker and Instructables. It is great that there is a community of individuals who want to share their unique knowledge with the world. I am more excited about these sites because not only can I learn from them, I can add to them!

I remember in the film The Net there is a scene when Sandra Bullock orders pizza online. That was 1995. It took us over 10 years to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnXJgtXeQ8&feature=related

Look at about 1:30 in.

Library 2.0

I think Orlando Memory is important to the library because it places the power of archiving in the hands of the community. For so many years our institution was based on what WE found important. We decided what books people would have access to, what reference material would be on file, and so on. Now we have options like the internet that gives patrons to ability to search their own resources. Orlando Memory is a way for the community to upload what they feel is important. It gives them the tools to permanently put on file their memories.

I am very excited about the direction the library is taking with "Library 2.0" I feel I am in a unique position considering many of the ideas, terms, and technologies that are now becoming the norm in libraries are concepts my generation has been familiar with for a long time. Now I can become an important asset to the organization by utilizing skills that I have been learning on my own before I even realized they could be useful in my business life.

Last.fm

One great web 2.0 application I have been using for some time is last.fm. After installing a small application that communicates with my iTunes, last.fm collects the information and not only informs the web surfing public of my musical tastes but also suggests new artists for me.

You can check my profile here: www.last.fm/user/nickjade

Last.fm allow me to listen to a "radio" that plays songs by my favorite artists as well as artists in a similar genre. It is a great way to find new bands, or in my case, old bands that I have never heard of.

Last.fm has gone through many changes over the years. You used to be able to place a small playlist on your blog or website that input songs you played. This feature is now disabled as last.fm included no ads in the playlist and this is an important aspect of their revenue. Last.fm function in an entirely legal realm as they pay royalties to the bands they feature. I think this is a positive step forward to sharing music on the web.

The web is now part of our basic communication with people. If I want to play a song for a friend I am not looking at the web as some tunnel for distribution the same as I would a store. The web is now an extension of my body. I do not have to be in the same room with somebody to communicate with them. I think this is an important aspect to except for the media industries and they hopefully can learn to adapt to it.

Sometimes it may be hard to browse the catalog and know what music may be enjoyable or not. Most artists appear on last.fm and can be helpful in identifying artists within a patron's tastes.

I found the Clay Shirky video very interesting! My roomate and I were just speaking last night about dropping our cable. We still want to keep it because there are a few shows that we do enjoy watching. Although we record them to our DVR and watch them on our own time. And even then I only watch TV while I am eating or doing something in which my attention is being occupied by a task. Otherwise I am typically pretty busy working on a project!

I'll be back... to check out some books when I find my library card.

The Orange County Library System, a public enterprise, brings value to the residents of the district through collections, staff, services and facilities. The Library connects our changing community to the evolving world of ideas, information and technology. Through continuous innovation, the Orange County Library System will create a well-informed, well-connected community, making Orange County a great place to live, learn, work, and play.

The things that stand out the most to me with our mission statement are "changing community," "continuous innovation," and "well-connected community." When I began working here I was amazed at what we carried. Films, albums, the whole nine yards. And I do mean films. There are actually legitimate pieces of art in the DVD selection. It's not a Blockbusters' new release wall! That is the first way I noticed how we meet community wants.

Next I was impressed by the computer classes and resources we offer. At the library back home I can walk in today and use the exact same catalog computer I used when I was 8. I am not even kidding. The same exact computer! And typically it is logged out or frozen and I have to have a library employee come unlock it. I am a big fan of that old black and green screen but it just won't cut in the days of Blackberries and iPhones.

We offer our patrons the chance to use our computers and the Internet on a daily basis. In my opinion we can not offer any greater a community service. These days you even have to register for food stamps online. That is like telling somebody your shop that fixes broken brakes is on the edge of a cliff at the bottom of a steep hill. You can get there but it will be really hard.

The portion of the DaVinci Institute article that interests me most is the mention on we as library employees becoming competent professionals to turn to. I think we are already this and will become more so:

As we achieve the ability to conduct more and more complicated searches, the role of the librarian to assist in finding this kind of information also becomes more and more important. People will not have the time and skills necessary to keep up on each new innovation in the search world, and they will need a competent professional to turn to.

However, I am extremely concerned with computers becoming like people. It could just walk up to you in a crowd and kill you!

Computers will become more human-like with personalities, traits, and other characteristics that will give us the sense of being in a room with other humans.

Give Me Your Address There

Since I have joined the OCLS family I have come to realize all the great digital resources available. I am a big fan of Google and Wikipedia for their abundance of information on practically anything available 24/7. But it was not until I started working here that I realized similar sites existed online (through the library) that could give me similar information but with a level of authority attached.

I see the library becoming a portal for open source information. In the past the library was one of the few locations individuals could go to research a subject. Now the library is becoming more of an assistant in connecting the individual with said information. We provide the computers, or the wireless Internet. We provide them with the free databases and staff who know how to navigate them as well as they do the books, and even Google.

When I Google myself I find several entries for a moving company in Louisiana, BUT also my MySpace, Facebook, posts I made on message boards, an company I used to work for, etc. I hope the cyborgs don't find me.

"I'll be back... after I do a Google search on you!"

Health, Wellness and Technology!

I found both sites enormously intertesting and helpful. They have managed to combine health, nutrition, and social networking all under a sleak design. Although I did find the front page of Nutrition Data to be a little busy and it causes my eyes to wonder.

I want to live as long as I can! Well, until the computers (and Web 3.0) decide to rise up and destroy us.