| Dirty Tricks: Best WoW phishing mail I've seen |
[May. 23rd, 2012|12:50 pm] |
Today I received an e-mail supposedly from Blizzard Entertainment telling me that I had been selected to join the beta for the new expansion of "World of Warcraft" called "Mists of Pandaria". It looked real, had the correct URL's for company links, correct addresses and they were even referencing the actual picture files from Blizzard's own websites.
What tipped me off was Blizzard does not randomly hand these things out to people who have not registered for beta access, which I had not. Heck, I haven't played "World of Warcraft" in um... at least eighteen months if not longer. So, I'm not making them any money, why would they invite me randomly to the beta?
So, I checked the source and voila: the sign-up link is for a domain that ends in .tk and is registered in the Netherlands. Hmmmmmm.....
I do worry about folks who have registered for the beta and might be taken in by this crap. |
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| Pharmacy benefits: You're doing it wrong |
[May. 22nd, 2012|01:17 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  discontent | ] |
Today I went in to my local pharmacy that I've been using for years to fill a prescription. It's a kind of prescription that requires a hard-copy prescription every month so I cannot use the mail order pharmacy that my health care plan has since they will not fill a 90 day supply of it.
I turned in the prescription at the desk and a few minutes later the pharmacist called me back to the desk. She looked distraught.
"I'm sorry," she said. "But I can't fill this."
"Do you not have it in stock?"
"We have it in stock, but... The fact of the matter is that the price of this medication, even in generic, has gone up for us to procure, and your insurance's reimbursement is too far under our cost. So basically, it would cost us too much money to fill this. I'm sorry."
She handed the prescription back to me and wished me well.
Think about this: I have been told multiple times that the insurance I have, while not the best, is considered to be very good insurance.
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| What would Miss Manners do? |
[May. 5th, 2012|09:42 pm] |
I received a wedding invitation recently that asks guests to RSVP at a website address.
Now, as this was a formal invitation, it seemed a tad odd to see a URL engraved on it, but I suppose one must move with the times.
Still, does everybody have internet access these days? I'm reminded of how a business had a loyalty program available, but you had to use your cell phone to take a picture of a QR code. My phone, while it can take pictures, does not have a program to handle QR codes nor will it ever have the ability to do so as it's quite old in cell phone years.
Just a passing thought I had today. |
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| Writers from my past |
[Apr. 26th, 2012|11:30 pm] |
Back when I was in high school, I worked at a mystery bookshop in San Diego named "Grounds for Murder." During this time, from 1986-1992 (I worked summers there, too), I got to know a lot of mystery series, several mystery writers, and I read lots and lots and lots of books. These days, I look back on those days and actually miss it quite a bit as today's publishing tends toward gimmicky craft and food mysteries that run for three to four books, then the author starts a new series usually under another name.
In particular, I've been feeling nostalgic for Marian Babson, who I've had the pleasure of meeting exactly once, at Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She's an American who has lived in London most of her life and unlike a lot of mystery writers, she doesn't write series. Yes, she has a few characters she's re-used on occasion, but most of her books are standalones. Two of my favorite books of hers are actually connected: Trial of Ashes and Death Swap. The last time these were in print, they were retitled to market them as "cat" mysteries, but they're not.
Babson is a writer who can put together a whole story in 200 pages or less with fully realized characters and plots. It's amazing. Yes, she's had some hits and misses (So Soon Done For and Cruise of a Deathtime come to mind as misses) but I still go back to her every so often because she's just so comfortable. |
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| A Christmas memory for my college buds |
[Nov. 19th, 2011|09:33 pm] |
Every time I hear the Carpenters sing "Jingle Bells" these days, I recall a time in college when I was finished with my finals in December, and packing up to head home the next morning for the winter break. Since I was the only one in the six-person suite at the time, I put on a Carpenters Christmas album on cassette in the main common area, then went back into my room to continue packing. As I was finishing putting stuff in my trunk and then locking it, I turned to look out the bedroom door to the small common area where my suitemate David Kaplowitz was standing, looking very confused. The music was up loud enough that I hadn't heard him come in.
"Hey, David," I said.
David blinked and asked, "Okay, who's having sex?" |
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| Been there, done that, but thankfully, I wasn't the one lying |
[Aug. 28th, 2011|11:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  okay | ] |
Tonight I was watching "20/20: Sixth Sense" on ABC and the show profiled two cases of people who put themselves out on the internet as someone else and the fallout of what happens when the deception goes too far, culminating in murder in one of the two cases.
Back in 1992, when I was newly out of college, and Usenet was the only way to go for public internet forums, I was on a group called alt.callahans and got to know several folks, all of whom all used screen names or pseudonyms. We all fibbed about our lives. Everybody does that, whether or the internet or not. However, in one case, one person had spun a hard-luck tale of chronic illness, being in hospice, etc. People did things for her because we're human, we like to help. Eventually, we found out she was lying to us, and all the stories she told us about herself were not true.
Thankfully, I didn't send her any money, just a few letters and I think a small stuffed animal, but it's been nearly twenty years, I don't really remember now.
Anyway, I learned the hard way early on that people aren't always forthcoming when on the internet. I'm just glad nothing awful happened back then. Then again, if anything bad had happened, I never heard about it. That's probably a good thing. |
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| Sorry, there is no discount for having to actuall parent your children |
[Jul. 31st, 2011|11:09 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | okay | ] |
Greg and I were in line to get movie tickets and right in front of us were two rambunctious children along with their mom and dad. When Dad got to the window he asked for tickets to "The Smurfs" (not in 3D).
"By the way," the dad said, pointing to the mom and himself, "Is there a discount for us since we have to see this?" |
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| I'm surprised she could remember that far back |
[Jul. 21st, 2011|10:15 pm] |
I've been told by veterinarians that cats have short memories. When Onyx took a spill off the balcony, the vet told me that after a while, she'll have forgotten anything had ever happened to her. Give her time, she said, and Onyx will forget pretty much anything as long as it doesn't continue to happen over time (such as being afraid of the vaccuum cleaner).
Now I'm not so sure. Once, when we bought some Golden Oreo cookies, Onyx took a shine to licking them (just the cookie part), but since then it's been probably seven months since we've had them in the apartment.
Until yesterday. I brought a handful over to the couch and a few seconds later Onyx zoomed in from the other room, jumped up on my lap and stuck her face into my hand in an attempt to lick my cookies.
I moved my hand so it was behind the couch and she started turning circles on my lap and sniffing like crazy trying to find them. It was absolutely amazing.
Yes, I did eventually separate a cookie and held it for her as she licked it for about minute at which time she decided she'd had enough and went on her merry way. |
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| Talk about a lead balloon |
[Jul. 10th, 2011|11:01 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
At QFC today (a local grocery store chain for you non Seattleites), I got in line to check out just as one woman was finishing up, and as she was saying good-bye to the checker, she told him that she hoped he felt better soon. He said thanks, and said, "Yeah, I don't know why I'm so tired. I just can't seem to completely wake up."
She wheeled her cart away and the next guy put his basket down on the check out counter and said, "Oh, man, I just heard about all the QFC's closing, I'm so sorry."
"What?" the checker said. "Where did you hear that?"
"On the news, on the radio. Just a couple of hours ago."
"WHAT?"
"Well, no, not really. But I'll bet you're awake now!"
The customer grinned and wiggled his eyebrows while the checker finally allowed me to see exactly what a withering look looks like.
All I could think of was how that went over just about as well as Jay Leno's jokes about Casey Anthony. |
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| Today in bad editing |
[Jun. 21st, 2011|01:32 pm] |
From Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle, Berkeley/Obsidian Publishing, page 48:
"As we walked, my mind went back to wondering how Robin had dealt with the grizzly scene in her apartment that morning."
So, instead of the dead body, there were wall to wall bears? |
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jhitchin's journal
nostalgic