So, I'm pretty adept at the internet. I've been doing stuff with it since '94, so I tend to know how things work. But MAN, are scammers getting good.

The Fianceé was using ebay to by a wedding dress, and found one on ebay, that was a very good deal. But at the last minute she was outbid. Then came the email after the auction saying that the winner had bailed and would she like to buy the dress. This set off all sorts of bells and whistles for me, but when I looked over the email it all seemed to be legit, and some poking on ebay's site made it seem like it was feasible.

So then they requested the money via western union, which seemed ok to me, except that them email indicated that I'd be sending the money to ebay, but the actual instructions had me sending it to the specific person. That was a little fishy, but not so fishy I stopped. I don't know how Western Union works, so perhaps I was missing something. But it still felt weird.

So I actually went to a Western Union by me, filled out the paper work, and was saved by the fact that they don't take credit cards (Aside: All western unions places seem shady).

So then I discovered that you can send money online, so away I went, and got to the final confirmation step, and something still felt a little weird. So I went back to the email, which was from ebay@safeharborpayment.com - so I punched in safeharborpayment.com which redirected to an under construction geocites site!!

Holy Schnikes!

So now I started googling, and apparently this is quite the common scam. Crazy. The emails they sent were almost totally legit (clearly they just copied emails that ebay sends). They had a couple little oddites in them, but nothing glaring.

Add into the mix that this was the dream dress, and there was that little bit of pressure to ignore the weirdness and get the great dress at a good price.

So, sorta long story short: Don't Western Union money directly to strangers, no matter how good their html email looks. And don't get all uppity about yourself because you know "a lot about the internet" - almost everybody does nowdays, especially the bad guys.

More info in the ebay forums.

oy.

I tell ya, RJD2 was onto some good stuff when he crafted this gem.  Love it every single time.  Don't know why though.

And just so you don't think I'm some San Fancisco DJ freak, Tears of Rage by The Band also gives me the same, if not better, chills.  Anything from Music from Big Pink.

Also, I've been drinking.  Freaking "Octoberfest" here at work, and me with an all you can drink coupon...

I hope you're getting your money's worth from Oracle for them closing down a block for a week so they can set up tents and tables that nobody seems to use.

My reason for asking is that as a taxpayer, I'm not seeing how this is helping us. I'm hoping that theres a large chunk of cash or something somewhere that I'll appreciate later on down the road.

*grumble grumble*

Spent ~5 hours last night playing Ratchet: Deadlocked with a buddy of mine in co-op mode, and it's a LOT of fun. I've never played the single player version, but the co-op version is a blast, with the vehicle levels being the highlight thus far. Debating how to equip and mod the weapons is also a lot of fun.

Previously we'd been playing Lego Start Wars II, which is a good time, but not nearly as good as Deadlocked, as you didn't really have to work as a team quite as much in that game. Deadlocked requires it.

Anyone have any good PS2 co-op game suggestions? I'm already aware of twisted metal black, lego star wars, and jedi starfighter.

So funny story from dinner last night.. It turns out my friend Reba used to date the lead animator for South Park back in the day, and he worked a chararcter who looked just like her into the show for a few episodes. She's got a framed pick of Cartman giving "her" a funny look.

Funny stuff.

Was my cell phone number in Tunisia. It's fun when phone technology (Sim Cards) actually works as expected.

"The San Francisco Giants and Blood Centers of the Pacific have once again teamed up to help avert a summertime blood shortage. With the July 4th weekend just around the corner, we need your help more than ever."

Is July 4th really that bloody?

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind / There was something so pleasant about that place / even your emotions have an echo in so much space...

An great pop sound, but with dark content. Totally Awesome.  No wonder the brits love it.

Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work. But I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped!

Is it bad that I want a 360 only for Live? There's not really a game for the system that calls out to me. But the live stuff is really well done. I want games that are cheap and fun to play. And if I happen to get some achivement points, well, that's not so bad either...