Free stuff!
Greg Taylor of The Daily Grail points us to an interesting development: the complete archives of the Journal of Scientific Exploration are now available online in PDF form.
Recent Posts
Speed
From the Sunday Times, a glimpse into a future where the Internet is obsolete, replaced by the superfast "grid." It's all a byproduct of CERN"s Large Hadron Collider.
Of course, there's also the pessimistic scenario in which the Large Hadron Collider wipes out the Earth, rendering the whole issue of the Internet irrelevant.
HT: Drudge.
My kingdom for a spell-checker
I've often thought it would be handy to have a spell-checker that could correct text in online dialogues, like comments threads and chat rooms. After a little research, I found a good one - and it's free!
The program is ieSpell, which works with Internet Explorer. It can be downloaded here.
Some of the freeware I've tried has been disappointing, but this nifty little program works just fine.
Two links
Important new brain research, courtesy of the satirical online news service The Onion. (Hat tip: Marcel Cairo)
The Web site for Chris Carter's new book Parapsychology and the Skeptics, available now.
That ol' black magic
Here's an interesting Web site dedicated to escapology. Two pages of the online catalogue (here and here) offer a variety of handcuffs for sale to the enterprising escape artist. Two of these cuffs are actually called "seance handcuffs" and are similar to those used by fake mediums in Houdini's day.
Also note that gimmicked flex-cuffs are available as bulk orders. The flex-cuffs can be opened and reused. Quoth the site:
YOU can use these SPECIALLY-GAFFED Flex-Cufs again and again, because you can escape from them WITHOUT CUTTING THEM! Here's the presentation: You cross your wrists in front of your body, and your assistant locks one of these Flex-Cufs on your wrists VERY TIGHTLY. A SPECTATOR THEN PULLS ON THE CUFFS VERY HARD, AND SATISFIES HIMSELF THAT THEY ARE INDEED SECURED. (This part is VERY convincing). However, you immediately escape without the use of cutters, or tools of any kind, and show the cuffs to be still in one piece (no switching of cuffs).
Cool. But who could possibly have a use for such a thing?
Episode 469: In Which I Get Scammed
Okay, I'm a moron.
I admit it. I fell for the oldest trick in the Internet book: phishing. An email supposedly from Amazon.com asked me to confirm my identity by entering various items of personal information.
I thought I was safe. I clicked on the email link and found myself at what looked like the Amazon sign-in page. I logged on and found myself in what looked like the real honest-to-God Amazon Web site. The URL began with http://www.amazon.com ... So it had to be on the up and up, right?
Wrongo.
It was all a scam, as I discovered when I belatedly contacted Amazon and was told (within ten minutes) that the email had not come from them.
By then, of course, I had stupidly given away my credit card number and even my ATM PIN.
(Yeah, I told you - I'm a moron.)
I had to cancel my card, and I will have to get a new PIN.
If there is a bright spot in all this, it is that I will not fall for this scam again. In the future, if any Internet vendor asks me for personal info via email, I will contact the vendor first before answering the email.
The other bright spot is that, knowing what you now know, there is no need for you to fall for this scam.
The Amazon rep I talked to on the phone said their customers have been inundated by these phishing emails in the past month. So, for the record, here is the fake email I received from the faux Amazon:
Greetings from Amazon Payments.
Your bank has contacted us regarding some attempts of charges from your credit card via the Amazon system. We have reasons to believe that you changed your registration information or that someone else has unauthorized access to your Amazon account Due to recent activity, including possible unauthorized listings placed on your account, we will require a second confirmation of your identity with us in order to allow us to investigate this matter further. Your account is not suspended, but if in 48 hours after you receive this message your account is not confirmed we reserve the right to suspend your Amazon registration. If you received this notice and you are not the authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of Amazon policy to represent oneself as another Amazon user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. Amazon is committed to assist law enforcement with any inquires related to attempts to misappropriate personal information with the intent to commit fraud or theft. Information will be provided at the request of law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Don't be fooled by imitations! (In other words, don't be a moron - like me.)
How great is that?
Just how great is the Internet?
Here's one answer. I was reading an interesting book called De Vere as Shakespeare, by William Farina, when I came across a reference to the obscure Elizabethan play Arden of Feversham. Some people think this play may be an early work of Shakespeare.
Intrigued, I decided I would like to read this play. But in the old days, I would have had little hope of tracking it down. Maybe if I trekked to the nearest university library I might be able to find a copy, but I wouldn't count on it.
Nowadays it's a different story. I simply went to Google, typed in the search terms Arden and Feversham, and scrolled through the results.
Within a few seconds I found the complete text of this play, with modernized spelling. I downloaded it to my PC and transfered it to my handheld computer for easy reading.
I mean, seriously. How great is that?
Meevee!
Now that TV Guide has stopped including local listings (which was, if I'm not mistaken, the entire raison d'etre of TV Guide), I've searched for an Internet service that will fill the void. I tried Yahoo TV listings - too slow and clunky. Tried TV Guide.com's listings - took forever to load. Tried Zap2it.com - also slow.
Then I found Meevee. It's fast and free. (Well, the upgraded service costs money, I guess, but the basis service is zero-cost.) And it works great!
If you're looking for local TV listings, check it out.
Red bad
My Verizon DSL went out a couple of days ago, but is now back. The technical support people were somewhat helpful, but I ended up resolving the problem myself (I think - or maybe it just came back on by itself).
At one point in the phone call to Verizon, I was handed off to the "advanced" tech support guy, and the conversation went like this:
ME: I'm not able to connect. The Internet LED on my modem/router is showing solid red.
HIM: It's supposed to be green.
ME: I know.
HIM: If it's red, that means you're not connecting.
ME: Right.
HIM: What you want is for it to be green. You don't want it to be red.
ME: Yes. I got that.
HIM: Red means your service is out.
At this point I'm thinking, This is the advanced support guy?
Anyway, it's working now. Dialup is more reliable than DSL, I must admit. Cable is supposed to be better than either, but still too friggin' expensive.
At least now I have learned a valuable lesson: Red bad. Green good.
Technical question
For anyone who knows about broadband, a question ...
I have a DSL connection that normally delivers data at about 2.6 - 3 Mbps. Yesterday, however, the speed (as tested by several online services) slowed to a crawl - only about 50 Kbps. That's dialup range, far below what a DSL line should offer.
I tried various home remedies like searching for spyware and viruses, power-cycling the modem and PC, hooking up a different phone cord, and testing the physical connections. No improvement. Then I called my service provider (Verizon) and spoke with a tech support guy, who eventually concluded that my modem was defective. He authorized shipment of a new modem.
Bu here's the thing. Today (still using the old modem, with no changes in my setup) my speed is back to normal!
What the huh?
If anyone out there has an explanation for this anomaly, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
I am leaning toward malicious spirits, myself. Or evil dogs that live in the woods. Or maybe it's all part of corporate America's master plan to drive me insane ...
