I finally heard back from the UN today regarding the scam emails from people posing as representatives of various UN agencies. Here’s what "eStaffing Support" at the United Nations sent me: The email that you have received is a fraudulent email. It does not have anything to do with UN employment. Please ignore this type of email…
Spring has sprung in Brooklyn
Here is a selection of my pictures from my splendid day running around the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shooting the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival). First a little rant. I found myself trying to contain my annoyance with kids and adults who purposely shook the branches to get the delicate petals to rain down on them….
Dancing fountain at Brooklyn Museum (video)
I just had a lovely day at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom) Festival there. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get a chance to winnow them down to a reasonable amount. For now, here’s a video I took of the dancing fountain in front of the Brooklyn Museum….
On Anonymity and Community on Web Forums
Among my other pursuits, I am a moderator and administrator of a large community-based website devoted to swing dancing and swing music called Yehoodi.com. By far our most popular feature is our discussion boards, which brings together more than 9,000 registered users from around the world. Early on in the development of the site around…
Fake UN Spam: Identity Theft or Service Fee?
I have gotten lots of responses from people saying that they too have received the same emails from fake UN agencies offering cushy six figure jobs around the world. Several people have said that they responded to the advertised postings and received job offers almost immediately. However none of them have corroborated the claim by…
My entry in Internet Marketing Contest: “Defend the Internet”
Ok, so here’s my brilliant idea for how to market "saving the internet" for Jeff Pulver’s viral marketing contest: Internet Defender. It’s a flash-based video game that highlights the increasing restrictions and bottlenecks being put up by ISPs. A side-scrolling shooter, similar to the classic game Defender, the set-up would be a web surfer trying…
“Save the Internet” marketing contest – $1,000 prize!
Jeff Pulver has decided to put his money with his mouth is, stop just blogging about preserving the principles of Net Neutrality and the end-to-end principles and do something. Jeff is sponsoring a viral marketing contest to save the internet. Here’s his pitch: We need to harness your individual genius and our collective genius (for…
More UN spam… I mean World Vision Intl Spam
Finally, I just received some spam from an international organization that isn’t the United Nations. This time around, it’s from, apparently World Vision International. WVI is : a Christian relief and development organisation working for the well being of all people, especially children. Through emergency relief, education, health care, economic development and promotion of justice,…
Forgetting to credit your friends
Sometimes it’s easiest to steal from your friends. Four months ago my friend Jamie Linder and his girlfriend Erica were playing with my kitten Mole. Jamie, being the awesome photographer that he is, took a bunch of great photos. And being the nice guy that he is, he posted them to his website, jlinder.com. I,…
UNCDF Issues Email Fraud Alert
I recently found a fraud advisory on the United Nations Capital Development Fund website warning people about fake emails sent out in their name: UNCDF recently fell victim to an internet scam whereby a fraudulent email was circulated announcing fictitious vacancy announcements. The purpose of this fraud was to get people to register for a…