You have to acknowledge the honesty

12.10.2006 @ 12.45, Posted in Net

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Do you know that fold-out (or fold-together) things with a sentence or a word on it, and when you fold it, it says something else? The Mad magazine often had pictures working that way on the last page, and Beck did a video with it. Often, they are very clever.

Interestingly, I got the notification that a certain stock “will hit the sky” and I should not “pass it by”. First I thought, this was just another stupid spam trying to trick me into buying some penny stocks from a company lingering on the verge of doom since its founding. But once my mailclient “folded together” the sender and the subject of the mail, I suddenly realized that it was a very clever message about the dangers of buying stock because a GIF image in a mail told you so:

startloosing.png

I am so grateful

11.10.2006 @ 07.55, Posted in Blog

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There have been 4027 comment spams caught since the last digest report 2 weeks, 1 day ago.

I really am. SpamKarma. It should be included in the wordpress distribution.

Java Coding advice meets Hagakure meets a badly translated taiwanese Users Manual

09.10.2006 @ 07.06, Posted in Java

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Look what just came into my inbox:

design problems In their native real OO design principles learned by those at speaking the language (and too short) to spend environment. In other
You’re not and experience of others, support in your own code. You’ll easily counter with your With Design Patterns, Facade, Proxy, and Factory that you can hold your
someone struggles of patterns with others what to expect–a visually-rich you don’t want to the next time you’re

“secret language” a design paddle pattern. want to see how you get to take In their native design problems, and better
Singleton isn’t as simple as it
to use them (and when Best of all, in a way that won’t format designed for the way and experience of others, environment. In other

the next time you’re so that you can spend you have. You know of Design Patterns so Design Patterns, you’ll avoid how patterns are
real OO design principles your brain works. Using the same software on your team.
of Design Patterns so design problems
or on the real relationship

so that you can spend

But you don’t just alone. At any given moment, You want to learn the and Adapter. With Head First
You’re not and experience of others,
you don’t want to

a book, you want

environment. In other you don’t want to design problems about inheritance might
the “Trading Spaces” show. applications. You
the “Trading Spaces” show.

Decorator is something from

principles will help (and too short) to spend support in your own code. of patterns with others
put you to sleep! We think “secret language” how patterns are
you want to learn the of the best practices Head First book, you know

Most importantly, else. Something more the next time you’re at speaking the language to do instead). You want science, and learning theory, You’ll easily counter with your
when to use them, how
you have. You know a book, you want
of patterns with others
someone struggles the latest research in
Java’s built-in pattern

who’ve faced the deep understanding of why the same software reinvent the wheel matter–why to use them,
so you look to Design Design Patterns, you’ll avoid , and how to exploit same problems.
In a way that lets you put support in your own code. you don’t want to environment. In other real OO design principles
words, in real world
same problems.
look “in the wild”. used in the Java API the embarrassment of thinking texts. If you’ve read a to know how they

sounds, how the Factory Singleton isn’t as simple as it Most importantly,

to use them (and when be wrong (and what
so that you can spend (and too short) to spend own with your co-worker on your team.
you want to learn the or on the real relationship
you get to take

you have. You know

The sound advice burried into this little gem needs a lot of contemplation before its wisdom is fully absorbed.

Sheeeesh, Referrer Spammer

19.06.2006 @ 15.19, Posted in Tech

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As if regular eMail or forum [tag]spam[/tag] wasn’t bad enough, spammers now target blog sites listing referrers more aggressively. The phaenomenon known as “Referrer Spam” is around for quite some time, but apparrently, the pace of the spammers has picked up lately. Just look at what you have to do to keep the worst offenders out of your referrer-list.
Today, the subnet antville site was hit by quite a large botnet promoting very very illegal pornographic material. The server went down quite hard, because antville tracks all referrers in its own database (and the mySQL server couldn’t keep up with the pace).
If these scumbags would at least verify that their idiotic plan works, we wouldn’t have had that problem. Dear spammer, please be so kind and answer me one simple question:
What good is it hammering a blogging site with thousands of requests full of spammy referrer-strings if that goddamn site doesn’t even display referrer-trackbacks?

A rather laborious Method

09.06.2006 @ 07.05, Posted in Blog

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SpamAssassin and Jiawei Art & Crafts have found a rather cumbersome way to send unsolicited messages to people:

****SPAM**** with oil painting

I guess that method would reduce the quantity, but dramatically increase the quality of spam.

pre-shakespeare

15.05.2006 @ 15.05, Posted in Blog

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Recite in overly dramatic, on-stage voice:

Need money?
Your credit doesn’t matter to us!
Want IMMEDIATE cash to spend
ANY way you like, or simply
wish to LOWER your monthly payments
by a third or more?
Simply fill out this one-minute form…

It’s not a sales call, it’s a lottery!

09.05.2006 @ 19.19, Posted in Blog

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Boy, these tele-marketers are smart.

Anrufe – einschließlich das Senden von Fernkopien – zu
Werbezwecken ohne vorherige Einwilligung des Teilnehmers sind
unzulässig. (§107 Abs 1 TKG)

Don’t speak german? It’s the austrian Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act) that prohibits any sales calls to anyone that hasn’t explicitly agreed to be called.
So, now they’re calling it a lottery, you can win this or that if you answer that one question or some other or I don’t know because I stopped listening after 5 seconds.
I wonder if the courts will share the telemarketers interpretation of the law …

How to become the worlds worst salesman

02.03.2006 @ 13.58, Posted in Blog

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Cold-Call a potential customer. Tell him that his company participated in a survey about laser printers last year and that you want to send him a bottle of wine as a thank-you. Refuse to name the person that participated in the survey in the name of the company you are calling right now. Ask what type of laserprinter the company you are calling has. Never mention the free bottle of wine again. Tell them that you want to send them 4 cartridges “for testing” for 190 euros each. When told that the company you are calling has a policy against buying from companies that cold-call potential customers, tell the customer that you are not selling anything. When asked why you don’t sell anything, when you want to send 4 cartridges for 190 euro a piece, insist that they are for “testing”, although the company you are currently calling will be billed for them.Then hang up.

Man, I love telemarketers.