Technology in Society

Here is a classic scam from Craigslist.They offer to buy your item you advertised via classified for more money than you ask for ($375 in my case, he offered $500).They even give you a bleeding heart story about wife dying in accident.

From: ike derico Alright,i live in North Georgia United State.Am quite comfortable with the condition of the item since i wont be making any repairs on it,i will like to offer you $500 including packing materials without you paying for any shipping charges b'cos i already have an account with FedEx,i would have loved to make the payment in cash and carry but we are not in the same state so i will like to go ahead with the payment by sending you a Money Order But i will need your contact infomation in which the money will be deliver ok.I wonna buy this [item name] for my step son to fulfill the promise his mum made before she died,i lost my lovely wife to an auto accident on 29th of June 2005 and since then i and her step son john have been living seperately and i want to buy this item for him because his mom promised him before death took her away from us and i think with this i and tobi can live as a family. Kindly get back to me immediately you receive my e-mail and i will like you to take it off craigslist for auction cos am serious in buying it.So let me have your full infomation ofr pyment to be made....

Classified ads on craigslist attract scammers from Nigeria and elsewhere.Here is a recent example when I was trying to sell something.Not that I asked for $375, and was offered more for it.Here is the first message I got:

pls can you tell me if this item is still for sale ?and the price

There are many internet scams in circulation.This section details some of them. 

It seems that no matter what one does to educate people, some would still fall for scams.In the past, I posted on email scams saying you won the lottery, only to ask for some advance fees.Today, I got this comment on the article:

tell me please Submitted by mahmoud ...hello siri want know i am realy winer or nomy serial number 7741137002.please tell methank you .

People do not read ...

Statistics Canada released the result of a study today about internet use.It says that those who used the internet heavily tend to be more loners, but less rushed and more laid back.What is interesting is that they define heavy internet users as those who use the internet for  an hour or more per day!I guess I am way off the chart then ... 

If we look back in history, banking and retail outlets had armies of clerks helping you get your job done. Rather doing the job for you.The grocery clerk fetched the items for you, packed them up and ringed in the amount on the cash register.The banking clerk cashed your cheques, gave you the status and balance of your account and handed you the cash.As time went by, technology started making forays in those areas, and we saw Automated Teller Machines and self service at the supermarket.Initially, the motive for doing this was convenience for the customer: the ATM was open after hours, and the supermarket allowed you to pick the vegetables you wanted, not what the clerk handed you out.

Some time ago, I wrote an article about Wikimapia web site, the collaborative mapping of the world overlaying Google's Maps.Today, I got this email from someone in India.

A while back, I wrote on search engine optimization contests where meaningless words are chosen, and winners are those who score the highest for the search term on search engines. For example, here is a recent contest with the terms Seraphim Proudleduck. Today, I received a message from Mukesh K asking me to do search engine optimization for his site.It reads as follows:

I often get email mistking my web site for others. One of those is the EGC where I used to go to school as a kid, and have a few pages on it. Here is another instance of mistaking my web site for the EGC web site. Names withheld of course. 

Dear Mrs. Enaam [Eldafraway, headmistress],               I wrote to you on the first of June06 , about sending mydaughter [...] all document specially her 'BirthdayCertificat', and I have forward £10-00 Egyptian £ to pay for thecosts  that you can kindly sent all the Documents by post 'RecordedDeleviery'. Please note that I also the same time wrote to 'Alsassr[El Nassr = EBS] College', to Mr. [...], and he is kindlly have sent back allthe Documents belonging to my two Son's [...] And [...]. Please I willwait to hear from you , and sorry if I have caused any problemes?!.Yours truly[...]

Here is really cool web site: Wikimapia.

This is a fusion of Google Maps with the concept of a Wiki where anyone can add/edit information on a site (similar to Wikipedia).