Scammers use an intelligent stupidity to draw people towards their traps. No scammer will think their campaign will have a success rate of more than 1% but for the people who are convinced by their phishing, they need to make sure the angle is hit just right.
It may be that you have magically won dollars on a lottery you never signed up for; or perhaps someone needs you as a holder for large sums of money; your penis wont stay up on its own or simple that your account has problems and a password is needed to resolve the issue. Regardless, people will fall for the traps laid out, even more so when the trap looks legitimate.
Mrs Hotmail User has just got an email saying her account may be at risk (note: may) and that a ‘recent’ BBC article mentions the problems, linky: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4778046.stm
The link is read, ‘oh my’ thinks the reader, ‘click’ goes the mouse and the password is on the fringe of being given out. One email account password means nearly all other accounts to other websites can now be changed as an email account is often the ‘authentication system’ when changing other website passwords.
The reader thinks they are safe.
The scammer is selling their ‘live’ data for premium
The BBC know they are a target, their news archives are extensive, their reputation is world-class and their Most Read news listings are often appearing with old articles within them. Quite simply, these usually appear after a scam has been circulated to millions with that link inside. A few thousand have to click that link to make it higher than the current popular content.
But do not phreak out, just stay calm and never, ever, respond to any emails asking for anything like a password or one that offers too much to be true. Fruitless words, the scammers will always find a way.
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On Monday the conlib UK government will set out their plan to save billions of pounds to try and balance out the economy. To the likes of you and I what this really equates to is the same as when we are food shopping and we can’t work out if the basics value version will appease our nutritional requirements for less money.
To education it means another shake up. What might go? BECTA? Teachers TV? primary schools? Bullies? All must pass through the swirling vortex of the money monster and see if they come out the other side. Bullies always get through sadly, but the vortex is firey and mean.
So what other options are there? Money must be saved.
How about no more expenses, video conferenced parliament maybe, perhaps just one home each? Maybe tax richer people in a fair way and taking cuts from companies who make so much from everyone else? When’s Robin Hood runs for leadership maybe we will have less debt, make the most of our crop and attrnd to the ones that are less fortunate.
Children are hopefully the future and we make them. Does that account for anything or shall we just solider on, ignoring the reality and keep pretending it will be ok.
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The morning sun is such a glorifying thing. It gives us so much and yet we can’t even be bothered to see it. Lying in one of london’s most exquisitley simple of public spaces, tavistock square, at 8:30. There are some people, but not many. It does not matter for the sounds of hurry around because while lying on the good grass and starring up at the blue sky through the trees, I can use an old trick to settle my inner city pressure.
Think of the engines as waves crashing on the shore.
As for the youthful aging generation of sleepers who can’t get themselves together before 10, all I can say is, you are missing something lovely.
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I would like to start with ‘gone are the days when your audience are staring attentively at you while you deliver your finest content ever, taking every morsel of information like hungry birds…’ – but I will not.
If someone is truly captivated by your presentations then they will be doing their best to absorb and remember. The writing device, a ‘traditional’ piece of technology, often a pen, is used by many to capture the essence of your content. Only the elite of journalists can look up and write notes at the same time. For most it’s a messy result, illegible handwriting and unable to distinguish the fathomable to the outright ‘what does that mean again?’. If anything, the taking of notes is difficult enough with complex subject material and a desire to ingest as much as possible.
It is comforting when delivering content to see your audience taking notes, smoke arising from the paper.
So it breaks our hearts, removes our direction and generally frustrates when presenting to see someone whiling their time away on their mobile phone or laptop. What are they doing, why are they throwing away this opportunity to listen to what I am saying?! How DARE they. The rudeness means only one thing – they are not interested in me, so in turn, I am not interested in them either.
But, they’re not texting their friends, playing apps or checking their social networks. They are also taking notes. Type type type, how annoying. Don’t worry! Tablets are coming, touchscreen devices are silent. Pens are running out, pencils are breaking and note/net/lap/facebooks are being used academically all over the place. Crazy.
Next time you deliver something to an audience, just remember that the person (people!?) hammering away on their phone or computer may just be a user of technology which allows easy duplication and improvements to digital notes taken in class. Creating content which can be re-used, tweaked, edited and even shared… the possibilities are literally endless, the pen however has a shadow cast over it.
Just because someone is not looking, it does not mean they are not listening.
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