I’ve answered them back

Scam

Yesterday I’ve showed the message The Oil Painting Studio sent me. I’ve decided to answer them back and want to see if they are gullible.

Actual message sent to them.

from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
to art09365@163.com
subject Quotation required
date 29 May 2009 14:25

The Oil Painting Company

Dear Sir or Madam,

I really want you to make use of your services. The first painting must be a painting of a middle finger. The painting must be 60cm high by 45cm wide. The second painting must be of a face with a hand in front of it. Same dimensions as the first painting.

If you will kindly forward me a detailed quote specifying how much it will cost including the packaging and shipping. I also want to know if it is possible for you to frame it and if so, what are the costs involved?

If your require any further information, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Anticipating your reply

Best Regards

Waiting…

Only time will tell…

Just another spam message

Actual Message

from art09365@163.com
to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
date 24 May 2009 09:55
subject The Oil Painting Studio

Dear Sir and madam
Allow me to introduce ourselves: We are the Oil Painting Studio.
We would like to offer our painting and giclee prints services to you.
In our studio we have 30 highly skilled professional artists with over 12 years of experience creating paintings for our international clientele. We have worked creatively worldwide with a large number of commercial enterprises, professional artists and galleries in Europe
and America. They all praise our professional high quality of production and artistic workmanship. Many of our clients use our works for their business and art displays…
We safely and professionally pack and ship your paintings through FedEx or DHL. Please send us an email today describing what is your desired topic to be painted, and some indication of the approximate size. In return we will send you a pricelist. The Shipping cost is
based on your location and the size and dimensions of the painting or paintings required.
I hope that we will have a chance to cooperation and be good friends!
We are Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards
The Oil Painting Studio

My point is…

This is the worst spam message I’ve ever received. I have a good mind to reply to this one: Ask them to make me a painting of 60 x 45 cm with a picture of the middle finger and small print ± 16pts “For idiots” and that they must mail it to themselves. Wonder what the reply would be? Or should I try and hire them? Umh, thinking…
Yep, I’m gonna do it and let’s wait and see for the answer. Got this feeling in my gut that this one is going to make me giggle!! Looking forward to their reply…

Why not to “Send this E-Mail to 8 People”

We all receive e-mails, ok? Think about it, send this e-mail to 8 people and you will receive this and that, send it to 20 people and you will receive this and that, blah, blah, blah…

I received one of those e-mails today.

Read it carefully. The snitch: Both the T18 and R320 are discontinued phones!

Out of curiosity I’ve "Googled" anna.swelung@ericsson.com which brought me to Ericsson FAQ site. Have a look at point #5:
"5: Is it true that you are giving away mobile phones? Please give me Anna Swelunds e-mail address.
No, Ericsson is not giving away phones for free. The chain letter is a
fraud.

[First published 10 April 2000]
A chain letter is currently in circulation via e-mail, purporting that
Ericsson is giving away mobile phones. The e-mail is a fraud and
Ericsson is not giving away phones for free. The following is an
extract from the letter:
“If you forward it [the letter] to 20 friends, you will receive a brand
new Ericsson phone.”
The letter is signed off Anna Swelund, Executive Promotion Manager
for Ericsson Marketing. This person does not exist at Ericsson. The
legal and IT departments at Ericsson will trace the person who
initiated the illegal chain letter. Ericsson is sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused and kindly ask people not to forward the chain mail further."

I’ve also "Googled" N.kossik, where the first two results refer to persons in India and of course they are not working for Sony Ericsson. Look at the picture, the first letter of the surname is not capatilised.

The scheme seems simple: You send it off to 8 friends cc’ing Ms. "anna.swelung@ericsson.com" Some of your friends are gullible and forward it to another 8 friends. The effect Ms Swelung’s e-mail inbox fills quickly up with people who wants a laptop and their friends’ addresses.
The result: Ms. Swelung has hundreds of thousands of e-mail addresses ready to be spammed with e.g. viagra and who de heck knows what else.

Remember:

• If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
• Is any company going to give away thousands and thousands of products to gain a market share? Don’t think so.

Well, who ever Ms. Swelung is, hope you will get spammed and get a taste of your own medicine!!!

PC Security Part 1: Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Malware & Spyware

Intro

Oh boy, what a week, there were and there still are a few worms, amongst underthings, on the loose. So what is these things and what can we do about these pesky things?

• A Computer Virus is a program that runs without the user’s knowledge or permission. It can spread throughout the computer including attached external devices, e.g. flash drives & networks, damaging files including the operating system.
• A Worm can copies itself repeatedly in memory, disks, networks, etc. using up resources and possibly shutting down the computer or network.
• A Trojan Horse hides within a program or looks like a legimate program. A certain condition usually triggers the Trojan Horse into action. Also it can infect files. Unlike Viruses and Worms it doesn’t replicate itself to other computers.
• Malware is computer code that is on your computer that can give the attacker control over your system.
• Spyware is computer software that is installed on a computer to collect information about a user, their computer, browsing habits, etc.

The Bottom Line
These programs and/or code is malicious and have damaging affects on computer systems and storage devices.

What now?

Well, there are several programs one can use, but I want to recommend a few other programs than just the Antivirus programs. The problem comes in that a lot of users don’t know how to use the programs to their benefit.

My Favourites
Please note there are a lot of software available but these are my favourites. Most of them are free for personal use or is freeware.
• Firewall ZoneAlarm Free for non-commercial use. ±33MB. Will explain in a forthcoming post how to configure and use ZoneAlarm.
• Anti-Spyware & Anti-Malware Spybot Search & Destroy ±16MB. Will explain in a forthcoming post how to use Spybot and TeaTimer.
• Anti-Malware Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free for non-commercial use. ±33MB. Can also download atFileHippo.

Standalone Antivirus, etc. Tools
• Flash Disinfector Read a previous post here. There is a download link or just search the Web for it. ±130KB
• McAfee Stinger Read more here. ±3.5MB
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware ±3MB. Note: This is a Shareware Program!

Conslusion

As mentioned before it is important to know how to use some of these programs correctly in order for it be effective. Especially ZoneAlarm and Spybot’s TeaTimer.
There are also other "tips" that can prevent malicious code and/or programs to infect your computer.
Will cover these topics in upcoming posts.

In my opinion nothing is a 100% secure, but we can take measures to make it a bit more difficult for the attackers and/or malicious programs to infect our systems.

Super14 Scoreboard 2009 – Week 14

	(1)	Bulls(SA)	46
	(2)	Chiefs(NZ)	45
	(3)	Hurricanes(NZ)	44
	(4)	Crusaders(NZ)	41
	(5)	Waratahs(AU)	41
	(6)	Sharks(SA)	38
	(7)	Brumbies(AU)	38
	(8)	Western Force(AU)	36
	(9)	Blues(NZ)	32
	(10)	Stormers(SA)	27
	(11)	Highlanders(NZ)	26
	(12)	Lions(SA)	25
	(13)	Reds(AU)	19
	(14)	Cheetahs(SA)	12

Super14 2009 Results Week 1-14

Week 14
Week 13
Week 12
Week 11
Week 10
Week 9
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 4
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1

Week 14
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
85	2009/05/15 Fri	09:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ	10	v	Brumbies	AU	7
86	2009/05/15 Fri	19:10	Johannesburg	Lions	SA	33	v	Waratahs	AU	38
87	2009/05/16 Sat	09:35	Auckland	Blues	NZ	13	v	Crusaders	NZ	15
88	2009/05/16 Sat	11:40	Brisbane	Reds	AU	28	v	Hurricanes	NZ	37
89	2009/05/16 Sat	13:45	Perth	Western Force	AU	33	v	Highlanders	NZ	28
90	2009/05/16 Sat	16:00	Bloemfontein	Cheetahs	SA	22	v	Stormers	SA	28
91	2009/05/16 Sat	18:05	Durban	Sharks	SA	26	v	Bulls	SA	27

Back to Top

Week 13
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
78	2009/05/08 Fri	09:35	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ		v	Reds	AU
79	2009/05/08 Fri	19:10	Johannesburg	Lions	SA		v	Highlanders	NZ
80	2009/05/09 Sat	09:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ		v	Hurricanes	NZ
81	2009/05/09 Sat	11:40	Canberra	Brumbies	AU		v	Blues	NZ
82	2009/05/09 Sat	15:00	Durban	Sharks	SA		v	Waratahs	AU
83	2009/05/09 Sat	17:05	Pretoria	Bulls	SA		v	Cheetahs	SA
84	2009/05/09 Sat	19:10	Cape Town	Stormers	SA		v	Western Force	AU

Back to Top

Week 12
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
71	2009/05/01 Fri	09:35	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ		v	Blues	NZ
72	2009/05/01 Fri	15:00	Johannesburg	Lions	SA		v	Crusaders	NZ
73	2009/05/01 Fri	17:05	Bloemfontein	Cheetahs	SA		v	Waratahs	AU
74	2009/05/02 Sat	11:40	Brisbane	Reds	AU		v	Brumbies	AU
75	2009/05/02 Sat	15:00	Durban	Sharks	SA		v	Highlanders	NZ
76	2009/05/02 Sat	17:05	Pretoria	Bulls	SA		v	Western Force	AU
77	2009/05/02 Sat	19:10	Cape Town	Stormers	SA		v	Chiefs	NZ

Back to Top

Week 11
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
65	2009/04/24 Fri	09:35	Dunedin	Highlanders	NZ	11	v	Stormers	SA	18
66	2009/04/24 Fri	13:05	Perth	Western Force	AU	55	v	Lions	SA	14
67	2009/04/25 Sat	07:30	North Habour	Blues	NZ	24	v	Reds	AU	31
68	2009/04/25 Sat	09:35	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ	56	v	Brumbies	AU	7
69	2009/04/25 Sat	15:00	Bloemfontein	Cheetahs	SA	20	v	Crusaders	NZ	13
70	2009/04/25 Sat	17:05	Pretoria	Bulls	SA	33	v	Chiefs	NZ	27
	Waratahs & Sharks Bye

Back to Top

Week 10
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
58	2009/04/17 Fri	09:35	Auckland	Blues	NZ	26	v	Highlanders	NZ	6
59	2009/04/17 Fri	11:40	Canberra	Brumbies	AU	32	v	Bulls	SA	31
60	2009/04/18 Sat	07:30	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ	34	v	Stormers	SA	11
61	2009/04/18 Sat	09:35	Brisbane	Reds	AU	20	v	Lions	SA	31
62	2009/04/18 Sat	11:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	14	v	Western Force	AU	15
63	2009/04/18 Sat	15:00	Kimberley	Cheetahs	SA	10	v	Chiefs	NZ	28
64	2009/04/18 Sat	17:05	Durban	Sharks	SA	10	v	Crusaders	NZ	13

Back to Top

Week 9
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
52	2009/04/10 Fri	08:35	Auckland	Blues	NZ	36	v	Lions	SA	12
53	2009/04/10 Fri	11:40	Perth	Western Force	AU	27	v	Hurricanes	NZ	28
54	2009/04/11 Sat	07:30	Invercargill	Highlanders	NZ	24	v	Reds	AU	19
55	2009/04/11 Sat	09:35	Canberra	Brumbies	AU	17	v	Stormers	SA	10
56	2009/04/11 Sat	11:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	6	v	Bulls	SA	20
57	2009/04/11 Sat	15:00	Bloemfontein	Cheetahs	SA	31	v	Sharks	SA	6
	Chiefs & Crusaders Bye

Back to Top

Week 8
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
46	2009/04/03 Fri	08:35	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ	16	v	Bulls	SA	13
47	2009/04/03 Fri	13:05	Perth	Western Force	AU	39	v	Reds	AU	7
48	2009/04/04 Sat	08:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ	36	v	Lions	SA	29
49	2009/04/04 Sat	10:10	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	12	v	Stormers	SA	6
50	2009/04/04 Sat	15:00	Bloemfontein	Cheetahs	SA	27	v	Brumbies	AU	40
51	2009/04/04 Sat	17:00	Durban	Sharks	SA	33	v	Hurricanes	NZ	17
	Blues & Highlanders Bye

Back to Top

Week 7
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
40	2009/03/27 Fri	08:35	Auckland	Blues	NZ	22	v	Waratahs	AU	27
41	2009/03/28 Sat	06:30	Palmerston North	Highlanders	NZ	36	v	Bulls	SA	12
42	2009/03/28 Sat	08:35	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ	11	v	Stormers	SA	7
43	2009/03/28 Sat	11:05	Brisbane	Reds	AU	26	v	Chiefs	NZ	50
44	2009/03/28 Sat	17:00	Durban	Sharks	SA	35	v	Brumbies	AU	14
45	2009/03/28 Sat	19:10	Johannesburg	Lions	SA	32	v	Hurricanes	NZ	38
	Cheetahs & Western Force Bye

Back to Top

Week 6
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
34	2009/03/20 Fri	08:35	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ	14	v	Bulls	SA	19
35	2009/03/21 Sat	06:30	Dunedin	Highlanders	NZ	32	v	Cheetahs	SA	8
36	2009/03/21 Sat	08:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ	63	v	Blues	NZ	34
37	2009/03/21 Sat	10:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	13	v	Crusaders	NZ	17
38	2009/03/21 Sat	12:45	Perth	Western Force	AU	10	v	Sharks	SA	22
39	2009/03/21 Sat	17:00	Johannesburg	Lions	SA	25	v	Brumbies	AU	17
	Reds & Stormers Bye

Back to Top

Week 5
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
28	2009/03/13 Fri	08:35	North Harbour	Blues	NZ	46	v	Cheetahs	SA	12
29	2009/03/13 Fri	10:40	Canberra	Brumbies	AU	21	v	Waratahs	AU	11
30	2009/03/14 Sat	06:30	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ	23	v	Western Force	AU	23
31	2009/03/14 Sat	08:35	Invercarqill	Highlanders	NZ	10	v	Chiefs	NZ	14
32	2009/03/14 Sat	11:05	Brisbane	Reds	AU	25	v	Sharks	SA	13
33	2009/03/14 Sat	17:00	Cape Town	Stormers	SA	56	v	Lions	SA	18
	Hurricanes & Bulls Bye

Back to Top

Week 4
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
22	2009/03/06 Fri	08:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ	31	v	Western Force	AU	13
23	2009/03/06 Fri	10:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	15	v	Reds	AU	11
24	2009/03/07 Sat	03:30	New Plymouth	Hurricans	NZ	29	v	Cheetahs	SA	12
25	2009/03/07 Sat	06:30	Auckland	Blues	NZ	31	v	Sharks	AU	35
26	2009/03/07 Sat	08:35	Dunedin	Highlanders	NZ	6	v	Crusaders	NZ	0
27	2009/03/07 Sat	17:00	Pretoria	Bulls	SA	14	v	Stormers	SA	10
	Brumbies & Lions Bye

Back to Top

Week 3
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
15	2009/02/27 Fri	08:35	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ	24	v	Hurricanes	NZ	30
16	2009/02/27 Fri	10:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	34	v	Highlanders	NZ	16
17	2009/02/28 Sat	08:35	Hamilton	Chiefs	NZ	15	v	Sharks	SA	22
18	2009/02/28 Sat	10:40	Canberra	Brumbies	AU	16	v	Western Force	AU	25
19	2009/02/28 Sat	17:00	Johannesburg	Lions	SA	9	v	Bulls	SA	16
20	2009/02/28 Sat	19:10	Cape Town	Stormers	SA	8	v	Blues	NZ	14
21	2009/03/01 Sun	08:10	Brisbane	Reds	AU	22	v	Cheetahs	SA	3

Back to Top

Week 2
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
8	2009/02/20 Fri	08:35	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ	22	v	Highlanders	NZ	17
9	2009/02/20 Fri	10:40	Sydney	Waratahs	AU	11	v	Chiefs	NZ	7
10	2009/02/20 Fri	12:45	Perth	Western Force	AU	16	v	Cheetahs	SA	10
11	2009/02/20 Sat	19:10	Cape Town	Stormers	SA	27	v	Reds	AU	24
12	2009/02/21 Sat	10:40	Canberra	Brumbies	AU	18	v	Crusaders	NZ	16
13	2009/02/21 Sat	17:00	Pretoria	Bulls	SA	59	v	Blues	NZ	26
14	2009/02/21 Sat	19:10	Durban	Sharks	SA	25	v	Lions	SA	10

Back to Top

Week 1
#	Date & Time(CAT)		Venue	Team		Score	vs	Team		Score
1	2009/02/13 Fri	08:35	Dunedin	Highlanders	NZ	31	v	Brumbies	AU	33
2	2009/02/13 Fri	12:45	Perth	Western Force	AU	19	v	Blues	NZ	25
3	2009/02/13 Fri	19:10	Johannesburg	Lions	SA	34	v	Cheetahs	SA	28
4	2009/02/14 Sat	06:30	Christchurch	Crusaders	NZ	19	v	Chiefs	NZ	13
5	2009/02/14 Sat	08:35	Wellington	Hurricanes	NZ	22	v	Waratahs	AU	26
6	2009/02/14 Sat	17:00	Cape Town	Stormers	SA	15	v	Sharks	SA	20
7	2009/02/14 Sat	19:10	Pretoria	Bulls	SA	33	v	Reds	AU	20

Back to Top

Super14 2009 Fixtures Week 14

The rivalry is on. The last round of games before the semi-finals.

Match #85 2009/05/15 Fri 09:35(CAT) Chiefs(NZ) vs Brumbies(AU) @ Hamilton
Match #86 2009/05/15 Fri 19:10(CAT) Lions(SA) vs Waratahs(AU) @ Johannesburg
Match #87 2009/05/16 Sat 09:35(CAT) Blues(NZ) vs Crusaders(NZ) @ Auckland
Match #88 2009/05/16 Sat 11:40(CAT) Reds(AU) vs Hurricanes(NZ) @ Brisbane
Match #89 2009/05/16 Sat 13:45(CAT) Western Force(AU) vs Highlanders(NZ) @ Perth
Match #90 2009/05/16 Sat 16:00(CAT) Cheetahs(SA) vs Stormers(SA) @ Bloemfontein
Match #91 2009/05/16 Sat 18:05(CAT) Sharks(SA) vs Bulls(SA) @ Durban

BEWARE!! FAKE 32GB USB FLASH DRIVES HITS SA

Excert from the e-mail I received from Philip.

“If something seems too good to be true, goes the old saying, it IS too good to be true. The new high-end in USB flash drives, the 32GB version, with enough capacity to back up most typical users’ entire data build-up, typically retails at anywhere from $75 to$150 in the USA, and around R1 000 to R2 000 in South Africa. But now you can pick one up for R350 ($40) or less, depending how close you get to the source. One small problem: while they look, feel and present themselves to your computer as 32GB drives, they are in fact 1GB drives, partitioned to mimic 32GB drives in every respect except how much data it can hold. ”

A large quantity of these fake flash drives first appeared on E-Bay and are now being sold in Johannesburg. Please ensure you deal only with reputable companies that you know well.

A Big thanks to Philip from Perkal Gifts to warn us about this!

The South African Space Agency to be establish soon… in 2009?

SANSA

The first time I heard about the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) was back in 2006. According to various reports, it looks like if the ball is on the roll.

The South African National Space Agency Act, was signed in January 2009. This should result that S.A. can have its own Space Agency later this year.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) said "The agency would promote the peaceful use of outer space, foster research in astronomy, earth observation, communications, navigation and space physics, foster international cooperation in space-related activities, and advance scientific, engineering, and technological competencies through human capital development. The DST added that the agency must also facilitate the development of space missions, develop technology platforms, and acquire, assimilate, and disseminate space satellite data for any organ of state."

In addition SANSA will also implement the National Space Strategy, which has been approved by the cabinet in 2008. It is aspected that the agency will work along other institutions.

DST said, "Some of the projects it will co-ordinate include the Square Kilometre Array bid, the Southern African Large Telescope, and South Africa’s second indigenous satellite, SumbandilaSat."

The first step towards establishing the agency would be to appoint a board of 10 to 15 members, a CEO, and a chairperson who will be appointed by the Science and Technology Minister.

Conclusion

Well, the clock is ticking…

Super14 Scoreboard 2009 – Week 13 (After match #84)

	(1)	Bulls(SA)	42
	(2)	Chiefs(NZ)	41
	(3)	Hurricanes(NZ)	39
	(4)	Crusaders(NZ)	37
	(5)	Brumbies(AU)	37
	(6)	Sharks(SA)	36
	(7)	Waratahs(AU)	36
	(8)	Western Force(AU)	31
	(9)	Blues(NZ)	31
	(10)	Highlanders(NZ)	24
	(11)	Lions(SA)	24
	(12)	Stormers(SA)	23
	(13)	Reds(AU)	18
	(14)	Cheetahs(SA)	11