Of being smart(er) and zombies

I haven't been blogging for a very, very, VERY long time. Precisely since I moved back and started working. It's not that there aren't any juicy stuff going on (besides, I've always been random, so it doesn't really matter if I have something interesting to write about or not), just that, there wasn't really any urge to write.

I usually get a lot of ideas of daily stuff to talk about when I'm stuck in traffic jams or traffic lights, but after I got back, everything becomes "meh".

Tonight is different though. I have to fast tonight as I have a health screening tomorrow and since I can't have the munchies, nor is there any point of going out and can't have munchies, I thought I'd ramble a bit to distract my stomach from realising that it's a monster with a bottomless pit.

I've noticed that of late, I am getting weirder by the minute. For instance, today I wrote a note of warning and posted on my Facebook wall. The warning was for my phone. Perhaps tomorrow I shall warn some of my shoes to suck it up and stop being stupid. I know they are all plotting to fall apart at the same time. I also grudgingly have to agree that there is a direct correlation between the price of a pair of shoes and its quality. However things like Quiksilver/Roxy flipflops and my Nike tennis shoes do not abide to this theory. Especially the overpriced flipflops.

There is also this one thing that is kinda going on but THANKFULLY is not (yet?) a full-fledged idiocracy that bugs me. However, I will try to rant about it as nice as possible as there are some people whom I love that did it and so I have to forgive them and not scream insults to the general public.

One of it is that, it would be much appreciated if everyone would just check the facts of stuff before reposting and creating a brouhaha over nothing. End-of-the-world-warnings: Not Cool. If you believe it so much, please proceed to sell off all your assets and head over to China to fight for a place in the arks. Tsunami/earthquake/nuclear fallout warnings: I know you mean well, but please understand that there are a number of sick evil people in this world who have nothing better to do than to create unnecessary panic and chaos. There are also many silly people who would repeat, or worse, blow the evil maniacs' chaos out of proportion. Please don't be either of them.

The other thing is stupid "trends" disguised as awareness campaigns. For instance, how exactly do suggestive statuses promote something (usually breast) cancer related? Birthdates made scandalous into "I like it on the kitchen counter" or "6 inches" ... don't make people more aware and carry out breast self-examination. They make people talk about what a skank someone is. Creating a buzz as if you are pregnant, it only makes people speculate about "shotgun marriage coming soon?" or "so cheap, can't even afford condoms?". Maybe it promotes safe-sex awareness but then the message said something about breast (again) cancer, thus it is utter rubbish. Also there is this theory that all these are tactics cooked up by identity thieves, but I'm not so sure about that. Also, what is this obsession with breasts in particular? Try coming up with a campaign for liver cancer or is that not sexy enough?

So I shall end this with I'm 451 weeks and craving monkey brains.

You see, I am promoting zombie simian awareness.

Beware of zombies that look like monkeys/monkeys that are zombies. Bananas can't help.

This is supposed to be a monkey zombie. I suck at drawing with MSPaint.
I think it looks kinda like a discoloured Hello Kitty with road rage -- and air pollution.

I can't draw with MSPaint like how awesomely Allie Brosh can.

Have a good weekend!

Online Money Making Scams

Previously I took to debunking the "nuclear acid rain" hoax which was just a terrible irresponsible thing circulating the net as an aftermath of the Japan Earthquake.

This morning a friend of mine discussed the validity of a website. Which turned out to be SCAM site. Which if one is greedy (and lazy) and could only think of easy ways to make money, then one would fall for this. Me however, am forever doubtful of anything on the internet, so I decided to look at it closer and point out all the "I'm a fake site" signs.

By the way, I don't really advocate this, so I am not going to put up the link. Besides, most probably you've seen  it, or stumbled across something similar, or could figure out what this is from my screenshots.

Magnifying glasses ready? Let's begin, Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys!

The first thing that caught my eye were actually these (click on pictures to enlarge):

If this is really a news site, they wouldn't put SO MANY repetitive links as if promoting the scheme. There are a few more further down the page. That already made this whole 'article' dodgy.

Next, note the 'expiry date:

The date is "correct" where I am in, however since this claims to be a U.S. site, it is still Cinco de Mayo at the moment thus "tomorrow" would be the 6th of May.

I pointed out the Google picture because the scam claims that it's from Google and stuff, but in the other scam site (which I will tell you about later), the bottom of the page has a disclaimer and it says "This site and the products and services offered on this site are not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by Google...".

Also, if you click on ANY links on the site, it leads you straight to the Scam Site. No homepage, no other news, no sports, health, etc. The little red arrow pointing to the line below "Consumer Career Trends" says "Last updated Friday, May 6, 2011" which brings us back to the 'expiry date' point, and current date in the U.S. point. I bet the date changes in accordance to the date set in your computer.

This is the Scam Site which you are led to by clicking on ANY links.

Last but not least, right at the top of the site, there is a "Sign In/Sign Up" thing. I've just realised that printscreen doesn't show your mouse cursors. But when I was at the site, placing the mouse cursor there doesn't change it into a 'link' cursor (like how it usually does with any email accounts etc.). It's just part of the site's design to make it look "legitimate".

Great work sleuths! Bet you can find more clues that this thing is a hoax, but for the mean time, I think I've said enough. Remember, it's always better to be sceptical than to be cheated. Don't get scammed!

Have a great weekend :)