funny and stupid - Articles - Zimbio

Using Craigs list to cover up a crime

Tue, 2 Apr 2008 11:35:54 GMT

posted by rmorrill

The man who’s house was ransacked by a mob of people who read an on line posting at craigs list for free stuff might have ended up being used to cover a crime. The use of social networking to commit a crime is not new, thinking of the MySpace Suicide Lori Drew debacle that keeps on cropping up in the news. But this is fairly ingenious thinking, even if they got nabbed out, people will be following suit, and one has to start wondering how many of those “get free stuff” ads you see on craigs list are meant to cover up something deeper.

Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Medford couple Monday and said the two stole horse saddles and other items from Robert Salisbury’s home. Then, deputies said, the couple tried to cover up their theft by posting a notice on the Web site Craigslist that said Salisbury had to leave the state and his belongings were free for the taking. Source: Seattle PI

The couple were tracked down using their IP address that was registered on craigs list when they made the entry. There is nothing new about tracking someone by their IP address, this is one of those fundamental Internet ways of doing things that provide a wealth of information about the people on the other side of the transactions.

Apparently the whole thing was over some saddles that were stolen by the couple. Rather than just take the money and run, they had to further complicate their involvement by posting the “get free stuff” advertisement on Craigs list.

Keywords: craigslist, craigs, list, medford, Oregon, crime, idiot, ip address, tracking, bad guys, theft

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Divorce YouTube Style

Tue, 16 Apr 2008 16:16:35 GMT

posted by rmorrill

Welcome to the internet generation.

Teresa Walsh Smith takes her divorce proceedings on line and posted on YouTube for the whole world to see. While this is news breaking now, as a first that has gained much publicity, the more interesting bit is when this becomes a popular way to get divorced.

The legal issues aside, there are major issues for companies when the personal life of their members becomes tried in the public courts like YouTube.

“This is absolutely a new step, and I think it’s scary,” Bonnie Rabin, a divorce lawyer who has handled high-profile cases, tells the Associated Press. “It brings the concept of humiliation to a whole new level.” Source: People Magazine

Yet another thing for company PR groups to think about, when the CEO’s divorce becomes a public spectacle, how does the company plan on working through that Public relations nightmare?

Keywords: Teresa Walsh smith, divorce, YouTube, video

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Welcome to our wikizine called "funny and stupid"

Mon, 18 Mar 2008 17:05:31 GMT

posted by rmorrill
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "funny and stupid". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!

Are windows users mouth breathing morons

Sat, 23 Mar 2008 14:10:16 GMT

posted by rmorrill

Sure, we got notice for putting safari on computers that we had Itunes on, but you know as a Windows Vista and XP user, it was really simple to click on quit, no don’t want the crap ware update, and then move along to go do things that we were going to do with the computer anyways.

No down time, no loss of productivity, and most of all No Safari browser. Like I need three browsers on my desk top.

Then comes along a great read from “The Angry Drunk” who basically calls the unwanted but easily stopped safari update what it is ‘a whiny meme’. Heck if we are going to talk about “bad windows citizens” lets take a look at some real gangsters, bot net herders, virus writers, and that whole lot.

Second, bitching that anyone is a “bad” Windows citizen is the rhetorical equivalent of arguing that one turd in a sea of shit is particularly stinky. Microsoft is a bad Windows citizen. And I’ll tell you, having Safari magically appear on my computer pales in comparison to the times I’ve come back from lunch to find that all my work has been killed by a Windows update (the first fucker who tells me how to disable that gets tazed in the genitals…I know how to disable it). Source: The Angry Drunk

We all have our horror stories, and not that I am a drooling apple fan anyways, every OS has issues, every browser has issues, and every update has issues. This is why we have legions of crappy security people at every company short of a mom and pop or a super small startup. Seriously, that safari update just gave a lot of people a lot of job security because it has a lot of known ways of being hacked and broken. Not that any other browser is necessarily better or safer, or more standards compliant.

Pushing an update with some one’s bright idea of something that people would want, that is ok, because it is really simple to say “no”. If you don’t want it say no, but if you are a foaming at the mouth apple Ipod fan or Iphone fan without the MAC, hey you might want to try it, and if you have ever tried to navigate the apple web site it is a load of difficult to follow links and animations.

What would be interesting to see is what the install base looks like, we all know about the IE install base, and the Firefox install base, but how many times are those programs actually used? Install base is a joke, the push from apple was a joke, the whole meme is funny as hell. This is very easy to “get over” and just do the Nancy Regan thing, Just say No.

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Fugifilm USA bizarre EULA for the IS 1 camera

Wed, 3 Apr 2008 13:48:46 GMT

posted by rmorrill

From the weird bizarre world of EULA (End User License Agreement) department, Fugi Film USA has decided that their new boffo camera the IS-1 has to carry an EULA that specifies exactly how the camera can not be used. They state on their product page (go all the way to the bottom of the page) that:

In addition, you further agree not to use the camera’s hardware and firmware enabled capabilities to engage in unethical photographic conduct involving the violation of personal privacy, child endangerment, lewd photography, and or paparazzi like activities. Source: FugiFilm USA

This really will not fly, if you have ever take IR (Infrared) photography, or black light with UV filters, there are some very cool photographic effects that you can pull off. To state that a person can not take pictures of models with IR or UV or even intimate pictures of someone who has hired you as a photographer, this is very bizarre behavior on the part of a company.

The first thing that someone is going to do is test the camera out, and go violate the EULA in ways that have not been dreamed of yet. People do odd things with the gear that they buy, an EULA like this is going to fall into the lines of unenforceable in the longer run.

It is very odd that they would be wanting to do something like this, and if they are going to put up a highly irregular EULA on people who buy the camera, why did they make it. Banning the Paparazzi is like banning air, sorry folks the first thing that this camera is going to be used for are nifty IR pictures of your favorite celebrity.

Additional reporting BoingBoing - to read the sellers/buyers agreement check out BH.

Keywords: fugi, IS-1, ir, uv, camera, eula, end user license agreement, bizarre, paparazzi, infrared, ultra violet, photographic, photographer, photography

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