Monthly Archives: September 2007

For Sale, Slightly Used

Reprinted without comment: Ananova – Belgium up for sale on eBay

Internet auction site eBay has removed an unusual lot – the country of Belgium.

Bidding had reached 10 million euro before eBay withdrew the spoof sale, reports GVA.

It was put up for sale by former journalist Gerrit Six who wanted to protest that Belgium still had no government, 100 days after its elections.

The advert said: “Belgium a kingdom in three parts. Possible to buy it as a whole, but not advisable.

“Possible the three parts separately but beware of the public debt of 300 million euro.”

Bidding started at one euro and reached 10 million euro after 26 bids before eBay removed it from the site.

Actually, I can't resist one comment: it would have been fun to write the disclaimers, warranties and representations if it were an actual sale…

Posted in Completely Different | Comments Off on For Sale, Slightly Used

Firms That Lie to You

There is only one company I deal with regularly that has lied to me more often than my DSL provider, and that is my bank. I am gradually writing about my latest bank saga, but that's for another day.

The new modem was promised for Saturday. They swore up and down that they do Saturday delivery. Since the last time a modem died it also died on a Thursday and I had to wait until Monday, I didn't believe them, except I sort of did, because I wanted to.

But it was a lie.

The modem arrived today, not Saturday (and I only just got home and haven't the energy to try to install it). But that's not all. The nice phone person promised — promised! — that it would be the same Westell brand model I had before, assuring me that of their modems it was the best. The box has a Netopia modem in it.

To round out the story, the old modem has decided it liked its rest and is working again.

The warranty replacement requires me to send back my old modem, so I can't just keep the new one as a spare.

Posted in Shopping | 2 Comments

The Modem Died

The DSL modem on my home network died yesterday evening.

No postings until it gets replaced.

Posted in Discourse.net | Comments Off on The Modem Died

Penny Dreadful

I know we don't expect much from spammers, even the pump & dump crowd, but surely this email I got today is a new low?

09/11/2007 – Traded over 4 million shares with a 100% INCREASE
09/12/2007 – Traded over 6 million shares with another HUGE INCREASE

TOMORROW THIS STOCK IS EXPECTED TO DOUBLE WHAT IT HAS DONE IN THE PAST 2 DAYS! GET IN ON IT NOW WHILE THE PRICE IS LOW! FRESHLY RELEASED PRESS RELEASE!

Current: $.02
Expected: $.57

Kinda self-defeating, isn't it? Or can you really have listed prices above zero but under one cent?

Posted in Econ & Money | 6 Comments

Word Watch

This was a new one on me, but I like it. In an uncharacteristically grouchy recent post the The Phantom Professor mentions “trustafarians”.

Interestingly, definitions of “trustafarian” vary. I would have guessed a meaning like this one from False Positives:

Trustafarians : trust fund babies who live supported solely by the trust fund income (i.e. they don't work for a living): Paris Hilton, various members of the Kennedy clan, the characters of The Talented Mr. Ripley, or Hugh Grant's character in About a Boy come to mind. Down market Trustafarians would be those with a bohemian lifestyle, but with hipper accessories, living off he money of parents. (ski bums who don't have to wash dishes.)

But apparently, there's other somewhat different meanings about, as seen from these proposed definitions in the Urban Dictionary,

1. trustafarian

a. a spoiled rich white kid who smokes pot.

b. a person who, in an act of rebellion has taken to smoking pot, pan-handling, and following grateful dead rip-off bands during the week, and then returning to his or her parent's cozy home in the suburbs during the weekend.

c. one who lives with poorer people in an attempt to gain credibility, or street-cred, while disguising the trust fund they actually live off

Don't let that guy smoke any of your stash, he's a trustafarian, and never has his own to share.

2. trustafarian

priviliged white kids who subsribe to the hippie lifestyle (because they can) since they have no worries about money, a job etc. They can then devote their lives to eating organic, following Phish, and wearing dreadlocks (no need for job interviews).

Sarah is a trustafarian. It's totally evidenced by the combination of her brand new car and nice digs with her “earthy” clothes and dreadlocks.

Posted in Readings | 4 Comments

Faulty Intelligence

This error about FISA wasn't a little trivial slip of the tongue, but rather a fact going to the very heart of the political debate over whether our pre-existing FISA regime sufficed to fight terrorism.

Think Progress » DNI McConnell: I Lied To The Senate Earlier this week, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell claimed the new expansive FISA legislation passed by Congress prior to the August recess — the so-called Protect America Act — had helped to thwart a an alleged terror plot in Germany.

A government official later told the New York Times that McConnell was wrong, and that the intelligence had been collected under the old FISA law which required warrants. A chorus of House Democrats immediately raised concerns about McConnell’s claims.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) demanded McConnell back up his sworn statement. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) said the Protect America Act “played no role in uncovering the recent German terrorist plot.” House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes urge McConnell “to issue a public statement immediately” correcting his remarks.

In a statement released today, McConnell unapologetically acknowledged he lied to the Senate:

Either Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell lied to the Senate or he believed what he said when he said it.

So either we have a liar or a dunce running our national intelligence service. No wonder he fits in with Bush, Rove and Gonzales.

Posted in National Security | Comments Off on Faulty Intelligence