No, that’s not an oxymoron.
Last Monday I filled out an express post envelope with my application forms and passport for a Brazilian tourist visa. The Brazilian Consulate is in Toronto. I enclosed an express post envelope for its return. The paperwork stated to allow 10 working days. Add two days each way I figured… two weeks.
It arrived this morning.
Wow. Just unbelievable.

In this day and age of identity theft, I’ve often joked that anyone who steals mine was going to a lot of trouble to get their credit rating downgraded.
But when I recieved a call last month from someone purporting to be from my bank, I refused to volunteer the information they requested to “confirm” my identity. I asked they call my local manager and she could discuss any alleged problem with me. The first caller said they would do just that – and I didn’t hear anything more. When I was in the bank later that day, I mentioned the incident. The employees were concerned.
Two days later, it happened again. This time I was ready for them.

“Hello, is this Catherine McMillan? This is *The Bank. We have a problem with one of your accounts.”
“Really?”
“But first I need to verify your identity. What is your date of birth and phone number?”

(You mean the number of the phone I just answered?)

“Don’t you have that already?”
“Yes, I’m looking right at it. I need to make sure I’m talking to the right person.”
“Sorry, I don’t give out personal information on the phone. I have no way to tell if you are who you say you are. So, why don’t you call Betty, my manager? The Bank is about 50 yards from here – I can just go talk to her.”
Click*

Thought so. Screw you, scam artist. You’re going to have to get up earlier than that to fool me.
Yesterday, I got a terse letter from the The Bank. There was a problem with one of my accounts. Their attempts to contact me by phone had been “unsuccessful”. Persistant bastards, I thought … it was a cheap photocopy, with the logo fading off at the top. But the information looked legit, they had the account number right. And I figured, it’s not like there’s any real money in it. I called and sure enough, was asked for the same information to verify my identity. And it was legit. The problem proved to be minor.
Wow. Small wonder so many people fall victim to scams.
* Bank identity deleted to protect the innocent and what little money I do have.

James Joyner remarks on another good reason to use linux the creativity of the recent email virus making the rounds. Hard to believe they’re written by these little pottie mouths

Inside Bagle.j, the eighth variant to debut since Friday, and which first showed Tuesday, is text taunting Netsky that reads “Hey,NetSky, f*** off you b****, don’t ruine our bussiness, wanna start a war?” (Not exactly Shakespeare, and the hacker’s spell-checker must not be working.)

Or maybe this is payback for the “whole-word learning” movement.

Within Bagle.k, a new variant that appeared Wednesday, is similar text, said Sophos: “Hey, NetSky, f*** off you b****!”
Netsky.f, another worm discovered Wednesday, sports a retort, according to analysis by F-Secure. Tucked inside its code is the line “Skynet AntiVirus –Bagle — you are a looser!!!”

Takes me back to the good old days in alt.hackers.malicious

Anyone who goes to this much work, deserves some attention.
hat tip – Dean Esmay.

Stephen Green is shopping for a family SUV and tries his hand at automobile review. Despite the fact that his family consists of himself, a wife plus a tiny percentage of a third adult, space and cargo capacity, along with all wheel drive, are his listed priorities.
Liberty, Grand Cherokee, Pacifica. Explorer, Magnum, Trailblazer, and Durango.
Pussy trucks, each and every one of them.

Now, this is a truck. Plenty of leg room, a whole back seat for the kiddie chair, leather interior and rides like a lumber wagon. 305 bhp @ 2900 rpm, 555 lb.-ft. of torque @ 1,400 rpm. Specifications

You’ll get a half million miles out that Cummins diesel, Stephen, and it sounds better than sex.
Best of all – the foam at the mouth reaction of the SUV haters when you tell them you bought it because your golf clubs don’t fit in the truck of the convertable.

This will be brief, as I have a lot of work to do to reconstruct this baby. For now, maybe forever, my old host is unavailable and so too are my previous entries.
Thanks to Kevin for his tech help.