Drudgery

17:29.07 - Tuesday 18th January 2005 (Link to This Entry)

I'm on a go-slow today. I haven't started any major projects, instead I've been doing some tidyup on previous ones - just finishing up and tweaking and the like.

I have another website manual on the go for the Big Christmas Rush Job that BB and I were doing up until about a week ago. It's basically a guide on how to use the site's Administration Area which is actually quite large, and so the manual's going to be quite long as a result. Most of it is pure tedium as well, with everything blindingly obvious but requiring desciption anyway. Gah, indeed.

I am tempted to install UT2004 on the new computer again to see how different it's going to be. I'd like Halflife 2 as well, since the demo worked just fine on the laptop, and so logically the desktop should be great indeed. I still need a decent mouse and keyboard though, and nobody in the UK has the one I want in stock. Sigh.

Some good news - I received an email about the monitor which is being sent today from the US. That should be here by Friday/Saturday or Monday at the very latest. Huzzah! Let's just hope I don't have to pay VAT on it.

Keyboard and Mouse

19:28.53 - Tuesday 18th January 2005 (Link to This Entry)

w00t! I finally tracked down a Logitech Dinovo Bluetooth Media Desktop 2.0 over on PCWorld of all places (Thank you Froogle!). Mooching through the orderform I noticed a box labelled 'Promotional Code', so I trawled Google Groups and found 'DCBYAW' which gives you 5% off your order. Yay!

Thank feck for that - it means I can get rid of this abysmal mouse and keyboard and get used to something infinitely more stylish. And it was under £140 delivered!

*passes out from lack of money*

eBay Powerseller Phishing Scam

23:08.12 - Tuesday 18th January 2005 (Link to This Entry)

Hey ho, another day, another eBay scam. Tonight's dodgy email was an interesting take on an old theme - instead of worrying the recipient with 'news' that their account had been accessed by a third party, why not flatter them instead - telling them they're invited to become a powerseller?

The email reads as follows:

Welcome to a community of sellers that have achieved exceptional levels of success and positive feedback on eBay!

We invite you to join us as a PowerSeller

If you agree with this rank please Become an eBay Power Seller within 7 days.

Very important! The registration is active only once.

Why you become a PowerSeller? PowerSellers are eBay top sellers who have sustained a consistent high volume of monthly sales and a high level of total feedback with 98% positive or better. As such, these sellers rank among the most successful sellers in terms of product sales and customer satisfaction on eBay. We are proud to recognize your contributions to the success of the eBay Community!

When you see this icon next to the member's user ID, be assured that the member is a qualified PowerSeller who not only maintains a solid sales record but also a 98% positive feedback rating based on transactions with other eBay users. You can feel assured that your transaction will go smoothly and that you are dealing with one who has consistently met the requirements established by eBay.

Of course, the link in the email points to a completely different, non-eBay website that seeks to extract the usernames and password of gullible patrons. The address is plainly nothing to do with eBay but really that's the only clue.

Let's be careful out there, folks.