8 Ways to Sunday

All a criminal needs is your account number and bank routing number — information printed on every single check you write — to take you for all the money in your checking account, according to this MSNBC article. I read the article last night, and passed it around to some of my coworkers at the college today since the spotlight victim was a California non-profit. Urban Age Institute thought that they were getting a surprise $1,000 donation, but they ended up getting taken for $10,000 in fraudulent checks.

Even if you don’t work for a non-profit organization, the article is worth reading for your own personal financial safety. Nothing about this particular kind of fraud makes individuals any less vulnerable than organizations and companies.

The scam hinges on a special kind of check called a demand draft, which doesn’t require a signature to be cashed or deposited. New regulations are in the works to make this kind of fraud more difficult, but it will probably be months at least before they can be in place.

I turn twenty-eight years old today, an occasion which brings mixed feelings to say the least. On the upside, I’m now out of debt aside from the small amount I borrowed to buy my car (there’s college loans, but who doesn’t have those?). I have a decent job working with good people who value my skills. I have a roof over my head and (a little) money in the bank.

On the downside, I’m still in Kansas. Not that it’s so completely terrible here… just kind of schizophrenic, a little backward, and occasionally downright scary. I know that the occasional fits of insanity this state endures at the hands of men like Steve Abrams and Fred Phelps don’t necessarily represent the majority of Kansans. In fact, there was a large contingent of Kansas clergy and citizens that rose up against the recently-passed anti-gay amendment to the state constitution*. Likewise, Rev. Phelps is despised in his home town of Topeka.

Still, it’s wearing to live in a place where so many are so at odds with your deepest beliefs. Moving is definitely in my future, though I can’t say for sure how long it will take. I just don’t want to turn thirty here.

Happy birthday to me. Here’s to the future, to change, and to finding a place to call home.

The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfills himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

– Tennyson, “The Passing of Arthur”

From the Urban Dictionary definition of “Spike TV”:

Spike TV

A TV network, formerly known as The National Network, formerly known as the Nashville Network. They changed their focus c. 2001 to become a “guy’s” network rather than a country network. Their keystone programming includes Star Trek: The Next Generation, VIP, and various wrestling events. This covers all important guy interests (technology, hot girls, violence). Their acquisition of Exclusive syndication rights to Star Trek TNG was a major ratings boost.

“I want to make the ultimate guy’s show. It’ll have technology, sex, and violence all in one package.”
“What will you call it?”
“Android Kick-Fucking”
“Spike TV will be all over that.”

David Coursey of PDFzone expounds on the eight things that are wrong — and two things that are right — with current e-book publishing and technology.

In my opinion, Coursey is 100% right on all counts. That said, the Amazon–Booksurge–Mobipocket deal that Robert Nagle has reported on may have interesting repercussions in the future. Nevertheless, I don’t think any amount of author empowerment will help until the broad variety of e-book formats is narrowed down, and until the books themselves become easier and more enjoyable to read thanks to better reading devices. I doubt that e-books will truly take off until electronic paper technologies are perfected.

(props: I learned of the Kuro5hin story about Amazon’s e-book ambitions from TeleRead.)