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Locked up with Covid-19: UN warns of ‘disastrous’ conditions in Latin America’s jails

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 17:25:21 GMT

Protests and riots have hit prisons across South America in recent weeks over fears of the spread of Covid-19 within their walls. Now, the UN is warning that overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and lack of access to health care is causing the “rapid spread” of the virus in detention facilities throughout Latin America.


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Maduro says two captured American 'mercenaries' will be tried in Venezuela

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 00:37:13 GMT

Venezuela will try two Americans allegedly captured during a failed raid by mercenaries, President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday as the US vowed to "use every tool available" to bring them home.


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China, US agree to move forward with trade deal despite Covid-19 blame game

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 03:23:05 GMT

Chinese and US trade representatives agreed Friday to "create favourable conditions" for the phase one trade deal signed in January, Beijing officials said, despite recent tensions over the coronavirus pandemic.


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Taiwan’s vice president says 'possibility' that Covid-19 came from Chinese laboratory

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 10:09:30 GMT

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Taiwan's Vice President Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist by training, discussed his country's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, while criticising the response of China and the World Health Organization. Chen refused to rule out the "possibility" that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. He also expressed concern about a second wave of the virus appearing in autumn or winter.


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Pandemic disarmament: Why France was ready for Covid-19 a decade too soon

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 16:52:30 GMT

An investigation by French daily Le Monde has uncovered the extraordinary chain of events that led successive French governments to build an ambitious pandemic response strategy and then dismantle it almost entirely, leaving the country dangerously exposed to the Covid-19 disease.


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Hezbollah slams German ban as ‘submission to America’s will’

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 16:29:30 GMT

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Monday condemned Germany's ban on his group as bowing to US pressure and insisted it was not active in the country. 


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Iraq parliament approves PM Kadhimi's new cabinet after months of deadlock

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 22:28:27 GMT

Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government on Wednesday after six months without one as parties squabbled until the last minute over Cabinet seats in backroom deals.


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Iraq’s parliament approves new government after six-month deadlock

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 10:47:37 GMT

The Iraqi parliament approved its new government headed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, now prime minister. The move ends six months of political vacuum, but many challenges lie ahead, including the country's struggling economy and the re-emergence of the Islamic State group. 


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Robots and cameras: China's sci-fi quarantine enforcement

By www.france24.com
Published On :: Sun, 03 May 2020 07:56:33 GMT

Robots delivering meals, ghostly figures in hazmat suits and cameras pointed at front doors: China's methods to enforce coronavirus quarantines have looked like a sci-fi dystopia for legions of people.


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Thoughts on Cameras in the Age of Excellent Cell Phone Photos

By whatever.scalzi.com
Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 17:47:41 +0000

I noted here, I believe, that recently my dSLR, my Nikon d750, basically crapped itself, most likely from a faulty mirror mechanism. This wasn’t entirely a surprise to me — it had developed a hiccup several months back where the first photo after being turned on was a black rectangle as the camera remembered it […]


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Meet the New Camera

By whatever.scalzi.com
Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 23:30:27 +0000

It’s the new Nikon d780. And it’s a beaut. “But, Scalzi,” I hear you say, “Why did you choose that one when [insert your favorite recent camera] is clearly the best one?” Well: 1. Because I like, and am used to, shooting with Nikons. Switching over to some other brand would require a bit of […]


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which came first

By www.toothpastefordinner.com
Published On :: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 04:00:00 EST

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: which came first


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misspelled names

By www.toothpastefordinner.com
Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 04:00:00 EDT

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: misspelled names


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The Impersonation Game

By feedproxy.google.com
Published On :: Fri, 07 Feb 2020 17:01:00 +0000


Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog. It's a familiar meme...which can be turned around. On the internet, nobody knows you're not a dog.

I can claim, for instance, to be a well-known literary dog...er, agent, and as long as I put a little effort into the subterfuge, and only make the claim to people who are likely to want to hear from someone like who I'm pretending to be, at least a few of my targets will take me at face value.

One of the most common tactics used by scammers is solicitation, by phone and email. To make themselves seem more reputable and attractive, scammers often masquerade as dogs...that is, they try to impersonate real, reputable companies and individuals.

Sometimes the impersonation is just a vague (and therefore unverifiable) claim of industry expertise.


Sometimes it's a claim to be working with reputable companies (the scammer in this case is the little logo on the left):


Sometimes it's a claim to actually be a reputable company. Note the strategic use of the Hachette Book Group logo (the scammer is the supposed partner):


And sometimes the deception is more elaborate. Last week, Donald Maass of the Donald Maass Literary Agency posted this warning:


Don was kind enough to share the solicitations with me. Here's the first. The English is passable, but note the typo. Also note "Jennifer Jackson's" email address, which on a websearch doesn't match anything connected to the real Jennifer Jackson.


Here's the second solicitation, received after the author responded. The grammatical and other errors are much more obvious here, and if that's not enough to prompt caution, the next to last paragraph, with its demand for money, should be:


Techbooks Media, whose domain name was only registered a few weeks ago on January 15, sells a range of junk marketing at insanely inflated prices (for instance, placement in PW Select, which actually costs $149, for $699; or a Kirkus Indie review, which actually costs $575, for $1,699). Putting this together with the blatant deception, the ESL mistakes on the website and in the emails, and inside info from one of my confidential sources, Techbooks Media is certainly another of the Philippines-based marketing scams listed in the sidebar. Accordingly, I've added it.

Some tips for seeing through scams like this:

1. Proceed from a point of skepticism. An unsolicited contact from a real, reputable agent or publisher isn't automatically suspect, but it's rare. Out-of-the-blue contacts are far more likely to be illegitimate. Caution is definitely in order.

2. Mistrust--and verify. Google all the individuals and/or companies that are mentioned (are there complaints? Have they shown up on this blog?) If someone claims to have worked for a major publisher or agency, or a company claims to have placed books with reputable publishers or to have sold film or other subsidiary rights, see if you can verify the claim. If you can't, or if there are no checkable details (such as names or book titles) attached to the claim, be wary.

3. Use your common sense. Anyone can make an occasional typo, but professionals communicate professionally (no reputable agent would send out grammar-challenged emails like the ones from "Jennifer Jackson"). Check the email address and any links--do they match the person or company claiming to be contacting you? (There's nothing to connect Ms. Jackson with anything called Techbooks Media.) If there's a demand for upfront money, be sure it's a service or company that customarily charges such fees (reputable agents and publishers don't).

4. Contact Writer Beware. Always a good default if you aren't sure about an individual or company. We may have heard something, or received complaints, and if we have, we'll let you know.

UPDATE: According to additional documentation I've received, Techbooks Media is also doing business as Chapters Media & Advertising. Payments are made to Chapters, and Chapters' name is on the service agreement that Techbooks victims sign.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jennifer Jackson (the real one) responds.


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Gamers vs. COVID-19

By wilwheaton.net
Published On :: Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:33:58 +0000

My upcoming eSports competition show, Gamemaster, has been delayed like everything else, but the people involved wanted to use the resources they had already mustered for production to do some […]


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A Game Of Skill

By questionablecontent.net
Published On :: Thu, 10 Oct 2019 22:23:42 -0300


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