Spam gets creative

If you went through J-school, you learned the importance of writing a catchy news headline. Spammers, apparently catching on to the fact that most of us don’t click on the “Increase the size of your dong” e-mails, are developing new ways to snag your attention as you scan the list of e-mails in  your spam filter.

While there are still plenty of subject lines reminding us that our lovemaking is inadequate and Rolex watches impress others, spammers are getting creative by using news-related subject lines.

Many fall into the entertainment news genre and play on the fact that your average person may have only the slightest idea of what’s happening with celebrities. For instance, maybe you heard that something or other happened to Shia LaBeouf last weekend, but you’re a little hazy on the details. So, the subject line “Shia loses hand in accident” may sound credible enough to draw your click. Or one we saw a few weeks ago: “Angelina dies in miscarriage”—you may have had a foggy idea that Angelina Jolie was pregnant, so isn’t it possible that she DID die in miscarriage? Click.

Some touch on Internet topics that you, an e-mail user, might naturally be interested in, such as: “FBI Watching Possible Terrorists on Facebook.” (This would, of course, be of especial interest to terrorist who are using Facebook.) Others, of course, are silly enough to immediately trigger suspicion. Try: “Elton John Dies in Rocket Ship” (oh, the irony!) or “Cannibal Tribe Invades Civilisation” (well, I’m guessing by the British spelling that they’ve only reached the UK, so I should have plenty of time to make myself look less delicious).

Of course, if you were to click through to these e-mails, it’s the same garbled spiels for low-cost Viagra and knockoff handbags. Eventually, people will get wise to these “almost” headlines and spammers will have to change tactics again to catch your attention.

What makes you click?

—Bellapoison

Of course, when you click, you

The world of depreciation

The RV search continues.

While a house, even in these sub-prime fiasco times, can generally be considered an investment, something that gains value with time, a recreational vehicle is basically a study in depreciation. Most people understand that their shiny new car loses 15 to 20 percent of its value as soon as it leaves the dealer’s lot. And that car loses more and more value over the life of the loan (assuming you financed it and didn’t pay cash), usually four to five years.

But while you may be upside-down on your auto loan in the beginning, things usually straighten out a couple of years in, and you can often break even (or even make a small sum, if you’ve pampered your car) if you sell it or trade it in. And when your loan term is up, your 5-year-old car is still worth a decent amount.

RVs are another beast. Two factors are at work here:

The future…on wheels?

I have known for a while that I need a change. Work, after 6+ years, has become a rut. I have never lived outside of Texas. I’ve visited fewer than 10 of these United States.

The answer may be on the horizon in the form of…an RV.

The problem—or at least, our problem—with trying to buy an RV is too many choices. Do we get a truck and trailer? Or maybe it would be more convenient to get a Class C motorhome? And it’s a lot of work determining which manufacturers are worth a damn and which ones build shoddy, rolling time bombs.

So far, we’re looking at anything and everything and quickly becoming overwhelmed with information. We know we need: a permanent bed (I don’t want to sleep on a fold-out sofa), space for our dogs, a decent shower, and decor that falls into the category of “not-godawful.”

If money was no object, we’d just go buy a diesel pusher and pretend we’re country music stars:

Since money IS an object, we’ll be looking at something much smaller.

—Bellapoison

Pets & people

There’s been some hullabaloo in Dallas over a proposed pet ordinance that would restrict the number of pets allowed per property to six dogs and cats and would require mandatory spay/neuter or a $500 breeder permit (pets in poor health and conformation animals would also be exempt from the latter ordinance). Some pet owners have offered the “if guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns” argument—that is, backyard breeders or pet hoarders will continue their practices no matter whether there is a law in place.

Count on Texans to do some stupid shit.

You get married once, right? Might as well have a really weird cake that shows people how insecure you are.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/07/cake.irpt/index.html

Optional title for post….”Look at me, I’m special, look at me, aren’t I beautiful, look at me dammit! Fine. Don’t tell me how pretty I am. Just wait until you see my cake. You’ll see, bitches.”

Look at picture #3. She looks so happy, right? Like her dog just died.

Elijah

you know you want it

http://dallas.craigslist.org/car/504658414.html

http://dallas.craigslist.org/fur/504646791.html

http://dallas.craigslist.org/jwl/464477251.html

Carfree

http://www.carfree.com/

Linerider

http://linerider.com/play-line-rider-online

The Oil Drum

http://www.theoildrum.com/

“Oh, be nice.”

Elijah