patrick.veverka.net

Trying Out XtraNormal

2009-06-10T00:00:10Z

This seems like it has limited use, but I did find one fun thing to do with it:

Total Eclipse of the Heart - Literal Version

2009-05-28T14:40:46Z

This is AWESOME. (via @nathanblevins and @alanstevens)

Twikini Rocks

2009-05-20T11:40:52Z

Recently I got a Samsung Omnia phone, which runs on Windows® Mobile. I’ve been loving it. As a Twitter addict, I knew that I would have to find a solid, reliable Twitter app for my phone. I tried a number of them without luck. I actually gave serious thought to coding my own - until I found Twikini. It is hands down the best Windows® Mobile Twitter app out there.

Recently, they released the 1.0 version of the software and the recent changes have been impressive. Since my installation, they’ve added support for direct messages, fast-user switching (for those of us with multiple accounts), Google Map integration and more (see http://www.twikini.com/Twikini/Versions.aspx for a list of recent additions as there are too many to list here).

Main Timeline

My main complaint with the other available WinMo Twitter clients has been the lack of a clean display - especially with respect to displaying a single tweet. That’s where I think Twikini shines.

Single Tweet

Unlike other Twitter apps for Windows® Mobile, Twikini is written entirely in native C++ code for maximum performance and the fastest load time possible. It includes Twitpic integration to post photos with your status updates. You can select existing photos or click new ones from your device’s camera.

If you have a Windows Mobile phone, you can’t do better than Twikini

Celebrity Jeopardy Returns To Saturday Night Live

2009-05-19T17:30:01Z

H/T to sean-o for the link.

Mentos Star Trek

2009-05-12T15:04:30Z

Mother Lover

2009-05-11T14:17:24Z

Obama Uses His Pimp Hand On Ed Henry

2009-03-27T16:05:27Z

Spongebob Voice Actors Dub Classic Movies

2009-03-21T01:11:44Z

Dark Knight for the NES

2009-03-19T19:41:54Z

via el macbee

Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer

2009-03-18T16:53:56Z

Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer is a visual debugging tool that makes it easier to migrate your Web sites from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 7 or 8.

Download

Now THIS Is A Resignation Letter

2009-03-18T14:27:53Z

W. Neil Berrett quit his job by presenting his boss with a resignation letter on a sheet cake.

The text says:

“Dear Mr. Bowers,

During the past three years, my tenure at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been nothing short of pure excitement, joy and whim.

However, I have decided to spend more time with my family and attend to health issues that have recently arisen. I am proud to have been part of such an outstanding team and I wish this organization only the finest in future endeavors.

Please accept this cake as notification that I am leaving my position with NWT on March 27.

Sincerely,

W. Neil berrett”

I hope Neil’s health is okay.
via Serious Eats (from Boing Boing)

Javascript Autoinclude For MVC

2009-03-17T16:49:02Z

On his blog Scott Koon gives a good tip on where to place your view specific artifacts.

But if you are using View specific CSS or JavaScript files, you should put them alongside your view page in the Views directory. This allows you to quickly find the file you want to work on.

Scott Koon

While I think that’s an excellent idea for organization, I think that the Javascript Auto Include plugin for Rails does it up a little more elegantly. It creates a directory structure for you to place your JS files organized by view.

For example:

So, for the edit view of the users controller, the plugin would automatically include edit.js for you.

EDIT: If I had a little time, I might hook up something like this.

Superuseless Superpowers VIDEO

2009-03-10T13:54:25Z

I love Superuseless Superpowers blog and a fan of that site did a video that’s actually pretty decent.

“The Rock” Obama

2009-03-09T15:25:19Z

There’s a new president in town.

Huh?

2009-03-06T20:10:52Z

World Builder

2009-03-06T02:14:48Z

This is an amazing movie. One day of shooting - two YEARS in post production.

“A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.

This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of ‘405′. World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.”

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Another Scammer? C’mon CraigsList

2009-03-04T17:32:52Z

Is it possible that CraigsList has become overrun with spammers and scammers? Say it ain’t so.

From: Rental Request
To: kernsonberg@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Subject: RE: $1200 / 4br - Gorgeous Home - Larged fenced in Yard (Virginia Beach)

I saw your listing on CraigsList and was very interested in it. Where is it located? How many square feet does it have?
When is it available for rent?
Thanks.

And the canned response (mention African missionary group, out of country, need rental application filled out quickly):

From: Kernson Berg
To: Rental Request
Date: Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 4:40 AM
Subject: RE: $1200 / 4br - Gorgeous Home - Larged fenced in Yard (Virginia Beach)

Hello,
Thanks for the mail, I intend renting it out because I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the GO WEST AFRICA ORGANISATION,here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.(http://www.gowestafrica.org). so needs a tenant to take care of it but since I am out of the state now,I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area of Virginia Beach,but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. It includes facilities such as hydro and heat laundry facilities,air condition,internet and telephone access and a car park and other necessary fac ilities,also comes with trash collection,pets are allowed as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are capable of the task,get back to me so that I can forward you with the RENT APPLICATION FORM,so that we can proceed with the rent. it is located below. Address: 1600 Cutty Sark Rd. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Ooh, this sounds interesting. Let’s get some more information. Oh, and we should warn Kenson about the perils of Africa.

From: Rental Request
To: kernsonberg@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Subject: Re: $1200 / 4br - Gorgeous Home - Larged fenced in Yard (Virginia Beach)

Kenson,

I am very interested to hear more about this listing. How many square feet is it? When can I schedule a time to take a tour?

West Africa sounds great - what country? We have many friends who are part of the Southern Baptist Convention ministries through our church - what church did you belong to in Virginia Beach?

Be careful, though. I’ve heard that there are a lot of scam artists working in Africa. Those people are not very Christian.

Thanks,

P

The last line may have been TOO obvious, because I haven’t heard back yet. We’ll see.

UPDATE It wasn’t too obvious.

from Kernson Berg
to Rental Request
date Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 11:59 AM
subject Re: $1200 / 4br - Gorgeous Home - Larged fenced in Yard (Virginia Beach)

Hello,
Thanks for the mail,I can see your williness in the place…Here is the sqft 2,008 ….I am in Nigeria…And i also see what they are doing but i use too hand over them to the police here…I will just like to know if you will be able to take good care of the place.

I’m not comfortable with him speaking of my williness, but I definitely want to hear more about this rental.

rom Rental Request
to Kernson Berg
date Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:27 PM
subject Re: $1200 / 4br - Gorgeous Home - Larged fenced in Yard (Virginia Beach)

Wow, that definitely sounds great. When can we take a tour of the property?

That is great that you hand the scam artists over to the police. As a Christian, I think they should be dealt with severely, don’t you? When you lived in Virginia Beach, what church did you belong to?

I will definitely take good care of the place. Cleanliness is next to Godliness after all.

P.

Obama’s Presidency As A MTV Reality Show

2009-03-02T15:14:45Z

On the next episode of “The District”:

419 Scammer Sends Application Form

2009-02-27T15:03:53Z

As I’ve been detailing on the previous post regarding this scam, I’ve been in contact with a 419 scammer who is using CraigsList to try to scam folks to send him a deposit on a rental that he doesn’t own and doesn’t know anything about.

A little bit ago, he sent along the application form, which was a bitmap file, not a DOC or PDF. Crazy. I’m attaching it as a jpeg here.

Click to enlarge.

Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire

2009-02-27T15:06:27Z

The wife likes this song a lot - she just bought it from iTunes. So I am checking it out.

Siftables

2009-02-26T16:23:19Z

Hands down this has to be the coolest toy ever. But it’s not exactly a toy - it’s an advanced wireless mesh that you can interact with.

I don’t know when they are going to start selling these, but I’ll be first in line to buy one for me our kids.

419 Scammers Have New Scam UPDATED

2009-03-04T16:01:19Z

LAST UPDATE 03/04/09 - 12:00pm

This may not be that new of a scam, but it’s definitely new to me. Our old favorite “Nigerian 419 Scammers” are now posting listings for rentals on CraigsList for properties they don’t own and have never seen. It’s an interesting use of the Internet, but still the same basic scam we’ve seen for years.

Here’s how it goes:

You reply to an ad for a listing that is amazing and well below market value.
They tell you that they are out of the country and cannot show you the inside of the house, but you can feel free to look at the outside and they’ll send you an application form.
You like the outside (and the price) so you fill out the application form. They now have your personal information.
Then they ask you to send, via Western Union, a check for the security deposit and tell you that they will send you the keys in the mail. (Alternatively, they may ask for your bank routing numbers so they can setup direct withdrawal.)
Then they either take your wire transfer and disappear or they drain your bank account and disappear.
Either way, you are left standing there with a moving truck full of your possessions outside of a home that someone else is living in.

Nice, huh? Luckily, I am by nature a suspicious person. I feed that suspicion at great sites like Consumerist.com. So, let me share the email exchange that I’ve been having with “Jeffi” about the amazing listing he has on 86th Street in Virginia Beach. (Note: I always create a disposable email on my veverka.net domain when communicating with anyone on CraigsList for this very reason. So I have no problem showing that email address here. I’ll delete the account soon anyway and bounce all emails to it.)

My original email:

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: RE: 86th Street Rental
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 12:59 AM

I saw your listing on Craigs List. My family and I rent a home now and are looking potentially for a single family home to rent.

Is your listing still available? If so, can my wife and I visit in the evening this week and take a tour?

Thanks,
Patrick Veverka

The first reply (see if you can guess what clued me in to the fact that this is a scam):

From: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Subject: THANKS
To: rentals@veverka.net
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 3:19 AM

HELLO PATRICK
thanks for your mail my Name isJeffi and my wifes name is Paul Egolue
we both own the property and we both reside in COLUMBUS city . i am an a united nation ambassodor on child developement,so recently i was transfered to africa Nigeria on a special assinment to go and implement on the lives of african children so that is why i want to rent my home for a God fearing person , a prominet person and a Deligent person who will take care of my compound in my absent and in my husbands absent because we are both together in africa.we are not aftrethe money but the most important thing is that we are looking for a goodperson to liv in our home and keep the whole closet clean. so i dont know if you can be able to do that since me and my husband
is in Africa Nigeria. soif you know you can do that for me and my husband get back to me as soon as possible so tha we can discuss about the rental issues.
AND HERE IS THE ADRESS BELOW, YOU CAN GO AND VIEW THE HOUSE FROM THE OUTSIDE 451 East Kossuth Street, Apt B, Columbus, OH
thanks and God bless you
Regards JEFF AND PAUL

What clued me in? Maybe it’s the fact that I responded to an ad for a property in Virginia Beach, Virginia and he/she told me about their property in Columbus, Ohio? Scammer, if you are going to do this as a profession, you have to at least remember where your fake apartment is located.

So, at this point, I knew that I had a scammer on my hands. So, like any good cynic, I decided to mess with him/her.

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: THANKS
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 12:44 PM

Jeffi,

I’m a little confused. The listing that I am responding to on
CraigsList is for a home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, not in Ohio. Do
you own the home on 86th Street in Virginia Beach that you listed on
CraigList? If so, are you still renting it? When may we take a tour
of the inside of the residence?

Patrick

So, the most important thing in keeping the scammer on the hook is to look interested still. Even in the face of their obvious error, I’m still game as far as they are concerned. However, I continue to ask them to do the one thing they can’t - show me the inside of the property.

“Jeffi” plays off his/her mistake about the location of the property and urges me to give the okay to move along in the application process - without seeing the inside of the property.

Hello PATRICK
Thanks for your mail i am so impress and i i also want to let you know
that i also own a house in ohio, But what i needed most in my house in Virginia is some one who can move in as soon as possible a person who can accept the fact the this home most be kept clean all the time .
And i told you earlier that i am a United Nation Ambassador on Child
Development and i am on a special assinment in Nigeria were we are to
start the program and i went along with my family so that is why am renting my two home out to a prominet person , a deligent person , a God feraing person who can take care of the environment in my absent , a person who can accept my home as if he or she is the owner of it , so i dont know if you can be able
to do this to me so if you can get back to me as soon as possible so that we can discuss on the Rental issues because i need some one to move in as soon as possible .
So get back to me soon if you know you can be good to my requirement.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
Regards
JEFFI AND PAUL

I’m not quite sure how to move forward at this point because I’ve already told him I’m interested but that, you know, I want to see the inside. So I remind him of that.

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: THANKS
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 5:03 PM

We definitely would take care of the home as if it were our own. My
wife drove by the property today and we’d definitely like to schedule
time to go in and see it. When could we take a tour of the property?
We’re available most evenings this week.

Thanks,
Patrick

Well, clearly I’m not recognizing how important and OUT OF THE COUNTRY “Jeffi” is, so he decides to remind me that he can’t show me the property because he is off saving the children of Africa.

Hello PATRICK
I am so impress by you mail but i told you you earlier that iam an Ambassador to United Nation and i am on a special assinment ti Africa and that is my main reason of renting my home out so that some one will take care of the compound in my absent , and again i am looking for some one who can move in as soon as possible , so that the place will be kept clean.
So i would like you to understand my situation here in Nigeria because this is an assinment and it is from the United Nation and am here with my families because we have three years to send here in Nigeria , so i would like you to make up your mind and get back back to me as soon as possible so that we can discuss on how you move in so that i can foward you the RENTAL APPLICATION FORM .
THANKS AND GOD BLES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
Regards
Jeffi and Pual

I decide to spice things up a little bit and inquire about the people currently living in the home - you know, the legitimate owners/renters of the property that he picked out of thin air? Oh, and I am trying to be personable with my future landlord, so I looked up a little about the UN on Wikipedia.

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: THANKS
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, Feb 26, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Subject: Re: THANKS

Jeffi,

I do remember that you said that you are an Ambassador to the United
Nations and are on special assignment in Africa. That’s very
impressive and you must be a busy man, so I appreciate you responding. Are you working directly with Susan Rice or are you part of UNESCO?

As I said, my wife stopped by the location and definitely liked the
neighborhood. Since we are so excited about the prospect of living in
your home, you could send along the application form and we can fill
it out while you setup a time for us to tour the inside of the house.
It looks like you already have tenants in the house - maybe they can
give us a tour?

Speaking of the tenants, when do they move out? We are looking to
begin caring for your wonderful home as soon as possible.

Patrick

So, that’s where we stand right now, February 26, 2009 at 9am EST. I’ll update this post with further correspondence as it comes in. And hopefully his replies won’t crash my spellchecker.

UPDATE: He’s back. Evidently he latched onto my concern for the children of Africa and is going to milk that for what it’s worth.

Hello PATRICK
Thanks for all your questions and i really appriciate on that very much but i work on CHILD DEVELOPMENT which are concern on how the childern in Africa are living by providing food addiquate medication and a well standard home for those who are homeless , most of all this african childern aer surfering from malaria as a result of been homeles some of all this children are been molested and rapped on the street so this is an a new Organization created by United Nation to put a stop to all this nemeccess so that a better living can be implimented to this children.
So my dear i hope you are satisfied to my definations , if not so please get your questions ask because Renting my property was because of this african children i wnat to make use of the money in their lives most especialy providing food and enough medication , so get back to me with immediate responde so that we can descuss on how to make the payment of the rentbecause i have decided to use the moneyto implent a better living on the lives of the childern so that i can bee remembered by the Africans and the whole nation
THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU.
MY REGARDS
JEFF AND PAUL

Of course, this deserved a quick response from me so that I don’t keep him and the poor children of Africa waiting:

Jeffi,

I am definitely interested in renting your property. How do we move
forward? When will the current renters be moving out? Can we ask
them for a tour of the property? I realize that you are abroad, doing
good work for the children of Africa, so would you mind me asking your
current renters if I can take a tour of the residence? Can I just
knock on the door and tell them that you sent me?

What is the next step?

UPDATE 02/27/09 @ 7:45AM EST

He’s back and now he seems like he’s getting a little impatient with me. He wants to know if I want the rental or not. He can’t spend all day on the Internet, after all, he’s an important man. HE’S SAVING THE CHILDREN OF AFRICA. Bill Gates and Bill Clinton have NOTHING on him.

From: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Subject: HELLO
To: rentals@veverka.net
Date: Friday, February 27, 2009 at 3:20 AM

HELLO PATRICK
Thanks for your mail , how are you and your family, I am so impress by your words and i really appriciate and i want to assure you that every thing is going to move fine between me and you in renting my property .
So be yourself and i wnat to let you know that i have noone living presently in my house i and my family was the one who lived there before my transfer to africa by UNITED NATION, so that is my main reason of renting it out to a prominet person a benevolent person, a God fearing person and a deligent person who can move in as soon as possible to my home i tried to find an Agent before living to Africa but was not able to found due to how urgent my assinment was so i have to lock up the whole place and take the keys and the documents belonging to my home and i will be only be givint it to a person who is interested in renting my property but that will be after he or she have paidfor the house rent.
So PATRICK i would like you to take a decission about renting my property because i am a bussy man and i have to creat time and opportunity for myself to be on computers due to my work,So if you are ready to rent my property get back to me as soon as possible so that i can issue you the RENTAL APPLICATION FORM , to fill which after you do then you have to pay for the house rent so that i can make the shipment of the keys and the documents
THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
MY REGARDS
JEFFI AND PAUL

So, here’s how he wants this to go down. He’ll send me an application form, which I’m sure will require my Social Security Number. I’ll fill that out and send back to him and he’ll reply with the information about where to Western Union the funds and that he’ll ship my keys to me.

What kills me is that he is insisting that no one is living in this house that he doesn’t own and has never seen. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I went to the wrong house. After all, he didn’t put an address on the listing, just 86th Street and a picture of a house on 86th Street. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: RE: HELLO
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, February 27, 2009 at 7:45 AM

Jeffi,

My family is doing very well, thank you. I hope you and Paul are well.

I drove by the rental again last night and I’m pretty sure that the
family having dinner in the dining room are living there. What is the
address again? Maybe I’m looking at the wrong house.

We definitely want to move forward with the rental process. Please
send along any forms that need to be filled out and let me know the
next steps (credit check, deposit, etc.)

Patrick

And we wait.

UPDATE 02/27/09 @ 7:45AM EST

We didn’t have to wait for long.

From: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Subject: thanks
To: rentals@veverka.net
Date: Friday, February 27, 2009 at 9:19 AM

HELLO PATRICK Howa are you and your family i will send you the RENTAL APPLICATION FORM SO THAT YOU CAN FILL IN THE REQUIREMENT AND I WNAT TO LET YOU KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN SO NICE TO ME

Well that’s sweet.

About 10 minutes later he sends across the application form. Since it’s an image, and I am merely a naive mark, I ask him how I can go about filling this out. Oh, and also, what is the address of the rental so that I can put it on the application?

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: RE: thanks
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, February 27, 2009 at 9:43 AM

Thank you for sending along the application. How do I fill out the
application since it is an image - not a document? Can you send me a
PDF or DOC instead?

What address should I put down in the first paragraph? (premises
generally described as ….)

Thanks.

UPDATE 03/02/09 8:42am
Jeffi sends along a pseudo-document: really just an HTML form. I fill it out deligently with b.s. information (but with a GrandCentral.com phone number in case he does want to call).

Hello PATRICK

Thanks for getting back to me,i want you to know that our house is ready if you want to move in now.We need you to promise us that you will take good care of myhouse if it happens you move in as our new tenant.The month rent is $1000 and the security deposit is $600,And the house is available now.The Utilities are also Included.

I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENT APPLICATIONS FORM BELOW

(Fake Form Redacted)

Hope to read from you asap,Thanks and have a blessed day..

Regards
JEFFI AND PAUL

I fill out the form and right before I send it, I realized that this joker FORGET THE FAKE RENT AMOUNT. It’s always been a $1500 per month rental and all of a sudden it’s inexplicably dropped to $1000? I think someone has too many iScam windows open at once. So, I add this to my response:

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: : RENTAL APPLICATIOIN
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, February 27, 2009, 8:09 PM

I have filled out the application below. Is there any reason why you lowered the rent?

Please let me know the next step and also when we can get into the home to take a tour.

Jeffi actually does a decent job of covering for his mixup.

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 5:25 AM, Jeff Wilson wrote:
HelloPATRICK
I am so amazed by your corperation by signing the document ,my reason of lowing the rent is because i found out that you are a true some one who can take good care of my property that is why i am laying my trust on you and your family.
Now i would liketo know how long you would like to rent my property so that i can give you information on how you make your payment , because i would like you and your family to move in n with outany forther delay so that the place will be kept clean.
So getback to me as soon as possible so that we can discuss on the payment issues ,so you and your family can move in immediately.
Regards\
Jeffi and Paul

I want to look like a good, solid, stable renter so that I can build trust with Jeffi, so naturally, I want to stay in the home for a while.

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: hello thanks
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 12:30 PM

We are looking to rent for at least 1 year, but most likely 2.

What is the next step? When can we take a tour of the property?

Thanks.

And here we get into the meat of the scam. He can only release the keys to me AFTER I’ve paid the rent/deposit. Now, this is standard for rentals - no one is going to let you move in without giving them compensation. But these scammers exploit their distance in this - the keys will be lost or they won’t be sent at all and I’ll just lose contact with Jeffi.

Hello PATRCIK
Thanks once again now iwant you to know that i i am loking for who can move in as soon as possible and that is when only am going to release the keys after the person might have paid for the house rent, so i dont know if that is ok with you, And if you are ready get back to me so that i can give you the informations on how you make your payment so that you and your family can move inn there at your own convinent time, so be brave and be smart my dear
Get back to me with immediate effect so that we can discuss on the rental issues.
Thanks and God bless you and your family.
Regards
Jeffi and Paul

So, I’ll be agreeable - except that I insist on seeing the inside of the house. Maybe I can just get the current renters to let me tour the place

From: Patrick Veverka
Subject: Re: : hello thanks
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 8:27 PM

Jeffi,

It is standard that you would wait until after I’ve made my deposit to release the keys. I have no problem with that. How do we setup payment?

Before signing a lease or sending payment, I will need to take a tour of the interior of the house. I would assume that the people living in the house right now would be able to help me with that since you can’t send the keys until after I’ve made payment? I’ll drive over there this afternoon and ask them for a tour.

Patrick

All of a sudden, we meet someone new - Bi-Polar Jeffi. In the first part of a sentence, he’s very complimentary. In the next half, he’s angry and threatening. I think the translation software burped.

Hello PARICK
i am so great ful for your concern and if that should be the case then i have to take my rent to the normalprice it was before , now what do you take me for do you think am a fool or what or i dont know what am doing look let me tell you i lowered my house rent just because the sincerity i found in you and i can see youy want to use that as an advantage over me or what i am renting my home secretly because thise living there can not be able to keep the place clean i have gotten that information from my people and i want topush then out un expectedly, and that is why i wnat you to act fast becase i have refounde them their money but they refuse to quite just because i havent found a qualitative person untill i came across you .
So i used because of that i lowered the rent fee for you so that you can move in quick because i want them to vacate out of my home but i dont think you are thinking the way i am thinking ,because if you do would have understand that i am a sincere man and aqm only doing this just because of your words that is why i have grown an interest in you by doing the necessary thing for you that noone on this earth can do.
So get back to me with your own opinion so that we can talk more about this.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU
Regards
JEFFI AND PAUL

Ahh, according to Bi-Polar Jeffi, he does have tenants in the home, but he’s kicking them out. Interesting change. Now I’m playing confused.

Jeffi,

I continue to be confused. At first, you told me that there were no renters in the house. Now you are telling me that you do have renters living there? We need to have trust, Jeff, if we are to enter into this agreement. I have been open and honest this entire time, have you? I ask you about your existing renters and you raise the price of the rent on me? That’s not very honest or sincere.

I stopped by the house pictured in your advertisement and spoke with the nice couple living there. They said that they own the house, not you. They stated that no one working for the United Nations lived on their street. Also, they claimed that NONE of the houses on the street was for rent.

Please provide the address of the home and let me know when we can view the interior of the home. Please rebuild our trust, Jeffi.

While I await your next communication, I will begin looking for other homes for my family to rent.

Patrick

Uh-oh. I “spoke” with the current tenants who actually own the house. (Note: I didn’t actually speak to the residents of the home. I’m not even sure this house is really in Virginia Beach.)

This makes Bi-Polar Jeffi even more bi-polar.

HELLO PATRICK I AM SINCERE TO YOU BUT YOU ARE NOT THAT SINCERE TO ME.
AND I AM SO DISAPOINTED THAT AFTER MY TRUST TO YOU, YOU CAN NOT STILL BELIEVE ME I AM A MAN OF DECENCY AND I LOVE BEEN GOOD TO PEOPLE BOTH THOSE I SEE AND THOSE I DONT SEE OK.
AND AM TELLING YOU AGAIN THAT MY HOME I HAVE NO ONE INN THERE FOR NOW OK, SO I HATE WHEN AM SINCERE TO SOMEONE HE OR SHE TAKES ME AS A LIER NOW LISTEN UP LET ME TELL YOU I HAVE OTHER PEOPLE DISTURBING ME FOR MY HOME BUT DUE TO HOW YOU SPOKE TO ME I DECIDED TO ACCEPT YOU AM A NICE PERSON BECAUSE HOW DELIGENT YOU ARE TO ME AND NOW I AM GIVING YOU THE ADDRESS AGAIN AND I DONT CARE IF YOU STILL HAVE AN INTEREST OR NOT BECAUSE I HAVE OTHER CLIENT COMING FOR THE SAME HOME YOU ARE INTERESTED ON , SO NOW I AM GIVING YOU THE ADDRESS NOW SO YOU GO AND TAKE A LOOK ON IT FROM THE OUTSIDE OK.
451 East Kossuth Street, Apt B, Columbus, OH

THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
REGARDS
JEFFI AND PAUL

Are we seriously back to talking about an apartment in Columbus? Man, Jeffi, you seriously need to buy a notepad or something so that you can remember which scam you’re running on which person. I’m actually kinda concerned about Jeffi and his state of mind at this point. Let me share my concern with him. I want to communicate with him off of email so that I can make sure he is okay.

Jeffi,

I am gravely concerned for your soul. Either you are not being truthful with me or a devil has taken over you and is causing you to spout these contradictions.

First you told me that you did not have anyone living in the house. Then you told me that you do, but you’re getting rid of them because they don’t keep the house as clean as a house should be. Now you tell me that you have no one in the house.

Tell me, Jeffi, are you possessed with the devil? Is he speaking for you?

Before I can agree to rent your home, I will need confirmation that you are not possessed by a demon. Either we need to speak on the phone so that I can listen for the devil or you need to send me a picture so that I can be assured that you do not have scales or devil horns. Please either send me a picture of yourself or call me at 757.XXX.XXXX (redacted) so that we may speak. After I make sure you are not possessed by a demon, I will send payment.

What is the address of your home in Virginia Beach? I want to make sure that you were not possessed there. I will drive by the home with my priest and see if the mark of the devil is still on the house.

Patrick

We’ll wait and see.

UPDATED AGAIN - 03/02/09

Seriously, Jeffi just needs to get the hint. I think that either the greed is too much or the translation is too weak for them to get the hint, but Jeffi wrote back today.

HELLO PATRICK
I THINK I HAVE TAKEN ENOUGH OF THIS INSULT FROM YOU BECAUSE IT S NOT A CRIME FOR ME TO BE RENTING MY HOME JUST BECAUSE I AM ON A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT FROM THE UNITED NATION ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT, SO STOP IT CAUSE I CANT ACCEPT IT ANY MORE FROM YOU , SO IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE COMING FOR THE SAME HOUSE .
SO GET BACK TO ME OR YOU CALL ME WITH MY AFRICAN NUMBER SO THAT WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THIS.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS
REGARDS
JEFFI AND PAUL

HERE IS MY NUMBER YOU CAN CALL ME OK +2347028453054

Jeffi is taking no prisoners. He’s mad that I’m insulting him (?) and he wants me to know that there are other people interested in the house. But I want him to know that I’m more concerned about the house that his soul lives in - I’m worried about Jeffi’s eternal salvation.

Jeffi,

I will assume that is the devil speaking through you. I know you are an honest man - a good man - a deligent man and you wouldn’t speak to me like this if you weren’t possessed. I will stop now and say a prayer for you.

More important than me renting your home or whether you are a criminal is the current status of your soul. As you know, our souls are the most important parts of us - even more so than our feelings or our thoughts. I AM WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SOUL.

Please assure me that your soul is being cared for. I cannot rent from a man without soul.

Do you have soul?

Please provide the address of your rental home so that my church and I may hold a prayer service outside of it. I joined this church after they saved me from possession. We can save you, Jeffi.

Do you want to be saved?

Patrick

POSSIBLY FINAL UPDATE

Jeffi replies - evidently he is frustrated with my selfish soul-saving and is ready to move on to other marks.

On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 2:43 AM, Jeff Wilson wrote:

hello PATRICK
I THINK WE HAVE TO END THOIS CONVERSATION RIGHT HERE BECAUSE I HAVE BEING INSULTED ENOUGHT THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN
JEFFI

But this is someone’s SOUL we’re talking about. I can’t let this man go into the wilderness alone.

From: Rental Request
Subject: Re: HELLO
To: jeff.wilson28@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 9:56 PM

- Hide quoted text -
Jeffi,

I know you are afraid, but your soul is at risk. This is not like your physical possessions - this is more important. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help. My church will definitely pray for you that you can defeat the demon inhabiting your soul.

Patrick

In probably the saddest reply yet, Jeffi tries to end communication.

SORRY I CANT PATRCIK

I decide to give him one more small glimmer of hope - just to see if we can stretch this out any longer.

Jeffi,

I spoke with my pastor about this. He told me that we could hold a prayer group and pray for your soul and that’s what we did last night. It was pretty scary because the demon possessing you came and fought with us. I slayed it myself with my strong prayers for you.

My pastor says that I can continue along with renting your property since we destroyed that demon - but that we need to be sure to watch out for any other demons. Since you were infected once, you are more likely to get possessed again.

I hope you will reconsider my application and tell me where I may send my deposit. I assume a cashier’s check would be okay?

Patrick

We’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, we have another contestant

Looks like Jeffi is all done with us.

from Jeff Wilson
to Rental Request
date Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:45 AM
subject HELLO

Hello PATRICK
tHAT IS SO KIND OF YOU BUT I WNAT TO ASSURE YOU THAT I AM FINE NOTTING IS WRONG WITH ME OK SO STOP IT ALL AND DONT INSULT ME ANY MORE OK CAUSE I AM A PERFECT MAN I AM RIGHT FROM THE BEIGNING SO I DONT CARE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED OR NOT IN MY HOME I THINK I BETTER TALK TO THOSE WHO RESPECT OTHER PEOPLES INTERGRITE AND I KNOW THEY MIGHT BE CAPABLE IN TAKING CARE OF MY PROPERTY, SO I DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR INTEREST ANY MORE BECAUSE IT WAS DUE TO MY LOYALTY TO YOU THAT BROUGHT ALL THIS INSULT TO ME OK
HAVE A BLESSED DAY MY DEAR.
REGARDS
JEFFI AND PAUL

I wish him the best of luck and tell him I’ll find another place.

from Rental Request
to Jeff Wilson
date Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:59 AM
subject Re: HELLO

Jeffi

That is really too bad to hear. I really liked your rental and was prepared to make a deposit today.

Well, best of luck with getting one of your other contacts in there.

Patrick

A View On Interviews

2009-02-25T12:59:18Z

I got an email from a recruiter friend asking me to look at a list of questions they were using to screen potential mid-level .NET web developers. Most of the stuff was pretty standard stuff about controls, XML and the like. He wanted to know whether the list of questions was something that a developer should know or if it was too textbook-like.

I’ve experienced questions like these in phone interviews. I had a phone screen where the person quizzed me about the internals of the .NET Garbage Collector. 7 of the 10 questions were pretty standards ones that any competent .NET programmer should be able to recall. The other questions were really obscure and were only intended to find out how deep and how frequently I went into the internals of the framework.

But, that interview and those questions only proved that I could memorize something or that I had used that particular subset of the framework. It did not give the company any indication as to whether I could write reliable, secure, bug-free code. It did not tell the company whether I could take a business requirement, analyze it and produce a solution.

I tend to think that the language used is really just an implement for a talented coder. By that, I mean that I prefer hearing how someone would solve a generic problem rather than list of things a quick Google/MSDN search would yield for them. In our field, there is so much information out there that it’s hard to keep up with it. I prefer people who write strong code and strong algorithms and who can figure out complex problems rather than someone who can regurgitate the .NET Framework. Whenever I interview developers, I do throw 2 or 3 basic .NET fundamentals questions at them to set a baseline, but then I try to engage them in a discussion of how they have actually used those parts of the framework. What problem were they trying to solve? What were the business requirements? Being a strong developer these days is more about business value than anything else.

Ghost Car

2009-02-14T20:53:02Z

I totally hate when this happens.

System.Net.Mail Pickup Directory

2009-02-05T20:18:22Z

I’m putting this here mostly for myself cause I have a habit of forgetting these things. But, if you are in development and want to avoid actually sending emails (or don’t have access to an SMTP server), you can tell System.Net.Mail to just drop the MailMessage in a folder by using this code in your app.config/web.config:

Bill O’Reilly tells Stephen Colbert that he doesn’t report rumors, then promptly reports a rumor

2009-01-29T23:49:42Z

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Bill O’Reilly Doesn’t Report Rumors

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
More Funny Videos

via Cajun Boy

“It’s exactly like Gump, except no AIDS”

2009-01-26T03:59:17Z

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

via Cajun Boy.

When I realized I was a grown-up

2009-01-24T21:25:59Z

It probably really cemented for me when we had our first child. Marriage still felt a little unreal. But seeing his face for the first time, I knew I had to change a lot.

Why my hip-hop posse would include Biz Markie

2009-01-24T11:41:59Z

Biz Markie
he is hilarious and my son likes him on Yo Gabba Gabba

Fax Machine Calling Landline

2009-01-23T20:02:50Z

It’s weird, but my GrandCentral account has been inundated with these calls recently all from the same number. Not sure why they are trying to fax a landline, but I now really want to get this fax.

UPDATE: Evidently, the number I am receiving this fax attempt from (5149580000) is known as a telemarketing slimeball. Someone even made a http://www.5149580000.com/ website, but it’s not resolving for me now.

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