What's On Your Mind? (Silly or Serious!)

[BBP]

It's similar that there's a hundred reasons why the victims could've known that something was wrong and it's hard to understand why they swallowed it for so long.

Reminds me of some of the idiots I've encountered at work - famous but before my time is the man who booked a stay in Mallorca (a Very Famous Touristy Place) without looking into the place - he was unaware that Mallorca is an island and by the time he arrived there was no ferry or flight to take him there, had to spend the night in his car instead of in his luxury villa with pool.
And of course he was very angry with my company for not telling him it's an island.

There is a thing called stupidity, but there is this whole brand of stupidity that prevents happiness.

[Rath Darkblade]

For example, with the Brett Michaels one ... what baffles me is ...

Sigh. Not to mention, this person spelled "Michaels" as "Micheals" and she never noticed. I guess her attention to detail isn't the greatest ... mine is pretty good (well, it has to be for me to survive in accounting! ) -- but well ... that misspelling, plus all those other factors you mentioned, are pretty damning.

I won't even go into the First Law of Staying Safe Online: Don't EVER hand over any of your personal details or banking details to ANYONE -- unless you know them personally, OR they represent a company that you do business with. Even then, be careful what you hand over, and only give them what they NEED. (I'm paraphrasing, of course, but...)
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Reminds me of some of the idiots I've encountered at work - famous but before my time is the man who booked a stay in Mallorca (a Very Famous Touristy Place) without looking into the place...

And of course he was very angry with my company for not telling him it's an island.

There is a thing called stupidity, but there is this whole brand of stupidity that prevents happiness.

I had never been to Mallorca, or even to that part of the Mediterranean, but even I know it's an island! It's the largest island in the series of Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. From the pictures I've seen on google, it's very beautiful, and definitely a famous tourist spot.

That's like (for instance) an American saying "Hawaii's part of the USA, so I'll just drive there!" Or an Englishman saying, "We don't need a plane or boat to get to Northern Ireland, it's part of the UK!"

I had something similar (but on a smaller scale) happen to me today. A client called and wanted to pay some bills. I said, "Sure! That's what I'm here for." He had 4 bills, so I gave him the total amount.

He then said, "That's too much. I wish it was less", and paused. (Why, I have no idea. Did he think I could give him a discount? I have no authority to do that, obviously). So I offered to take a smaller payment for (say) just 2 or 3 of the bills.

He declined and paid everything, and I sent him a receipt as normal. But ... if he was happy to do that, why go through the "wish" business? I wish I was on holiday, but wishing won't make it so.

[DeadPoolX]

But what baffles me - is the driver's license had all kinds of errors (incorrectly spelled his last name; incorrectly has the abbreviation of Arizona; his photo had a bandanna, which you can not legally wear any head gear for a driver's license; among so many other things)... and she didn't notice. And the way the guy texted her - clearly someone from a different country where English was NOT their native language).

Well, for starters... people are stupid.

No, seriously. Look at how poorly people write online or text nowadays. Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors are all over the place. People make typos and that's understandable, but that's different from the current mentality of "it doesn't matter how I write, you know what I mean!" that's become extremely pervasive.

I bring this up because the low standard that's common today means that more than a few people probably wouldn't notice errors like you mentioned on a driver's license.

Then there's the fact that people WILL believe what they want, regardless of how illogical or any evidence to the contrary. Look at all the conspiracy nuts around: flat-earthers, anti-vaxxers, those who believe the moon landing was staged, anything about Area 51 or aliens, people who believe that 5G networks caused COVID, shape-changing lizard people (no, Rath, I'm not making this up), and don't even bring up all the crap about JFK's assassination.

Scammers like these (and make no mistake, Catfishing is a scam) target those who're lonely and desperate. The utter elation they feel when getting positive attention blocks out any sense of rationality. So even if some part of their brain is telling them something seems fishy, it won't be enough to convince them otherwise, nor could any friend or family member. It's only after they've been victimized can they stop and see how blind they were, but by then it's usually too late.

In some ways I feel bad for these people, but my sympathy ends when sign after sign presents itself and they still refuse to acknowledge that something is amiss.

[Tawmis]

Well, for starters... people are stupid.
In some ways I feel bad for these people, but my sympathy ends when sign after sign presents itself and they still refuse to acknowledge that something is amiss.

I agree... but I'm thinking that either this scammer sent the license "as proof" - or she asked for it.
Either way - you'd think you'd look at the proof being sent. I'd get it if the proof was 10 pages long and required some reading - you might pass or skim - if you're this woman.
But it's an image - a single image - with blatant errors in it.

Some of it might be easy to miss - the misspelling of the name - easy to miss.

But the state abbreviation should have been obvious. The birthday, Expire and license day - being in the EU format (Day/Month/Year) rather than US (Month/Day/Year).

Those should have been - at the very least - obvious.

And somehow believing this is how Nikki Sixx "talks" is... remarkable.

Clearly not Nikki Sixx. Or American.

[DeadPoolX]

I agree with you, anyone with a shred of common sense and/or intelligence should've recognized that license (and texts) were all fake. However, it seems people who fall for scams like these (when it's blatantly obvious) are either incredibly stupid or willfully oblivious. Maybe both.

[Rath Darkblade]

Then there's the fact that people WILL believe what they want, regardless of how illogical or any evidence to the contrary. Look at all the conspiracy nuts around: flat-earthers, anti-vaxxers, those who believe the moon landing was staged, anything about Area 51 or aliens, people who believe that 5G networks caused COVID, shape-changing lizard people (no, Rath, I'm not making this up), and don't even bring up all the crap about JFK's assassination.

I realise you're not making that up. The "shape-changing lizard people" one is from Scientology, right?

I've heard of all of those ones, plus plenty of others: the "crocodile-in-the-toilet" people, the "all-Muslims-are-terrorists" people (sigh), the "Jews-control-the-banks-and-Hollywood-and-the-entire-world" people ... (double sigh) ...

But probably the ones that make my blood boil are the folks that perpetuate the old "blood libel" against the Jews. I'm not mad about it just because I'm Jewish, or because it perpetuate a lie that goes back to at least 100 AD; I'm angry because it's so patently absurd, so obviously wrong, but it caused so much suffering and hatred and death for so long, and it still exists -- primarily in Russia and in many Arab countries, often with the collusion of people in very high places, like Russian government ministers and Iranian mullahs.

The one sliver of good news is that -- everywhere else in the world, at least -- almost no-one believes in this absurdity. And it's about %&*@ing time.

[DeadPoolX]

I realise you're not making that up. The "shape-changing lizard people" one is from Scientology, right?

Not sure, but I know one of the leading proponents of the "shape-changing lizard people" conspiracy theory is also propping up the idea that "5G networks cause COVID" and that "wearing masks cause your oxygen levels to drop to dangerously low levels."

Neither are true, of course, but conspiracy theorists are perfect examples of the phrase: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

... the "Jews-control-the-banks-and-Hollywood-and-the-entire-world" people ... (double sigh) ...

Yeah, that annoys me. If I'm going to be blamed for "controlling the banks, Hollywood, and the world" then I want some of the benefits.

But probably the ones that make my blood boil are the folks that perpetuate the old "blood libel" against the Jews. I'm not mad about it just because I'm Jewish, or because it perpetuate a lie that goes back to at least 100 AD; I'm angry because it's so patently absurd, so obviously wrong, but it caused so much suffering and hatred and death for so long, and it still exists -- primarily in Russia and in many Arab countries, often with the collusion of people in very high places, like Russian government ministers and Iranian mullahs.

It makes absolutely no sense at all (not that hatred and conspiracy theories need to make sense), especially since Jewish law explicitly prohibits ingesting blood.

At least that's what I've read before, but I may be wrong. I'm not all that observant. Then again, I'm a Reform Jew (the most liberal form of Judaism), so eating pork and shellfish is okay, and so is mixing meat and dairy. Honestly, not being able to eat bacon should count as a criminal offense.

The one sliver of good news is that -- everywhere else in the world, at least -- almost no-one believes in this absurdity. And it's about %&*@ing time.

Somehow, I imagine far more people believe in the blood libel myth than we think. It's certainly nowhere near as prevalent as it once was, but those who hate others based on religious or physical differences will use anything to "legitimize" their beliefs and actions.

[Rath Darkblade]

It makes absolutely no sense at all (not that hatred and conspiracy theories need to make sense), especially since Jewish law explicitly prohibits ingesting blood.

At least that's what I've read before, but I may be wrong. I'm not all that observant. Then again, I'm a Reform Jew (the most liberal form of Judaism), so eating pork and shellfish is okay, and so is mixing meat and dairy. Honestly, not being able to eat bacon should count as a criminal offense.

No, you're right. Jewish kashrut laws (which define what is kosher) specifically prohibit ingesting any kind of blood. So before meat can be made kosher, all the blood must be drained away.

I'm not observant either (in fact, I'm secular), so I don't mind eating pork, sausage, bacon or shellfish. I'm pretty sure that the dictum against pig products came about because it was almost impossible to keep them clean and fresh, so it was originally a matter of health, not religion. Of course, with refrigeration etc., this is no longer an issue; in fact, I've had a few kosher pork sausages. They're quite nice.

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Anyway, to change the subject completely ... Huzzah! After much toil, false starts and stops etc., I created some songs (and videos) for Renaissance music (and one non-Renaissance one). Please feel free to check them out on my vimeo page! =D

Hope you like them.

[Tawmis]

Anyway, to change the subject completely ... Huzzah! After much toil, false starts and stops etc., I created some songs (and videos) for Renaissance music (and one non-Renaissance one). Please feel free to check them out on my vimeo page! =D
Hope you like them.

Is that you singing? I know you'd mentioned you sang - I hadn't pictured your voice so deep (at least while singing).

[Rath Darkblade]

That is indeed me.

For "Danny Boy", the backing called for a tenor voice. My voice is naturally a baritone-bass (one of the deeper voices), so I had to extend myself quite a bit (listen, especially, to the chorus -- I had to reach as high as F5, i.e. an F one octave above middle-C (:shock:), which is very nearly at the top of my range. The bottom of my range is E2, i.e. an E two octaves below middle-C).

By the way, take a listen to "April is in my mistress's face". Guess who I'm singing a duet with there ...

[BBP]

I'm into nonograms and found a site: check out these cute nonograms! Guess who!

https://www.nonograms.org/nonograms2/i/36221
https://www.nonograms.org/nonograms2/i/36218

[Rath Darkblade]

Uh, first thing's first ... what are nonograms? *googles this* "Nonograms, also known as Paint by Numbers, Picross, Griddlers, Pic-a-Pix, and various other names, are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a grid must be colored or left blank according to numbers at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture." Aha! Got it.

*looks at crosswords* Oh, crap - I suck at these. There are also no rules about what I'm supposed to do here. What's going on?

[DeadPoolX]

Uh, first thing's first ... what are nonograms? *googles this* "Nonograms, also known as Paint by Numbers, Picross, Griddlers, Pic-a-Pix, and various other names, are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a grid must be colored or left blank according to numbers at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture." Aha! Got it.

*looks at crosswords* Oh, crap - I suck at these. There are also no rules about what I'm supposed to do here. What's going on?

A nonogram isn't a crossword puzzle or at least, it's not a crossword puzzle as we normally think of them. It's a numerical puzzle that requires you to figure out which squares on what rows and columns should be filled in.

I've included a video that teaches the basics, but if you want to learn more, you'll need to figure that out yourself.

[BBP]

Found another one that should look familiar!
https://www.nonograms.org/nonograms2/i/6386

There are great instructions on the site. Color pictures however require different solving methods than black/white, which is why I prefer them black/white but it some of these color ones are breathtakingly gorgeous.

[Tawmis]

I wanted to reply to this person, "Imagine, being homeless."