Great piece in The New Yorker by Mitchell Zuckoff (thanks, John) about a 419 Nigerian email scam that dates back to 2001 involving an ordained minister, John W. Worley. You think you know how these scams work but read on. These people are much more sophisticated and tenacious than the spam you receive. Also, the… Read More »
It’s interesting, if you like this kind of thing, to see how online scams learn from each other. Until recently I thought of the Nigeria 419 scam — where you’re contacted by some grieving African widow, burdened with millions that she wants to share with you, if only you’ll let her park it in your… Read More »
It’s not hard to see that old-style print media and journalists are still torn over what, exactly, the Age of Blogging means for them. For Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times, it’s part of a our culture’s newfound “enshrinement of subjectivity” — a fancy way of saying we don’t really care whether something’s right… Read More »
Google’s profits are indeed impressive, and if my local newspaper (no link available, I’m afraid) is right, it’s clear clear why: the company is offering a service no right-minded person could refuse: But the introduction of new products, such as instant massaging, and upgrades to existing services, such as mapping, helped Google attract more summer… Read More »
Good piece today by my WSJ colleague Cassell Bryan-Low on the Douglas Havard case which I mentioned a week or so back: As Identity Theft Moves Online, Crime Rings Mimic Big Business (subscription only, I suspect): Most identity theft still occurs offline, through stolen cards or rings of rogue waiters and shop clerks in cahoots with… Read More »