These are a few of the odd things that set Australia apart from the mother country (i.e. the UK!) Similar, yet different, eh?
The Spider Mailbox
Most suburban houses follow the USA mailbox style, with some sort of box on the edge of the property. But watch out for spiders when fetching the post!
Yet funnel web spiders, some of which can kill you in hours, aren’t the only strange, odd, things.
Merry Christmas in Rye, Victoria
Because just across the road, Santa awaits… inflated to gigantic proportions in an expensive house, built on sand dunes, made in the style of a 19th century colonial house, filled with all the gadgetry and labour-saving devices of the modern world.
A walk in the country can provide a host of oddities, from the deadly to the silly.
More Pictures
These are a few I came across. Places include Melbourne, Port Douglas in tropical Queensland and various sites across the Mornington Peninsular. I’m fascinated by the signs that are put up for public information. A real clue into everything, I think.
Japanese Bomb Sculpture – note the guy mowing the grass in the background. That was a noisy machine I can tell you!
Japanese Bomb Sign – little girl was the only casualty of WW2 on the East Australian mainland. (This contrasts sharply with the tens of thousands killed NOT on the mainland)
Crocodiles and Stinger Signs Next to Each Other! Just off the Captain Cook Highway.
Lotus Blossom in McClelland Art Gallery – contrasts to the large sculptures…
Tourism is Big – this is the Puffing Billy train in the Dandenongs
Big, forward control lorries are common in Australia even in urban areas. They hammer along everywhere, apparently in all lanes.
Graffiti All Over Melbourne – despite the sun and wealth, many of man’s creations are amended with random ink. Cops go on trains in fives.
Even Cats Get Banned from a Vineyard
Man-made Floating Island – this is on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The breaking surf is The Coral Sea
View from a Yacht – Queensland and it’s hills round Port Douglas. You just point and click, there are views everywhere.
More Views – from near Cpt Cook Hwy. Banana fields just out of sight.
Fascination with Olden Days – signs all over, this is Daintree
Daintree River Crocodile Sign – no paddling and keep your eyes open – they’ve had crocs in excess of 5m long here.
Humourous Daintree Crocodile Signs on the WC Publics
My own image of Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas
Cape Tribulation – here the tropical jungle hits the Great Barrier Reef via the mangrove swamps and beach. It’s where Cook’s ship “Endeavour” was dragged ashore to be fixed after crashing into a coral reef (now named after the ship).
Cassowary v Range Rover; not so fair.
Dangerous Pedestrians! They can injure and kill people when provoked.
Views! Along Captain Cook Highway. Australia is full of views. Loads. All over the place.
Tropical Rain Forest, Hot. This is Mossman Gorge, Queensland.
Garbage Recycling, Queensland Style. In Packers Creek, upstream from Port Douglas, they just dump their boats and leave them to the crocodiles when they’re finished with them.
Sign Overload, some graphically scary – Stingers are not nice
View at Port Douglas, Queensland
Melbourne Memorial to a war on the opposite side of the world – beautiful quotes from Wilfred Own in there.
Another sign
Random Public Art – McClelland Gallery, Frankston.
Odd Signs with Humour
Serious Melbourne Tram System
Odd Signs
Ancient “cold” Tropical Rainforest in the South (Dandenongs)
Odd signs
Odd Signs and characteristic Oz Humour
Blue-ringed octopus in a pool at Cape Schanck – there is no known anti-venom!!! It is there in a crack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus
Sudden Waves don’t reach the odd sign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-bellied_black_snake Red-bellied black snake taken walking down to Cape Schanck
Conclusion
Australia is a strange, deadly place, filled with amazing natural resources.
The quirky humour of the people is to be treasured.
They try to be uppity with their restaurants, vineyards, big boys toys and gadgets, yet underneath, the wild west existence is evident all around.
It’s all in the nature of the place.
We are a mixture of the land we live in and the land we came from.
Ichinen Sanzen It (literally) means 3000 realms in a single moment of life. This means that for any given moment your life is composed of everything; all thoughts, all history, all presents and all futures. You only ‘sense’ things one at a time, yet they’re always there. I’ll soon be toddling off to the beach...
New Jaguar XJ In common with most cars like this, it’s a lovely looking machine – a style marvel; sleek and vapid, mercurial. It’s also a waste of space and a waste of effort. It’s two tonnes of mass for a 400kg payload is pants. An ecological disaster zone. Money for Old Rope Not only...
A performance piece for Dionysian Heights. Part Two: Death
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana
This is a revision of the earlier video with something that I consider more appropriate both to us at the time, the feel of the piece, and how I feel right now. The music is the same and I’ve edited lots of WW2 video archive material to fit, where possible, to the sounds.
Recorded circa 1980-81
The music was created by Crawling Chaos as accompaniment to a performance piece by Zyclon B Zombies called Dionysian Heights, a morbid and gory on-stage blood fest with real offal and copious quantities of ketchup.
See http://crawlingchaos.co.uk/1145/zyklon-b-zombies-death/
All music copyright Crawling Chaos
All video and images are in the public domain, free of copyright or under creative commons’ licences. They’re all available here on the wayback machine. These are what I used:
n.b. My dad missed The Battle of Leyte Gulf (some of the footage here) though he was at D-Day and then was part of the British Task Force 57 at Okinawa on his ship, HMS Slinger. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Pacific_Fleet
This piece is dedicated to my dad and folks like him
Crawling Chaos: Zyklon B Zombies Work Back along, Crawling Chaos were asked by Curly Jhon and Mackie to do some background music for a performance they intended to do under their moniker Zyklon B Zombies. The performance was called Dionysian Heights, the name appearing as a band name on the Foetus Products’ compilation Blood Samples...
I’ve cleaned up the above track a bit although it’s still 14Meg in size and lasts quarter of an hour. It’s classed as Crawling Chaos although only two members took part in this version. This version of Zombie Dance is part of a commission given to Rees and Jeff by some chums, Zyclon B Zombies,...
Get Rich Quick Scam Forges Genuine News Agencies Web Pages
Gmail Spam
I recently received two emails from a friend’s old Hotmail account, but to two of my email addresses.
Email Spam
Probably, the account has been hacked as I could detect no spoofing in the emails’ headers. These are the emails, with the email addresses blacked out.
Initial Email Investigations
The text is similar in that they try to enticea user using pretty poor English to click on the shortened URL links, which are active.
Arthor Brown is in most of them with his Yahoo! email address as [email protected] Please don’t confuse him with this Arthur Brown, but yes, handle all of these websites like Fire!
The Guardian, is an old and respected news organisation in the UK. CBS is a long-established US media network.
They, and the purported author of both webpages, Sirena Bergman, must be pretty pissed off about the hijacking of their names.
Also to be annoyed, is Lloyds TSB Bank who apparently are “in association” with this get rich quick scheme for work at home moms!
Completely Forged News Articles!
Indeed they are.
The articles are dated “December, 11:41″, which is odd since there’s no day, just month and time!
Both articles are embedded in genuine Guardian web-pages, with all the links surrounding the article going to genuine Guardian web-pages or genuine advertiser websites!
The hook links in both forged webpages go to http://workinghome22.com/go.php
The forgeryis done in the same manner as the well-known phishingscams done for banks and on-line finance and insurance.
Apart from the images sourced from The Guardian, the scammer’s images are sourced from:
ddmcdn.com which is HowStuffWorks.com!
localconsumeralerts.com
prosperadtracker.com
ophan.co.uk
So, Who Is workinghome22.com
Bad Gateway
The first link was dead, opening a bad gateway so the expected redirect didn’t work. The tracking pointed back to Ireland!
Bad Gateway
The second link worked, but the sweetly named workingfromhome22.com wasn’t the destination. No, the link immediate re-directed to http://onlineincnow.com/2/?aff_sub=72
Well, at least the affiliate number 72 is getting paid….
But hang on, who exactly is workingfromhome22.com?
Well, typing the URL directly takes me to workingfromhome22.com! This is it!
Cunningly, you’ll note that it’s pulled out my home-town as Bournemouth (where I live) with that awful “mom” Americanism! No-one in the UK addresses their mother as mom… I mean, FFS?
The webpage links, containing the disreputably used graphics of Thomson, Reuters, CNBC and NBC Universal all point to http://workinghome22.com/go.php, which is of course in this domain. So let’s click it, shall we?
Well, pctrck.com is trying to load, but not much else.
Reversing then trying to exit workinghome22.com produces a pop-up of dubious functionality! Check the words – there’s no cancel button!
workinghoome22_Popup
I did however manage to successfully close this page following that. Whew!
Now Back to onlineincnow.com
OnlineIncNow Location
The previously mentioned http://onlineincnow.com/2/?aff_sub=72 is located in the USA.
So What Is It Up To?
OnlineIncNow.com Whois Record
Good Question! A WHOIS puts the registrant in China with the DNS servers in Russia!
As I mentioned earlier, the similarity of the scamminessof this thing is just like the Google Treasure Chest/ Google Money Tree / PWW scams of old.
The site is plastered with the logos of well known businesses to ad an air of authenticity to things (just as the original hook sites used The Guardian Newspaper and CBS in the same way) yet at the bottom of the page they disingenuously ad:
This site and the products and services offered on this site are not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by NBCNEWS, ABC, USA Today, CNN or Fox News, nor have they been reviewed tested or certified by NBCNEWS, ABC, USA Today, CNN or Fox News.
onlineincnow.com T&C Screenshot
Despite all this, it is of course bollox set to deceive. In fact, it now appears that it’s the well known negative option scam, used by Pacific Webworks (PWW) and Jesse Willms to good effect until they were found out.
Let’s see how this pans out, shall we?…..
Check out the T&C page from the tiny link in the page footer – screenshot on the right.
They say that the applicable law is the State of Florida.
You will become a “member” and the key phrases are here:
You must register as a “Member” with Online Income Now to access certain functions of the website. You must provide current, complete and accurate information about yourself (the “Registration Data”) when registering as a Member. You agree that such information is truthful and complete. You agree to maintain and keep your Registration Data current and to update your Registration Data as soon as it changes. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your password. Online Income Now is not liable for any loss that you suffer through the use of your password by others. You agree to notify Online Income Now immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or other breach of security known to you. You also, by becoming a Member, agree to report violations of these Terms and Conditions by others to Online Income Now.
For a limited time only, the cost of this product is $97.00 ( usual price $299.95 ) and every 32 days thereafter you will be billed the member’s only price of $9.95 for the monthly use.
MATERIALS PROVIDED TO Online Income Now OR POSTED AT ANY Online Income Now’s WEB SITE
Online Income Now does not claim ownership of the materials you provide to Online Income Now (including feedback and suggestions) or post, upload, input or submit to any Online Income Now Web Site or its associated services (collectively “Submissions”). However, by posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting your Submission you are granting Online Income Now, its affiliated companies and necessary sublicensees, permission to use your Submission in connection with the operation of their Internet businesses including, without limitation, the rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Submission; and to publish your name in connection with your Submission.
You’ll see that “Online Income Now” will:
make you a “member” (of what?)
and you will be regularly billed, (why?)
and that for anything you post, upload etc (wah? whadya mean? Where is this uploading?), “Online Income Now” will take no responsibility for what you do!
…………….which is curious as you don’t know what you’ll be doing and they have invited you to do it in the first place!!!
Now Lets Click The Link! Follow that Opportunity!
2 Spots Left!
Amazingly (sarcasm alert) there are two “spots” left in my area! This is the page… http://onlineincnow.com/2/index2.php
Michelle Johnson is the “guru” who will tell me everything! So what do I do? I have two options:
Back out
Sign up
Let’s Try Backing Out, Shall We?
Cannot Backout From OnlineIncNow 2
Cannot Backout From OnlineIncNow
Well of course, they won’t let me. It takes two goes to get out and the first one completely takes over the browser! Bad. This is B.A.D.
Ah, well. Finally escaped.
Let’s Try Clicking to the Signup Page, Shall We?
secure.onlineincnow.com Data Entry Screen
I decide on my name, “Jobless Jake” and a random phone number…. The website is now https://secure.onlineincnow.com/2/cc_97.php
What I see is bad, really bad, and any attempt by this pack of jokers at saying they don’t run a negative option scam is now revealed on this sign-up page!
The scam is now revealed for what it is – a negative option scam! Read it carefully….. They expressly say;
By enrolling, you will be charged a one-time fee of $97.00
In teeny-tiny letters, note!
But remember, right back buried in the T&C’s they say;
every 32 days thereafter you will be billed the member’s only price of $9.95 for the monthly use.
This is expressly against the FTC code and laws in most countries. If any extra charges are to be levied for any service or goods, they should be expressly stated on the sign-up page where the customer first enters their financial details.
Gotcha! You Bastards!
Okay, I’ve Had Enough of This. I’m Off!
“Not so fast, young Jobless Jake”, say onlineincnow.com……!
Cannot Backout From OnlineIncNow 3
They’ve an extra 20% off plus and extra bit of webpage-erese! The screenshot says it all, though it wasn’t the end of it. I had one more “Leave Page” option like the earlier one above.
Conclusion
Negative Options are banned by law in most countries. If you get collared by one, you’ll have a job stopping the bastards taking money from your account for ages. The only sure way to stop this once you’ve been sucked in is through….
Chargebacks. Get your bank or card company to get a charge-back saying the terms of trade or purchase were hidden (as seen in my screenshot above).
In this post Dangerous EffectiveCleanse – and Scams Too! two weeks ago, I mentioned how a scumbag webhost called byet.org is redirecting a client’s Amazon Shop clicks to that other pustule of conmanship called MyBookFace.net Checks Well I’ve just checked and it’s still on. (Someone wants to get that fixed!) At the bottom of the...
From Google Treasure Chest to Ubertan Sun Tan Scam in Nevis on the BBC? A. yes it’s true! An article on the BBC website today highlighted the dangers of a tanning products called Ubertan. On reading it, and following up with a simple Google search, the way it is portrayed in forums immediately set off...
fake or holding addresses, many in foreign countries outside the normal laws, that opened and closed rapidly allowing consumers no come-back
illegal medical or wealth claims
offshore banking, now known following the recent banking scandals to be heavily centred around the City of London
We always recommended that consumers issue a credit card charge-backagainst PWW and Willms. This is the only way to stop the withdrawals and to counter the “businesses” operations at source. And it worked!
Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants are banned from selling products through “negative option” transactions, in which the seller interprets consumers’ silence or inaction as permission to charge them, and are also prohibited from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service. The settlement also required the defendants to surrender cash and other assets, and these are now being used by the FTC to refund consumers who bought the “Google Money Tree,” “Google Pro,” or “Google Treasure Chest” products.
They also include instructions for people who haven’t yet claimed – so if you were conned into getting rich with Google or similar, contact them now and get at least part of your money back! This is what they said,
The checks will be mailed by an administrator working for the FTC. Consumers who made purchases from “Google Money Tree,” “Google Pro,” or “Google Treasure Chest” will receive approximately $24.50. Consumers who have questions, or who have not yet filed a complaint with the FTC and wish to do so, should call the Redress Administrator, Gilardi & Co. LLC, toll free, at 1-877-226-2847. Consumers seeking general information about the FTC’s redress program may visit the FTC’s refunds website. The FTC never requires consumers to pay money or provide information before redress checks can be cashed.
Checks will be mailed on September 11, 2012, and must be cashed on or before November 12, 2012.
So get on in there folks!
Crime Pays, But Not Always – added on 18 Sep 2012
Here’s a reminder of how crime does not pay – the Pacific Webworks share price!
PWW 5yr share history
Since the successive hits on PWW following our and others’ investigations their share price has languished at around a penny for about half the past year! Their meteoric rise, right as the depression started to hit, was entirely due to conning vulnerable people in desperate times.
Then folks like me started shouting!
Then Google took note and sued them.
Then the FTC laid charges.
Then they were found to have funny-looking accounts and changed their accountants and management.
Now they’ve had to pay out to the very people who were conned.
Introduction I’ve done a fair bit of checking around the Google Treasure Chest/Money Kit scamming systems to try and alieviate some of the pain that a lot of people have been afflicted with. Now follows possibly the most extensive scam list and redirects that I’ve found. I class this post from workathometruth.com as a: Very...
Pacific Webworks / Quad Try and Dodge the Issue Back in 2009 I stumbled upon a negative option scam for which those involved were sued by Google (and folded with an out-of-court settlement) and were prosecuted by Uncle Sam, losing again. Initially, I was completely unaware of the depths of deception to which these people...
Decent people everywhere will be appalled to learn that the charity Mencap recently sponsored an award at the first ever ERSA Employability Awards. ERSA are the trade body who were formed in 2005 to lie on behalf of the money … Continue reading → […]
The Civil Service Rank and File Network have called a rally outside the PCS conference this week to demand action from the union on the vicious benefit sanctioning regime. Benefit sanctions are set to become a huge issue for public … Continue reading → […]
