Category Archives: Weird

Administrative, Business, Technology and Society, Weird

Weird New Spam

5 Comments

I’m getting messages like this, addressed to no one I’ve ever heard of, from someone I’ve never heard of, subject: “Out of Office”

"Thank you for your email!

Please note that I will be out of the office (without access to phone or email) until August 26, 2024, and will respond to your email as soon as possible following my return.

If you have a question regarding the CAP, CAPS or Clergy Care programs, or if you would like to complete an intake, please call our office at 905-528-0353. 

If you are in crisis and need to talk to someone, please consider reaching out to COAST at 905-972-8338, or calling 911. Thank you.

Take care,

Tom

I (and likely many others) must be on BCC. Any ideas what this is about?

[Update a while later]

I just got a reply to it from some other annoyed person asking to be removed from the distribution list. I haven’t done so, because I’m afraid it’s a phishing expedition to see if my email is real.

Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Weird

Is Kamala Drunk?

14 Comments

It’s not an unreasonable question.

[Update a few minutes later]

How to tell Kamala isn’t polling well.

[Update mid morning]

[Late-morning update]

Business, Technology and Society, Weird

Weird LinkedIn Contacts

7 Comments

Twice now I’ve gotten messages from someone who says their boss would like to hire me for my space expertise, but when I say, “Great, email me,” the response is, “Oh, she only communicates via WhatApp and Telegram.” To which my response is that I don’t use WhatsApp for security reasons, and to use Signal, but beyond that, I don’t do business with people who won’t use email. Anyone have any ideas what kind of (likely) scam this?

[Update a couple minutes later]

The most recent exchange:

Me: I can’t do business with someone who only communicates in that manner. In particular. WhatsApp is a security risk. Email me, or do business with someone else.

Unknown person: My boss is very busy and needs to deal with a lot of work emails. You can use Telegram to contact my boss.

Me: I’m a work email. I don’t use either Telegram or WhatsApp. I’m busy, too. What kind of scam is this?

[Update a while later]

Final response: “My boss is also very busy. If you can’t meet my boss’s requirements, stop communicating with me and don’t waste my time. My time is also very precious.”

It’s suggested in comments that they’re after my phone number. That may be it.

Business, Law, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Technology and Society, Weird

The Latest (Weird) Google Evil

25 Comments

I’m a member of a mailing list on Googlegroups. It’s a private list, and I’ve been a member for many years. Today, I got the following email, Subject: Your Content On Google Groups

********************************************

Hello simberg@interglobal.org,

We’re letting you know that we’ve permanently removed the content at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coolpeople2808/4SscdySTE04/WIigOQEpAQAJ

Why did this happen?

An external report flagged the content for illegal content or policy violations. As a result, our legal content and policy standards team removed the content for the following reason: unwanted content.

Learn more

You can learn more about our content policies and enforcement at our help center.

What you can do next

You may have the option to pursue your claims in court. If you have legal questions or wish to examine legal options that may be available to you, you may want to consult with your own legal counsel.

*****************************************************

WTF?!

a) They don’t tell me what the allegedly objectionable content was and (b) it’s a private list. How can there be an “external report” on it? I forwarded the email to the list, and we’re all scratching our heads about it.