Archive for May, 2011

The World Is F***ed #3: Spam

Screenshot of website in the sms

Yesterday I had my moment of fame. I was quoted in a local newspaper regarding an sms scam that went around Port Elizabeth last week Thursday. During the night on Thurday, I received an sms which read:

Hi Charles you have 1 new message from Cindy in Richmond hill click here to view your message (link to site – screenshot on the right)

Once you went to the page it recognises your cellphone number from the message itself, as the link is unique to your number. So as soon as you click on any of the links you would immediately be subscribed to the service for R9.99 a day.

According to the article, some people had problems with their partners thinking they were cheating or whatever. What pisses me off about this is the fact that there are people who or still dumb enough to think this is real. I wish people would learn to recognise spam.

It makes me think of the people who click on the fake Osama Bin Laden death videos or those fake stalker apps on Facebook and spam everyone’s newsfeed. That is besides getting a virus or whatever else, which they deserve if you ask me. I don’t feel sorry for people who get viruses through their own stupidity. A while back I formatted an acquaintance’s PC after having removed a virus and within two days he had completely screwed it up again. I think he still has the virus since I refuse to fix his stupidity. I actually hope he reads this *grin*.

I guess my point is that in this day and age when spam counts for such a large percentage of all communication, be it sms, email or whatever, we should really know how to differentiate between what is real and what is spam. Spam only works because of people’s stupidity (and to a lesser degree curiosity).


Inspiring…

CoverI want to congratulate my friend, Nadine Rose Larter, on the official release of her first novel, Coffee at Little Angels, today. And while I’m at it, here is the post on how to buy her ebook

Having read the first sample chapter, I can honestly say it is worth every penny.

Okay, granted, I haven’t bought it yet, but after I get paid tomorrow, I will definitely be purchasing my own copy.

Being a wannabe writer myself, it is really and truly an inspiration to see this happen, especially when it is a friend. It goes to show that if you have an idea, just go with it. There may be naysayers, but there always are; most likely they just wish they had the guts to do it themselves.

I wish Nadine all the best and I can confidently say that I am sure it’ll be a great success!


A Dedication To That Special Someone…

I love you

It was in the early hours of that Saturday morning,

That our paths crossed for the very first time,

In fact we only left just before the sun was dawning,

We talked so much it should be a crime,

Eventually everyone left us behind,

But the truth is we really didn’t mind.

We had a few dates and things went pretty well,

So we made it official and together we’d raise hell.

My love, that was one hundred days ago,

I really hope there are many thousands still to go.

I just wanna let you know that you are simply amazing

And that I love you so much that it’s almost frustrating.


Revenge Of The Zombie Girlfriend: The Brain

Part 9:

Note: For the previous part of this story, click here, or to start from the beginning, click hereFor the full story, click here, or click here for the next part

The Zombie Girlfriend was definitely not like other zombies that were following her, she had discovered that her abilities seemed to be maturing more each day. When she had first awoken, she had struggled for even a bit of control of her mind. Soon she had gained a bit more control. Then she had started building a army of followers without knowing how or why.

In the weeks that had since passed, she no longer had to fight for control with her zombie self, but the need to human flesh still remained and in all honesty that didn’t bother her anymore though. Something that was starting to interest her however was the fact that her mind seemed to be becoming more powerful than it had been when she was a mere human. Just the other day she had been angry at a zombie in her army that was eating a human she had wished to join her army and had thought about pulling him away. As she thought this, the zombie flew backwards as if someone had thrown it. This morning though she had realised that even if she hadn’t been aware of it, she had subconsciously been drawing the zombie army to herself. This realisation came to her when she saw a group of zombies on the horizon, at least a few kilometres away, and thought that they would make a good addition to her army. About ten minutes later, she saw that they had made their way towards her and were now with the other zombies, awaiting her instructions.

Over the next few days she started to experiment a bit when she had a chance and while she could not gain any control of human minds, she had other abilities that she could use on them such as telepathy and pyrokinesis. Her pyrokinesis was nowhere near being fully developed and at the moment was about as useful as throwing matches, but she would carry on trying. Her telekinesis however was something that she could be proud of. The zombie had been a mere accident. She discovered that when she needed to concentrate on doing it, it was a bit more difficult. She started off by moving small objects around and eventually this morning, after a  few days of practice, she had successfully moved an entire car. Many zombies had given their lives in this exercise, but she considered it a acceptable sacrifice given what she had learned.

She stood up and exited the cabin she had been searching. She knew her once-boyfriend had been here. She could sense it, as if there were a lingering ghost of him in the house. She assumed this was yet another of her mental abilities surfacing. She looked around once more and then exited the cabin. She stood on the porch for a while and took in the sight before her. Her zombie army was a force that now numbered in the hundreds and as she looked over the woods in front of her, there was not an patch unoccupied by zombies for as far as she could see.

She thought about the army moving out again and moving onward, and they slowly started moving, creeping along through the bush and trees. She smirked at the thought of the hell she would bring down on her bastard boyfriend and whoever was unfortunate enough to be nearby him.


Revenge of the Zombie Girlfriend: Rest

Part 8:

Note: For the previous part of this story, click here, or to start from the beginning, click hereFor the full story, click here, or click here for the next part

Bob stood and watched as the vehicle approached the compound. At first he thought it was Howie, D-Boy and the others but then as the vehicle came nearer, he did not recognise it. He called to some of the others nearby to fetch some weapons and soon there were five men and two women next to him armed to the teeth.

He unholstered his own Desert Eagle and took aim in front of the vehicle and took a shot. The bullet hit about 20 metres and a bit to the left of the vehicle and it had the desired effect. The vehicle came to a stop about 200 metres away from the entrance.

“What do you want here strangers?” Bob shouted out.

A voice he recognised shouted back, “Bob, it’s me Lisa, I need to speak to you urgently!”

He gestured for them to come in and opened the gate to the compound. Charlie drove the vehicle in and parked at the spot that Lisa told him to.

“What’s up Lisa? Where are the others?” Bob asked as she climbed out of the front of the Willy’s.

“I really don’t know, Bob it happened so fast. One minute Howie was packing some boxes into the panel-van, and the next he was screaming as two zombie-wolves started eating him alive. He didn’t have a chance. Myself and D-Boy were the other side of the grove, but we saw and heard it all. It was horrible.

“I don’t remember much after that, but the last thing I saw was D-Boy running to help the others. When I looked again, they were gone. The panel-van was useless because there were so many zombies around it, so I started running. I just ran, trying to get away from the zombies. There were so many. I don’t even now what happened to D-Boy and the rest of us. Eventually I came across Charlie and they managed to save my life. We drove straight here before it got too dark.”

“Shit Lisa, do you even know if D-Boy or anyone else is alive?”

“I honestly don’t know Bob. I doubt they made it though, the woods were teeming with zombies when we drove out of there.”

Charlie looked across at his sister and Alex. He was sure that he had remembered Lisa saying that they were all dead. Karen was looking just as confused as he was, but neither of them said anything.

“I assume that you’re Charlie? My name is Bob.” For a moment Bob almost used his real name, Chris, but managed to catch himself. His past was one that he wished to forget. No matter what he did or tried, at the end of the day he couldn’t erase his memories and that was the problem.

He carried on, “I owe you and your friends a big thank you, even though unfortunately the other four members of our small community are possibly still out there. For now, please feel free to make yourself at home for the night. We are busy preparing our evening meal in the mess hall over there. Get yourselves cleaned up and if you wish come join us for a good meal, otherwise you are welcome to stay in the barracks over there.”

With that he called for the senior members of the community to discuss what was to happen with the missing group.