"Section 419" scammers arrested in Netherlands; Danish flag flies proudly

January 31, 2004 Jan 31, 2004 01/31/04

Raymond C

Dutch police have arrested 52 people suspected of defrauding gullible Internet users in one of the largest busts of the infamous "Nigerian e-mail" scam. Hooray for the Dutch police. Their next target: Web sites that illustrate a Dutch article with the Danish flag. (I must sheepishly admit that I too mistakenly identified the home of Ikea as ...

Ikea walk-through

January 29, 2004 Jan 29, 2004 01/29/04

Raymond C

Jeff Davis tipped me off to this Ikea walk-through. Frustratingly, the walkthrough doesn't include any cheat codes. Even though Ikea was founded by a Swede, its company colors match the Swedish national colors, all its product names are Swedish, and it is clearly associated with Sweden in the minds of everyone, it is in fact headquartered in...

Passenger announcements in the airport

January 28, 2004 Jan 28, 2004 01/28/04

Raymond C

While in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport yesterday, waiting for my flight to eventually be cancelled due to weather, then waiting for a replacement itinerary (um, the weather is the same at the destination; doesn't matter which plane you take), then waiting for the replacement to be cancelled also (wow imagine that), I heard an ...

Undermining your own proclamation

January 27, 2004 Jan 27, 2004 01/27/04

Raymond C

I'm pulling for the Mars rovers as much as the next geek, but you still have to scratch your head at the following statement: Charles Elachi, the JPL director, said: "I am completely confident, without any hesitation, that I think we will get that rover back to full operation." So he's absolutely sure that he "thinks" something...