Roshan V. - Let Me Crazy

Crocodile skin Marc Jacobs wallet

Crocodile skin Marc Jacobs wallet

Originally uploaded by Roshan V

SF Walkabout 24-Feb-2008 [Google Maps]

To try out my new Nikon D40 and kill time, I went on a long walk today from my apartment in the Inner Richmond through Golden Gate Park to brunch in The Haight at Pork Store Cafe, followed by a walk down Haight St. to the Lower Haight, up Octavia to Hayes Valley to do some window shopping at Flight 001 and grab coffee at Blue Bottle, up Gough through the Western Addition to J-Town/Lower Pac Heights to visit a friend, then the Marc Jacobs store on Fillmore in Pac Heights where I got a new wallet and umbrella, and finally walked through Laurel Heights and Laurel Village back to my apartment.

5+ miles, according to this Google My Map I created, with stops from Google Maps search results and my photos on Flickr: SF Walkabout 24-Feb-2008

Photos: Flickr set SF Walkabout 24-Feb-2008

Facebook Marketplace Scamming

My first post to Facebook’s Marketplace (think Craigslist without the sex) and I get messaged by a scammer. Fraudsters flood Craigslist, eBay, Google Base, etc. and can result in a terrible experience for users where they end up associating those sites with spam, fraud, and scams. I’m surprised this happened on my first time listing something on Marketplace.

Here’s what I posted yesterday:

Subject: $250 - Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets
I have 2 1-way Rapid Rewards coupons that expire on May 09, 2008. You can get a round trip flight or 2 one way flights with the coupons. No blackout dates.

Price: $250 (plus applicable security fees)
I accept Google Checkout

I will need to book the flight for you after you provide the departure and arrival airports, dates, and times. Let me know if you have any questions.

And the response I got today:

Subject: Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets

Re: RESPONSE TO THIS MESSAGE SHOULD BE SENT TO (lizasexy200@yahoo.com)

Hello I’m Liza smiths, I hail from Canada in ottawa city, I came across your advert and am highly interested in Purchasing your($250 - Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets) which you offer for sale.I Due to the fact that its been a long time have been searching for it, Please Kindly get back to me as soon as possible with the necessary answers to the question in mind, Are you the first owner? The present condition? Your final asking price?And I will also like you to send me Pictures to enable me view what I intend to purchase and i will like you to know that my form of payment is through a Certified Check or a USPS Money Order .. I await your urgent response so that we can proceed further.

RESPONSE TO THIS MESSAGE SHOULD BE SENT TO (lizasexy200@yahoo.com)

I await your urgent response.

Thanks!
Liza

A few things I found amusing that should be immediate red flags and raise suspicion (if they don’t you need to stop using the internet):

1. “Liza” asks me to email her (rather than reply via Facebook as would be natural)
2. lizasexy200 is your Yahoo! username? Maybe I’ll sell something AND get a date!
3. I like how the message is an obvious canned email and she just scraped the subject of my post, and even contained them in ()
4. Certified Check or Money Order

For fun, I actually replied from my junk email account:

Hi Liza Smiths,

Thanks for your email regarding my (Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets). I have received a few messages inquiring about my (Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets) and I am glad to say that I have selected you to do business with. Your name just sounds so… sexy. Maybe after we complete our transaction, we can stay in touch

Here are the answers to the questions you asked. I understand it has been a while since you first read the post and may have forgotten what I wrote. I did post the (Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets) yesterday, and it has been a whole day since you contacted me.

Am I the first owner? Yes, I am the first owner of this (Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets).

The present condition is great! I understand how wear and tear can affect this electronic award that is not tangible in any way, so I want to assure you that it is as good as new.

Unfortunately I am unable to take a picture of the (Southwest Rapid Rewards awards tickets). However, I can sketch you a copy if necessary.

Also, thanks for letting me know that you intend to pay through Certified Check or a USPS Money Order. Even though I made it a point to write in my original post that I only accept Google Checkout, of course I will accept the non-secure methods you suggested.

Please let me know as soon as possible when you can send the money order. I await your urgent response.

Also, I appreciate you asking me to email you rather than reply through Facebook. Even though that would have been much more convenient, I had no way of know that you are sexy (times 200) without emailing you.

Satire: reappropriate > War on Asians

Racism doesn’t offend or insult me (because it doesn’t surprise me anymore), but unintelligent or “easy” jokes do (since they are well…easy! and take no effort). In that vein, I liked this paragraph:

“Satire” is one of the most over-used words in the English language, used to laugh off critics of any racist piece of art or media, without thought or care as to the fact that any good satire results in a clear indication of the original idea or piece that is being satirized.

via: reappropriate

GMail Compose Bookmark

Need a quick way to compose emails in GMail? Drag this bookmark to the bookmark menu of your browser:

GMail Compose (URI: http://mail.google.com/mail/#compose)

You already need to be signed in to your Google Account in order for this to be convenient. Use https://mail.google.com/a/{domain-name}/#compose for Google Apps for Your Domain accounts.

Flight 001 Document and Passport holders

Flight 001 Document and Password holders

Originally uploaded by Roshan V

30% off sale items at Flight in Hayes Valley. Oh yeah, I’m going to work in one of the Google offices in India for three months starting in Q2.

Nikon D40 [My First dSLR]

A Nikon D40, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens, Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens, and extra battery from Amazon.com. With the slow-as-molasses Super Saver Shipping, I should have it in a month. If a planned trip happens, then (hopefully great) pictures coming shortly to Flickr/PWA/Facebook.

FriendFeed Etiquette?

Up until now, I’ve been using FriendFeed to aggregate my various feeds and subscribe to people I know, mainly people I’ve worked with at Google and friends. Not too many people, meaning not a ton of content, but enough to find new interesting stuff, similar to Google Reader shared items. But FriendFeed has a “recommended friends” tab too where it seems to encourage subscribing to popular people’s FriendFeeds. I don’t know these people…but I subscribed to a few that seemed interesting. It seems to be mainly second degree connections, so I’m sure the content they provide will be pretty good.

I wouldn’t have done it except for the fact that some people I don’t know have subscribed to my own FriendFeed, so I assume it’s ok. Very MySpace-esque (I don’t mean that as an insult, FF!) but on Facebook it would be a big no-no to add someone you don’t know. Anyways, if I just added you and you’re wondering why I did, there you go. Share away…