Irfan’s Corner on the Web On Mac, Linux, Grid, Virtualization and Software Technology

Web 2.0 Logo Creator

Web 2.0 is a lot more than just fancy Ajax. It is the whole look and feel of the entire application. One of the most importants are Logo designs.

This really cool application allows you to design your own web 2.0 logos.

It has a very intuitive interface, and you can do just about create any kind of web 2.0 logo. A few clicks and edits on this interface

Results in this in no time

Corporate Logos, Web 2.0 style

Ever thought what logos would look like if everyone adapted web 2.0 styles?

Here is a 'preview'

http://enthree.com/files/random/web2logos/

Randall Munroe in Google Techtalk

Randall Munroe the founder of xkcd, talks about himself, xkcd and his comics.

Beware of Ebay Scammers!

Wow! My first ever selling experience on Ebay gets me nearly scammed. I thought it would be a good idea to sell my old cellphone on ebay. I created a pretty ordinary looking listing, and within 2 days it was sold at the reserve price I had set. But within hours I was mailed by ebay (the only official I got), that the transaction had been canceled because unauthorized use on the buyers account had been reported. Most probably some scammer had hacked some unsuspecting bonafide ebay users account and bought some items with it.

Within minutes from this mail I received a mail from the scammer.


Hello seller,
Hope this message meet very well for read and reply.Am the winner of the item you place on ebay and i want this item for my son in west africa as his Xmas Gift.I have add sum of amount to your money for extral shipping cost to west africa so that it can easy for you to ship quickly.Moreso I want you take it to your notice that i have contact paypal for the payment and the payment confirmation receipt has sent to me from PayPal .. I hope you will have got your payment confirmation from PayPal by now . Pls make sure you wrap this item very well for safety purpose .Pl's i really prefer you to mail the item via ROYAL MAIL FIRST CLASS SERVICE.Mode of shipping.Here is the shipping address below.........
Akinola Yemi
P.o.box 985 sapon,
Ogun State,Abeokuta.
Nigeria.
10011.
Hope to hear fro you very soon and Do get back to me with shipment tracking number
Thank for the business.
Akinola Lily
Nigeria!! The land of the 419 Scammers. After I failed to respond to this mail. The scammer send me another mail, faking it as if it came from ebay, telling me that previous correspondence about the cancelled transaction and unauthorized usage was false and the seller was indeed bonafide, and the money had been paid! However the sender was not someone form ebay domain, but "anitasx02@gmail.com"! So much for "professionalism", the scammer had completely screwed up by this time, the mail faked form ebay also contained spelling mistakes.
After no action was taken, the scammer then reverted to faking a mail form Paypal, the mail started saying:


You Have a Payment Pending!

Dear PayPal User,

This is to Notify you about the Payment made by "Akinola Lily" to your PayPal account. The payment has been successfully made but due to security reasons we have to receive the Shipment Tracking Number before your PayPal account will be credited.
This a new measure we are taking in order to protect both Sellers and Buyers against fraudulent activities. Once you have ship the Item, send the shipment tracking number to PayPal Customer Service Department: paypal.consultants@accountantemail.com immediately the Shipment tracking number is CONFIRMED, your account will be credited immediately.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.
Thank you for using PayPal

The PayPal Team
But lo and behold! The sender was anitasx02@gmail.com, and NOT from paypal obviously!!

Today I got another mail, apparently threatening "legal action" for not shipping the item.

So the point of narrating all this is that it seems that scammers are out to get unsuspecting sellers and buyers. This guy probably was a newbie, because he could not fake sender email addresses, but there surely are more skilled out there.

And ebay is not innocent in this.

The biggest crime they do is give out sellers email addresses to buyers. This makes them vulnerable. All communication between sellers and buyers should be on site, and under jurisdiction of ebay. Ebay already has an onsite mechanism, and tries to promote communication between sellers and buyers through on site mechanism, HOWEVER it still gives away email addresses! By restricting all communication to onsite mechanism and not giving out email address, Ebay could seriously restrict these kind of scams.