Brad's Beef

Another Craigslist Scam – Though Less Harmful

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:31:25 +0000

This scam is an entirely different flavor. The scammer will send you an email expressing interest, and then when you respond, you’ll get an email like the following (more of an advertisement than anything else):

Ok, thank you for getting back to me. Actually i can't really get it now anyhow… my son just crashed the back of my jeep and now im gonna need to find out how much the damage will be to repair it. UGH!


Im so happy he didn't get hurt but of course it needed to happen now, when i am finally earning really good money with this home income program ive been using. You know, if you want, they've just opened up 3 more positions in our area. Basically you make money by posting links on the internet, its really easy and I just do it while watching TV.
Here's the link if you wanna check it out:
--link removed--

Ive earned around $800 a week since I began… not enough to stop working yet but i finally have some extra money in my bank account. Well, probably not after i get the mechanic bill lol. My sister is planning on signing up later and these positions usually go fast, so Id appreciate it if you didnt share the link with anyone else. Thanks!

Wish there was a better way to keep fraud and scams off good, useful sites like Craigslist!

The Mediator – Understand How Mercy and Justice Apply To You

admin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:11:11 +0000

I don’t often share religious posts on this blog, but this short film explains such an important topic in such simple terms that I wanted to share it. Everyone needs to understand our need for a Mediator and how Jesus Christ came to the earth to be that Mediator. This is from a speech given by Boyd K Packer of the 12 Apostles. You can find the full speech here: http://lds.org/ensign/1977/05/the-mediator?lang=eng

Craigslist Scammer – Used Cars – Diffy B James diffjames6@gmail.com

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:41:21 +0000

Diffy B James, professional scammer, sent me these three emails:

Email 1
Hello, i saw your advert on Craigslist, will like to see more pics and what is your firm price ??

Email 2
Thank you for getting back to me, sorry for the late response due to the nature of my work, can you assure me that it’s in good condition because I don’t want to be disappointed buying this from you. I’m ready to pay your asking price but due to the nature of my work, i will not be able to come for the inspection because I’m an oceanographer, I can’t make any calls right now, I would have called you and discuss about this transaction, sorry for that but I’m able to access email anytime as I’m making use of PDA on sea, so the only quickest payment option is PayPal, I make the payment via PayPal since I’m requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction and if you don’t have an account with PayPal, its pretty easy, safe and secured to create. Just log on to www.paypal.com. I hope we can make the deal as fast as possible? I have a Pick Up Agent that will come for the Inspection and take care of every necessary paper for me. the Pick Up Agent will also handle the pick up after i have send the money to your PayPal account, will like to see more pics.

I need the address where the agent will meet you and your PayPal email address so i can send the money now.

Many Thanks

Email 3 (in response to me calling him out)
I told you earlier, I’m out of state, I’m offshore and there is no way for me to come up with the cash, PayPal is reliable, secured and a fast way to pay money online moreover i don’t have the money in CASH and I cant travel with such huge amount, I can only pay via my VERIFIED PayPal account because I can’t go around with such huge amount, if you don’t have an account with PayPal kindly go towww.paypal.com you will be instructed on how to create a new account and get back to me when that is done. . kindly send me your PayPal email address so i can send the money to you now.
Best Regards

Don’t fall for his paypal scam!

Where Do I Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch Device UDID (iOS Device Identifier)?

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 02:02:57 +0000

The easiest way to find your Device UDID (Unique Device Identifier) is in iTunes. Plug your device into your computer and launch iTunes. I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, so this is where you’ll find it. If the serial number is displayed there instead, then click on the serial number and it should toggle to the UDID.

iOS Device Identifier

Empire Avenue – The New Social Media?

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 23:15:43 +0000

I just recently started using Empire Avenue, and it appears I still have a lot to learn about what it is and how it works. If you’re not already on Empire Avenue, then sign up! Here’s a link that will earn us both some credit when you do sign up: http://empireavenue.com/?t=toyix8wn. Also, feel free to let me know if you’re signing up and I’ll try to invest in you. If you’re already on EA, then you can find me at http://www.empireavenue.com/BEM.

I found this article by Jesse Stay interesting: http://www.staynalive.com/2011/05/new-frontier-of-capitalism.html.

Another good read for strategy and tips is this article by Chris Prillo: http://chris.pirillo.com/my-empire-avenue-strategy-and-tips/.

Please let me know if you have any tips or tricks- I’m definitely still in the learning stages!

An Easy, Simple iOS/iPhone Cocos2D Tutorial

admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:05:35 +0000

Wanted to pass along this amazing tutorial that I’m following to learn the basics of the iPhone Cocos2D gaming framework. Check it out: http://www.raywenderlich.com/352/how-to-make-a-simple-iphone-game-with-cocos2d-tutorial.

How to Add iPhone/iOS Cocos2d Templates to the new Xcode 4

admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:44:06 +0000

The instructions were for Xcode 3 so it took a little bit of searching to finally find how to do it in Xcode 4. Check out this link: http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/archives/1412. Essentially all it takes is downloading the tar.gz file at the top and then adding it’s contents into this directory:

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Templates

Hope that helps!

SVN Error: Error while performing action: commit failed (details follow): Checksum mismatch for …

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:43:52 +0000

I went to commit my iPhone app code using RapidSVN, and as I performed a routine commit to the SVN server (I use beanstalk), I got this error message: “Error while performing action: commit failed (details follow): Checksum mismatch for …” Very annoying.

Temporary Fix
The temporary fix is to check out another copy of your project from the SVN server and copy/replace the file with the checksum mismatch. Then recommit and you should have no issue.

Permanent Fix (at least for Xcode projects)
You can set your subversion config file to ignore certain file types on commits. To do this, find your subversion/config file and set this property:

global-ignores = (and set whatever file types you want)

You can use wildcards like * as well. So in my case, for the example shown above in the screenshot, I added *.perspective* to my global-ignores property. Should fix that issue!

To quickly find the config file on a mac, open the terminal and type:

cd ~/.subversion/
open config

On a PC, I believe it’s located here (but I have not verified):

C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Subversion

I hope all this helps!

No Netflix or Internet TV in Windows Media Center (WMC)?

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:20:50 +0000

I recently built an HTPC for our home and decided to install Windows 7 Professional so that we could take advantage of all the great features of Windows Media Center (WMC). To my surprise and disappointment, the Netflix and Internet TV options were nowhere to be found when I launched WMC! I spent hours trying to fix it and finally today I have Netflix and Internet TV working like a charm in my Windows Media Center.

What Didn’t Work
At first I tried going through all the settings – I found nothing there that could help. I forced WMC to update both from the application settings screen and from the command prompt. That didn’t help either. I downloaded the Netflix plugin and manually installed it, but that didn’t even work. I pretty much pulled my hair out.

What Did Work
To be completely honest, I think that it just took time for it to appear. I know, that sounds really weird, but I’ve heard it from others as well. Over a period of time the right update occurs and Netflix and Internet TV become available. For me, it took about a week. One of my buddies told me it took 2 or 3 days for him.

The other thing that I tried, that might have made a difference (and therefore is probably worth a shot) is I changed my DNS servers. This website talks about that a little bit more. As far as which DNS servers to use, it really is up to you. I decided to go to FamilyShield (by DynDNS) and use their DNS servers (http://www.opendns.com/familyshield).

Good luck – I hope this helps! If you get tired of waiting, you can do what I did and install Boxee (http://www.boxee.tv/) for the time being. It has netflix and Internet TV integration and is a slick application.

UPDATE: This forum post seems to have some good insight into what might be causing the issue.

San Antonio Home Inspector, Professional Real Estate Inspector

admin — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 18:50:02 +0000

We are buying a house and just had an inspector come and perform his inspection of our new home. He did such a great, thorough job with the inspection, and he communicated his findings so clearly and professionally to us, that I’ve decided to write this blog post and recommend him to y’all. The inspector’s name is Rod Stewardson and his website is http://rodinspects.com/.

I could tell that he had a very thorough checklist that he used to make sure he didn’t miss anything. One thing that impressed us was that he takes pictures of areas (such as the water heater) that are in need of repair and includes them in the report. He even marked the photos with arrows to point to what exactly he is describing. The final report was emailed to us the very next day as a very professional PDF document.

He inspected our house just yesterday afternoon, and we went out to the house after his inspection. He walked us through the various things that were going to be included in his report so that there would be no surprises. He explained very well why each finding was an issue and gave good recommendations about what we could or should do about it.

Rod was pleasant to work with, professional, and I would highly recommend him if you are looking for someone to inspect your home. Visit his website or give his secretary a call at 210-494-5560. If you have any questions about my experience with the inspection, please feel free to leave a comment on this post.