I detailed the workings of this fraudulent operation back in 2013, and wondered at that time why the Dutch authorities don’t shut these scumsuckers down.

They’re still at it.

Received today this email:

From: “Olivia Andre” <info@mailguild.com> To: <info@academyofgreatness.com> Subject: [SPAM] Business Registration 2015/2016

Love came,
and became like blood in my body.
It rushed through my veins and
encircled my heart.
Everywhere I looked,
I saw one thing.
Love’s name written
on my limbs,
on my left palm,
on my forehead,
on the back of my neck,
on my right big toe…
Oh, my friend,
all that you see of me
is just a shell,
and the rest belongs to love.

-Shahram Shiva

Published in Hush Don’t Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi, Jain Publishing

Cross-posted from LiveJournal

I’ve talked about Macaronics before, along with references to Mots d’Heures, Gousses, Rames and Mörder Guß Rheims, and this evening we get to poke gentle fun at Italian, the language of my ancestors.

The following dialogs must be read as though they were written in Italian, or they don’t work well. That means you need to know a bit about Italian orthography.

• Italian vowels, like Spanish, have pretty much one value each. “ah”, “eh”, “ee,” “oh,” and “oo.” All vowels are pronounced.
• “ci” and “ce” are pronounched “chee” and “chay”; “chi” and “che” are pronounced “kee” and “kay”.
• “gi” and “ge” are pronounced “jee” and “jay”; “ghi” and “ghe” are pronounced “gee” and “gay”, with a hard “g”
• “gn” is pronounced “ny”, as you hear in “lasagna.”
• Doubled consonants are pronounced slightly longer than single ones.

GIECCHE ENNE BINNESTOCCHE

Uana apanne taim uasa boi neime Giecche. Uorche anna fam – plente, plao, milche cause, fidde cicchense–itse toff laif. Uan dei ise mamma ghiveme binne in tellime: Plente binne enne ghette binnestocche. Datsa giusta uarri didde en sanemagogna, iffe binnestocche no gro uppe uan, tu; tri—fette laiche faire aidrent en itse gadde inoffe binnese tu fidde Bostone tuenti irs. Itte gro aire den olle claudese–iu nevve sin saccie bigghe binnestocche inna u laif. Una ting ua muste no issa data pipple inne Bossatun livva onna binnes anna pipple una longa aylumda livva ona da sahound.

Giecche go picchene, picchene, picchene, aire enne aire, tille pesse di claudese en i si a chesele bilonghe tu giaiant u uonse biutiful uaite gus. Alle taim disse giaiant ise singhene: Fi, Fai, Fo, Fomme, Ai smelle blodde Inglescemen (Itse only songhe i no). Batte Giecche isa Merdicane, so i don gara uorri. Uen giaiant folle slippe, snoren laiche Vesuvio, Giecche grebbe di  uaite gus enne ranne laiche eche. I ghetto omme seif a saond enn i sei tu ise papa: lucche me, i seise, lucche uar ai gatte; Gudde, seise pappa, ui gonne ev ardboil egghese for breghefeste. Neggheste dei mamma boilse egghese, en uara iu tinche? Dei uas goldene egghese, enne pappa brecche ise folse titte.

Mannaggie l’America, i seise, demme titte coste me seveni-faive dollari. Enne i ghive Giecche di bittinghe ove ise laif – i bitte im blecche n blu.

Di morrale ove disse storri ise: Iu gara inoffe trombole in iur onne beccheiard; uara iu gara go lucchen arande for morre?

Now I am a “Merdicane” too… my papa could have done this beautifully, since he was not only a native Italian speaker, but also an accomplished character actor and dialectician. But for your gratuitous benefit, here is a 3.9MB mp3 file of my own rendition of this delightful fairy tale.

Now that you know how it’s done, here are two more that you can try all by yourself:

DI TRE BERRESE

Disse libretto ise for dose iu laiche to follo di spiccher uail ise spicche

Uans appana taim uas tre berrese. Mamma berre. Papa berre. E beibe berre. Live inne contri nire forresta. Naise ause. No mogheggia.

Uanne dei pappa, mamma e beibe go bice. Oreie. A furghette locche di door. Bai enne bai commese Goldilocchese. Sci garra nattinghe tu du batte meiche troble. Sci puschie olla fudde daon di  maute, no live cromme. Den sci gos appesterrese enne slipse inne olle beddse. Leise slobbe.

Bae enne bai commese omme di tre berrese olle sonnebrone enne send inne scius. Dei garra no fudde, de garra no beddse. En uarra dei goine du tu Goldilocchese? Tro erre aute inna strit?  Colle polissemenne? Fette cienze.

Dei uas italien berres, enne dei slippe  onna floore. Goldilocchese ste derre tre uicase. Itte aute ausenomme. En guiste bicose dei esche erre tu meiche di beddse, sci sei, “go cheise iusef,” enne ronne omme craine tu erre mama, tellenrre uat sannimagonnis di tre berrese uer. Uatiuse? Uara goine du? Go complaine sittiolle?

 DI AGGHELI DAGGHELINGHE

Uans appane taim uasa a dacche livene greite bigghe pande. Prirri sunne, sci ghettse taide suimmene olle bai erselfe, becche fort, becche fort. Sci uantse femmeli. So scise goine tu grosseri en baine effe dasene egghese. Aime goine ecci egghese, sciese spighene tu erselfe, enne reise femmeli. Sci eccie, eccie, eccie, naitendei, till di scielse breche en aute pappese sigghese ov di chiuteste dagghelinghese iu evver sin. Dirai sei sigghese? Mai mistecche. Uas onneli faive. Di siggheste uas sammetinghe aute disse uorlde. It edde tuistebicche, fleppeirs, bacchetitte, engheneilse, denderaffe, pagghenose, anciebecche, folinarciese, folingerre, crosseaise, boldelegghese, nacchenise, en piggenetose. Itte uas di agghelieste dagghelinghe inne istori ove uorlde.

Uen i traise uocche, i trippse folse. Uen i traise suim, i ollemost drannese. Lucche uara di chette dregghede inne, ise faive broddese iuste sei. enne dei leffe leffe leffe laiche bancie smarellechese. Den dei go suimmene uaile di pure aggheli dagghelinghe sitsandi eggie di pande craine is lille art aute.

Uanne dei, is pessine bai di manegiere ove di Brongghese Zoo. I sise di aggheli dagghelinghe, barri don biliv itte. Ai bin drinnghene tu maccie, i seise tu imselfe. I teichese de dagghelinghe tu di spesialistese; dei don beliv itte ider. So aut eppense? Dei bilde speciale cheigge for imme; i ghette is neime inne Deili Nuse en tausensa pippele cammene tu teiche lucche. Lestemonte, Senme Goldeuinne ghiveme Allaiuude contreggete en nao i gose naitclabbine wid Dannele Dacche en meicchese vivititausende a irre. Ise broddese stei inne pande, en uanne bai uanne dei endoppe in sambarris dinerpleite.

De morrale ove dis storri ise: ders lattse u lucche chiut inoffe tu itte; au menni arre derre so aggheli dei ghette peide for itte?

Taken from:

BIMONTE, RICHARD IRPINIO
Storris enne pommese fram Mamma Gus.
Including Pommese, Lille Redde Raiden Udde, Giecche enne binnestocche, Di tri berrese, and Di aggheli dagghelinghe.
© Richard Irpinio Bimonte; Ic 12May48

I fount this listing in “Full text of “Catalog of Copyright Entries 1948 Dramas and Works for Oral Delivery Jan-Dec 3D Ser Vol 2 Pts 3-4,” a raw scan at Archive.org; the three poems above were either typed from very old hard copy that I have had in my files for decades, or in the case of “Di Aggheli Dagghelinghe,” found on the web as an “author unknown” snippet. The subtitle makes reference to Little Red Riding Hood and some other poems, but thus far I have found no clues on the web as to where the original volume might be located. If you have a copy, or know where one lives, leave a comment here – I’d love to see the rest of it.

The Oldde Wolfe hese spochene…

DistilPure is an organic,  non-petroleum natural-source MSM
Certified by analysis to be 100% bio-source
No fillers or additives, suitable for vegans and vegetarians

The image below was assembled from Newser.com. I’ve mentioned this before, but it seems that sponsored ad placement like has risen to the level of the absurd.

Every one of these ads is clickbait and leads to some sort of deceptive or disreputable website, things like Lower My Bills, Pimsleur Appraoch, snake oil peddlers, things like that. Twelve scummy ads for a single news article? Even if you need to place ads, one would think you could choose more reputable businesses to promote than these deceptive, barely-legal scams.

It’s getting more and more difficult to navigate the web for substantive content witnout being bombarded with things like this, hard-coded ads that AdBlocker won’t wipe out. But one thing is certain – you should never click on ads like this; you’ll only be taken to a site that wants to get your money and/or information, and doesn’t care how they do it.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

• “Hi, this is Rachel from Credit Card Services!”
• “Hello, Seniors! Because you have been referred by a friend, we have a Medical Alert System for you free of charge!”
• “It is critical that we speak to the business owner today! Our records indicate that you have not claimed your Google+ Listing!”

Some of these scams have been around for a long time; back in 2012, the FTC settled with five defendants for running the “Ann from Credit Card Services” scam, but like the mythical Hydra, for every head you cut off, two more grow in its place. It’s infuriating; my phone has long been on the national DNC register, but that tool seems to have about as many teeth as the CAN-SPAM act, meaning virtually zero. The Medical Alert scam appears to have ramped up during the last month despite being on the FTC’s radar for over two years.

At this point there is very little that the average consumer can do directly to stop the flood. But there are things you can do to reduce your own frustration level, and some which, over time, may help the authorities to take action against these scammers.

• Report unwanted phone calls to the FCC, especially if you are on the Do Not Call list.
• Make a note about the number that called you at 800Notes.com so that others can be aware of which numbers are being used by scammers. Most of these spoof their Caller ID anyway, but it’s just one more piece of the puzzle that investigators can use.
• Call or write your Congressperson. If they get enough people complaining about this, they’re more likely to lend their weight to an effort to eradicate the scum.
• Add all scam/robocall/hangup numbers to your “reject list.” This will cut down on the number of calls you even are aware of.

In the meantime, remember what the FTC tells consumers:

If you get a call with a recorded sales message and you haven’t given the company your written permission to call, the call is illegal. Since the call itself is illegal, you can bet the offer is a scam

Be careful out there and watch over your vulnerable loved ones.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

No, this is not a clickbait article… but these images made me smile.

Beware, and stop your children from getting involved in these dangerous, seditious pursuits before it’s too late!

The Old Wolf has spoken.

The above image (click it to enlarge) was created by AndreaMosaic, a free software program that allows one to create  the kind of photomosaics invented by Robert Silvers. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications of all this is, but I love the result.

This was the original picture I used to create the mosaic:

This painting is one of two created for one of my father’s television episodes; I have yet to discover which one, and if anyone recognizes it, I’d be grateful for a comment here. Both painted on rice paper and in a balsa wood frame, one was crashed over someone’s head during the filming; the other survived in his possession and it came to me when he passed on. Joe was a long-time visitor of the Eldred Center in Provo, Utah, where he had many friends; after his death, I donated the picture to the center where it hung by the office. I once took my wife there and showed it to her, because I was quite pleased they remembered him with such fondness.

In a sweet and romantic gesture, she later arranged to go back to the center and re-purchase it for me as a gift, a deed which brought tears to my eyes; it now hangs over our mantel during the month of June, representative of both Father’s Day and our shared birthday. A couple of years ago the old Eldred Center was demolished and moved to a new recreation center; heaven only knows what would have happened to the portrait had my beloved not rescued it. Perhaps it would have gone to the new location, perhaps not. In 2013, close to 25 years would have passed since Joe’s death, and few seniors of today would remember him; whatever the case,  I am most grateful to have this treasured painting back in my possession,

The mosaic, by the way, is composed of multiple images from my father’s career, as well as his sculptures.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Karma. Everyone wants good Karma.

Over at reddit, it’s measured in orangered or periwinkle (props to the author of this gif, whoever you are):

In other locations, one doesn’t accrue upvotes and downvotes, but there is still a certain intangible karma that people collect for creating / sharing “cool” images, so we often see things like this:

or this:

The two images above are almost certainly photoshopped, and I’ve seen them in my inbox more times than I can count. Not that they’re not really cute, but on occasion nature can one-up the photoshoppers.

AP Photo

In December of 2008, a beautiful conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and a crescent moon created a lovely “smile” in the night sky, although depending on where you were in the world, it probably didn’t appear straight-up like this.

More recently, however, the Hubble telescope captured a lovely smiley face created by gravitational lensing:

You can read the science behind the capture at spacetelescope.org.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Not much Nigerian scam mail these days, most of it seems to come from Benin (or else the lads from Lagos are just using this as a smoke screen.

Just got this one:

Subject: THE TOTAL FUND WE ARE GOING TO TRANSFER TO YOU IS $1.500 M.USD From: Western Union <wudept5@gmail.com> To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Attention; Fund Beneficiary;

Information reaching us from our Western Union Corporate Headquarters

now, States that you only have 48hours to effect payment for the

activation of your payment of  $1.500 m.USD to enable you cash up your

total (fund) since you are finding it difficult to believe and now i

want to assure you that this is real for you to receive the total

payment immediately, We have decided that you are to go ahead and pay

$55.00 for the activation fee since you are not able to come up with

the total required sum of $155.00. Time is of the essence here. You

are to pay $55.00 as activation fee; we will activate your fund upon

receipt of this payment to enable you receive your first payment of

$5,000:00 USD from any Western Union center around you today. Be

informed that you will have to pay the balance sum of your activation

upon cashing up of your first payment.

Also i am using this medium to inform you that failure to pay the

balance sum will leave us with no option but to deactivate your fund

of which you will and can never cash up your total sum again i want

you to use Western Union to send $55.00 for the activation fee with

the information Bellow.

Receiver name: SAM NWA

Receiver city:  COTONOU.

Receiver country:  BENIN REPUBLIC.

Country code:  229.

Text question:  LOVE?

Text answer:GOD..

Amount: $55.00.

(M.T.C.N) Money Transfer Control Number ::::::::

Sender’s name ::::::::

Send us the MTCN number, Sender Address, immediately you send the

money and immediately we confirm the activation fee, we will transfer

you the fund today and not tomorrow. Regards my direct phone line is

+229 99935738  MR FRED UBA. For your payment, Email me On the Email

Address{wudept5@gmail.com } I promise you as soon as we hear from you

with the payment of $55.00 we told you to send today, we shall send

your first payment of $5,000.00 for you to pick up with the

information you need to receive your payment the same day you send the

payment of $55.00 and I swear you will receive your payment

immediately we confirm this payment from you today.

EMAIL ME WITH THE MTCN NUMBER OR CALL  ME OK I AM WAITING.

MR FRED UBA

Head Office Operations Manager..

Western Union Office Department

Telephone number:+229 99935738

Email Address{ wudept5@gmail.com }

Another scam email from Benin, supposedly from the “IRS.” The English is horrible, the format is crude, and the criminals are getting more desperate. They used to ask for thousands of dollars as up-front fees, now they’re down to almost begging for pennies. But don’t be fooled – there are no funds, and anyone who bites is at risk to lose their entire life savings if they are gullible enough.

U.S Internal Revenue Service Department
Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Accessibility Skip to Top Navigation
2283 3rd Ave New York, NY 10035, United States

Greeting from IRS USA

We the Internal Revenue Service, believed that you received the previous message we sent to you, prior to your dealings with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York as regards to your over-due contract payment consignment trunk box worth $10,500.000.00 (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only), which was endorsed in your favor and like we stated earlier, we have dully screened through this project as stipulated on our protocols of operation and have finally confirmed that your contract payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all face and of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay.

This is to bring to your notice that we have just been informed through secret source that the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York are making arrangement to have your contract fund wired into the Bank account of Mrs. Jane Frederick, the lady that contacted them, earlier and presented some documentations evidencing your claim purported to have been signed personally by you for the release of your contract fund to her, since you have chose to ignore their messages and refuse to pay the required $155.00 for Custom Clearance Certificate C.C.C. charges as imposed, despite the advise we gave to you.

I want to personally assure you once again that you will have every course to smile and be happy upon conclusion of this project, as we will continue monitoring all your services with them at all level as well as your correspondence, until you have received your Metal Trunk Box accordingly, we are here to protect your interest and that is the reason why we are doing all we can to make sure all goes well. This is a huge amount of money which we don’t wish for you to lose.

We understand that the imposed fee might be too much for you to pay so to further make things easier for you, we have discussed with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York pleaded on your behalf for them to give you the grace of sending half of the charges which will be only $77.50.00 Us Dollar for now after which the Diplomatic Agent deliver your consignment trunk box to you then once you receive your fund, you can then pay the remaining balance of the fee.

All we want you to do right now is to send the half payment of the money with the name listed below so we can forward it to Benin Republic Customs authority to help us obtain the Custom Clearance Certificate C.C.C. and the diplomat will make the delivery to your home address tomorrow morning.

Description of Your Consignment box to be delivered:

Type:……CONSIGNMENT TRUNK BOX
Size:…../ 2:1 CM.
Weight:…5.6KG.
Color:…..BLACK BOX
Registration NO: #98952457
Serial #5267843156
Pin number…*****

Contact us right away and let me know when you will send half of the charges as we discussed with them to enable them route your fund to you with immediate effect. This is a life time opportunity and we will advise you to take advantage of it, before it will become too late for consideration.

Receiver’s Data/information to send the fee through Western Union or Money Gram directly to the officer Incharge in Benin Republic.

Receiver’s Name:::::::::::: Julius Chukuwma

City::::::::::::::::::::::: Cotonou
COUNTRY:::::::::::::::::::: Benin Repulic
Text Question:::::::::::::: GOD
Text Answer:::::::::::::::: BLESS
Amount::::::::::::::::::::: $77.50. 00
Sender’s Name::::::::::::::
Sender’s Address:::::::::::

MTCN#::::::::::::::::::::::

Also be informed that we came to an agreement with the U.S Custom Authority at (JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport New York that you will be sending half of the fee, latest before the end of tomorrow so please we will advise that you send the fee right away because if you fail to do that, then they will have no other choice than to release your fund to Mrs. Jane Frederick who is ready to work with them, and am sure it will be a very great loss to you as we will not be able to help you then, hence your fund will be lost forever.

This is an official notification and we advise you treat it with utmost urgency, in your best interest.

Happy New Year and God bless you!!!

Yours Sincerely,
IRS Commissioner,
Dr. Graham Johnson Honnse

I post these mostly against the eventuality that someone who really doesn’t know what African scam letters are about might search the web for information about the “opportunity.”

Keep in mind that for these scams to succeed, the hope of riches must suppress any sense of morality the intended victim might have.

• There is no money waiting for you in Africa.
• Never send money to a stranger via Western Union or Money Card.
• Ignore all such emails.

Be careful out there.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Last week Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy, and the world I know will never be the same. HuffPo has a good read on why the company couldn’t survive in it’s current incarnation, and it may not be gone forever, but it won’t look the way it did in its heyday.

It used to be that you’d go down to the radio store for something like this:

And you’d encounter salespeople like this (Dilbert, from 1989):

RadioShack was once the playground of the inventor, the maker and the tinkerer. In the ’70s, Steve Wozniak—Apple’s co-founder—built a device to hack long-distance phone calling out of parts he bought at RadioShack. It was where amateur electronic engineers could pick up computer chips and build their own computers. (Quartz)

Tandy tried all sorts of things to expand its market share, things like Computer City (which lost $60 million for Tandy in 1996) and Incredible Universe, which lost $90 million; we had one of the latter in Utah before it closed in mid-1997.

Incredible Universe tried to be the big splash in electronics; according to Wikipedia,

A typical Incredible Universe was 185,000 square feet (17,200 m²) of sales floor and warehouse, stocking around 85,000 items.

The operation was conceived by former TandyCEOJohn Roach. Many internal corporate philosophies of Disneytheme parks were borrowed; in an Incredible Universe store, retail departments were ‘scenes,’ employees were ‘castmembers,’ uniforms were ‘costumes,’ and so forth.

The stores featured a large rotunda area with an actual stage where sales presentations, product demonstrations, or even occasional musical acts were performed, and various retail departments (software, music and video, and accessories) were accessible from this rotunda. Moving through the rotunda area would lead one to the main storefront where larger consumer electronics and computers were sold.

It included entertainment areas for kids, and a built-in McDonald’s; the sales staff all wore purple shirts and called themselves “grapes.” Below is a commercial for the enterprise, sadly potato quality but at least it gives you the idea:

Here’s the Utah press release:

At a press conference held today in Sandy, Tandy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John V. Roach and Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan unveiled plans for the opening of the giant consumer electronics gigastore this fall at the corner of Interstate 15 and 110th Street. “Incredible Universe is an electronics and home appliance store unlike any other in the world. We have created the hottest new shopping concept in America today by combining incredible fun, an incredible selection and incredible first-class service that caters to the entire family,” said Roach.

With sales estimated at $80 million per year, Incredible Universe will provide a local economic boost by adding substantially to the area’s tax base and by creating more than 350 new jobs.

Incredible Universe is so unique that it is often referred to as the “show.” Unlike many stores, guests (or customers) are encouraged to play with the merchandise — more than 85,000 products under one roof.

Guests can also create their own music videos at the sing-along Karaoke studio to test their skills at Virtual Reality and other computerized games. Community groups are invited to perform in the store’s Rotunda, and local celebrities make special appearances.

While adults shop, small children can entertain themselves with electronic toys and games in a supervised children’s play area called KidzView. Or, the entire family can take a break from shopping at the McDonald’s restaurant located inside.

Leading-edge guests can visit three state-of-the-art Multimedia Rooms to experience the combination of personal computers, full motion video, and home theater in a home setting; video teleconferencing in an office or Board Room setting; and DSS (Digital Satellite System), the latest in home satellite technology.

The newest creation in the Universe is a multimedia “library” with more than 2,500 different CD-ROM software titles. Other features of the store include a Home Theater, a computer-equipped Kitchen Design Center, and a giant-screen video display.

The 85,000-plus products available at Incredible Universe include 342 different televisions, 72 video cassette recorders, 60 camcorders, 181 refrigerators, 83 washers and dryers, 575 home and personal audio products, 300 car stereo/mobile products, 48 personal computers, and more than 70,000 music and movie titles.

Incredible Universe gigastores are open in the metropolitan markets of Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Columbus, Dallas, and Arlington, Texas. In addition to the Salt Lake City market, other new locations planned for 1995 include the Denver, New York Metro, Indianapolis, Houston, and greater Washington, D.C., markets. Corporate headquarters are located in Fort Worth, Texas.

The concept was launched just as stores like Circuit City and Best Buy were rising in popularity, and ultimately the huge mega-stores couldn’t compete. Buildings were so large they found no buyers, and Tandy had to sell them for pennies on the dollar. Six of the 15 stores were acquired by Frye’s, and one in Texas became a community college building.

I was a longtime Radio Shack customer and watched the evolution with interest. There were times I asked myself how long the enterprise could survive, given what I saw happening to the offerings and the staff.

Radio Shack’s batteries were the cheap ones from China, but when you have three kids and a gazillion electronic toys, free batteries were always welcome. At one point we sprang for a bunch of rechargables and a charger, which probably saved a few quatloos in the long run.

Robie still sits on my dresser, eating quarters with gusto.

This is, effectively, a 3-band hearing aid. We inherited this one from someone else, but it works like a champ.

One of the most useful devices I’ve ever had around the house. I wish it did the little mercury ones (I have a voltmeter for that) but this still works.

Pocket “Simon.” Finally sold this one on eBay along with some other puzzles, but part of me wishes I had kept it just for the nostalgia value. But I’m sure my buyer is enjoying it.

There were countless other toys and gimmicks, as well as a pretty respectable combination turntable, dual cassette deck, CD player, and AM/FM stereo set we had for about 30 years; I just barely finished ripping my LP’s to digital format with it before it finally gave up the ghost.

Christmas time at Radio Shack was great in the 80s; there were countless fun gimmicks and toys, RC cars and trucks, and lots of things that kids would enjoy. As time went on, though, the offerings of this nature became slimmer and slimmer; cell phones became the dominant push, and everything else was secondary. According to the HuffPo article I referenced above,

RadioShack lost sight of who they were. Technology changed rapidly, but their gadgets did not, and many of them were rendered obsolete as smartphones came into the picture with apps that easily replaced them. They didn’t focus on the right things, and that led to fruitless attempts to become relevant once again.

Whether the company will survive in some form or other, or be acquired, or simply fade into oblivion, remains to be seen. For me, the most poignant image was not even real, but cleverly photoshopped – but it expressed in a single picture what I have been feeling over the last couple of weeks, as I digested the news of an old friend’s passing:

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Saw this photo over at reddit and it really pulled at my heartstrings.

The oldest of the children in this photo by Dorothea Lange takes care of the others in her migrant family, most likely while the father is working in the fields. She is stunningly beautiful, but carries a heavy and unwanted load on her young shoulders.

Another image of the middle child, wearing a sack dress.

“Youngest little girl of motherless family.” Toppenish in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. August 1939. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Seen at Shorpy.

Poverty of this nature still exists in our country, let alone the rest of the world, but these images are a stark reminder of a very difficult time for our nation.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

In the early 1970s I spent a year or so in Naples, Italy. While there I acquired a lot of lovely Italian LPs, but I had also brought some music with me from home to play on my portable cassette player. I would listen to these albums endlessly, and they became inextricably associated with my time there.

But time moved on, I moved back to the states, and over the years the two cassettes either wore out or were lost, and ultimately they faded from memory, leaving only an echo. Every now and then I would hear one of the pieces on the radio, but never had enough musical skill to identify them; it took me decades to locate all the pieces I had become so fond of, but finally the list came together and I could find the old track listings and identify the albums, with the additional bit of help that I recalled the albums were released by RCA.

I can no longer find images of the cassettes themselves, but the same albums were released either on LP or 8-track:

Thanks to the miracle of music streaming websites like Pandora and Grooveshark, I was finally able to re-assemble the albums in virtual format, and once again listen to these compilations; music being a powerful memory elicitor, these glorious pieces transport me back to the Naples of the early 70s.

The playlist:

Smetana – The Bartered Bride

1. Overture
2. Polka
3. Furiant

Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1
Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Dvorak – Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”

The more time goes on, the more the Internet manages to capture and archive. While Google Books and Newspapers have been more or less given up on as projects, private enterprises are stepping in to pick up the slack; it is to be hoped that a compromise can be worked out between the exigencies of copyright and the importance of digital archival.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Take that headline with about a metric ton of salt.

Once upon a time, Islamic scholars made significant contributions to science, mathematics (algebra is an Arabic word), philosophy, medicine, and other fields.

Today? I’ll let you judge for yourself. Saudi preacher Bandar Al-Khaybari demonstrates that the earth does not revolve around itself, using deeply flawed logic, the absence of scientific understanding, and the Qur’an. Oh, and astronauts never landed on the moon, either.

If you don’t want to take the time to watch the video, here’s the transcript:

Someone is asking whether the Earth moves or whether it is fixed in place. Does it move or remain fixed? The Truth, as described by our scholars Imam Ibn Baz and Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, is that the Earth is fixed and does not move. This is in keeping with the Quranic text, and it makes sense as well. […]

There is ample Quranic evidence that it is the sun that revolves around the Earth. As for evidence based on reason… The (Westerners) present all kinds of theories, but we Muslims also have theories and brains.

First, let’s say that we go from here to Sharjah Airport and take a plane to China. Are you with me? Concentrate now. Let’s say that this is the Earth, and let’s assume that it is turning… If we take an international flight from Sharjah to China… You say that the Earth is turning, right? If the plane stopped in mid-air, wouldn’t China come to it? Am I right or not? If the Earth really does turn – China should come to the plane. Now, let’s assume that the Earth revolves the other way – the plane will never catch up with China no matter how long it flies. Since China is also revolving, you will never get there. Secondly, Allah talked about the (celestial) house frequented (by angels). This house is located in the seventh heaven. The Prophet Muhammad said that if it fell from the sky, it would fall on the Kaaba. But if the Earth revolves, it would not fall on the Kaaba. It would fall in the ocean or somewhere on dry land. This proves that the Earth is fixed in place.  […]

The (Americans) say that they landed on the moon, but they never set foot or laid their eyes on it. They produced it all in Hollywood or I don’t know where. They said that they had gone to the moon and we just took their word for it.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Muslims in general are stupid or scientifically ignorant, or that nothing good comes out of the middle east. But what we have here is the equivalent of letting Mike Huckabee or Pat Robertson teach K-12 science. This guy wears the robes of authority, he gets on television, he spouts this phenomenally ignorant nonsense, and millions of people believe him. This is not good for humanity.

To give equal time to another brand of fanaticism, I refer you to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, a $27 million facility devoted to the concept of an earth that’s younger than 10,000 years old, and which contradicts science at every turn.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – science and faith don’t mix. I’m not against faith; I have a spiritual walk of my own. But I keep those beliefs separate and apart from the empirical evidence of the universe around me. We get in trouble when we try to make observable facts conform to religious belief, or vice-versa. You can’t shove one into the other’s box.

For myself, I liken our perception and knowledge of the universe around us to an Ames room:

In this common illusion, two people who change places in a room appear to change size drastically. Looking at them through a peephole destroys our sense of depth perception and allows the illusion to work:

The room is actually severely distorted.

For all we know from empirical observation about our environment – and we have learned a lot – I’m entirely convinced that we know next to nothing, and that we’re looking at our universe through a peephole. Were we to be able to see the “big picture,” a lot more things would make sense.

In the meantime, denying scientific reality makes a body look like a gibbering loon. Don’t do it. As for me, I do my best to live a good and productive life according to principles which I hold sacred and which inform my life, and gaze in wonder at the awesomeness and complexity of the world around me.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

The Lads from Cotonou have now switched from the carrot to the stick. I have not been forthcoming with their payments, so they’re threatening me with arrest by Interpol if I don’t pony up. Only $85.00. Of course, once I shell out, there’s still that chance that I could get my hands on $9,000,000.00 USD… but that’s completely legit.

Sheesh.

Subject: URGENT NOTICE From: INTERPOL POLICE <interpolgeneralofpoliceforce@gmail.com> To: undisclosed-recipients:;

INTERPOL SECTION 1
STATION CODE> 7101
POLICE CEL> 7011/FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
EMAIL: interpolgeneralofpoliceforce@gmail.com

URGENT NOTICE.

You have failed to comply with our directives .we have been waiting for your confirmation letter since may 14th 2014 as our director has already been notified about you to get this process completed yesterday and right now the warrant of arrest has been signed against you and it will be carried out in the next 72 hours as strictly signed by the FBI director.

We have investigated and found out that you didn’t have any idea when the fraudulent deal was committed with your information’s/identity and right now your ID is placed on our website as a wanted person and you will be announce in all the local channels that you are wanted by the FBI after 72 hours. As a good Christian and a honest man, i decided to see how i could be of help to you because i would not be happy to see you end up in jail and all your properties confiscated all because of your information’ which was used to carry out a fraudulent transactions, i called the EFCC and they directed me to a private attorney who could help you get this process done by securing a money laundry certificate document at the sum of $85 USD only and which will save you from this arrest and i believed that this process is cheaper for you.

You need to do everything possible within today and tomorrow to get this process done because our director has called to inform me that the warrant of arrest has been signed against you and once it has been approved, then the arrest will be carried out, and from our investigations we learn that you were the person that forwarded your id to one impostor/fraudsters last month when he had a deal with you about the transfer of some illegal funds into your bank account which is valued at the sum of $5,000,000.00 usd.

I pleaded on your behalf so that this agency could give you till 17/02/2015 being today so that you could get this process done because i learn that you were sent several e-mail without getting a response from you, please bear it in mind that this is the only way that i can be able to help you at this moment or you would have to face the law of the United State and its consequences.

You are advised to make the payment through Western Union money transfer with the below details to the attorney.

RECEIVER NAME: SAM NWA
COUNTRY: BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY: COTONOU
TEXT QUESTION: ONE
TEXT ANSWER: TWO
AMOUNT: $85 USD
SENDERS NAME?
MTCN?

Send the payment details to me which are senders name and address, MTCN number, text question and answer used and the amount sent. Make sure that you didn’t hesitate making the payment down to the agency today so that they could have the certificate endorsed, signed and stamped immediately without any further delay.

After all this process has been carried out, then we would have to proceed to the bank for the transfer of your compensation funds which is valued at the sum of $9,000,000.00 USD which was suppose to have been transferred to you all this while.

Note/ all the crimes agencies have been contacted on this regards and we would use your address which is stated above and you’re ID to trace you if you disregard this instructions again for the last time.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Thanks as i wait for your response

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Ronald Kenneth Noble (Interpol Secretary General)
United States

Be careful out there, people.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

This Sam Nwa guy is working hard. A pity he doesn’t care to do anything but run an advance-fee fraud scam.

Subject: DHL COURIER SERVICE IMMEDIATE DELIVERY NOTIFICATION From: Linda Williams <sarahkahls@gmail.com> To: undisclosed-recipients:;

DIRECTOR DHL COURIER SERVICE.

TEL: +229 99935738

Dear Beneficiary,

I am writing to confirm the fact if you are (DEAD) or (ALIVE) and failure to reply back in the next 24hrs simply means what Mr Jude Betsy said was right that you are dead. Mr Jude Betsy has agreed to pay the needed charge fee valued of $50.00 dollars required for the Bond Stamp Duty Fee of your consignment box , but we have not gotten the money from him yet as we want to find out if you are DEAD or not, so if you are still (ALIVE) you are advice in your own best interest to reply back, The only money you will pay to our office here is just $50.00 for the paper works, Take note of this now, so we can stop further communication with Mr Jude Betsy and deliver the (Consignment Box) to your door step being the original benefactor of the $2.5 Million US Dollars. Be the reassurance that once we hear from you with this payment, i promise that your delivery will commence immediately without any further delay to hand over the consignment box to your designated address and do not miss this Good opportunity that you have to receive the consignment box at last for the pass effort that you are trying to get it receive to your home address this is an opportunity for you don’ t miss it is for you.

BELOW IS THE PAYMENT INFORMATION YOU WILL USE TO SEND THE $50.00 TO OUR CASHIER NAME THROUGH WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM.

Receivers Name= = = Sam Nwa
Address:= = 12/1 Midombo Expressway Cotonou-Benin
Country= = = = = = Benin Republic
City= = = = = = = =Cotonou
Text question= = = =Who is father
Text answers= = = = God
Amount= = = = = = $50.00usd
MTCN Number= = = =?

You must send us the details provided by Western Union or money gram immediately you made the payment of $50 usd for us to receive it and commence for your delivery immediately.

Senders Name= = = =
Sender Address= = =
Sender Country= = =
Sender City= = = = =
MTCN= = = = = = =
Amount sent= = = =

Beside if you fail to comply with the needed $50 Dollars required there is no way we can deliver the consignment box to your country,

Looking forward to hear from you if you are still ALIVE, reply back for fast action so that your delivery will commence upon receipt of your payment.

Best Regards,

Dr Mrs.Linda Williams
DIRECTOR DHL COURIER SERVICE.
COMPANY BENIN REPUBLIC.
TEL/ +22999935738
Address 12/1 Midombo Expway Cotonou-Benin

Be careful out there.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

From the website of the Boston Division of the FBI (this is the real McCoy):

This beautiful ballad has long been one of my favorite songs of Ireland. I first fell in love with it as part of “Mary O’Hara’s ireland:”

Later, my wife introduced me to The High Kings, who performed an abridged but no less pleasing version:

There are numerous spellings of the lyrics out there, but I have chosen to use the one that appears on O’Hara’s recording.

There are other versions out there, no less pretty; these two are my favorites.

Tá an Sean-Fhaolchú labhairthe.

Had a little accident with my oven a while back. The front glass got broken, and I went hunting around for a replacement part.

GE’s offering:

Are you out of your Vulcan mind? That’s extortion! Well, that was disheartening. Let’s see if we can find a competitor or aftermarket alternative.

Well, Sears PartsDirect did a little better, but a bit more searching came up with this:

Why a black sheet is so much less expensive than a white one is totally beyond me, but I ended up saving over $300.00 just by settling for a black front instead of a white one, and the contrast looks very good.

The Internet makes comparison shopping so much easier than it used to be. Back in the day, the Yellow Pages and a telephone was all we had, and one was limited to a very local search. I’m grateful for the miracle.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

I saw this image pop up on reddit somewhere, and thought it was amusing in light of today’s challenges with companies like Comcast:

Well, of course I shared it round, and then people started asking me about the provenance. Stuff like this tends to go wild on places like Pinterest and Flickr, generally without attribution, so it took me a while to track down some relevant information about the piece.

According to the British Museum, this tablet is currently part of their collection; the description reads:

Clay tablet; letter from Nanni to Ea-nasir complaining that the wrong grade of copper ore has been delivered after a gulf voyage and about misdirection and delay of a further delivery; slightly damaged; 23 + 25 + 3 + 2 ll. Dated 1750 BC, Excavated/Findspot: Ur (Asia,Iraq,South Iraq,Ur (city – archaic))

A little more digging provided me with some intriguing information about the tablet itself, provided by redditor /u/labarna, who claims a PhD in Babylonian astronomy:

If you’re curious here’s the translation of the letter (emphasis mine). This is taken from Leo Oppenheim’s book “Letters from Mesopotamia“:

Tell Ea-nasir: Nanni sends the following message:

When you came, you said to me as follows : “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”

What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory. Is there anyone among the merchants who trade with Telmun who has treated me in this way? You alone treat my messenger with contempt! On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas.

How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full.

Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.

This letter is quite interesting because it was actually excavated from Ur, so we have an approximate find spot, which is unfortunately somewhat rare for most cuneiform tablets.

It’s also interesting because of the mention of merchants who trade with Telmun. As far as we know Telmun (or Dilmun) was a polity in the Persian Gulf, probably near to if not located on the island of Bahrain. There was a certain type of merchant alik Tilmun (literally “one who goes to Dilmun”) who was associated with trade in the Persian Gulf. And not surprisingly (if you read the letter) copper was a major part of this trade network. Now it should also be said that there were many trade networks flowing into and out of Mesopotamia at this point and the trade through the Persian Gulf was just one facet of a larger network.

/u/labarna then also links to a pencil sketch of the tablet in question:

We are challenged to compare said sketch to the image of the tablet, and told that this passes for fun among those who study cuneiform. Intriguing indeed, doing such a comparison would give me a headache, and I have nothing but huge respect for those who can decipher such things.

It would be interesting to know the outcome of this particular trade dispute. if Ea-nasir was anything like Comcast, he would have sent back a clay tablet with the Bablylonian equivalent of “It sucks to be you.”

The Old Wolf has spoken.