Indian’s normally have a soft spot for dogs - one man married one - but this story is somewhat different -
This strange story sounds like it really ought to be a bizarre hoax, even though it is in fact quite true.
In India last week a dog named Chhotu was summoned to a court for allegedly breaching the peace.
The naughty canine had to employ a defence lawyer after neighbours reported that he was continually biting them.
CANINE BURGLAR DETERRENT
According to the dog’s owner, Rajkumari Devi, all of those neighbours that were allegedly bitten were actually burglars who were after her land deeds.
Rajkumari therefore maintains that Chhotu was merely protecting the family home.
This apparent waste of police and justice system resources comes at a time when the Indian police department have been accumulating some bad press over their handling of multiple bomb blasts across the country.
A police informant let slip that terrorists were seen as being too dangerous and, besides, police officers quite enjoyed running around the countryside with a squeaky plastic toy and a large net in an attempt to catch the errant dog.
A prominent member of Biharian law enforcement, who now wishes to remain anonymous, commented that Chhotu was their number one priority as he has been ‘a very bad dog’.
PRIOR CONVICTIONS
Police attempts at questioning Chhotu after his arrest were largely unsuccessful, despite their use of a revolutionary technique involving a rubber chicken and a bone.
Thus far, Chhotu’s only comment has been confirmation of his name - ‘Arf, arf, woof, woof’.
In addition to the alleged assaults, Chhotu is also being interrogated in relation to some unsolved crimes held on file.
These include 5 instances of defocation in a public place and 3 of indecent exposure in a communal play area.
Prosecutors are hopeful that Chhotu will cough up to the lesser crimes as part of a plea bargain.
Despite the prosecution’s optimism, Chhotu’s defence lawyer remains hopeful of an acquittal for his client, despite the dog having been previously sentenced to death for prior misdemeanours.
Should that sentence be handed out again, Chhotu will not be put to sleep by lethal injection as India still employs the electric chair in his jurisdiction.
A more serious account of this story can be found at the BBC.
The Goodtimes Virus was quite possibly the internet’s first ever computer virus hoax.
First spotted in 1994, the goodtimes virus hoax was sent with a subject header of either ‘Good Times’ or ‘Goodtimes,’ which is obviously where it derived it’s name from.
The body of the email recommended deleting any other emails with the same subject header without reading them.
THE ‘VIRUS’ GOES VIRAL
Of course, the ‘goodtimes’ virus itself was purely a fallacy but the hoax warning spread life wildfire across the net, thus becoming ‘viral’ itself.
It is believed that the Good Times virus hoax first appeared in november of 1994.
Initial variants of the warning were short affairs comprising of just a few sentences.
It began with a greeting and then went on to advise recipients not to open any email messages that they may receive with the subject line of ‘GOOD TIMES!!’
Doing so, according to the email hoax, would ruin all the files on their computer.
THE GOOD TIMES VIRUS HOAX : SPECIAL EDITION
Later messages, of which there were many variations, became longer and far more detailed.
Two of the more common variations were known as the ‘Infinite loop’ and ‘ASCII buffer’ editions.
These versions of the virus hoax were much longer and contained detailed descriptions of what exactly the ‘Good Times virus’ would do to the recipient’s computer if they were foolish enough to open it.
The hoax alleged that the good times virus would send itself to every contact in a recipient’s email address book, in addition to other undesirable effects.
It further alleged that any infected computer that contained a hard drive would almost certainly have all it’s data erased.
The ‘ASCII’ buffer email described the good times virus as a buffer overflow attack.
Lastly, and most unbelievably, the ‘Infinite loop’ was supposed to cause an infected computer to enter an ‘nth-complexity infinite binary loop’ which would apparently damage the computer’s processor.
Of course there wasn’t, and still isn’t, such a thing as a ‘nth-complexity infinite binary loop’ - it was just a made-up term.
Scam artists will always chase the money so there is no doubting the appeal of Forex to them.
As the popularity of Forex increases, so does the number of dishonest people who are willing to commit fraud in order to steal a piece of the action for themselves.
Whilst Forex scams are often easily spotted by experienced traders, newer speculators may succumb as they could have problems knowing the difference between what is genuine and what is not.
RESEARCH
It should go without saying that it is essential to thoroughly research Forex trading, and any companies you may be thinking of trading with, before making any kind of investments.
Whilst the government may offer some guarantees if things go wrong, such as the company being investigated by the SEC for fraud, it is unlikely that they will offer enough funds to cover losses incurred by the smaller investor.
ZERO-RISK TRADING
The guarantee of risk-free trading should be an immediate red flag.
The ability to make large amounts of money is tempered by the fact that there is a very real risk of losing large amounts too.
Therefore, anyone who suggests that there is no risk inherent with Forex trading is likely to be misinformed, a liar, or more likely a fraudster.
Successful trading in Forex requires experience, strategy, discipline and knowledge.
There are no magic formulas, shortcuts or omnipresent pieces of software that can beat the system and guarantee that you will make a profit.
GUARANTEED PROFITS?
Another red flag that indicates a Forex scam is the guarantee of profits.
Nobody can offer cast-iron guarantees where Forex is concerned.
Think about it - if it was possible to make guaranteed profits in Forex trading then no-one would be setting up a business to show others how to do it.
Instead, they would keep the secret to themselves and would utilise all their time in successfully trading themselves up to billionaire status.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Forex scam artists have another tactic that they will often employ - the employment opportunity for people using their system.
Generally, this is a trick to get you to spend your money with them.
What they are doing is looking for people with capital who can fund their operation.
Typically, they will promise to offer firm and good money to anyone using their system.
What they are actually doing, however, is luring people into using their training systems before trying to convince them that they have excelled themselves so much that they should start using their real money in order to make a fortune.
UNREGULATED
Whilst reputable Forex trading websites will be a member of either the NFA or the CFCA, scam sites will not be.
Therefore, be sure to check out any claims made by a company, and satisfy yourself that they are indeed members of one of these organisations, well in advance of dealing with them.
Remember also that Forex is a virtually unregulated means of trading money.
Often, Forex scams are highly technical, involving brokers who manipulate prices in ways that are not easily detected by the average investor.
Therefore, it is essential to keep your wits about you and put in research time before committing large sums of money to any kind of Forex deal.
If you have been on the internet for any length of time then you are probably aware of spyware, or have had to deal with it’s effects.
Spyware is software that becomes installed on your computer, typically without your knowledge or consent, which then attempts to either monitor your computer usage or affect it in some way.
SPYWARE SYMPTOMS
A computer that has been infected with spyware will typically exhibit many symptoms.
These include -
- masses of pop-ups appearing whenever a browser is opened
- your browser redirecting you to unexpected web sites
- new toolbars attached to your web browser
- new icons appearing on your monitor
- strange keyboard glitches
- poor performance when opening windows or files
In some cases a p.c. that is infected with spyware will exhibit no obvious signs whatsoever.
Fortunately, then, there are some simple steps that you can take in order to increase your internet security and thereby decrease the risk of being infected with spyware.
HERE ARE 10 EASY WAYS TO AVOID SPYWARE -
- Keep your operating system and web browser up to date and fully patched.
- Always have good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs running.
- Keep them updated.
- Read my guide on wireless networking security.
- Be wary of downloading free software.
- If you do download free software then be sure to read the end-user license agreement beforehand.
- If you see pop-ups then never click any links in them.
- Never buy anti-spyware via email adverts or pop-ups - many of them are a con.
- Install and run a personal firewall to restrict external access to your computer.
- Always keep backups of important or sensitive data in case your computer becomes corrupted.
MLM FAILURE - WHO’S FAULT IS IT?
I guess a lot of that is down to the particular multi level marketing company.
If the business, or the model they employ, is flawed then success is going to be hard to come by, regardless of your skill-set.
On the other hand, if the networking is setup well, with sound products, then failure can surely only be attributed to the individual, can’t it?
MAKING LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ISN’T MEANT TO BE EASY
Earning enough money to survive is easy, at least for the sort of person who has the necessary internet access to be reading this.
Earning enough money to be comfortable in life is a little harder.
Becoming financially independent, and having the sort of funds required to fulfil dreams, is next to impossible for the average person.
That is a good thing though isn’t it?
Why?
Easy - if making large amounts of money was simple, then everyone would be doing it.
In time, the value of that money would then decrease to the point where all earners would be more or less equal, thereby disincentivising those who are industrious, work hard, take risks or have an entrepreneurial spirit.
6 REASONS WHY INDIVIDUALS CAUSE THEIR OWN MLM FAILURE
As I said above, making money is not as easy as some people would like to think it is.
For some, multi level marketing is the solution, offering unlimited income potential.
This, however, is why they may fail to achieve any success -
1. NO UPLINE SUPPORT
Most network marketers concentrate on numbers rather than quality.
They pursue a massive downline without adding any quality.
They spend little to no time supporting those that they have recruited.
Likewise, they do not receive any help from their upline either.
As in many walks of life, learning and teaching are the keys to success, and multi level marketing is no exception.
In order to experience any level of success in MLM, it is often important for new people to get immediate assistance from someone local, working one on one.
If they don’t then there prospects are likely to be bleak.
2. LACK OF SELLING SKILLS
Money can typically be made by either selling products or by selling the opportunity, or both.
For people without selling skills the ultimate outcome should be fairly obvious.
3. INABILITY TO RECRUIT
Many people are reluctant to recruit their friends and family into multi level marketing, for whatever reason.
Even more daunting to them is the prospect of recruiting people they know less well.
The reality, however, is that if you are involved in something profitable and worthwhile then interested parties will approach you or show other signs of interest.
4. LACK OF TIME
One of the key aspects of multi level marketing is, unsurprisingly, selling products or the business itself.
Many new recruits are looking to make extra money on top of their existing means of employment.
This means the amount of time available to them to go prospecting can often be very limited.
For those who cannot make the time required to get their business off the ground, the chances of making any money are, yet again, quite slim.
5. LACK OF CONVICTION
People like to have hope and they like to have dreams.
Sometimes this can lead to impulsive decisions, and joining an MLM can be one of those for some people.
Unless the company they have joined is sound, offers good products and a healthy commission structure then disillusionment can quickly slip in after the initial excitement period is over.
There is also the issue of believing in the company and the products.
If a recruit does not have the utmost faith in what they are doing then it will show through their dealings with others, thereby having a negative effect upon their ability to sell.
6. THEY GIVE UP TOO EASILY
I personally believe that you cannot truly succeed until you have failed many, many times.
Whatever you do in life, you need to dedicate time and effort to it in order to gain any kind of competence and success.
Too many people want easy solutions and become depressed when they realise that their undertaking takes time and effort.
MLM is no different.
Assuming you have joined a legitimate one, you will still need to put in a huge amount of effort before you begin to see any rewards.
Many people are too impatient and quit before they find success.
Such people will more than likely quit their way through most of life.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As most readers will know, I don’t like the multi level marketing model.
That said, I hope the above post goes some way to highlighting why people can fail in network marketing, even if the business they involve themselves with is legitimate.
It’s not just the MLM scams that have victims - in many cases the legitimate companies attract the sort of person who makes a victim out of themselves too.
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Monday, July 28, 2008
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