Prattle Me A Scam, Scumbag

Apropos of probably the fact that I recently opened a new line of credit, I’ve been phished not once but twice in as many days.

If you’re not up on your InfoSec terminology, phishing is a fraudulent attempt to obtain confidential information. It is a cybercrime perpetrated by someone posing as an authorized entity for the purpose of luring unwary individuals into disclosing sensitive data such as usernames and passwords which the scammer can then use illicitly.

The target is typically contacted via email, telephone or text message disguised as legitimate communication. Save reporting it to the institution that was spoofed–in my case, Wells Fargo bank–there’s not a whole lot can be done about it. (Assuming you did not fall for the con, that is, in which case that is an entirely new level of misery) I’m writing about it as a public service to alert readers that phishing scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It’s not enough just to be aware phishing exists. In fact, in order to protect yourself, you have to dig a little deeper than obvious red flags that bludgeon you with comical errors.

At first glance, the two phishing attempts that targeted me looked absolutely legit. Even the telephone numbers checked out but then I’m quite sure the criminal counted on the fact that most people would rather use their shiny eight hundred dollars worth of smartphone technology rather than placing a tired old, antiquated phone call.

Further, there was none of the usual grammar and spelling errors which are part and parcel of a phish attempted by a criminal who does not speak English.

For example, a typical phishing expedition would have included something along the lines of:

If you havent recieve you card call us at 800-WE-GOODE.

Or some other obvious grammatical and/or spelling error.

And a less discerning person may have taken the bait simply by virtue of the fact that not only was his name included in the greeting but it was also spelled correctly rather than the generic Dear Valued Customer which is SOP for scams of this nature. You may be wondering how a scammer would know your name and that you have accounts at Wells Fargo bank but hold that thought.

Behold the Scumbaggery

Exhibit Alpha – Activate Your Card

Exhibit Bravo – Deposit Your Check with a Smartphone

Given my natural state of vigilance and suspicion combined with a heaping helping of information security as a side gig, I don’t want to say that it is impossible to scam me but, in reality, it will be quite the frosty day in Hell when I’d be dumb enough to click on a link contained within an unsolicited message especially from a high profile bank that encouraged me to activate a credit card and another link in another message to deposit a check with a smartphone. Ain’t happenin’, Jimmy. And any bank that sends such correspondence to you should be reported to the state and federal Attorneys General offices accordingly.

Returning to the question of how a scammer would know your personal details such as name and accounts, the answer is they don’t. At least, not usually, unless, of course, your identity has been compromised. But Wells Fargo has a significant presence in financial markets sufficient for scumbags to gamble (and usually guess correctly) that a satisfying portion of their target audience probably would. And even if you did not, there are those out there who may still click on the links anyway because they mistakenly believe that they have hit the FICO jackpot–

Hey, I don’t even have an account at Wells Fargo and I never applied for credit but they want to give me free money, woo hoo! Let me click on that link right now and give my social security number, username, password AND mother’s maiden name! What could possibly go wrong?

Even the return address domain seemed kosher but still smelled like unadulterated dog shit to me.

Always check the headers

A quick trace and peek into the WHOIS database yielded that connect.wellsfargoemail.com resolves back to Cheetahmail which appears to be a legitimate business entity. And presumably, the Cheetahmail domain has been spoofed/hijacked for the purpose of scamming unsuspecting consumers, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Maybe the administrative contact named below in the public record spends his free time perpetrating cybercrime?

Suffice to say, after having forwarded both phishing attempts to Wells, I have not received a response nor do I expect to mostly because the fraud department does not inspire confidence. While I was researching the connect.wellsfargoemail.com domain I found a previous thread in @Ask_WellsFargo twitter feed and its operator either could not or would not answer the question whether connect.wellsfargoemail.com even belonged to the bank. Shouldn’t an account named “Ask Wells Fargo” possess fundamental knowledge about the organization it purports to speak for on social media?

A logical person would assume that Ask Wells Fargo would at least be peripherally aware as to what domains Wells Fargo actually owns, but you’d be mistaken if you thought the official twitter feed served any other purpose than mindless, happy, shiny marketing drivel which is exactly why you have to possess a working knowledge of what are and where to find email headers. In fact, stay tuned for an upcoming tutorial on that particular subject matter. Until next time, don’t click on any links from within your email, especially for special deals and services from financial and banking entities.

Temp Worker Nation USA

According to the BLS, the total number of temp workers surged by 7.5% in the past year to 2,279,800 in May.  That’s the highest it has been since it reached 2,767,300 in October 2006.  And if you have been looking for a full-time, permanent job lately, you know exactly what the situation is like  despite the smokescreen of sunshine and roses as portrayed by the mainstream media.

Getting on board with the official meme that temp work = wonderfully liberating, amazingly awesome, and, gives you lots and lots of time for stopping by the corner corporately owned coffee monopoly (because as we know, paying $6 bucks for a thimble full of burnt joe is what all Americans should aspire to) , various and sunder across the web have chimed in with opinions that weren’t just rendered while wearing rose-colored glasses, but those shades were absolutely embedded to the writer’s eyeballs permanently with a blow-torch.

Futurist Speaker blogger, Thomas Frey, writing about The Great Freelancer Movement is chock full of figures to make you all warm and fuzzy, not to mention, hot for, the world of temporary work, particularly as it concerns the Millennial Generation, or Gen Y, those who were born between 1980 – 2000.

Frey is positively brimming with the gospel according to the corporatocracy, and, hits us with eight (8) pie-in-the-sky bullet points of temporary serf goodliness.  Get a load of this load.

Frey writes:

The freelancer benefit package No, being a freelancer doesn’t come with health insuranc,vacation time, or a 401k plan. But what it does offer is far greater.

 

You’re in control so you get to decide who you want as a client, when you’re available for work, and most often, how much you’ll get paid. Yes sometimes you’ll get fired from a project, but you can also fire your client.

 

Freelancing done right will give you a far higher salary,a far more influential circle of friends, and an ability to make a difference.

Wow,  Frey makes it sound as if being a temp does everything except solve world hunger.  Rest assured, however, after reading his assessments, temp work  will eventually yield  exactly that result, as well, I just know it.

Hey, maybe if we work at it hard enough, we can also ride a flying white unicorn while sprinkling magic pixie dust to save the planet from the oil companies and create wage equality for all while we’re at it.

Well, first things first -working as a temp, specifically, one who freelances electronically using portals such as oDesk, will in fact, put you on equal footing with the rest of the undeveloped world, that is for sure.  Yours truly has been workin’ the ol’ freelancer gig long enough to know what is and is not kosher on that count.

Not to pick on oDesk (it just happens to be the one freelancing site that I am most familiar with at the present time) but taking a long look around its neck of the ethernet will typically yield a gig as follows:

Click to enlarge

The employer wants you, the freelancer, to put in 35 hours of the week preferably for  less than $1.50/hr  Sweet!  That oughta get you that brand new , 27- inch widescreen flat-panel IPS LED HD monitor in no time, sparky!

You mean I, too, can experience the thrill of working for Third World wages in a digital sweat shop of my own choosing?

Yes, you can, little American worker! Thanks to the miracle of the global labor pool, you can be just as poverty stricken as Apu over in Bangladesh who earns $0.10 per day!  Except in Bangladesh, Apu can still afford food and lodging.  You, on the other hand, will have to move in with your parents or into your car or whatever makeshift shelter your freelancing salary will afford you.  Perhaps a cardboard box under the bridge just outside town?

It’s a glorious worker’s paradise, dont’cha know? Hey, and don’t forget, if you’re not satisfied with the luxurious salary of less than a buck fifty per hour, remember that you can always fire your client!

Doesn’t that sound awesome?

You know it, baby!  Temp work is soooooooo incredibly liberating, character building and altruistic, that the only generations being exhorted and encouraged to take advantage of it are those born after Boomers like Frey have already golden parachuted out of the workforce and have otherwise stockpiled their six digit pensions and 401(k) retirements and are now telling you that you don’t need to have any of the benefits and security his generation had.  Don’t you just love how that works?

Amazon’s Kindle Worlds: Instant Thoughts

I agree 100% with Scalzi’s initial thoughts, and, as “preliminary” as they may be, from the POV of a writer, this is a raw deal. Avoid it like the plague.

Further, I do think that gullible writers will jump on the bandwagon thinking this is a great way to get noticed. See also HuffPo bloggers who contributed to the site only to make Arianna Huffington an even bigger millionaire since she then sold the site to AO hell.

Compensation to bloggers = Zero.

Huffington’s cut: $315 million.

Writers who are willing to work for free are no better than indentured servants.

See also Unpaid Blogging:  Digital Servitude

Whatever

The Twitters are abuzz today about Amazon’s new “Kindle Worlds” program, in which people are allowed to write and then sell through Amazon their fan fiction for certain properties owned by Alloy Entertainment, including Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, with more licenses expected soon. I’ve had a quick look at the program on Amazon’s site, and I have a couple of immediate thoughts on it. Be aware that these thoughts are very preliminary, i.e., I reserve the right to have possibly contradictory thoughts about the program later, when I think (and read) about it more. Also note that these are my personal thoughts and do not reflect the positions or policies of SFWA, of which I am (still but not for much longer) president.

1. The main knock on fan fiction from the rights-holders point of view — i.e., people are using their characters and situations in…

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Review | Sony PRS-600 Touch eBook Reader

So after much thought, deliberation and research, I finally decided to seriously consider purchasing an electronic book reader.  I wanted to buy it used because I’m on a budget, but that doesn’t factor into my review here.  Instead, I will focus on the practicalities, in addition to the FAB (features – advantages – benefits).

I must admit that I didn’t want to like it.  In fact, when electronic book readers became ubiquitous not so long ago, I was still staunchly against them.  This was mostly due to the high profile debacles involved with the Kindle -stories of consumers’ entire book collections being deleted remotely because Amazon was too intimidated by the legacy publishing and/or established writer’s cartels to stand up for its customers only helped to fuel my anti-electronic book reader vitriol.   Why would I possibly want to spend money on an appliance that was only going to screw me over and otherwise aid & abet the corporatocracy ‘s continued assault on Fair Use rights?

I was determined, nonetheless, to avoid any electronic reader containing  a proprietary format (such as Kindle’s .mobi and Nook’s .epub). Proprietary formats serve to prevent customers from transferring content from reader to reader in much the same manner the entertainment companies seek to prevent the end user from transferring digital content from DVD to computer hard drive.  The better to SCREW you so that you will have to separately purchase the same content in a different format to accommodate the use of different players.  (This is what the Kafkaesque digital rights management is all about.)

Another factor that pushed me into wanting an electronic book reader is that I am going to self-publish Book #1 in a seven book series in the supernatural/gothic/horror genre very shortly and exclusively in electronic format.  As a writer, it doesn’t sit very well with me to publish my work in manner that I can’t even see the finished product for myself.

And so with this criteria in mind, I found (ta da!) the Sony PRS-600 Touch.

The Good

File Formats

 Sony is not wedded to any particular file format;  That is to say that while it does support proprietary DRM-infested formats such as  .epub & .mobi, the consumer is not forced to purchase content exclusively in one format or another.  Additionally, the Sony will also support .pdf, .doc, .jpg & .txt.  While this is all very nice, the catch is that you must choose a single format because the Sony will not read multiple formats at the same time.  For example, you won’t be able to read files in .pdf, .mobi, .epub & .txt file formats concurrently.  So choose wisely should you decide to purchase this particular reader.

This limitation hasn’t been a problem for me, however, as the content I want to read is exclusively in non-DRM portable document format. (.pdf)   (Note here that when I say non-DRM, I am referring to a plain vanilla .pdf file, not a .pdf that has been digitally signed with Adobe’s version of digital rights garbage.)

Ability to Annotate

I am a big fan of the highlighting, note taking and dictionary features, but then again, I’m a writer.  I like to take notes.  And while the built-in dictionary will be helpful to the average person, I find that both my vocabulary, as well as that of the books I read (mostly late 19th Century writers such as Blackwood, Bierce, James, Lovecraft, & Machen)  is much larger than what the New American Oxford Dictionary has in its memory bank.

Expandable Memory

The PRS-600 has an SD slot to expand its memory.  And with memory being relatively inexpensive these days, the sky is the limit.

The Bad

Sony’s File Management Software

Upon having charged up the reader, the first time you plug it into your computer, it will immediately prompt you to install Sony’s file management software.  I suppose this is helpful provided that the end user is unfamiliar with any other options, but Sony’s software should be avoided if you can help it.  Although I have not personally experienced any particular problems, I have read numerous reviews written by other end users whose main complaint is with the software because it apparently does not facilitate the transfer of purchased content from vendor to reader very smoothly.  (This hasn’t been an issue for me because it has never been my intention to purchase electronic books.) Additionally, if you want to avoid using Sony’s software then consider using Calibre, instead.

The Ugly

Calibration

With the ability to annotate, you must calibrate the reader so that it recognizes the stylus.  This is easier said than done.  The process of calibrating the unit was very problematic.  It took me over an hour and made me want to throw it out the window.  Calibration should not be this difficult given that Apple also uses the exact same technology with its products and calibration is not like pulling teeth the way it is for the Sony.

Arbitrary Lock Ups

Since I don’t know the history of this particular unit, I don’t know why this model Sony inexplicably freezes.  Perhaps the previous owner pounded the shit out of it and drop kicked it on a regular basis?  I tend to think not since the casing isn’t scratched up or marred in any way.

Sony blames unit freezing on a corrupted file, but that’s a load of ca-ca in my opinion.  It’s too easy to blame a file for a malfunction, particularly since my files are all in non-DRM .pdf format.   In fact, it’s a lot like complaining to Caltrans about pot holes and being told that the ginormous holes in the road is due to the weather.  Pffffffffft!  Maybe that excuse flies on the east coast where it snows, sleets and the weather otherwise pulverizes the roads, but over here on the other side of the country, where the sun shines approximately 300 days of the year, not so much!

But then again, this is a used product and the locking up issue may or may not be attributable to previous use and abuse.   The main thing I absolutely adore about an electronic book reader is that I can store hundreds of books on it and have them at my fingertips on a slim unit instead of hauling around dead tree books in my bag.  (All that extra weight adds up when you’re a bus & bikin’ kind of person.)  And also, real estate for extras such as books  is at a minimum given my current living situation.  For a bookworm like me, the ability to have instant access to the content that I don’t want to have to read on the computer is priceless.

In reading reviews written elsewhere, a lot of end users bellyached about the absence of sharp fonts and a glare problem on this model, but I haven’t been troubled by either as the glare issue is solved with a simple re-angling of the unit into another position.  As to the fonts, this model lets you select the size of the font from five different sizes plus a zoom feature.  So if you’re blind as a bat, then you’ll be glad to know that not only can you select XXL sized font, but you can also zoom in.

In the final analysis, I’m fairly happy with this reader.   But fret not dead tree lovers, electronic book readers won’t replace printed books 100%, but it sure does wonders for portability and convenience of reading material.

Free Electronic Book Archives

Internet Archive

Project Gutenberg

©2013 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Facebook to Test Market Overriding User Privacy Preferences

In its ever-increasing quest to generate more revenue, which usually means violating user privacy preferences, Facebook announced that it will “test” market to certain accounts the ability to send private messages to the inbox of non-friends to the tune of $1.00 per message. 

Now to the average Facebook user, charging for private messaging, regardless of the pricetag, may seem silly, especially since the charge is only applicable if you want to contact someone not on your friend list. But what you may not have realized is that Facebook recently fixed what was not broken (again) by enabling messaging on your account even if you had previously chosen not to.  Case in point:  Yours truly had messaging via Facebook available only to friends.  If you weren’t a friend, then you didn’t see the “message” button on my page. 

Since Facebook has now overruled that particular privacy preference, if you don’t happen to be a friend, and you message me, well then your message will go straight to an ignore folder also known as junk. Hey, Facebook taketh away your preferences, and Facebook giveth a piss-poor choice in return. It’s like Gmail – sure, you have a spam folder and it does a reasonably okay job of catching unwanted email, but if Google wasn’t selling your address to everyone and his dog in the first place, then you would not be deluged with spam. But I digress.

Since the average user (you & I) would not likely have an interest in messaging someone not on our friend list, we then have to ask ourselves which users would? Who would be willing to pay for the ability to bypass the spam folder? Ha. Perhaps those users with commercial accounts, the kind whose posts show up randomly uninvited such as the following Ram spam among the content in your newsfeed from the pages that you want to see?

Ah, yes.  A flood light appears at the end of the tunnel and it belongs to an advertiser.

A pay-to-play charge of $1.00 per message to override user privacy preferences is but a drop in the bucket to a brand name marketer such as Ram.  But, Facebook wants to remind you that this is, just a “test” being available only to “certain” users. Translation:  Depending on the backlash from individual users, it may or may not to decide to allow coporate advertisers to bombard the shit out of your Facebook inbox with junk. And given that Facebook also recently nixed the ability for users to vote on the governance of the site, you don’t even get to have a say about its policies anymore.  Which leaves it up to writers like me to remind you that Facebook does not give too much of a damn about what the individual user wants when compared to what corporate users want. You didn’t actually believe that Facebook exists for any other reason, did you?

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Toshiba Canvio 3.0 External HDD

Featuring one terabyte of space ( 1 TB =  1 x 10¹²   (1, 000, 000, 000, 000) whereas one gigabyte (1 GB =  10⁹ ( 1, 000, 000, 000).  USB 3.0, and, disk imaging software are also included to back up your existing computer hard drive, this portable drive is no bigger than the average QWERTY keyboard mobile phone. From the time I took it out of the packaging and plugged it into my Windows desktop, it worked perfectly.  If you’re concerned about rigging new hardware, rest assured, the Toshiba is about as idiot-proof as you can get which makes it custom ordered for the technology challenged.

System Requirements

Windows 7, Vista, XP

Mac OS x (Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard & Lion)

Features

I did some research on the drive beforehand, and, was intitally concerned that USB 3.0, despite being touted as backwards compatible with USB 2.0, wouldn’t work on my XP box.  But I was pleasantly surprised when it ran just the way it was intended with my existing USB 2.0 ports.

Where Macs are concerned, the Toshiba is formatted with NTFS and can be read and written to on a Windows PC.  Mac OS X can read data from the drive with no additional software, but if you want to write to the drive, then you have to install the software which is already loaded on the external drive. Once installed, Tuxera NTFS for Mac will enable both read and write support for the NTFS partition on your Mac.

Comparison

I have an Iomega 300 gigabyte drive that I purchased back in 2007.  At the time, its retail price came in just under $300.00.  This drive (pictured above next to the black Toshiba Canvio) is about the size of a electronic book reader, and requires external power, which can make portability somewhat of an issue. (Especially if you’re using another computer that is not at your own private desk with your own private electricity socket.)  Additionally, after the Iomega has been powered up for a little while, it tends to get really hot so you have to take care not to place it near or on anything heat-sensitive.  Plus, it’s on the heavy side.  (I’m not sure what the exact weight is, but you wouldn’t want to get hit upside the head with it.)

I also formatted the Iomega to that of the NTFS file system since doing so would maximize space on the drive.  (Out of the box, it was just the bloated FAT-32 system.)  The Canvio, on the other hand, is about a third of the size of the Iomega and requires no external power source, which makes transportation and interfacing with another computer fairly simple. The drive comes with its own USB 3.0 leash and will work with most USB 2.0 ports.  (I was able to successfully jack into an XP system owned by the local library which are notoriously, woefully, not state-of-the-art computers and locked down so ridiculously that it’s a wonder the system is even operable.) 

If you’re looking for a highly portable,  easy to use, mass storage device to replace a thumb drive (as I was) then this drive is for you.  The price tag is not cost prohibitive and retails for approximately $70.00.

Disclaimer: I am not receiving any kickbacks from Toshiba or any other company for this review, but tips are welcomed and appreciated using the Pay Pal link located on the uppper right hand side of this page.

Note:  The Canvio has an L.E.D. located at the top of the case that will blink white intermittently when reading/writing to the drive, but goes black when the drive is idle.

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

2012 Presidential Debate | Won’t Get Fooled Again

Tune in for the REAL presidential debates about topics that matter to hardworking Americans.

 Every four years, after a barrage of marketing ad nauseum, the presidential election debates are televised, and, to anyone who has been paying attention to the circus sideshow known as the American electoral process, the debates amount to little more than a case of dumb vs. dumberer. Two billionaires pretending to represent We, the People, grinning, nodding and congratulating each other like long-lost lovers reunited. They coo for the cameras programmed responses that are shiny, happy, and completely devoid of all critical thought.  That the candidates were  each sent in advance the topics they were to discuss on the televised “debate” is a joke unto itself. What kind of debate can it possibly be if each party already knows what will be asked?  The verbal diarrhea that voters have heard so far should have been sponsored by kaopectate. Now that would have been truth in advertising.

Where was the discussion about the 46.2 million Americans currently living in poverty? Where was mere mention of that fact that, in the wealthiest country on the planet, one in seven Americans go to bed hungry each night? Where was the dialogue regarding too big to jail banks?  Wall Street continues to screw the country with the tacit approval of both major political parties, every level of government regulatory department and law enforcement agency up to and including the Department of Justice.  Now that’s what I call a Fuck You, Pay Me trifecta.  Tony Soprano has nothing over the feds.

Not a peep was uttered about the on-going pillaging/looting of Main Street from either Wall Street bobblehead red or Wall Street bobblehead blue.  Instead, our illustrious, heavily gelled & glittering, coiffed candidates chose to debate Big Bird, a fictional children’s character that is apparently, an enormous drain on the federal budget. All .012% of it.  To put that figure into perspective for you, the cost of PBS programming for an entire year costs what the Pentagon burns in federal dollars in only six hours.  Clearly, Presidential candidates Obomney and Robama prefer to be harder on Sesame Street than they are on Wall Street.

With a record high percentage of U.S. Voters self-identifying as independent, one could ask why the debates don’t include candidates from outside the two-party duopoly.  The answer is simple.  The outfit that runs the presidential debates, the privately held corporation known as the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is owned and operated by minions from each of the two major political parties.  Along with the corporately consolidated, mainstream press, they have absolutely no intention of allowing any third party candidates to participate who will, no doubt, upset the highly-scripted, reach-around orgy that Demumblicans and Republicrats have been enjoying for decades.  The CPD doesn’t want voters to be informed about real-world problems or the long-term best interests of the 99%.  All that matters to the two-party system is the appearance of choice.  They further want voters to believe that voting for a third party is a “wasted” vote.  Don’t buy into the lies, folks.  Consider ALL of the options before settling for the duopoly’s favorite flavor of rainbows & unicorns.

Now in all fairness, to those voters who are swayed by appearances, the CPD does make a lot of noise about being nonpartisan, but only those with less than a room temperature IQ would accept smoke & mirrors as proof of objectivity.  Considering that the CPD is headed by a former head of the Republican National Committee and former White House Press Secretary, you’d have to have to your head buried so far up your own ass that you would accept that a Nobel Peace Prize could go to a guy who has been more bellicose than George Bush the Dumber.  Oh wait.  We have swallowed that load already when President Obama received his award.  Would you look at that?  It is possible to fool 100% of the people 100% of the time, after all.

If you are a voter who is traumatized and exhausted by the lies, distortions and obfuscations of  our political process, then you should check out the real presidential debates set for 23 October, 2012, at 8p.m. Central Standard Time appearing on FreeandEqual.org. 

You owe it to yourself and to your family to have an informed opinion come election day.  If you don’t, and you settle, once again, for voting for the “lesser” of two evils, then you will be perpetuating the false dichotomy of choice.  You will be part of the problem giving the nod to two candidates from opposite sides of the same coin that will further erode civil rights, galvanize additional layers of platinum in favor of the already obscenely rich, and otherwise continue to perpetuate the fraud that has become the United States, of, by, for and about the 1%. 

Take back your country, fellow Americans.  End the charade of choice by checking out third party options instead of settling for the candidate who only beats you six days per week instead of seven.

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Got Helium?

Helium is an element that is lighter than air, nonrenewable, and becoming scarce.  It is used for many purposes, including air balloons, airships such as the Goodyear blimp, and, as a shield in arc welding processes using copper and and aluminum. But perhaps most importantly, for cooling the superconducting magnet used in medical MRI scanners.

The federal government sets the rate and announced this past Spring that prices would increase from $75.75 per thousand cubic feet in 2012 to $84.00 in 2013.  This price, coupled with a shoddy federal policy and dubious industry setup, all but promises a shortage.

Despite its rarity on Earth, helium was concentrated under the American Great Plains and was available for extraction as a byproduct of natural gas production.  The greatest reserves of the stuff were in the gas fields of Kansas and panhandles of Texas & Oklahoma.

Because helium was crucial to miliary reconnaissance and space exploration, in 1925, Congress mandated that the government encourage private producers to sell their helium to the government under the Federal Helium Program and store it in what is is known as the Bush Dome in Amarillo, Texas, the country’s largest helium reserve.

Helium production is worldwide, but the largest percentage (75%) comes from the U.S.  Approximately 30% of the world’s helium supply comes from the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve held underground in a natural reservoir that is connected to a pipeline that links stored helium with nearby helium refineries and natural gas fields in Kansas.

Helium tanks at the Large Hadron Collider.

But considering its complex geology, production of helium in the past couple of years has been halting.  Private industry hasn’t been as interested in producing helium as Congress had hoped it would be when it decided to get out of the helium business.

Where it was once mandated that the federal government keep a reserve of the gas, Congress reversed policy in 1996 and moved to privatize the federal helium program, requiring all of the government’s supplies to be sold off by 2015.  Suffice it to say, new producers of helium have not yet emerged leaving consumers with spiking prices and shrinking supplies.

As supplies tighten, the biggest impact could be on healthcare and small-scale research.  Helium is the only  element on Earth than can keep the superconducting magnet found in MRI units cold.  Helium, in short, is what makes magnetic resonance imaging  possible.  If there were no helium to service an MRI, the unit could become damaged permanently and need to be replaced.  Considering the current price tag on an MRI scan, this will, no doubt, adversely affect patient care and jack up the cost exponentially.

No Solution Forthcoming

The Helium Stewardship Act, introduced in April, is under current consideration by the U.S. Senate.  It would extend the 2015 deadline for the selling off of the Federal Helium Program and otherwise allow the government to continue supplying world markets with helium, selling it at market price instead of the government set rate.  If the bill isn’t passed, the funding vehicle for helium operations will expire giving MRI manufacturers and researchers the shaft.  But as with any other matter of national importance and global consequence that does not involve bailing out banks, no action has been taken on the bill since its introduction.

References:

Helium – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Banking Services & Other Legal Loan Sharks

Say you needed to send an emergency loan to an out-of-town or out-of-state friend. He needs that money as soon as possible; As in, the next day. What cash conveying service(s) come to mind?

You could try sending a personal check, but then your friend would have to wait on the mail. And even if you overnighted it, after he received it, he would still have to wait on the check clearing from the bank. And these days, check processing takes anywhere from 3 to 10 business days if you’re lucky.

Note:  A “business” day means Monday through Friday, not including holidays.  And you better hope that your friend’s bank isn’t going to hold the check extra long because of problems communicating with your bank, particularly if yours is from an out-of-state or smaller (non-bailed out) bank.

Remember that your friend needs the money immediately, so mailing a personal check isn’t the most expeditious option. Nor is waitng for the banks to process it.

What about setting up your friend’s bank account (assuming he has one) to accept a transfer from yours? 

This may also seem like the way to go. In fact, many banks have this option. But then you’d be looking at the time it takes to set it up on either end, the time for the bank to give the setup its blessing, plus the fees your bank and your friend’s will inevitably charge the both of you for the convenience. And you don’t want to be doing this during non-business hours or weekends, because that will make setting up the transfer take longer. 

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

OK, then how about wiring the cash through a transfer service? This seems the quickest way. After all, doesn’t Western Union and the like exist for the sole purpose of wiring money quickly?

Well, sure, but the definition of the word, “quickly” depends on who you ask.

You could, in fact, go out to the Western Union website, create an account, and then proceed to send the money. Or you could go directly to a Western Union agent, such as a grocery store. Except that you better have thought about sending that money at least 10 days in advance because that’s how long (conservatively estimating) that it’s going to take Western Union to snail mail you an identity confirmation notice.

Time is passing quickly and your friend still needs that money. What to do. What to do.

What can you do that will ensure your friend will have the money immediately, no waiting?

I’ve got it!  A money order.

After all, you can’t get a money order unless it’s paid for in cash, and, then it’s as good as cash. So then all you have to do is overnight it to your pal and voila!  He will have his emergency loan.

Not quite.

First off, if your friend does not have a bank account, then he will have to go to a check cashing service otherwise known as a payday loan.  Ha! May as well have told your pal to go ask Vinnie for the money because the fee that the payday loan place is going to charge your friend for the privilege of cashing your money order is going to make Tony Soprano blush.

Yours truly contacted one of these establishments and was told that the rate is a percentage of whatever the amount of the money order is. I quoted an amount of $500. You Betcha We’re Gonna Screw You Payday Loan Company then told me that it would be $40 bucks to cash the money order.

Commit usury much?

Note:  The U.S. Post Office only cashes money orders issued by the U.S. Post Office.

Second Note:  A Western Union brand money order will only be cashed by a check cashing service.  Not even a Western Union agent (such as a grocery store will cash it).

Third Note:  A bank-issued money order is held for processing by another bank the same as a personal check would be.

But what if you friend does have a bank account?

Ok, great!  Then his bank will be happy to hand over the cash from your money order provided that he has the amount of your money order or greater already in his account(s). 

But it’s a money order! As good as cash!

Not according to the bank, which, in all likelihood, is one that is considered “too big to fail” by the U.S. federal government.

Since your friend does not have the amount of your money order already in his account, the bank will then deposit it, where it will take an additional 7 to 10 days (conservative estimate) to process your money order. You know, the same one you thought was equal to cash?  Thereafter, he can have the emergency loan you lent to him. 

Good thing he didn’t need the money in a hurry, eh?

But what about PayPal and such?

Yes, if your friend has a PayPay account already set up, then it will also be glad to take your money. It’s just that your friend had to establish his PayPal account via his bank, and both the bank AND PayPal will be extracting their cut of your money for the privilege of your friend having access to it.

Given the clusterfuck that comprises the legal way to transfer money, it almost makes using the local “illegal” loan shark named Vinnie the more attractive option, doesn’t it?

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Missing Link | Ultimate Feline Formula

The pet food industry is a billion dollar per year gig; Consumers spend  their disposable income on products ranging from gourmet food to hoodies for their animals and everything in between, but I wonder, do they know the value nutrition plays in the overall health and well-being of their furry, four-legged friends?

Say what you will about supplements, but I believe in them. Not just for myself, but for my animals as well. Case in point:  I’ve mixed The Missing Link into my cat’s wet food for just about the past twelve years, and, I can actually see the difference the supplement makes in her health when she ingests it versus not.

She has a shinier, softer coat; her eyes don’t accumulate the crusty eye loogies the way some cats do as seen so often in Persians or Persian mixes; and her overall energy level is noticeable.  By the way, the cat in question is fifteen years old and I’ve had her since she was a tiny kitten.

Designing Health, Inc., the maker of Missing Link, targets the nutritional gap between what nature provides and what is available in commercial foods, including:

Balanced Omega 3 & 6 to maintain healthy skin and coat

Omega fatty acids to support intercellular health for absorption of fat soluble vitamins, and to maintain energy levels

Dietary fiber to promote a healthy digestive system

Phyto (plant) nutrients to support general health and nutrition

The full list of ingredients is as follows:

Click to enlarge.

A healthy cat is a happy cat with longevity!

Jasper

Opinion | Timeline Revisited

From a social media perspective, for every implementation of a new -and I use the word loosely- “feature,” there is widespread ensuing clusterfuckage on the website. 

A case in point:  Timeline. 

March 31st is the official forced usage date, but I’ve been using it for the past few weeks.  And while my original opinion has not changed substantively, I have, however, noticed that Timeline essentially neuters cause-inspired networking. While it is fine for individual pages, if you are using Facebook to publicize a web page such as POB, then you will quickly determine that it is not only decidedly visually unfriendly, but also essentially smothers communication. I previously wrote about my initial impressions of same here. 

Gone are the days when you could return to a previous post and adding additional commentary would “bump” it to the top of the page to initiate further discussion.  Now, if you wish to revisit the subject matter and have it noticed by your audience, then not only will you have to repost it, but you better include an image to entice eyeballing because Timeline is so cluttered and busy that most text based posts are obscured. And it isn’t just me who has noticed.  I’ve seen this very matter discussed on various pages with a large following of actively engaged adherents. Timeline is definitely diluting the ability to network.

It is this writer’s opinion that in its zeal to maximize revenue and to otherwise provide on a silver platter to marketers a comprehensive member dossier, Facebook Timeline has basically reduced social networking to image based dumbassery.  As evidenced by the proliferation of pages with vaguely witty titles that specialize in posting moronic sayings superimposed over cutesy, largely infringed images, I like to refer to this phenomenon as the Blunt Cardification of Facebook. 

Nevermind that the owners of these pages are a scourge unto themselves. It is apparent that any time a page receives over 1,000 likes something apparently happens to the owner sufficient to twist his mind into that of a mini feudal lord. I’ve un-liked numerous pages for heavy-handed moderation, as well as the demonstration, in no uncertain terms, of an overall plantation owner mentality. Another case in point: I used to follow a page that posted retro porn images, and, when said posts received comments of a prurient nature, the owner then backpedaled into a sanctimonious bloviation about keeping it clean. 

Common sense would dictate that if you create a page featuring porn  -retro or otherwise- then you’re bound to generate some colorful remarks. But this is an axiom that was evidently lost on the page owner in question, the same guy, who, upon having discovered that a female friend of mine who had also un-liked his page, and, left a parting comment as to why, then proceeded to stalk her with repeated friending requests. She had to block the guy to make him go away.

But returning to the issue at hand – Not that there is anything inherently wrong with humor as I happen to find Blunt Card quite amusing.  It’s just that the me-too clones seem to crop up like so much electronic STD. Meanwhile, anyone with a web page featuring content above a kindergarten reading comprehension level is left in the dust.

Contemporary American society is already so dumbed down it is positively staggering, and, now the biggest social network on the planet is contributing to the demise of critical thought in a big way. The mind fairly boggles.  Or is that just me?

Subscribe Feature

A second issue I’ve noticed with Timeline is technical in scope and involves the subscribing feature. While it is convenient that one need not accept a friending request in order for one’s public posts to be seen by a wider audience, I’ve determined that once you subscribe to an individual or page, you won’t be able to unsubscribe very easily. 

The way unsubscribe is supposed to work is by clicking on the Activity Log, selecting Subscriptions, then hovering the mouse over the subscribed button and waiting for unsubscribe to appear in the drop down box. Once the page is reloaded, you should be unsubscribed, but it doesn’t work.  You have to go out to the actual home page, click the icon of the cog, then select report/block. 

Once you do that, a box pops up with unsubscribe as an option.  When you select unsubscribe in this manner, and, click continue, then, and only then will you be unsubscribed.  By the way, attempting to report any kind of bug to Facebook results in a comedy of errors. You’d have better luck winning the Mega Millions lottery.

All in all, I don’t care very much for Timeline.  It should have been optional, not mandatory.  But then again, time and time again, Facebook has demonstrated that it does not give too much of a damn about user preferences.

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Opinion | ALA: Don’t Bother Us

To the average person, the American Library Association (“ALA”) does not have much relevancy, and, to the netizens of the internet, it has even less.  But when it comes to the First Amendment rights of library patrons, the ALA is a force to be reckoned with.

Quoting directly from the ALA’s Mission and History page,

Founded in 1876 in Philadelphia, PA, the American Library Association was created to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

Case in point:  In 2001, upon the passage of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the ALA was, and continues to be, a voice crying in the wilderness alerting the public, and standing up to, the excesses of government intrusion.  And while some of the national membership of the ALA may be comprised of public union employees with cush jobs, platinum plated benefits, and, six figure pensions courtesy of the taxpayers of their respective states, the ALA alone exerts a substantive influence over its membership when it comes to a three letter federal agency demanding the borrowing history of any given library patron without a warrant.  Indeed, one could say the ALA was quite instrumental in causing those of us who are civic-minded to become a lot more attuned to exactly how crucial the local library is to intellectual freedom. 

No doubt about it, the organization’s track record speaks for itself.  In fact, if you are not yet persuaded having read this far that the library is the single most important vanguard of a vibrant, functioning democracy, then you never will be.  But I’m not here to sing the praises of the ALA.  It is my intention to voice a complaint.

One would think that the ALA, being what it is, and, after having read the warm-and-fuzzy feel goodisms on the org’s site regarding National library and Banned Books week, that it would welcome communication from the public.  Even an inquiry as trivial as mine.  But one would be mistaken.  I suppose if yours truly was a child victim of cancer or a writer whose book had been banned, or had some other politically correct, sad tale of woe, then the ALA would have been more receptive to answering my question, but as is, not so much. 

What was I asking?  Oh not much, just the title of a little ol’ book that has evidently stumped the entire internet.  I’ve asked tither & yon across the tubes on popular, book-oriented websites touting impressive membership numbers.  I’ve even posted to a search engine’s “Answer” page, but all to no avail.  Apparently, I must be the only person on the planet to have read the book and forgotten its title. 

Having checked with the local library, which was a complete waste of my time, the ALA was the last remaining hope for help with finding the title of the book in question.  But since I’m not a dues paying member, the ALA was unwilling to help.  At least that was the gist of the reply I received.

Call me whatever you want, but I don’t think  it was out of line to contact the ALA for something as fundamental as the title of a book I was having trouble locating.  After all, if the American Library Association doesn’t know the answer, then who would?  But, as always, anything -even intellectual freedom- evidently has a cover charge.  And the American Library Association is no different than any other pay-to-play organization.  So much for that fluff & puff part about ensured access to information for all.  You can have it , but just make sure you pay for it first.

ADDENDUM 1

I found the title on my own and wrote a review.  Please click here to read it.

ADDENDUM 2

The ALA did contact me with suggestions as to going about ascertaining the title of the book in question, however, it was not until after I published this article.

Privacy | Your Digital Footprint on the Web

Yours truly runs an ego surf regularly just to see what’s on the web that contains or is attached to my name.  And while the majority was published with my knowledge and consent, today I found something that was neither.  It was pretty coincidental too, considering minutes before I had just read a story regarding job applicants having to hand over the username and passwords of their social networking accounts  in order to be considered.

Regardless of where you come down on personal privacy, the fact remains that the Internet has made digging up personal information that much easier for anyone who wants to take a look.  And by the way, this includes ID thieves and others with unknown agendas, such as stalkers.  It is simpy breathtaking to behold the amount of data that can be culled from running a simple search on one’s name.  And I’m not talking about any comments that you may have left in a moment of temporary rantitude while logged into your social networking profile on a page with comments set to public viewing rather than private.

The site in question contained not only a full dossier containing my name and age, but also a listing of every city I have ever lived in, the address, the duration, family members, their ages and their locations, to name just a few bits allegedly pulled from public records. Honestly, I half-expected to see a photo of what I deposited into the toilet this morning after breakfast.

How much easier can purveyors of sensitive data make it for criminals to track you down and otherwise utilize the information they found on the web to perpetrate some kind of scam? Call me paranoid, but if I wanted the world to know this level of personal data, then I would have disclosed it myself.  But status quo is that consumer consent is not necessary.  Hey, the info is supposedly pulled from the public record, therefore you don’t have a say in what someone else publishes to the web about you because clearly, you wouldn’t have had that info in the public record in the first place, right?

Wrong.

Before the Internet, in order to track down a personal history such as the listing of cities someone has been a resident of,  for example, you had to make a trip to the local government office.  You also had to interact with a live person and sign various forms which documented your name, thereby, leaving a paper trail.  It kept any casual nosy barker honest, for the most part, and, otherwise limited the invasion of privacy to private investigators and law enforcement personnel.  But today, anyone with an Internet connection can crawl up your anal opening and inspect what’s there whether you consent or not.

This is primarily due to two factors. (1) Right to privacy laws have not kept pace with technology, and, (2) The system is opt-out by default, instead of opt-in.   In an opt-out system, it is assumed that you are OK with YouBetchaWe’reLegit background checker publishing your dossier whether you assent or not.  And therein lies the rub.  Opt-out doesn’t make life any easier for anyone except the douchebags trying to make a buck on selling your information. 

An opt-in system, on the other hand, is simply that.  Nothing is published about you -in public record or not- without your specific permission.  You must contact the purveyor of information and let them know you want your data published.  This is more in line with how it should be in the U.S.  As is, only the EU has such a strong consumer protection law, but then again, the elected reps of the various countries comprising the EU aren’t  the bought-and-paid for whores owned 100% by Big Biz like the American Congress is.

What You Can Do

Unless and until the U.S. passes strong consumer protection laws at the national level (don’t hold your breath) you can attempt to limit what’s available on the web about you.  However, I must caution that this endeavor eventually becomes a game of whack-a-mole.  You no sooner notify one asshole that you want your information deleted, and before long, here comes another selling even more.  Depending on your level of tenacity, this may or may not be a game changer.

Personally, I like to run a search every so often, and, depending on how pissed off I get about it, I will scan through the Privacy Policy of the offending site and ascertain how to go about having my data deleted.  Sometimes it’s as simple as calling an 800 number.   Other times, the company will have you jump through numerous hoops, giving you a time frame that it expects to have the data scrubbed.  For anyone who has ever conducted his own credit cleanup with the credit reporting agencies, this is where the whack-a-mole characterization comes in.

But don’t let the hoop jumping deter you as this is precisely what the information purveyors want.  If enough consumers complain and opt-out, sooner or later, something has got to give.  You just have to be persistent.  And, really, in the final analysis, is it really worth your reputation to throw up your hands in frustration and give up so easily?  In my opinion, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy to believe you are beaten without even attempting to push back.

You should also check with the FTC as well as your state’s privacy laws for more information. Please note that some states like Calfornia have stronger consumer protection laws in place while others rely on the business-friendly federal law.  California residents click here for the office of privacy protection.

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Opinion | Facebook Timeline

Upon learning that Facebook was changing the user interface to something called “Timeline,” I was a wee bit annoyed, but then again, this is the same site that really ought to strongly consider changing its name to The Social Network that Fixes the Unbroken.  Case in point: In the past few years alone, it has continually screwed with privacy settings, and, with each new “fix,” has rendered public by default items (such as contact information) that may have been previously restricted to a limited audience in certain profiles. Indeed, Facebook now practically guarantees that users have even less control of their information more than ever.

Further, all of this is done so that the company can continue to sell user data to unknown third parties for reasons unknown. Well, let’s not be coy here, we know precisely why. Consumer data is a goldmine for marketers, and, now apparently, also to an increasingly invasive federal government. Let me put it to you this way –It is astoundingly naïve and foolish not to know/be concerned that everything said or “liked” on Facebook is being stored indefinitely, whether the account has been deleted or not.  But don’t get me started on that, eh? Let’s return to Timeline.

Since this new feature has been foisted upon users regardless of preference, I wanted to at least attempt to give it a fair shake. I tend to disparage anything that is forcibly shoved down my throat, so let’s think of this review as my effort to make lemonade from piss and vinegar, shall we.

The forced usage of Timeline for individuals was set to occur on 28 February, 2012 (30 March is the slated roll-out for pages), but I wanted to give myself the illusion of having some control over the situation, and, so I elected to start using it approximately a week-and-a-half in advance.

Upon first glance, it did not appear to be all that bad. Sure, the wall seemed a lot more cluttered now, and, settings were not located where they previously had been, but let’s base my evaluation on something more substantive, such as privacy settings. Contrary to the entire idea of Facebook, yours truly is one of the very few who has no interest in announcing personal details to the world. I’ll keep every intimate crotch shifting episode and incident of flatulence to myself and confidant, thanks. There is such a thing as too much information, but this fact is lost on the attention whore mentality of Facebook.

With the implementation of Timeline, items such as name, gender, profile image, username, user ID account number, and networks is now public information whether you want it to be or not. Facebook nonchalantly makes mention of this fact, and, then assures you that the reason for this disclosure is of paramount importance –to help you connect with your friends and family! Gasp. Shock. Really?? Essentially, Facebook is telling you in no uncertain terms that it knows better than you do.

Click to Enlarge.

Just about the only control you do have in this regard is to modify who can find you in a search. And while this is a nice scrap to toss to those users with privacy concerns, let’s not mistake it for filet mignon. The fact remains that you may limit your profile from a general search, but it is still possible to find it. You’re not invisible so don’t go thinking that you are.

Click to Enlarge.

With regard to a particular privacy setting that Facebook seems to be keeping quiet. (I could not find a reference in the Help section)  Previously, the user had the ability to set whether likes and comments (recent activity) were shared. This setting has disappeared with Timeline. Now any friends that have “all updates” checked beside your name will get your likes and comments in their news feed whether you want them to or not.

Facebook has effectively taken control of this information away from the user and given it to the user’s friends. This is tantamount to putting blinds on the outside of your windows. The only way around it is to create two user profiles –one for friends and another for other.

I have taken the time to bullet the blue sky (gratuitous U2 reference) with the pros and cons of Timeline referenced below. Some of the features highlighted were previously unavailable. Be advised that it is by no means exhaustive, and, even if it were, it wouldn’t be for very long. Facebook tends to bury settings in a labyrinthine maze of clusterfuck every 3-4 months depending on how much blowback is published, and, with each subsequent change, the negatives always seem to outnumber the positives. But until somebody creates a viable alternative, it will continue to run roughshod over user concerns.

UPDATE:  Facebook makes quite the show of announcing that the Activity Log is used to control the visibility of likes & comments.  However, the reality is that the user has two very limited choices: (1) Delete the comment/like; or (2) Restrict visibility to himself. 

Click to Enlarge.

©2012 Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo™. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Peyton Farquhar and Prattle On, Boyo with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Of Duct Tape & Warts

Warts (AKA “verruca vulgaris”) are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (“HPV”) which is the same virus that causes the itchy blisters that are found on the crotch and/or lips of the sexually promiscuous. (Or, in some cases, on their innocent victims.) But this particular event is better known by its happy, fun time name of Herpes. So think of verruca vulgaris as the bastard, red headed, stepchild of Herpes. (Hey, it’s only fitting.)

Warts are common in 70% of the worldwide population. (No, I did not pull that stat out of my ass; Look it up if you need confirmation.) They can appear at any age, usually on the extremities –hands and feet– and can grow either as a single lesion or in clusters. The kind that occur on the bottom of the foot are called plantar, as in, the name of the foot bone. But no matter which body part these repulsive little fuckers crop up, they are almost always treated with cryotherapy, that is, freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen. The expected outcome is that the wart will then dry up and fall off. Results with this sort of management have been modest, to say the least.

It has been reported by the medical establishment that cryotherapy has a 60% success rate in treating warts, which, assuming you have health insurance and/or the money, seems like it could be the way to go. But what if you’re one of the 44 million (or thereabouts) of the American population without health care or don’t have the extra scratch to private pay a doctor’s office. What, then, can you do about evicting the unsightly resident squatting on the primo real estate of your hand? Or, for that matter, any other body part.

Well I’m glad you asked! Maybe you’ve heard of the duct tape myth –it goes something like this  –Covering a wart with common duct tape for several days results in killing the wart. If that sounds like a bunch of BS to you, consider yourself in good company. Upon having read about this great “cure,” yours truly jeered and laughed contemptuously, which, considering the source, was entirely appropriate. I don’t generally believe everything I read no matter where I find it –whether in print or on the web. Doubting Thomas has absolutely nothing over Doubting Peyton, that’s for damn sure. But, at the time I read about the duct tape cure, I was trying to get rid of my own unwanted visitor that was situated at the base of my index finger.

I don’t know how or why it showed up. One day the area was clear, and the next, there was this itchy bump thing that appeared out of nowhere. I had never before had a wart, and, so knew next to nothing about the causes or treatment. (It’s always funny until someone loses an eye. Or so goes the conventional joke.) But I had, however, heard about over-the-counter treatments advertised on television. So I went out to the store and bought a bottle of a well known brand name containing salicylic acid. The same medication used to treat acne.

Over a six month time frame, I went through approximately four bottles of the stuff. Each time, the viscous solution would dry to form a hard shell over the wart, and, then I’d snip off both solution and wart with nail clippers. One would think this would be the end of it, but one would be incorrect. Within record time, the wart would grow back where it had been removed. It was a lot like drop- kicking an illegal Mexican back into his own country during the morning only to find that he was right back where you ejected him from by nightfall.

Like most Americans, the health insurance I had at the time was a joke. It was going to cost extra for treatment on top of the co-pay. So I decided not to pay the ridiculous amount, and, opted instead, to handle it myself. That’s when I went searching on the web and found numerous duct tape testimonials. There were scores of people who were evidently willing to attest as to the tape’s efficacy in treating warts.  

The tape being just a common household item (and not some pricey medication) there wasn’t much of a profit motive for so many to be so enthusiastic. After all, it wasn’t like anyone (save for stores selling duct tape) was going to make a buck shilling for the product.   Further, given the quantity of commendations, there was just no way even one-tenth of them could have have been planted by some enterprising duct tape seller looking to pump up sales.  (If you’ve ever read the comment section of well known online book sellers & such then you know exactly what I’m referring to.)

After I quit chuckling, I bought a roll of generic duct tape from an office supply store. I then slapped a big piece over the affected area. It was inconvenient initially, because keeping the area dry was next to impossible. I remember sticking my hand into a plastic sandwich baggie to protect the tape from getting wet in the shower. By the third day, the tape was peeling so I decided to remove it and reapply.

I fully expected the wart to be intact and smiling at me like a Cheshire cat, but when I pulled back the tape gingerly, I saw that it had dried up into a white, flaky mass. Pulling back the tape even more, what appeared to be a root was stuck to the adhesive and came out effortlessly and painlessly. The root reminded me of a potato “eye.” Once I cleaned up the affected area of the residue from the tape, there was a small crater where the wart had been, but it was 100% healed within 72 hours.

Various theories abound as to why duct tape kills warts. From the pine tar found in the adhesive backing to “smothering” the wart with the tape.  But what I understand is that warts squat in the layer of skin that the immune system does not have access to due to absence of blood vessels. The tape somehow alerts the immune system and it takes over from there, attacking the virus and subsequently subduing it. 

Note here that HPV never goes away.  Duct tape does not kill the virus.  Once it’s in your system, it’s yours to keep.  It travels around the body manifesting itself in the form of cold sores and/or warts (non-genital) depending on how stressed the immune system is. 

While there is no one definitive explanation, one thing is certain –an 85% success rate has been reported when duct tape is used versus the 60% cryotherapy rate. Bottom line: Duct tape is less expensive, and, has fewer adverse effects both physiologically, as well as financially, than cryotherapy.

REFERENCES:

eMedicine

AAFP

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