Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Learning From Best Bloggers

Source: http://bestblog.wordpress.com/2006/12/30/learning-from-best-bloggers

  • Best Bloggers respect their readers. They don’t take you for granted. They respond to your comments. They keep their promises or tell you why they haven’t been able to. (For example: We tried to do a Blog-A-Day every day this December. But we went to too many parties to do one EVERY single day. Still, even falling short of the goal, we gave you more great blogs this month than we have in many months this year.)
  • Best Bloggers hook you. They drawn you in from the first sentence. That can happen in as many ways as there are imaginations, but it never, ever means this sort of beginning: Sorry I haven’t blogged in so long, but I’ve been busy. Or Not much to say, but I don’t have anything else to do but blog. A Best Blogger has got something to say, and they make you want to hear it.
  • Bloggers know how to use the tools at their disposal. Mostly, that means they’re good at the language in which they blog. Their writing is clear and sharp, they can punctuate, they proofread, and they sound like the smart people they are.
  • Bloggers are generous. They know there’s room for everyone. They know that another great blog in no way diminishes them. They link to people they admire, regardless of whether that other blog is bigger or smaller than they are.
  • Best Bloggers never stop learning. They read other blogs and learn from what they discover there. They read books — books that are so well written they feel compelled to try to do the same. They’re curious. They’re not afraid to say, I don’t understand that. They try new things. Maybe they’ll learn to podcast. Or take some pictures. Or try out a new template. Find out what CSS is.
  • Bloggers know themselves. They don’t try to be other people. They know what they love, even if it’s a little odd, and their enthusiasm and affection for their subject animates their writing.
  • Best Bloggers know they’re part of a community. They contribute to forums, help new folks out, welcome people to blogging.

It's raining Deals

Man spends Rs.200 for a Rs.100 thing that he really wants. Woman spends Rs.100 for a Rs.200 thing that she doesn't need. And for those of you looking for the best deals on things that you really need, I suggest a couple of sites where it's raining deals - www.koovs.com, www.dealivore.com and www.snapdeal.com

How it works for customers?

  • Take a look at their website.
  • Check the discounts offered on various promos. These are usually services, like Food, wellness, medical benefits, adventure sports, etc.
  • Make a payment on the website and carry the printout to the vendor.
  • Avail of the service.

How it works for merchants?

  • Gets them visibility from consumer base.
  • Small profits from huge consumer base is as good as having huge profits from little consumer base.

I used Koovs.com once where I got a complete master health checkup worth 2000 bucks for about 500. See the below widget for today's deal.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Am I dead?

Here's a nice email forward that a nice friend sent me this morning -

It's another morning......... Again I have to go to the office.

Ohh!! this is me... I shouted, having a glance at my ‘photo’ in today's news paper.

But what the HELL is it doing in the death column??

Strange...

One second.......Let me think, last night when I was going to bed I had a severe pain in my chest, but I don't remember anything after that, I think I had a sound sleep.

It's morning now, ohh....... It's already 10:00 AM, where is my coffee?

I will be late for office and my boss will get a chance to irritate me..

Where is everyone...??? I screamed.

"I think there is a crowd outside my room, let me check." I said to myself.

So many people..... Not all of them crying......

But why are some of them crying....

WHAT IS THIS??? I’m lying there on the floor...

"I AM HERE" ....... I shouted!!! No one is listening.

"LOOK I AM NOT DEAD" .... I screamed once again!! No one is interested in me.

They all were looking at me on the bed.

I went back to my bed room. "Am I dead??" I asked myself...

Where is my wife, my children, my Mom, my Dad, my friends?

I found them in the next room, all of them were crying...still trying to console each other.

My wife was crying... she was really looking sad.

My little kid was not sure what happened, but he was crying just because his Mom was sad..

How can I go without saying to my kid that I really love him,

I really do care for him. ??

How can I go without saying to my wife that she is really the most beautiful and most caring wife in this world..??

How can I go without saying to my parents that I’m what I am ... just because of you??

How can I go without telling my friends that without them perhaps I would have done most of the wrong things in my life... thanks for being there always when I need them...and sorry for not being there when they really need me..

I can see a person standing in the corner and trying to hide his tears....

Oh.... he was once my best friend, but a small misunderstanding made us part, and we both have a strong enough ego to keep us disconnected.

I went there..... And offered him my hand, "Dear friend.... I just want to say sorry for everything, we are still best friends, please forgive me."

No response from other side, what the hell?? He is still preserving his ego, I am saying sorry... even then!!!

I really don't care for such people.

But one second...... It seems he is not able to see me!!!! He did not see my extended hand.

My goodness...... AM I REALLY DEAD???

I just sat down near ME; I was also feeling like crying...

"OH ALMIGHTY!!!! PLEASE JUST GIVE ME FEW MORE DAYS..."

I just want to make my wife, my parents; my friends realize how much I love them.....

My wife entered the room, she looks beautiful.

"YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" I shouted.

She didn't hear my words, in fact she never heard these words because I never said this to her.

"GOD!!!!" I screamed... a little more time plzzzzz...

I cried...

One more chance please... to hug my child, to make my mom smile just once, to feel my dad proud of me at least for a moment, to say sorry to my friends for everything I have not given to them, and thanks for still being in my life....

Then I looked up and cried!!

I shouted.......

"GOD!!!! ONE MORE CHANCE PLEASE!!!!"

"You shouted in your sleep," said my wife as she gently woke me up. "Did you have a nightmare?"

I was sleeping....

Ohh that was just a dream....

My wife was there... she can hear me... This is the happiest moment of my life...

I hugged her and whispered....

"YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND CARING WIFE IN THIS UNIVERSE..... I REALLY LOVE YOU, DEAR"

I can't understand the reason of the smile on her face with some tears in her eyes, still I’m happy....

"THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS SECOND CHANCE."

SO, now it's not late... Forget the egos, the Past... and express your love to others.......

Be friendly...

Keep smiling...... forever....It is another chance For you...

Please let us do things more sincerely...

Have you booked your Ramzan weekend flight yet?

Source: www.Cleartrip.com

Fly anywhere within India and get an instant cash back of Rs 1,000 per passenger on roundtrips. Fly one-way & get Rs 500 cash back instantly per passenger. Offer valid only on the following airlines – Jet Airways, JetLite, Jet Airways Konnect, Kingfisher, Kingfisher Red, Air India, & Air India IC.

Book on/before 31 August, 2010 using the coupon code LAUG1000 for any travel date to avail this offer.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Email scamsters

Recently I took to the hobby of digging into how Email scamsters work. This is what I received few days ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Baker Hughes Malaysia
Date: Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 2:03 AM
Subject: Job Opening @ Baker Hughes Malaysia
To:

Baker Hughes Oil and Gas Industry
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Baker Hughes is a leading provider of products and technologies to the global oil and gas industry. We provide drilling, formation evaluation and completion products and services in 90-plus countries worldwide. We are proud of our safety records and our diverse teams.
With more than 36,000 employees and over 100 years of corporate history, Baker Hughes offers responsibility and fast career progression. This is supported with ongoing learning, technical training and leadership development programmers.
Engineers, scientists, technicians and business professionals can make their careers at Baker Hughes in research, development, manufacturing, field operations, sales, finance, IT, marketing and human resources.
Why Join Baker Hughes
• Baker Hughes is a global leader in the Oil and Gas industry.
• Baker Hughes provides excellent training and leadership development programmers.
• Baker Hughes provides opportunities to travel around the world.
• Baker Hughes offers fast career progression.
• Baker Hughes is a dynamic global company that is founded on integrity, teamwork,
performance and learning.
When applying, please ensure you tell us;
• When you are available to start working
• Which countries you are legally eligible to work in
• Your up to date contact details including mobile and email details if possible.
Send your Detail and Resume/CV to Email:bakerhughesmalaysia@yahoo.com.my
Position Available are
Business Development Manager
Laborer
Project Manager
Quality Engineer
Senior Quality Analyst
Sr. Applications Engineer
Inventory Manager
Inventory Manager
Sourcing Specialist
Maintenance Supervisor
Supplier Quality Engineer
Lead QA Engineer
Wiring Technician
Electronic Test Technician
Electro Mechanical Fitter
Electronic Engineer
Senior Electronic Engineer
Electronic Drawing Office Engineer
Product Development Technical Author
Mechanical Engineering Designer
Commercial Manager
Well Integrity Product Manager
Production Logging Product Manager
Project Manager, New Product Development
Manufacturing Engineer
Materials Planner
Service Engineering Planner
Product Safety Lead Engineer
Design Engineer - Services
Systems Engineer
Software Engineer
Site Manager

Looking forward for your update Cv /Resume for the recruitment process.

Thanks and Best Regards
 
Erum Ali
REGIONAL HR MANAGER
25th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, 207 Jalan Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur Persekutuan 50400
Malaysia


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here's what I wrote

From: Sai Kiran
Date: Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: Job Opening @ Baker Hughes Malaysia
To: Baker Hughes Malaysia



I wish to apply for Sr. Applications Engineer but want to ascertain if this email has genuinely originated from Baker Hughes. I suspect, as the email address is from yahoo domain. Apologies for being skeptical, but I've seen similar social engineering attacks these days, and I do not wish to provide personal details to a hacker.

Waiting to hear from you.

Best Regards
Kiran

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next conversation goes like this

From: Baker Hughes Malaysia

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 7:29 PM
Subject: Confirmation of CV/Resume
To: Sai Kiran


ATTN:Job Applicant,

Confirmation of CV/Resume to Baker Hughes Oil and Gas Industry Malaysia

This is to confirm receipt of your sent CV/ Resume which we have forwarded to the screening department of Baker Hughes Malaysia ,We are
receiving application on daily bases from interested applicant that are ready and willing to work with Baker Hughes Malaysia ,

It will take 24 working hrs for the screening department to finalize on screening and get back to us with result of successful applicants, in this regards, be informed that the Baker Hughes Malaysia is not passing through any kind of interview in any way, the screening departments judge base on your CV/Resume so this is the reason why you have to send your latest and updated CV to ensure that you will be selected in any of the vacant position, remember that all position is vacant as the Company is a new opening.

Bear in mind that we shall be contacting with only the successful candidates.

Best Of Luck We Wish You.

Thank You.

Erum Ali
Head of Employee Relations
Telephone:+60166954510

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I got my offer letter in their next email. What's interesting is, I haven't still sent my resume nor did any interview happen. An average Internet user would have been thrilled at this opportunity.

From: Baker Hughes Malaysia

Date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 11:52 AM
Subject: APPOINTMENT LETTER


Baker Hughes Oil and Gas Industry
25th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, 207 Jalan Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur Persekutuan 50400
Malaysia


Top of the day
APPOINTMENT LETTER

Attention:

It is of utmost importance to inform you that after the screening and scrutiny of your Curriculum Vitae with other verification procedures carried out, Baker Hughes Malaysia were able to resolve the status of your application.

The mode of selection was based on the following;

1. CV Screening
2. Mode in which your data is being presented on the employment data sheet.
3. Work experiences. We employ staff based on four core values namely Productivity, Talent, Ambitions and Character and we expect all our staff to exhibit these core values. Also we ensure that all our staff especially our International employees are comfortable.

On this note, we hereby congratulate you on the success of your application and as such we have attached to you the Contract Agreement/Appointment Letter, Sign it send back to us through email attachment. You are therefore required to follow these procedures IMMEDIATELY so as to complete your employment formalities:

we hereby send you the soft copy of the Contract Agreement/Appointment Letter, the hard copy have been forwarded to the Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd for their approval.

So you are advised to contact the Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd for the processing of your visa and work permit

You are required to process your Traveling document through the Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd As this is in line with sub-section 12.3 Article 11.42 of the Baker Hughes Malaysia policy and code of conduct which you must adhere to.

Below is the contact information of the Travel Agency whom you are to contact immediately to obtain your Visa and Work Permit to Malaysia through the Malaysian Embassy.

You are directed to contact the below Traveling Officer who has been appointed to take care of the preparation of the traveling papers of all BH employees.

Kindly contact the Travel officer with below contact:


Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd
Direct Communications Unit
Block M, 00-006, Subang Perdana Goodyear Court 2, Jalan USJ 6/1,
Off Persiaran Kewajipan, 47610 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: +6 012 683 8729
Fax: +6 03 2694 8924
Email:enquire.globalite@gawab.com
enquire_globalite@mail2consultant.com
Contact Person:Mr.Browsky Kaith Hopkins
Designation: HEAD OF VISA/PERMITS OPERATIONS.

Update us with the process between you and the Travel Office in case of advice where necessary.




In case of an extra incurred expenses in the course of traveling and other logistics you are advised to write a letter for reimbursement addressed to the Chief Accountant JOHNSON BROWN Showing a Scanned copy of payment receipts, approval Letter from the Travel Agancy here in Untied Kingdom for reimbursement.


You are required to contact the (Human Resources Manager) in case of any clarifications. Any clarification sent outside the Human Resources Manager Contact will not be treated and clarified. Below with his contact information.



Baker Hughes Malaysia
Human Resources Manager
Contact Name: Erum Ali
Telephone:+60166954510
Address: 25th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, 207 Jalan Tun Razak

Kuala Lumpur Persekutuan 50400
Malaysia
E-mail: employee_bakerhughes@mail2recruiter.com,
bakerhughesmalaysia@yahoo.com. my

Working Hours: Monday - Friday: 8am - 4pm Saturday: 10am - 2pm




We hereby congratulate you once more on the success of your application among many that have applied and thereby instruct you to expedite all requirements as aforementioned so as to be able to meet the team before the deadline.

SIGN AND RETURN THE CONTRACT AGREEMENT LETTER, IF THE TERMS AND CONDITION ARE OKAY WITH YOU.

Congratulations !!!

BEST REGARDS


Erum Ali
Human Resources Manager

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I then went to the Globalite website to figure out their contact info and forwarded them the above message. No response, as expected.

From: Sai Kiran
Date: Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Subject: Fwd: APPOINTMENT LETTER
To: Customerservices.jkt@gta-travel.com


Please let me know your thoughts on this!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also wrote to the email address provided by "Baker Hughes".

From: Sai Kiran
Date: Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 11:16 PM
Subject: Re: APPOINTMENT LETTER
To: enquire.globalite@gawab.com


Hi

Please let me know the process.

Thanks!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And this is what I received

From: Globalite Travel and Tours Malaysia

Date: Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 5:04 PM
Subject: Visa/Work permit Requirement

Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd
(KKKP:2744 / CO.REG:218209-A)
Block M, 00-006, Subang Perdana Goodyear, Court 2, Jalan USJ 6/1,
Off Persiaran Kewajipan, 47610 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.


ATTENTION:Sai Kiran,


We received your mail . To procure your MALAYSIA VISA AND WORK PERMIT, we will begin in earnest if you provide us with the following, since it was Baker Hughes Here in Malaysia that directed you to us.... We will like you to provide us with the following so that the documentation will start immediately..

REQUIRED DOCUMENT

1. Scanned Copy of your International passport copy.

2. scanned copy of signed Appointment Letters.

3. Filled Visa Form

4. 2 Passport Photos Most recent

5.Your Full Contact Information.

All the said document are to be sent through email attachment,


MALAYSIA VISA AND WORK PERMIT FEE

A Total of 2,864.95 MYR(910 Dollars)to enable us process your documents for the MALAYSIA VISA AND WORK PERMIT that will enable you travel down to Malaysia to join your organization. So as soon as you have gotten the necessary things including the Fee just get back to us to start your documents in earnest so that we will send it to the(MHC)in your location in order to be given a MALAYSIA VISA AND WORK PERMIT


1. Visa Application Fee:---------------------------------944.490 MYR-----$ 300

2. Processing Fee:---------------------------------------314.830 MYR-----$ 100

3. Consular Fee;-----------------------------------------314.830 MYR------$ 100

4. Insurance Fee:----------------------------------------346.313 MYR-----$ 110

5.Work Permit:-------------------------------------------1,259.32 MYR----$ 400

Total: 2,864.95 MYR(910 Dollars)

VISA AND WORK PERMIT FORM

Attached with this mail is the MALAYSIA VISA AND WORK PERMIT FORM which you will print out and fill, after filling than send back to us through email attachment also to enable us start the processing of your Traveling document as requested.

PAYMENT DETAIL
We request you to get back to us once the entire document and fee are ready to enable us send the detail of our Account Manager Information for Transfering of the Processing Fee to our Good Office.

CONFIRMATION OF THE SAID DOCUMENT AND FEE

The Visa and Work Permit formalities will take 14working Days to be ready After confirmation of entire document and payment confirmation.



Copyright © 2004-2010 GlobaliteTravel.com - fully owned by Globalite Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd. All Rights Reserved.

Travel Portal System Developed by EAS

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Obviously I didn't write back to them, as I don't have $910 to spare!!

Some key observations:
* The email addresses do not indicate domain names of the respective companies (yahoo.my, mail2recruiter, mail2consultant, etc.)
* They are written in broken english.
* You and I may be smart enough to understand their motives, but there is still a small minority population that is not bright enough and at the same time has some $$ to spare (that is often hard earned.)
* 1 such victim a month is easy for the scamsters to find and is incentive enough to keep them going.