Tag Archives: communication

New Social Networking Scam

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Another story from my inbox.

Yesterday, the following e-mail message from “Ben” arrived in my e-mail inbox. It had been sent using the contact form on this blog. Here’s the text with the identifying information redacted.

Hi,

My name is Ben and I’m working with the [dedacted TV channel] to help spread the word about their new outdoor photography show, “[redacted name of show].” The second episode airs [redacted date/time] and follows [redacted host name] as he photographs the red rock canyons of the American Southwest.

I came across your wonderful blog and I thought you might be interested in doing a post to let your readers know about the show and help spread the awareness. Any posts that you put up will go up on [dedacted TV channel]’s Facebook Page and/or their twitter page- so it is a good way to get some publicity for your own site. I also have a copy of [redacted host’s name] ‘[redacted host’s book]’ which I could offer out to you for your time.

I’ve put some info about the show, pics, and videos below just to give you some background. If you have any questions or need more information please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for your time and let me know if you are interested as it would be so great to have your help.

Best,

Ben

What followed was a bunch of links to content in various places that evidently showed off the show. (I admit that I didn’t follow any of them.)

Bryce Canyon DawnI received the message on my iPhone while I was stuck waiting for a tow truck (long story) and, because of that, didn’t really read it carefully. At first, I was flattered. This well-known TV channel had found my blog, liked it, and wanted to work with me on some publicity for their show. This made me feel really good because, as regular visitors here know, I do a lot of photography in red rock country in Arizona and in Utah. It looked as if I were getting a bit of recognition.

But when I got back to my office and re-read the message on my computer screen, I realized that the message was obviously boilerplate. Nowhere did it mention my name, the name of my blog, or any other identifying piece of information that might make me think it was written specifically to me. “Your wonderful blog” could be a nice way to refer to anyone’s online drivel — provided you wanted to make them feel warm and fuzzy about your project.

I’d been duped.

Or almost duped.

I then took a closer look at the domain name on “Ben’s” e-mail address. It wasn’t from that TV channel. I popped the URL into my browser and found myself looking at a Web site for a company claiming to be “social media marketing & publicity specials” that “develop strategies and execute initiatives, which generate conversations & cultivate relationships between brands and publishers.” In other words, they con active members of the social networking community to tweet and blog about their clients.

For free.

Well, the client doesn’t get their services for free. It’s Ben and his company who get the services of the social networking folks for free. Free authoring, free placement of the ads, free “buzz.” Ben and his cohorts just send out boilerplate messages to lure in unsuspecting bloggers who apparently have little else to write about. Along the way, they get these bloggers to look at the content on their clients’ sites, bumping up the hit counter to show immediate results.

I’m wondering how many bloggers fall for this strategy and how many thousands of dollars Ben & Co. rake in weekly by copying and pasting boilerplate messages on the Web.

I composed my response:

Ben,

I’m interested in this, but admit that I’m a bit put off by being ask to write what’s essentially an advertisement and place it on my own blog without compensation. Not quite sure how this would benefit me. A few additional hits to my blog would be nice, but since my blog does not generate any income for me, getting more hits is not really that important to me.

I also wonder how many dozens (or hundreds) of other bloggers you’ve contacted. Your message was very generic and could have been sent to anyone with a “wonderful blog.”

Now if I were offered compensation via exposure for my helicopter charter company (http://www.flyingmair.com/), which specializes in aerial photography over red rock areas such as Sedona and Lake Powell — well that might interest me a bit more.

Or is your message just another bit of spam to get ME to check out this site? So far, it’s a FAIL.

Any interest in making this more appealing to me?

Maria

I’m waiting for a response that likely won’t come. Why should he respond to me when he probably has dozens or hundreds of other bloggers taking the bait?

In the meantime, Ben has indeed given me something to blog about.

Me and My iPhone

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I am loving my new iPhone.

When the Verizon iPhone became available earlier this month, I bought one. I was due for a phone upgrade anyway, and had to choose between an iPhone and an Android phone. I needed either operating system to use my Square point of sale device.

It had been nearly four years since the original iPhone was released, but for that for years, it was only available on AT&T. AT&T does not have the coverage I need in the places I go. It also has crappy customer service handled by overseas, outsourced workers. No matter how much I wanted an iPhone, I was not willing to enter into a relationship with AT&T. Instead, during the four years, I had a Palm Treo phone followed by a BlackBerry Storm. They did the job and I was satisfied.

I was eligible for a phone upgrade on December 22. The rumors of iPhone coming to Verizon were running wild before that. I held off long enough to hear the announcement before locking for two years in on a new phone.

Early in February, when I logged into my Verizon Wireless account, Verizon offered me the phone. Again, my choices were between an iPhone and an Android phone. The main reason I went with the iPhone was because there would be no learning curve for me. I already had an iPad and my understanding was that the operating system was nearly identical on the iPhone. Unlike many people, I don’t consider my phone and toy. It’s a tool. A communication tool. Smartphone features also make it a simple computing tool. I don’t play games, I don’t make movies, and I don’t waste a lot of time with apps. My main concern was getting a smartphone that met my communication needs and enabled me to sync my data with my computer. The way I saw it, the iPhone would do this easily and transparently while an Android phone would require me to either buy special software or jump through hoops using Google apps to sync my data. And although I wasn’t very interested in apps, I knew that there were far more iPhone apps than Android apps. When I discovered that the two phones I was considering, the iPhone and the Droid 2, would cost me the same to buy, the decision became a no-brainer. I bought the iPhone.

Last BlackBerry Photo

The last photo I snapped with my BlackBerry Storm. Really.

What I never realized, was just how much I would enjoy using the iPhone. It really is easier for me to use than any other phone I’ve ever had. The interface is very intuitive. But what really blew me away was how easy it was to sync my data between my Macs and my phone. I simply entered some information about my MobileMe account into my iPhone and my iPhone did the rest. Saving time saves money — really. If I’m not wasting time with a steep learning curve, I have more time available to get work done and to enjoy my life. For me, that’s what it’s all about.

The wide availability of apps surprised me. I never realized how many apps there were for things that I need to do. In my role as a pilot, I need specialized information about the weather, sunrise and sunset times, light angles, and FAA regulations. It wasn’t long before I found apps that can meet many of my needs. For example, I found an app that gets official airport weather and displays it in a format that’s familiar to me. This makes it possible for me to use my phone to get up-to-date weather information about any airport that I might need to fly to. I can even do this during flight (although I can’t say I recommend doing so). Another app not only makes it easy to create an official FAA flight plan but it will show my aircraft position on an aeronautical chart while I am flying. Another app makes it easy for me to log my flight time after every flight. I can then sync that data to a file on my Mac book Pro and my iPad so I have up-to-date logbook information in multiple places.

I know there are a lot of games out there, but I don’t play them. I keep hearing about Angry Birds and how addictive it is and can’t understand why someone would want to play a game that sucks so much time out of their life. The only reason Game Center is on my iPhone is because I can’t get it off. There are no games. People told me that I would like my iPhone because I play with it, but that simply isn’t true –– not in the true sense of the word. I may spend more time browsing weather information and reading books and articles on the news but I don’t play games.

I’m not saying the iPhone is the perfect phone for everyone. It really depends on your needs. If you like to spend your time watching video on your phone, you probably would prefer something on a faster, 4G network. If you’re only interested in communication, you could probably save a lot of money by going with a standard phone instead of a smartphone. People who buy iPhones to look cool or keep up with their friends are idiots. The phone should meet your needs. If it exceeds your needs it should only do so to give you room to grow. After all, don’t you want your phone to last two years?

I’ll be writing a lot about my iPhone in the days and weeks to come. I want to highlight some apps that I think people may find useful. I don’t want people thinking that I’m an Apple fan boy or fan girl. Although I like most Apple products, I’m not blind to their shortcomings. (I must admit, however, that I haven’t found any shortcomings in my iPhone yet.) My goal is to point out how software tools, including mobile computing apps, make my life easier. By sharing this information with you, you might learn how to make your life easier, too.

On a side note here, I’m currently experimenting with Dragon Dictate, a software program that uses voice recognition to transcribe what I dictate. This entire blog post was written by dictation. As I look over what has been transcribed, I realize that it is not error-free, but it is amazingly accurate. I need to learn the software to help make me more productive. Many people like to spend hours in front of the computer but I don’t. I’m hoping that by using dictation software which can type almost as fast as I speak, I can save a lot of time in my writing work and be able to spend more time doing the things I love with the people I love.

Five Reasons Why My Next Phone Will Be an iPhone

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Yes, I finally took the plunge.

Regular readers of this blog think I hate the iPhone. That is not the case. I hate AT&T. From their crappy coverage to their even crappier customer service, I won’t voluntarily give that company another dime of my money ever again. Hell, when I made my split with them years ago, I even sold my stock.

I actually like the iPhone. And, since buying an iPad last April, I like it even more. After all, isn’t an iPad like a big, fat iPhone without calling capabilities or a camera?

I was eligible for a new phone on my Verizon plan on December 23. I’d been considering several Android phones and the Motorola Droid 2 was likely to be the winner.

And then the Verizon iPhone announcement came.

I gave it a lot of thought. I was worried that Verizon would attempt to squeeze higher fees out of customers for the privilege of using the most coveted smartphone in the world. So I waited to learn more about pricing, etc. Hell, I’d lived with the BlackBerry — which still worked fine — for nearly two years; I could wait another few weeks.

Eligible for UpgradeThis morning, I went online to the Verizon site. When I logged in, I was greeted with a message telling me that as a “valued customer,” I was eligible to upgrade to an iPhone first and could get the phone as soon as February 10. I followed a trail of information by clicking a bunch of buttons. I was surprised that the 16GB iPhone 4 would cost me the same as the Droid 2. I clicked some more. I was surprised that an unlimited voice/text plan was available. And that adding up the plans I needed would cost me less per month than I was already paying with my 2-year-old BlackBerry Storm.

When I began entering a credit card number, I knew they had me. Moments later, it was too late to turn back.

But I do have five valid reasons why my next phone will be an iPhone.

  • Smart Phone. It was absolutely necessary for me to buy a smartphone — and the iPhone is one hell of a smart phone. It gives me access to my address book and calendar data and lets me add the apps that I needed to get my work done. And there are plenty of apps. (No, Angry Birds will never be installed on any of my devices.)
  • Easy Syncing. The iPhone will sync address book, calendar, and e-mail data transparently with my Macs. The Droid would have required 3rd party software or clunky syncing with Google services that I don’t currently use. The syncing alone was enough to sell me on the phone, even if it cost more.
  • Familiar Interface. I have an iPad. I struggled with the interface for a short time when it was new. Why? Because it’s based on the iPhone interface, which I didn’t know. So my knowledge of the iPad interface means I already know 95% of what I need to use the iPhone. I admit that I dreaded facing the learning process for an Android phone; now I don’t have to worry about it.
  • The price is right. The iPhone cost me the same as the Droid would have but gives me so much more (see previous three bullets).
  • I am an Apple User (and stockholder). I’ve been using Macs since 1989 and have been writing about them since 1991. People who know me for my Mac-related work are always shocked to learn that I don’t have an iPhone. It isn’t individualism, I tell them. It’s the simple fact that AT&T cannot deliver the kind of service I need for my only means of communication. (Yes, we dumped the land lines at least two years ago.) Now I can meet the expectations of my peers without sacrificing my own communication needs.

February 10 is just a week away. Four years and two phones — Palm Treo 700p and BlackBerry Storm — after the original iPhone was announced, I’m finally joining the throng.

I feel oddly unexcited. Could it be because I know what so many others won’t admit?

It’s just a phone.