James Wiseman

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

£2010.43 is still outstanding in your name for the accident you had. To get this reply ASAP, reply CLAIM to this message NOW

Received from:

• +447544310950/07544310950
• +447544312770/07544312770

Image via Wikipedia

This is a spam text message WHICH IS ILLEGAL. The companies that use this form of marketing are equivalent to the people who buy stolen goods. These are not the sort of companies you want to do business with!

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Again, DO NOT REPLY. This is a random act of spamming – a computer program is systematically trying to send this out to thousands of numbers at random. It has, by sheer chance, found your number!

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

Also, please. please post any variants in full. I have had so many comments from people in desperate circumstances who are being targeted by the parasites that operate these scams.

How Does It Work?

The whole setup is quite elaborate. But in essence there is a computer program that pretends to be the number you see that sends out all the spam messages. Meanwhile, another computer program monitors the text-message mailbox of all of the numbers you see. If you reply, then you are added to a database  of numbers to be called (and for future spamming).

I’ve written this up in full at: Telephony Leads and Debt Management Companies – How It Works.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

When attempting to hide or display an instance of SQL Server over a network, you have a number of different method for doing this.

I found this  particularly problematic when trying to locate a remote SQL server located on a colleague’s workstation. As such, I felt it worthwhile to record and enumerate the different method for doing so.

The scenario was that I was attempting to connect through SSMS (Management Studio) and was getting the error message “Cannot connect to [database name]‘

SQL Server Properties

1. In Management Studio, click on the server root, and select properties.
2. From the resulting dialog, select the ‘Connections’ page.
3. Ensure the checkbox “Allow remote connections to this server” is checked.

SQL Server Configuration

1. Run SQL Server Configuration Manager (located in within the SQL shortcuts under the windows start menu)
2. Navigate to “SQL Server Network Configuration” and then “Protocols for SQL2008R2″
3. Ensure TCP/IP is “Enabled”
4. Right-click on ”Protocols for SQL2008R2″ and select “Properties”
5. Ensure “Hide Instance” is set to “no”

 SQL Browser Service

1. Navigate to the Service Control Manager through control panel (or run “Services.msc”)
2. Ensure the “SQL Server Browser” service is started. (It may be best to have the Startup Type as “Automatic”

Now, hopefully, you should be able to see the SQL Server instance over the network and connect to it (assuming you have permissions to do so!)

Thanks for the info provided on Stackoverflow in the following articles:

Make MSSQL 2008 Instance invisible (nonpublic)

SQL Server Browser showing only hostname, not instance name

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

I received this message today:

Our records indicate your Pension is under performing to see higher growth and upto 25% cash please reply PENSION for a free review. To opt out reply STOP

Received from:

• +447895123861 / 07895123861

And others have reported similar:

90% of UK pensions are showing negative growth, to celebrate national pension week reply INFO for free review on your old or frozen pension. To opt out STOP 

From

• +447565915540 / 07565915540

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

2011 was year of “debt resolution” text scams. Now, in 2012 the criminals behind these schemes are focussing on stripping the vulnerable of their retirement nest egg. This is the cash that senior citizens will depend upon in retirement.

This is morally deplorable and utterly contemptible.

Recently, the government announced a crackdown on such spamming and scamming schemes, so happily, imprisonment is the inevitable consequence for the scum at all ends of this con.

I wrote about a similar message in a post from a couple of months ago, but I think its worth reiterating the message from this.

…it is impossible to unlock your pension before the age of 55. The 25% mentioned in the text message refers to the 25% tax-free cash, that you can opt to take anyway. This is an option presented to you by your pension provider when you cash in, or ‘vest’ your pension anyway.

The companies that offer this service will be intent on taking a sizeable percentage of any ‘unlocked’ money, potentially condemning  the victims to hardship in their retirement years.  This article at MoneyExtra.com carries more information on the pitfalls of pension unlocking and some possible alternatives.

The above text messages claim to be outperform the stock market by quite staggering percentages. If it were that simple they would not need your pension money. They would happily invest their own cash and you would never hear from them.

What is likely to happen is that you will be charged an annual management charge (AMC) which will result in the value of your pension pot declining even further.

And as for “National Pensions Week” – I have never heard so much garbage in all of my life.

The key message here is this:

Before doing anything with your hard-earned retirement fund SEEK INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVICE.

At the very least do not engage with these shady characters – the bottom feeders of society.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspxDue to a new legislation, those struggling with debt can now apply to have it written off. For more information text the word ‘INFO’ or to opt-out text stop.

In the programming world, there is a principle referred to as ‘DRY’, which stands for “Don’t Repeat Yourself”. In a nutshell, it states that if you find yourself writing identical code in two or more different areas of a system, then you should rationalise this into a single module that is utilised within these areas.

DRY is part of a broader principle of Code Reuse – a fundamental tenet of software engineering. The reuse of code carries with it the advantage of a smaller code base and reduced maintenance costs.

As the spotlight falls ever more frequently on the world of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), it’s worth highlighting some of the key challenges that this discipline attempts to address. Code reuse is certainly one of them, but others such as segregation of functional responsibility, and ‘coupling’ are also relevant.

‘Coupling’ is a term that describes interdependence of a system. Systems are said to be highly coupled when each module depends on many other modules in a system. We can visualise the modules as a series of balls each connected by a string to other balls (modules) on which it depends. This analogy is quite good, as we can see that a system that is highly-coupled (lots of string) has a tendency to become a tangled mess. And, if we want to replace a ball, or change the nature of it in some way (size, colour, for example), then this may have a knock-on effect on all the balls (modules), so we have to examine (test) these to ensure they are still ok. In short, a highly-coupled system is BAD!

As it turns out, DRY, and the principle of reuse can actually lead to more tightly coupled systems. Consider and contrast two distinct are areas of a financial system. One is concerned with keying new client informations and the other with the provision of management information. These are two areas that are largely unrelated. If we consolidate all their common functionality, then we tie them closely together. If we then modify this common functionality in future, then we have to test two different areas.

So, like almost any other principle in programming, it turns out that DRY is a trade-off and a compromise. They key is context. Sometimes duplication is a mere coincidence, and by retaining it we allow independent areas of the system to mature and evolve independently while limited the bonds that couple it. Sometimes, WET (Write-Every-Time) really is better than DRY!

Some time ago, I penned an article “Heroes of Computing” where I discussed what, in my opinion, was a lamentable lack of awareness for pioneers of the computing profession, even within the profession itself.

And what of those most notable pioneers?

Charles Babbage, who many people credit with building the first computer was ridiculed and died a lonely man.

Ada Lovelace, who wrote logic that would run on Babbage’s machines and is often cited as the worlds first programmer died of bloodletting from her physicians as a treatment of uterine cancer.

And, finally, Alan Turing, one of the most brilliant minds this country has ever produced, whose contributions to the war effort in WWII at Bletchley Park is widely regarded to have shortened it by two years sparing potentially millions of lives, was forced to undergo chemical castration after being convicted of homosexuality.

Image by Christopher_Hawkins via Flickr

Lets look at this in a different light.

Alan Turing invented the computer and was castrated and persecuted. Alan Sugar sold computers and was knighted.

So, I was delighted when I was directed towards a new e-Petition on the UK government website, calling for his pardon.

In 2009 then British Prime-Minister, Gordon Brown, issued a formal apology on behalf of the British government. Stating “I’m proud to say sorry to a real war hero.”

People may cite the context of that era and state that, at the time, homosexuality was illegal. But even if you account for that, Alan Turing’s treatment was still utterly appalling.

He was prosecuted for gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, the same piece of legislation used nearly seven decades earlier to prosecute Oscar Wilde. The punishment was quite different, however. Wilde was sentenced to two years imprisonment and hard labour, whilst Turing was offered chemical castration as an alternative to imprisonment. The sentence is widely regarded to be a knee-jerk reaction at the time to acute public anxiety about spies and homosexual entrapment by Soviet agents. Turing was, of course,  never accused nor suspected of espionage in any shape or form.

In this instance, I think it’s also worth referencing the case in 2006 where the British Government formally pardoned 306 soldiers who were executed for desertion during the World War One. This was considered by many to be most brutal of wars, as many ordinary individuals, conscripted and wrenched away from their family and loved-ones were subject to a gruesome and almost unimaginable horror.

It was recognised that in many cases these people were probably sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The pardon allowed their families to remember them in honour and to celebrate their life and sacrifice.

In the centenary of his birth I see that it is only fitting that the same gesture be bestowed upon Turing. By all accounts he was an inspirational and brilliant man who encompassed the very best of British ingenuity and inventiveness, and is someone whose life should be more publicised and celebrated.

So, please, if you are a British citizen I would implore you to sign the government E-Petition. The link is below

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23526

I stumbled across this message recently during the course of developing a bespoke jQuery plugin for one of our systems.

The offending code in question was

/*****************************************************************************/
/*Private functions.
/*****************************************************************************/

Given its structure, I found myself blinded to the offending code until I spotted that I had indeed omitted the closing ‘*/’ from the second line.

The message it yielded in full was:

Stopping, unable to continue. (4% scanned).

This message is easy enough to understand, but it’s one of those that causes JSLint to halt in its tracks

The omission of a closing statement to any block of code can result in inadvertently nesting any proceeding code. Block comments are more forgiving of the omission, because the second opening ‘/* will be treated as a comment itself.

However, consider the following:

/*Private functions.    /*Nested Comment*/   */

In the above code, the first close-comment will close everything, and the second will be left dangling. This is even shown up by the syntax-highlighter (if you can see it).

One user did ask this question of Douglas Crockford, who responded

JSLint stops because it sees comments that are nested. That is usually
an indication of a serious coding error. In the face of such errors,
JSLint stops.

So there we have it. Don’t nest your comments.

This article is one of a series on the error and warning messages produced by JSLint.

I saw this homepage recently, where the website ownser offers anyone else with the name “Ashley Hurst” an email address @JamesWiseman.com and it occurred to me that it might be nice to offer an equivalent service here on JamesWiseman.com.

So, if your name is James Wiseman, and you are looking for an email address @JamesWiseman.com then drop me a line.

I currently have dibs on the following:

• mail
• james
• adsense
• webmaster

But you are welcome to anything else (within reason – nothing sweary or offensive)

I’m not planning to charge anything, but if it becaomes hassle to administer, then I may ask for a small one-off fee, or something.

We can work the details out

What better use of blog that to promote your own family and friends?

Well, following the triumphant debut of my brother Richard in the inaugural Wiseman goes wild! Episode 1 : Jerk Chicken, I thought I’d plug the second in the epic “Wiseman goes wild” series Wiseman goes wild. Episode 1.1. Wiseman ‘does’ ikea!

Produced by Dan Marowak it features tips and hints for foraging when you find yourself in you local Swedish furniture store. This epic video is a must see. Or something.

Anyhow, that’s my job done. And to think, this once used to be about programming!