Aidan's Blog
January 30, 2008
Well tomorrow will be the two hour season premier of LOST. I can’t say how pumped I’m to watch this. Especially since the new recliners should be here, except I won’t be surprised is the Brick screws that up too. Couple of weeks ago I finished up re-watching season three, pow torrents! Season three so far has been my favorite season since I’m mostly interested in the “Others” and their story line.
I expect season 4 to be the most different of all the seasons. It’s my guess that several of the Losties will get off the island and their new goal will to get back on the Island. Those idiots, who would really want to leave the island?
The next premiers I’ll be pumped up about is Battlestar Galatica Season 4. Which airs April 4th, I believe. This will be the final season of the series and will be a faced paced season. For those of you who haven’t watched this show it is well worth your time. Dexter is the next show I can’t wait for. Although it won’t air several months from now, since season 2 just wrapped up.
There are a couple shows that I’m not so pumped about that I know I will end up watching. Season 7 of 24, I don’t really know how much longer this show can last. Season six was absolutely dreadful. The next show is the Shield. This was one of my favorite shows from season 1-2.5 and season 5 was pretty cool when they brought in the lazy eye guy. Although once the money train was over the show lost a bit of substance. Season 6 premiered April 3rd 2007 and was a very boring season. Season 7 will air some time in the spring and this will be the final season of the series. Apparently there are issues and disputes with the final few episodes because of the writers strike.
I’m looking forward to watching The Wire, which is an HBO series. I’ll let you know how it is.
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January 29, 2008
I guess its the power of the press, as the Brick finally decided to honor the warranty they sold me. After several phone calls with the West Edmonton Mall Brick and emailing head office a few times an unlikely source that cost me $5.00 helped me get my money back. I wrote a report on The Squeaky Wheel and I received an email within 24 hours and everything was settled from there.
I’m happy that it was resolved, but I’m utterly annoyed at the amount of hassle I had too go through. What did I get with my credit? Two recliners and a bi-cast leather Futon for when someone stays over. Maybe I’ll even post a picture once it gets delivered.
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January 28, 2008
Part 1 here
The saga of wasting these scammers time continues. I decided to send them/him who ever fake numbers and information of a Western Union transfer. Here are the emails below:
Me: Here is the Western Union Info:
TCN control number? 7638509851
Senders First name and last name: Lindsay Bellows
Senders Full Address? 10159 - 120Street, Igloo #23, Edmonton, Canada, North Pole
Senders Tel number? 780 151 2585
security question answer: aidan
amount: $900 CNDhanks so much! look forward to the keys and finishing the paper work. Please let me know when you have received the funds.
Reply: Thanks for the response am very happy to hear from you how are you and your work? so i will like you to get back to me with this information you use to make the payment from western union below:
1,MTCN control Number?
2,Senders First Name?
3,Last Name?
4,Senders Full Address?
5,Senders Tel number?
So i have instrut my wife to get the package post to you immedaitly and i will like you to promise me once again that you will take good care of my property like your own
Kindly get back to me with the full information from western union ASAP
Thanks And God Bless You My Tenant
Rev Steven
Ummm k, I’ll send the same info again. Which I did, no point in showing the same info here twice. No Idea what they had trouble with.
Reply: Thanks for the response i hope all is well with you and how was your weekend hope is fine? yes there some issued about the money you sent because when i track the money is not found in the western union website so i will like you to get back to me with the reciept you recieve from western union store and attach it to me or i will like you to check the information very well maybe you do some mistake
Awaiting your response as soon as possible
Thanks And God Bless You My Tenant
Rev Steven
Me: Sorry about the issue. I just looked over the details I sent you and spotted the air. The control number had a typo. I hope its a long trip back and forth for you to find a Western Union. This should work now.
MTCN control Number? 7628509851
2,Senders First Name? Lindsay
3,Last Name? Bellows
4,Senders Full Address? 10159 - 120Street, Igloo #23, Edmonton, Canada, North Pole
5,Senders Tel number? 780 151 2585
Reply: Thanks for getting back to me, but i have not confirm the payment yet.i just left the bank now there is no macth find with the information. so i don’t really understand what is really going on over. i will like you to come back with the new development. so i can contact my wife to go ahead with the shipment of the keys and other necessary document. so i will like you to scan the receipt of the western union and send it to me as attachment. so i awaityou soonest.
Well I’m glad I have made this retard make a trip to the bank. Hopefully, I can get him to make a few more. I might have to get a little creative here with photoshop and make a fake western union receipt.
1 Comment »
January 24, 2008
The girlfriend and I are looking for a new apartment/house to rent. We came across Craiglist.com and looked in the Edmonton section. We found a couple awesome offers. After we contacted the landlord scamer we received this reply:
Thanks for your email and it is my gladness to hearing from you.I am Rev.Steven ,the owner of the house you are making enquiry of Actually I resided in the house with my family,such as my wife and my only daugther before and presently we had packed due to my transfer from my working place and now situated in the WINIPEG and presently my house is still available for rent including the utilities like hydro,washer and security, Also dishwasher and dryer was there. it is furnised.
Moreso Now, i went for a Crusade in the West Africa and i will like you to get in touch with my wife in the canada for more discussion as She is with the keys and the documents to the house.Pls i want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also i spent alot on my property that i want to give you for rent,so i will solicit for absolutementenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own,is that taken,it is not the money the main problem but want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i came for a check up.i do that once in a while.I also want you to let me have trust in you as i always stand on my word.
Email my wife Mrs. Dorcas on (mrsdocas_kaybaby@yahoo.com) and she will attends to you better.
Thanks and you are welcome
Rev. Steven
All of this seemed quite strange. After a little bit of googling it was easy to tell they have a real elaborate scheme going on. I decided to have a little bit of fun with them and followed up with this Mrs. Dorcas. Here is what I sent her:
I saw your ad on Craigslist and sent an inquiry. Your husband told me about his situation and gave me your e-mail address. I am very interested in this house. Would it be possible to send me some pictures or can we book a time to view it with you. Also can you please tell me the exact address of the house?
The reply:
Thanks for the email and also Yes,my husband in respect of Rev Steven owed the house in (10311 - 111 Street, Edmonton,Alberta, T5K 2Y8) and also want you to know that it was due to my husband transfer that makes us to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean and tidy at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.So for now,Am here in CANADA ,WINIPEG our new house and also with the Documents and keys of the house,We try to look for an Agent that we can give this documents before we left but could not see and we are as well as dont want our house to be used any how in our present that is why we took it along to us here and as you know that,my husband over in the West africa for a mission of God,so i hope you will promise us to take very good care of the house.So get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in Renting home.Hope you are Okay with the price with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air condition and so on. i look forward to hearing from you ASAP so that i can forward you an Rent Application Form to fill out and discuss on how to get the house for rent,also are you ready to rent it now or when?
I would of like to know how they came up with this address. Its not even on the west side of Edmonton, like the ad described. Anyways, I followed up:
Thank you for the quick response.
Just to answer some of your questions.
Currently I’m living with my girlfriend in the Monopoly Marvin Gardens district. We are looking for a larger living headquarters for us and our miniature horse. Our current place is a two story igloo. Its very cozy and does its job of keeping the Bears out. Northern Canada is a very dangerous place. Although we are looking for a cheaper solution with rent increasing. And your description sounds wonderful.
We are currently renting our igloo on a month to month basis. We will not have any issues moving into your new home in a matter of days.
A few questions about our future arrangement:
How will we work out the payments if you’re currently living in Winnipeg?
Is the house fully furnished?
Look forward to your response.
Good hearing from you that you shall be promising us that our house will be well taken care of,and i appreciate your expression.So, i want you to stick to your words.Is that okay with you?And the below is the final question that you must answer to qualify for this the rent of my house? and yes the house is correct the price is $900
RENT APPLICATION FORM
Also,Pls let me get this answer.
1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you.
Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that,we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.
Regards.
Await your reply now.
Mrs Docas
Thanks for the speedy response. I’m so excited.
1)Your Full Name: Aidan Lightyear
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number: 10159 - 120Street, Igloo #23, Edmonton, Canada, North Pole
3)How old are you? 23
4)Are you married? No
5)How many people will be living in the house? 1
6)Do you have a pet? Yes, a miniature horse
7)Do you have a car? No, I own a dog sled
8)Occupation? Secretary for a professional ice block Igloo store
I really look forward to getting out of this Igloo and living in your home. The pictures look so wonderful! How can I send you the money before someone else applies for it?
Thank you so much, and my word means a lot to me. I promise that we will keep the house clean and will pay rent on time each month.
Thanks very much for your reply i can see your willingness in this rent and how are you and work? However,Reverend told me that,if you are ready to rent the house now,then that will not be a problem but we will advice you due to a responsible person like you, to be able to afford the 1st month fee now ($900.00) and also i would like to send the following document to you via the UPS to the address you send to me and the tracking number will be sent to you so that you can possible occupy our house immediatly , Hope UPS can deliever to your present house or your office, pls let me know the prefer one.Pls once again,we are giving you this on trust and do not dissapoint us that you will take good care of our house and i promise you that, you will love the house..
Here are the contents of the document you will recieve from me.
1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2)Paper/Permanent house form(Containing your reference details)
3)The house documetary file.
4)Payment Receipt.
So for now i will like you to email my husband that you are now are new tenant and also if you are ready for the first month rent payment now i will like you to email my husband about that so that he can forward you the information you will use to make the rent payment as soon as possible.
I couldn’t believe they are believing anything I have said so far. So I emailed her “hubby” for the payment information.
It is my gladness to hear from my wife that, you are the lucky and new tenant of ours, how are you and i hope all is well with you.Pls, i will only urge you to take very good care of the house because i am not after the money of the rent but wanting it to be tidy and well taken care of.
Inaddition,I will want you to locate nearby Western Union office or international money gram in your location for sending the month payment,($900) and once this payment has been received,then a receipt for FEBRUARY payment will be issued to you for bonafide occupancy,it will include the document that you will be receive within 2 days of payment in your door step.
Here is the payment receivers details and this information is for my partner in missionary job;
Receivers Name: Akin Omec
Receivers Address: 38 Alafia Street
City: Mushin
state: Lagos
country: Nigeria
code: 23401
Amount sent($900)
Secret Question (What is my first name?)
Answer? aidan
Also get back to me ASAP the payment is transfer with the below details from the Western Union office.
TCN control number?
Senders First name and last name
Senders Full Address?
Senders Tel number?
I look forward to hear back from you soonest. N-B:- I want you to note that,the payment can be effective soonest so that i can instruct her to get the package post to you immediately and she will get back to you with the tracking number to confirm the package in your door step and pls make sure you always keep the house tidy and get all the forms inside the document, expecially your reference form get fill once you get it.Rev Steven
I haven’t wrote back yet to these assholes. Although I really don’t think anyone would ever fall for this scam. However, there are many people in this city desperately seeking a home. If anyone has any ideas on how I can further mess with these people please let me know. Thanks.
4 Comments »
January 20, 2008
Part 2 - If you haven’t read Part one click here
What Affiliate Programs to Join? - I highly recommend joining the Poker Affiliate Programs (PAW). PAW offers higher CPA’s (Cost Per Acquisition) and MGR (Monthly Gross Revenue) rates then you will find at normal affiliate programs. The Poker Affiliate Program pays once a month and has several banking options to choose from.
There are many advantages of operating your affiliate links on the PAW network, here are a few: Several affiliate programs have a certain requirement before a withdrawal can be made. Ex. Titan Poker affiliates need to make $500 before you can make a withdrawal. Now if you’re sitting at $450 you can’t get paid. PAW is set up differently, they will be able to pay you the $450 and all other earnings in one payment at the end of the month. If you have any more questions about the PAW network you can contact me directly via my contact page.
Plug: Please use this form to sign up to PAW
Focus on 3 or 4 poker rooms to start – One of the worst things you can do, is start signing up at all the different affiliate programs. Its important not to rush this for several reasons. First off, you can probably find someone who will help you out, as in give you a link or provide you with a higher percentage if you sign up to the affiliate program under another poker affiliate. Second, you won’t have to worry about promoting several rooms. When you’re looking to promote a new brand, look for one that is running a promotion. Many programs will give higher percentages of MGR or bigger CPA’s during a promotional period.
Its much easier for new affiliates to start small and promote 3 or 4 poker rooms. New affiliates will remain much more focused and can build better SERPs (search engine ranking positions) on their new website. When starting out, you will not have an instant full time job. It can take a long time before the ball gets rolling. However, if you can delegate your time wisely and focus on updating your site with good quality content on these 3 or 4 poker rooms, you will see the results a lot quicker then if you were spending the same amount of time trying to stay updated on 10 or more poker rooms.
Learn and become apart of a poker affiliate community – There are several poker affiliate communities around, GPWA and PAP are the most popular ones. I’m most familiar with PAP (PokerAffiliatePrograms.com). The guys that run it are great and very successful. PAP has a blog that is updated constantly with advice and affiliate news.
The forums on PAP is an absolute gold mine. There are countless threads of information on SEO, Affiliate Programs, and marketing ideas. If you have a question or need some help; you’ll find the members at PAP are more then willing to give you a hand. Just remember to use the search feature first.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – I can’t stress how important SEO will become when you start building your website. From meta information to keyword research. There is far much to cover in a paragraph for optimizing your website for search engines. You’ll find countless threads at PAP and there are many websites dedicated to SEO.
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January 19, 2008
I always get asked from friends and family about my “job” and how they can get involved. Normally I try and avoid these questions, and answer with very lame responses to avoid more probing questions. I’ve decided to briefly address some of these questions. In a three part series, I will touch base on how a person can enter the poker affiliate industry and what they will need to do, to become successful.
Part 1: The Basics
A Website and a Niche – Although there are other ways to promote online poker, affiliating through a website will most likely provide the best results. I do not have any experience promoting poker offline, but from my research its not very profitable. Building a website and using it as a portal to online poker sites is the way to go.
Just because you have a website and put up some online poker site banners, does not mean you will receive RMPs (Real money players). With the poker affiliate industry becoming more saturated each day, its more important then ever to find a solid niche. There are still several niche markets that are very profitable. One of the niche markets that my business partner and I target is the Mac Computer poker software. Once you find your niche, you will want to target the keywords for that term and hopefully become an authority.
A lot of people get scared when they hear they will need to manage a website. However, there are many simple solutions today, that offer free website templates with awesome code. A great example is using a WordPress blog. With a little editing of a WordPress blog, you can create a solid design with great SEO (search engine optimization) code. Also, there is a lot of designers/programers that will customize Wordpress blogs for a couple hundred dollars. This is a small investment. Even just a few years ago, having a CMS (content management system) like the free WordPress blogs today, could of cost you in the thousands of dollars.
Content – You will always here the phrase “Content is King” among successful website owners. I can’t stress this enough. There is no such thing as too much content. Of course you’ll want quality content that people will want to read. Search engines absolutely love websites that are enriched with quality content. The more content you site has the more keywords you’ll target, even if you’re not intending too.
Internet and Computer Savvy – With computer software and hardware technology advancing at such a rapid pace; one needs to stay on top and be accustomed to the changes. The internet has gone from the Web 1.0 and now we are in the process of being full transformed into the “Web 2.0”. Prime examples of web 2.0 is social bookmarking sites like Digg.com, Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon.com. Other popular examples are MySpace and Facebook. These sites are extremely powerful and rely heavily on human editing and linking. Another great example is Wikipedia, where any human can actually edit/update the content.
As of now, we are transitioning into Web 2.0. Poker affiliates need to be asking themselves, How can I take advantage of the new web 2.0? and What can I do to build my link value on these popular 2.0 websites? Being internet savvy allows affiliates to transform and participate with these new websites without much effort. Without much knowledge of the internet, popular software programs and computer skills, I would highly recommend not getting involved in the poker affiliate industry.
Patience – Websites do not make money over night. Especially, when you create a site that will rely on search engines like Google to send traffic to your website. It can take several months just to get search engines to start sending a significant amount traffic to your website. It can take even more time, before you start earning money from your new website. Its very important that you remain patient and continue to update your websites content. Content is king, remember that, it will be why you succeed as a online poker affiliate.
1 Comment »
January 15, 2008
Affiliate Speedpay (ASP) is a new payment solution, designed to cater specifically to poker and casino affiliates. Its a company that has Jeremy Enke and the Poker Affiliate Program team involved. Having a reputable staff and Jeremy endorse this product creates a reassurance amongst myself and other poker affiliates.
What is Affiliate Speedpay? Its simply a payment processor, which is similar to NETeller and Moneybookers, without all the hassle. To access your funds you will be able to use a personal Visa Debit Card for your own personal use. Members will have there own personal foreign bank account which can can be debited from, deposited to and used for wire/swift transfers.
Why Should I Use Affiliate Speedypay? The goal of Affiliate Speedpay is it to become the standard form of payment from online casinos and poker rooms. Currently, there are many problems with affiliates getting paid. Since the new regulations in the United States, it has become a hassle for affiliates to get paid and get paid quickly. Even in Canada its becoming an issue, especially with NETeller pulling out.
Affiliate Speedpay will be the best way to receive payments. Affiliates will no longer have to worry about lost cheques, money wires not going through or just lack of withdrawal options from poker sites. Also, any transfer to your account is instant and you can withdraw the money from your debit or make a swift/wire transfer. No more waiting weeks for affiliate cheques to clear. And there is nothing more annoying then getting our affiliate earnings deposited into a poker account! With Affiliate Speedpay we can access our funds world wide from any ATM or Point of Sale system.
To sign up visit www.affiliatespeedpay.com and click the apply now.
Right now Poker Affiliate World (PAW) is adding Affiliate Speed Pay. The PAW system is one of the best affiliate networks in the industry. You can promote all the major programs from one network and receive one payment each month. Click here to Sign Up at the Poker Affiliate World Network
I will do a personal review of this program in a month from now, after I have some more experience with ASP.
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January 14, 2008
Has anyone noticed, how many sites look like generic blogs these days? I know there is a lot of people changing there websites backend over to Wordpress and Drupal. That is solid for a great content management system and decent out of the box SEO code. But really, when sites like PokerListings.com and PokerPages.com are transforming there sites into generic blogs. Seems a tad bit strange. Do they know something that I don’t? Well of course they do, they make sick money… but why the sudden change?
There are also many small affiliate sites over at PAP and CAP forums that are setting up Wordpress blogs. But no one is taking full advantage of what you can do. Instead of using a free template that is most likely hacked or a over priced purchased one, get someone to customize it and have your site look original. I know many poker affiliates do not need fancy sites, especially for their mini sites or one targeted key word sites. Although, spend a little extra money on your bigger site. I’m sure it will we well worth it in the end.
1 Comment »
January 7, 2008
I haven’t got a chance to thank Cake Poker yet for sending me a great Christmas gift. They were nice enough to send a 4 gig iPod nano. It came December 28th but arrived in Edmonton much earlier. Apparently my apartment buzzer doesn’t wake me up. After the delivery service attempted to deliver it over three times. I don’t really understand the mail delivery systems out there. What makes them think that most of the population will be home during day time hours? I tell ya, an after hours delivery company could make a serious dent in this already saturated market.
Cake Poker didn’t only hook up there high volume affiliates, they also sent
a special gift to some of their poker players. I’m assuming poker players who raked over X amount of dollars each month received a Cake Poker Cake. Pretty clever marketing if you ask me.
Anyways, thanks again Shenaz , Rob and the rest of the Cake Poker team. You have reinforced my appreciation for a great company and product. Cake Poker is my businesses number one poker room and I’m glad they actually appreciate my biz partner and I sending them players each month.
Related links: Cake Poker - Cake Rakeback - Cake Poker Affiliate Program
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Short Story of what is happening: I bought a couch 6 months ago from the Brick and its basically falling apart because of the cheap foam they manufacture with. Tech comes over to check it out and says that the foam needs to be replaced. But fixing it once will not solve the problem and I was asked if I would just like to exchange the couch. Great, I’m getting a new couch! As soon as my girlfriend signed the papers the tech noticed that there is a cat scratch on it. He changed the form and said we would need to contact the store because of it. Ugh.
So, I call the store and they basically tell me to screw off because there has been ‘abuse’ to the couch. They won’t replace the defective product nor will they fix the foam/cushion!!! Please don’t ask me how a Cat scratch and shitty foam/defective couch relate. Anyways, so below is the email that I sent to the head office of the break. I will keep you updated to see if they end of taking care of this.
Aidan Woodfine
Sale Number: ****
January 6th, 2008
To whom it may concern:
My girlfriend and I went to the the West Edmonton Mall Brick store in need of a new bed and couch. The salesmen, Darren, treated us great and presented us with a couch that was on sale and a very nice new bed. We ended up spending $2,728.31, which is a substantial amount of money for a young couple. All was great, until a few months ago.
We started noticing that our couch was losing its firmness. It continues to deteriorate, and now if a person sits on certain spots, you’ll literally tip over. This, obviously, makes things very uncomfortable. The couch was purchased on July 13h, 2007. We were not worried because we were assured that when we purchased the couch, it would be backed by an excellent warranty.
Last week we decided that we should call The Brick and get them to come fix the couch. Customer service sent out a technician to come have a look. When the technician arrived, he could see where the issue was just by looking at the couch. He told us that the couch is very low quality, but that he could fix it. However, we were informed that we would keep experiencing the same problem with the couch due to the poor quality and cheap foam used. The technician continued to talk about how low the quality of this couch really is. He asked us if we would be willing to go with a newer model of couch, which we thought would be the best option especially if the couch would be continually needing future repairs.
The technician filled out the paper work to replace the couch and we signed the document. However, as we handed back the paper, he noticed there was a cat scratch on the couch. He said that he would not be able to replace it and that we would need to contact the store to talk to them about it.
On Wednesday January 2nd, I contacted The Brick and spoke to customer service about our issue. I explained the story and she said she needed to contact the technician to find out what was going on. We received a call back the next day to find out that the couch would not be covered due to the cat scratch. Apparently the customer service representative took this issue to the General Manager of the store for his opinion. He agreed that since there is a scratch on the couch, it was to be deemed “abuse” so they will not liable to fix the faulty and cheap couch that we were sold.
The problem we have with this, is that there is absolutely no relation to the couch’s foam issue and the exterior scratch. We made it aware to our salesmen that we own a cat before we bought the couch. We feel we should have been notified that if any cat scratches appeared, that the entire warranty would be voided! Since we bought a leather couch, we obviously were not concerned about the possibility of it being scratched.
During the conversation, I informed the customer service lady that we intended to upgrade to a more expensive couch to avoid similar problems. However, before finishing my sentence I was interrupted and told that there was nothing that could be done.
We feel that the West Edmonton Mall Brick has not handled this situation properly and has not stood by their product. I doubt that The Brick company appreciates or condones this type of behavior towards their customers and their warranties. We ask that The Brick handle this situation correctly and provide us with credit towards a new couch, as there is no excessive damage, only minor wear and tear. We were simply sold a defective product that should be replaced.
Regards,
Aidan Woodfine
****
Update: Wrote this email to the brick one week ago. Still have not heard any reply yet. So I followed up with another email with this one attached. Something tells me I will keep being ignored.
141 Comments »
