Great stapler scam

Phone scams as old as phones I suppose. Padlock a clear message. But why is a Twitter scam warning also illustrated with a stapler?

Ah yes, I remember the great stapler scam of the 1960s. No one with an office desk was safe. The scammers got in using Trojans and viruses. It was chaos, what with the technology we had then. All those giant wooden horses jamming the corridors. All that coughing and sneezing. Everyone knew someone who’d had their thumb stapled to a desk top.

Those were the days when we talked of the imminence of the paperless office and shorter working hours. But still, if it weren’t for optimism, we wouldn’t have progress. Ludicrous optimism at that – we’ve lived underwater for millennia, but hey, let’s try climbing out and breathing air ... if we pull bits of fur out of this animal and tangle them up, they’ll make a long thread and if we tie the long thread into a really complicated knot, we’ll end up with a pullover ... etc. Beautifully random and in the grand scheme of things it works so well.

My book is out there

Wow, my book is on the front page of the publisher's website. If someone hadn't mentioned it, I'd never have thought to look. It's been popping up in all sorts of places for a few weeks now. Initially, it kept appearing on financial websites or those 'Guard against fraud' type sites. All because it's called Like False Money. I can't believe I never saw that interpretation of the title, but I truly didn't. I was using the comparison with the way counterfeit money gets into circulation and is then tendered in good faith by honest people. Now I'm worried about people buying it expecting to learn how to protect their assets from fraudulent transactions. Well, not that worried if I'm honest (which I am). More of a worry is noone buying it because then I might not sell number 3.
Anyway, it's up there on Hale's front page

Lunch with Val

Congratulations to Val Wood, outselling Jeremy Clarkson and Peter Kay with her new novel, Rich Girl Poor Girl in the local Waterstone's.
More to the point, she gave us - me, Linda, Ann and Sylvia - an excellent lunch today, complete with bubbly, loads of writerly gossip, all the inside stories on ... I'm not allowed to say any more.
Quote of the day from a 90 year old writer 'Romance is not dead at 65'. So we're all looking forward to getting there.
Well done, Val.

Sorry, my Facebook friends – not a hope

Here's what I said in 2012: I originally wrote this blog about Facebook in 2010, but as it remains relevant in 2012, I'm updating it. OK, and now I'm updating it again.

I used to be a FB incompetent, not really understanding how it all fitted together. I cyber-shook hands with new friends, replied to messages and joined in the good causes that I thought worthwhile. I use it much more now. I've attended some incredible online events just recently.

But I was never able to take on Facebook as another dimension to life. I didn’t have the time and I still don't have the time. I have a blog, a website and twitter (and a Facebook page) - none of which I update as often as I should. I have a busy non-virtual life, too.

What I said back in 2010 was that I was not signing up to the virtual farm game. Not ever. I’d seen people using up real worry over their virtual turnips and had always had enough to do here with the real farm. I recently noted a stack of invitations to join something similar, or maybe the same game in its 2012 guise. I'm afraid the message remains the same.

And now here we are in 2013, with a great tsunami of games invitations pouring in - no virtual turnips in sight, just multicoloured doo-dahs and tempting glittery adverts. I didn't have time in 2010. I didn't have time in 2012. And I still don't have time in 2013. If I ever find the time, rest assured I will use it to do the things on that long list of things to do if I ever find the time. Guess what, to date there is not a glimmer of a Facebook game even on the furthest reaches of that list.

So, sorry my Facebook friends, there was no hope of tempting me into anything like that back in 2010 & 2012. And there's even less hope now.