From the Hysterical Spam Department

December 20th, 2009

Normally, scams/fraud like this goes right into the trash can. This one is so blatantly obvious and funny that I thought it was worth sharing just for fun. Without further adoo, a compulsory instruction from “Mr. james brown, Manager International Debt Funds Recoup, Department of the Treasury”:

International Debt Funds Recoup Unit of
United States Department of the Treasury Washington DC.
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW;
Washington , DC 20220

We call on your attention to be enlighten that we the International Debt Funds Recoup Unit of United States Department of the Treasury Washington DC, with the active support of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, have escalate our watch on your computer and telephone communication because we discovered you have been communicating with imposters imposing as important dignitaries to undisclosed organizations.

We have monitored transaction list of the Western Union, and the Wal-Mart Money Gram for transaction made on your name, and transaction made through your bank account within the states and overseas, however our general findings urged us to setup multifaceted maximum security on your everyday activities most specially your email correspondence and telephone communications.

Base on how fascinating your case turned out to be, we deployed representatives of International Debt Funds Recoup Unit under the superiority of United States Department of the Treasury Washington DC, and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, to investigate if there was any funds, as a result of Contract Payment Funds, Lottery Winning Funds or Inheritance Funds owe to you by the undisclosed organizations, and to our dismay, it was discovered that your name appeared as owner of funds valued US$15.5Million United States Dollars.

The assembly of American Government bureaus, sent on your behalf on this exploit, confirmed that the guiding principles, and blueprint of your funds recoup was fair, and just considered opinion by the organization, and the outcome of the event was a solution to curtail activities of con artist, and is indeed a perfect solution to your quest on your funds.

Finally the recouped funds has arrived U.S Department of the Treasury Washington DC, been properly arranged into Steel Security Cash Trunk, otherwise called Cash Consignment Baggage, and is currently deposited in the U.S Treasury Basement here in Washington DC.

To claim your funds, we urge you to reconfirm your personal information stated as following below that will be used for the delivery of the Steel Security Cash Trunk, otherwise called Cash Consignment Baggage to your location.

1. First Name:
2. Middle Name:
3. Last Name:
4. Home Phone Number
5. Cell Phone Number:
6. Home Address:
7. Date of Birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
8. Driver’s License/ Passport Copy:
9. Issuing State/ Province:
10. Marital Status:
11. Current Employer Name:
12. Position/Title:
13. Property Owner (Yes/No)
14. Property Location (US/Canada):

This is compulsory instruction.

God Bless America.

Mr. james brown.
Manager International Debt Funds Recoup
Unit of United States Department
Of the Treasury Washington DC.

Netbeans 6.8 Install Problems?

December 17th, 2009

Like a lot of development companies, The Untangled Web has been eagerly awaiting the release of Netbeans 6.8. While previous versions supported PHP and some affiliated frameworks, 6.8 offers the most comprehensive integration of the Symfony Framework we are aware of in an IDE.

Installing the program on our Windows machines required a couple of steps as the installer complained over-and-over about the absence of a compatible Java runtime.

Java SE Development Kit (JDK) was not found on this computer

JDK 6 or JDK 5 is required for installing the Netbeans IDE. Make sure that the JDK is properly installed and run installer again. You can specify valid JDK location using -javahome installer argument.

This is odd, we thought, since we have been using Netbeans 6.5 happily for some time and it was running off Java 1.5. After mucking with JAVA_HOME, CLASSPATH and trying to pass the –javahome path to the installer at the command line, we found a way (Google is your friend) to force feed the Netbeans 6.8 installer.

First, extract the JAR installer from the executable:

This will dump a file into your directory called bundle.jar. The JAR file can be executed using your Java 1.5 or 1.6 installation as follows:

Your command window will begin to churn out all the verbosity that is the Netbeans installer and, within a few moments, the installer wizard will appear in all its glory:

Follow along with the usual machinations of software installation and your Netbeans IDE will run happily thereafter.

iTunes App Store and Quality Code

September 1st, 2009

I recently read an article about an angry iPhone / iPod Touch developer who wrote a harsh criticism of Apple on his blog. The developer, Joe Stump, created an application called Chess Wars that allows for chess to be played by Facebook users via these mobile devices. Sounds cool.

What’s not cool is that the software contained numerous bugs upon release. Joe admits that the defects were missed by his company: Blunder Move. He also notes that Apple did not identify the bugs during the app review process.

In response, Blunder Move submitted a patch for the chess app to fix the problems users were experiencing. Apple made the patched version available on the App store. Once again, the app contained a serious flaw. This flaw was not detected by Blunder Move or Apple before release.

A third version has been created and submitted to Apple for release. Joe is furious with Apple because this latest build has not yet been made available by Apple. He fears, perhaps correctly, that the defective program is ruining his company’s reputation and hurting future sales.

I empathize with Joe. It’s a serious bummer when, as a developer, you release software with bugs. Every seasoned developer has been there. The feeling is akin to having your guts turned inside out. You are anxious to see a patch released and ‘your baby’ fixed.

However, who is at fault for this unfortunate situation? My understanding is that the developer is responsible for the quality of the product. That the code should be thoroughly tested before release. That integration, regression and acceptance testing be performed to minimize mishaps.

Apple Computer’s role in this business relationship is to provide a distribution model, which they do quite effectively. They are to examine the app to ensure that it adheres to their policies (no porn, etc). I do not believe that they can be viewed as an extension of a company’s QA department unless they are contacted directly using the ADC support incident request:

The iPhone Developer Program includes two Technical Support Incidents where Apple engineers will provide you with code-level assistance, helpful guidance, or point you towards the appropriate technical documentation to fastrack your development process.

In regard to the initial bug fix release also containing bugs, Joe states ’shit happens’. Nonchalant but true. Vilifying Apple and shifting responsibility does not address the greater issue: releasing quality, well-tested software. And while I feel for Joe having to wait 6 weeks (so far) for the next version of Chess Wars to be queued for distribution, I’d also caution developers to be 99.999% sure that the product you release is ready for prime time.


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