There's nothing particularly fancy about the Oxford Memo Book in the picture. It measures 6 1/8" x 3 3/4", has 72 ruled pages with a simple brown carboard cover. These are the favored notebook of the Honolulu Police Department, the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, some security guards and a number of ordinary people who prefer it to the exclusion of any other notebook.
Some time ago, Oxford decided to stop making these, much to the chagrine of devoted fans. I've seen web postings by people frustrated with the company for its decision and there are a number of people seeking them independantly.
Another company, Roaring Springs, began making them and sells them via their website, but you have to buy a case of 144 notebooks because they don't sell them any other way.
Here in Hawaii, you can buy them singly for $1.90 each at Fisher Hawaii. A friend of mine in California asked me to pickup ten of these for him and mail them over. Naturally, he'll pay for the books and postage. He's a friend, not my brother. Another shocking level of devotion for a notebook! Where will it end??
So, if you're a fan of the now-discontinued Oxford Memo Book in Hawaii, go to Fisher Hawaii and buy as many as you want.
By the way, please don't get mad at the clerks at OfficeMax because the store doesn't stock them (You know who you are).
While trying to watch a Youtube video, I saw an ad for something called "Duvamis". It's supposed to be a way for people to find-out "who they really are" and the ad - which has a long version and a short one - reminded me very much of Scientology, both for its content and its production quality.
You can see the long version here
Being a curious guy and having nothing else to do, I watched the entire ad and then tried to find their website.
The site duvamis.com wasn't hard to find with a simple Google search, but there wasn't much content.
Duvamis also has a blog at duvamis.blogspot.com which claims to offer users a place where they can "express their inner selves" or some bullshit like that.
A quick WhoIs search informed me that duvamis.com is an anonymously-registered domain and its IP address is out of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Now, my instincts began to warn me of a potential scam. Why Bulgaria - a country whose law enforcement abilities against Internet crime are not exactly stellar, mostly because they have no law applicable to the Internet - and not the United States or Western Europe? If they have nothing to hide and only want to help me "find-out who I really am", why hide behind a cloak of anonymity?
Hey, it's entirely possible that these guys are on the level, but too many questions about Duvamis are left unanswered.
As a side note, I found it rather interesting that "Duvamis" is also the name of a fictional person in World of Warcraft. Duvamis was an 80th level gnome mage who was last active on WoW in July 2010, which is only a few months before the domain duvamis.com was registered.
I found that to be particularly interesting.
Personally, I'd advise anyone to stay away from these people.
Special thanks to a reader who did more thorough background research into Duvamis than I had the time or opportunity to do. With his permission, I have added it to the body of this blog:
A friend asked me to look into this. Message I sent to him below.
"It
is definitely weird. The WhoIs information for Duvamis is private but
the WhoIs information for the site they're hosting the CSS information
on is not.
Both
Bulgarian Innovation Projects and Eagle (formerly Orel) Invest look
like private equity firms focused on investing in technology. It isn't
really suspicious that a fledgling social media site with enough money
to launch a relatively high profile ad campaign on Youtube would have
investors, and these sorts of companies create shells within shells
within shells in the US to dodge regulations, not sure how it works in
Bulgaria though.
What is suspicious is that all the names listed
under the WhoIs are aliases, two out of three of which seem to share a
naming convention with a Youtube commentor named Dragomir Dmitrov with a
brand new account that's affiliated with Duvamis.
The
person for dvcdn.com is Atanas Rakov, and the person for bip-invest.com
is Atanas Dimitrov, there's a third name on orel-invest.com that
doesn't fit the convention. All names listed under WhoIs appear to be
aliases with no internet history at first blush.
In addition both
bip-invest.com and orel-invest.com share the same real world address,
which appears to be an apartment complex, not office space, although I'm
not overly familiar with Bulgarian architecture and zoning so don't
quote me on that.
The
only thing that makes me hesitate to call this an out and out project
with malicious purposes is that everything not directly associated with
Duvamis has been around for more than a few years and there isn't any
chatter about past scams that I'm seeing. So maybe legit, maybe not, I
don't think there's anything else for me to find without engaging in
dirty tricks."
Since the posting of this blog entry, I haven't seen any more ads for Duvamis on YouTube. I'm not saying that one had anything to do with the other. Looking through the comments sections of both of their videos, I discovered that I wasn't the only person who had doubts about it.
Signing-up for an account reveals Duvamis to be a sort of social networking site. As of right now, there's very little in the way of content on the site and very few users, most of whom aren't active beyond setting-up their homepages or "Visions" as Duvamis calls them. The website even has its own way of telling time (too complicated to explain, but it's weird) and they use odd terms for the various sections.
I'm not sure if Duvamis is a social networking site that's trying to be a religion or a religion trying to be a social networking site.
Either way, it's too weird for me.
Duvamis' ad campaign is the perfect example of doing it wrong.
If you're in the dark about what chemtrails really are, you may want to have a look at this video. There's no scientific mumbojumbo, just a plain-speaking man who tells it like it is.
From: Henry Michael To: "henry_michael96@yahoo.com" Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 5:17 AM Subject: THE MONEY IS AVAILABLE
I have just sent the money this morning as you requested yesterday but this will be the last time I will be sending money to Nigeria because I had to go with a friend of mine before getting this money to u and every necessary information you need to pick the money up has been attached and the senders name is Debbie Hamilton, mtcn : 662:623:6744 . so get ur fucking ass down here or else am not going to send any more money. Love U
Contained within the email, made to look like a Western Union document was an EXE file which likely contains malware designed to hijack my computer and subvert it to use as part of some criminal enterprise or simply to gain access to my files.
As a possible subplot within this scheme, it's written in such a way that a potential reader may come to think that an innocent person is being scammed and will then try to warn the sender that they didn't request any money to be sent. The only thing that would come of that is that the well-intentioned person would simpky have their email address added to the scammers' database.
It seems that this simply designed notebook has become something of a sensation, if you can make such a determination according to YouTube videos and assorted blog posts.
While Midori Traveler's Notebook seems to have what may appear to be a fanatically-devoted following for a stationary product, they are by no means alone in having such, as you can see from people who use products like Moleskine Notebooks, Field Notes and Filofax, among others. There are people who devote time and energy to posting videos and blog posts telling the world how much they love these products and how much other people should use them too.
But, while the other brands I've mentioned seem to be widely available, a frequent complaint among MTN devotees is how hard it is to get one if you live in the United States. According to one video I saw, there are only four or five vendors in the USA where you can get one.
The Truth is that, while products like Moleskine are quite easy to acquire, MTNs are not impossible to find from American vendors. Here is the list I have put together, so far:
Amazon.com offers them for a reasonable price and you can see Midori's Amazon page here.
I live in Honolulu, Hawaii and my first thought was to try to find them at Shirokiya in the Ala Moana Shopping Center. While Shirokiya does stock many products from Japan, they do not yet sell the Midori Traveler's Notebook. The only store in Hawaii that sells them is Hakubundo Books, at the Ward Center. Visit their website here.
You can purchase them at one of several Maido Stationery & Gift stores. They have locations in San Francisco and San Jose. Their sister company Kinokuniya Stationery has locations in Los Angeles and New York City. Visit their website here.
Baum-kuchen seems to do its business solely via the Internet and does not appear to have a brick-and-mortar store. Their website can be found here.
Resor Shop is located in Miami, Florida and seems to have the MTN as its primary product for sale. The site looks good and you can see it here.
OMOI is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and their website is here.
The Goulet Pen Company is based in Ashland, Virginia and their website is here.
This list is as complete as I can make it, with the limited information I have and there may well be other store in the USA that sell the Midori Traveler's Notebook that I am unaware of at the moment. If you know of others, please post their information in comments.
If you simply want a traveler's notebook of the same style as the MTN, but either don't want to spend that much or a brand name is unimportant to you, there are a number of people who make and sell them on Etsy.com and their products could be of the same quality as those made by Midori. The closest in appearance and function to the MTN is made by someone in Canada, known as Zenok Leather and you can browse their collection of products on their shop page.
Checking Craigslist for available apartments to rent, I found this ad:
Reply To: sedraedward@rocketmail.com
$645 / 1br - waikiki -Ala Wai Condo for Rent (2609 Ala Wai Blvd)
Posted: 2013-05-10, 8:33PM HST Clean 1 bedroom, 1 bath on 8th floor of 12 story secure condo building, partly furnished, secured covered parking, large lanai, newer cabinets, carpet, tile floors and refrigerator. Near zoo and Kapiolani Park with slight view of Diamond Head from living, dining and lanai areas. Coin-operated laundry in building basement. Includes water. Cable ready, Pets. One month securty deposit required at lease signing with first month rent. Six month lease
dogs are OK - wooof
Location: 2609 Ala Wai Blvd
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
A quick Internet search for the email address provided showed several other ads that had been placed by this person in the recent past, but which had all been flagged and removed. So, I had immediate doubts as to the authenticity of the ad and its author. Nevertheless, I sent an inquiry to the provided address and received this reply:
From: Edra Edward Satromino sedraedward@rocketmail.com
Hello,
Thank
you for the most eloquent response to my listing, I'm the owner of
the apartment you are making inquiry of. Actually me and my wife
resided in the apartment, before i lost My Wife in a ghastly motor
accident so i had to decide to let it out since i alone can not live
alone in my apartment and i have just been transferred to Cincinnati Ohio State due to my work so i don't want my apartment to be there without no one living in my apartment that's why i intend renting out my apartment to whoever is interested in renting my
apartment and It includes utilities like hydro, washer and security, I
have my furniture in the apartment. if you which to move in with your
furnished items there is a storage area where you can move my
furniture's, no problem. Please i want you to note that i am a kind and
honest young man and also from the photos you should know that i must
have spent a fortune on the property that i want to give you for rent,
i will want you to take absolute care of my apartment and I want you to
treat it as
your own, as trust is the most important thing but i want you to keep
it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come
for check up.All utilities included except electric (Heat, A/C, Gas,
Cable, High Speed, Internet, Water, Sewer, Trash Removal).
======== RENT APPLICATION FORM ============ PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Also,Pls answer these questions below: * 1)Your Full Name__________________________ ____________ 2)Present Address(where you reside now) & Phone Number________________________ ______ 3)How old are you _____________________________ 4)Are you married ______________________________ _____ 5)How many people will be living in the Home__________________________ _ 6)Do you have a pet ______________________________ ___________ 7)Do you have a car ______________________________
____________ 8)Occupation ______________________________ ___________________ 9)How long are you willing to stay ______________________________ ___________ 10)When do you intend to move in ______________________________ ___________ 11)Rental Payment plan ranging from 1 month, 3 months or 6 months or 1 year...(indicate most convenient option)_______________________ __________________
12) Pictures of all the Occupant that will stay in my Home__________________________ ____________ 13) Copy of Photo ID..(Optional)*
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt
in your name and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how i will get the documents and the keys to you.please I am giving you all this based on trust and again i want you to stick to your words,i am putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let me down on this property
of mine and God bless you more as you do this.
Regard
The obviously self-made "application" is a big Red Flag for me, as well as the flowery language used as well as an appeal to sympathy by the mention of a supposed wife tragically killed in an auto accident. Notice that no phone number is provided.
An IP trace indicates that the message originated from the East Coast of the Untied States, not Ohio, although it's possible that Rocketmail could mask your IP.
For the record, an apartment in this building will normally run about $2000+ per month and utilities are typically added on top of that. Asking less than a thousand dollars a month is a sweetheart deal that's simply too good to be true and so, therefore, isn't. Nobody is going to rent-out a two million dollar condo for less than $700 a month! Besides, an out-of-state condo owner would employ a rental agent to handle matters like this, rather than doing it all via the Internet themselves.
While looking for a new place to live, I found this ad:
- $450 1 bedroom, 1 bath, Quiet Side Street. (honolulu)
1 bedroom, 1 bath, Quiet Side Street. Nice neighborhood. . Nice walking
area. Convenient access to anywhere. Newer kitchen, modern bath. Nice
yard. White Expanded Colonial Cape with Black Shutters and Architectural
shingled Roof with attached garage. a single family home , brick front
walk. Lots of windows, bright, open design, in excellent condition. Main
bedroom large enough for queen bedroom set with cathedral ceiling, but
too small for king bed. (17'x13+'). Excellent room bedroom (12'+x10')
with long walkin closet and optional use of washer/dryer hookups. Open
kitchen areas all hardwood floors (18+'x14+') with lots of windows.
Tiled bathroom with shower. Total square footage estimated to be 800+-
square feet. If you are looking for a nice quiet place to live, this
apartment would appeal to you. Nice residential neighborhood side
street, Nice walking/biking area. Clean inside and out. Attached garage
for shared common storage space . Off-street parking for up to (2)
cars. pets ok. Utilities extra, but economically as each room has
thermostat control. Depending on your usage,the house are quiet working
professionals staying around. Available to show with 24 hours notice.
Available to occupy April 1st. $450/month plus utilities.
Location: honolulu
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
This offer seemed to be too good to be true! A nice location and the rent is dirt-cheap. I sent a reply and received this response:
The house is located at
(address deleted for privacy of tenants)
Price: $450 Status: For Rent 1 Bedrooms 1 Bathrooms 1,375 sqft Single-Family Home Rent: $450 Deposit: $600 Air Conditioning Dishwasher And it cost $450 per month. Let me know if you are interested so that i can forward you the pictures of the house and the interiors and you can equally go over to the location to check if it is to your taste. I await your response John Padilla
The reply was sent from an anonymous email address, provided through the Craigslist system. I assume that Craigslist provides the email-masking in order to prevent people from being unwillingly added to spam lists. However, it seemed rather odd that a prospective landlord wouldn't provide me with a direct email address in order to contact them. I sent a follow-up email, requesting a physical address, with the explanation that I'd like to come over and discuss the lease agreement. I received this response:
Attached to this mail are the
pictures to the house, i am currently out of town now with my daughter
here in Colorado, I am a man with disability. I can't walk as i am on a
wheel chair. I am the landlord of my house. So you can go over to the
house and look up the surroundings and and the house equally through the
window and get back to me if you still interested in renting the house.
Call me on (602) 832-8763
John Padilla
Look through the window? It was also a giant red flag that the "landlord" is supposedly in Colorado, while using an Arizona phone number. A Google search of the number found nothing. A friend who sent an email in reply to an ad posted a couple of weeks ago for this same property received this reply
The house is located at
(address deleted for privacy of tenants)
Price: $450
Status: For Rent
1 Bedrooms
1 Bathrooms
1,375 sqft
Single-Family Home
Zip:96817
Rent: $450
Deposit: $450
Air Conditioning
Dishwasher
And it cost
$450 per month.
Let
me know if you are interested so that i can forward you the pictures of
the house and the interiors and you can equally go over to the location
to check if it is to your taste.
I await your response
Pam
When he asked for a contact telephone number, he got this reply
It still avaialable here is my number call me anytime (720) 257-9159
The ad he replied to was flagged and removed by Craigslist shortly after this exchange. But, it does show that this scam has been operating for awhile. The change of names and phone numbers also hints that past victims have been trying to contact the scammer in an effort to recover thier lost money.
It didn't take long to realize that the ad was a scam. No respectable landlord is going to have people scouting the property and having to resort to peeking through a window at a house they hope to rent.This is why a legitimate property owner hires a rental agent, whose job it is to show people the inside of a house.
A quick search informed me that the house is actually being managed by Property Profiles, Inc and the contact person is Joan Kashimoto, not "Jose Padilla" or "Pam". Rather than the $450 per month rent mentioned in the ad, the actual monthly rent is $1700 per month, which is not unreasonable for a house this size and in this neighborhood. The Craigslist ad is definitely a scam.
But, that's not the only fake ad I've found for this property. Another suspicious ad can be found here, which incorrectly states that the asking rent is $650 per month, less than half of what the real rent is supposed to be.
I contacted Joan Kashimoto and informed her of the fake ad. I was also informed that the house has been rented-out. I feel badly for the unfortunate renters who may find people peeking through their windows and walking-around the property, thinking that they're scouting-out their future residence.
I was also informed that housing scammers are quite active on Craigslist, offering houses and apartments for rent at rates much lower than could really be offered on the market, duping people into signing fake leases and swindling people out of their money. The scams are quite well organized, with scammers sometimes even going to the properties, changing the locks and giving their victims the keys. When the real owners show-up and find the places occupied, the victims are left with no option but to vacate, losing their money (rent and deposit) in the process, as well as expenses incurred in moving into and out of the residence in a short period of time, rendering them homeless until they can find a new place to live, made even more difficult by the loss of the money they already gave to the scammers.
I really hate scammers, especially when they victimize people who just want to find a place to live.
It is my hope that by posting this blog entry, I can prevent anyone from being a victim of this scumbag.
.
