Fuck You!

So yesterday and today I received this threatening email from someone claiming to be a member of an International group of hackers. They tell me that they have been recording my web-based activity in emails, social media, and messenger (which they have wrongly translated to Swedish with "budbärare"). They also claim to have recorded my activities on porn websites and tell me that I have weird tastes...

Most importantly, or so they claim, they have recorded me with "my own web-camera" (I don't have a web-camera) when I visited porn-websites and will expose it all to my "friends, relatives, and my intimates..." if I don't pay $600 to their Bitcoin Wallet within 48 hours of receiving the email.

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The message:

"Hallå!

Som du kanske kunde gissat, var ditt konto (comhem.se) hackat, därför att Jag skickade dig ett mail därifrån.

Jag är medlem i en internationell hackergrupp.Inom en period från 29 juli 2018 till 18 september 2018 smittades du av det virus vi skapat via en vuxenwebbplats som du har besökt.Hittills har vi tillgång till dina meddelanden, sociala medier och budbärare.Dessutom har vi sparat alla dessa data.

Vi är medvetna om dina små och stora hemligheter...ja, du har dem. Vi såg och spelade in dina aktiviteter på porrwebbplatser. Din smak är så konstig, du vet ..

Men det viktigaste är att vi ibland spelade in dig med din webbkamera, synkronisera inspelningarna med det du såg på!Jag tror att du inte är intresserad visa den här videon till dina vänner, släktingar och din intima ...

Överför $600 till min Bitcoin Plånbok: 144CDUeBhcwoEUmA2B1cL5p5PqZrhJWCCt
Jag garanterar att efter det kommer vi radera alla dina "data": D

En timer startar när du läser detta meddelande. Du har 48 timmar att betala ovan nämnda belopp.

Dina uppgifter kommer att raderas när pengarna överförs. Om de inte är det kommer alla dina meddelanden och videoklipp automatiskt att skickas till alla dina kontakter som finns på dina enheter vid infektionstillfället.

Du bör alltid tänka på din säkerhet. Vi hoppas att det här fallet kommer att lära dig att hålla hemligheter.Ta hand om dig själv."

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I would like to warn my dear friends, family, relatives, and "intimates...", that they may soon see my extremely weird and illicit behavior exposed in some form. My sincere apologies for that!

My response to this International group of hackers that have studied and recorded my web-activity is, you will get no money from me not now and not when I am an International porn superstar that will get payed USD130.000 for keeping quiet about my personal and intimate relationship with world leaders.

Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!
I bloody well hope you bastards 
recorded me from my best angles!

P.S. I have now reported the attempted blackmail to my ISP and the police.

Petrolicious Has Balls of Kevlar!

My friend Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, whom I lovingly call Petrolicious since he started referring to me as Bockalicious, today accepted my challenge to post a picture of himself on social media wearing one of the beautiful garlands from LODE.

He did need a reminder, but that is quite understandable for avatars of our age. We have so many important things to do and to think about and so many priorities you younger folks cannot even dream of.

P.S. I originally misspelled poor Petr's last name, it's 1) Hastings with an "s", 2) Vanbeeck with a "c" and 3) a hyphen inbetween. *sigh*

NSFW Month on Ello

The social network Ello responds to Google.

"Following Google’s decision to ban NSFW content from Blogger (followed by an awkward reversal), we decided to celebrate freedom of speech on Ello by naming March NSWF Month.

You can’t ban some content without seriously impacting freedom of speech for everyone.

The last people we want to dictate what we can't say on the Internet are the advertisers that control big ad-based social networks. Ello doesn’t believe in censorship, and because Ello is ad-free, we will always be a dependable haven for free speech.

Help us celebrate NSFW Month on Ello by posting and discussing ideas about free speech, censorship, and why it's important that Internet remain open and free.

Much Love,
Ello

PS. Some people love adult content. Other's don't. Ello is all about respecting each others' point of view. You can always turn NSFW content on or off on your Ello settings page."

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Chew on that Google & Blogger!

The SP Election 2014: Some Reflections

The Second Pride elections this year are well underway, the candidates have declared themselves and the discussion has started in the Second Pride discussion forum (url). The forum will be closed at midnight Friday August 29th, so head on over and join in.

There are six candidates for the nine positions on the Second Pride board, all the six candidates are running unopposed. This, however, doesn't mean that there aren't some interesting complications.

Let me start by informing you about this years line-up. After that I will share some of my thoughts on the situation.

As I said, there are nine positions according to the bylaws

1. Chairman
No candidate

2. Secretary & Co-Chair

Ezziedq "Ezzie" Mirabella
New election








3. Treasurer

Marge Beaumont
Reelection








4. Events Director

LLedge Eames
New election








5. Community Relations Director

Karl Kalchek
Reelection








6. Building Director

Jak Calcutt
Reelection








7. Security Director

Sutry
Reelection








8. Marketing Director
No candidate

9. Communication/IT Director
No candidate

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My first reaction, when I saw the candidates that had declared themselves, was sadness and astonishment that there were not more candidates and not candidates to all positions on the board.

On second thought, however, I realized that it is a major undertaking to commit oneself to a year long duty of service to the LGBT community in SecondLife. As a candidate one promises the electorate that - if elected - one has the ability and willingness to put ones time and efforts to the cause of Second Pride. Many of us have restrictions set by family, work or health that prevent us from making such a commitment, we should therefore cherish and be grateful to those that are able and willing.

Another reason for the lack of candidates must certainly be the ugliness that occurred before, during and after the last election. Even if someone was willing and able to run, they must have considered the slander, the backstabbing and the malicious rumor mongering that has occurred repeatedly in our community over the last year. It takes a special kind of brave person to risk having their first and second lives scrutinized, exposed and/or maligned by anonymous or semi-anonymous "detectives", blogs and avatars on social media, especially since it is virtually impossible - or extremely complicated - to hold them accountable in criminal or civil action.

My second reaction was a feeling of reassurance and gratitude that four of the board members of the previous board had been brave and strong enough to decide to run again. All four have proven their capacity for the job in the past difficult year when Second Pride was at the brink of imploding completely through the undermining work of the destructive forces. I also welcome the new candidates, Ezzie and LLedge. Fresh blood with new thoughts and ideas are valuable for any organization that wishes to evolve and move with the times.

Although all the present candidates can now be certain of being elected as they are running unopposed and it only takes one vote to get elected, which I will supply if no one else does, there is the matter of the three vacant positions to consider. Most important of these is the position of chairperson. My friend Dodo Ahanu has raised the question in the discussion forum and has asked the candidates how they view the vacancy on this position.

I don't entirely share the views that have been expressed in the discussion forum and would therefore like to give you my interpretation of the situation, which is not entirely covered by the bylaws as a situation like this has not been foreseen.

In my opinion, based on what is available in the bylaws and a general knowledge of rules governing associations, this is how the situation of the vacancy on the chair position should be handled.

First of all we need to recognize that even if the position of chairperson is only one of the nine board members, this position is special. The chair is "first among equals", with a special significance and special powers. We then also must recognize that there is a difference between a general election and a by-election.

An association must have a chairperson and this chairperson should be elected in a general election. I have no qualms whatsoever about the positions of Marketing Director or Communication/IT Director being filled in a by-election after a "call for directors" by the elected board, but that is not acceptable for the position of chairperson.

After the general election we will have a vacancy in the position of chairperson, but we will have elected a Secretary/co-Chair, whose job description contains stepping in as chairperson if there is none. As an association must have a chairperson, the elected Co-Chair therefore automatically becomes chairperson.

The board then, through a "call for directors" has to fill the position of Secretary/Co-Chair along with the other two other vacant positions.

I would appreciate your thoughts and input on my reasoning.