8 Days Later

Persistent dry cough, fluctuating body temperate, inability to think clearly, chronic lack of motivation. Feels like chest infection but goes away every few hours.

No contact with friends or family, checking email occasionally, No social media or WhatsApp. Visit the local grocery store every couple of days for food.

I was not prepared at all…..Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2

You’ve been warned

Here is the stark warning when you delete your Microsoft Account

You'll lose access to all personal or organizational data stored
by any Microsoft service and may lose access to other services using this
account.
Any personal info you manage using family settings,
HealthVault, MSN Money, Skype Messenger contacts, or any other Microsoft
services using this account will be lost. If this account has been used on
behalf of a business or organization, you and your organization will lose access
to all services registered to this account so we strongly reccommend that you
notify your admin before you close this account.
You'll lose access to Skype, Office 365, Xbox, OneDrive, Azure,
and all other personal and organizational Microsoft subscription services,
along with potentially losing any remaining account balances.
We strongly recommend NOT closing
this account until you've made sure you have no personal or
organizational subscriptions or outstanding balances associated with it.
You'll lose access to Outlook.com, Hotmail, and OneDrive.
You'll no longer have access to any email, documents, or
photos you've stored through these Microsoft services.
You'll lose access to all earned Microsoft certifications, passed
exams, and any associated transcript.
All certifications, exams and badges linked to this account
will be permanently deleted. To see the Microsoft Certification data that's
linked to this account, or to transfer your Certification data to another
account before closing this one, contact your Regional Service Center.
You'll be unable to manage any software such as apps, games, services,
or other listings created or owned by this account in various Microsoft stores
across Windows, Office, Xbox, Azure, and more.
All such software will be removed from various Microsoft stores and will no longer be
available for purchase or download, and customers who bought such software
might lose access to it. If your account owns such software, please close your
developer account to collect any remaining payments. Not closing this account
will cause you to forfeit any remaining amounts owned for the apps published
through this account.
You'll lose access to any digital games and subscriptions you've
purchased or acquired, including Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, and Mixer Pro.
Your gamertag, Xbox Live gamerscore, achievements, saved
games, game captures, and your friends list will all be deleted. Additionally, your Mixer account will be
closed, you'll be unable to stream content, and your previous broadcasts will
be deleted.
You'll be unable to install or reinstall all music, games, apps, and
software purchased or downloaded using this account. You might also lose some
associated functionality.
Content purchased or downloaded using this account will no longer be available for reinstallation or
installation on additional devices. Some associated content functionality might
also become unusable.
You'll loss access to some services on devices attached to this
account.
You'll lose access to any services using this account on your
Xbox consoles (which require a Microsoft account) and your Windows Phone,
desktops, and Microsoft Surface devices. To access all the available services,
you must set up the devices using a new Microsoft account.

For todays gamers deleting their account with 200+ gaming hours would leading to massive outrage.

Maybe, this is why Facebook is no longer supported on PSN…this will make it a bit harder to profile gamers.

You’ve been warned

I’ve already said too much

The Art of shutting the hell up is tough to maintain consistently. I kick myself at how transparent I can sometimes become, showing my raw emotions ready for exploitation.

My fellow US squad members often let slip their opinions on real world ballistics whist playing the Division which probably explains why their builds are so bloody brilliant.

Anyways…my hopes of a conflict free weekend were shattered within 2 hours of arriving back in London. On the plus side, I’m thankful for months of good health despite not visiting the gym, eating randomly and too often.

Far Cry® New Dawn – Trust NooooooBody

Penalties, traps and cancellation exploits

Consumers are overwhelmed with choices nowadays, so companies routinely use penalties, fees and traps to lock you in.  Backed up by long wait times to customer services, hidden addresses and a “you must call us to cancel” approach, the average customer just gives up and pays the ransom.

So how to avoid the traps?

  1. Before signing up for anything ask how
    1. do I cancel?
    2. How much does it cost to cancel?
    3. What is the postal address? Old school letters are still binding and more effectively than 20 mins waiting on the phone or arguing with 1st line customer services.
  2. Use a dedicated email address for subscriptions to you can ghost (delete the email account) them if things get tricky.
    1. Give only mandotory info about yourself.
  3. Ask for a list of penalty charges.  These are probably published in the terms and conditions that you never read.  So, ask them which clause to look for.

Sounds easy but many “busy” consumers never do this and end up paying over 2000 GBP for a mobile phone.

Exploit successfully executed

Next time you sign a contract

The meaning of Second Life

Games are games, even OpenWorld games have a beginning and End game and most importantly progress, levelling up and LOOT.  It’s been years since I logged into my Second Life, the new Terms of Service are simple and clear enough.

1.3 Your User Content is not confidential; You represent that your Content is original to you (and/or your minor child).

Well, I could not be bothered to install the viewer to see how my Avatar looked after all these year but for the most part my Second Life is dead.  I have little or no impulse to be online all the time and could easily get live on a cruise ship with slow latent satellite internet at sea.

In a few short weeks, I’ll be experiencing a new level that scares the crap out of me – Hong Kong.

When was the last time you felt needed $$$$?

The formula for an emotional exploit has been around for centuries and is still pretty effective. 

  • Basic step-up question: Do you Love me? 
  • Basic exploit question: Can you send me some money?
  • Decision 1: Say No and expect the “You don’t really Love me ” comment
  • Decision 2: Say Yes and know that you are betraying yourself as a sucker

The strategy to just to create time pressured confused and emotional conflict. This makes it tough for the target to make a rational decision, in fact the wrong decision will often seem like the absolbute right and justified thing to do.

Exploiters with finesse blend their attack with subtle time pressure and set-up friendly history and established heartfelt trust where they have actually given money to the target.

Honey trap or tasty treat?