I asked my grandma to gather in front of the webcam with my uncles so I could “take a picture” of them. After taking the screenshot, my uncles asked, “Can we see the photo?” Hahaha, sorry, no … :)

So the video call is not perfect. We are not using microphones to talk over the internet, but instead just calling on regular phones (calling cards are pretty cheap calling from the US to Taiwan, anyway). But I think it’s actually a good thing, in that my grandma doesn’t have to deal with too much of a technology jump, and I’m much less annoyed with potential sound lag.

I’m using Logitech Vid, and I successfully walked my dad through installing it (here’s the email text). My grandma is not the one operating the computer; my cousin / uncles / whoever is there will power up the computer, double-click on the Logitech Vid icon, receive the incoming chat request, and plug in the webcam (somehow, plugging in the webcam earlier doesn’t work, must be in this order). I just wanted the EASIEST thing possible since I can’t tell how tech savvy my cousin / uncles are. It only does video calls; no text chatting, nothing. The interface is truly super simple. Click on the person you want to call. And I think you can only call one person at a time even. PERFECT.

I’m proud to announce that my grandma sounds like she actually looks forward to seeing us when we call her once a week. Or she at least pretends to. :)

So today I helped my mom rake leaves in the yard. I was glad to get in some sun and exercise, but I was definitely reminded why I am grateful for higher education and that I don’t need to depend on something like this to make a living. Man, my arms have turned to jelly …

My mom rewarded me with a handsome dinner of hotpot (this pic was posted mainly to make my brother jealous, muahahaha). :) I don’t know where she got these ginormous shiitake mushrooms, but I put my hand there to give you an idea of the scale:

I know I’ll be sleepin’ well tonight. :)

Oh, and I guess Dean hasn't moved my website yet. Well, if you're having trouble commenting, that'll probably be why. Thanks again, Dean! :)

Hi all (yes, all … 11 of my ADORING fans),

My awesome webhost and buddy Dean (of Envador, GoGoStand, and DeanYing fame) is moving me to a new webserver. Hold your breath until he gets it back up and I can start posting again (and you all – yes, all 11 of you - can continue to leave your awesome comments)! :)

<3 the pinkster :)

Well, it’s new to me anyway. And I’ve seen a lot.

Generally, I think I’m pretty good at detecting phishing e-mails thanks to their poor spelling, or hovering my mouse over the links without clicking and previewing the URLs. Well, I was up late last night, and got an e-mail from an acquaintance with whom I correspond a few times a year:

===============

From: Shiou-Bih Yang
Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 2:32 AM
To: Shiou-Bih Yang
Subject: Please help soon.‏

I am in hurry writing you this message and i hope you get it on time, sorry I didn't inform you about my trip in Malaysia for a Program called "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education. The program is taking place in three major countries in Asia, which are Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. It has been a very sad and bad moment for me here, the present condition that i found myself is very hard for me to explain. I am really stranded here in Malaysia because I misplaced my little bag on my way to the hotel where my money, cell phone which i have all my contacts and other valuable things were kept. Presently I have limited access to internet, I will like you to assist me urgently with a soft loan of $3,100 USD to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home. I have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively, I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with, I'll Refund the money back to you as soon as i get home without any delay. So please use the details below to send the money to me through Western Union money transfer or money gram because that is the only way i could be able to get it fast and leave. These are the details below.....

Name: Shiou Bih Yang
Address: 22A Taman Yew Mengkung, Bander Melaka, Malaysia

After you have send the money, email to me the western union money transfer control number or you can attach and forward to me the western union money transfer receipt so that i can pick up the money fast and leave.

Thanks and get back to me soon.

Shiou-Bih

===============

For me, it was hard to discern if this e-mail was real or not. Sister Shiou-Bih is a very kind, selfless, giving person, and is a member of Tzu-Chi, an international relief organization that is usually helping out on the front line of disasters. So for her to be in Asia on a moment’s notice helping out would not be out of character. The grammar in this e-mail is not perfect, but Sister Shiou-Bih’s native tongue is Chinese / Taiwanese, and so that was also not out of the ordinary.

Having just had my Hotmail hacked a week or so ago, I replied to the e-mail, thinking that would help me better decide if this was a real emergency or not.

===============

Subject: RE: Please help soon.
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:36:50 -0600

Sister Shiou-Bih,

Are you in danger, and did you write this yourself?

- Caroline Chen

===============

I was more than a little surprised (and even more concerned!) when I got a reply this morning:

===============

From: Shiou-Bih Yang
Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 3:11 AM
To: Caroline Chen
Subject: RE: Please help soon.

Dear Dr. Chen,

Thank you so much for getting back to me, i sent the email to you because am in a very big problem now and i need your urgent help, please kindly look for any western union money transfer office around you and send the money to me so that i can leave as soon as possible, do not worry i will pay you back your money as soon as i get home without any delay.

Thanks and get back to me soon with the transfer details so that i can get the money fast and leave.

Shiou-Bih

===============

At this point I’m freaking out a little bit. She has always very politely addressed me as “Dr. Chen”. It is a personalized reply.

I give up. I call her directly. She picks up. She is not in Asia, she is not in trouble, she is fine. She tells me that she got phone calls last night around 3am from friends / family from Taiwan asking if she was okay because of these e-mails. I advise her to change her password; she has already tried. The password no longer works, and since she set up the security questions 10 years ago, she cannot remember the answers to them. Some @$$wipe is pretending to be her and unfortunately (in this case) Sister Shiou-Bih surrounds herself with like-minded kind and selfless people, probably mostly over the age of 40, who I believe are mostly more susceptible to this sort of thing.

Snopes.com (the site where I usually go to if I want to see if something is a hoax) did not have this exact hoax listed on their site, but they do a good job of breaking down this type of hoax. Googling the program name “Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education” brings up some sites that talk about this exact hoax.

Friends, beware of any e-mails asking for the wiring of money!

Doing a low-budget photobooth (read: didn’t feel like spending any money at all) turned out better than I expected. :) My favorite of all the ones today:

Keep it classy, ladies. Just the way I like it. ;)

The other day while driving, the sky was lit up by the setting sun and with the surrounding cloud formation it was just … breathtakingly beautiful.

I’d also just like to make clear that I am not advocating the taking of photos while driving. :P

A special song with two of my homeboyzzzz (singing video for today inspired by Thinh):

Hope everyone had a great day! :)

The move has consisted of several parts:

1. Packing – man, so not fun (thanks Lous for helping)

2. Moving Phase 1 – 1st group of friends (thanks Eddy and the Cheng clan – both the Texan and Brazilian branches!!)

3. Moving Phase 2 – 2nd group of friends armed with big truck for the heavy stuff (thank you to all my muscle-y friends!!)

4. Cleaning the Old Apt – man, SO not fun (thanks Eddy for bringing the cleaning gear and getting down and dirty in there with me!!)

5. Unpacking – still cleaning the old apt, so haven’t gotten around to this part yet. The new apartment looks like a hurricane hit it … which I guess it did … the Caroline Move-In Hurricane …

How the heck did I accumulate so much STUFF?!

Here are some of my muscle-y friends in action. Will and Donnie are carrying the heaviest item of furniture that I own (and that thing is EMPTY, btw!), while Chris provides a buffer should Donnie fall back, and Vicki um, provides a buffer for if Chris falls back? :)

My friends even brought refreshments, helped me re-assemble my bed, and change out my incandescent bulbs to fluorescents. Plus my new roommate has started organizing the kitchen. I have a lot to go, but the move has been going way more smoothly than I imagined. Thanks friends!!!!!

I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT MOVING INTO MY NEW PLACE!! :)