Apple and Facebook are dead to me

Remember when I said I always felt like people were eyeballing my stuff? Relax, nothing has happened to Rogue Leader (what I named my bike). I discovered someone hacked into my iTunes account and rang up four separate charges totalling about $200.

The irony is I never buy anything from iTunes, but when you install the program they ask for your bank information. I now know from kavieshana that you can bypass this step. As always, I learn too little too late.

First I called my bank and got my card deactivated, leaving me with no access to the $27 left in the account -- which will be gone and then some as soon as the $78 payment plan clears, any day now. They assure me they'll put the money back once they complete their fraud investigation -- although the woman actually said they were seeing a "spike" in iTunes fraud lately, so I shouldn't think an investigation would take very long.

Apple.com's message boards are full of complaints of this happening (still more at other sites if you Google "iTunes fraud"), so it seems odd there's nothing in the news about it. For some of you, you heard this breaking story here first.

I tried deauthorizing my computer from iTunes but I either forgot my log-in info (entirely possible) or the thief changed it on me (which many are reporting). So I emailed Apple (who blocked my card in response -- not before making the helpful accusation that sometimes it's the user's fault in not having a strong password. Explain then if you can how one victim reportedly works in IT and knows all about strength of passwords, and still got hit (for about $7,000 -- guess I can't complain too loudly).)

One iSycophant tried to defend his beloved master. "It makes no sense that people are hacking accounts just to steal music. They're obviously using Apple as a mask for the real security leak." No, what they're doing is using the loot to buy iTunes cards and selling them at half their face value for an easy profit, sometimes even on eBay. Simplistic, yet never occurred to Mr. iLoveSteveJobs.

Why hasn't Apple done anything to alert people to this worldwide scam? One commenter says they're too busy counting their iPad profits to bother with disgruntled customers. Another pointed out how they hide behind their "terms of use" that denies liability in cases like these. So they just keep raking in the money from the fraudulent purchases, it's all good from their end. It boggles the mind that Apple, arguably one of the most profitable companies of forever, can't stay on top of security issues. Maybe spend less money on marketing so heavily, is just one suggestion. Thank god I only have the iPod and have resisted their attempts to make my life depend on all of their products.

Their emails throughout this process have begged me to reconsider cancelling completely so I can continue using their DRM material on my computer. I've never bought a single thing from iTunes, and have uninstalled it and am now using WinAmp quite happily. Fuck you, Apple. And I never want to hear the "i" word in my house again.

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Apple isn't the only company I'm not speaking to. Not that I've ever been such an enormous fan of Facebook, but recently I've decided their site is just impossible to use if you want to do anything beyond post banal updates on the latest thrilling development in your day, like "going to the store, ran out of milk!" Elaine and 12 others like this

I was tracked down by a girl from high school who I barely remembered, but we must have been close because when I opened a yearbook one of her senior portrait photos with a personalized message fell out. I friended her back -- I'm never on there so it's no hardship.

Then a week later I received a similar request from "Porter Pennington." Try as I might I could remember no Porter Pennington, though Tery and I took great pleasure in mocking the pretentiousness of the name for hours. I couldn't see a profile pic for Porter, and trying to search by name resulted in 38 hits, all of which were either underaged slutty girls in bars or drag queens.

Trying to narrow my search by region was when I decided Facebook is truly retarded and I wanted nothing more to do with it; refining by "Lebanon" (my hometown), Connecticut (my home state) or even New England (do I need to explain?) only turned up streets in America with those names: Lebanon Court, Connecticut Blvd, New England Avenue. Really, Facebook? Do you really think people prefer to search by street name than state or town?

My friend Harold convinced me it was a phishing scam, though what data they're hoping to gain through Facebook is a mystery (but I'm a little naive about the capabilities of internet criminals, obvs).

Not to mention Facebook is threatening to tear our family apart, because my younger sister didn't friend a cousin we'd never heard of before my mother reconciled with our aunt. An email went out demanding to know why, hurt feelings, etc. You aren't required to friend anyone, and that's as it should be, or else I'd be BFFs with Porter Pennington by now.

~*~

I actually found a creature more annoying than any dog at the hospital this weekend: Sydney the cockatoo, not especially pretty by even cockatoo standards, and for some reason let out this ear-splitting, heart-stopping squawk about every five minutes. Yeah, I want THAT in my house. He finally stopped around midnight when I stormed into the aviary and totally lost my shit in his face, screaming at the top of my lungs and covering every inch of his cage so he couldn't peek out the bottom. I think that last was what did it more than my complete breakdown.

One dog who isn't annoying (and I know I've mentioned him before here but he really bears repeating) is my Wee Willie the Basenji. I had him again last weekend, and he remembered me and immediately snuggled up when I eventually lay down. We spooned and I whispered my undying love into his ear. He is absolutely the best dog in the whole entire world.

Pictured: The Best Dog in the World

Speaking of the hospital (and really, when aren't I?), I know the day shift people aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack, but I did a literal double take when I saw what was clearly an Airedale labeled on her cage card as a German shepherd. O. M. G.

German shepherd

Absolutely not a German shepherd

Tery says that's the problem with kids today -- aside from being whippersnappers, they also have no attention to detail because they usually have the internet to fall back on for information. When they don't, sadly this is the result.