katrina's gift to exxon

Exxon has posted the largest quarterly profit -- about $10 billion ... a new record in U.S Corporate history. if you dunno, Exxon is the largest publicly traded oil company. while many are worried about the ever increasing fuel costs, Exxon is probably waiting for the next hurricane to hike up the prices even more. other oil companies have also posted similar windfall profits.

maybe I should buy some stock in these companies :)

a classic password phishing

here is a spam mail that I got today ......

Dear Amazon member, We regret to inform you that your Amazon account was been suspended for a period of 3-4 days,after that it will be terminated. During our regularly schedule account maintenance and verification we have detected a slight error in your billing information on file with Amazon. This might be due to either following reasons: - A recent change in your personal information (i.e. change of address) - Submitting invalid information during the initial sign up process. - An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within processors. Your credit card on file with Amazon Card number: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (Not shown for security purposes) Expiration date: XX/XX Please sign in to your Amazon account and update your billing information: http://www.amazon.com/gp/css/homepage.html If your account information is not up-to-date, your account on Amazon will be terminated.

Thank you for your time! Amazon® Security Departament

If you buy this and click on the link that is provided, u'd be taken to a site which looks exactly like the original amazon.com sign in page (here it won't work as I just pasted the text). careful ones would notice a different address in the address field but most don't.

remember, don't even click on the links sent in an email. instead check it up urself.

drinking and IT

read this article in hindu.

hotels and bars in chennai want to decrease the legal age for drinking from 21 to 18. and the reason they give ... "growth of business process outsourcing and information technology in the city."

now how can IT industry affect the drinking pattern of the society. at 18, people are still in college. few work in call centers at that age, but they are really in need of that extra money and I don't think they are the standard "friday night partying" type.

pathetic reasoning, the hotel industry could be bit more creative.

double standards

had an interesting talk with fellow blogger ranga today. we were discussing about stem cell research and how useful it could be towards finding a cure for cancer. its a pity that all these conservative lawmakers are trying to stop this important work in the name of "pro-life". and these are the same guys that approve the death penalty. maybe their faith condones double standards.

just lost a close friend to cancer. its really painful guys, and when you learn that someone is trying to put a cap on finding a cure for this deadly disease, it just leaves you with nothing but uncontrollable anger.