PFT: Concern growing over RG3's knee injury

Reuters

These are the days that remind us how great the NFL is.

Two playoff classics ? the Ravens beating the Broncos in double overtime and 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick emerging as a superstar in a win over the Packers ? made Saturday a wonderful day to be an NFL fan. It was one of those games that made us nod our heads and say, ?Yep, this is why we love football.?

I think the lasting image of this great Saturday in the NFL may be the postgame embrace between Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning. These are perhaps the two best football players of their generation, meeting on the field for the last time, and after a playoff game that went into a sixth quarter, both men looked drained as they hugged and then went their separate ways, Manning hanging his head and Lewis yelling exuberantly.

?I?ve never been a part of a game so crazy in my life,? Lewis said after the Ravens? field goal in the game?s 77th minute gave them a 38-35 win.

I?ve never watched a couple of games so crazy in my life. That Ravens-Broncos game was simply insane. Double overtime in the playoffs? Broncos return man Trindon Holliday having the greatest game for a returner ever ? and the Broncos losing anyway? Manning throwing an awful interception at the worst possible time? Crazy.

And then came Kaepernick, who has been transformed over a couple months from Alex Smith?s backup to one of the brightest young talents in the NFL. Kaepernick still makes some youthful mistakes, including a bad interception on the 49ers? first drive and a stupid penalty for taunting. But my oh my is he a talented player. He throws with incredible velocity, and he?s such a good runner that he had 181 yards on the ground, more yards than any quarterback had ever had in any game ? regular season or postseason ? in NFL history. Until Saturday, the all-time record for rushing yards by a quarterback was 173 by Michael Vick of the Falcons in an overtime win over the Vikings in 2002. I remember watching Vick in that game and thinking no quarterback would ever do what Vick just did. Kaepernick broke Vick?s record in just his eighth NFL start.

What a day. Here are some thoughts on Saturday?s action:

The Broncos made some appalling mistakes. Denver ended both the first half and the second half by simply running out the clock, even though the Broncos had enough time and timeouts to at least get into field goal range. You?ve got Peyton Manning! Try to score! But going conservative at the end of both halves wasn?t even the worst mistake of all. No, the worst mistake was the inexcusable coverage by the Broncos? secondary, which somehow allowed Jacoby Jones to get open for a 70-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter. An emotional Rahim Moore, who was covering Jones, stood up after the game and said, ?It was my fault.? Sorry to be harsh, but he?s right: It was his fault.

Michael Crabtree and Frank Gore are the perfect complements to Kaepernick. Crabtree had 119 yards receiving; Gore had 119 yards rushing. I don?t know if any NFL team can be happier with its top quarterback, running back and receiver than the 49ers are right now.

Joe Flacco throws a beautiful deep ball. I?m not totally sold on Flacco as an elite NFL quarterback, but he certainly has a big arm, and he?s made a lot of things happen by throwing deep in these playoffs. Flacco averaged 23.5 yards a completion last weekend against the Colts, and he had touchdown passes of 59, 32 and 70 yards against the Broncos.

Pass interference is ill-defined and inconsistently called in the NFL. It?s frustrating, with how big a penalty pass interference can be, to see how the NFL?s officials can never agree on what is ? and what is not ? pass interference. We saw that three times in the first 10 minutes of the Ravens-Broncos game, and it went against Denver all three times: Baltimore?s first-quarter touchdown drive was kept alive by a shaky pass interference call on a third-down incompletion, then Corey Graham appeared to commit pass interference but wasn?t flagged on his interception return for a touchdown, then Demaryius Thomas was tripped on a deep pass from Peyton Manning but didn?t get the call. In overtime another questionable pass interference call went against Denver?s Champ Bailey. It?s not so much that any of those calls were blatantly wrong, it?s more that the NFL officials are so inconsistent in the way they call pass interference that no one ever knows when the official will throw the flag and when he?ll keep it in his pocket. On such a pivotal penalty ? the only penalty that can give a team more than 15 yards ? the NFL has to find more consistency.

The Ravens-Broncos officiating stunk even aside from pass interference. A phantom hold that called off a Broncos first down run. An absurdly long series of conferences while the officials debated an illegal hands to the face call. A referee?s decision to unilaterally abolish the tuck rule. I could go on but I think I?ll stop, because it?s depressing to focus too much on the officials after a great game. The officiating was a mess.

Aaron Rodgers was good on a day the Packers needed him to be great. This loss doesn?t fall on Rodgers. He was fine, completing 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. But the Packers? defense simply couldn?t stop Kaepernick, so the only way the Packers were going to win was if Rodgers played a perfect game. Instead, he played just a pretty good game. On a great day of NFL action when the starting quarterbacks were Peyton Manning, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers and Colin Kaepernick, Kaepernick was the best. By a lot. No one could have expected that. And these unexpectedly great days are why the NFL will keep us coming back for more.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/12/griffins-knee-creates-more-concern-than-advertised/related

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CES 2013: Digital cameras roundup

CES is far from a top-tier trade show for the digital imaging industry, but that didn't stop manufacturers from introducing new models. Android returned to Polaroid's booth with the underwhelming iM1836 ILC, Canon opted for a square form factor with its PowerShot N and Fujifilm introduced a more powerful version of the X100. Nearly all of the cameras we saw at the show were created for consumers, with many options coming in under the $200 mark. Nikon and Samsung offered a few exceptions, but with Photokina wrapping up this past September and CP+ kicking off in just over two weeks, there are plenty of other venues for camera makers to introduce their higher-profile models. For now, though, it's all about CES, so join us past the break for a closer look at some of this week's biggest announcements.

Continue reading CES 2013: Digital cameras roundup

Filed under: Cameras, Samsung, Sony, Nikon, Canon

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/g18T3HfLVew/

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Obama, Karzai announce accelerated military transition

President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday announced a quicker transition of control of Afghanistan to the nation's own security forces, saying U.S. troops would move to a support role this spring.

In a joint press conference at the White House, Obama said the transition would lay the foundation for a drawdown of U.S. troops but did not say how quickly that would occur ? or if any American forces would remain in Afghanistan after 2014.

?Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission: training, advising and assisting Afghan forces,? Obama said. ?It will be a historic moment.?

Obama?s comments came after the two leaders discussed troop levels, security and the 2014 Afghan election, among other issues.

The war in Afghanistan has come at great cost in both treasure and casualties for the United States. As such, the president was hesitant to label the war a complete success.

?We have achieved our central goal or have come close to achieving our central goal,? he said.

But then he added, ?Have we achieved everything that some might have imagined us achieving under the best of scenarios ? probably not.?

Karzai welcomed the accelerated transition, saying that by the spring, no foreign troops would occupy Afghan villages.

For Obama, the main question remains how many troops will stay in Afghanistan after December 2014. The White House earlier this week conceded that it was weighing whether to remove all U.S. troops.

On Friday, the president said he would wait for recommendations from his military leaders before making a decision.

U.S. commanders have recommended keeping as many as 15,000 troops in Afghanistan in a support role, but the administration has shown little appetite for that type of presence after 2014.

Obama had previously said the U.S. cannot leave troops in Afghanistan unless they receive immunity from prosecution.

Karzai announced on Friday that he could now ?go to the Afghan people? and press for immunity for American troops in the country.

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Source: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-karzai-announce-accelerated-military-transition/article/2518290?custom_click=rss

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There Were Plenty Of Windows 8 Devices At CES, But Microsoft Wasn't There To Promote Them (MSFT)

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Microsoft may have relinquished its starring role in America's gaudiest gadget show a year too early.

After 13 straight years in the spotlight, Microsoft's decision to scale back its presence at this week's International CES deprived the software maker of a prime opportunity to explain and promote a new generation of redesigned computers running its radically remade Windows operating system.

The missed chance comes at a time when Microsoft Corp. could use a bully pulpit to counter perceptions that Windows 8 isn't compelling enough to turn the technological tide away from smartphones and tablets running software made by Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

"They needed to be at this show in a very big way to show the progress they have made and what is it about 2013 that is going to make consumers really gravitate toward a Windows 8 machine," said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead.

Since Windows 8 went on sale in late October, there has been little evidence to suggest the operating system will lift the personal computer industry out of a deepening downturn. Worldwide PC shipments during the final three months of last year dropped 6 percent from the same period in 2011, according to the research firm International Data Corp. The dip occurred despite the bevy of Windows 8 laptops and desktop machines that were on sale during the holiday shopping season.

Microsoft, though, insists things worked out at just fine during CES, even though it didn't have a booth and only had a smattering of executives at the sprawling trade show, which drew some 156,000 people to Las Vegas.

The company, which is based in Redmond, Wash., decided it no longer makes sense to invest as much time and money in CES as it once did. The company says the show's early January slot doesn't mesh with the timing of its major product releases. Windows 8, for instance, was still more than nine months away from hitting the market when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off last year's CES with a keynote address that was billed as the company's swan song at the show.

"We are very comfortable with our decision," Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said. "It has been a productive show for us this year."

Microsoft's retreat from CES puzzled some attendees curious about Windows 8. For instance, when Michael Sullivan showed up at computer maker Asus' booth, which was stocked with Windows 8 computers, there was no one around to discuss the machines or the software.

"This is unusual," said Sullivan, CEO of computer sales firm Spec 4 International Inc. "I don't understand why a successful company isn't bringing executives here."

Asus invited some CES attendees to learn more about Windows 8 at a nearby hotel, away from the show's main trade show. Asus has left its booth unmanned in previous years at CES, but the void wasn't as noticeable when Microsoft's own representatives were canvassing the floor.

NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim thought Microsoft should have had more people helping to staff its partners' booths because, he said, no one understands how Windows 8 works better than the company that made it.

"Whenever you have a new product rolling out, it's always helpful to communicate your message directly as opposed to counting on your partners," Shim said.

Microsoft elected to curtail its CES presence largely because the show's marketing value has diminished. In recent years, companies such as Apple and Google have shown that they can command more attention by holding their own exclusive events to unveil products just before they go on sale. Neither Apple nor Google had a major presence at CES.

In a sign that it is embracing its rivals' strategy, Microsoft staged separate events last year in Los Angeles and New York to unveil Surface, a Windows-powered tablet computer, and Windows 8.

Nevertheless, both Shim and Moorhead believe would have been better off waiting until after this year's CES to surrender its top billing on the marquee. That way, Ballmer could have used this year's opening CES keynote to talk about Windows 8's advantages as a finished product.

"Ballmer could have talked about the operating system more completely and built more hype around it, especially since Microsoft has been getting beaten up so far over Windows 8's performance," Shim said.

When Ballmer ended Microsoft's 13-year streak of kicking off CES, he was only able to provide a peek at a makeover of the operating system that was still months away from being completed.

Microsoft touts Windows 8 as a breakthrough that will enable people to straddle the divide between personal computers and tablets. The revamped operating system is built to respond to the touch of a finger so it can work on tablet computers while still retaining the ability to respond to commands from keyboards and mice on laptop and desktop machines. To take advantage of Windows 8's versatility, many PC makers are building convertible devices that can work as a tablet or a laptop.

But reviews of the new operating system have been lukewarm. Critics have been panning it as too confusing and cumbersome.

Microsoft used part of a CES technology forum presented by J.P. Morgan to try to build more enthusiasm. The company revealed that 60 million copies of Windows 8 have been sold so far, putting it on the same pace as the previous version ? Windows 7 ? at the same juncture of its release. But it's unclear how many of those Windows 8 licenses are installed on computers that are still sitting in stores or warehouses.

Investors have been so unimpressed with the reception to the new Windows products that Microsoft's stock price has slipped 4 percent since the operating system's Oct. 26 release. Meanwhile, the bellwether Standard & Poor's 500 index has gained 4 percent. Microsoft's stock closed Friday at $26.83, up 37 cents.

A clearer picture of the early reception to Windows 8 may emerge Jan. 24 when Microsoft is scheduled to report its earnings for the three months spanning the holiday shopping season.

Although he wasn't the main attraction, Ballmer made a cameo appearance during Qualcomm Inc. CEO Paul Jacobs' opening address at this year's show.

Ballmer's acceptance of Qualcomm's invitation to join Jacobs on stage surprised some people because Qualcomm has emerged as a threat to Intel Corp., a longtime Microsoft ally that makes most of the processors in Windows computers. Instead of touting Windows 8, Ballmer spent his time hailing a streamlined version of the operating system, dubbed Windows RT, which runs on tablets using processors that rely on technology designed by ARM, another Intel rival.

Microsoft's top executive in charge of technical strategy appeared on stage at Samsung Electronics' invitation to reveal a Windows phone featuring a flexible color display. The electronics of the phone are in a little box, and the thin, bendable screen is attached to it, looking much like a piece of paper.

That left Intel and other Microsoft partners, including PC makers Samsung, Sony, Asus, Acer and Hewlett-Packard Co., to do most of the boasting about Windows 8 at their own CES booths.

"Our partners are doing that very effectively," Shaw said. "You couldn't walk through the (CES) floor without seeing people doing really interesting things with Windows 8."

But there were other times when it appeared Microsoft's partners could have used some help.

Sony exhibitor John Guzman, for instance, seemed stumped when an Associated Press reporter visited the company's CES booth and asked whether a machine running Windows 8 or the more advanced Windows 8 Pro would be a better fit for journalistic work.

"That is more of a Microsoft question," Guzman said, adding that no Microsoft representatives were around.

___

Liedtke reported from San Francisco. AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson contributed to this story.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-8-devices-abound-at-ces-2013-1

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Jimmy Fallon on President Obama's inaugural theme (video)

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High-frequency stock trading of little value to investors, general public

Public release date: 10-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Phil Ciciora
pciciora@illinois.edu
217-333-2177
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The increase in the speed of stock trading from microseconds to nanoseconds leads to an increase in order cancellation, but little else of value to investors and the general public, says research by a University of Illinois business professor.

According to a forthcoming study by Mao Ye, a professor of finance at Illinois, the arms race in speed at the sub-millisecond level of stock trading is a "purely positional game" in which a trader's payoff depends on transaction speed relative to other traders.

"There are lots of extreme views about high-frequency trading, but if you look at high-frequency trading scientifically, you would see that's it's neither good nor evil," Ye said. "Although some people think it's good, and others, necessarily, think that it's really bad, our paper shows that neither extreme view is correct. So stock exchanges are investing heavily in order to play what's really a zero-sum game."

According to the research, co-written with Jiading Gai and Chen Yao, both graduate students at Illinois, since the current exchange fee structure only charges for executed trades, and not order cancellations, legitimate traders and investors essentially subsidize high-frequency traders who purposefully cancel orders, reflecting a wealth transfer from low-frequency traders to high-frequency traders.

"If you increase the speed of trading from micro- to nanoseconds, which is a 1,000 percent increase in speed, there's really no social value to that," Ye said. "There is, however, a lot of private value in that for traders."

The research shows an increase in the cancellation-execution ratio of orders, as well as a corresponding increase in short-term volatility and a decrease of market depth.

"We found that an increase in the speed of trading does increase the liquidity of the market, but it also doesn't decrease market liquidity," Ye said. "But considering the huge investment these exchanges have made in speed, you really have to question the social benefit to doing that."

The research also finds evidence consistent with "quote stuffing," a practice that involves submitting an extraordinarily large number of orders followed by immediate cancellation for the sole purpose of creating congestion in the market.

"Quote stuffing is certainly an externality-generating activity the equivalent of noise or pollution in financial markets," Ye said. "We've found evidence that's consistent with quote-stuffing, and the economic incentive for that is pretty straightforward. If only relative speed matters, then people invest heavily to increase their speed. But firms have invested a sufficiently large amount of money simply to max out their speed, which in essence has created a positional arms race in the markets."

The researchers say the study is one of the largest computing efforts ever conducted in academic finance.

"From a computational standpoint, this paper involved calculations that were both data-intensive and computing-intensive, which represented a special challenge," Gai said.

"One year of trading data is equivalent to if you were to digitize all of the books in the Library of Congress and the majority of that data is cancellations," Ye said. "On an average trading day, a stock like Microsoft has over a million messages and the majority are cancellations. Cancelling trades is taking over the system and monopolizing resources."

So how do you create "speed bumps" in the market speed so that trade cancellations don't overtake the system? There needs to be a level-playing field so that no one can game the system, Ye says.

"Mary Shapiro, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, wants to impose a minimum quote life," Ye said. "But let's ask an extremely simple question: What's the distribution of a quote life now? Well, no one really knows, because to draw a summary statistic from that data takes lots of computing power. Without a scientific approach, the debate has become based on ideology, on whether you think high-frequency trading is inherently good or bad."

As a result, a restriction on trading speed should only be imposed unilaterally by an outside authority, which means slowing down everyone by the same amount, Ye says.

"What that means is that you can't push the order and then cancel it within 50 milliseconds," he said. "What do orders less that 50 milliseconds contribute to liquidity? I don't think anyone has looked at that. Considering the investment that was made, that wasn't really the best allocation of resources. There's a lot of debate over that, and we have some concerns about that. If you continuously increase the speed, our results indicate that the benefits do not justify the costs, because it only slightly increases volatility."

But it's probably not a good idea to remove high-frequency traders' profits in the current market just yet.

"Let it continue to grow because they're eventually going to hit a speed wall, and at a certain point there will be no value to it," he said.

###

The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment program. The data for the research were provided by The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.

Editor's note: To contact Mao Ye, call 217-244-0474; email maoye@illinois.edu.

The article, "The Externality of High-Frequency Trading," is available online.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 10-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Phil Ciciora
pciciora@illinois.edu
217-333-2177
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The increase in the speed of stock trading from microseconds to nanoseconds leads to an increase in order cancellation, but little else of value to investors and the general public, says research by a University of Illinois business professor.

According to a forthcoming study by Mao Ye, a professor of finance at Illinois, the arms race in speed at the sub-millisecond level of stock trading is a "purely positional game" in which a trader's payoff depends on transaction speed relative to other traders.

"There are lots of extreme views about high-frequency trading, but if you look at high-frequency trading scientifically, you would see that's it's neither good nor evil," Ye said. "Although some people think it's good, and others, necessarily, think that it's really bad, our paper shows that neither extreme view is correct. So stock exchanges are investing heavily in order to play what's really a zero-sum game."

According to the research, co-written with Jiading Gai and Chen Yao, both graduate students at Illinois, since the current exchange fee structure only charges for executed trades, and not order cancellations, legitimate traders and investors essentially subsidize high-frequency traders who purposefully cancel orders, reflecting a wealth transfer from low-frequency traders to high-frequency traders.

"If you increase the speed of trading from micro- to nanoseconds, which is a 1,000 percent increase in speed, there's really no social value to that," Ye said. "There is, however, a lot of private value in that for traders."

The research shows an increase in the cancellation-execution ratio of orders, as well as a corresponding increase in short-term volatility and a decrease of market depth.

"We found that an increase in the speed of trading does increase the liquidity of the market, but it also doesn't decrease market liquidity," Ye said. "But considering the huge investment these exchanges have made in speed, you really have to question the social benefit to doing that."

The research also finds evidence consistent with "quote stuffing," a practice that involves submitting an extraordinarily large number of orders followed by immediate cancellation for the sole purpose of creating congestion in the market.

"Quote stuffing is certainly an externality-generating activity the equivalent of noise or pollution in financial markets," Ye said. "We've found evidence that's consistent with quote-stuffing, and the economic incentive for that is pretty straightforward. If only relative speed matters, then people invest heavily to increase their speed. But firms have invested a sufficiently large amount of money simply to max out their speed, which in essence has created a positional arms race in the markets."

The researchers say the study is one of the largest computing efforts ever conducted in academic finance.

"From a computational standpoint, this paper involved calculations that were both data-intensive and computing-intensive, which represented a special challenge," Gai said.

"One year of trading data is equivalent to if you were to digitize all of the books in the Library of Congress and the majority of that data is cancellations," Ye said. "On an average trading day, a stock like Microsoft has over a million messages and the majority are cancellations. Cancelling trades is taking over the system and monopolizing resources."

So how do you create "speed bumps" in the market speed so that trade cancellations don't overtake the system? There needs to be a level-playing field so that no one can game the system, Ye says.

"Mary Shapiro, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, wants to impose a minimum quote life," Ye said. "But let's ask an extremely simple question: What's the distribution of a quote life now? Well, no one really knows, because to draw a summary statistic from that data takes lots of computing power. Without a scientific approach, the debate has become based on ideology, on whether you think high-frequency trading is inherently good or bad."

As a result, a restriction on trading speed should only be imposed unilaterally by an outside authority, which means slowing down everyone by the same amount, Ye says.

"What that means is that you can't push the order and then cancel it within 50 milliseconds," he said. "What do orders less that 50 milliseconds contribute to liquidity? I don't think anyone has looked at that. Considering the investment that was made, that wasn't really the best allocation of resources. There's a lot of debate over that, and we have some concerns about that. If you continuously increase the speed, our results indicate that the benefits do not justify the costs, because it only slightly increases volatility."

But it's probably not a good idea to remove high-frequency traders' profits in the current market just yet.

"Let it continue to grow because they're eventually going to hit a speed wall, and at a certain point there will be no value to it," he said.

###

The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment program. The data for the research were provided by The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.

Editor's note: To contact Mao Ye, call 217-244-0474; email maoye@illinois.edu.

The article, "The Externality of High-Frequency Trading," is available online.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoia-hst011013.php

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Scam Attempt Warning for SF/F Writers ? Whatever

Short version: If you?re a science fiction/fantasy writer who got an invitation to speak from Bexley College in the UK, someone?s trying to scam you.

Longer version:

Here?s an e-mail in my box today:

Greetings John Scalzi,

I am Prof. Arthur Peterson from Bexley College (Holly Hill Campus) here in London UK. We are officially writing to invite you and confirm your booking as our guest Speaker at this Year Bexley college Seminar which will take place here at the campus ground.

Bexley College (Holly Hill Campus).

The Venue as follows:
VENUE: Upper Holly Hill Road Belvedere, Kent
London, United Kingdom
POST CODE: DA17 6HF
Expected audience: 450 people(mainly students & invited guest). Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour
Name of Organization: Bexley College Campus.
Topic: ?Mystery of Life and Death?
Date: 18th February 2013

We reached your profile at http://?www.aboutsf.com//?and we say it?s up to standard. The College will be so glad to have such an outstanding personality as you in our midst for these overwhelming gathering. Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material you wish to share with us, please do not hesitate to contact me.

An Official Formal Letter of invitation and Contract agreement would be sent to you from the College as soon as you honor our Invitation. The College have also promised to be taking care of all your travel and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaking Fee.
If you are ?available for this date, include your speaking fees in your reply for it to be included in the DOCUMENTATIONS.

Stay Blessed
Prof. Arthur Peterson
Bexley College (Holly Hill Campus).

Tel:?+ 44 702 xxx xxx

The reason I know this is a scam:

1. The grammar and composition of this letter OH DEAR LORD.

2. Bexley College is a general further education college (i.e., a vocational school), not a university, and while a school that teaches people to be hair dressers and to work in construction probably might want the occasional speaker, those speakers are not likely to be science fiction authors from the United States, speaking on the subject of the mysteries of life and death.

3. The e-mail came from a GMail account, not an e-mail account using the school?s address (I?ve already reported it to Google as a phishing attempt).

4. The phone number attached to the letter not only does not match the numbers for Bexley College on the Web site, but I learn that UK numbers that start with ?+44 70? are very often used for scam attempts?(scroll down a bit for the info).

5. ?Prof. Arthur Peterson? doesn?t exist, at least not in the context of Bexley College.

And so on.

Clearly the plan is to get me to call the phone number or to respond to the e-mail, grab some pertinent information about me from my own excitable self, and then go from there. Nice try, but no.

The fact the letter mentions my speaker listing at AboutSF suggests that whoever is doing it has copied out that site?s speaker list contact information and is probably contacting other folks listed there. So this is to raise a general alarm. Note that I suspect most science fiction/fantasy writers are smart enough to recognize a scam with they see one, but on the other hand better safe than sorry.

Bear in mind this particular letter uses Bexley College but it?s entirely possible the scammers will change it up and use other educational institutions. They?re crafty, these scammers.

So: Science fiction and fantasy writers: Beware.

Source: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/01/07/scam-attempt-warning-for-sff-writers/

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