Google Adsense Fraudulent Activity

 I received this letter from Google - I love the bit about we can't tell you why we took your money from you and that they can't even address the letter to me!

Whats that again about proprietary
detection systems?

Hello,

Thank you for your appeal. We appreciate the additional information you've
provided, as well as your continued interest in the AdSense programme.
However, after thoroughly re-reviewing your account data and taking your
feedback into consideration, our specialists have confirmed that we're
unable to reinstate your AdSense account.

Please understand that, once we've reached a decision on your appeal,
further appeals may not be considered, and you might not receive any
further communication from us. Note that AdSense publishers whose accounts
are disabled for violations of our Terms and Conditions are not eligible
for further participation in AdSense. For this reason, you may not open
new accounts.

Also, accounts disabled for invalid click activity will receive no further
payment nor any reissue of previous payment. Your outstanding balance and
Google's share of the revenue will both be fully refunded back to the
affected advertisers. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

We understand that you may want more information about your account
activity. However, because we have a need to protect our proprietary
detection systems, we're unable to provide our publishers with any details
about their account activity.

How Google Stole my Money

Google? The company that became a household name overnight? Well, today they showed me their true colours. Dark, dark, dark!

I'm sure there are thousands of disgruntled, irate, annoyed, furious, etc ex and current customers of Google. The likes of Samsung for instance can go after them with ranks of fully-charged lawyers; I have myself minus the sixty dollars they stole from me.

I earned this sixty dollars on advertising on this blog. Well, it wasn't quite sixty dollars it was 59,50 or so and within another fifty cents, at the sixty mark, they would have sent me a cheque for the full amount.

But Google, perhaps as it ticked over from 59.99 to 60.00 dollars sent me an email informing me that I had "conducted fraudulent activity on my blog/website".

What? Erm, sorry? What egg shell did they pop out from?

My blog/website is a 'free for all' listing of articles that I have written, a showcase of gramatical errors that nobody every really reads with any energy, especially not to turn the page to read another one. It does no harm to anybody, and I love to write, and lets be honest here - I have a full time job as a marine consultant so why on earth would I want to conduct fraudulent activity on my website?

Google have this policy of 'right to appeal'. How very generous of them. I appealed and lost. They now tell me I have no right to reapeal. How very ungenrous of them.

Its not the amount that annoys me (it is after all only a taxi fare home after a night out on the town) but that I spent nearly one year making that amount. I watched it tick up a cent at a time, painful cent by painful cent and just at that moment of the jackpot - along came Google and simply shut the door with the money behind it.

Another annoyance is that Google was with me right from the beginning of my website. They did in fact allow me to earn money to pay for buying the domain name, the rent for hosting my website and it felt good to do it this way. It wasn't necessary but it felt good. But that was in the days when Google was user friendly, a champion of the smaller man and until today when we can't even talk to anybody, appeal is through computers and without proper analysis.

I suppose I don't have the right of appeal anyway. What can I do except write unread blogs?

More on this later - I am now furious, not irate!

Clive Palmer, Four Bulkers and the Titanic

I have just read the news that the very large Australian tycoon, Clive Palmer is embarking on a new sideline to his mining business, that of shipping!

Now, most people would enter a new business modestly but this self-made entrepreneur has opted to build a replica of the Titanic as his first toe-in-the-water and also four bulk carriers? The 'Titanic' part can be looked at in many ways, the two most popular being 'morbid fascination' and 'playing on others morbid fascinations' to make some extra dough.

We had a discussion in my office the other day as to who would sail on such a ship, especially on the first voyage which is reportedly to follow in the footsteps (wash) of the last one? One party to the discussion suggested that as the ship would be built in China, falling chandeliers could be an immediate cause of fatality, whilst somebody else suggested that the initial bookings would be overwhelming.

This news is disturbing, none-more-so because we appear to be totally incapable of building unsinkable ships (after 100 years since the Titanic, ref: Costa Concordia and Rena as two examples of many recent casualties) and producing able seafarers/masters who can safely navigate and maintain such ships without needing a 24 hour salvage helpline on speed dial one.

Would you sink you money into this venture and would you sail on the new Titanic's first voyage?

I wonder what the names of the four bulk carrier will be? Suggestions are of course welcome but perhaps not 'Derbyshire' for one of them!

The Good Old Thunder Box for Costa

A THUNDER BOX is a style of toilet that was used on old ships and before the toilet bowl became a standard fitting. It was a piece of wood or metal framework that is positioned over the side of the vessel with a hole in it, so that all may conduct their toiletry business without messing around with buckets afterwards.

The more modern version came with an awning and even some canvas sides to provide a measure of privacy whilst one conducted their business

The reason for its name is that should you time your seating wrongly a thunderous roar will occur as the sea rushes up your behind. Of course, this style of toilet went out of style at least a hundred years ago, as cabins and toilets became standard fittings internally.

I am though thinking of marketing this old style of toilet facility to Costa Cruises as a permanent feature on their vessels.

Anybody wish to invest some money in this scheme? It is a sure winner.

This is NOT Sp*m.............

Costa Allegro - Seychelles

The Costa Allegro loses power and is adrift 200 NM north of the Seychelles. If this does not convince the IMO and the national authorities that something is seriously remiss in the cruise industry, with Costa Lines and in the general seaworthiness of ships today then what will?

My Letter of Complaint to Choice Hotels

Dear Sir/Madam

I recently joined the ‘Choice Privileges’ as I travel allot in Asia and felt that your hotels were suitable for my stays.

I started off recently with the ‘Hotel Comfort’ at Centrair Airport, Japan. The stay was fine and well within my expectations except for the fact that no reward points were given for this particular stay or hotel.

I then booked into the Comfort Hotel in Dumai, Indonesia. Please let me start with this hotel by saying it was the worst hotel experience I have ever been through.

Over my twenty five years of constant travel worldwide the Comfort Hotel in Dumai put new meaning to the word ‘discomfort’. 

I will list some of the items that I found in your hotel:

1.       During the evening there were three blackouts in the room. Power was restored only after ten minutes the first time.

2.       Cockroaches were at infestation level. They were in my coffee cup, on the bed, in the shower and I even brought one home with me that had snuck into my rucksack. Cockroach excrement was everywhere and obviously did not factor into the cleaning schedule. The spare pillow which I was going to use from the closet was dotted with evidence of a serious cockroach infestation.

3.       The music started at 1700 hours. You know, that loud dead beat that gives everybody a headache? Boom, boom, boom. All night. I eventually fell asleep at 0100 hours so cannot quite inform you what time it stopped at.

4.       In the morning my bathroom was filled with ants.

5.       After cleaning the ants away I found that there was no hot water – only a cold shower to start the day.

6.       Then I found that the coffee in the packets was all glued up and like a sheet of sandpaper.

7.       After looking out of the window and seeing a big rat on the restaurant roof, I decided to skip breakfast so cannot make any comment as to the mornings fare.

8.       And of course no points were awarded for my stay.

Seriously, is this your hotel? Whilst you may tell me that this is not a Choice Hotel as guests cannot book online, obviously there is some connection as the photographs may help to show.

Thanks for taking this under your wing.

Cathay Pacific Annoys me Again

I flew with Cathay Pacific from Singapore to Centrair International Airport in Japan via Hong Kong a couple of days ago. I previously vowed to never complain about airlines again but somehow Cathay Pacific just rub me up the wrong way. They have a certain knack for doing so.

Here's the first issue: If you book an economy class superior ticket you can then choose your seat on-line without checking in. I did this and chose a window seat near the back of the aircraft (all those forward were middle seats only). Unfortunately my table broke before take-off (honest sir) and I had to be moved to an economy class seat in the forward cabin.

Now (if you are still with me), I noted during this change that the economy class seat at the back had two inches less of leg room. This makes all the difference to me.

The issue here is that I booked a 'superior' economy ticket yet I end up with a seat that has two inches less leg room. I paid 350 SGD extra for that ticket - in other words I paid 350 SGD for two inches more leg room that I nearly never got if fate had not intervened.

Then: I was asked to fill out a CP question-air - this is not an ordinary 1 page effort but eight pages of repetitive, read-the-question-carefully rubbish. Once completed the stewardess then handed me a 5 HK dollar voucher, to be used when spending over forty dollars on-board - what an insult. I don't want to spend forty dollars just to justify the receipt of the voucher. Normal people do not shop on long haul flights!

You see, despite vowing never to run word-riot on an airline again here I am and I have more: no chicken left for lunch, the magazines are sealed in plastic (environmentally disastrous apart from the fact that it costs money to do so) and their seats break apart with little effort.

Anyway, I must now go and compile that letter of complaint once again.