Porno and The "Bitcoin Hacker"

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a few annoying emails I've been receiving, all sent to various email addresses of mine at my different websites, accusing me of watching online porn and saying that if I didn't pay them in Bitcoin, they would send the supposed videos they have of me watching porn to all my family and co-workers.

I thought it rather amusing that they say that they know who my family members are and all my co-workers. That's really funny because like most writers, I work alone. So co-workers???? How stupid.

And as to what I was watching online, well, I don't (or extremely rarely, if ever) watch any online videos at all so chances of having recordings of me watching anything online would be slim to none.

And yesterday, after I finally got my computer back from the repair shop where it's been for almost 2 weeks, I found a dozen more Bitcoin Hacker emails had been sent to me, again, at my different email addresses for my different websites, so it's easy to see these addresses are just being scraped from the internet.

And below is exactly what the email says:

----------------------

This account was hacked! Modify your pswd right away!
You may not know anything about me and you may be definitely wanting to know why you are receiving this electronic message, is it right?
I am ahacker who exploitedyour emailand OSsome time ago.
Do not try to contact me or alternatively try to find me, in fact it's not possible, considering that I directed you a letter from YOUR hacked account.
I installed malware to the adult vids (porn) website and suppose you enjoyed this website to have some fun (you understand what I really mean).
When you have been keeping an eye on video clips, your browser started out to act as a RDP (Remote Control) with a keylogger that gave me permission to access your desktop and webcam.
Afterward, my softwarestoleall information.
You have put passcodes on the sites you visited, I intercepted all of them.
Needless to say, you can modify them, or possibly already changed them.
However it does not matter, my malware updates needed data every time.
What did I do?
I compiled a backup of every your system. Of all the files and contact lists.
I formed a dual-screen videofile. The first part displays the film that you were watching (you've got a good taste, wow...), and the second part displays the video from your webcam.
What actually should you do?
So, in my view, 1000 USD will be a realistic price for our small riddle. You'll make the deposit by bitcoins (if you don't understand this, try to find “how to buy bitcoin” in any search engine).
My bitcoin wallet address:
1Je9xULKJK191a1JV68QuMiPgHJduSpYf6
(It is cAsE sensitive, so just copy and paste it).
Attention:
You have 48 hours in order to make the payment. (I have an unique pixel to this email, and at this point I understand that you've read this email).
To tracethe reading of a letterand the activityinside it, I installeda Facebook pixel. Thanks to them. (The stuff thatis appliedfor the authorities may helpus.)

In the event I fail to get bitcoins, I shall undoubtedly direct your recording to all your contacts, such as relatives, co-workers, and so forth?

--------------------------

And what is really, and I mean REALLY funny (apart from the bad spelling and appalling grammar), is that these emails were sent while my computer was in the Apple repair shop, so if they did find someone watching online porn using my computer, it must have been the tech guys. Ha ha.

And did they find any malware on my computer? Of course not. My computer problem was a major hardware malfunction, not a software issue at all.

Sadly, most of my original computer is gone because they had to replace the screen, the top cover, the keyboard, the trackpad, the logistics board and the battery. So all I really have left is my software and files (that they backed up before they replaced everything) and the bottom cover. Thank goodness I took out an extended warranty because my computer is 2 years and one month old and the original warranty was only for 2 years. So it cost me nothing, except a long wait.

But at least I'm back in the driving seat again with my writing business because I have all my files back.

And during my off-line time, I got plenty of writing and planning done.

Oh, and by the way, now that I have my computer back I can get back to what I was working on. I'm currently in the process of changing all my published PDF ebooks to paperbacks and digital books that will only be available from brick and mortar book stores or online book stores.

So if you want to get them while they're still instantly downloadable PDF ebooks, you better be quick because by the end of March (in one month's time) they'll no longer be available in that format.

But you will be able to buy them, or order them, from any book store or library.

https://ruthiswriting.com

Script Writing Competitions for 2019

I was doing a bit of freelancing writing research online recently and I came across a lot of screenplay writing competitions.

There are competitions running all year for stage plays, movies, TV shows and a whole lot more.

There are even opportunities to write episodes of existing TV shows or to create one of your own.

And it's easy to look up what screenwriting competitions are coming up months in advance.

Because it's already February, some of the deadlines for early competitions are closed.

But there are plenty more for this month, next month, and many months to come.

So if you're interested you can sit back with a fresh cup of coffee and browse all the screenwriting competitions available by clicking on the links below (each one has lists of many competitions) or if you're not up to writing a whole script, go to my website to read about writing and submitting ideas for movies, TV shows, and Reality TV shows at https://ruthiswriting.com/scriptwriting.html.

Enjoy.

https://www.scriptmag.com/screenwriting-contests-calendar-dates-prizes

https://www.coverfly.com/calendar/

https://screencraft.org/2019/01/03/screenwriting-contests-competitions-coming-2019/

https://scriptangel.com/screenwriting-contests/

My Computer is Still Being Repaired and Why You Should Care

Last week I posted about my computer suffering the "Black Screen of Death" and that I had to take it in for repair. You can re-read it at https://writeaholic-inspiration.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-black-screen-of-death.html.

Well, sadly, it's still being repaired. It's been seven days since I took it to the Apple store and it's still there.

I rang them this morning and they said that it needs a few spare parts like a new keyboard, trackpad, screen, etc, you know... just a few bits and pieces.

Which means that this past week I've had no access to any of my computer files, no email, and I don't like to use my writing computer to sign into my online accounts so I haven't logged into any of them. I like to keep my writing computer as empty as possible so that it can never be used to access my accounts.

So instead of working online I've been doing quite a bit of off-line writing (except for a couple of posts to my blog) but haven't been able to check my email or check any of my online accounts or upload anything.

But my computer should be back sometime tomorrow so I'll have a lot to catch up on.

But you're probably wondering why you should care.

And it's because what has happened to my computer is a good reminder to keep regular backups of all your work.

I was lucky because I'd backed up my computer the day before it crashed. I usually back it up weekly, or more often if I'm working on a big project like a book, because I've known writers who have lost nearly full manuscripts because they didn't back up their work often enough.

So if you use your computer a lot, make it a habit to back it up regularly. I usually do mine at the end of every week, or every day.

You see, my whole writing and publishing business runs from one computer so I cannot afford to lose it all, or lose even a small part of it.

And that's why computer backups are so, SO important.

I can't afford to lose all my work.

And either can you.

The Black Screen of Death

Last month I wrote a post about how my Mac Book Pro hadn't been working properly and had to go to the Apple store for repairs, so I was offline for a few days while it was done. You can re-read the post at https://writeaholic-inspiration.blogspot.com/2019/01/off-line-and-not-writing.html.

Anyway, my computer hasn't really been the same since, despite the guys at the store telling me that my operating system was corrupted and they had to reinstall it, which they assured me would solve the problem.

But my computer was still acting up intermitently with freezing, not being able to connect to the internet, and then, eventually, yesterday, I got the Black Screen of Death.

What happened was that I was happily using my computer and it was actually behaving well. Then I closed it, had some lunch, opened it again and the keyboard immediately lit up but the screen stayed black.

Nothing to see but a big, black screen.

I Googled the hell out of it (using my iPhone) and followed all the instructions of how to cure it, but nothing happened.

So eventually I had to give in and take it to the computer store where it still lies.

I was also super annoyed because yesterday was an extremely hot and sunny day (36 degrees, or for those not on the metric system, 96.8 degrees) plus it was SO humid that I could feel the sweat trickling down my back as I walked the 15 minute journey and when I got to the shop and took my computer out of my bag, it felt really hot too.

At the moment I'm using my writing computer which is a Mac Book Air. I keep this one separate and it has no automatic logins to my accounts and I don't use email on it either. It's just a plain old computer that I use for typing.

I usually keep it so plain and boring for two reasons. One is so that I'm not distracted by anything on it like emails, and two, because it's the computer I use when I'm away from home, at the park or in the library, and if it ever got stolen, there's nothing personal or private on it. Whenever I write, I save the documents to a flash drive and delete them from this computer.

But sadly, I've had to log in to my blog account to write this post (plus others I'm getting ready to go), but once I've finished, I'll sign out and go back to using it as a glorified Word Processor like I usually do.

And hopefully my main computer will be back again soon.

Thankfully, I'd just done a complete back up of it the day before so at least I know I haven't lost any files.

I back my computer up every few days (or every day if I'm writing a book) and I hope you do too because your hard work can never be replaced once it's lost.

Unlike a computer.

I'm just hoping that my computer's Black Screen of Death isn't as fatal as it sounds.