Elderly Amish Man Caught on Film With Prostitute, Blackmailed
When a 75-year-old Amish widower slept with a prostitute, he -- we feel certain -- felt pretty bad about it the next morning. As if that guilt weren't enough for the old man, the prostitute and her boyfriend demanded $67,000 from him, claiming that they had filmed the scene with wall-mounted cameras and would upload the recording to the Internet. The pair was later arrested and, we can only imagine, the Amish man abhorred technology more than ever.
Bank Robber Gets Away With the Help of Craiglist
In October, a bank robber -- wearing a safety vest, blue shirt, face mask and goggles -- eluded police with the help of Craiglist. Just outside the bank, while the robbery was in progress, stood a group of men who were responding to a Craiglist day labor opportunity. As the advertisement required, they were all wearing safety vests, blue shirts, face masks and goggles.
Nude New Zealander Arrested After Responding to Fake Sexy Text Message
Late in 2007, a Wellington, New Zealand man received a racy text message from two anonymous "ladies," giving him only an address and a request that he show up naked. Well, he indeed showed up naked... at the home of one appalled, unsuspecting New Zealander. Both the nude Romeo and the sadistic texter were arrested, though neither were prosecuted.
Fake Craiglist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns
Last Spring, a post appeared on an Oregon Craigslist board stating that the owner of a specific house was leaving all of his worldly possessions (still in said house) to whoever wanted them. When homeowner Robert Salisbury rushed home -- on a tip from a woman suspicious about the offer of a free horse -- he found his house being ransacked by 30 strangers. We suggest he take that horse and collect some vengeance Clint Eastwood-style.
17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual 'Furniture'
When a 17-year-old Dutch boy hacked into several accounts on the Second Life-style site 'Habbo' in 2007, the the law got involved. The boy was discovered to have stolen $5,800 worth of virtual furniture and knick-knacks. Apparently, crime -- whether actual or virtual -- does not pay.
Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."
Burglars Break Into Restaurant, Steal HDTV, Leave Money / Food Behind
Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 25)
Rollando said 5:08PM on 11-05-2007
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Blockbuster today is like the Model T of the auto world. The industry must change with the times.
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Chris said 7:13PM on 11-05-2007
Good bye Blockbuster. Their customer service is horrible. They promoted that you could rent online and then return them to the stores for an additional free movie. You had to setup an additional account at the store to return the movie. Then the fine print states the store can take up to 2-3 days to send in your movie. Helping the flow of their new releases. I can't movies so much faster on Netflix. Its not worth the hassel of BlockBuster.
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ROBERT MARULLO said 4:27AM on 11-06-2007
Blockbuster is like all "greedy corporate giants". When they cast out the movie plan to return your movies to your local stores and then rent out as many as you brought back, it was a great idea, until they decided to cut back the total you could rent a month. Changing the rules in the middle of the "stream" gets you in trouble with your members. I say good ridence to all those greedy losers. If I can't wait for the movie, I'll pay for it at pay-for-view, the hell with the rest of them.
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theresa said 5:59AM on 11-06-2007
they a bunch o' crooks. they took my $30 once. only once did i let them get by with it.
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jack said 11:26AM on 11-06-2007
I had Netflix and almost never got 3 movies in a seek as per my agreement with them. They would send movies from Washington state and California to Florida and it would take too much time to arrive and return. With Blockbusters I have movies in a continuous flow. I cut down to 5 a month on return because i could not viesw all the movies i was getting if i limited myself to one movie a day.
J
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Victoria Campanelli said 11:31AM on 11-06-2007
I agree with Robert Marullo, i had the same plan and it was great. I would have kept with it, but when they changed the contract rules after my second month with them, (funny it was right after my free trial and when i started paying the monthy fee), thats when they started limiting your rentals with the bring back protocol. Soon as they did that i cancelled and called to let them know i thought it was very cheesy for such a large organization to pull such a low down trick.
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drip said 11:32AM on 11-06-2007
I found Blockbuster's customer service in their Florida district office nonexistent and the counter help at the Tampa Palms store rude and incompetent. I am more than happy to see them disappear into oblivion.
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Dana Rogers said 11:33AM on 11-06-2007
A few years back I returned 3 movies to blockbuster dropping it in the box..about 6 months later I received a letter from collections saying I owed blockbuster around $90 for movies never returned. When I called the store and told them the story I received attitude after attitude and had to pay the money..I stopped using them obviously..when I moved to DC about a year ago I went with them again..but now their stores are much smaller and customer service is even worse..I got called an idiotic moron bc I was renting the Descent. I tallied up what I spent at blockbuster renting movies every week..it was in the hundreds over a few months..and then I switched to Netflix and my god it's amazing..it's 50 times cheaper..reliable..if there is a problem..no big deal they fix it..you can watch movies online..blockbuster..you need to change your whole image if you plan on sticking around.
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czorhanz said 11:33AM on 11-06-2007
I think in todays age where new releases are so easy to get i.e. p.p.v. and other means the days of rentals are coming to an end. look at the cd industry, much easier to plunk down a few dollars from home and download the damn thing.
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skdokla said 11:38AM on 11-06-2007
Well, I sure hope they don't go away...we love the online rental and returning it at the store for movies. Plus we get 2 coupons/month for in-store use for either games or movies, and don't see any delay from the in-store returning movies. We get much more value from BBuster on line membership than from Netflix (which we had before changing to BBuster on line) and who wants to have to sit at a computer to watch movies you download? Would much rather watch on at least a TV-sized screen than on computer! So here's hoping they hang in!!
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ada said 11:43AM on 11-06-2007
i have blockbuster on line and i think it rocks. i get two free coupons a month for movies or games(which my kids love) and when i return an online movie to the store i pick one out right then and there with no hassles. i love it...
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cfernos said 11:51AM on 11-06-2007
My problem with Blockbustere is that 1) they never had the movie I was interested in viewing in stock;
2) I have no time (or energy) after work to stop and get a movie
3) I have no idea as to when I'll be watching the movie nevermind and much less when to return it. ;and
4) Too expensive (specially w/ late fees)
5) I once had to pay for a movie that was not recorded when I returned it.
If these problems can be addressed maybe I'll ruturn as a customer, until then it's Netflix for me.
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lh said 11:52AM on 11-06-2007
Hollywood Video just filed Chapter 11.......
joe says:
HOLLYWOOD VIDEO is taking over! i didnt know people still went to cockbuster!?! when they started that no late fee thing, it was a joke! instead of late fees they made it so you would just buy the movie rather then just pay a small late fee!?! WTF?
11/06/07 12:51 AM
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Shoeprincess said 11:53AM on 11-06-2007
Well, I am surprised people still go to Blockbuster and pay over $5.00 to rent a movie when not only can you rent the movie online but in your local grocery stores (where i live) they have video rental machines and it is really great! Go shopping and before you leave rent the latest releases for .99! Yes, just like blockbuster you might have to wait a week to get the last weeks release because of it's popularity but I don't mind waiting because I am not charged extra to rent the newest title like ole greedbuster. Also, there is a new technology coming out soon that you can purchase that looks like a DVD player and it will carry all of the latest and oldest movies out there and with the click of your remote you can either rent or purchase the movies for fraction of the cost of going out to purchase or a rental from Blockbuster. Blockbuster days are numbered unless they come up with some hip new idea to save it's horrible image.
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whitehudson said 11:57AM on 11-06-2007
Well, in the past, when I didn't have a auto for some time and it used to be a real gore up my rear for me in having to ride my bicycle up the steep big hill some one mile to Blockbuster, just to return their movies and look for some movies that would interest me. But what they got up there being available are bunch of whoopie movies and little else. I had problems with them at some times when I found out about very interesting "special" movies from somewhere else and I wanted to rent them, and when I asked them about them and they often don't have it being available beside just only "whoopie" movies.
After when I hooked up with the Netflix and it was an SAVIOR and MIRACLE to my problems mentioned above... They had wide variety of right "special" movies that I can get from them without any problem, and get it all be delivered right to my home and I only need to walk around the corner to drop it off at a mailbox five minutes from my home! No more 1 mile gore up my rear bicycle ride on that uphill to that Blockbuster anymore! I had quit on Blockbuster by around Jan 2006 and switched to Netflix and it had served me be so well ever since and I never have any problem with them. That was before Blockbuster tried to do online movie order copycat thing that I didn't want to fall for, because they don't have right "special" movies that I wanted to look for, anyway!
Yes, I think Blockbuster is going to flush itself into the toilet for good real soon! Who care? Their problem, not our!
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Marc said 12:02PM on 11-06-2007
I hope that Blockbuster stays. Not because they give good services or not but for the sake of competition. I believe that the only reason that people who have Netflix are having good deals is because of the competition with blockbuster. as soon as blockbuster will get out of the way, netflix will probably start dissapointing its customers the same way blockbuster is apparently doing it right now.
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lotoole said 12:03PM on 11-06-2007
That reminds me, I need to logon to Netflix and get some more movies.
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shelly said 12:05PM on 11-06-2007
I've been a Netflix subsriber for over three yrs now and all I can say is Netflix ROCKS. Their selection is far superior to Blockbuster. In addition, if I return a movie on Monday, I have my next movie by Wednesday. Their customer service is always on top of things and easily reachable. Blockbuster online is a joke. Netflix = Love
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III said 12:10PM on 11-06-2007
I used to have NetFlix and thought that it was the way of the future. Then I got Blockbuster Online and couldn't figure out why anyone would waste their money on NetFlix. I get 3 movies at a time, and can return them for additional movies...all while 3 more are being sent to me. Plus I receive additional free movie and game rental specials. If you only watch a few movies a month then NetFlix is fine...if you are a junky, then Blockbuster is definitely the way to go. As long as Blockbuster keeps their doors open they will have my business.
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sullynla said 12:10PM on 11-06-2007
This is very typical of any company controlled by a major religious organization...refusal to change and compromise their "mission statement." Good riddance, I'm so tired of their HORRID customer service. I'm so glad a company that won't let us rent "adult or risque" movies for our own good is going to be OUT of the mix!
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