While I briefly listed the panels I attended while at Windycon over on my twitter and jaiku accounts, I would also like to take this time to give some props to some excellent and talented vendors, crafters, and makers at Windycon. So listed in no particular order:

1. Art of Nigel Sade
2. Parasols by Tamie
3. Paraselenic Studios
4. Total xPansion

I am truly looking forward to next year’s con, Windycon 36, whose honored guests include Kaja and Phil Foglio of Girl Genius fame. The theme of next year’s con will be steampunk!

I was never contacted via email, phone, or written letter upon the resolution which I find odd since any transaction on my Paypal account in the past had always generated a message in my inbox. I was notified on July 4, 2008, that my funds could now be withdrawn from my Paypal account which I found odd and upon logging in found the transaction under dispute had been reversed in March, 2008, not long after I had written the letter to the collection agency and Paypal.

2. I applied for and accepted another job position within my company. I am not leaving the position I am currently in, instead the new position is just being added to my current responsibilities with proper compensation. I am not only a Validation Specialist but I am now the Network Administrator for Vectech Pharmaceutical Consultants, Inc.

3. My current pet project is starting to feel like it is finally nearing completion. A friend and I will be working on Saturday, May 3, to drop in the 1UZ-FE engine into my 1987 Toyota Supra. My project blog can be found at the the 1UZ Supras site, http://1uzsupra.com

I have only had approximately six (6) hours to play with it but I already love it. Want a wonderful device with Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g, and of course 1xRTT/EVDO built in. It is also a Wndows Mobile 6 Professional device, although Verizon saw fit to remove the Live integration for some reason, most likely due to their continuous need to profit from their subscribers in every way possible. As I play with my new gadget further, I will post up a more detailed review.

Although I have had it now for quite some time, I never reported on my other interesting gadget I obtained through a deal on eBay. I have always been interested in embedded Linux devices, especially the Sharp Zaurus series of PDA devices. When I first saw a new Sharp Zaurus SL5000 I immediately fell in love with the PDA and its hidden slider keyboard concept. However, I never got around to purchasing one or its upgraded siblings the SL5500 and SL6000. Then I came across an eBay auction for a Sharp Zaurus C860 PDA. Although Sharp discontinued the Zaurus line in the US, they continued to develop the line in Japan for quite some time and came out with a PDA line which resembled tiny convertible tablet notebooks. Here is a picture of the C860.

It is a very hackable device and there is an excellent following on the Internet which is still developing, upgrading and pushing the limits of what these devices are capable of. Although the device only runs a 400MHz processor is is more than capable of playing multimedia files, surfing the Internet, running office suite tasks (i.e. word processing, spreadsheets), developing code, hacking, and even running security audits.

I decided to file a fraud claim with my own bank due to PayPal’s lack of resolution. Today PayPal decided to return the money back to my bank by removing it from my own PayPal account thereby causing my PayPal account to have a negative balance. What I do not understand is why this could not have been done to user Paul Calabrese’s account at the time of dispute since PayPal seems so willing to make my account negative to resolve a dispute with my bank and why I am being penalized via my PayPal account instead of the person who committed the fraud. It is my belief that PayPal could have and should have removed the money from Paul Calabrese’s account to resolve this issue and leave him with a negative balance.

Now I am left to dispute the negative balance of my account with PayPal, who created the negative balance to begin with. Most likely they will claim ignorance or it is some policy or procedure and then will attempt to go on to try to collect back the money from me by ruining my credit record. I cannot even close my own account with PayPal at this time to protest since I have a negative balance which they created through their actions. Needless to say, I have been documenting everything from the time the first transaction occured, through the dispute and claim process, and now this new twist. The saga continues….

My ultimate goal would be to locate Mr. Calabrese so I may bring charges against him for fraud and other laws which may have been broken in this failed interstate commerce transaction. I would also like to show that people are not as anonymous on the Internet as they would like to believe seeing as how fraud on the Internet is on the rise which I posit is because people believe they have some sort of anonymity on the Internet so they will not be held accountable for their actions. Club Lexus will not release the last logged IP address of Mr. Calabrese without a subpoena. PayPal will not release Mr. Calabrese’s address without a subpoena.

Here is the information I have collected on Paul Calabrese thus far:

Name: Paul Calabrese
Location: Connecticut (possibly around the Waterbury area, although this has not be verified)
Birth Date: January 14, 1986
Car: 1993 Lexus SC400, silver spruce color
Screen Name: Cal9126
Email: meth8600@hotmail.com

During Fall Semester I took and successfully passed Objected Oriented Programming w/C++, Organizational Psychology, and Philosophy of Ethics. Once the Winter Semester arrives, I will be taking JAVA Programming, and Discrete Mathematics during the first half while finishing up the second half of the semester with Advanced JAVA Programming.