I got addware from imagefap.com

I am looking to set up a simple hobby site, it is literally only intended to be some HTML pages with some CSS and things like perhaps images or links such. I specifically do not want the site to run or have any form of JavaScript or such on it, so many modern hosting providers will be out of the door, since they tend to auto-inject JavaScript modules or banners or such. the reason is because I want it to be a site without anti-features, so a site which just does exactly what it needs to do, no cookies or scripts, someone who uses privacy or security settings or a terminal based browser should be able to use it perfectly fine.
the site will just contain info on projects and such, you could see it kind of like those personal websites people used to have in the past.

• I am based in west europe.
• preffer the costs for the hosting excluding domain(if domain is included I calculate that as €1 per month) to be quite low, since hosting it myself costs less than €2 per month(on my pretty old frankenstein server more info about this one later)
• it really will only host html and css pages and some files
• I don't expect many users, but preffer not to be bound to uservieuws per page or such, bandwith doesn't need to be high, since the pages will be very small in datasize compared to most modern websites(just HTML and CSS, the only databound stuff would be images and such).
• I prefer to be able to link a domain name to my site.
• the reason I am looking into letting it be hosted is mostly so people who visit the site won't instantly get my home address from the ip

I saw this subreddit suggest https://krystal.uk/hosting and https://www.knownhost.com/web-hosting as 2 examples. knownhost is in usa so might be far away from here, and seems to mention wordpress and I just want to upload some html pages myself, no site builder or such. krystal seems good on based what I can see, but still offers many things with it which I do not need, and the price of their most basic plan would be quite much at the limit of what I might concider the perhaps max budged for this site(since this is just a hobby project site to reffer some people to once in a while). I really only need some primitive basics just a sever where I manage the files using FTP is enough.
I have also concidered using the github website space. and have a oracle cloud instance on which I could also set up server stuff, but I live in a no credit card country, and just happened to have a credit card for a while for speciffic trades, having a credit card here is pretty expensive, and it is about to expire(2025), and I am not certain if I would prolong it by then if I don't need it, but oracle clouds requires a creditcard to work.
What I currently have/had/can have A hobby arm server based on a old fried(due to the modem my internetprovider forced us to use dumping the high voltage peak after a power usage on the ethernet port(got a new modem now)) which I with some luck managed to get working again, just at some lower performance. it is a pine a64+ 2gb. it used 2W of energy max when measured from the wall. even though after adding some persistence for power outages, and upgrading storage to 250gb it draws up to around 5w to max 7w in it's peaks(measured from wall). I have used this for a webserver and private tracker and other things, but had to take it out when the internet provider came to bring the new modem so they wouldn't see it, they also recently started messing with the IP, secretly changing our IP which used to be out private static public ip to a different one, don't know yet if it will stay like this now or again start changing, I noticed it since my server suddenly no longer worked when calling my home ip. this hosting costs me around €7(min) to €20(max) per year, so around €0,58 to €1,67 per month
I might perhaps also get another SBC or such, or arm or risk / low power server, since as mentioned the pine a64+ had been fried, so I can't be certain it will keep working despite it having run for a few years since 24/7. another reason is since right now there are also many new sbc's, some use a smaller node size so might be more efficient, as well as for some more native persistent storage support, and perhaps linking it up with a more efficient storage drive, or running more heavy things on it since those no longer work since it was fried and instead cause the processor to glitch. this would likely also bring me back to a max price of around €0,6 per month, since the higher cost was mostly due to the inefficient storage and extra hardware for compatibility of the storage..
My main reason against this is that anyone visiting my site will see my ip.(when inspecting the packages to or from the server)
as mentioned oracle cloud, and github might also be a option. github being probably the main one right now(due to no credit card need or such). but I am not certain if it would also allow to link a custom domain directly to it if I would eventually allow to do that since I don't really have much experience with propetairy domain names(domain names on the normal general internet outside of custom alternative internets)
Note I am not a web expert or such, I can use Linux and the terminal, both as normal daily driver os, and as server including headless servers, I have used it for years but do not concider myself a poweruser, especially since the last few years I mostly just used ready to go distros and ready to go packages, softwares, and libraries instead of actually making my own stuff in most cases. and things like ftp and ttl and such, and can set up servers with some general basic security measures and such but I am not a security expert either, I am just a hobbyist with many different hobies who likes to also host things on a site.
TLDR I look for cheap basic hosting for a old time like site(based on a technological point of vieuw, as in how it works). basically a site a "chad" or "based" person would be able to use without complaints about things like cookies, or addware/spyware trackers, or javascript, or such.

I was using gallery-dl to archive an imagefap gallery and got the following error:
[imagefap][error] An unexpected error occurred: AttributeError - 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'partition'. Please run gallery-dl again with the --verbose flag, copy its output and report this issue on https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/issues .
I have downloaded several bigger galleries from that website in the past without any problem.
A google search points at a captcha related error , maybe: https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/issues/1140 , yet I do not get asked to fill a captcha.
But maybe someone here solved it in another way

So I got some kinda addware in firefox that's taken over my notifications in Mint's Desktop with all kinds of sexually explicit advertisements. I think obviously, this being Linux, such nonsense is beneath us.
I've determined what whatever is going on it's somewhere in the .mozilla folder (because where else could it be on linux) I could just delete the folder, but I wanna save my passwords.
So ether I want to copy over just the passwords from the .mozilla folder, or I want to delete the virus. Ether option works for me, I think.

Many people have asked me about how to keep their funds safe, so o thought I’d share some basic advice to help you keep your crypto, your computephone/tablet and yourself safe.
First is rule 1 of Cryptocurrency: Never talk about how much you have. It's a bad idea, especially if it's a lot. Why? Because it makes you a target. The wonderful thing about crypto is it's decentralised and you have full control of your money. The terrible thing about crypto is it's decentralised and you have full control of your money. If a hacker penetrates your security and gets your crypto you're buggered, no recourse, your money is gone.
So don't post photos of your wallet, don't brag about having XYZ amount of any crypto, and make sure you have your secret phrase secure. Those are the uttermost basics. Everyone says it's best to write them down on paper, laminate it or put them on something even more indestructible and keep them in a safe place. But, if you're going to go ahead and store them on a computer make sure you store them encrypted. Encrypt the file, zip it, encrypt the zip and then, preferably, put it on a USB stick and save it somewhere. If for some reason you decide to store it in a cloud location make sure that whatever cloud you use stores files encrypted and uses 2FA. Preferably make sure it's blind encryption where only you have the keys.
​
Some further security advice if you want it... warning... it's long:
Keep your devices up to date on their latest security patches! I don't care if you're scared that windows update might break something. I'd rather have to revert to a last known good than allow a hacker using a downloaded exploit kit get into my system. AIt's just not worth the risk to keep your system unpatched because 1 in 10,000 people experience an issue with update # XYZ from Microsoft/Apple/Whomever.

1. No, Apple computers are not hack/virus/malware proof. They are just as susceptible to vulnerabilities as any other platform. A LOT of apple users buy into the myth that the OS is more secure than MS. TECHNICALLY it does have fewer vulnerabilities but... it only takes one. No OS is safe, even Linux. So make sure you're keeping your systems patched and up to date.
2. Keep your APPS, not just your antivirus up to date as well. It can be a pain keeping everything up to date on a PC because there's not a lot of automatic updating going on for 3rd party apps and most of the time it's a manual process. There's apps like PatchMyPC that help with this (do research before using one) and can make your life a whole lot easier.
3. Speaking of Antivirus don't just use antivirus. Get a good anti-malware solution as well. Ironically windows 10's built in defender is actually a pretty decent antivirus solution all by itself so you can just stick with that if you don't want to pay for MacAfee or Norton or Kaspersky etc. But make sure you have a top 10 antivirus solution and that you use it. Also get an anti-malware solution like Malwarebytes, etc.

Use Two Factor authentication on any websites you log into (if 2FA isn't offered I'd argue the website isn't worth going to) and, wherever possible, use an authenticator app rather than email or sms to do it. SMS is good if nothing else is available but phones can be my sim spoofed and email can be hacked. So get a good 2FA app (like Google Authenticator) and use it. Even Reddit supports 2FA now. Definitely use 2FA for any site you buy/sell crypto on!
Check your email addresses to make sure they haven't been breached periodically. A great way to do this is to check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and put your email address in to see if it's been reported in any breach reports. It's a very reputable site and is well maintained. No, you aren't putting anything at risk by putting your email address there. People can already get THAT easily enough. You're checking to see if your password has been hacked.
Password Security Don't re-use passwords if at all possible. Use a different password for every site and make sure they're complex. If you have trouble making complex passwords use autogenerated ones from chrome or keepass or any number of other good password utilities. Some VPN suppliers provide one and a lot of ISPs do now as well. You can also use these utilities to store them securely so you won't forget them. A bonus to using them is most password utilities also have an option to check breach reports to see if your accounts stored in them have been compromised somewhere so you can proactively go change your passwords there.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you find that an account HAS been breached, immediately change that password and, if you've used that password ANYWHERE else go change it there too.
Use a paid VPN to keep your network traffic private! ^{(Note: I have been told by someone that they have heard of people having issues with their exchange blocking them due to using a VPN. It's likely that this was because of using a vpn server that is in IP range that's on a list of bad actors, or that they inadvertantly used a vpn server in a bad actor country (there are a few}.) ^{That said... if you are concerned about something like this you can set up split tunneling to allow specific sites or apps to bypass the VPN and go direct instead.})
I do not recommend using the freebies offered by various browsers, ISPs, etc. They are junk and they log and they are not truly secure. There are a couple free VPN's out there that are secure but they have either limited bandwidth or limited servers to choose from and they, last I checked, don't support split tunneling or many other important features. Pay the 5 or 6 bucks a month for a good one, it's worth it. No, it's not going to noticably slow down your internet unless you're downloading a lot of really big files (more on that in a minute). Most good VPN solutions even let you stream video just fine without any issue.
I strongly recommend getting a VPN. Especially if you ever use public WIFI at a restaruant, store, workplace, etc. It encrypts your connection so that anyone looking at traffic on that network can't tell where you're going or what you're doing. Thus making you a bit less of a target if a hacker happens to be watching. It also makes sure your entire internet connection is encrypted with high level encryption not just https websites which is all your browser can protect. I won't recommend any one VPN over any other. There are a lot of really good ones. And there are websites that routinely rank them. Do some research and pick one you like.
The big things to look for in whatever VPN you choose are:

1. Military-Grade Encryption (which isn't REALLY military grade but it's a term to watch for)
2. Integrated Kill Switch that kills your internet connection if your VPN drops.
3. Maximum Connection Speed.
4. Unlimited Data Transmission.
5. Firewall.
6. Multiple Device Support.
7. Worldwide Servers.
8. VPN Blocking Prevention
9. No Logging

Some 'nice to have' items:

• Split Tunnel availability (Useful for sites or apps that choke on VPN's, also useful for gamers who need to avoid latency for their video games)
• Multi-Hop VPN capability
• Anonymous DNS Server services

Don't use any Browser Extensions that aren't for your security! Sure, you might be able to use a Facebook plugin in chrome to block all cute kitten posts, or whatever, but those extensions can contain keyloggers, track everywhere you go on the internet AND report them back to their creatoowner and even, in some cases, execute code on your system or take captures of what's on your screen. The only browser extensions I feel are worth it are ones that come with your antivirus or malware software and a good add blocker. (Believe it or not, there are malicious adds out there that CAN be used as a penetration avenue against your system and they can wind up on sites that you would typically trust, like Facebook, and others) NEVER turn off your add blocker, no matter what the website you're visiting bitches about. I'd rather NOT read their content than turn off my add blocker. If you are using ANY extensions check periodically to make sure they're up to date and verify they haven't been discontinued.
Android Don't: Don't ever side-load apps. Yes, you can side load apps. No, it's NOT a good idea. You have no way of knowing if that app is trustworthy or not. And... guess what one of the most prolific hacks in side loaded apps is right now? Jacking your phone and using it to mine crypto in the background... another big one is keylogging to steal crypto keys and, of course, ransomware, malware, etc.
Some good habits to get in to protect yourself from Malware, Addware, Ransomware and Viruses:

• Don't click on links in emails, SMS messages, Discord, etc. Look at the URL and google the site to see if it's trustworthy first then MANUALLY type the address into your browser if it appears to be legitimate. You can also use Trend Micro's Site Safety checker or other URL checkers if you want to be extra careful. URL's can be faked in a number of ways. Also always pay attention to the end of the URL (not the beginning) to make sure it's a real domain. Google isn't www.google.com**.mycoolwebsite.com** (for example).
• I highly recommend turning off dynamic display in your email (if you're not sure what this is, google it. This is already getting longer than I planned). Basically this turns off images, links, etc in your email and disables scripts. Email is one of the most common ways hackers get access to you.
• Please remember: No bank/exchange/website/whatever is EVER going to ask you to send them your password/secret word/whatever. If you get a message/email/whatever of that type report it as phishing and block it. The IRS (or whatever your country's tax institution is) isn't going to ask you for your banking information or your social security number (guess what, they already know what bank you use and they already have your SSN) Don't ever give out private information to someone you aren't expecting a call from on the phone, SMS message Email or whatever and, even then, try to make sure you know that they are who they say they are before giving out any information.
• Don't download random crap from the internet! Stick to trusted sources of files if you have to download something. And even then use a GOOD antivirus program and check the file hash before extracting it. A nice additional step is to, if you want to be extra sure, check the hash of the software. This can be done using “Certutil -hashfile ‘filename’ sha256” in the windows cmd line (on Linux you can use “sha256sum ‘filename’”) you can then enter the hash these commands return into VirusTotal.com to see if it comes back malicious.
• Some applications will offer to install 3rd party software as part of their delivery. I HIGHLY recommend that you ALWAYS decline those and then go get those applications directly from the vendor, yourself, if you want them. At minimum the one wrapped into whatever installer you're using will be out of date and full of vulnerabilities. At worst it could have a virus.
• Consider using the TOR browser if you go to sites you don't fully trust (I recommend avoiding them but if you feel you MUST go to them, be safe about it). It's a fork of Mozilla with some built in security settings to help prevent it from being compromised and it uses built in 3 hop protection (beyond your VPN) to keep you even more anonymous when browsing.

Well done if you got this far. I hope your Friday was spent better than mine (posing this). Stay safe out there.

Edit: so no one seems to be responding to this but it seems to be pissing off men who keep pm me and telling me i asked for it and oddly telling me I'm fat. So i feel good i touched a nerve. Well I'm not your victim either!
Strange men just invade my life I'm supposed to be fine and my husband thinks i over reacts. I've been sharing a lot about my health struggles and pictures come with that. Trying to feel good and happy. My husband encourages it. It has helped in a lot of ways. But i get nasty rude downright disgusting messages. I am dealing with some serious health issues. What makes people do this?
I had a guy find my home phone number and i was openly afraid. I feel like this guy just shoots his shot because I'm a woman and he feel entitled to cross this line with me because he sees suggestive pictures of me. Like he's entitled to me. But i hold in the fear and friendly questioned him as to how he got it. He works in IT and found my username and pictures on a site called imagefap.com. I looked myself up and there were 4 pictures of me just my username and a lot of cleveage all from reddit. That lead him after some searching to my personal Skype. Like i don't really ever give that out. But apparently i didn't have it totally private until yesterday. I had several people check for me that I'm private now.
This was my private number. It leads to my full name. My address, my stupidly too much having information fb and insta. I'm so overly exposed! Like have other people done this? Looked me up and found all this information on me?
I have had this suspicion for a while someone is changing accounts and trying to talking to me over and over. I just block people that are rude. But I'm friendly and I'm polite and just make conversation with people. I was taught to be polite and friendly and accommodating! Like for awhlie people that identify as men have been acting like they are entitled to know everything about me and have access to anything and any part of me. It's outrageous! I've made great connections and met great people, online and irl too. But I'm questioning social media's worth.
I started reading about stalking. I know someone else posts my pictures. I have had my pictures removed from porn sites before. I lost a whole day to fear. Just in bed having nightmares. I'm putting in a security system. I'm reading up on self security. I'm starting self defense classes. I'm making my teen daughters do the same.
I feel little and all alone and not safe in my own home today. I'm scared! Thanks for reading this, I'm just so upset.

Idk what to say or what to do or where to go today. I had the worst day yesterday. This is my account to talk about women's stuff. I have pictures on my main account and men send me all kinds of messages there, i should say people send messages. Some are just awful.
I am dealing with some serious health issues. I admit I've been acting out and talking to and flirting with strangers and posting risky pictures. But i even get harassed on my insta where i post like landscapes and have like 6 stupid selfies.
I had a guy find my home phone number and i was openly afraid. I feel like this guy just shoots his shot because I'm a woman and he feel entitled to cross this line with me because he sees suggestive pictures of me. Like he's entitled to me. But i hold in the fear and friendly questioned him as to how he got it. He works in IT and found my username and pictures on a site called imagefap.com. I looked myself up and there were 4 pictures of me just my username and a lot of cleveage all from reddit. That lead him after some searching to my personal Skype. Like i don't really ever give that out. But apparently i didn't have it totally private until yesterday. I had several people check for me that I'm private now.
This was my private number. It leads to my full name. My address, my stupidly too much having information fb and insta. I'm so overly exposed! Like have other people done this? Looked me up and found all this information on me?
I have had this suspicion for a while someone is changing accounts and trying to talking to me over and over. I just block people that are rude. But I'm friendly and I'm polite and just make conversation with people. I was taught to be polite and friendly and accommodating! Like for awhlie leople that identify as men have been acting like they are entitled to know everything about me and have access to anything and any part of me. It's outrageous! I've made great connections and met great people, online and irl too. But I'm questioning social media's worth.
I started reading about stalking. I know someone else posts my pictures. I have had my pictures removed from porn sites before. I lost a whole day yesterday to fear. Just in bed having nightmares. I'm putting in a security system. I'm reading up on self security. I'm starting self defense classes. I'm making my teen daughters do the same.
I feel little and all alone and not safe in my own home today. I'm scared! Thanks for reading this, I'm just so upset.

Hello everyone! So, I bought a cheap phone from china, and sadly, it came with addware. Now, I found a way to uninstall the apps, but I have trouble finding which of the apps that came installed with it is the actual addware, so I was wondering if someone could help me find it so I can get rid of it. I'll leave attached the info of all the apps that I got with the "Appchecker" app. It's long list to read, but I'll be thankful for any help, this addware is driving me nuts and I just can't find which app it is. If this is not the place to ask, or if someone can point me to somewhere I can get help form, I'll be thankful.
Format: Name, Package Name

• Actualización, com.dtinfo.tools
• Administración de llamadas telefónicas, com.android.server.telecom
• Administrador ctas. de Google,com.google.android.gsf.login,
• Administrador de carga,com.android.providers.downloads
• Agujero negro,com.android.galaxy
• Almacenamiento de calendario,com.android.providers.calendar
• Almacenamiento de configuración,com.android.providers.settings
• Almacenamiento de contenido protegido por DRM, com.mediatek.providers.drm
• Almacenamiento de medios,com.android.providers.media
• Almacenamiento externo,com.android.externalstorage
• Almacenamiento para contactos,com.android.providers.contacts
• Android System WebView,com.google.android.webview
• Asist. acceso al paquete,com.android.defcontainer
• Atci_service,com.mediatek.atci.service
• Bluetooth MIDI Service,com.android.bluetoothmidiservice
• BSPTelephonyDevTool,com.mtk.telephony
• BT Tool,com.mediatek.bluetooth.dtt
• Buscar el proveedor de aplicaciones,com.android.providers.applications
• Calendario,com.android.calendar
• Call Log Backup/Restore,com.android.calllogbackup
• CaptivePortalLogin,com.android.captiveportallogin
• Cola de impresión,com.android.printspooler,
• com.android.backupconfirm,com.android.backupconfirm
• com.android.carrierconfig,com.android.carrierconfig
• com.android.sharedstoragebackup,com.android.sharedstoragebackup,
• com.android.wallpaper.holospiral,com.android.wallpaper.holospiral
• com.mediatek,com.mediatek,
• com.mediatek.batterywarning,com.mediatek.batterywarning
• com.mediatek.voiceextension,com.mediatek.voiceextension
• com.mediatek.voiceunlock,com.mediatek.voiceunlock
• ComandoVoz,com.mediatek.voicecommand,
• Compartir por Bluetooth,com.android.bluetooth
• ConfigUpdater,com.google.android.configupdater
• Configuración,com.android.settings,
• Contactos,com.android.contacts
• Copia de seguridad y Restablecer,com.mediatek.datatransfer
• Cámara,com.mediatek.camera,
• Data Protection,com.mediatek.dataprotection
• Descargas,com.android.providers.downloads.ui,
• Diccionario del usuario,com.android.providers.userdictionary,
• Dispositivos de entrada,com.android.inputdevices
• Documentos,com.android.documentsui
• EngineerMode,com.mediatek.engineermode
• eSETerminalService,org.simalliance.openmobileapi.eseterminal
• Factory test,com.android.ipro
• FwkPlugin,com.mediatek.fwk.plugin
• Galería,com.android.gallery3d,
• Gboard,com.google.android.inputmethod.latin
• Gestor de archivos,com.mediatek.filemanager
• Grabadora de sonido,com.android.soundrecorder
• ImeiModify,com.android.huasi
• Instalador de certificado,com.android.certinstaller
• Intent Filter Verification Service,com.android.statementservice
• IU del sistema,com.android.systemui
• Llavero,com.android.keychain,
• LocationEM2,com.mediatek.lbs.em2.ui,
• Marco de los servicios de Google,com.google.android.gsf,
• Mensajería,com.android.mms
• MiraVision,com.mediatek.miravision.ui,
• MmsService,com.android.mms.service
• Mobile anti-theft,com.mediatek.ppl
• MTK Thermal Manager,com.mediatek.thermalmanager
• MTKLogger,com.mediatek.mtklogger
• MusicFX,com.android.musicfx
• Música,com.android.music,
• NetworkLocation,com.baidu.map.location
• Omacp,com.mediatek.omacp,
• One Time Init,com.android.onetimeinitializer,
• PacProcessor,com.android.pacprocessor,
• Permission Control,com.mediatek.security,
• Pico TTS,com.svox.pico,
• Programa de instalación del paquete,com.android.packageinstaller,
• Programar encendido y apagado,com.mediatek.schpwronoff
• Protectores de pantalla de fotos,com.android.dreams.phototable
• ProxyHandler,com.android.proxyhandler
• Radio FM,com.android.fmradio
• Reloj,com.google.android.deskclock,
• Seleccionador de fondo de pantalla animado,com.android.wallpaper.livepicker
• Servicios de Google Play,com.google.android.gms,
• Shell,com.android.shell
• Sistema Android,android
• SmartcardService,org.simalliance.openmobileapi.service,
• Teclado de Android (AOSP),com.android.inputmethod.latin
• Teléfono,com.android.dialer
• Teléfono,com.android.phone
• Teléfono/Almacenamiento de mensajes,com.android.providers.telephony
• Traductor,com.google.android.apps.translate
• Ubicación combinada,com.android.location.fused,
• Uicc1TerminalService,org.simalliance.openmobileapi.uicc1terminal
• Uicc2TerminalService,org.simalliance.openmobileapi.uicc2terminal
• VCalendar,com.mediatek.calendarimporter
• Visualizador de HTML,com.android.htmlviewer
• VpnDialogs,com.android.vpndialogs
• YGPS,com.mediatek.ygps

Just found out about this wonderful subreddit, so I had to share my tale:
I am a college student, but in order to get some spending cash I usually do some random gigs, taking dogs out for a walk, purchasing groceries for elderlies, etc. Nothing in actual contract, just some random jobs so that I get some spending money. Being from Europe and having a student grant for good grades means that tuition is not an issue, so I just wanted some cash for going out, building up a cushion, etc.
 
One such gig happened a few months ago, where I provided IT service for a small company where my uncle was a manager (because everyone knows young biomedics students are perfect for IT). I wasn't under a contract, so I'm not entirely sure if its legal, but it paid neatly and I had no fixed schedule, I'd request days off if I had a test coming, stuff like that. Usually came into the office a few hours after lunch, fixed some assortment of issues, printers not working properly, updating systems, some anti-virus here and there, nothing too exciting or TFTS worthy.
 
One fateful day I got a call from an accountant, an old lady (henceforth mentioned to as OL) which is pretty much only still working at the company because it would cost them too much to fire a worker that has been with them for decades. She is amazing when working with pen, paper and files, not so much with digital records. I was sitting on my desk browsing dank memes when the phone rang.
 

Me: "IT support, how can I be of service?"
OL: "Hello my dear. I need some help at my computer, can't figure these damned things. You see, Google is shrinking!"

 
Wat. I could feel the clogs in my mind grind to a halt as I tried to process that information.
 

Me: "Google is... shrinking?"
OL: "Yes it is. It's been getting smaller for some weeks now, but now its so small I can hardly type!"
Me: "I... I... I'm on my way"

 
As I walked down those corridors I was still flabbergasted at what in the seven hells could that possibly even mean. When I arrived at her desk, she very politely thanked me for my help, stepped aside and let me look to the computer. She pointed at Internet explorer and told me that she was having issues with Google, namely that it was shrinking.
With a mist sensation of curiosity, fear, and an omnious feel of impending doom, I open IE and stared in horror as Google loaded.
 
Google had indeed shrunk. She had SO. MANY. TOOLBARS. It was filling up the screen so much the page itself (Google) only had some 5 cm of space left, so you could barely see the search bar and the logo.
Turn out that in her quest to download some nice musics and kitten desktop animations (like the stripper ones but with kittens) this nice old grandma had downloaded 500mb worth of malware, addware and every single bloatware on the internet.
 
I told her I would need to take the PC, as the issue seemed a bit more complicated, and spent the next day and a half uninstalling tons of addware, including a Satan-designed Chinese addware/malware that added an extra option on the right click menu in Chinese, kept trying to change the homepage, and "shielded" itself from being deleted or having its process interrupted. By the end of it the Anti-Malware software had detected something like 7000 threats.
She got her pc back, nice and clean and with no administrator privileges. I don't work there anymore but she was a sweet old lady, albeit completely technologically illiterate, which was only even more evident when she called me after a few days complaining that the ceiling fan was blowing away the Wi-Fi.

Here's my original post for the backstory: http://www.reddit.com/legaladvice/comments/2ia6dp/someone_got_a_hold_of_my_nudes_i_took_when_i_was/
Someone suggested that my stalker was someone I knew, and I didn't believe them because I don't have any enemies and didn't think I knew anyone who would do such a horrible thing to me. Lo and behold, I discover with 99.9% certainty that the person who's been terrorizing me is the weird kid in high school who I was always super nice to. I found this by reverse image searching one of my nudes and finding a post on anon-ib that linked to his e-mail address with his name. He slipped up and I caught him. He recently posted the pictures on myex.com, imagefap.com, and a few Tumblr porn sites. I was the FRONT FUCKING PAGE of myex.com (20000 views), and they finally deleted it after I sent them 5 underage complaints including 3 DMCA complaints.
If you didn't read the back story, I was 17 when I was lured by what I thought was a modelling website to send them topless photos (polaroid style). I'm 22 now, and I obviously know how dumb I was, but I did NOT expect the photos to ever surface especially 5 years later. And alas they did. I should've figured that it was only a matter of time. So anyways, this guy has hacked my phone and taken lingerie photos that I've sent to my girlfriends (to ask them for advice on what to buy, it's not THAT weird) and he posted them online a few days ago. On Thanksgiving. What a fun holiday that was.
Basically, it's taking EVERYTHING in me not to chop his dick off and shove it down his throat, but everyone says to be patient and wait til I have cold hard evidence so I can actually get him into legal trouble. I know if I said something to him now that he would stop and be horribly embarrassed, but I want him to burn. He's terrorized me for the past 5 months by making fake profiles and sending out all my pictures to my friends and family and I literally feel sick to my stomach every single day. My question is: I'm in Europe right now til the 20th. I can't get legal help until I go to the station in person. How do I catch him without making it obvious that I know about it? I need something that undeniably proves it's him. Thank you!!!
EDIT: The IP address that I've found through the e-mail exchanges is a cover-up. It links to Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.
Also, I'm from Ohio.

I'm going to apologize in advance for not knowing a single thing about computer's. I don't know hardly any terms or anything, so basically I'll need you to explain like i'm five.
Windows 8 Lenovo ideapad u310 touch
I'm not sure if these problems are related or not but here are the issues. -Several months ago I noticed my laptop would take forever to start up and when it did a message would pop up saying I didn't have Intel Rapid Start installed. I tried fixing the issue and got my older brother who is great with technology to help, but even he was puzzled. My laptop was pretty new at that point and I hadn't done anything I can think of to cause this. -Later I had to download Java in order to complete some school homework, so I did. Or at least I thought I did. But it wouldn't work still and when I tried figuring out why, I remember finding most places saying I had to download something else to get it to work. I don't remember what it was. But it didn't work so I gave up and used the school computers. -After a while every time I would start up my computer, I would get this really annoying message from "regclean pro" or something like that, saying it was scanning my computer for viruses. And everytime it ends up saying it found 147 problems and asks if I want it to fix it. But it's really sketchy so I figured something was up and I always end up exiting out. (which it has made really difficult as it takes a series of clicks to close it) -It seemed to not be causing any harm, just being a nuisance, so I figured I'd ignore it and wait until I saw my brother next to get him to help. -About a month and a half ago is when it reached a point of being unusable. All of a sudden I seem to have addware and can't navigate the internet at all without having to exit out of several adds every time I click on something. The addware doesn't seem to affect the sites I regularly use though. -My laptop now runs pretty slow. -Moments ago a tab opened up that says it's esystemscans.com saying I might not have antivirus installed and to fix it now. The problem is I can't tell if I should trust it, as i'm so used to getting a ton of pop ups, and I'd expect a message like that to show up somewhere else on windows 8, not some random website it's forced me to go to. But the thing that makes this different is I can't exit out of that tab. When I try, another message pops up that says "confirm navigation IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUIRED Your system might be infected with Trojan." and it continues to tell me about what a trojan virus is. It seems legit, except that it says exactly what the wikipedia article about trojan viruses says.
Oh and one last issue that I don't THINK is related, but it very well could be is that about a month ago my gmail account was saying it prevented some sign in attempt from some other state. And when I looked they attempted to sign in several times over a few days. So I changed my password. However a week ago, the same thing happened, and I've changed my password again.
I'm sorry about the wall of text and my complete ignorance on the subject. I'm sure I'm forgetting some details, but I really need help and I can't afford to pay a ton of money to have this fixed if it's possible to fix on my own. I appreciate any and all advice.

Hello Nofap.
Well, instead of going to sleep, I thought I'd stick this as a reminder to the future me of my life with porn. I thought you all may be interested in reading it too. :)
First, before I go on ahead with this, I want to thank every single one of you for being an inspiration, however many days you've done. You have shown that there is a way out of this dark abyss, even if it feels hopeless, and an endless struggle sometimes.
WARNING, STORY TIME AHEAD
Well, where do I begin? I guess from the beginning. I was around 13 when I discovered Porn. I was told about ‘wanking’ by my friends. I guess it seemed a peculiar thing to be doing to me, when there was Lego Star Wars sets and Warhammer to be played with instead (by God, I wish I stuck to those (well, I still am a Warhammer (NSF Wallet) player...)). So, I jerked off for the first time whilst watching the Adult Channel. UK Fapstronauts will know what I’m on about. When I orgasmed, it was one of the most intense feelings I ever had. I was 13 years old, puberty was kicking in; it was a great time. And then I did it for a while. Not intensively as some of you may have, but I still wanked to the Adult Channel stuff.
Then, I found out that Porn was on the Internet. And at 15 (I think) little ol’ me was happy. I discovered that I seemed to enjoy pregnant women, milfs, and normal sex. No Anal, nothing crazy apart from the pregnant stuff, but to be fair, pregnancy is natural. I started going to bed late, watching porn, deleting browser history and being tired during the day. It was a cycle that was detrimental to my teenage years. I never saved stuff, as it was a family computer I was using, but I still remembered the sites. I was quite shy around people, girls in general, and wasn’t the most athletic of people, but I still enjoyed life. People liked me, I had friends, I was doing well in school, and my family loved me, as they still do to this day. The porn didn’t seem to be a problem to me. But if it wasn’t there, much would’ve changed in my early years in my honest opinion.
Time went on, I grew up, matured, went to the gym, went out drinking and I was enjoying life. At late 17, I started seeing girls, and it was awesome. No sex, but in fairness I’m quite glad of it. I’m still friends with the girls I met and I’d want to keep it that way. I went clubbing, got with girls there, and I was quite confident (when drunk, may I add!).
My porn use hadn't changed that much. It did increase when I had my own laptop at 18, but that wasn’t much of a problem. It was what I was watching. I was still looking at the same stuff as before, but I looked at Anime porn, stories, even deviantart and other things. That was the most horrible thing. I felt guilt and shame at first, yet I watched it like a brainless dopamine filled primitive. And for 2 years, I was watching things like that. It was around this time when I knew something was wrong, but yet I didn’t act upon it efficiently enough.
At university, I stopped watching porn for 6 weeks. That was the longest I had stopped for. Then, I watched it again. Only softcore stuff, like women with their boobs out, but it was still porn. I didn’t watch it much however, as I was in halls, so the walls were pretty thin! I lost my virginity last summer when I was at a friend’s house in London, and it was great, however, I was hit by ED and I couldn’t orgasm. I seemed to do the trick with her though! At home though, I still watched all the stuff I mentioned in the previous paragraph. I wanted to stop it all. For the sake of my family, my friends, and most importantly, my own sanity. I wanted to be normal again. I wanted to have motivation to become a better person, I wanted a girlfriend, and to enjoy sex. I wanted to become toned and fit, to be healthy and enjoy life. I wanted to be reborn.
It was then in October 2012 when I discovered NoFap and YBOP. I was amazed. I was not alone in this fight. There was people in better or worse situations than myself, yet everyone had the same cause: to rid porn from their lives forever. I was inspired by these stories, and tried to do the challenge. I have failed numerous times. I tried K9, but I could get around the system too efficiently, so I’ll be doing the challenge without it. The most I reached was 12 days, and only then I realised porn was a habit to me, and possibly an addiction. What didn’t help was the discovery of www.imagefap.com. I went deeper into the rabbit hole because of this site, but now I feel ready to fight back. The inspiration for my name. I want to have done 90 days before my 21st in November. When I have become a man. I want to have left all of this childish crap behind me, and pursue real goals for my life.
I want to be free. It will be a challenge; the road has been rocky since the get go for me. But, I feel I will hit that streak, and I will free myself from the chains I put on myself.
This time, I’ll do it.
Remember future me, don't fuck it up. Remember the shame, the guilt and the hatred you had of yourself. Man the fuck up.

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2013-06-16
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
What's you're best story about someone trying to con/steel from the casino?	I figure you're looking for some kind of crazy Oceans 11 story (of which there are several in the industry but none on my watch), but honestly the best ones are people trying to steal from the fucking buffet.
	Mom comes in with two kids and says they're not eating so she shouldn't have to pay. The cashier says OK.
	Fast forward 15 minutes and the cashier notices that the kids are missing.
	THE FUCKING MOTHER IS FEEDING THEM UNDER THE TABLE LIKE FUCKING DOGS.
Best AMA response ever. have an upvote!	We had set out in the foyer those bags for your umbrella so the floor doesn't get wet.
	Lady takes one, goes to the buffet, and starts filling it with food. Brazenly. Not trying to hide it.
	We stop her and she says "what? this is all you can eat?!"
"Sit down and eat the contents of the bag then..."	We found a HUGE ziplock bag of food by a table. The "customer" had obviously left it behind.
	She realized she forgot it and came back to get it about 30 minutes later.
You should hire me as a buffet monitor i can pose as a customer then obnoxiously call them out for stuffing their purses with chicken fingers and mashed potatoes w/gravy. "HEY FAT LADAYYY I SEE YOU STEALIN THEM CHIKKAN FINGAZ!"	Have a lady who consistently bitches about having to pay full price since she can't consume a lot because of her gastric bypass.
Do you actually have a policy to ask people to leave if you feel they lost more than they can afford? i watched a piece by loius theroux once where he asked this question to some of the managers of a casino and they all said "oh, i know they can afford it, of course we would ask them to stop if they couldnt". but obviously, from a business perspective, this is counter-intuitive towards making profits. so what is your take on this whole thing? and what is the overhead like for running a casino? what are some expenses you have which may be surprisingly high?	We never make judgment on whether or not they can afford it. We really only step in if they come to us or start doing something overt like begging for money or asking for loans, etc. In the macro view, it's very bad for business if we don't do something about problem gambling when it presents itself.
	Overhead... EBITDA margin of 30% is great.
	Expenses... I guess crab legs would be too obvious? Besides that, maybe table games labor. You have a 0.5% house advantage at blackjack and have to have a physical person here 24/7 plus a supervisor for every 5-6 games.
What games are the biggest money makers for the casino? and coincidentally, Ace, ever ran a sports book?	Penny slots by far.
	Ha. No. But have worked in casinos that have them.
But why do I always win/come out ahead max-betting on the fucking Sex and the City penny slot?	Google "law of large numbers"
1) How do you like the city? (So many people hate on it, and I don't understand why). Also, how did you like UNLV and when were you there?	1.) I actually just moved away for a job. I just think Vegas is OK. I moved there when I was in my mid-20s with a decent job so it was cool and exciting then. Fast forward a decade or so and the allure isn't there anymore. It's not "home" and I don't think it will ever will be because of how transient the population is.
2) to me it seems like a pretty small about of locals gamble (at least at the strip properties), do you guys keep tabs on those numbers? If so, what is the ratio of your gambling customers?	2.) I don't have the numbers in front of me, but we did a study one time and showed that Vegas has the highest incidence of regularly gambling activity in the nation. I always just felt that was a function of accessibility and self selection on the part of the residents. But you're right that locals don't go to the strip. The marketing offers are terrible compared to the non-strip properties and it's a pain to get to the strip just to get your gambling fix.
To what extent is organized crime still present in or around the casinos? Any personal encounters?	Virtually none AFAIK.
	The industry is very, very heavily regulated. When you get to the executive ranks you have to go through very, very thorough background checks. 5 years of tax returns, 5 years of all cancelled checks, explanations of all withdrawals > $200 and deposits > $500, in depth interview with an agent, etc.
	The last time I've heard of legit organized crime here in the states (places like Macau are an entirely different story) was in Rosemont, IL I think in the mid-90s.
	Link to casinoconnectionac.com
Damn, all withdrawals over $200? For the past 5 years? "Uh, I dunno, I don't really remember why I withdrew $300 from an ATM 3 years ago. Maybe I spent it buying some off of Craig's List, I dunno."	Yeah, it's really ridiculous.
Explain Macau?	The Triad are heavily influential there. Kind of like what you'd imagine in Vegas in the 50s.
Holy shit, I live in Des Plaines.	Des Plaines' only problem now is how to more quickly count all the money they're making
The scene from Skyfall comes to mind.	Yep.
Organized crime is the muscle of the casino, the security guards, the directors of security, the private investigators, the small business owners, the gamblers who launder money through the casinos. Of course the mob isn't like the movies anymore.	Well i'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on everything except the money laundering despite the fact we have to live by Title 31 Link to en.wikipedia.org
It is true that if a person is on a helluva winning streak and is consistantly winning and you cant figure out why... you will demand that he take his winnings and leave and never show his face in the place again? (kick him out for winning).	It's possible but relatively rare. you have to have enough cash to really turn out our lights to get to that point. for the vast vast majority of people, we have more money than you so as long as feel like we can get you back in the door, go ahead and win away
So that scene in Rain man is totally bullshit then? Where they consistently win and make $80,000 from a couple of thousand... then are told to GTFO after the casino guys couldnt figure out how they were doing it.	Bullshit only in the sense that couldn't figure out what was going on
What gives a person the best odds when playing Blackjack-playing with more decks or less decks? i seem to win more with tables that use 6 decks and my friends do better with 4 decks..	It's a lot more than the number of decks and the casinos use that information asymmetry to their advantage (e.g., $5 SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK!!!) Everything being the same, the less amount of decks the better but we will change the payouts for BJ, rules for splitting and double down, etc. to our advantage. So you can have a 6-deck shoe with otherwise very liberal rules that have a lower house advantage than a single deck show with very unfavorable rules.
So with the same set of rules, less decks is more favourable?	Yes everything else being equal
Is that just because it's easier to count or is it fancy math stuff.	Fancy math stuff.
	USING FEWER DECKS.
	Six Decks: -0.02% Five Decks: -0.03% Four Decks: -0.06% Two Decks: -0.19% One Deck: -0.48%
	Link to www.onlineblackjack.com
Ever seen anyone get naked or have sex in the casino or bathrooms?	Boobs pop out of the cocktail waitresses' uniforms relatively often because they'll get tops 3 sizes too small in order to get bigger cleveage/tips.
	Saw chick blowing a dude at a slot machine at the entrance of a club.
	And Vegas has all of these European-style pools so if you're out there "inspecting the grounds" then all those girls are topless.
Sweet. What'd you do with the BJ couple? Pic of one of the pools please?	Security was running towards them so I just assumed they got the boot.
	Pools = just go to imagefap and look for topless beaches.
Do you ever feel guilty for all the money people lose to your business?	Of course.
Did you see the fictional series "Tilt" on ESPN about 5-7 years ago? Any opinions on it? Did you find it entertaining? Did you find any of it accurate at all?	Vaguely. And when I say that I mean I remember the series and watching a bit of it and that's it.
	To us, the holy grail of Casino movies is Casino and Rounders.
Thanks for the response! I love Rounders, but it seemed to focus more on the players, and more on non-casino-based games, whereas Tilt was as much about the casino management as anything else. I should watch Casino.	Yeah if you're interested in the casino management piece then Casino.
Does your casino make any efforts to stop problem gamblers from betting more than they can afford?	Every casino company has policies regarding problem gambling that are audited by the state. Each state also has its own minimum guidelines like mandating that brochures be placed in very visible areas of the casinos, hotline numbers printed on every ad, etc.
	It's a delicate situation when you think someone might have a problem because, well it might not be a problem. So we generally only do things if they specifically ask us to (e.g., they can ban themselves) or if they start doing something really egregious like asking players or employees for loans at which point we'd probably pull them aside and hand them a brochure and ask if there's anything we can do to help because what they're currently doing is unacceptable (the begging).
There's a casino near my house that keeps a full time car appraiser on staff. I've always felt that's a little shady. You ever run into anything like that?	No way.
Even though I believe casino gambling should be legal, I find the practice of casino's providing credit to be morally indefensible. What is your opinion on the practice? Would it be a reasonable compromise to allow for more casinos on the stipulation that gambling on a margin is banned?	So if I'm a high worth individual who likes to gamble, your expectation is that I just bring in a suitcase of $100s to gamble with?
No, a debit card.	Reasonable.
A debit card? not reasonable...a credit limit is the only feasible way some patrons can gamble...most people do not want to walk around with 50k in there pocket...and I'm not sure how you would go about withdrawing thousands of dollars from an ATM machine.	I was being sarcastic. It's a huge competitive disadvantage to not be able to offer credit (e.g., Missouri) because no high roller wants to play there. You'd have to physically go to the bank, withdraw 20K cash or whatever, somehow survive walking to your car, and then somehow survive walking to the casino from your car. TBF, there's also what is called front money which is where you can wire money to us and we will hold it for you but you have to pay the fees vs us offering you credit free. I did have a millionaire player who strictly got his money off of a variety of credit cards and would just do cash advances. We obviously never questioned it but he had apparently had a huge credit line (evidenced by the amount he was able to withdraw) and enough to pay it back (evidenced by him able to come often).
notjabba...no one cares if "you believe casino gambling should or shouldn't be legal"
How do you know if i am card counting, and do you care if i am not playing for big money?	Primarily odd fluctuations in your betting patterns. $5, 5, 5, 5, then $1,000, then $5, 5, 5, 5 would catch our eye big time.
, big money!	We care. Small wins add up.
What if i went 5,5,5,20? Would you care then?	At those low levels no one would be on the lookout for you.
How automated is the alerting system for this? Pit boss getting info from the sky I assume?	Not very automated. There are a variety of technologies out there designed to thwart this but they're expensive and casinos are too staid to invest.
	So basically it's just either surveillance or the pit supervisor noticing something odd then starting to keep track of the bets.
Might be a silly question, but does stuff ever go down like it does in the movies? Like, say some guy is cheating in one way or another or doesn't take a hint to leave. Is he going to get taken into a back room and get his ass kicked or just escorted out? Taking fingers, breaking knee caps etc. etc.	Nah, too highly regulated these days.
At what point do you start looking for card counters? If I'm playing with a $50-200 bet spread am I noticeable? Is the the spread (4:1, 8:1, 20:1) the dollar figure or a combination?	Sorry this isn't my area of expertise so I can't with this level of specificity. I'd think a 4X spread wouldn't be bad, though, but just an educated guess.
	You could buy a membership to the Green Chip forum (bj21.com), though and read up on the reverse engineering they've done.
I would venture a guess that electronic card games have pattern recognition built right in?	I don't know how they do the shuffle. I'd imagine it's a fresh shuffle before every hand like in video poker thus nullifying counting.
Well I understand that, but profits on a casino are through the roof, are they not? I assume that there is a relatively low amount of card counters , and that you still will make a very good profit.	Profits aren't as good as you'd think post 2008 economy.
	Bottom line is that it ain't ever gonna happen. Sorry.
What is the biggest amount you have seen someone lose?	I was working at Wynn when Andy Beal played "The Corporation" so that was like $16.5MM he lost to them I believe.
That's fucking cool, I read the book detailing the events of this, Link to en.m.wikipedia.org. Any cool stories etc from your point of view from then?	Honestly, everything I found out about it at the time was from 2+2. I didn't have direct access to the players so it wasn't really like I could analyze the session with Phil afterwards.
Urban legends of someone winning big at the slots but having it taken away to a glitch. Has this really happened to your knowledge?	Not urban legend. Many cases like this. The player never wins. Google it and you'll find tons of them. E.g.,
	Link to www.lasvegassun.com
	This one is international but I think is the funniest. Not only did you "win" $55MM on a machine that stated the max jackpot was $50K but after winning $55MM, you went ahead and played another spin... just in case...
	Link to www.thanhniennews.com
Damn that sucks. Well here is one for you. Did you know that in Panama you can double down at the black jack tables at any point. It gives you a huge advantage and you can win a lot of money that way.	I'd heard something like that. My best friend (avid gambler) went to Costa Rica and basically came back saying he had to totally re-learn BJ when he was down there because of all of their crazy rules.
	If that's true about Panama, I'm surprised there aren't people haven't just set up shop down there and pillaged that place until they went bust.
No i didnt have sex with the hooker but my friend did make out with her drunk.	As would I. What's up with fucking people who just make out? Fucking amateur hour. This isn't fucking 7th grade.
He didn't know that she was a hooker and was just putting the moves on her. He thought he was just really smooth with his broken spanish. What he didn't know what that I paid her to keep quiet about it. He looked REALLY sad when someone else bought her and he realized what she was.	I actually did something similar for my friend after he split up with his whore wife. We wanted to boost his spirits so gave a hooker $100 to go and flirt with him.
Shit man in Panama you can get a lot more than flirting for a hundo. Granted she won me a grand and i think i threw her 50 back. Well that and she got to make out with my friend...Worth it. Did your friend end up with the hooker hilarious movie style?	Nah, this was in Vegas, he's cheap, and we're not that generous.
How do Vegas casinos differ from Native American casinos? Or are they essentially the same?	Depends in the jurisdiction. in some there is no difference (e.g florida) while others are wildly different (e.g north Carolina)
I'm curious as to how they differ. I'm from NC but haven't been to any of the casinos around here.	In NC, for example, games have to be "games of skill" so like on the slot machines you don't just pull the handle and watch the reels go round and round, you have to physically touch the game to stop each reel.
That's not true (I've been there).	Admittedly it's been awhile since I've dealt with them (I used to work for Harrah's) but it was like that for awhile.
	Link to wizardofodds.com (scroll down a bit)
They might have some that are like that, but the handful I played (there are a shit ton) were not. Apparently they've got table games there now, too, which is new from when I was last there just a year ago.	Well the states quickly understand that they're leaving money on the table (no pun intended) but creating this arcane regulations.
Fastest growing casino region? AC? Vegas? Macau?	Macau.
	Absolutely nothing domestically.
Why? Distance to the large volume of middle and wealthy chinese?	Yes, and whose culture has a high propensity for gambling.
Why isn't counting cards allowed? Lets say I was a math genius, isn't it just part of the game then?	Because we reserve the right to serve whomever we please as long as we're not discriminatory against a protected class.
I see. It just seems like mocking people for being good. Maybe if I was a black math genius with down syndrome I could get along with it. No offense to either btw.	Perhaps but we're not particularly concerned.
	Btw, I'm a bit of an advantage gambler myself. I only play low house advantage games, maximize my coupons and promotions etc. so I'm sympathetic but there's just nothing that can be done on the card counting front.
Private business CAN discriminate based on protected classes, just bad business to do so.	Then don't come to my casino.
Semi-serious question: have you ever crashed someone's hand with a hammer because he/she was found cheating?	Boy do I wish, but no.
Could you explain why it is so difficult to get casinos in states that do not already have them? Im from Dallas, and it seems that the Oklahoma casinos are 70%+ Texans. It seems our state is losing a ton of $ to other states. (Oklahoma, Louisiana...)	In Texas it's because your legislature meets relatively irregularly. expansion since the 90s has been predicated on budget shortfalls and using gaming to patch up those holes.
	Texas' economy has been relatively good so combine that with a conservative legislature that doesn't meet often as we'd have have to have the perfect storm of you having a bad economic run at the same time the legislature is meeting.
	Trust me, we are ready to pounce when that happens.
Okay so a couple of years ago there was a show called "Las Vegas" and it was about a casino.	Hosts are basically your sales team to high worth players. The compensation structure is just like any other salesperson: base + commission.
Not sure if you ever saw it, but there was a character named Sam and she was a casino hostess and she was kind of a bitch but I always wanted to be that (casino host not bitch). How can I get into that?	So, if you've never done that kind of work before or sales at all for that matter, you just need to take anykind of remotely similar job and then just keep trying to plug along with the job search.
Well I cant wait until it happens. I will gladly donate my fair share for a free Paula Dean buffet.	We've owned land for decades in preparation.
	You see where companies like PENN have already bought stakes in racetracks there, taking a bet that racinos (adding slots to tracks) will be the states first foray.
The owner of Landry's (also owns the Nugget) has said repeatedly that as soon as the law is passed he can have working slots in Galveston overnight.	Yeah. His family (Fertitta) started Stations casinos in Vegas (and MMA) and really big shots in town.
Yeah, as a Houstonian and gambler, I am really hoping one day it finally happens. I hate hate HATE driving to Louisiana and I haven't been able to make it out to Vegas in 2+ years.	The folks in Lake Charles and Shreveport do not share your sentiment.
I'm sure they don't. Bud of mine wanted to make an ad campaign of just going to Isle of Capri and showing the license plates.	You mean Pile of Debris.
Highest progressive payout you've ever seen paid out? And what was the game? And any good stories about throwing out patrons?	That I've physically seen? Probably like a $75K Caribbean Stud.
I have been encouraged by many people to get a job there, but no one, even me, knows where I should start. Personally, I don't enjoy gambling and have only been in the Hard Rock a couple times, just to see the lobby and buy shirts with some out of town guests.	Probably on the non-gaming side. Not sure of your educational background but NA with degrees go very, very far very, very quickly.
So my question is where would you recommend someone to start in the casino industry, if they don't particulary like/understand gambling?	If you want to work the front line, then hotel front desk or something like that.
I don't have a degree yet, but I do have 10 years in B2B (business to business) sales in telephony, so I know a lot about circuits/phone systems/general telecom.	Native American.
EDIT: what does "NA" stand for?	So then in your case either work in IT or maybe some kind of sales position like convention sales?
Oh I didn't know there would be some sort of sales team with a casino. Sweet. I considered IT, but I assumed it would be in the realm of network security, which I know little to nothing about.	Who do you think maintains the phone switch, PCs, servers, etc.?
Proof?	What would suffice without outing me?
You would know best what you have, however this sounds like it would be easier to prove confidentially to the mods. Things such as work ID, paystub, business card, etc are acceptable forms of confidential verification.	I'll send a pic over to them. Never done this before so wasn't sure.
I have a BA in Accounting and am currently a Project Manager (Prior exp in Cost, Tax and Accural accounting, worked for the Big 4, Now I make Warheads for the Army). If I wanted to get into the Casino industry what jobs should I persue. What is the best way to persue them? Do people telecommute? Whats the pay range?	We always need good finance people. There are always other industries they can work in so it's hard to find good people.
	So I'd say just go be an accountant?
	We post on all the major job boards and casinocareers.com is the main industry-specific job board.
	Telecommuting is not a regularly accepted practice.
	For finance, it's just market rate salary.
How did you get your job?	Was in undergrad and needed a job. responded to ad in paper for entry level job. worked my way up.
I'm going to guess that wasn't a typo.	Not going to edit for the lulz.
You know what, why the hell not? Best way to make money fast?	Well, assuming you have one and only one bet to make, the math always says banker on baccarat.
Any tips/secrets for slot machine players? Which one's your favorite type/brand?	Learn to play video poker, blackjack, baccarat, or craps.
Anything video scares me..are there 'rules' in place for video poker or Bj blackjack to guarantee payouts or is it completely random? If random, how do we know the game isn't rigged in your favor?	Completely Random.
	Because it behooves the state not to let us rig the games so they employ strict regulations to prevent such.
	For example, many states mandate that this company verify the legitimacy of a game: Link to www.gaminglabs.com
	Those states that don't, do it themselves.
I accidently got my gf addicted to video poker but it paid well. Its a better chance and payoff than video slots IMO.	No opinion about it, it is true.
Does this only go for high roller tables? Or does it also go for some guy that hits a big jackpot on the slots?	Both.
Are security as horrible as people say in Vegas? I've heard from my relatives that purse snatching and such happens quite a bit and security shows up minutes after they were called (so pretty much useless). On the other hand, I've heard some amazing quick response time in Macau. Are these myths?	Need some reference point. Horrible as compared to what. You've got a 3-mile long street with literally a million people on it. There's gonna be crime.
Hmmm... how about relative to san diego or fort worth?	I'd say on par to Gaslamp but I'm no criminologist.
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT!? I'm serious, I want the gritty details... You use a sleep number? Memory foam? Standard matress with some box springs? And what kind of pillow to. Oh, oh, and what is the thread count of your sheets...	I'm a minimalist. Same mattress I've had for literally 15 years that I got at a department store. Hypoallergenic pillows from Target. 800 count. Also from Target.
Nice! Glad I registered my wedding at Target. Sounds like they got the good stuff.	Decent and reasonably priced. The girls can't tell the difference between it and the really nice stuff.
Counting cards actually means that you are playing the game very well and it isn't cheating. How can you justify kicking someone out of a casino for being too good at the game? Also as far as I'm aware it isn't illegal.	No it is not illegal but just like any other business we reserve the right to serve whomever we please (as long as we're not discriminating against a protected class, of course).
	In essence you are keeping track of how many 10s/face cards and low cards are in the deck because high cards help the player, low cards help the dealer.
	So if you know that the deck is rich in high cards you bet more and vice versa.
I will be attending UNLV for hospitality management in the fall. any tips?	For undergrad? Make the program what you want out of it. Just by graduating no one is going to hand you a huge job but if you do well the brand recognition can really work in your favor.
Yep for undergrad. thanks for the answer!	Go Rebels!
Does your business invest in gambling addictions or have employee training to prevent those who are gambling addicts from playing in your casino?	I take it you mean gambling addiction treatment... And yes, we do: Link to www.americangaming.org
	And every employee, at least in the majority of casinos, is trained on how to identify problem gaming.
How do you hire trust worthy people, meaning do you have some dude or gal that is like HR on steroids watching people? I imagine you have seen more than one case where there is employee theft or people who are running a front for money laundering?	Well everyone goes through a background check through the state with fingerprints and whatnot then executives go through an FBI-style background check where they check all of your bank records and stuff.
	But with so much cash floating around there is theft but it's basically like a bank so I can't imagine the incidence to be much higher than with tellers at banks.
How much do you make?	Six figures + bonus.
Awesome. What was your path to this career choice? Like education/jobs.	I just happened into it. Got entry level job during undergrad and worked my way up. Picked up master's while working.
Nice. Went to school for business I presume?	For my master's yes. Have doo doo lib arts degree for undergrad.
Awesome! So you managed to get the entry level job with just an arts degrees then worked your way up? Or was the MBA necessary for where you are at now?	I was in undergrad I got the job. It as entry level. $10/hr.
	Master's not necessary but very helpful to stick out of the crowd.
Just noticed your name...classic. At around what limits are you able to get comps for free rooms out in either AC or Vegas? I would assume that Vegas is easier due to the vast amount of rooms, but what are your tips to earning comps faster?	Depends on the property and depends on the game. And by rooms, do you mean like direct mail offers or the ability to walk up to someone and say "bitch, I'm a baller - hook me up!"
What do you know of online gambling?	I did a bunch of preliminary work when I was a corporate person.

Last updated: 2013-06-21 00:10 UTC
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