Wires Crossed 74 – March 9

Residents Take On Landlord Over Online Payments
They say you can’t stop progress – but tell that to the residents of the Woodlake Manor Apartments, who have recently filed a lawsuit against their landlord Jones Property Management Company. And the reason for the suit? The property management company has decided to streamline its rental payment system and has said that its tenants can only pay their rent online. However, with some of the residents being elderly, poor and technophobes to boot, the Coalition for Economic Survival has taken on their cause and filed the lawsuit because they believe it is more about greed than payment method. Some residents believe that it will give the company an excuse to evict those who have rent protections in place as they have been residents for more than 10 years..

Nikon Make Marketing Mistake
Note to Nikon Thailand “When making a promo touting how great your camera gear is, make sure you use your own devices and not those from your opposition”, which is exactly what the company’s Thai division did. It was spruiking its latest D800 DSLR in a promo when it was revealed that part of the advertisement was shot using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Apparently it used footage from a photographer without his permission, and then he pointed out the equipment he used to shoot it. Can you say “Oops!”

Internet Ban For Trying to Hire Online Killer
A 19-year-old man from Philadelphia in the USA has been banned from using the Internet for eight years after he accepted an offer on a Facebook page to kill a man. Timothy Bynum took up London Eley’s offer to kill the father of her baby, Corey White, for $1000. Unfortunately for him, White’s relatives saw the post and told the police who arrested both Eley and Bynum. Ironically, White’s luck ran out when he was gunned down in a drug-related incident a few months later.

Google Offers Free Websites
Google is offering free websites to small businesses in California because it believes there is a perception with some people that getting on line is too hard and complicated. Google wants to dispel this myth by not only paying for the domain name and the first year’s hosting, but also will give free seminars to new website owners that will include information on how to build their website and to connect with customers. Of course, there is a payoff for Google – more websites means more people using Google, and also more Google Ads being clicked on.

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