December 21, 2001

So it's Christmas once again... and the only thing you have to look forward to is more socks, 2 new ties and who the fuck gave ya this cheap-ass gasoline additive!?!

Over the years I've found a few tricks that might make your next holiday festivities more to your model liking!

For example, simple hints! Inorder to receive the gifts you want, you have to TELL folks what you want!! You'll need the following materials to put these together:

• A pad of 'Post-It' Notes
• an issue or two of various modeling mags; AFM, MR, MM or Kitbuilders
• Micro-Mark catalog
• Local Hobby Store or Craft store newspaper flyer
• thick magic markers in various colors

Now this activity can't be started too early, nor can you procrastinate and spring this upon loved ones the morning of December 20th! (Don't prove to your love ones that you're as stupid as they only think you are!)

As you get your magazine subscriptions in the mail and see something you really would love to get, take a Post-It note, write in BIG letters, 'HINT!' in a thick magic marker, and affix to the edge of the page. Same goes for the newspaper flyers and Micro-Mark catalogs. I also like to circle the particular item about 40 times in a color that shows clearly, and draw a big ass arrow from the Post-It to the circled item... just in case my loved one has a mind fart! Much rather get the 248 piece Dremel attachment set than the "revolutionary small part holder", which in reality is nothing more than a straight pin with a sticky bit on the end!! Know what I mean?!

I'm telling ya, folks... this works!! Especially when pesky relatives call the spouse and are famously known for giving you those weird ass 'Pepperidge Farm' food packs where nothing inside the damn package looks recognizable!! "Shit, what the fuck is 'reprocessed Argo Meat paddies'??!"

But if you enjoy going through another year receiving ear muffs, scarfs, coffee cups and socks with an NFL logo of a team you haven't followed since 1964, then, Hey!! go for it!! But I'm telling ya, this 'hint' thing works!!

An extra tip: to really throw them off and make them think that you're not just sniffing glue fumes all year, throw in an 'L.L. Bean' or 'Sears' catalog with a nice sweater or pull over circled as well! They'll think you're really trying to improve your public appearance!! As a reward for not embarrashing them with your paint stained jeans and 'Fuck Bin Laden' sweatshirt the next time you go out, they'll buy up those gifts you really want even faster!!

Another way of getting the gifts you want is to make it easy on the giver! So next time folks utter the phrase, "What would you like for Christmas?", simply reply, "Money!"

Some folks think that's cold & heartless. No... cold & heartless is you spending your hard earned cash on that stupid singing Bass last year!!

In other news..... Over at Hobby Link Japan, Scott writes...

Yesterday, HLJ suffered a security breach on the backup web server that we had recently installed to handle the increase in traffic to our web site during the holidays. The "damage" appears to have been limited to a simple re-write of the top page, but we're currently checking everything to make sure that no hidden changes were made. For the time being, the affected server is off-line.

I want to assure our customers that no meaningful personal information is stored on HLJ's web site, and there is no possibility that this information has been compromised. We keep customer order data on the web site to run our online order status system, but customer names and addresses are not attached to this information or stored there, nor are any credit card numbers on our web site. All such information is safe and sound in our main Japanese office, behind a secure firewall.

While we have always taken strong security measures, the trouble appears to have been caused by the hasty installation by our ISP of the backup server designed to handle holiday traffic flow a couple of weeks ago. Apparently not all the necessary security patches were applied, and this was exploited. This is why our main server was untouched -- the perpetrators were unable to get access.

Although we believe we know what happened and why, we and our ISP are reviewing all security measures from top to bottom to make sure something like this is not repeated. We hope this unfortunate incident won't affect your view of our services, and I encourage anyone with concerns or questions about this matter to follow-up to me directly.

Thanks for your understanding.

Scott T. Hards
President
HobbyLink Japan

Here's wishing everyone has a great Christmas & New Years!!

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