Odds and ends 9

You Probably Misunderstand Nigerian Prince Emails: The truth behind the internet’s oldest scam by Sean Kernan (from Medium)

“It’s better to think of Nigerian prince emails as cash advance scams, myriad endless scenarios requiring money upfront. The concept started as The Spanish Prisoner Scheme in the early 1800s in Europe.

A representative (the “trickster”) for a wealthy imprisoned man would reach out to you with a sophisticated, well-written letter, stating they needed cash to bribe the guards for his master’s release. In exchange, the financier would receive a greater sum and his beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage, after the fact.

Such letters worked, remarkably well.”

I Think Beethoven Encoded His Deafness In His Music by Gabriela Lena Frank (From NYT)

“Yet more from my own experience: When I’m really under a deadline, and need to get new ideas quickly, I don’t usually listen to music, as some composers do. In fact, I do the opposite: I take off my hearing aids and stay in silence for a few days. In the absence of sound, my imagination goes to different places. It’s a bit like being in a dream when unusual and often impossible events come together, the perfect place from which to compose. And when I put in my hearing aids again, I can feel all these wonderful ideas and connections fly away, just as a dream disappears when awakening.”

The Business of Rupi Kaur (from YouInc)

“Now success is asking, “am I doing the things I want to do?” If I am, then I’m successful. Many of us spend so much of our time doing things we don’t want to do. Sometimes we do things we don’t want to, but I don’t want to be doing that all of the time. If I’m doing something that’s purposeful, brings me joy, and brings good to the world, then I’m successful. “

Photo by Salomon Riedo on Unsplash