While her husband was off with his "floozie," a scorned wife sold off just about everything he owned in a Craigslist-powered weekend yard sale. And to be more precise, it wasn't a "yard sale," it was actually a LYING CHEATING SALE. This is how to rage-quit a marriage, folks. 

LAST MINUTE SPONTANEOUS ESTATE SALE. HUSBAND LEFT US FOR A PIECE OF TRASH. SELLING EVERYTHING WHILE HE IS GONE THIS WEEKEND WITH HIS FLOOZIE.

Feel free to imagine the woman's fingers shattering the keyboard with each stroke. 

Visitors to the LYING CHEATING SALE, held at the (former) couple's home in Vancouver, were welcome to the man's ART, FURNITURE, BOOKSHELVES, STORAGE CABINETS, HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES,and pretty much everything else. Highlights, however, include his leather theater sofas (which were his "FAVORITE,") a never-installed BRAND NEW SLIDING GLASS DOOR, as well as a LAWNMOWER.

There were also "LOTS OF TOOLS WHICH HE DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE HOW TO USE."

Clothes, however, were off-limits. Those were reserved for a special bonfire held the night before. Visitors were welcome to look at the pile of ash in the driveway free of charge.

The woman's only request was that visitors not to come too early ("LIKE HE DID") because "I WILL BE THOUROUGHLY ENJOYING SOME WINE WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS THIS EVENING AS WE CLEAN OUT ALL THIS STUFF AND LIKELY BE NURSING HANGOVERS IN THE MORNING. SO PLEASE SPEAK SOFTLY TO THE LADIES WEARING THE SUNGLASSES: )

"This has to be a hoax, right?" every cheating man is whispering to himself right now as the early symptoms of hyperventilation set in. Nope. 

A reporter from The Province newspaper actually visited the site and confirmed that "sure enough, bargain-hunters were sifting through the goods which included office chairs, camping gear and other offerings." The theater seating must have already been sold by that time.

One wrinkle in this story of holy revenge: The reporter reached out to an estate lawyer, who told her the woman probably won't get to keep all the proceeds from the sale. A divorce court usually requires both sides to account for what they have, then decides how to divvy it up. So a portion of whatever she made would probably still go to the husband.

Somehow, we don't think she really cares either way. She concluded her ad/opus:

"LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WASTE TIME. GOD PUT MY EYES IN THE FRONT OF MY HEAD FOR A REASON. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MOVING FORWARD!"

H/T Gawker Photo by Justin and Jenae/Flickr

Good news for anyone who wants to borrow a library book, or buy or sell secondhand goods on eBay or Craigslist: the Supreme Court ruled today that these activities are still legal. Specifically, in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley and Sons, the court ruled 6-3 that “first sale” doctrine is not limited to items made or purchased within U.S. borders.

Kirtsaeng v. Wiley went before the Supreme Court last October. The plaintiff, Supap Kirtsaeng, was a Thai native attending college in the U.S. John Wiley and Sons is a publisher best known for its “For Dummies” books, but they also publish college textbooks, including some that were required for Kirtsaeng’s classes.

New college textbooks in Thailand sell for much less than the same books in the U.S. So Kirtsaeng had his relatives buy inexpensive books in Thailand and mail them to him in America, where he sold them to bargain-hunting college students for a profit. Wiley and Sons sued to prevent this on copyright grounds, and Kirtsaeng argued that his actions were legal under the doctrine of first sale.

First sale doctrine says that a copyright holder only gets paid the first time an item is sold. When you buy a brand-new book, the copyright holder gets a share of the proceeds. However, once you’ve bought the book, it is yours, and you’re free to sell it, lend it out or give it away.

Wiley, the publisher and copyright holder of the textbooks, sued Kirtsaeng, claiming that first sale rights only apply to goods sold in the U.S. A lower court sided with the copyright holder, basically ruling that U.S. residents did not have the right to resell any foreign-made or -sold items they owned without permission from the items’ copyright holder.

But the Supreme Court decided otherwise. In a 74-page ruling and opinion, written by Justice Breyer and released on March 19, the court rejected Wiley’s “geographical interpretation” of the first sale doctrine, basically ruling that “first sale” applies to any copyrighted item bought legally (as opposed to pirated), regardless of where that first legal sale took place.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy disagreed. The three justices (along with the Obama administration) sided with Wiley and other copyright holders against the likes of Kirtsaeng and his customers, arguing in their dissenting opinion that first sale rights should not apply to foreign-made or foreign-bought items, since copyright holders deserve legal protection “against the unauthorized importation of low-priced, foreign-made copies of their copyrighted works.” In other words, John Wiley’s high-priced American books should not have to compete against John Wiley’s low-priced Thai books in the American marketplace.

Stephen Smith, the president and CEO of John Wiley and Sons, said in a press release that “We are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided in favor of Supap Kirtsaeng [….]  It is a loss for the U.S. economy, and students and authors in the U.S. and around the world.”

But American libraries and library fans considered the court's ruling a victory.  Kevin Smith of Duke University noted that"It appears that the Court took very seriously that ‘parade of horribles’ that were suggested if they upheld the Second Circuit—libraries would be unable to lend some materials without a license from publishers, students could be prevented from buying or selling second-hand textbooks, etc.  According to the Court, these were too distressing, and too likely to occur. [….] It seems that libraries have really ducked a bullet here.”

But librarians—and secondhand book sellers like Kirtsaeng—shouldn’t relax too much. Six out of nine Supreme Court justices interpreted the first-sale copyright law in their favor—but Congress can rewrite that first sale law anytime it wants to. Justice Elena Kagan, who voted with the majority in favor of Kirtsaeng, said as much in a separately published opinion.

So it’s still legal for you to sell your British-edition Harry Potter (or Thai edition college textbook) … but the law might change, if Congress decides international publishing conglomerates and other poor little rich copyright holders need legal protection from secondhand book buyers, bargain-hunting college students and other buyers of discount stuff.

Photo via TexasGOPVote/Flickr

Police say he would first lock them in his basement before dragging them upstairs to a "playroom" in his Chicago home. There he tied the women up, taunted them, brutalized them, and forced them to perform sex acts. He copied their driver's licenses and filmed his rapes, saving all of it as gruesome trophies. He warned some women he would kill them if they talked to the cops. 

Five women described by police as "escorts" and "prostitutes" have stepped forward to accuse Charles Oliver, 44, of sexually assaulting them after soliciting them over Craigslist. But police say Oliver's hundreds of videos of sexual encounters—many of which were clearly non-consensual—indicate he may have raped as many as 25 women. 

Oliver was arrested on Jan. 28. He's been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, and one count of kidnapping over a period of nearly two years. Police who searched his home say they also found a pair of glasses with a hidden camera, handguns, and rifles. 

On Tuesday, a Chicago judge set his bond to $3 million.

Neighbors say women came and went from his house at all hours. He'd recently covered his windows with sheets. The state prosecutor told the court on Tuesday that "he had never been popular with women."

Victims weren't all prostitutes. Others he lured with promises of modeling tryouts. His neighbor, Julie Randecker, actually knew one of the victims. She told the local CBS affiliate, "She thought she was going to a modeling shoot. He got her into the car, put a plastic bag over her head and then brought her here," where he beat and raped her.

Photo via ABC Local

Someone on the Internet was tormenting her. Men from all over the United States would drive miles to her farm in Marshall, Virginia, looking for sex. She set up hidden cameras and a security gate and plastered signs all over her property, urging them that the ads were lies and they were trespassing, but that didn't help—the flow of visitors was constant, relentless. Some just wouldn't leave, no matter what she told them, and she had to call the cops, sometimes multiple times in a single day. She spent hours of her day searching Craigslist for the ads and flagging them, in ultimately futile bids to slow down the flow of men.

She was 64 years old.

The woman lived in a constant state of "fear and distress," according to a federal indictment filed March 21 in a Virginia court. Federal prosecutors allege that her stalker is a former lover: 61-year-old Library of Congress staffer Kenneth Kuban. They dated for six months in 2011. He was arrested March 22 and charged with a felony count of stalking. He could face five years in prison if found guilty.

Prosecutors Kuban used his computer at the Library of Congress to post advertisements to the casual encounters section of Craigslist, in which he'd pose as the woman (a "senior lady") and ask for sex with a "hung man" who can "give me some pleasuring."

Here's one of the ads copied shown in the indictment:

Investigators launched an undercover sting on Kuban. Search warrants issued to Craigslist revealed the IP address used to post the advertisements came from two locations: Either a Library of Congress computer, where Kuban works as a film preservationist, or his home address in Reva, Virginia. 

The harassment and stalking campaign began after the couple broke up in early 2011. The woman filed a restraining order against Kuban, at which point he took his campaign online and began posting the phony Craigslist ads. He's currently sitting in jail, while he waits for an April 1 preliminary hearing.  

You can read excerpts of the indictment at The Smoking Gun.

H/T The Smoking Gun | Photo via nsfa.gov.au

Boxing fans: Don't you just hate it when your local bar shows the big fight? Don't you wish you could help shut them down?

If so, there's a job opening for you.

It sounds unbelievable, but a Texas-based firm actually hires people around the country to search for and report bars that show unlicensed pay-per-view boxing matches.

Called Audit Masters, it works with a simple promise. Pay-per-view companies will provide a list of venues in a given city that have purchased a big event. Anyone who signs up for Audit Masters can search for a bars pirating the stream (meaning they're showing the fight, but aren't on the list). Sign an affidavit, head out to the bars, and boom—you can expect a check for $250 in seven to eight weeks.

If its testimonials are to believed, the company hires people who liken themselves to bounty hunters. The company says many of its auditors are off-duty police officers or “PD related.”

"The 1st time I went out, I caught 7 pirates," according to Jeff Mallow, of Miami Dade, Florida. He elaborated the thrill of the job:

I know two things are going to happen:

1. I am going to bust some bars engaged in illegal activity

2. I am going to make some decent money for the night

I also get a personal satisfaction from the fact that some of these bars will be closing and when a bar that was a detriment to the community is closed, the community as a whole is better off, to me, as a law enforcement officer, it is a win, win situation.

Audit Masters wasn’t open on Friday, and therefore unable to respond to the Daily Dot's questions. It did, however, apparently post an ad to Philadelphia Craigslist Thursday, which promised "undercover" work on behalf of the "owners of the rights to the HBO/Showtime Pay Per View signals."

The ad specifically referenced two big fights, Canelo versus Trout in April and Mayweather versus Guerrero in September.

Screengrabs via Audit Masters

“I have recently purchased a replica of the Iron Throne as seen in the television show, and need a partner to play out an elaborate fantasy.”

Without reading any further, this Craigslist W4M ad is already pretty awesome. Titled “Seeking Robb Stark Look-alike,” the New Orleans posting was written by a Game of Thrones fan with a very specific hookup scenario in mind.

In character as “Mother of Dragons” Daenerys Targaryen, she’s looking for someone to play the role of Northern heartthrob Robb Stark—but not without some George R.R. Martin–style backstory detail first: 

After crossing the Narrow Sea and defeating the forces of Westeros, it is within my power and right to slay all of those who betrayed my family and denied me my rightful place for so many years. ... All of those who fought against the Mother of Dragons are slain—all except one. When I come to Robb Stark, our eyes lock and something moves inside of me. I realize I need to have him, want him, and I can tell he is thinking the same. I order my guards to throw him in the dungeon and later that night, I have him brought to me, in the throne room. There, on the Iron Throne I've so recently won, I make wild and passionate love with him, repeatedly.

So far, so good. Who wouldn’t want to be chained up in the dungeons of the beautiful Daenerys Targaryen? But there’s more. You need to be dedicated to your role. In fact, “I would appreciate pictures, but please, no names. In order to stay as true to the fantasy as possible, I ONLY want you to refer to yourself as Robb Stark.”

If you feel like you’re up to the challenge, you need to look the part. Not only does your photo have to satisfy the Craigslist poster’s lookalike standards, but you have dress up as well. But don’t worry, you won’t need to break the bank for a new suit of armour or anything. As the ad points out:

“Please keep in mind that you will have recently participated in a battle and been thrown in a dungeon, so you will not be wearing your nicest furs.”

She doesn’t specify if she also wants realistically medieval standards of personal and oral hygiene, but that can probably be left to the imagination. 

Finally, with regards to technique, Daenerys signs off with one final specification. “I'm looking for a Stark in the streets but a wildling in the sheets.” 

Image via Flickr/ewan and donabel

You may not be the voice of your generation—or even a voice of a generation—but you can sure live like one.

On Wednesday, an opportunity of a lifetime manifested itself in the form of a Craigslist ad advertising a room-for-sublet in the hip (is it, though? maybe five years ago) Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg.

Not only is this place $1,500 a month—and it's in Williamsburg!—but it will also give one lucky person the chance to essentially have the life of a character from the hit HBO series Girls.

"Do you believe that your life represents a commentary on the state of the Caucasian, 20-something, used-to-be-upper-middle-class-but-now-only-sometimes-benefit-from-the-wealth-and-status-of-your-parents demographic?" the ad asks. 

"Well search no further; we have the perfect living experience for you."

So, much like on the show, if you're not white/caucasian, you're out of luck. But it's not a racist thing, just like Lena Dunham totally didn't mean to be racially insensitive when she tweeted a picture of herself wearing a makeshift hijab. 

The sublet also comes with two roommates. The first is a gay man "with a penchant for backhanded compliments." He's also "neurotic, judgmental, and certainly more attractive than you."

And then there's the roommate named Hannah (OMG, just like Hannah Horvath, the main character of the hit HBO series Girls!). Real-life Hannah has "the fashion sense of a homeless kindergartener" who "self-identifies as an 'artist.'"

These two cool cats also offer you an array of fantastical experiences, which include "concerts by local bands that we're only at because we're friends of a friends," "warehouse parties," and "gallery openings that are incredibly meaningful to us on a deep personal level."

And then there's the fantastic location. When we showed the ad to a friend, he replied by saying, "Damn! South 1st and Driggs? I want to live there. It's about 10 blocks away from this great Afrobeat club."

So is the ad serious? 

Well, it's ironic. But it's also legitimate, so it's post-ironic.

You should only apply if you're a "Marnie" or a "Shoshanna" type, or if your full name is alliterative. Jessa-like characters need not apply. Everyone knows that they'll bail midway through the sublet agreement for some ridiculous mission of self-discovery, which, whatever, because she's the worst character on the show.

The Daily Dot reached out to the person behind the ad, but we didn't hear back. Maybe she was too busy writing her e-book.

H/T Jezebel | Photo via David Shankbone/Flickr

Undercover cops busted a pair of Long Islanders on Monday for selling heroin over Craigslist, an item advertised as "pain relief." But Daniel Bigelow and Gustavo Arce-Giron aren't the first criminal masterminds trying to hawk product on Craigslist. The problem's been around for years.

The daughter of billionaire Peter S. Kalikow was arrested in 2012 after advertising heroin on Craigslist as "high quality diesel pain relief." That same year, the New York Police Department launched a massive undercover sting called "Operation Dot Com" that nabbed 21 people. Haven't these people ever heard of the Silk Road?

You can see for yourself how many confused drug dealers are using Craigslist. Just search "pain relief" at your local site. If you'd prefer to be completely out in the open about it, however, you can just search "oxy." Searches for "heroin" and "coke" are a little less reliable.

Here are all the ads selling "pain relief" on New York's Craigslist over just the past three days. Most are for Percocet, a.k.a. Oxycodone. "Roxies" refers to the opiate derived from Oxycodone. "Yellows" is a slang term for Percocet pills.

Photo by Be.Futureproof./Flickr

It may sound more like an episode of Girls than real life, but this novelist is advertising on Craigslist for a young female intern—specifically so he can have an affair with her.

In 2011, Chad Leslie Peters published The Affair: A Thirty-Day Experiment in Love, an unreviewed e-book whose Amazon profile optimistically describes it as “one of the most graphic depictions of a relationship ever presented.” According to this recently-posted Craigslist ad, his next project is a nonfiction book in the same vein, and he’s looking for an “intern” to help him out. As he explains in the ad:  

I plan on writing a non-fiction version of "The Affair." The book will detail every aspect of a mutually-agreed-to romantic affair between myself and a young FEMALE lover (perhaps you), experienced over 30 days, as in the novel.

Titled, “Author needs female participant for affair (for a book project),” the ad is careful to specify that Peters is “a serious writer” and is looking for an equally serious participant, preferably an English major. The young FEMALE lover (perhaps you!) will keep a diary of her “thoughts, impressions and memories” of the affair, which Peters will then combine with his own writing to create an erotic story written from both perspectives.

Image via Craigslist

According to Amazon, Peters’s original novel is about a tenured professor who meets “a beautiful, young graduate student who is at a sexual crossroads.” Perhaps he’s looking for something along the same lines, with himself in the role of the middle-aged sexual mentor. Aside from that, his only requirements are that the “intern” be at least 20 years old, and practice safe sex.

The concept is a little creepy at best. But the fact that the ad is clearly listed as an intern position is what tips it into truly skeezy territory. Unpaid internships fetching laundry and doing office gopher work are already heavily weighted towards female graduates, but at least you can put them on your résumé afterwards.

Even if Peters is as serious about this book as he claims, he could at least have done the honest thing and labeled this as what it really is: a Craigslist hookup ad.

Image via Amazon.com

The first question you should ask is "Why is Sotheby's Inc. advertising an opening for an administrative assistant on Craigslist?" This isn't your lame old, ornery art auctioneer we're talking about. This is Sotheby's Inc., the world's largest auctioneer of fine and decorative art, the snootiest of the snoot, the assembly of dignitaries so modeled and profound that they dare not ever, ever, ever fail to properly distinguish between the works of Manet and Monet.

But it's there—Sotheby's Inc. requires a "Skilled and dedicated Administrative Assistant … for its New York office"—and they've gone about announcing such on Craigslist.

Which brings us to our second question: How in the hell did the first administrative assistant not know how to properly copy and paste a passage of text?

A Sotheby's job opening posted onto Craigslist Manhattan last night, one that on the surface looked pretty standard. The ideal applicant, Sotheby's wrote, would be coordinating, planning, and supporting daily operational administrative functions. They'd schedule meetings, coordinate travel, and perform all the associated tasks expected of an administrative assistant—only in this case, because it's Sotheby's, they'd perform those tasks with their nose tilted slightly up towards the heavens. The job paid $16 to 20 an hour and was made available to students. 

But the iteration of the job offering that you can see on Craigslist right now in actuality is nothing at all like the one that originally went onsite. Evidently, the individual put in charge of that operation had a little trouble formatting the listing. 

Update: Here's your answer, confirmed to Gawker by a Sotheby's rep:

We can confirm that it is not a Sotheby’s job posting. We don’t hire for a position of that title, and we don’t use Craigslist as a recruiting tool.

 

We have also checked with our colleagues at Sotheby’s International Realty and they confirmed it wasn’t them either. Our guess is that this is some kind of a hoax.

Here it is in full:

~

Sotheby's Inc. requires a Skilled and dedicated Administrative Assistant, Office Executive and Receptionist for its New York office. Applicant would be coordinating, planning and supporting daily operational and administrative functions. Scheduling meetings, coordinating travel and managing all essentials tasks. We require someone who is highly focused and able to identify goals and priorities and resolve issues in initial stages. Highly skilled in greeting guests with a positive attitude and helping them with their needs. Should be proficient in Microsoft Office. Position opens to students. Send in your updated resume. 

Mr Debras. Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Copy and paste the job description above in the space provided for it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Did you get that?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:03 PM):‎ okay I will do it now

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:04 PM):‎ Compensation: $15-$20/Hr + Attractive Wages

Sotheby's Inc. requires a Skilled and dedicated Administrative Assistant, Office Executive and Receptionist for its New York office. Applicant would be coordinating, planning and supporting daily operational and administrative functions. Scheduling meetings, coordinating travel and managing all essentials tasks. We require someone who is highly focused and able to identify goals and priorities and resolve issues in initial stages. Highly skilled in greeting guests with a positive attitude and helping them with their needs. Should be proficient in Microsoft Office. Position opens to students. Send in your updated resume. 

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Copy and paste the job description above in the space provided for it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Did you get that?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:03 PM):‎ okay I will do it now

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:04 PM):‎ Compensation: $15-$20/Hr + Attractive Wages

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:07 PM):‎ I am trying to copy and paste the information

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Okay

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Let me know when you are done with that

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:10 PM):‎ I'm having problems copying and pasting the info. I try to highlighted adn then go to edit and click copy. can you help me please?

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Sotheby's Inc. requires a Skilled and dedicated Administrative Assistant, Office Executive and Receptionist for its New York office. Applicant would be coordinating, planning and supporting daily operational and administrative functions. Scheduling meetings, coordinating travel and managing all essentials tasks. We require someone who is highly focused and able to identify goals and priorities and resolve issues in initial stages. Highly skilled in greeting guests with a positive attitude and helping them with their needs. Should be proficient in Microsoft Office. Position opens to students. Send in your updated resume.

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Copy and paste the job description above in the space provided for it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Did you get that?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:03 PM):‎ okay I will do it now

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:04 PM):‎ Compensation: $15-$20/Hr + Attractive Wages

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:07 PM):‎ I am trying to copy and paste the information

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Okay

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Let me know when you are done with that

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:10 PM):‎ I'm having problems copying and pasting the info. I try to highlighted adn then go to edit and click copy. can you help me please?

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:11 PM):‎ Just click and drag the content I sent to you from our conversation menu and as soon as the job description i sent to you has been highlighted press "control + c" or right click and click on copy

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:12 PM):‎ Hope am clear?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:12 PM):‎ is there an easier way to do it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:13 PM):‎ Am afraid there isnt. Unless you have to type it out

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Sotheby's Inc. requires a Skilled and dedicated Administrative Assistant, Office Executive and Receptionist for its New York office. Applicant would be coordinating, planning and supporting daily operational and administrative functions. Scheduling meetings, coordinating travel and managing all essentials tasks. We require someone who is highly focused and able to identify goals and priorities and resolve issues in initial stages. Highly skilled in greeting guests with a positive attitude and helping them with their needs. Should be proficient in Microsoft Office. Position opens to students. Send in your updated resume. 

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Copy and paste the job description above in the space provided for it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:02 PM):‎ Did you get that?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:03 PM):‎ okay I will do it now

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:04 PM):‎ Compensation: $15-$20/Hr + Attractive Wages

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:07 PM):‎ I am trying to copy and paste the information

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Okay

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:09 PM):‎ Let me know when you are done with that

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:10 PM):‎ I'm having problems copying and pasting the info. I try to highlighted adn then go to edit and click copy. can you help me please?

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:11 PM):‎ Just click and drag the content I sent to you from our conversation menu and as soon as the job description i sent to you has been highlighted press "control + c" or right click and click on copy

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:12 PM):‎ Hope am clear?

mejia.saima (Apr 29 2:12 PM):‎ is there an easier way to do it

Mrs. Debra Delman (Apr 29 2:13 PM):‎ Am afraid there isnt. Unless you have to type it out

Sotheby's Inc. required a skilled and dedicated administrative assistant, office executive and receptionist for its New York office. Applicant would be coordinating, planning and supporting daily operational and administrative functions. Scheduling meetings, coordinating travel and managing all essentials tasks. We require someone who is highly focused and able to indentify goals and priorities and resolve issues in initial stages. Highly skilled in greeting guests with a positive attitude and help them with their needs. Should be proficient in Microsoft office. Position open to students. Send in your resume.

~

The superfluous discourse was deleted Tuesday morning. What's left is the listing.

Here's another skill Sotheby's may want to add: Must know how to properly post to Craigslist

Image via Twitter/MichaelHenley

For three weeks last summer, Craigslist’s terms of service included a claim to ownership over the ads that were posted on its site. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) noted, the ad platform dropped that provision in August 2012.

However, Craigslist never “[dropped] its ownership claim over user posts made during that time when the issue came before the court,” Kurt Opsahl wrote on EFF’s Deep Links blog.

On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California “upheld this oppressive term that Craigslist included in its terms of service for that three-week period last summer.” (PDF)

The term was this: “Clicking ‘Continue’ confirms that Craigslist is the exclusive licensee of this content, with the exclusive right to enforce copyrights against anyone copying, republishing, distributing or preparing derivative works without its consent.”

The problem, the EFF asserts, is that such a blanket claim of ownership “threatens both innovation and users’ rights, and, even worse, sets terrible precedent.”

In theory, you cannot post the ad you put up on Craigslist during that time anywhere else, and if you do, according to the law, you could be found guilty of plagiarizing your own words and violating Craigslist’s copyright.

The suit was brought by Craigslist against a number of defendants, including Padmapper, whom they accuse of harvesting Craigslist ads, and is clearly directed at protecting Craigslist ads from getting scraped by competitors. But the implications range far beyond the company itself.

The judgment could be particularly deleterious to the service providers who may have posted on the platform at that time, people who rely on their ads for lawncare, hauling, pet sitting or stump removal. It may not affect you, or Craigslist, but it could be the difference between breakfast and working hungry for someone whose job it is.

The judge in the case limited Craigslist’s ownership to the three weeks the terms were in service, and dismissed their claims that every ad ever posted on Craigslist belonged to the company.

H/T Deep Links | Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Anyone who's gone apartment-hunting in the last decade knows what a blessing and a curse Craigslist is to the average lodger. It's not enough that you have to stay on your web-savvy tiptoes, dodging scams, shady locations, flaky housemates, and apartments that seem a little too good to be true. Sometimes you end up with the absolute rock-bottom. And if you're unlucky enough to be location scouting in Brooklyn, rock-bottom Craigslist apartment listings seem to be in ready supply.

But now, when you're stuck with rock-bottom, you can laugh all the way up. The Worst Room, a brand-new Tumblr, is here to mock the abysmal with you—and maybe help you learn which examples of "affordable housing" to avoid.

Though much has been made of New York City's penchant for charging outrageous prices for tiny apartments, lack of space isn't the only problem you'll find with candidates for The Worst Room. Featureless, windowless chambers, decrepit furnishings, poor lighting more appropriate for a military bunker than Park Slope, and dingy, grimy photos so miserable you can practically smell the odors: All are part of the Worst Room package. 

There's no limit on price for the worst room either: Whether a room rents for $600 or $1,600, the general description seems to remain consistent: personality-free, joyless drudgeon in the guise of a welcoming home.

Park Slope, Brooklyn. $1100.00

The creator of The Worst Room claims to be digging deep through the bowels of Brooklyn's Craigslist ads in search for the perfect apartment. This Tumblr celebrates their failure—and, arguably, all of Brooklyn's failure as well. 

Really, it's a shared low for all humanity. 

Williamsburg, Brooklyn. $850.00, (comes furnished with slightly used futon. sheets included.)

Oh, Williamsburg, so much to answer for.

This ain't a room, it's a goddamn loft space.

Park Slope, Brooklyn. $750.00; “THERE ARE NO WINDOWS. the room has great lighting. it’s beautiful.”

There are no windows? There are no words.

The best thing about The Worst Room is also the worst thing about The Worst Room: It will never go out of style, and there will always be frustrated apartment-seekers who can relate, whether they're room-hunting in SOHO or San Francisco. There will always be shitty apartments, crawl spaces masquerading as rooms, and renters who know that without having to take decent photos, lower the price, or even clean, there will probably be desperate urban adventurers who'll take the bad with the good. After all, even a dingy, grimy shoebox in Williamsburg is still a Williamsburg apartment. 

We're not sure if we can entirely blame the evils of gentrification on some of what The Worst Room is serving up, however. Sometimes the biggest sin of all may be sheer tackiness.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn. $1200.00 (with reliable electricity)

Yeah. Let's just stick with tackiness.

Photos via theworstroom/Tumblr

A Texas woman has been arrested after trying to use Craigslist to dump off her unwanted 3-year-old son. Stephanie Redus, 29, told police she'd been suffering from depression and anxiety in the days before posting the ad, but she couldn't take medication because she's pregnant with another child.

She signed her May 1 post with the name "Desperate." It read:

Hi, I'm trying to adopt out my three year old son. I'm not in a good place in my life and don't feel like I can care for him properly, but I don't know where to start. If you or know anyone who is interested in caring for him please let me know. I'm a single mom and can't do this. Thanks, Desperate.

Kids are a little different from concert tickets or beer-sodden old Ikea furniture. There are official channels and procedures you need to follow before handing them over to a stranger. And, unsurprisingly, Craigslist plays no part in any of them. Redus has been charged with "advertising for placement of a child," a misdemeanor. The charges could be upgraded, however, according to Houston-area ABC affiliate KTRK. Since the crime took place over the Internet, police aren't actually sure what charges they can file. They said they've never seen anything like it before.

We have, however. And frankly when it comes to abandoning kids over the Internet, Redus is a minor offender. Earlier this year, 22-year-old Oklahoma mom Misty Van Horn attempted to sell her kids via a Facebook auction. The price tag for her 10-month-old girl was $1,000, but for $4,000 she'd also toss her 2-year-old into the deal. Her goal was apparently to raise enough money to bail her boyfriend out of jail.

Photo via KSAT

Professional dominatrixes, VIP escort services, and independent workers alike are speaking out against LinkedIn for perpetuating the stigma that their work is not legitimate. 

The job-networking site changed the language on its user agreement last week to include specific language banning sex work. The way the update reads, one may not:

Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that: Even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

The reaction from sex workers and those in the prostitution industry, especially brothels and workers in places such as the counties in Nevada where sex work is legal, has been largely negative. Adding specific language to ban sex work from LinkedIn, they say, suggests that the site views sex workers as troubled or troublemakers.

Mistress Matisse, a professional dominatrix and writer in Seattle, posted a link to the story on her Twitter Wednesday, expressing displeasure with the new rules. Matisse told the Daily Dot she doesn’t use LinkedIn anyway but that her problem is more the principle of the matter.

“I think it's ridiculous—and simply unjust—that consensual adult sex work is illegal in some places, and that it's so stigmatized that people would be offended by even seeing the profile of a sex worker,” she said. “There are lots of professions that are regulated very differently from country to country, and I doubt that users expect Linkedin to ban ANY mention of ANY profession that MIGHT be illegal in ANY country. That's the part of this that's wrong.”

LinkedIn’s new rule—which extends not only to prostitution businesses but to freelance or self-employed sex workers the industry calls “independents"—is a part of a larger problem associated with sex work on social networks. In 2010, Craigslist caved into outside pressure and famously got rid of its adult-services section. A quick LinkedIn search as of yesterday revealed that the site still allows you to search for strippers and porn actresses under “Jobs.”

Yelp, a site where businesses might advertise their services, does not show any escort services or brothels in search results (even in legal Nevada counties), but it does allow discussions on where to find prostitutes in its “conversations” section. There are also separate sites like Yelp for prostitution and escort services that are currently up and running, including My Red Book and The Erotic Review.

“There really is no story here,” said Doug Madey, an associate at LinkedIn’s Corporate Communications. “Here's the reality—we have always prohibited these kinds of profiles. The recent change in our UA just makes it more explicitly prohibited.” 

In the old LinkedIn user agreement, he said, the company had covered the area of escort services and prostitution by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything "unlawful." However, in some countries, sex work actually is lawful, so the new language isn’t legal, just the company’s personal position.

“It was confusing, and a little too general and vague, for our members,” Madey said. “And the whole purpose of our rewrite of our user agreement was to make it clearer for our members. … But to be totally clear, our policy has not changed. We didn't allow profiles to promote these kinds of activities before, and we still don't.” 

As LinkedIn becomes aware of profiles and other activity on the site that may be in violation of its policies, he said, the company will take “appropriate action.”

LinkedIn might be used by sex workers in conjunction with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter to create a personal brand for a prostitute’s persona, said Stacey Swimme, a sex worker for the past 15 years and an advocate for sex workers' rights. She said LinkedIn’s ban is the result of the false idea that sex workers aren’t “normal” people.

And if a large social-networking site like LinkedIn is able to ban sex workers, what is stopping other large sites like Twitter, Facebook, and even Google?

“If he’s saying this is a non-story,” she said, responding to Madey’s comment, “that indicates to me that [LinkedIn’s] attitude is that the people that they are discriminating against aren’t actually people, and that these aren’t lives we’re affecting.”

For the sex workers that actually use LinkedIn, the ban affects their ability to keep in touch with clients, who might be businessmen or CEOs. Madison Graham, a prostitute at Dennis Hof’s Love Ranch North in Carson City, Nev., currently has a LinkedIn profile that she’s worried every day will get taken down. She joined the site to procure regulars who wanted to message her for repeat connections. Before the controversy last week, her LinkedIn profile had about five views per month. Since the ban, her profile has received about 26 views a day,” Graham said—a significant increase due to upped Googling of “prostitution + LinkedIn.”

Her boss Hof’s profile has been removed, and he’s been vocal in the media recently protesting the ban. Graham told the Daily Dot that she understands if the company wants to take down illegal prostitutes who are using LinkedIn to break the law, but she stressed that her work is legal.

“I have a federal background check. I have medical tests every week. I have a license from the county I’m in,” she said. “I’m fully legal. I pay taxes on my money, so don’t question the morality of Nevada. They’re not the moral police. I’m a legal business, and I should be treated with the same respect as any other legal business.”

Sex worker and activist Siouxsie Q, like most employees, entered her profession by choice and wants to be taken seriously as an entrepreneur. Sex work is real work, she insisted, but those who choose it as a job are treated as second-class citizens.

“I'm just like any other American girl working hard to pursue her dreams,” said Siouxsie, who also created a podcast called The WhoreCast in the hopes of humanizing sex workers. “Under LinkedIn's new policy, I would not be able to have a profile or make professional connections because my podcast certainly ‘promotes’ sex work.” 

Some of the users listing “prostitution” in their profiles might actually work to help victims of human trafficking, so it will be interesting to see if the ban affects them as well. It will also affect those involved in prostitutes' rights activism and services. Siouxsie worried that LinkedIn might hone in on places like Solace SF, a faith-based organization that provides compassionate care to sex workers, SWOP (The Sex Worker Outreach Project), and SWAFF (Sex Worker Allies Friends and Family), a resource group for families and allies of sex workers. 

Kathy Harris, marketing director for SLIXA, a website where professional independent escorts, escort agencies, and erotic massage and BDSM practitioners advertise their legal services, said the company planned to join LinkedIn soon as a way to build SLIXA’s professional brand and to network like any other business.

“It's a real dichotomy to image yourself as an online professional directory and then exclude legal professions and companies,” she said of LinkedIn. “Most professionals are so used to this age-old tactic that they probably won't bat a pretty eyelash at LinkedIn's BS.”

Australian escort Madison Missina said that in her country sex work has been largely decriminalized. LinkedIn exists as an international website, so it should be respectful of international laws.

“We abide by laws, run our businesses legitimately, and pay taxes. There is no difference between my business as a sex worker and my neighbor's, who's a beauty therapist,” Missina said. “It's a shame that these so-called ‘pioneering’ Internet companies take such a backward step and prohibit people from being open about their legal occupations.”

Violet Rose, a sex worker in the U.K., agreed. 

“It should not be up to businesses to take a moral stance on whether certain occupations should or should not be included,” Rose, who runs the site Stockings and Seams, said. “[I]t is totally unacceptable that profiles for our careers should be removed from such an important global networking tool as LinkedIn. That sex workers should be banned from connecting with peers and colleagues shows that LinkedIn doesn't see the sex industry as capable of being a professionally networked one, let alone the idea that sex workers should be free to be added by clients, the same as a plumber or a graphic designer can be.”

Especially in places where prostitution is illegal, Siouxsie said, LinkedIn's ban on sex work will make it harder for sex workers to connect with one another. Sex workers’ rights campaigns are built on sharing resources and fostering community, which the Internet in general has been integral in helping sex workers do.

“Now more than ever, we are online and able to connect with activists across the globe on the issues that we face as sex workers. LinkedIn's new policy limits our access to the tools we need to build our movement and make change possible,” Siouxsie said. “If sex workers are banned from these online spaces, we are essentially banned from participating in the online community and the global economy.”

“That is our only safety mechanism,” said Swimme. “LinkedIn is saying they’re fine with sex workers not having a safety network … to protect each other from rape, assault, theft, extortion. So for me, social media and the sex industry is more about sex workers networking with each other than with finding clients.”

Plus, she said, LinkedIn isn’t even addressing the real issue; the ban is a bandaid on a geyser. The number of people turning to sex work increases every day, especially in a down economy and especially for disadvantaged groups like women and trans people. If LinkedIn actually cared about prostitution, Swimme said, they’d be about campaigning for fair wages for women, people of color, and trans folk, or an end to education discrimination and unequal pay. Banning sex work doesn’t solve anything, she noted, because sex workers will just move to another site.

“This ban,” she said, “is about scapegoating and finding a boogeyman instead of actually looking at the real issues.”
 

Illustration by Fernando Alfonso III

Perpetrators of the shittiest practical joke on the Internet, be warned: If you pose as someone else on Craigslist and invite sex-hungry strangers to that person's house, you will get charged with a felony.

Meet 30-year-old Jason T. Willis, of Waterford, Wis. who's sitting in jail today on a $1,000 bond. Willis told police he was just "joking" when he posed as a neighbor and posted at least six sexually explicit Craigslist ads inviting men to her house. One of the hopeful, horny Craigslisters showed up in full flasher regalia, naked except for a coat. The neighbor was not amused and called the cops.

Willis has been charged with felony identity theft and is currently sitting in jail awaiting a May 28 court appearance. He's not the first one to get busted for harassing someone with sex ads on Craigslist. In March, 61-year-old Library of Congress Archivist Kenneth Kuban was charged with felony stalking after allegedly harassing his 64-year-old ex-girlfriend with phony ads for months.

"I'm a senior lady who is looking for some fun and adventure along with some pleasuring!!" one ad read.

So many visitors came to the woman's home she plastered signs across her property warning that the ads were a lie, but they kept coming. If convicted, Kuban faces a maximum of five years in jail. He goes on trial next month.

Photo by DaveAustria.com/Flickr

Finding a good job in this economy is hard. Finding a good job on Craigslist is even harder. Sure, sometimes the posting itself is the problem—but usually, the applications are so ridiculous it turns employers away from the online classifieds for life.

You never know which postings are real, either. In just the past three months, pranksters sought applications for a “new administrative assistant wanted for Sotheby’s world-renowned auction house” and a “new Pope wanted for Vatican City’s world-renowned Roman Catholic Church.” 

More ominously, car-thief gangs have lured job-hungry students to Mexico intending to steal their cars. More creepily, a middle-aged self-published erotic author sought a nubile too-young-for-alcohol college co-ed to have unpaid sex with him, so he could write a book about it.

But even when an actual, non-scammy employer posts a genuine job listing to Craigslist, many applicants are doomed to failure because—well, they might know how to do the actual job, but they have no idea how to apply for it.

Which brings us to Rob Cockerham’s Cockeyed blog, which posted a list of “Tips for Craigslist Job Applicants.” What inspired this? 

“My friend Tom is a great, smart guy who hires for a small business (Priveco.com). Yesterday he got the first batch of replies from job applicants from his job posting on Craigslist.

“He got a bunch of replies, some of which were inadequate.”

“Inadequate” is a vast understatement. Thing is, since the job applicants saw the ad on Craigslist, this means they have Internet access, which includes access to various search engines including Google. And typing "how to apply for a job" into the latter yields 802 million hits, pretty much all of which mention the need for a résumé.

Perhaps this is why, of Tom’s 14 complaints, the very first one said “No Resume = No Job. Seriously people, why bother emailing?” He also mentioned absent resumes in his third complaint: “Someone didn't have a résumé, but the email was ‘sent from my iPad.’” 

Another: “Don't write to ask how to apply for the job when 300 other people have figured out that you send in a résumé.”

And another: “Just once I would like to see a former Subway employee NOT refer to it as a ‘sandwich artist.’”

Even if you remember to include your CV, you might make sure its listed achievements are relevant to the job you want and not too terribly out of date. As Tom said in complaint No. 9, “We received a résumé from someone who was voted ‘Most improved basketball player of 2000 from their elementary school.’ I don't think it was a joke.”

When writing your cover letter (and résumé!), remember to use a formal, rather than colloquial, writing style. For example, employment professionals usually recommend ending cover letters with phrases like “I would welcome the opportunity for an interview with your organization. Thank you for your time and consideration.”

However, as Tom notes in complaint No. 8, “Employers rarely ‘holla back.’”

Tom’s complete list is here, and while you can laugh at the egregious examples he listed, you should also take seriously the advice Cockerham added at the end:

“Taking time to construct and send a professionally organized and formatted resume and the accompanying email is time well spent. Maybe you won't get an interview, and that effort will be unrewarded, but you shouldn't even bother applying when your first impression can be summarized as ‘extends minimum effort.’”

Photo via kandyjaxx/Flickr

A New York man has put his two-and-a-quarter feet of glistening black "virgin" hair for sale on Craigslist. It is "Jet Black," he says, like "the way a raven shines in the moonlight," or "the color of a deep dark sleep." It's just really, really black. And you can own it—all of it—for the right price. No questions asked. 

The unknown hair idol, who might actually be Jesus, carefully shampoos and conditions it two to three times a week, but he's never corrupted those silken strands with dyes or perms or anything chemical. And he's certainly never applied a curling iron to it. "I have not used a blow dryer, uhh ever?" he says, barely containing his disdain the for the rest of the population, prone to unleash heat violence upon their locks at the slightest sign of moisture.

I
 

It is pure as the peach fuzz on a baby's cheeks, a key component in a half-dozen medieval witches' brews, and a certain source of future global scientific inquiry. Now anyone on Craigslsit can own it for $600. Who knows what they'll do with it. Pray for the hair, people.

Photo via Craigslist

Have you ever left your cell phone number in public? If so, you run the risk of being asked to draw a penis on someone's car.

The hilarious exchange is one of many that can be found on textastrophe.com. The website operator, who wishes to remain anonymous, finds cell phone numbers that have been displayed in public on advertisements, Craigslist, etc. He will then begin a text exchange with the unassuming victim, appearing to be interested in the service they offer, before making a ridiculous request and seeing how far the exchange can go.

The first exchange, titled "Old Coins," took place in October 2012. Textastrophe answered an ad seeking people willing to sell rare coins. The victim seemed interested until Textastrophe revealed that the coins were, in fact, chocolate coins.

"We're done here," the victim wrote after Textastrophe offered the remaining chocolate coins for $20.

The site, which reveals no personal or identifying information, bears a passing resemblance to Don’t Even Reply, which chronicles the Craigslist trolling by John Lindsay.

"I have been working at a T-Mobile kiosk in a mall for two years," Textastrophe explained. "I have a lot of down time and I get bored, so I just surf Craigslist and text them from the phones we have here."

Textastrophe's personal favorite exchange is "The Pet Sitter." The post follows his answer to a Craigslist ad whose author offered to watch "pets of all shapes and sizes."

"What kind of animal?" the victim asked.

"I guess you could consider him an animal, he won't bother you much," Textastrophe replied—with a photograph of an elderly man fast asleep in a chair.

Response to the site has been overwhelmingly positive. Each new post receives hundreds of shares and reblogs from fellow Tumblr users. Textastrophe has also earned over 15,000 followers on Twitter and over 7,200 likes on Facebook. Here's one classic example, "The Autograph."

"Can you please post more? This is the best thing i've seen on the internet," Facebook user Daniel Crispin wrote.

Responses from the unaware participants themselves have been varied. Occasionally, one will "play along" with the ridiculous exchange, as evidenced in "Taxidermy Tales: The Creature." Other times, the victim simply will not respond to Textastrophe's initial greeting at all.

"One time I texted a middle-aged death metal band looking for a new keyboard player," he said. "I wish they would have got back to me."

Of course, there are those who have angrily tried to initiate contact with Textastrophe again.

"Sometimes people get pissed and call back, but I don't pick up," he said.

With Textastrophe's exact location unknown, it's possible for anyone to fall victim to one of his exchanges. Think twice the next time you share your phone number in public. You never know when you might get a request to move a bathtub—with someone's overweight brother stuck inside.

Photo via Timothy Krause/Flickr

Telling your kids to eat their meals because there are starving children in other parts of the world is one of the oldest tricks in the parenting book. But for one Arizona resident, that wasn't enough.

On May 19, the unidentified progenitor of a set of ungrateful children posted an ad on Craigslist looking to hire a thin actor that could stand by the trash as the kids were forced to throw away their unfinished food.

"I'd love for you to get into the role," the posting reads. 

"Maybe a wide-eyed whimper and extension of an emancipated claw/hand as the meatloaf slides into the trash can. Must be able to pull off dejected as you sulk away."

Not just any skinny person will do, however. Despite the fact that this is an unpaid gig, the author of the piece has standards. People who look like they do drugs—"methy skinny"— need not apply. Also not preferred are "body-image-malfunction skinny," mostly because his or her daughter "is so impressionable right now." If possible, you should be "parasite skinny."

Is the ad legitimate? Could the person behind it really be this nuts? It's hard to say. This is Arizona we're talking about. This is the same state that counts Amy and Samy Bouzaglo among its residents. 

We reached out to verify that it wasn't some twisted joke, but our request for comment has yet to be returned.

Maybe we looked too hefty.

H/T Daily Mail | Photo via William Murphy/Flickr