tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17244445.post114955030187376298..comments2023-09-09T01:52:56.947-07:00Comments on Noveling Notes: Quesitons on my mindWayzgoosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02732121654746019162noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17244445.post-1149612998514312722006-06-06T09:56:00.000-07:002006-06-06T09:56:00.000-07:002: it's probably in a Swiss account. I know that'...2: it's probably in a Swiss account. I know that's cliche, but it's probably true. Make it a Liechtenstinian account if you want to be a little different. Here's an article nicely summarizing the pros and cons of offshore accounts:<BR/>http://www.askmen.com/fashion/how_to_250/272_how_to.html<BR/>Given that Simon knows he's planning on leaving Brenda anyway, the pros might outweigh the cons here.<BR/><BR/>Also, one thing about embezzling is that it is difficult to change the form of whatever you're embezzling without creating pesky records that can be tracked down. If you have access to paper cash (e.g. casino worker), then you can get nailed when you try to deposit all that paper in the bank to make it more liquid. If you're embezzling via some sort of electronic funds-transfer scheme, but you'd rather have the money in the form of diamonds or securities or something, then you'll inevitably have to create some sort of transaction record that will be tied to you on the purchase.<BR/><BR/>One thing that has always struck me about theft-oriented criminals (and especially white-collar ones, who you'd think ought be be smart enough to know better) is how often crime doesn't pay because the criminal is stupid. We had an incident at work a few years ago where an employee and his spouse both worked here, and she got busted for embezzling something on the order of $400k from the company. Caused him a whole pile of trouble from the corporate security folks, too, as you might imagine. One of the ways she got detected was the good old "living beyond your obvious means." I just couldn't figure out, if you're going to steal that much money, why you wouldn't at least try to keep a lower profile about it? I mean, just leave it in the bank, or move it offshore, or convert it into bullion and bury it in the back yard until ten years after you leave the company. Something! But for crissakes, don't spend it! Moron.<BR/><BR/>But, of course, an antagonist who is a moron is no fun to read about, you you'll need Simon to be smarter than that. Ergo, he can't be spending the money (or at least, not very much of it), he has to get it somewhere outside the reach of U.S. law, and he has to anonymize it to some degree. That all adds up to "offshore account" to me...<BR/><BR/>6: Of course Simon erased the disk. Maybe he even re-formatted it just to be sure. But, he's not a data recovery professional, now is he? Surely Dag has tricks up his sleeve to deal with such circumstances.<BR/><BR/>7: I thought the phrase was "suck the chrome off a trailer-hitch". :)<BR/><BR/>8: Some mixture of paternal/lost-puppy feelings from Dag towards a young, inexperienced undergraduate sounds good. Also, if she's that young, it gives you the excuse for her to mess something important up if you need to.<BR/><BR/>12: I don't think so. If he knows about it from the start, then you have to tell the reader right away, which signals to the reader immediately "oh, he's gonna die at the end." Because if Dag knows but you don't tell the reader until later, then when you do, the reader will be thinking "D'oh! Why didn't you tell me that sooner!" It will feel a little too "deus ex". But, if Dag finds out during the story, then the reader gets to discover that with him and you can explore the whole "seven stages of acceptance" thing. The trick with that is letting Dag find out in some sort of way that doesn't tip off the reader too bluntly. Dag's habit of quipping about age-related ailments could be your key there. Maybe his clue to go to the doctor is that he's finding himself more winded than he ought to be, which at first he puts down to age, and berates himself for getting out of shape. Then maybe he tries to get into shape, and finds out that he just can't do it, and then goes to the doctor. You'll figure something out.<BR/><BR/>16: 128 bit? I don't think that'll be secure for very much longer. Encrypt/Decrypt operations are tolderably fast now that you may as well go with a 1024 or even 2048 bit key. Biometrics? I don't think the technology is quite there yet. On the other hand, if you're willing to spend too much money (and Dag probably is), maybe there's some sort of mil-spec fingerprint or retina scanner out there that actually works. That could be kind of cool.<BR/><BR/>17: I know banks have some reporting requirements about unusual transactions, but I have no idea what a PI is required to do.<BR/><BR/>21: better if the remote actually _does_ control something else. Like a remote for a little TV in his office or something, but when you press 3+volume_up+power or something, then the door opens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com