Sunday, July 29, 2007

More about John Higginbotham's Demented Minion Knicksgrl0917

I started tagging information on John Higginbotham nine days ago, but never bothered to write a post about him until knicksgrl0917 visited the mrontemp blog several times, along with every other blog in existence, apparently.

Knicksgrl0917's comments all link to a site called Blogging for Pay. If you don't want to visit the site, you can simply look at the press release (posted at a free press release website, something that bad bloggers would use to announce a second-place showing in a two person straw poll):

January 4, 2007 (FPRC) -- A man by the name of John Higginbotham of Huntington, WV has just launched a new ebook "Blogging for Pay". This is his first Ebook devoted entirely to blogging and generating revenue from this activity. It is the first in a series of ebooks he will be writing in the future. .

John started blogging about four years ago and decided that once his audience got big enough he should offer them something of value. The “value” came in the form of targeted ebooks that his audience would be interested in. He started with one blog discussing one idea then branched out to include several blogs all talking about different topics. He stresses the importance of having more than one targeted blog.

This book is for people who want to 1. Learn how a blog works , 2. Learn how to promote their blog , and 3. Would like to generate revenue from their blog. 4. Learn how to grow their blog over time leveraging search engines. He gives step-by-step instructions on how to set up your blog, where to host it and several other “little secrets”. You will learn in John’s ebook:

What a blog is (and what it is not)
How to get started fast and easy
Whether to have a website, blog or both.
All about RSS, XML and Atom.
Why you should collect RSS Feeds.
Information about Blogging Tools.
Newsreaders Explained.
What you need to get started.

On his website, you can download this ebook with a buy back guarantee. If you read the materials that you have bought from him and for some reason are not satisfied, he will buy it back with no questions asked. Of course, you will get what you put into it and income or revenue is not guaranteed.. For additional information you may visit his website at http://www.bloggingforpay.com


So, when you read this cheapo ebook offer, do you think...um...Harvard MBA and Virginia Tech Alumni Association President? You should:

John Higginbotham has served the past five years on the [Virginia Tech] Alumni Board of Directors and was elected in the spring to serve as president for 2002-03. John is Chairman & CEO of SpaceVest, a venture capital firm in Northern Virginia.

He resides with his family in Great Falls, Virginia. He grew up in Lewisburg, West Virginia, and attended Virginia Tech as a recipient of the prestigious Alumni Presidential Scholarship to study Engineering. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School following his undergraduate degree. During his career he was the first product manager for Hewlett Packard Company for microcomputers, a cofounder and senior manager of a global space insurance underwriting firm now owned by AXA Insurance Company, and active in community service. As a student he helped found the Student Alumni Associates, the student arm of the Alumni Association, and served as its first president during his senior year.


OK, perhaps there are TWO John Higginbothams from West Virginia - Lewisburg is 165 miles from Huntington), but it seems awfully coincidental.

Let's pretend for a moment that the Huntington Higginbotham is not the Lewisburg Higginbotham. In that case, let's look at the Lewisburg Higginbotham's SpaceVest:

The board of directors of the Space Foundation has elected John B. Higginbotham chairman of the board for a two-year term effective Jan. 21, 2004....

Higginbotham is founder and chairman of Reston, Virginia-based SpaceVest, the leading investment firm specializing in space enterprises and next-generation network technology. He has been on the board of directors of the Space Foundation since 1999 and has served as vice chairman of the board since January 2000. Previously, he was a co-founder, director, and senior vice president of International Technology Underwriters, Inc. (INTEC), and, prior to that, was product manager for Hewlett Packard Company's global entry into the microcomputer industry. Higginbotham earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering with Honors from Virginia Tech and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.


But today, SpaceVest is no more:

John B. Higginbotham – Director, ProtoStar Ltd.
Mr. Higginbotham founded RedShift Ventures (formerly known as SpaceVest) in 1991 and is a Senior Advisor to the firm. He is a Director Emeritus and former Chairman of the Space Foundation and maintains affiliations with several other industry associations. Prior to founding RedShift, Mr. Higginbotham was a co-founder of International Technology Underwriters (Intec), now AXASpace, a global space insurance underwriting manager. Earlier in his career he was the Product Manager for Hewlett Packard Company’s initial entry into the microcomputer marketplace. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.


So, let's look at the John Higginbotham in the whois information for bloggingforpay.com:

Registration Service Provided By: NameCheap.com
Contact: support@NameCheap.com

Domain name: BLOGGINGFORPAY.COM

Registrant Contact:
MediaStar
John Higginbotham (tallymart@yahoo.com)
+1.304525
Fax: +1.5555555555
175 Oney Ave.
Huntington, WV 25705
US

Administrative Contact:
MediaStar
John Higginbotham (tallymart@yahoo.com)
+1.304525
Fax: +1.5555555555
175 Oney Ave.
Huntington, WV 25705
US

Technical Contact:
MediaStar
John Higginbotham (tallymart@yahoo.com)
+1.304525
Fax: +1.5555555555
175 Oney Ave.
Huntington, WV 25705
US

Status: Locked

Name Servers:
ns1.host.org
ns2.host.org

Creation date: 14 Dec 2006 02:29:25
Expiration date: 14 Dec 2007 02:29:25


And when I looked up Mediastar, I found a press release that looked eerily familiar, even though there was no John Higginbotham mentioned:

PR9.NET February 28, 2006 - Huntington, WV - A man by the name of Sam Rodman of Cape Coral, FL found a way to work part time and make full time earnings, he shares his experiences in his new ebook "Cleaning Up the Profits". This is the first Ebook devoted entirely to the commercial and residential cleaning business.

Sam started his own cleaning business that ended up being very profitable. He began cleaning offices. He started out with a small staff and as his clientele grew, so did his staff and his profits. His business was such a success that he decided to write a book titled, "Instant Office Cleaning Kit, Cleaning Up the Profits" detailing how others could follow in his footsteps.

This book is for people who want to 1. Work for themselves, 2. Set their own hours, and 3. Would like their income to double after a year. He gives step-by-step instructions, a source of leads, an introduction letter, a professional service agreement (the bid), bid follow-up letter, a reminder letter, estimating chart, forms, samples and more! What you will learn is:

How to get started fast and easy
How to get businesses the smart way without expensive advertising.
How to organize each job to finish faster, and create more profit.
How to project a professional image and get top dollar for your service.
How much to charge. A simple formula that's right on the money.
What kind of people to hire to do the work.
A risk-free proven method of getting customers in your area.
How to get started with little or no money.

On his website, you can download this kit with a buy back guarantee. If you read the materials that you have bought from him and for some reason are not satisfied, he will buy it back! His business has been successful for the past ten years and he has also helped others start their business and become successful. On his website you can read testimonials from people with whom he has assisted in this venture. Of course, you will get what you put into it. For additional information you may visit his website at http://www.tristarinternet.com/cleaning.html


As for the Yahoo user tallymart, he likes to sell good shirts:

Rated as Good Seller by sarabradolsen (96)
Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt Size XL (08/09/2003) $9.95
Buyer gives Good Seller rating.
Comment:Excellent name-brand clothes! (08/26/2003) (most recent)
Response:Awesome! Fast and friendly, One of Yahoo's best! (08/28/2003)

Polo Ralph Lauren Long sleeve shirt (08/09/2003) $9.95
Buyer gives Good Seller rating.
Comment:Great people to work with! (08/26/2003)

Ralph Lauren Dress Shirt Size XL (08/09/2003) $9.95
Buyer gives Good Seller rating.
Comment:Friendly and prompt service. Good quality clothing. (08/26/2003)


And tallymart likes jeeps.

But I'm still not sure if the John Higginbotham in Huntington, West Virginia is the same as the John Higginbotham who is still connected with a company in San Francisco, California.

If the Lewisburg Higginbotham is in the corporate offices, maybe Knicksgrl0917 can meet him.

johnhigginbotham

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5 comments:

Ontario Emperor said...

More about knicksgrl0917 here. She's been claiming since July 17 (or perhaps July 19) that she was on her way to cali in a few days, but apparently she can't raise the bus fare.

Bluegger said...

Wow. knicksgrl0917 actually put an amount in her comments to my blog:

-------------------
knicksgrl0917 said...
hey! i'm going to cali this weekend and won't be back until september...
here is the website i was talking about where i made an extra $800 dollars last month..... Later!the website is here

July 27, 2007 8:26 PM
------------------

the website actually goes from www.bloggingforpay.com/paid.html and redirects to www.paidsurveysetc.com/half-price-coupon

Ontario Emperor said...

Here's another underblog post. I might post this in the real blog eventually, but I decided to record it here for now.

On an inspired whim, I went to whitepages.com and did a reverse address search for 175 Oney Avenue, and the name that I got wasn't John Higginbotham.

I found that same name (with the middle name spelled out) and address in a list of delinquent payments to the city of Huntington, West Virginia. However, the list is a couple of years old; presumably, RLD is now up-to-date with his city payments.

Anonymous said...

nice work! sounds fishy though... I can't imagine someone being so dumb as to leave their whois information open if they are doing something illegal such as this.... very strange, sounds fishy. What a dumbass!! I'm sure the site has been flamed, bound to be shut down soon. How stupid. This used to happen to me on wordpress (before spam karma) I tracked the guy down... thinking he was a 36 year old spamming ass.. ended up being a 16 year old kid. I'll look more into this, my wife is a PI. btw, won't you turn captcha on?

Anonymous said...

sorry, it was me who left the anonymous comment... didn't fill in my name. :)