ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Veitch - Comedian and writer
For James Veitch, a British writer and comedian with a mischievous side, spam emails proved the perfect opening to have some fun, playing the scammers at their own game.

Why you should listen

Packed full of Nigerian princes, can't miss investment opportunities and eligible Russian brides, James Veitch's correspondence with email spammers leads to surprising, bizarre and usually hilarious results. Out of this experiment came his first book, Dot Con. In 2014, his first solo comedy show The Fundamental Interconnectedness of Everyone with an Internet Connection, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe to wide acclaim. His second show, Genius Bar, focussed on his time working for Apple, chronicles his attempts to fix his relationship using the same troubleshooting techniques he’d been using to fix iMacs, iPhones and iPods. He is currently writing his third show and preparing to tour the UK. 

He lives in London with his full body pillow.

More profile about the speaker
James Veitch | Speaker | TED.com
TEDSummit

James Veitch: The agony of trying to unsubscribe

James Veitch: Agonija pokušaja odjave

Filmed:
21,478,160 views

Događa se svima: odjavite se sa neželjenog marketing maila, i par dana kasnije novi mail od iste tvrtke dolazi u inbox. Komičar James Veitch pretvorio je svoju frustraciju u šalu kada lokalni supermarket nije htio prihvatiti ne kao odgovor. Nepodopštine su slijedile.
- Comedian and writer
For James Veitch, a British writer and comedian with a mischievous side, spam emails proved the perfect opening to have some fun, playing the scammers at their own game. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
It's funnysmiješno the things you forgetzaboraviti.
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Neobično je kakve sve stvari
zaboravljamo.
00:15
I wentotišao to see my mothermajka the other day,
and she told me this storypriča
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Išao sam vidjeti majku neki dan,
i ispričala mi je priču
00:19
that I'd completelypotpuno
forgottenzaboravljen about
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koju sam skroz zaboravio
00:21
how, when we were drivingvožnja togetherzajedno,
she would pullVuci the carautomobil over,
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da kada bismo se vozili skupa,
ona bi stala,
00:25
and by the time she had
gottendobivši out of the carautomobil,
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i dok bi izašla iz auta,
00:27
and goneotišao around the carautomobil
to let me out of the carautomobil,
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i prošla oko auta da me pusti van,
00:29
I would have alreadyveć gottendobivši out of the carautomobil
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ja bih se već izukao iz auta
00:31
and pretendedPravila se to have diedumro.
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i pravio se da sam umro.
00:34
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
00:37
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
00:47
Because that's how you dieumrijeti.
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Jer tako umrete.
00:48
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
00:50
And I rememberzapamtiti, that was a gameigra
I used to playigrati with myselfsebe
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I sjećam se, to je bila igra
koju sam igrao sam sa sobom
00:54
to entertainzabavljaju myselfsebe wheneverkada
I was boreddosadno or frustratedfrustriran.
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da bih se zabavio kad mi je bilo
dosadno ili sam bio frustriran.
00:58
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
01:00
SettlePodmiriti down.
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Smirite se.
01:01
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
01:03
People say we liveživjeti in an agedob
of informationinformacija overloadpreopterećenje. Right?
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Ljudi kažu da živimo u
vremenu prekomjernih informacija. Jelda?
01:06
I don't know about that,
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Ne znam za to,
01:08
but I just know that I get
too manymnogi marketingMarketing emailse-mail.
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ali znam da dobivam
previše marketing mailova.
01:10
I got a marketingMarketing emaile
from a supermarketsupermarket firmfirma,
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Dobio sam marketing mail
od supermarketa,
01:13
whichkoji will remainostati namelessbezimen
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koji će ostati bezimen,
01:14
for predominantlypretežno legalpravni reasonsrazlozi,
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iz uglavnom legalnih razloga,
01:16
but whichkoji I'm going to call "SafeMartSafeMart."
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ali nazvat ću ih "SafeMart."
01:19
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
01:21
I got an emaile from them,
and it wentotišao like this, it said:
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Dobio sam mail od njih,
i išlo je ovako:
01:24
"Just threetri weeksTjedni untildo SafeMartSafeMart
at King'sKraljev CrossKriž opensotvara!!!"
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"Samo tri tjedna dok se SafeMart
na King's Crossu otvori!!!"
01:28
And I resentedUpravo zbog this,
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I zamjerio sam im to,
01:30
because not only do I not rememberzapamtiti
signingpotpisivanje up to that,
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jer ne samo da se ne sjećam
da sam se pretplatio na to,
01:34
but I resentzamjeraju the factčinjenica
that they appearpojaviti to think
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nego zamjeram i činjenicu
da oni misle
01:37
that I should be exciteduzbuđen
about a shopdućan openingotvor.
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da bih ja trebao biti uzbuđen
zbog otvaranja trgovine.
01:41
So what I did was I scrolledsvitak down
to the bottomdno of the emaile,
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Tako da sam otišao u dno maila
01:44
and I pressedprešani, "UnsubscribeOtkazati pretplatu."
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i pritisnuo, "Odjavi se."
01:46
And I thought that'dda bih be the endkraj of it.
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I pomislio sam da je to kraj.
01:48
But a weektjedan laterkasnije,
I got anotherjoš one that said,
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Ali tjedan dana kasnije,
dobio sam još jedan,
01:50
"Just two weeksTjedni
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"Samo još dva tjedna
01:52
untildo SafeMartSafeMart at King'sKraljev CrossKriž opensotvara!!!"
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dok se SafeMart
na King's Crossu otvori!!!"
01:54
And I thought, obviouslyočito,
I haven'tnisu clickedklik hardteško enoughdovoljno.
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I pomislio sam,
očito nisam dovoljno jako kliknuo.
01:57
So I triedpokušala it again. Right?
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Tako da sam pokušao opet. Ok?
02:00
LoLo and beholdpogledati, a weektjedan passesprolazi,
you guessedpogađate it,
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Čujte i počujte, tjedan dana prođe,
pogodili ste,
02:02
"Just one weektjedan untildo SafeMartSafeMart
at King'sKraljev CrossKriž opensotvara!!!"
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"Samo još tjedan dana
dok se SafeMart otvori!!!"
02:06
And here'sevo the problemproblem:
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I tu je problem:
02:08
The internetInternet gavedali us accesspristup to everything;
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Internet nam je dao pristup svemu;
02:11
but it alsotakođer gavedali everything accesspristup to us.
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ali također je svemu dao pristup nama.
02:15
It's hardteško enoughdovoljno to discriminatediskriminira
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Dovoljno je lako razlučiti
02:16
betweenizmeđu the things that genuinelyiskreno
matterstvar in this worldsvijet
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između stvari koje su važne u svijetu
02:19
and the minutiaesitnice of life,
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i nevažne stvari u životu,
02:20
withoutbez havingima emailse-mail
about supermarketsupermarket chainslanci
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bez mailova o supermarketima
02:23
and CandyCandy CrushSimpatija SagaSaga.
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i Candy Crush Sagi.
02:26
And I was really annoyedojađen with them,
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I bio sam frustriran njima,
02:28
and I thought, OK, I was about to writepisati
a stronglysnažno wordedsročene emaile,
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i pomislio sam, napisat ću oštar mail
02:31
whichkoji I can do quitedosta well.
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koje znam dobro pisati.
02:32
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
02:35
And I thought, no --
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I pomislio sam, ne --
02:37
I'm going to find the gameigra.
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idem naći igru.
02:38
So I repliedodgovorila to it, and I said,
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Tako da sam odgovorio i rekao,
02:41
"I literallydoslovce cannotNe možete wait!!!!"
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"Doslovno ne mogu čekati!!!!"
02:43
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
02:47
"What do you need from me?"
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"Što trebate od mene?"
02:51
They got back to me;
a guy calledzvao DanDan said,
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Odgovorili su mi,
tip imena Dan rekao je,
02:53
"HiBok JamesJames. I've askedpitao a colleaguekolega
to help me with your queryupit."
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"Zdravo James, pitao sam kolegu
da mi pomogne s tvojim upitom."
02:56
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
02:57
Like it needspotrebe help.
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Kao da treba pomoć.
03:00
And I said, "What's the planplan, DanDan?
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Rekao sam, "Koji je plan, Dan?
03:02
I'm thinkingmišljenje fireworksvatromet, bouncyodskočiti castledvorac ..."
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Mislim vatromet, dvorac za skakanje ..."
03:04
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:08
"I'm not sure what you mean."
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"Nisam siguran što misliš."
03:09
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:11
I said, "I'm just tremendouslystrahovito
exciteduzbuđen about the openingotvor!"
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Rekao sam, "Samo sam nevjerojatno uzbuđen
oko otvaranja!"
03:14
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:17
"Do you want to bookrezervirati
the bouncyodskočiti castledvorac or shalltreba I?"
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"Želiš rezervirati dvorac za skakanje,
ili da ja?"
03:23
He said, "I think you have misunderstoodneshvaćeni."
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Rekao je, "Mislim da nisi shvatio."
03:25
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:27
"A newnovi storedućan is openingotvor,
but there is no celebrationproslava plannedplanirani."
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"Otvara se nova trgovina,
ali nije planirana proslava."
03:31
I said, "But what was all the 'Three' Tri weeksTjedni
untildo,' 'Two' Dva weeksTjedni until'dok ' emailse-mail?
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Rekao sam, "Ali što je sa 'Tri tjedna do,'
'Dva tjedna do' mailovima?
03:35
I was gettinguzimajući exciteduzbuđen."
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Postajao sam uzbuđen."
03:37
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:40
"I'm sorry you're disappointedrazočaran."
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"Žao mi je što si razočaran."
03:41
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:45
I said, "Not to worrybrinuti.
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Rekoh, "Ne brini.
03:48
Let's do something anywayu svakom slučaju!
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Učinimo ipak nešto!
03:51
BesidesOsim toga, the depositdepozita on the bouncyodskočiti
castledvorac was non-refundablebespovratna."
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Osim toga, polog na dvorac za skakanje
je nepovratan."
03:54
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:58
"If we don't use it, we're out
a fewnekoliko hundredstotina quidfunti, DanDan."
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"Ako ga ne iskoristimo, izgubili smo
par stotina funti, Dan."
04:01
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
04:04
He said, "MrG.. VeitchVeitch, I'm not responsibleodgovoran
for anything you have orderednaredio."
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Rekao je, "Mr. Veitch, nisam odgovoran
ni za što što ste naručili."
04:09
I said, "Let's not get into who did what.
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Rekao sam, "Nemojmo ulaziti u to
tko je naručio što.
04:14
BottomDno linecrta: you and I
are in this togetherzajedno."
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Kad podvučemo: ti i ja smo u ovome skupa."
04:16
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
04:19
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
04:23
"QuestionPitanje: Will you be there
to make sure people take theirnjihov shoescipele off?"
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"Pitanje: Hoćeš li biti tamo
da svi skinu cipele?"
04:26
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
04:31
I'll be honestpošten, then my relationshipodnos
with DanDan deterioratedpogoršala somewhatnešto,
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Iskreno, tada je moja veza s Danom
malo opala,
04:34
because the nextSljedeći emaile I got was this:
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jer je sljedeći e-mail koji sam dobio bio:
04:37
"ThanksHvala for your emaile -
your CaseSlučaj NumberBroj is ..."
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"Hvala na vašem emailu -
broj vašeg slučaja je ..."
04:39
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
04:41
That's outrageouspretjeran.
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To je suludo.
04:43
I said, "DanDan?"
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Rekao sam, "Dan?"
04:44
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
04:46
And I got -- and I was just like,
this is ... -- and I, I ....
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I dobio sam -- i bio sam kao,
ovo je ... -- i ja, ja .....
04:49
And I said, "DannyDanny?"
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I rekao sam, "Danny?"
04:51
And I thought, this is terribleužasan.
All I'm doing is collectingprikupljanje casespis numbersbrojevi.
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I pomislio sam, ovo je užasno. Sve što sam radio
je skupljanje brojeva slučaja.
04:56
I said, "D-DogD-pas?"
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Rekao sam, "D-dog?"
04:57
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
05:00
"The storedućan is now openotvoren."
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"Trgovina je sada otvorena."
05:01
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
05:05
I said, "But DanDan, they mustmora have wonderedpitala
why there was no bouncyodskočiti castledvorac."
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Rekao sam, "Ali Dan, sigurno su se pitali
gdje je dvorac za skakanje."
05:10
And then we were back to this.
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I onda smo se vratili ovome.
05:15
And that mightmoć have been
the endkraj of the storypriča,
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I to bi možda bio kraj naše priče,
05:17
but I rememberedsjetio
that anything -- everything --
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ali sam se sjetio da bilo što -- sve --
05:21
even something as mundanezemaljski
as gettinguzimajući out of a carautomobil,
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čak i nešto dosadno kao izlazak iz auta,
05:25
can be funzabava if you find the right gameigra.
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može biti zabavno ako nađete pravu igru.
05:29
So,
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Dakle,
05:31
this is what I repliedodgovorila:
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ovako sam odgovorio:
05:34
[ThanksHvala for your emaile -
your CaseSlučaj NumberBroj is #0000001.]
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[Hvala vam na vašem mailu
- broj vašeg slučaja je #0000001.]
05:36
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
05:39
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
05:44
And we just, uh ...
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I mi smo samo ...
05:46
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
05:48
It was like we were dancingples.
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bilo je kao da smo plesali.
05:50
It was just a beautifullijep relationshipodnos.
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Bila je to prekrasna veza.
05:52
We just keptčuva going.
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Nastavili smo.
05:55
It was lovelylijep.
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Bilo je prekrasno.
05:56
But to be honestpošten, guys,
it was quitedosta labor-intensiveintenzivan rad,
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Ali da budem iskren, ljudi,
nije to bilo tako radno intenzivno,
05:59
and I had other stuffstvari to do,
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i imao sam druge stvari za raditi,
06:02
believe it or not.
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vjerovali ili ne.
06:05
So what I did is I have a little emaile
auto-replierauto-replier programprogram.
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I onda, ono što imam je mali
program za automatske odgovore.
06:12
And I setset it up so everysvaki time
it receivesprima an emaile from SafeMartSafeMart,
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I postavio sam ga tako da svaki put
kad stigne mail od SafeMarta,
06:15
it just pingspinganje one back.
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samo pošalje drugi natrag.
06:16
So I setset it up, and it sayskaže,
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Tako da sam ga postavio, i kaže,
06:18
"ThanksHvala for your emaile -
your CaseSlučaj NumberBroj is ..."
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"Hvala na vašem mailu -
broj vašeg slučaja je ..."
06:20
Then it has a little formulaformula that I wrotenapisao
to up the casespis numberbroj everysvaki time.
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Onda ima formulu koju sam napisao
koja povećava broj svaki put.
06:24
And I put it on the serverposlužitelj
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I stavio sam ju na server
06:26
and setset it runningtrčanje.
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i pokrenuo je.
06:29
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
06:34
I'll be honestpošten, guys --
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Bit ću iskren ljudi --
06:36
then I forgotzaboravio about it.
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onda sam zaboravio na njega.
06:37
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
06:40
I checkedprovjeren back on it the other day,
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Pogledao sam neki dan,
06:42
and it appearsČini there have been
a numberbroj of emailse-mail going back and forthdalje.
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i čini se da je određeni broj mailova
išao tamo-amo.
06:49
We're on 21,439.
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Bili smo na 21,439.
06:52
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
06:59
It givesdaje me an immenseneizmjeran
senseosjećaj of satisfactionzadovoljstvo to know
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Daje mi nevjerojatan
osjećaj zadovoljstva što znam
07:02
that these computerračunalo programsprogrami
are just going to be pingingPinging one anotherjoš
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da ovi računalni programi
samo šalju poruke jedni drugima
07:06
for eternityvječnost.
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cijelu vječnost.
07:08
And as legaciesostavština go,
I don't think that's badloše.
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I po pitanju nasljeđa,
rekao bih da ovo nije loše.
07:13
So guys, just rememberzapamtiti:
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Dakle ljudi, samo upamtite:
07:15
if ever you feel weighedtežio je down
by the bureaucracybirokratija
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ako ikad osjetite da vas
pritišće birokracija
07:18
and oftenčesto mundanitymundanity of modernmoderan life,
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i često dosada modernog života,
07:22
don't fightborba the frustrationfrustracija.
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ne borite se protiv frustracije.
07:26
Let it be the catalystkatalizator
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1500
Neka vam to bude pokretač
07:28
for whimsyduhovit način.
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za nestašluk.
07:31
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
07:34
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
07:35
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
Translated by Ivan Stamenkovic
Reviewed by Tilen Pigac

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Veitch - Comedian and writer
For James Veitch, a British writer and comedian with a mischievous side, spam emails proved the perfect opening to have some fun, playing the scammers at their own game.

Why you should listen

Packed full of Nigerian princes, can't miss investment opportunities and eligible Russian brides, James Veitch's correspondence with email spammers leads to surprising, bizarre and usually hilarious results. Out of this experiment came his first book, Dot Con. In 2014, his first solo comedy show The Fundamental Interconnectedness of Everyone with an Internet Connection, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe to wide acclaim. His second show, Genius Bar, focussed on his time working for Apple, chronicles his attempts to fix his relationship using the same troubleshooting techniques he’d been using to fix iMacs, iPhones and iPods. He is currently writing his third show and preparing to tour the UK. 

He lives in London with his full body pillow.

More profile about the speaker
James Veitch | Speaker | TED.com