alainsaffel.comZi.ma | alainsaffel.com http://alainsaffel.com Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Zi.ma is gone, @martinbowling in jail http://alainsaffel.com/martin-bowling-in-jail/ http://alainsaffel.com/martin-bowling-in-jail/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:07:47 +0000 Alain Saffel http://alainsaffel.com/?p=300 zima-logoI have always been a big fan of a little website called zi.ma. I was sad to learn yesterday that the creator of the site, Martin Bowling, was sentenced, just over a week ago, for committing credit card fraud.

I guess Martin fraudulently used credit cards to purchase just under $5,000 worth of goods. It’s really a shame he did that. He was sentenced to three years in West Virginia for the crime. I’ve chatted with Martin on Twitter and I like Martin. That won’t change either. It’s a shame he’s ruined a promising career and everything’s come crumbling down around him.

martin-bowlingWhat I’m pissed about, and apparently there are many others who are upset in this case, is the sentence. Three years for credit card fraud? Doesn’t that seem a little harsh for someone who has no record? There have been many people who’ve been convicted of far worse crimes and only had house arrest. I remember one case where a guy molested his daughter many times and never ended up in jail. The judge should be convicted of stupidity in that case.

I think judges should really weigh whether it’s worth the cost to the taxpayer to keep someone in jail who’s not violent or dangerous, depending on the severity of their original crime of course. I don’t think crime should go unpunished, but why not community service, restitution and fines?

What’s happened to zi.ma?

zima-logoThe great thing about zi.ma was that it was a URL shortening service that tracked visits through the URL you created. Now it’s been redirected to kl.am. Apparently the arrangement is legitimate, but kl.am pales in comparison. The name sucks too. But, I’ll use it because I don’t know of any other service that does the same thing. Know any?

It’s nice that the old zi.ma URLs have been recovered to an extent, along with the statistics. I’m not sure how accurate or complete either are.

Martin Bowling’s future

According to the story, Martin could get out of jail on parole within 12 months. Let’s hope he does and that he gets back on the path to success quickly. I hope for his sake that it does happen. Hang in there Martin! You do have support out there.

Related links & stories about Martin Bowling:

Story update:

March 24 – Martin Bowling hoping to serve sentence at home

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