How to stop 'real world' spam advertising. I've been sending junkmail back in the reply-paid envelopes for years...

• • • • •

 
LED-Toilet-Seat Galactika. Just how mad is this, exactly?

And if you haven't seen it already, check out some super-freaky dancing!

There was a short (10 min) programme on BBC2 tonight called "The email you wish you hadn't sent" (or something) all about how employers are monitoring their staff's email and web usage. One of the main guys they were talking to is Steve Purdham, founder of SurfControl. I met him 2 years ago just before we put in their web filter technology (how ironic that we are literally in the process of taking it out!) One of the guys they interviewed was either really dumb or really unlucky - he got a verbal warning for sending an email with the subject "Man with giant cock" - the attachment was a badly Photoshopped image of a man with a huge cockerel (ho ho!). He left shortly after and worked for another company where he got the sack for sending a mail to his boss saying the timesheet system was abysmally crap or something. Sounds to me like they just wanted an excuse to get rid.

The thorn in my side at the moment (work-wise) is the Nigerian 419 scam email. I have been dealing with them all week. Found a nice bit of text analysis software to help with the task, though. As this bloke at Silicon.com says in this article though, you'd have to be incredibly stupid to fall for such a basic scam. But for so many to be sent every day, seems that desperate people actually do - and in enough numbers for it to remain a worthwhile activity.

Blog-related news: The archives (on the right) have been restored. Seems like there was a Blogger problem for a while, but it's been fixed.

• • • • •

 
I know - it's been a while. I've been dead busy and I didn't feel like I had anything worth writing about. Funny thing is that now, when I actually come to write, I can't decide on what to write about.

We went to a friend's wedding at the weekend, it was really nice despite us not knowing many people. They actually got married a while ago in Fiji and this was just the UK booze-up / reception bash. Anyway, it was really good and it seemed like everyone had a good time. Early on in the evening the Groom lent us their Smart car to go and find somewhere that sold cigarettes but didn't tell us it was made by the people that make the sets for The Crystal Maze! First came finding the ignition (not on the steering rack!) Then working out why the interior light wouldn't go out (because I'd opened the window on the tailgate by accident), then why the key wouldn't come out after we'd stopped (because it wasn't in neutral). But it was good fun. Not as much fun as their new Smart Roadster, I'll wager.
Some of us stayed at the Thistle hotel a couple of miles from the venue, they were also having a wedding. So when we came back to the hotel we were expecting to see some of their guests at the bar, but no. We were the last ones to bed (again) and one of the few who didn't suffer from hangovers on Sunday. On the drive home we had to stop off at Hatfield Galleria as we hadn't been there since we moved. Candi almost bought a pair of Nike Shox R4 trainers for �100 but couldn't quite justify it. I bought a linen shirt for the summer that starts off light blue at the shoulders then gets darker all the way down.
I've also bought a couple of PC games, Unreal II and The Sims. Unreal II is ok, I'm not feeling particularly inspired by it at the moment. The Sims... where to start? Think "Dolls house for the PC" and you're almost there. I bought it for Candi but I've started having a look myself, just out of curiosity. It's very good, well implemented and as is usual for this type of game the artwork is great. But, I'm losing interest already. Apparently it's "The No. 1 PC game of all time" (says so on the cover), so it can't be all bad. As for the add-on packs, they've really turned that into a money-spinner - there are loads of them!
I had the day off today. Nothing special, just a day off to lie-in and be lazy. Seemed to be just what the doctor ordered, I really don't think I could have got up this morning if I had to. Back to work tomorrow.

• • • • •