Just in case there were any valid readers coming from Russia, I must apologize. I have blocked all traffic coming from Russia, due to a spoofed DNS attack appearing to come from invest-pool.ru servers.
Also, in case you’re wondering who is affected by this block, here’s a CIDR list of the Russian Federation IP address space.

If the spoofed DNS attack appearing to emanate from invest-pool.ru stops, I’ll lift the ban.
Thanks for the info, Kiter. I figured it may be something like that, but had no way to be sure.

This is a *very* excellent site for testing things like Exchange Server SSL configuration, and ActiveSync problems… Chances are, your configuration is incorrect… ;)

https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/

I was able to run Windows 7 Ultimate all day. It was convenient, faster than Vista, and has as much eye candy as OS X or KDE. This morning, a few minutes before work started, I installed Windows Live messenger, Office 2007, and Connectwise. All applications worked correctly, except for Connectwise, which was fixed using compatibility mode.
3rd party apps installed and working correctly so far are:

Filezilla
Connectwise
Putty
Sun Virtualbox
Mozilla Firefox
IBM Fingerprint reader software
Western Digital MyBook software
AVG 8.0
T-Mobile Dash Smartphone software

A 42-mpg VW Diesel Roadster As Sexy As It Is Efficient | Autopia from Wired.com.

I received this letter via email. (even making it through Message Labs’ mail filters…) Impressive that they can understand mail filtering well enough to get these messages through, but they can’t get a mail server admin job? Anyway, all links in this message point to one of my favorite scambaiting sites on the Internet, 419eater.com. Check it out, it’s hilarious! You guys rule!! Keep fighting the good fight!

Dear Friend, (you wish)

I am Dr.Khalid Hachana from Bahrain. (Sure you are.)

I have been diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer. It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only a few weeks or months to live. (That’s terrible!)

I am very rich, but was never generous; I have given most of my assets to my immediate family members. (As would I, or any of us)

However, I have decided to give alms to charity organizations. I cannot do this by myself anymore because of my ill health. (Bullshit. Even if I had terminal cancer, I could make a phone call to my lawyer much easier than spamming millions of unknown people on the Internet. You’re rich, you just said so. Whip out your iPhone and send your attorney some video email with your requests. Bahrain isn’t exactly lacking in infrastructure… Stop bugging me, I’m trying to *earn* _my_ living…)
I once asked members of my family to give some money to charity organizations, but they refused and kept the money for themselves. (Now, he’s asking for your alliance with him against his “evil” family… Probably the kind of guy that gives *tons* to charity… Sure. He’d vote you out on “Survivor” the first chance he got. And it would probably be a “blind-side”, too.)

I have a huge cash investment of $18.000.000.00(Eighteen Million dollars) with a finance house abroad. I will want you to help me collect this invested sum and dispatch it to charity organizations around the world. You will take out 10% of this fund for your assistance. If you think you can help me achieve my last wish before I die, please reply only through my private email addresses; drkhaliddrkhal@aol.com or drkhalidhachana@live.co.za (the hook. 18 million dollar$!!! I can haz moneys??)
You can send me your full names, address, telephone and fax numbers, date of birth and occupation. Once I receive your complete personal details, I will forward them to my attorney, barrister Romain Coleman. (Couldn’t you have just phoned/emailed him your request to liquidate your accounts to charitable organizations? I’m pretty sure that I could do that…)
I will present you to him as my next of kin and he will contact you to give you detailed instructions of what you have to do to receive the funds on my behalf. (Ummm…. Isn’t identity theft a crime?? I’m not going to commit a crime to help you, dude.. I don’t even know you..)

I will be waiting for your immediate response. (hold your breath whilst you wait, will you?)
Regards and bye!

Dr.Khalid Hachana.
HELP ACCOMPLISH MY LAST WISH. (Was your last wish to be driving a Hummer around in the slums where you probably live? If that’s the case, then I say no. Good day, sir… And good luck with the dying from cancer thing…)

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Meet_the_Kung_Fu_Squirrels&in_article_id=440501&in_page_id=34

I like this one better…

First, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the day surrounded by loved ones.

Akismet is a community-based anti blog-spam solution used at CryptedNets. It really seems to work well, but this entire time, comments have been turned on only for authenticated users. In an effort to really test Akismet, I’m opening comments to the general public, to see if allowing anonymous comments is possible, without advertising for online pharmacies and such. ;)

So, we’ll see how it goes. If any of you account-bearing readers notice anything running away, feel free to let me know.

Happy Commenting! and Happy Thanksgiving!

Brian

Interesting read from the Discovery Channel.
Girls carry more bacteria…

Asked if guys should worry about holding hands with girls, Knight said: “I guess it depends on which girl.”