The support people are forcing everyone at work to use Outlook as their mail client. Their decision doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I've been using Mozilla Thunderbird for a few months now, so the downgrade to Outlook 2002 has been quite a shock. Questions:

• On Friday I received an updated copy of our problem report database, which is an Access database. Outlook won't let me open it because it's "potentially dangerous". How do stop it getting in the way of my work?
• I want my message index to be threaded, but not like the retarded "conversations" display that Outlook seems to like. Every other mail client I've ever used can do it, can Outlook?
• When I type someone's name in the "To" field and tab to the next field, I want Outlook to complete their name. Sometimes it does, but usually only the second time I tab out of the field.

To make matters worse, on Friday they announced that everyone will use Internet Explorer as their web browser, and the use of any other browser requires approval from management. I think they're a bunch of little Hitlers.

More work

On Thursday I analysed a 16,000 line octal message dump to work out the contents a message from another vendor's system. Naturally it's completely undocumented and the vendor doesn't know how their own system works, so they sent us the 16,000 lines of octal instead.

Home brew

I got a home brew kit for my birthday. I was thinking of starting my first brew this weekend, but I haven't. I first need to work out a way to keep it at the 21-27 degrees they recommend. Then I'll be ready to go... maybe next weekend.

Financial advisor - the Spanish Inquisition

We're going to see a financial advisor soon. We filled in a questionnaire a couple of weeks back to get things started, and on Friday he called to give us the Spanish Inquisition. Questions like how much my new car will cost when I get one in 2-5 years, how much we like to spend on holidays, when we're going to have kids, how many kids we'll have, and whether they'll go to government or private schools. I wasn't expecting that. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

The education question was quite interesting. From talking to friends about it, there seems to be two schools of thought. From those who have been through the government system, the general consensus is that our hypothetical children can do the same because it didn't do us any harm. The one person who had been through the private system wouldn't even consider subjecting kids to government schools, because it's full of violence and drugs. We threw in some similarly uninformed stereotypes about private schools, and the debate ended.

I should be a travel agent

Seriously. On Friday I worked out which frequent flyer program my mate should join for his round-the-world trip next month. At first glance, he can earn about 11,000 points with AA and 18,000 with Qantas, or he can combine them in Cathay Pacific for 21,000 points. None of these is enough for a free flight. But by being a little bit clever and booking codeshare flights, he can finish the trip with 38,000 AA points (almost enough for two Perth-Sydney returns), plus get AA platinum status. Fuck I'm good.

Another guy at work is looking at doing a round-the-world trip next year. Helping him organise it should be fun. Yet another decided on Friday that he wants to go to Cancun. I don't see the attraction myself.

Wacky spam #1

I'm not sure about you, but if I was sending spam to millions of people, I'd want them to know what I was selling. Both of today's examples have failed miserably. The first just has a selection of random words. I particularly like "compulsiveedificesthrice". Now I understand that this is good for fooling spam filters, but perhaps including at least a brief mention of their product could be good for sales.

From: Harry <jonpartakes@dcemail.com>
Subject: Re: Nantucket Fwd: Scanning computer. groups

airmailsHarrisonprohibits
patina consular
tithingVerlagscrapers
Fiberglas
compulsiveedificesthrice
clawsOttoman
Dickinsonheadsetpeninsulas

Weird spam #2

The next example is a bit more interesting. It includes a selection of quotations, in addition to the now obligatory random words. Again, not even a hint of what they're selling.

From: "Inti B. Stepmother" <funk@miss-right.com>
Subject: limbic

Part 1 [text/plain, 7bit, us-ascii]

There is no excitement anywhere in the world, short of war, to match the excitement of the American presidential campaign. I wish I could be half as sure of anything as some people are of everything. The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of non-violence has been the organization of violence. Democracy is also a form of religion. It is the worship of jackals by jackasses.

Part 2 [text/html, quoted, us-ascii]

I'm so sorry! :)
They do injury to the good who spares the bad.
Fortune is like the market, where, many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall.It is only the modern that ever becomes old-fashioned.

pageantries brainwashes keratophyre obeisant amphitheatral

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.