Day: August 21, 2003

I completely agree with this Arstechnica posting,

I’ve never sent out a virus email in my life, yet I’ve recieved dozens of email messages from well-meaning antivirus systems to tell me I have, simply because the systems take the forged From header as gospel. Indeed, for my own Inbox, the combination of these automated replies and bounces from defunct email addresses (also generated by the virus) has been much more of a nuisance than the virus itself!

Of course, the worst part of all of this is that these “secondary” messages are being sent out for all the right reasons. But that doesn’t change the fact that these automated antivirus emails are only making the problem of email congestion worse.

I’m actually receiving more of these automated responses than I am actual instances of the virus.

I also absolutely despise it when people set auto replies to their personal e-mail accounts. Awhile ago I was copied on an e-mail that numerous people replied to and then replied to replies. The problem was that one of the recipients had gone on an extended leave of absence and left an automated message to that effect — which I think I received at least 50 times.

Here’s a hilarious take on the capture of Ali “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid in Iraq this week,

Coalition Troops Capture ‘Conventional Ali’

(2003-08-21) — The Iraqi general formerly known as ‘Chemical Ali’ was captured this morning by Coalition troops.

However, Ali Hassan al-Majid is now officially known as ‘Conventional Ali,’ since it is common knowledge that Iraq had no chemical weapons program.

“The thousands of Iraqis and Kurds who we thought were gassed on Al-Majid’s orders, must have died from breathing the smoke of conventional weapons or perhaps sand dust,” said an unnamed Pentagon spokesman. “But Conventional Ali will still be charged with misdemeanor violations of some environmental regulations about dust control at work sites.”

I don’t know much about organizing or pricing academic conferences, my wife is in charge of organizing a big-assed four day conference with thousands of attendees from around the world. She has some thoughts about BloggerCon’s pricing (her conference’s registration fee, by the way, comes in at less than $100 for four days).