Viewing Category: Suckage
I was updating some plugins, most notably wp-cache, wp-hashcash, and wp-contact form. I've been bitten on the ass by changes to the WP Contact Form before because of my finicky email setup, so I tested it again to make sure it's still working. And it's not. After an hour or so of fiddling, I think to check past email messages and realize, as a clutch of ulcers spontaneously erupt into existence, that the email address has been broken for the past 6 months 6 weeks.
Grimace.
What had happened was that one of the email forwarding rules for my ISP---you guessed it, the one that whitelists the form email---was missing. So while my email form used to work, when that forwarding rule went missing, all related email ceased to flow in. I had originally set my global email rules to bounce unrecognized email to the sender, but they apparently disabled that because of the sheer volume of spam they get...they'd be bouncing more email than delivering.
All the email related to DavidSeah.Com flows into a single mailbox folder in my mail program. The configuration of that folder is such that it doesn't display the TO: line. I get comment approval notification sent also to that mailbox, in addition to spam reports, so I didn't notice that I wasn't getting email to that broken email account.
The funny thing is...after I joined 9rules, I made sure the email form was working (and it was broken then too). That was only a couple of months ago. It must have been going to a different address before, or maybe a database rollback occured and changed the WP Contact Form settings back. GAH. I'm not sure what happened.
Up to now, I was marvelling at what a quiet place the Internet was..."I write, and no one has been moved to write to me! I need to write better articles!" Well, I still need to do that, but if you did write to me and didn't receive a reply...
My Sincerest Apologies. I am A Big Stupid Head.
If you still want to write, try using the contact form again (I'm crossing my fingers) and use one of the handy pre-written templates below:
Dear Stupid-Head! I read your comment on my blog, and wanted to let you know that it's rude not to leave a deliverable email address. Please, get a clue.
Dear Stupid-Head! I receieved an email from you, and when I took the time out of my busy day to reply, I never heard from you again! I assumed you were just an ass, but now that I know you're just dumb I'll rephrase my reply using smaller words.
Dear Stupid-Head! I had written to ask you out on a hot date, but sheesh...you can't even get your email to work? Get it together man! Maybe you should try AOL! P.S. You will DIE ALONE.
Sigh.
Oh, and then I discovered that the mail function on my server also doesn't work quite the same way that WP Contact Form assumes---it doesn't allow changing the FROM: field---but that was easy by comparison. Otherwise, WP-Contact Form has nothing wrong with it...operator error is at fault here.
UPDATE:
Actually, it looks like it's only been since maybe late-September, when another bout of contact-form spamming was going on. I must have changed the email addresses then, and didn't change it back. Sometimes those multiple admin panels screw you with WordPress, inadvertently overwriting the fresh new thing you did on a different window.
I also remember seeing a funny screen refresh while on the mail server control panel when the cat jumped on the table, but thought it was nothing. Coincidence? Probably...you know you're clutching at straws when you think the cat is a possible explanation.
Some asshole is apparently using my domain as a return address for their bullshit spam, and as a result I get to reconfigure all my mail filters to ignore the bogus users. Whee. I can't wait for validated email to become a standard.
This has never happened to me before, but I think I've actually developed some kind of allergy. Was feeling really crappy toward the end of last week, slept a lot, drank a lot of water. Today I had a tremendous bout of sneezing, which almost never happens. Are other people getting hit by this now that Spring has Sprung?
Sigh.
Update: I guess it is just a cold. Still "Sigh"
Since I'm working at home, I had been somewhat intrigued by those work at home! make money fast! schemes...exactly how to they purport to work, and how do they screw ya?
My credit union newsletter had a link to this article about the Work At Home scams operate, plus some variations based on the Internet (e.g.: "Read Email! Get Paid!")
I was at the grocery store and saw some Wasabi Mayonnaise, from Dynasty. I immediately imagined the rich taste of mayonnaisse kicked up with the heady pungency of wasabi. Thus inspired, I dropped the $3.69 on it with high expectations.
It's the worst stuff I've put in my mouth in months! It tastes like an emulsion of sewing machine oil and sulfer. Any hint of wasabi essence is weak, quickly destroyed by the lingering impression of having licked a patch of mildew. The rather unattractive gray-green color should have been the tip off, but I was blinded by enthusiasm.
This is the first food product I've bought in a long time that I've tasted once and just thrown out. Even the Kvass stuck around longer!
Today I started getting hit with comment links that are half useful, half advertising. Bah.
I installed the anti-comment spam rel=nofollow tag plugin today too, which won't have any immediate effect, but feels good. I don't allow any links in comments to get posted automatically anyway, but it's still annoying.
As I type, I'm de-lousing a Windows PC for Diane. running it through the usual spyware / virus check isolated from the network. The complaint was that it no longer was able to connect to the Internet through NetZero. I can see why...on startup, it loaded a number of interesting resident spyware programs, all attempting to contact the network, eating CPU and memory. And since it was a minimum-spec PC with only 128MB of memory (Windows XP seems to like a minimum of 256MB), it was causing incredible slow down.
On top of the spyware situation, there was an equally crass collection of vendor-installed trialware, marketing presentations, and links to shopping websites. Everyone one of them demanding you click on them, and then trying to sell you a subscription or update before you could do anything. It is unforgivable.
I saw the same thing on my Dad's new HP laptop...tons and tons of crapware and quick-expiring trials that constantly popped up dialog boxes to BUY BUY BUY, with no option to uninstall the offending package.
My aunt Hui-chin is going through similar trauma with her Windows XP laptop, which I'm trying to diagnose long distance with no less than three of her children. The logitech web cam software is conflicting with something else, which is causing the camera software to fail, and on top of that nothing in the computer quite works right. She has one of those annoying popups also, with some service failing on bootup and unhelpfully informing the user of this every few minutes. What crap!
These observations have lead me to the following conclusion:
Buying a PC and giving it to your parents is bound to result in heartbreak and misery for all involved.
With the advent of the $499 Macintosh, I don't see any reason to NOT get a Mac unless you're already tech-savvy, are a developer, are forced to use certain PC applications or VPN software for work, or are a rabid PC gamer. If you're not one of the above, then you owe it to yourself to go to the nearest Apple Store and try out a Mac.
I may get a Mac Mini just to loan to people so they can try it out and realize that it's a good thing.
A couple days ago I started receiving SPAM via the email addresses registered with Macromedia. I use a separate service and email address for every commercial contact, so I can track how my personal information is being sold.
Since 1998, there has been only one company that appeared to release my information to spammers: the old Napster. Either an employee swiped the mailing list, staff posted the name somewhere online, or they liquidated the list to the highest bidder. Bah.
In November 2004, the second email address to escape is the one I used to register with Macromedia. I am pretty irked. I did send an email to their Privacy department, but have yet to receive any kind of acknowledgement. Fortunately I can shut down that email address. Not sure how it got out though.
An honorable mention for "most annoying" has to go to Aladdin Systems, makers of the otherwise fine Stuffit archiving utility. In recent years they have become a much more aggressive marketing-oriented company, and it's actually turned me off from using their product. I have been noticing more marketing junk email from their "trusted affiliates" through DigitalRiver, their software delivery provider. I don't seem to get these offers from other companies that use DR, so I'm assuming it's Aladdin pushing the envelope yet again.
Was just reading on Slashdot that the first real JPEG virus with a real payload was found in the wild, posted to USENET. It installs remote control software on your computer, allowing ne'er do wells to control it as if they were actually sitting at it.
This is a disturbing class of virus because you could be infected by viewing a picture on the Internet. Programs that use Microsoft's GDI+ library (a piece of code for manipulating graphics) are at risk. Microsoft has a long list of patched applications and updates too. So patch immediately.
It's also disturbing because this is a pretty common code library that a lot of newer applications use. Since it's a code library, it's shared among programs. So any program that displays graphics potentially is at risk, if they use the JPEG decoding function of the library.
As an experiment, I download SysInternal's Process Explorer to see what programs seemed to be using GDI+. Windows Explorer for XP does, but nothing else appears to. But I'm not as familiar with Windows application architecture as I'd like, so this isn't much to go on.
Your email program may also be at risk. I use TheBat!, which doesn't display graphics by default, but you CAN view attachments. Since it's German software, it's probably all hand-coded and not suceptable.
Bah. This sucks.
I felt a pang of anxiety when I read that Interstate Bakeries Corporation has entered Chapter 11 (via BoingBoing). They manufacture Twinkies!
I haven't had one in years, finding them far too sweet, but they're one of America's Great Pop Cultural References. The deep fried twinkie is a testament to this food's continuing ability to frighten and intrigue carb addicts everwhere. And without them, our slang would not be quite as sweet.
Perhaps they will be transmuted to organic form or become haute cuisine, but I'd hate to see the original Twinkie go away. So do your duty and buy a box (just don't eat them all at once, geez). Pick up a loaf of Wonder Bread while you're at it!
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