I should collect the random phrases that appear in spam. Are they generated randomly, or have the spammers hired a crack team of unemployed poets? From today’s inbox:
“ulcer,he did manage.”
“allotted,how many miles.”
Why do they do that, with the random phrases? I get those all the time. Just spam filled with dozens of random words, no attachment.
This is reminiscent of an earlier discussion. The random phrases–and more recently, famous quotations–are used to ward off spam filters.
I got an email from “Thud R. Apparatuses” entitled “Mark gushing it out u6BCptkq?”
I hardly know how to answer.
Subject: Is your fi lte r working
Hey,
If you received this email then you are not protecting yourself from the dangers on the internet such as
s.p.am, em.ail worms, viru.ses and spy ware.
If your one of those people that are sick and tired of sifting through your in.box looking for the “good” emails
then we have the product for you. Your time is valuable, so having your inbox flooded with junk
messages is not only annoying, but also costly.
Now, you can say goodbye to s pam with “Email Fi lter,” the fast and easy way to dramatically reduce sp.am in your inbox.
It will install directly into your system — scan.ning and fil.tering that time-wasting, irritating ju nk e-mail.
Raymundo Gilmore
That’s bordering on extortion. Buy our product to stop receiving annoying ads for our product.
After several hours of continuous racket, the birds nesting in our fern have managed to produce one egg:
(No, I did not chase off the mother bird for this photo.)
More updates as events warrant.
The father has been transporting seeds from our feeder to the mother, who is sitting on her egg.
I would like to add that the location of the bird nest (directly outside the sliding glass door) is pure genius; it provides the cats with literally 12 hours per day of non-stop excitement!
That’s ‘large screen’, ‘high definition’ for the cats. A technological marvel.
What kind of birds are these? Do we know how long it takes to hatch?
I’m not sure what kind of birds they are. the male has red coloring on his chest and head, and the female is all brown. Research indicates that most eggs of this size take about 12 days to hatch.
It’s hard to tell what size the egg is. How does it compare to a chicken egg (the ones that fit in the “large” category at the grocery store)? And aren’t most female birds brown? How big are the birds? Any other distinctive features than color? We need more description, man, more! Or more photos! Or a short video!
Please.
Lenghtwise, the egg spans about 1 inch. The birds are quite small, maybe about the length of your hand. We can’t get close enough to record distinctive features, but I will try to take a picture for identification purposes. The female (yes, most females are brown) sits in her nest all day and says, “chirp chirp chirp.” She was especially loud while laying the egg. Oh, and they both have long tails.
Is it a common grackle? They might be too big, actually. It says 11 to 13.5 inches…
That picture doesn’t look like our bird couple to me!
11 to 13.5 inches?! Our fern would topple. No, I think they are Purple Finches. I played a wav file of the Purple Finch call, to which Rachel replied, “Yeah, that sounds like all the racket they make.”
In just eight short months, Rachel and I will leave the 18-25 demographic forever. We’re not worried, though. To ease our transition into adulthood and to get an early jump on retirement, we recently purchased some plants and birdfeeders for our porch. Aside from the resulting mess on the porch railings (Rachel bought a 15-cent ice scraper to handle that problem), the birds and plants add just the right touch of maturity to our life. What’s more, they class up our porch to such an extent that we barely even notice the Christmas lights on our neighbors’ porch — even while they are wrapped around our shared railing. Perhaps we should re-hang the birdfeeders over that railing. Either that, or buy a house.
More entertaining than pooping birds are obsessed cats. With this view, who can blame them?
I love the new Modest Mouse album. I also love iTunes, without which I may never have noticed this album and many others. And now that I have figured out how to play iTunes-purchased songs on our Tivo, my iTunes purchasing may reach a fevered pitch.
Buying a house is good, as long as it’s on the East coast. 
(and gets filled with a baby or two.:))
I have to agree with the East Coast house-purchasing plan….I did it, it rocks! My preferred filling, besides a nougaty centery, is cats. Happy birthday to me–I get cats this weekend!!!
New Modest Mouse: Good.
Old Modest Mouse: Even better.
Check out This is a Long Drive or Moon and Antarctica. Instant classics.
It’s like television for cats!
I am looking forward to checking it out this weekend!
The bird excitement has reached a new level with the construction of a nest in our fern. They’ve been working on for a week, and I think it’s nearly finished. At what point to eggs appear?
Soon
My website and inbox are both suffering from severe neglect. To remedy the website situation, I had planned to post a geeky anecdote about the space race heard recently on the West Wing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an urban legend. Instead, I shall submit the following aerospace witticism: The F117A is an airplane designed by electrical engineers. Haha, it’s funny because it’s true.
In other aerospace news, a group at work is entering the 2004 Red Bull Flügtag (note my ascii skillz in the application of the umlaut). And while I most definitely have better ways to spend my time between now and August, I’m not sure that I can resist the Flügtag. Does anybody have a good reference on hang glider aerodynamics?
Speaking of work, I’ve had plenty of it lately. This time, Finland is my carrot. Pori gets about 19 hours of sunlight in late May, and I find that exciting for some reason.
Otto has finally learned his name, and it only took two and a half years. Who says cats aren’t intelligent?
The 2-eared Lili
What a darling picture! I can’t wait until June, when I can get my cats….
I know this is a horrible thing to say - but Lili looks extremely phallic. Just look at the shape her body takes and how her head is only slightly bigger because of the angle at which this photo was shot…
Comment from mil on 26 Apr. 2004, 5:43 pm :
A picture is worth a thousand words. Yours are sonnets.