The Daily Teaser — 5-7-2015: Spam

Blimey … 

I’ve got Radio 4 on, at the moment: as I usually do, unless I’ve got a documentary going.

It turns out the Pope — Pope Frances, that is  — visiting Ecuador and Bolivia.

All to the good.

He’s ALSO asked — when he’s in Bolivia — asked for some coca leaves: usually chewed or made into a tea, to combat altitude sickness, and provide something of a lift.   And ALSO used to make cocaine.

Which sort of caught my attention.

The Pope’s South American.

So he’d know about the leaf’s traditional uses.

Still …

I’m still waiting for gags about speeding papal reform …

~≈Ê≈~

A BT Spam Warning

OK, SLIGHTLY weird experience, here.

I’m actually using my SPARE machine: a late 1990s vintage G4 Mac, running Tiger.

JUST in case you’re interested … !

Not that that’s why I’m writing.

I actually thought it best to let you now I’ve had a spam email.

Yes, I know, happens all the time.

But this one in particular … ?

Claimed to be from my broadband, BT provider.

Thankfully … ?   Well, thankfully, I’d made sure I’d kept my last BT billing mail: I’ve had one of these emails, before, and kept my genuine bill, so I had something to compare any more fakes to.

I’m ALSO thankful Safari has a rather good phising filter: which warned me that the link in the mail was a dodgy one.

At ANY rate … ?

At any rate, I thought it best to put up a screen shot: just to let my fellow BT users know: “Keep Your Eyes Peeled … !”   And ALSO let you know, you can forward the spam to abuse@bt.com.

So you know.

The Daily Teaser — 17-9-2013

Oh, now THAT had me panicking … !

I actually had a phishing attempt, last night: seemingly from BT, my internet service provider.

And that claimed I owed £146.

I have to admit to panicking: as the dratted thing slipped past my spam filters, ending up reaching my iPod: that and the fact it came in at roughly the time I’m expecting a genuine bill, seriously worried me.

I frantically checked my desktop.

Which is when I slowly realised it started ‘Dear Customer’: usually the guaranteed sign you’ve received a bulk email.   That it had been sent to lots of recipients: the headers I have active showed as much.   And that the blessed thing came from ‘BT Bill’.   In other, nowhere near a BT accounts department.

As a final straw … ?   I clicked on the link the mail provided: lo and behold, Safari’s on-board “This Is A Phising Site” alert flashed up.

Thank god I slowed down to check.   And thank heavens BT, themselves, have an email address to forward these things to.

At least I could do something about it, rather than just fume.

Right … enough of my issues: let’s get a move on, shall we?

~≈§≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: along with letting us know she’s had her hand checked out, she also bagged four out of five.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s Teaser, shall we?

Here it is, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 17th september, 1630, saw the founding of which US city … ?

Q2) In which US state is that city … ?

Q3) 17th September, 1991, saw the first version of Linux released to the public.   What’s the mascot of Linux … ?

Q4) 17th September, 1983, saw Vanessa Williams become the first black American to win the Miss America beauty Pageant.   What was her biggest UK hit … ?

Q5) 17th September, 2006, saw the eruption of Fourpeaked Mountain.   In which US state is Fourpeaked Mountain … ?

Q6) Finally … 17th September, 1944, saw the tart of Operation Market Garden: a World War 2 operation that saw troops parachuted into which European country … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 16th September, 1908, saw the founding of General Motors.   In which US city is General Motors headquartered … ?

A1) Detroit.

Q2) 16th September, 2005, saw the arrest of crime boss, Paulo di Lauro, in Naples.   What name is given to the Neapolitan Italian Mafia … ?

A2) The Camorra.

Q3) 16th September, 1620, saw the start of the Mayflower’s voyage, to the US.   From which English town did it depart … ?

A3) Plymouth.

Q4) 16th September, 1992, saw the UK leave the ERM.   What did ERM stand for … ?

A4) Exchange Rate Mechanism.   (The mechanism was one of the precursors to the Euro.)

Q5) Finally … 16th September, 1968, saw the UK’s Post Office introduce its First Class stamps.   Whose head is traditionally on UK stamps … ?

A5) The Queen’s: or, at least, the current monarch’s.

Enjoy those: I’ll leave you with this thought from a very well known racing driver …

“The problem comes when you say that danger is part of the equation. Then you don’t do any more work on safety. That shouldn’t happen.”

Damon Hill, born 17th September, 1960.

And — given it’s Ned’s Atomic Dustbin frontman, Jonn Penney, birthday — this tune … 

Enjoy your day … 

*        I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Debbi: medical Technology’s rather good these days, even if it takes a while … !

The Daily Teaser — 3-5-2013: Spam … !

Well, it seems results from yesterday’s elections are coming in.

Local Lib-Dems are doing ok — I know David Kendall’s done well  — but seemingly … ?

Well, seemingly, the Tories are still in charge, the Lib-Dems have lost three seats, and both Labour and UKIP have increased their seats.   On top of that, we now have 2 — count them — 2 whole Green councillors.

Which is interesting.

Either way … ?   Either way, SOMEONE’S going to have a headache … !

}}·{{

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: along with letting us know about her days heading west, she ALSO managed to score eight out of eight.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s themed questions: here they are, along with the ‘How To’, license and video … 

Q1) 3rd May saw the first spam email sent to everyone on the (then) ARPANET.   In which year of the 1970s … ?

Q2) More to the point, the term, spam is a reference — in this case — to a comedy sketch on which TV show … ?

Q3) As well as spam, the sketch included a lot of singing what … ?

Q4) SPIT is spam sent through internet telephone services like Skype.   The word is a contraction of ‘SPam over Internet’ … what … ?

Q5) According to a 2011 Cisco Systems report, 13.9 percent of all spam originated where: Brazil, India, Russia or China … ?

Q6) And finally … That original Spam email was sent on behalf of which computer company … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 2nd May, 1611, saw the first publication of the Authorized King James Bible.   Which year saw it’s 400th anniversary … ?

A1) 2011.

Q2) More to the point, it was authorized by James 1st of England: who was James the what, of Scotland … ?

A2) James 6th.

Q3) The King James version was the third ‘official’ version of the Bible in English.   Which King commissioned the first … ?

A3) The Pope’s perennial favourite English king, Henry 8th.

Q4) The Kings James bible was translated into English from three different languages.   Name any one of them … 

A4) Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

Q5) Which of those languages was the New Testament translated from … ?

A5) Greek.

Q6) From 1666, copies of the King James Bible have excluded what: the Old Testament, the New Testament or the Apocrypha … ?

A6) The Apocrypha.

Q7) Who — in 1525 — translated and issued the first copy of the Bible in English … ?

A7) William Tyndale.

Q8) And finally … James 1st was the first English king to belong to which dynasty … ?

A8) The House of Stuart.

I’ll leave you with this thought from Bill Gates, speaking in a 2004 interview …

“Does the e-mail say it's about ‘enlargement’ … ?    That might be spam.”

Bill Gates.

And with this interesting mix of tunes: one that calls itself … 

And as a final video … ?

You too — if ever you’re in Austin, Minnesota — may wish to visit … the SPAM MUSEUM†.

I think the less said, the better … 

*        Yeap, that’s him, Debbi: Tony Hancock his name was.   Some of his best known works are comedy classics.   Maybe not as edgy as (say) the Pythons were.   But beautifully timed and presented, AND entertaining … !

Now, about that t-shirt.   You know, it’s a shame I’m potless: I’d’ve possibly been able to see if there’s something available, here … (Trust me, Debbi, you’ll LIKE that site … !)

†        According to the Spam Museum’s own site, it’s 16000 square feet of tastefully presented spam-filled goodness.   Only in America … 

A Question, Quickly

This is literally going to be quick.

Basically … ?

I’d like to run a quick question past you, if I could … ?

I’ve just had someone calling themselves Janice post a comment on the ‘How To’ page.

Whose email address I didn’t recognise.

And right at the moment … ?

I’m a touch inclined — more than a touch, being honest — to not go near it with a barge pole …

I’d like to ask anyone reading this to leave me a comment at the bottom of the page: let me know if you think that’s kosher, could you … ?

Thank you.

In the meantime …

Dearie, dearie me.

Well I was planning to write a few words about something else, but first off …

I’m always suspicious of mass mail-outs — even though I’ll admit I’m as guilty as anyone of sending a few out, occasionally.   But I had a good one, today.   One that told me, specifically, it wasn’t spam.

Yeah …

After I’d waded through the lord knows how many email addresses that the sender — galabs2000@gmail.com — had sent it to.

And then proceed to tell me that actress Scarlett Johansenn is a clone controlled by the US military …

Yeah, ok … 

I believe him. 

Thousands wouldn’t.

And does Scarlett Johansenn know about this … ?

But, at any rate, I managed to catch “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, last night.   And was very pleased to find it was episode 2 of series 5.

“Darmok”.

Which is actually one of the spin-off’s better efforts, I think.   And one of the more popular episodes, amongst fans of the series — one that usually comes second only to the third season “Sarek”.

It’s a nicely put together “Star Trek” story … and a good piece of science fiction, with a very simple idea at its heart.

Aliens have alien languages that we can’t speak.

Which is obvious when you think about it.   Although I know I’m probably not the only one to overlook this.

After all, both “Doctor Who” and “Star Trek” have some sort of gadget to explain why every alien race on the two shows always seem to speak English — “Star Trek” has a Universal Translator, and “Doctor Who” has the TARDIS’ on-board telepathic circuits.

So it’s nice to see a “Star Trek” episode  that makes the fact an apparently friendly alien species has an equally alien language a major part of its plot. 

Which is what “Darmok” does.

Captain Picard is kidnapped by Captain — called Dathon — of an alien ship and taken to a nearby planet, where the two officers have to learn to communicate with each other, in order to survive attacks by a rampaging — and invisible — native creature.

The episode’s title refers to one of the phrases used by Captain Dathon; “Darmok and Jalad, at Tanagra” and alludes to Dathon’s people’s belief that two heroes can learn to communicate, if they face danger together.  

Even if one of the heroes dies in the attempt …

Which sounds like a possible tragedy, but although Dathon dies, he does so safe in the knowledge that Captain Picard has worked out how the two captains can communicate; can take this knowledge back to his ship and improve the lives of both peoples.   And learning, before he does, something of the epic of Gilgamesh and Enkidu as well.

“Soketh, his eyes uncovered”.

To quote the episode, itself …

And in spite of that, “Darmok” is a very upbeat episode; it shows us we can we form friendships, and do something worth doing, even if it’s a tough job.

And that’s worth reinforcing, occasionally …

 

* Played by Paul Winfield.