New photos from the holiday in the States online in the album section

I won again – this time a copy of the Full Monty on DVD….still no sign of a winning car though 🙁

After deciding that I really *needed* a dell pocketpc and then finding out that there was a two week shipping delay on getting one (when I only had two days left on holiday in the states) I got back to the UK and read the computer magazines. Apparently we have to wait until February until the same model is available over here, and I reckon it will probably be the same price in pounds as it is in dollars over there – grrrrrr
On other USA/UK timescales, it was interesting to see that the IceAge film had not yet been released to dvd/video until last Monday, yet we had seen it two weeks previously over here. If you’ve not seen it yet – then rent it as it is extremely funny. The trailers in the cinema looked pants but it really is worth watching.

For the techies amongst you who run ad-aware programs and have had the misfortune to also download the Common Name Toolbar or CNBabe scumware, then apparently you should only use Search and Destroy to remove this due to the change to winsock programs that the scumware make but only Search and Destroy can fix. I’ve done a quick search on google this morning but not been able to find any more details about this at the moment. I guess it could be too new to have hit google yet.
Thanks SpywareInfo.com

BTOpenworld have clamped down on its users who are running a mail server on their dialup networks. No longer can you receive smtp email if you are dialed up with BT – bet that breaks a few peoples servers. They claim this is to stop peoples servers from being a relay, but if you are clever enough to install a mail server, I would hope they are clever enough to stop relaying on the mail server (and I’d imagine clever enough to change the port from port25 to something else!) Having said that – someone I work with has installed a mail server on the internet and then reckoned the blacklist warning email they received from MAPS (or similar) was a spam mail to get some business and therefore ignored it!

Found out (finally) how to stop Windows 2000 from thinking its working offline when it can not see a non-existant server anymore. I’ve spent ages trying to delete the server from the offline-folder files (where it doesn’t even appear in the first place) and have finally found out that if you do a ctrl-shift and press the delete files button it clears ALL files from the offline folders and enables you to start again from scratch.
Still no idea why explorer crashes with an access denied message every second launch though 🙁

I was able to get StyleXP working on my XP box this morning after downloading the latest version. No more problems with it telling me that it only works on the version of XP that I am actually using. I got a response back from their tech support the same day i questioned it, but I was not here to read it!

Happy Thanksgiving folks – but please note the following (courtesy of an email I received….)

Dear Guests at My Thanksgiving Table:

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I’m telling you in advance, so don’t act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart won’t be coming, I’ve made a few small changes: Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make. Instead, I’ve gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their dea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I’m sure they will be happy to share every nice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these comments were made by me at 5:00 a.m. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

As accompaniment to the children’s recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don’t own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method. We’ve also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke
alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner. For sanity safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a
private ceremony. I stress “private”, meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners (and any males present) that “passing the rolls” is not a football play. Nor is it a request to bean your sister in the head with warm tasty bread. Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or type of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious homemade desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream, small fingerprints, and broken crust. You will still have a choice; you may take it or leave it.

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. She probably won’t come next year either. I am thankful.

Sincerely,

Andy

Home sweet home. The journey was a long one, a lot worse than the outgoing flight. The plane was really hot, food was pretty poor (and yet again there were still no choice by the time it got to us sitting 10 rows further forward than last time), they claimed that the seats were pre-assigned (I’ve NEVER had that happen in my experience) so we were stuck in the middle of the center section with a really loud, spoilt, kicking brat of a 3 year old who kicked the back of the chair for 6 hours straight or screamed in a tantrum when it was told to sit still and behave. Good thing is that I won two more competitions whilst on holiday – two tickets to the cinema and a kettlechip dish holder. I’ve no idea where the tickets came from as i’ve had no notification of winning anything!