Hey! A new category again?
Yep, I receive a lot of weird requests, typos and other fun things at work. So I'll select the best and post them. Today a user is complaining about some bad noise. Our users report their problems at a call center in Italy. This is what the error report said:
"very bad noise from the fun"
Sometimes their English is a bit fanny ;)
Ok, you can leave on time (or early) even if you're not in the UK iguess.
Today is:
Me: "Hello, this is FreezeM. I'm calling you regarding the problem you reported, opening a PDF document."
Stupid woman: "Yes."
Me: "Where did you get the file from?"
Stupid woman: "It's xyz.pdf"
Me: "Ok, are you able to open other pdf files?"
Stupid woman: "I want to open xyz.pdf."
Me: "I know. I'll help you with that. Can you tell me if you are able to open other pdf files?"
Stupid woman: "I don't know. "
Me: "Can you try this for me?"
Stupid woman: "I want to open xyz.pdf."
Me: "I will help you open xyz.pdf. To do that I want to analyze what the problem is."
Stupid woman: "The problem is I can't open xyz.pdf."
Me: "I understand. We now need to figure out what caused the problem. Can I come by to take a look at it?"
Stupid woman: "I have a meeting in 15 minutes. I don't know how long it will take."
Me: "Can you give me a call when you're done?"
Stupid woman: "uh..."
me: "Please?"
Stupid woman: "Can't you come now?"
Me: "uh..."
Stupid woman: "Can't you come now?"
Me: "please?"
Stupid woman: "Can't you come now?"
Me: "No. Please give me a call when you are done."
Anouk dreamt about a Moose blocking the road.
“The moose in question drums up a little riddle that gives you an internet site where you can contact 'the people' who can come and pick it up, so it no longer blocks the road. And by the way, it knows the IP address to that website as well.”
And she’s asking for our help to figure out what that could mean. So I use Google Suggest to search for “dreams of a moose”. It didn’t give me a straight answer but this really made me laugh:
“If you dreamed of a moose in its natural habitat, you can expect a beneficial change of circumstances, unless you shot it, in which case you can expect some family trouble.”
- Swoon
There you have it. When you dream of a Moose, don't shoot it!
By now you probably heard that the phone of Paris Hilton was hacked.
Here's all her the info: http://www.parishiltonsmobile.com/
And it turned out that the T-mobile Netherlands website was very easy to hack. After you logged in it placed a cookie on your machine with your username. Replacing the username with another would give you direct access to that person's personel pages. And you can guess that there must be one named "john" :) Was in you could send text messages or change the subscribers address.....
Shit! I'm a t-mobile client as well! This aint funnt nomore.....
Update: I forgot to mention Martijn Brinkers discovered the My T-mobile NL flaw.
That's right. Kate Zernike of the New York Times wrote an article about Podcasting. It's just one sentence, but still, the first time I'm mentioned in the International press :)
I guess it’s time to record a new show…
This morning we watched a TV show about emigration. There was a panel of ‘experts’ and one of them basically said emigration is a negative thing. “Instead of fleeing for your problems you should stay here and help Holland make a better place.”
No thank you. People that come forth, trying to change this country for the better, risk getting killed (Pim Fortuyn, Theo van Gogh, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Geert Wilders). Only people striving for status quo are welcome here. Please don’t do anything out of the ordinary. (Doe maar gewoon dan doe je al gek genoeg.) And why let my thinking be limited to this little country? Why not try make the world a better place instead of just Holland. When we move to the US and stay long enough to be given the right to vote, we can influence American politics. And on a global scale, what country has more impact?
Bill Gates and his army of will save the world! No, not by declaring Windows open source so it can be freely distributed around the world. But by teaching you leet so you can spy on your kids. Remember, when your daughter is talking about h4x she might be involved in illegal activities, or she could just be upgrading her IBM Thinkpad memory. Anyway, let the Ultimate Bill help you pwn your |{1Ð$.
Bill's guide to leet can be found here.
A house burglar was caught after a webcam on the owner's computer recorded images of him carrying out the raid. Police said it was a "brilliant idea" of software engineer Duncan Grisby, who set it after a previous burglary.
Mr Grisby said the system was easy to set up. "There are lot of products for Windows that you can use to do this - though I used some free software and wrote some extra software myself."
Source: The Register / BBC
Researchers in Japan have discovered some eye-opening news about coffee: It may help prevent the most common type of liver cancer.
A study of more than 90,000 Japanese found that people who drank coffee daily or nearly every day had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank coffee. The protective effect occurred in people who drank one to two cups a day and increased at three to four cups.
Source: RedNova
We already knew it can lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and colon cancer. So drink up!
Today our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ben Bot, was quoted in the newspaper proposing a ban on Plasma TV’s. He says Plasma TV’s are "a grievous example of how it’s not supposed to be". Why? You might think our Minister of Foreign Affairs has discovered that Plasma TV’s are made by poor people working long day’s in poor countries. No, that’s not the case. They are made in the USA for a Dutch company :)
The Minister of Foreign Affairs can’t have a problem with that, can he? No, he says they consume too much power. In some cases even one fifth of the total energy bill of a household. That's right, you can grow cannabis under 10.000 Watt Lamps but just don't watch Plasma TV when you're stoned. Now, if I promise to watch less TV and work longer hours, as was asked by our Prime Minister today, can I still buy a Plasma TV? Please Mr. Bot…?
By the way. The Minister has a funny name. His first name 'Ben' means '(I) am'. The Dutch word 'Bot' means a lot of things like: wet behind the ears and rude… go figure.
No, not for a Valentine card. In two weeks the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) will start sending out instructions to DV2006 winners. So every time I'll receive a large envelope, between March and July, my hard will skip a beat. What if...
I really hope one of us wins this year. That would be awesome! Though we’d have to do some serious money saving :)
It's working...
http://www.dutchcheeseandamericanpie.com/
If the new URL isn't working yet, your ISP hasn't updated their DNS Server, they should do so within 24 hours. Thanks again Dreamhost for this Free domain ;)
"Antivirus companies are researching reports that computer viruses have attacked the onboard computers of cars.
Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs was asked last weekend how to disinfect the onboard computers of several Lexus models: LX470, LS430 and Landcruiser 100. The security company was told that the infection likely occurred via a mobile phone."
source: CNet News
What's next? I know! A virus for pacemakers... Pacemakers Move Online
We are bringing Computer viruses in our own body, probably within the next two years, scary thought! Your alarmclock goes in the morning and the next thing is a message from your Internet enabled alarmclock: "Please log on to MS Pacemaker Update to donwload a critical security update. A flaw has been discovered that enables remote control of your MS Pacemaker after malicious code has run. A reboot might be required."
I the fight against Comment Spam, I installed Movable Type 'nofollow' plugin as my last online deed today ;)
...on a browser near you!
I went to my Dreamhost account to pay for my hosting ($9,95 p/m), and I noticed that according to their system I was still entitled to register one domain for free! I’ve registered dutchcheeseandamericanpie.com… That’s a long domain name! But hey, it’s free! And it makes more sense for my weblog. It’ll work within a few days. Man, I just LOVE Dreamhost.
Ow, and I get 10% for every referral that becomes a customer for as long as they stay a customer :)
I did some housecleaning today, it’s weird how I sometimes really can enjoy doing it ;) The rest of the day I spend on a forum of Dutch America lovers, especially on the emigration section. How exciting to read the story of Chiefram (NL), who moved to Highland Park, Illinois this past December. And two members who are moving to the US in March. All DV Winners. It makes me want to move even more…
The good news is.... as you know I started a new job. I work for a UK based contractor. It’s one of the world’s leading service companies. They recently acquired an American company that is among the leading providers of mission-critical services for clients such as the US Army, US Navy and FBI. In other words… It might give me a change to find a job in the US by applying internally. Or, when we win the DV Lottery, they can help me find a job there. All the more reason to invest in this job/company by working hard :)
How was your Sunday?
After two weeks at my the New Job I can tell you it’s great! I do miss some of my old colleagues but I’m making new friends :) Compared to my old place it’s a long commute, I went from 15 minutes walking to about an hour in tram and bus. I use that time to read the newspaper in the morning and study for my CompTIA Security+ certification on the way back. The only thing missing now is posting more on my weblog…
