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Monday, November 21, 2011

Great Power = Great Tomfoolery

I like to write.  I also like to think I'm not half-bad at it.  (I did spend a rather absurd amount at college learning how to do it properly, after all.)  Like other literary geeks, I believe words are powerful.  Pen is mightier than the sword and all that.

Confession:  My mighty pen-sword has been abused.  I solemnly swear it's been up to no good.

A co-worker of mine was getting unpleasant, repeated emails on her work account.  She wanted not only to block the emails, but also to let the sender know they had been blocked.  Our email service simply sends messages from blocked addresses to the junk folder--no nasty auto-reply sent.  To that end, I wrote:

Error 441.705.698

Your recent message was denied.  The intended recipient has deactivated their account or blocked this sender.  If you believe you have received this message in error, please contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

With great power comes great responsibility.  With a small amount of power comes a gratifying ability to mess with people's heads.

I just hope the person didn't actually contact their poor ISP.

On a totally unrelated note:  I came across this via The Bloggess":



This party is out of control, yo.

Happy fall!


(True:  I do not exaggerate my literary geekiness.  I own close to 2,000 books.  When I move, my friends don't exactly rush to offer help.)

'Sup, dog?




Today's post is brought to you by Noodles, who is pretty darn cool even if he doesn't have a sweet pimped-out ride like the dog above.
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7 comments:

  1. @therebelchickNovember 21, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    LOL I love it! I regularly donate my books in order to avoid become a hoarder...just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dana the BipedNovember 21, 2011 at 2:45 PM

    Yeah, but that means not owning them anymore, which is a real problem for me. I am a library's worst nightmare. I read a book, and then when I like it, I want to keep it. Turns out, libraries expect to get them back eventually.

    (And, watch how you throw the "hoarding" word around! The Squeeze reads this page, and there are some things he really doesn't need to know about me!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. DianaNovember 21, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    I'm sure I've seen paintings of Asian dragons that look exactly like that dog!
    (Minus the stylin' wheels, of course.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNovember 21, 2011 at 10:21 PM

    My brother has super-geek powers: he is the SysAdmin for a top-notch university. He can kill a computer (say, one belonging to a certain, annoying someone) even faster than he can save one. Or, he could just insert a really annoying program on it, like a loop of Flo from the Progressive commercials that plays continuously and prevents internet access. Chinese water torture, I tell ya...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dana the BipedNovember 22, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    Diana: Oh my god--yes, exactly! (Except the dragons don't usually make me giggle-snort.)

    Seabeegirl: Your brother sounds like a useful guy to know. Also, do you think that I need to be worried that I have been likened to Flor from the Progressive commercials on more than one occasion?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brian R. ChristensenNovember 22, 2011 at 10:36 AM

    Good eye, Diana! That is exactly what that dog looks like.

    Dana, I'll get with you the next time I need help getting rid of an annoying email spammer, telemarketer, or other unwelcome fool. Keep that pen-sword sharpened.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dana the BipedNovember 22, 2011 at 1:13 PM

    If your readers aren't crying, you're not doing it right. Amirite?

    ReplyDelete