News to me folks

I found this article while catching up on my RSS feeds this morning. I too have been slightly miffed at the fact that when I am at work at Goodwill that I can not log on to my SMTP servers at Jesus Connect or Bellsouth to SEND out e-mail but rather have been forced to use gmail which is a web based provider for Google. For those of you that are not bloggers and did not get an invitation to use gmail you are forced to use one of the other many web based email clients. I for one am a fan of Outlook 2003 which is a very nice PIM (personal information manager) which allows me to synchronize my data in Outlook with my Pocket PC. Webmail just will NOT do this. The other thing that literally sucks is that if their server goes down, guess what, you are out of luck. Your email account and all your email is cyber dust until they restore the server. Well, anyway, you get the jist. There are advantages to webmail and disadvantages. That is why I choose to use both. This is an excellent story btw.
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ISPs Blocking Port 25 To Curb Spam Hurts The Honest Guy
Posted by Ed Hansberry @ 03:00 PM


This morning I woke up, logged into my laptop and started taking care of a number of emails in my various accounts. I have one work account and 4 personal accounts. Three of those personal accounts are using other SMTP servers, including my Pocket PC Thoughts account. Do do this, you need access to port 25. Why are ISPs blocking these? Because of ignorant people. They never run Windows Update, they installed a virus scanner in 2001 and haven't run a single update and click on every attachment in their inbox. Their computers are zombies sending out hundreds of millions of emails a day. Comcast admits "We're the biggest spammer on the Internet" because of these users.

Did Bellsouth.net, my ISP, warn me? Did they send out and email telling me port 25 would no longer be available? No! (Please note: the rest of this post can best be appreciated it you print it off and read it while storming around the room, occasionally giving a stilted kick or two at nothing in particular, and, of course, a bit of spittle can't hurt either.) So after about 30 minutes of figuring out why most of my emails weren't sending through various accounts and 3 different email clients, it dawned on me that port 25 was probably blocked. I called their customer service department and after getting bounced around to 4 people, I finally got someone that knew what was going on. "Yup. 25 has been blocked and we aren't unblocking it for anyone. Period."

AAARGGGHHH!!! I've been with them nearly three years and they took away my ability to send emails through my other email servers. I have a laptop and can't reconfigure all of my accounts to send through their servers because when I am on the road or connected through another network, their email server is unavailable to me. They allow no external access to their SMTP server. Idiots. So, the solution to the spam problem cause by a few ignorant people with zombie machines and the occasional intentional spammer is to block everyone?!? What IT genius at Bellsouth.net's made this decision? And who's decision was it to not open that port back up for customers that need it and haven't been accused of spamming?

With this logic, I can also fix the prostitution problem. Let's just block driving up and down the roads ladies of the evening hang out at. Never mind the thousands of drivers that use those same roads daily for legitimate reasons. For those few offenders, we'll inconvenience everyone.

I do have a potential alternative that many don't. I could theoretically always VPN into my corporate LAN and send through there, but there is one small problem, and I am not going to beat around the bush on this. Connection Manager for the Pocket PC sucks! It has been broken since Pocket PC 2002 and is still broken in Pocket PC 2003 SE. You cannot VPN into a LAN and send "internet" traffic through that connection unless you have a Proxy Server installed, so this solution would be for my laptop only and on my wireless LAN, that just isn't good enough.

So now I have an $80/month business account, which does open port 25, instead of a $47/month home account. Totally insane. All because of some knee-jerk reaction to a valid problem solved with wrong-headed thinking, and as far as computing goes, that is the most evil thing that can happen. And in dealing with evil, Jules may said it best:

The finished product. Yummy yummy for our tummies. LOL... Its so nice looking you dont want to eat it.  

Don Chapman and his fiance Mercy. I wish them much happiness in their upcoming wedding. I wonder WHEN the wedding will be Don?? I bet he does not even KNOW that I am posting this picture on my blog. LOL... 

During my visit in Houston with the JC group the ladies pictured here were making a cake. It was awesome to watch the talent in action... 

From left to right. Don Chapman, ME, Reynold DeGuzman & GOM (Grouchy Old Man) John Searcy. This is the original four Amigos that make up the Jesus Connect Team.  

Travelers League begins today...

For ten weeks I will be bowling in an ABC Mixed league consisting of a 5 person team. I bowled a 172 average tonight which REALLY suprised me AND my teamates. LOL... I bowled a 194, 186 and 136. If I had bowled 7 more pins on my first game I would have gotten a patch. Darn it!! I blew it in my tenth frame that game. Oh well, I have ten more weeks to accumulate some patches from ABC. READY, SET, GO!!!!

I did not climb onto the beloved (TM) torture machine tonight BUT I did get a work out at the bowling alley so that will be my exercise today.
I am reminded of this because my body is sending multiple signals to my brain whining about aches and pains and being sore. Tylenol PM is my friend though and before you know it I will be sound asleep and those signals going to my brain will be lost forever in a wave of snoring.
What can I say ? Better living through chemicals. LOL

Have you ever seen the commercials where the mild manner Clark type person gets into his or her car and turns into the Tazmanian devil? We have all witnessed these idiots out racing around and making our lives perilous as they zoom up to your bumper and cut you off in traffic by yanking their vehicles in front of you without using a turn signal or waiting to see IF you will let them over. I think the same thing happens to retail customers. We get out of our cars, walk into the store and become a different animal alltogther. I know this because four days a week I deal with psycho customers myself. Yes, I know, I have been on the other side of the fence and I know how frustrating it can be to be the victim of NO customer service. However, tonight we will focus on pscyho customers for a moment.

I am focused on these types of people tonight because Katy had a VERY bad day at Wallyworld (aka Wallmart) and came home in tears. If Katy came home in tears it was because multiple people were JERKS towards her. It takes a LOT to make her cry let me tell ya. I told her she needs to buy a nurf baseball bat and when people are jerks to whack them upside their noggins for being stupid and insensitive. Luckily for me Katy does not have my termperment and wont do that and lose her job.

The moral of the story is this. Life goes on whether you are a jerk or not. Just remember that there is a human being that is wearing the respective uniform or name tag of the particular establishment you are visiting. People are doing just like you, going to work, performing specific tasks so that they too can get a paycheck, pay the bills and experience a certain level of comfort and enjoyment out of life. They say that what goes around comes around. So, before you use your tongue and attitude like a double edged sword to dice up the customer service representative tomorrow ask yourself HOW you would like to be treated IF you were on the other side of the isle, counter or telephone.
Ok, so you are asking me the question "what IF the customer service rep or sales associate is being a snot and treating me like dirt?" Does that give me the right to tear them apart? Most of you would say absolutely yes. I would say that there is an exception to every rule and I also know that every company has a level of management in place that will deal with rude, arrogant and unruly employees very quickly because they want you to be happy and come back to spend MORE of your money in the near future. So, with that in mind understand that I too have been on both sides of the fence. Try to keep a level head and for crying out loud dont take your days frustrations out on someone just like yourself. OK??

Happy Dance

I finally connected with my son Jeremy online last night via Hello. We exchanged pictures and chatted for a period of time until someone needed to use the computer for work related issues. I was so excited to be able to talk to Jeremy online. We shared pictures and spoke about different things. I also found out that Jeremy has a blog and so now I can keep up with what is going on as he writes in his blog.

You may be wondering what Hello is. Hello is a chat client that allows you to share pictures with friends and chat at the same time. You can find this client at Share pictures with friends and family and chat at the same time

Super Stars May 2004 Sedgefield Intermediate School 

Kristina on stage with the Super Stars as they perform their last set of songs for 2004! 

Kristina's best friend Tanda Egbert getting her diploma for graduating 5th grade. Way to go Tanda!! 

Kristina smiling over her many awards which you can see one hanging around her neck. Way to go Kristina Lynn Moffitt, we are proud of you!! 

Kristina receiving diploma from Principal at Sedgefield Intermediate School May 2004 as she graduates from 5th grade. 

Jeremy receiving his High School Diploma on stage!! Way to go son!! 

Due to no flash on my camera this picture is a bit grainy nevertheless you can see Jeremy as the third graduate from the front getting ready to approach the stage... 

The rental car I used during my trip to Houston Texas..... 

The gang at Absolute Color gobbling up the feast set before them.... 

Peace brother or is that a warning that James Carberry will use those fingers to poke my eyes out if I get close to his plate of food?? 

Owners of Absolute Color in Houston Texas. I have known Hugh through my relationship with James Carberry for many years now. James Carberry works for Hugh at his company now. 

Yet another picture of the Houston Texas Skyline.... 

Another picture of Houston skyline from in front of the Houston Aquarium.... 

Picture of the Houston Skyline 

Another picture of Kristina's favorite type of fish, the Stingray.... 

The fish liked this piece of coral reef because of the oxygen bubbles that were flowing out of the middle.  

Picture of Stingray and an interesting looking fish in the back that was blending with the color of the sand.... 

picture of fish in tank that was in front of our table at the Houston Aquarium. This tank held over 250,000 gallons of water.  

My friend James Carberry in the parking lot of Absolute Color where his boss Hugh had a hamburger cookout when I was there. Good food, fun and fellowship!! 

This fish reminded me of Finding Nemo because it looks like a cartoon character with its big eyes and mouth.  

The same vertical tank at Houston Aquarium with school of fish at the top.