Mail problems. I know for a fact that some good mail didn’t get to me. The smoking gun is a piece of mail, properly addressed to me, that fortunately was CC’ed to one of my readers. The reader responded to both of us, so I got the mail indirectly.
So… Not only does Southwestern Bell not have a clue about how to keep routers and DHCP servers running, apparently they’re also talented enough to make their mail server refuse some but not all mail. (If you happen to live in an area serviced by Southwestern Bell, do yourself a favor and buy your Internet access from someone else. I sure wish I had.)
Excuse me while I go call a local radio station and request the song “I Hate My Frickin’ ISP” by Todd Rundgren.
I’m back. Anyway. If you sent me mail and more than a week has passed and you haven’t heard a peep from me or seen your mail posted on the site, go ahead and send it again if you don’t mind. You might also copy farquhar@access2k1.net , my address at my backup ISP. I can’t imagine my ISPs are both so incompetent that they’d both swing and miss. (I know the mail server at work works just fine, but I’d rather not publicize that address–I get more mail there than I can handle.)
I haven’t been very good about using NaturallySpeaking lately. So, in the interest of saving my wrists, I’m going to compose today’s post using dictation exclusively.
Be sure to go vote. And remember, that e-mail going around about a split election day is a hoax. A 33 percent expected turnout isn’t exactly overwhelming. They can handle it. Not that any of this is likely to be news to any of my readership…
Time for a workout. I used NaturallySpeaking to write a song over the weekend, which was interesting. It had a real hard time with the capitalization. Let’s see how it handles recipes.
Dave’s Out Of This World Veggie Pizza. A few months ago, I decided to shape up my diet. My dad died of a heart attack a year ago yesterday, and his first cousin had to have a triple bypass this year. Since my diet basically consisted of hamburgers, roast beef, and pepperoni pizza, I figured I was probably in trouble. So I cut out most of the red meat, substituting poultry. I really missed the pepperoni pizza. Last week, I came up with this healthier substitute.
ingredients:
one pre-prepared 12″ pizza crust
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
one cup mozzarella
8 to 10 fresh mushrooms, sliced
10 to 12 black olives, halved
four artichoke hearts, sliced
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place crust on baking stone. Brush lightly with olive oil. Cover with sauce. Cover with mozzarella. Add veggies. Sprinkle with liberal quantities of your favorite spices (thyme, oregano, basil, and parsley all work well). Turn the oven down to 425 degrees, then bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Serves two to three.
I like this recipe because it’s quick. By the time the oven heats up, I’ve put the pizza together. It really doesn’t take much longer than a frozen pizza would, costs about the same amount, and is much healthier (not to mention better-tasting).
For full effect, serve with green tea, iced, to drink.
Boy, NaturallySpeaking sure stumbled all over that one. I hope it’s just because it’s used to me talking about computers.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.