Outlook 2003, Norton Firewall and fun

Three things that don't go together and should never be used in the same sentence without the words 'Please Lord, why me?' This was my Thursday evening:

• Outlook can't connect to your incoming server (error code blah, blah, blah)
• Microsoft say this can be caused by an upgrade being applied to Office 2003 (very helpful - no seriously, I had identified the problem. I had added an upgrade)
• Solution, uninstall then reinstall Norton Firewall (drastic, but OK)
• Attempt to uninstall Firewall stopped as it informed me I was still running Live Update
• Stop Live Update
• Attempt to uninstall Firewall can't be done because it is now telling me it doesn't exist
• Norton Firewall still running
• OK, let's uninstall all of the BT/Yahoo software as that is what Norton is part of on my set up
• Unistalls everything (I think)
• Norton Firewall and Anti-Virus still running
• OK, let's reinstall everything from BT
• Installs everything apart from Firewall and anti-virus (can't install them as you have to remove them first... aaaargh)
• Go an watch Simon Quinlag on YouTube
• Go to BT/Yahoo centre on my PC and find that I can now unistall Firewall and Anti-virus from PC, they do now exist
• Uninstall them
• See if Outlook will now connect
• it does, email is again flowing
• Reinstall Firewall and Anti-virus
• Recheck email
• It all works
• Go to bed

The right man?

Alright Mr Blair was able to get Rev Ian Paisley to talk to Sinn Fein but can he really go one better and solve the problems of the Middle East?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6242788.stm

I can't help but think that this is a poorly calculated idea. If there is one guy who is not very popular within certain relgious groups in the Middle East it would be Mr Blair. Come next November when Geaorge W steps down, will he become Tony's assistant? Oh the irony if between them they could bring peace to the region.

Ooops

I seem to have destroyed the installation of Win XP on our family PC, oh well at least it means it will run faster.

To do list:

• reinstall WinXP
• reinstall programs
• reminisce over the files that I hadn't backed up

"I don't think"

*Dr Who Spoiler if you haven't seen this weeks episode*






Well we knew it was coming but I must hand it to Mr Davies, the return of the Master was handled quite well. A couple of nice additions to give you some 'aha' moments (no I don't mean going around singing 'take on me') and the best/ worst secret in Dr Who was revealed.

Derek Jacobi was outstanding as he went from bumbling mad professor to sadistic evilness, and although on first impressions John Simm played the character a little whimsically I can see him doing a very sly job in the final two episodes. I even didn't mind Captain Jack being back... he plays a different character when the Doctor is telling him what to do.

Okay there are still millions of questions to be answered... like how and when re the Master but we'll wait till next week beofre complaining too loudly. As episodes go this was nowhere near as good as the previous three weeks but for old fans, it was a welcome journey.

A little review

Been away for most of this week at a fairly inspirational staff conference. It was a nice time away, giving time to reflect and also get ready for the next glorious five year plan. I also managed to damage my heal doing some Irish Dancing. It was a hard wood floor and I went shoe less as I only had some sandals. Woke up in the morning in excruciating pain and literally had to crawl to the bathroom to get ready. Managed to crawl back and take a couple of tablets. This took the edge off the pain and so I was able to get through the day and rest it in the evening. Still hurting BTW but is a little easier to get around.

Have almost finished my Personal Mission Statement and I am now working on my short and long term goals. I may share some of it or all of it, depends how I am feeling.

Not sure if I am looking forward to Dr Who tonight and for the next two weeks as the series comes to an end. The stories should be good, from what I have picked up, but the fact that John 'I am gay, have you noticed? If not let me sing some show tunes for you' Barrowman is back as Captain Jack, could be too much to take.

Too good for words (rated 5 stars)

Angela's Ashes

by Frank McCourt

Sometimes a book makes me laugh. Sometimes a book makes me cry. Never before has a book done these things to me with the intesity that Frank McCourt’s classic did. And certainly never have I laughed out loud and then been close to tears within one sentence. For anyone who hasn’t read this you will not be disappointed, but if you are disappointed, I couldn’t ‘give a fiddler’s fart’.

See more about Angela's Ashes

Thousands of statues to be removed from the UK

Now that is the way to scare any innate state of daylights out of the nation's children. I am, of course, talking about the fantastic episode of Dr Who broadcast last night. 'Blink' was written by the guy who is rapidly becoming the best episode writer of the revamped series, Steven Moffat. Well I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet but suffice to say, children throughout the UK will be scared stiff of any form of statue for the rest of their lives. I only hope that as a result of this episode the cows might be removed from MK.

Talking of MK, the dons are still without a manager since Martin Allen was lured to the sunny climate of Leicester. Rumour has it that Mickey Adams, the former Coventry boss could be on his way to lead the team out for its first match at the new Denbigh Stadium.

Your challenge (broadband only)

watch the classic Dexter's Lab cartoon episode and NOT hum along!



enjoy

Community saves photo site Zooomr?

Having previously blogged about my online photo storage concerns last month, it was with some worry that I followed the story of Zooomr, a new web app run by two guys. I loved their ethos, openness and the feel of the site. However, as they struggled to upgrade their system to Mark  III their whole tech infrastructure fell apart. They wrote about it, we watched, we felt their pain and they asked for a little help... and boy did they get it.



If you follow the link below you can find out more but basically I think this shows that actually we can be nice to one another every now and then... even the big corporate types. There is hope for this planet yet.



And, when it comes to my next piece of upgrading or what online app to use, my first port of call will be ZOHO, Dell and if I ever have the need Sun.



Official Zooomr Blog : Zoho Saves the Day