Category Archives: Pictures

Fighting Spam

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PopFile Report, originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

Spam is a pain. That, I know, is not news. However, the pain of it can be lessened. The way I deal with it is by using a program called PopFile, which is pictured above. If you’d like to see a much larger version of the image, click here. The program is open source and free and available from Source Forge.

I last reset my statistics for this program on May 15, 2004, and since that time, it has accurately classified the messages I receive as either spam or personal in 99.85% of the cases.

If you’ll note in the picture, I have the “Subject Header Modification” turned ON for the messages it classifies as SPAM (designated in the image by the left-facing red arrow), and I then filter mail in my email program so that all messages that have that word in the subject go to a folder that is called, not surprisingly, “Spam.” That way, I don’t have to deal with them in my inbox.

Periodically throughout the day, I quickly review what is in that folder to check for any “false positives,” of which there are occasionally but not very often a few. I delete those accurately classified as Spam and correct the classification of any false positives. Reclassifying false positives helps the program “to learn” what is and what is not spam.

I have found this solution to the problem of spam to be quite satisfactory for me, and if you are beset by spam and looking for a solution, I’d recommend you give this one a try.

Jamestown ND fire of 2005

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03, originally uploaded by webfeed.

My friend, Tom Simpson who runs Webfeed Central and works nights at a hotel in Jamestown, captured some dramatic video of a fire that occurred last night at about 2:30 A.M. in his town. This photo from his Flickr site shows the fire in its early stages, and the video shows about 18 minutes and 30 seconds of its progress over a two-hour stretch. Judging from Tom’s comments as he was taking the footage, it was very cold as you would expect in ND at this time of the year. I also noticed that his coverage of this event made the Top Posts from around WordPress.com page.

Dawn

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A new day dawns, originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

It’s always good to get an early start on the day and sometimes you are rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. It’s cold here in Knoxville today, but it looks like it is going to be a spectacular day, one just right for getting me in the Christmas spirit. Now to make something of the day that is before me!

Always look on the bright side of life

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This photo was taken by Bernie D and is reproduced with his specific permission. I’ve left his title for the picture just as he has it on Flickr because it is so appropriate to the picture, and for me, it creates what some call an “ear worm,” that I just can’t get rid of. The song is “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” and I first encountered it in Monty Python’s, “The Life of Brian.” The lyrics can be found here.

Thanks for the permission to post your photo, Bernie, and for brightening my day with this picture.

If you’d like to hear the song, you’ll find a link at this web site, dedicated to the memory of Paul van der Sijde. Here’s the intro to the series of messages, within which there is a link to the song, …

On May 22, 2002 our good friend and harmonica sage Paul van der Sijde, also known a “Doctor Harmonica” or just “Doc”, lost his battle against lung cancer. Doc was only 40. Many of us remember his thoughtful and thorough postings on the various Internet harmonica lists. He was always eager to help out a beginner and never tired of answering the same questions again and again in a courteous and helpful manner. He also wrote several articles that appear on this site. Even though I never met him in person, I counted him as a friend.

Doc chose to share his journey with a group of his friends and acquaintances from the Internet harmonica community in what he began to call “gang mails”. I saved Doc’s messages as he sent them because I felt that they gave a powerful and seldom seen insight into the lows, highs, thoughts, and feelings of someone with this terrible disease. He shared his journey with us for a year and a half, from the moment he was first diagnosed, and I have published his messages here in honor of his memory.

The Saga of Doctor Harmonica

Mike’s photographic experiments

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Night Drive 11-06-05 006, originally uploaded by Dr Reelgood.

My son, Mike, who has been doing digital photography since May of this year, has begun to stretch his abilities by experimenting with his photographic skills, such as in this photo. I’m pleased with his results so far. His Flickr photostream contains 1192 photos, as of this morning, but not all of them are publicly visible because he chooses to limit some of them to only “family and friends” who have Flickr accounts.

Connor is now six months old

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Connor at 6 months, originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

On November 1st, Connor, my grandson, became six months old. His dad, Mike, is doing a good job of photographing him on the first day of each month, and Connor is in the running for one of the most photographed babies in history. A friend, Brian Parton, recently commented that “Connor seems to be really comfortable with being photographed.” It’s not surprising.

As you can see from the photo, he is growing nicely and making real efforts to learn to crawl. What you can’t see from the picture is that he recently acquired his first tooth. We’re all quite proud of him and he seems to be a happy and healthy baby who is getting all sorts of attention from his three older sisters.

You can bet I’ll keep you advised of his progress.