Spam, eggs, chips and spam

Every now and then I check out my spam folder, just to make sure stuff isn't getting filtered when it shouldn't be. Today I did this to discover that I've received a very confusing and clever spam email - clever because it talks about a casino trick that I've often wondered about myself.

Here is the email in full:

	from	timothy
reply-to		waltersyz@antiground.com
to		jobinfo1@gmail.com
date		23 February 2010 20:31
subject		Re: Re: yo bud

yeah finally :) thanks a lot mate! I`m starting today, you have no idea how much you helped me bro!!!
I have a serious debts and need to quickly make some cash :)

cheers..


----- Original Message -----
From: "chris956_koe"
To: "timothy"
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 2:49 PM
Subject: Re: Re: hi bud


yo mate, ok I`ll give you my trick but if you give it someone else I`ll fuckin kill you :)
you know in roulette you can bet on blacks or reds. If you bet $1 on black and it goes black you win $1 but if it goes red you loose your $1.
but I found a way you can win everytime:

bet $1 on black if it goes black you win $1

now again bet $1 on black, if it goes red bet $3 on black, if it goes red again bet $8 on black, if red again bet $20 on black, red again bet $52 on black (always multiple you previous lost bet around 2.5), if now is black you win $52 so you have $104 and you bet:

$1 + $3 + $8 + $20 + $52 = $84 So you just won $20 :)

now when you won you start with $1 on blacks again etc etc. its always bound to go black eventually (it`s 50/50) so that way you eventually always win. But there`s a catch. If you start winning too much (like $1000 a day) casino will finally notice something and can ban
you. I was banned once on royal casino. So don`t be too greedy and don`t win more then $200 a day and you can do it for years. I think bigger casinos know that trick so I play for real money on smaller ones, right now I play on elite vip casino: (www.spamspameggsandspam.spam) for more
then 3 months, I win $50-$200 a day and my account still works. You`ll find roulette there when you log in go to "specialty" section - "american roulette". And don`t you dare talling about it anyone else, if too many people knows about it casinos will finally found a way to block that trick. If you have any questions just drop me a line here or on skype.

c ya


----- Original Message -----
From: "timothy"
To: "chris956_koe"
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 10:24 AM
Subject: yo mate


please tell me when you will send me your roulette trick?
You promised you`ll send it few weeks ago :(

cheers

So, mathemagicians, help a gal out - why wouldn't this trick work? If you can explain it in a way that would fit into my tiny mind, I'll update the post with your clever clever words.

I'm only assuming it couldn't possibly work, mind you. Because otherwise everyone would do it and everyone would be rich and casino owners would be crying and would turn their pockets inside out to reveal fluff and flies.

like this.

Evidently, this has not happened.

UPDATE here we go, someone with a clever!

Flitterbee said... You don't *win* $104, you win $52 dollars, plus you get back the $52 dollars you spent on that last bet. So overall you've spent $84 and won $52, therefore you've lost $22 dollars

A title

I had such a lovely weekend. Gavin, his parents and I went to London on Saturday to see Twelfth Night being performed - it was great! Properly funny, not 'Shakespeare-funny' as I was expecting.

I've been reading Ten rules for writing fiction. Warning: there's more than ten of them; I got fooled by that one, and by the time I realised how many there were, I was learning too much to stop! I've been thinking a lot about my writing lately... I seem to suffer all the anguish, procrastination and self-doubt of even the best writers, but without the actual... you know... writing. Until I've finished something substantial, I've no business even calling myself a writer. (Which I don't, by the way - I call myself a student.)

Anyway, I'll put the link on the left, it seems like forever since I updated my Interesting Thing of the Day bit. Do you ever go there to look for a game or something to kill ten minutes? I do, so I don't really mind either way what your answer is! Ooh, that reminds me, Shopping Cart Hero is an excellent, addictive little flash game. Great time-killer.

I keep thinking of ideas for blog posts, but by the time I've written a note to write it up later, I've lost all interest. I feel like a lepidopterist pinning down butterflies. Either they're elusive, or they're dead... ideas are crafty little blighters.

I wouldn't call this Writer's Block, not exactly. More like a blasted tendency towards introspection and idleness. Ah well; that's life, that's what all the people say.

What I did for Valentine's Day

I got a text at about 2pm saying 'Where are you?', so I rolled out of bed and into some clothes and ran to the pub. We then proceeded to embark upon an epic showdown, us v. cursed mummy, battling to the death in a rainstorm. We ended the adventure in the following (rather spectacular) manner:

Two of our group hitting him with magic bolts,

Me firing off a bullet into his last remaining organ (his heart),

And the last of us throwing a sword directly into his heart. The sword was then struck by lightning and the mummy exploded.

Something like this, only more awesome and also nothing like this.

So, yeah, I guess my point is: Happy Valentine's Day! It is what you make of it.

Reasons to be cheerless

Well! Well, I'm sick of hinting obliquely at vague 'drama' and not actually telling you, dear reader, what's got me in such a huff. If you prefer positive Anna, it's very possible that this post won't tickle your happy button; however in the interest of maintaining emotional equilibrium (i.e. not being a total morbid bitch), I'll intersperse my whinging with pictures like this:

Non-threatening businessman LIKES this!

On monday, my group was supposed to gather for a uni project and I was the only poor sod who turned up. As I have already said, this irritated me. Only mildly, but enough.

Thanks, The Elderly!

Then there was Tuesday, when I seriously called into question my ability to be a writer. I really started doubting whether I have the talent or skill to  do it.
I think that's the day we had an Emergency House Meeting about the cleaning as well (fun!). Furthermore, my friend from our university course gave me the breakdown of the social dynamics in our university course and made me hate myself a little more.

That's the spirit!

On Wednesday, our project was due in. I think we all felt that we could have done a lot better, but I in particular was freaking out because we were supposed to submit a work log along with it - which I hadn't done.

I think this was also the day I received some very distressing news about the health of a family member / friend / much-loved person. I feel a bit flippant mentioning this among all my petty problems, but there is no good place for news like this.

That evening I went to my last refuge of sanity and accidentally created drama there too. You know how Pandora caused something of a kerfuffle by unlocking that legendary box? Yeah, it turns out you can cause just as much by locking a door absentmindedly.

You go, girl!

On Thursday I had a day off uni and came down with a shitty cold. I spent most of the day huddled up in my room with the usual symptoms - leaky nose, sore throat, coughs and sneezes - and had to show people around my room because my landlord (who I'd been trying to contact for about a week) has decided we're all moving out next year. So there's househunting to 'look forward to' as well.

Who's awesome? YOU'RE awesome.

Friday actually hasn't been too bad. Some of the damage from Tuesday and Wednesday was undone, and I've potentially got some people to move in with next year - people I actually know in advance, which makes a nice change after three years of randoms. I was supposed to see Gav, but there was an organisational misunderstanding, and that fell through. We haven't seen each other for a week and I miss him.

Even WOMEN can put their thumbs up now! I know, crazy, right?

Of course, nobody does proper drama like The Internet. The forum I moderate has been a minefield, with international politics causing tension, and a member who was voluntarily banned (after some friction with yours truly) coming back with a secret identity (and causing friction with yours truly). Honestly, at this point I am willing to accept the hypothesis that I am the cause of it all, and shouldn't be allowed around people.

Yeah, fuck you, The Man!

This guy is my hero now. Look how happy he is! I bet HE isn't considering becoming a recluse just to preserve some semblance of sanity. And if there's any doubt lingering your mind as to how moronic some people can be, read the comments to this blog post that unfortunately became the first Google result for 'facebook log in' yesterday, drawing the attention and rage of hundreds of confused idiots. Read the comments, they're comedy gold!

And on that note I'll leave you. I heartily promise that my next post will contain only happiness and light.

An abundance of blech

I'm sat at home feeling very sorry for myself today. I don't have uni on Thursdays, y'see, so it wasn't the best day to come down with a cold. Colds are the worst, aren't they? They're only just bad enough to ensure constant misery and nose-leakage (reason #3340 why I will never be a sex-symbol).

Add to that the constant, inescapable DRAMA that seems to be brewing everywhere, and you get a very mopey Anna who is confined to quarters. And hungry.

On the plus side, however, as I don't like to get too negative, I've got the option (should the misery become too much) of calling my emergency cuddle-dispenser round tonight. He's offered to cook me some food.

Well, look, there's no sense in wallowing is there. What I'll do now is log off all social networking sites, put some good music on, get changed out of my pyjamas and tidy up. That way, tonight, when I get my food and sympathy, at least today won't have been a total waste.

Oh hey, so, looking back I see I never mentioned Haberdashery? How can I have been so remiss! This is a surrealist-steampunk video made by Boh3m3. His website's not currently working, but for all that he's one of my favourite bloggers / vloggers / weblebrities (shudder).

Like everybody else, when I don't know what else to do, I seem to go in for catching colds.  - George Jean Nathan

A rare rant

I've been so grumpy today. No, not grumpy; grumpy implies that it's my 'time of the month', or that I 'got up on the wrong side of bed', and I want to be very clear about the fact that it was not my fault. In fact it was very definitely other people's faults. And I was all ready to write a strongly-worded blog post that they'd (hopefully) never read that would eviscerate them and prove me King of the Everythings once and for all.

Then I remembered to get over myself, and that it was just a damn uni project, and then I was ok.

BUT THEN! Oh, I know, non-stop drama!

HULK SMAAAASH.

Anyway, in the spirit of Phil's glass-half-full approach, at least it reminded me of Trogdor. It's an awesome game!! Maybe the best game ever!!! You can't play it though.

Oh, go on then. BURNINATE!


PS I know I'm being a douche, but that's my right. I'll get over myself again soon enough.

Frantic catch-uppery!

Hello all! Right, first off, I've been listening to a lot of Owl City (Spotify link). It's beautiful stuff; Fireflies has been #1 in the UK. I have no idea how long for, and in fact it's a miracle that that much information made it into my head.

I'm afraid that my extreme slackness means I'll have to do a bullet-pointy catchy-uppy thing.

Friday 29th Jan: We had a uni field trip to Cardiff Bay, got rained on, and went to the pub; and I had one glass of rosé and wouldn't stop talking. Here's a  few photos from the field trip:

Saturday 30th: I'd had a very early night, and consequently woke up at 4am. My housemates were awake, though more of the "still up" variety than my "already up." I watched Iron Man, started making my boyfriend's Not-Valentine's Day presents (bath bombs! It's ok, I've already given them to him), and saw the final episode of Dollhouse. No spoilers here, don't worry, but I was a WRECK by the end! A shell of a woman.

The rest of the day consisted of a girls' day at my church. I hadn't been to one of these things before, but my wariness of all things girly has subsided somewhat as I've grown up, so I thought I'd give it a go. After a worship session of rather gutless and floaty (but very pretty) songs, we had a great sermony thing, and set off on a Grand Adventure.

We started with a pub lunch at the Captain's Wife (a name that gave me the giggles for some reason); after which we traipsed around the beaches of Penarth, enjoying the sunshine and taking photos of people, places, and (in my case) interesting bits of driftwood.

Back at the church, we watched a movie called My Sister's Keeper. It was billed as a chick flick - I was expecting something with Sandra Bullock in, you know, a guilty pleasure, but instead I got a child dying of cancer. Lolz were not had. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but crying at a screen twice in one day is just demeaning.

My week at university was fairly standard, and then I had another action-packed weekend...

Friday 5th Feb: I went round to my boyfriend's house and watched Buffy. He got the box sets recently so we're plowing happily through them! We're into the 3rd season now, and honestly, I wholeheartedly forgive Joss Whedon for always killing the one I love. When I'm King of the World, I'll ban FOX from cancelling anything he ever makes, ever.

That night we went to TGI Friday's. I'd never been in one before; the food was great (if pricey) and the service was excellent, but I couldn't help staring at the waitress's 'flair.' I've gone off pin badges lately - I used to think they were awesome, but I never seem to have a good place to put them. Yes, I have braces, but now that I've seen Office Space, they've become emblematic of workplace dictators and the futility of ambition. So YAY for that I guess.

Saturday 6th: Pub, house party, home at 7am. I met lots of lovely new people, and totally messed up my 8-day streak of 'early to bed, early to rise' success.

Sunday 7th: I woke up late for my new role-playing thingy! Also, I appear to be having noun troubles today. ANYWAY. The pub's just around the corner from my house, so I ran in with my dressing gown flapping dramatically behind me (untrue, but improves the visualisations). We started playing a Victoriana game, and it's AWESOME. Also, I'd never met the GM before - his name's Nimrod and he runs a convention called OddCon  UK. I very much like the sound of it. I've been searching for geeks like this my entire life... I'm so happy... and determined to get myself a pretty set of these:

Also, a huge thanks to the legendary Andrew Canham for the blog's new look. As someone remarked, mine is the Incredible Changing Blog, but I think this is a dramatic improvement over the old look! What do you think?