Today I noticed an email from a sender claiming to be the actual and authentic Target, but was in reality from someone who uses the email address TargetNews@target.bfi0.com. Surely that email can’t be from the Target that sells the perfectly-priced, horizontal-striped collared shirts I like so much. I can find that Target by visiting www.target.com, and this email is clearly from someone at bfi0 dot com, which has nothing to do with Target. That’s not even a name I recognize. And it has numbers in the domain name–a nearly sure sign that it’s from the dark back alleys of the internet. (Sorry, 1800flowers.com. You have nice flowers and I liked when you were on that “Undercover Boss” show.)

So I did what anyone with a gmail account can do–reported the email as a phishing scam. Reputable businesses use their proper domains, so they can let their customers know that it’s really them, and not some nefarious impostor intent on stealing your identity. Right? Apparently not. (See this also.)

I’ve trained myself to look for urls that are suspect in general–but the easiest thing to look for is the top level domain. Simply, if it isn’t company-name followed by .com, the alarm bells go off. So the question is: why are reputable companies doing this? All it does is train people that it’s okay to click a link from an email that leads to a 3rd party site. Yes, yes, it’s just Target. It’s not like I have all my checking accounts there.

So for now I’ve got Target on auto-filter to the virtual dustbin, and unless they change the ways they do mass emails, it’s unlikely that will change. No matter how good their deals are.

I think it’s good because of who it will affect. There is no doubt the people who can afford to pour money into gas guzzlers will continue to do so. It’s the regular working guy/gal who will feel it the most–and consequently make changes in their habits. If oil prices continue to rise, and gas prices stay high for years, then it’s more likely that the average commuter will start to explore other options.

My point is that if enough people make little changes to their lifestyle and daily routine, i.e. telecommuting one day a week, carpooling, purchasing a hybrid car, etc., then America will be better for it in the long run.

It’s that thought that deadens the pain in my pocketbook.

The silver lining is that I have been micro-blogging on twitter. It’s great for those times when I have a random thought that needs to get out, but is too short to justify a whole blog entry.

Even shorter than this entry.

We weren’t that serious about it, until we found out that Lauren was pregnant, at which point we decided that I should take the job. After all, that makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Wouldn’t you move to New Zealand if you found out you were going to have baby number four?

My favorites:

Matt Dillon
Carl Sagan
Kenny Rogers
Because Carl Sagan as Hugh Nibley? I can totally see that. Both equally enamoured with the cosmos, each arriving at antithetic worldviews.

Anyway, I arrived in Iran and went to my hotel. I hadn’t packed anything–I pretty much just had my passport and a credit card. I booked a room at the hotel, which was pretty pricey at $300/night. I didn’t worry too much about it, because I figured that my company would reimburse me for it. (I do travel for business occasionally, and usually get reimbursed for travel expenses.)

I decided to walk around outside, and when I got out of the hotel I came upon a construction site across the street. The building was nearly finished, and I saw that it was an LDS temple. It was the most massive temple I had ever seen (and I’ve been to the temples in Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and Washington DC, which are the the LDS Church’s largest). But this temple was spectacular. It had a domed roof (much like the Hagia Sofia), and was constructed of very fine white marble, and much of the structure was ornate with gold highlights.
It was so large that I looked up and saw a large ringed planet in the daylight sky. I wasn’t sure what to make of this–was the temple so massive as to disrupt gravity in the solar system, and bring Jupiter closer to us? I guess it’s a good thing that the laws of physics don’t necessarily need to apply when you’re dreaming.

I also wondered why the LDS church was building a temple in Iran. I guess it was in anticipation of converting throngs of Muslims. Probably not a good idea given the common interpretation of sharia which proscribes the death penalty for converting to another religion. Not realistic, but it was a dream after all.

Technorati Profile

So as an experiment, I will post a picture of mine (from flickr.com) using adbrite.com’s BritePic service. Here goes:

Ok, so that didn’t go too well. I’ll mess around more later.

Here’s the pic anyway.

Sushi and pasta–that does sound pretty weird.

So if you’ve got $400 to spend, do it. They’re pretty cool laptops–even at 400 bucks. And you’re helping the education of third world children! What’s not awesome about that!