AKICOLJ

I know my awareness of current anti-virus strategies is stunted, on account of the whole Linux thing, but I've just seen a set of submission guidelines that baffles me. The call is f or electronic submissions, as attachments, in .doc or .rtf formats - but "Submissions without virus protection will not be opened and read so please ensure your virus protection is up to date."

I don't actually know what that means. They can't be asking for active virus protection to be embedded within the attachment, because (as far as I know) you can't do that in .rtf format, and I would assume not in .doc either.

If they just want an assurance that whatever you send has been scanned for viruses by up-to-date software, then that is surely something they need to do at their end, because lesson one is not to trust what other people tell you.

Or does my complacent lack-of-anxiety about this whole area mean that I've missed a major new development in anti-viral strategy, and is everybody soon going to be demanding a level of cover that I'm simply not aware of...?

In other news, snowpocalypse: we can has. Whole inches of it. I'm thinking of taking the boys out into the yard with a camera, just to see what they make of it.

There's No Dinner Like Snowed-Inner

I wonder: will kneading aggravate my back, d'you suppose?

I have bacon, I have cheese, I have no bread. Being snowed in is no fun without bread; but if I'm snowed in, I can't go out for bread... [Note to the curious: no, I am not really snowed in. But decent bread is a mile away and a mile back, and for once in my life I just don't fancy slogging through a blizzard in hopes of finding it. Even assuming that the baker hasn't been snowed out.]

It's been years, years'n'years since I baked my own. But I have wholewheat flour, and I have yeast; I can make do. I just have no idea how much ouchie I'm trading in here, to spare myself the slogging-through-the-snow thing.

I'll let you know...

Livebreading the blog

The back was absolutely fine, thanks.

I'm a little concerned about the age of the yeast, which is officially Past Its Best. We'll see; the standard dough is kneaded up and in the airing-cupboard. I am not pinning all my hopes on its success; I have indeed very little invested in it. I shall drink a pint of coffee and do an hour's work, and go poke at it. If it looks viable, we shall vie; if not, there's always noodles. Noodles and tomorrow. That shall be our daily motto: "there's always noodles and tomorrow." It's as deep as you want it to be.

Tigies! In snow! And Barry! (not in snow...)

I just have to tell you: Bazza doesn't usually react much to the computer screen, unless to biff a dismissive paw at an errant cursor, but he was sitting on my knee and I showed him this - tigies! in snow!! - and he was just utterly fascinated. Watched for a while, then stood up and thrust his face right into the screen, and then went behind it, just in case the little tigies were lurking back there somewhere...

(ETA: now he is trying to eat the screen, in case that will release the tigies. I am trying to prevent him.]