Dear Gmail

I recently received a message in gmail which opens:

subject: "Gmail Confirmation - Send Mail as [your address]@gmail.com"

"You have requested to add [my address]@gmail.com to your Gmail account.
Confirmation code: xxxxxxx

Before you can send mail from [my address]@gmail.com using your Gmail account
([someone else's address]@gmail.com), please click the link below to confirm your request:"

Maybe you got one of these too and don't know what it is? You can delete it.

This is actually a legitimate gmail system message. It is sent when attempting to add an extra "from" account to your gmail account.

However, in this case, it is not a legitimate request- I did not make this request, someone else was erroneously adding my account to theirs, or attempting to hijack my 'from' name. None of this is too surprising or confusing, once you know what is going on.

The problem here is that the wording in the body of the message is a bit confusing, and I suspect that a lot of users will panic and rather than read the message (which goes on at length to explain what is going on and also includes a help link), they will click the link to add their account to someone else's because they have the idea that they are not going to be able to send mail from their own account unless the do so.

Very bad wording, Gmail. It's like when the coders also type up the body text for the application. It always turns out bad.

Dear Gmail, please change that to something more like:

"A request has been made by [other address] to add this account [your address] ... {more info}

If you did not send this request or do not know what it is, do NOT click on any of these links."

FBI: Can't Pay Their Own Bills

Hahaha.

I just love this.

I mean, it's great that the FBI catches the bad guys. For sure. They work hard to protect us from people who pirate music, and videos, and they try very hard to not actually go after real criminals, such as the ones who crashed planes into some buildings a while back.

Well, lately it seems that they have had some wiretaps going, and they didn't bother to pay their bills, so the phone companies have disconnected their wiretaps!

HA HA HA HA!

Harsh reality for the FBI, and, while I am sure they like do actually do something useful once in a while, I really like it when big dumb powerful systems get kicked in the crotch.

Systems that can be used to go after people and ruin their lives for other people's political gain- they are a cancer.

With all the illegal crap the Bush administration has been up to, whether the FBI was part of it or not, this is a nice pie in the face of a government that no longer exists by the people for the people.

Ow. Looks like I'm a Commie.

So I was checking out www.politicalcompass.org , and just look what happened.



I'm a pinko. Sorry mom.

Universal Combat

As long as I am reviewing games, I also downloaded the 5-level demo for "Universal Combat", which sounds intriguing in concept- according to its publisher, "Universal Combat is a game of incomprehensible scale that allows gamers to choose any aspect of combat they wish."

Well, if the game meant to simulate those goats that pass out when you scare them, it did a great job.

Other than that, I don't think I noticed much simulation.

But seriously. I see potential for the concept, but I barely see the concept represented in this game demo- and the demo is supposed to sell me on the real game.

I tried two of the levels, one in a ship, and one on foot on a planet. The game reminded me a lot of the fan missions made for the original Thief. Poorly planned and laid out, hard to figure out, and ugly as sin. Add to that essentially incomprehensible menus, no keymapping screen in the control options, and no way to escape out to those menus once playing... all these make for an early beta, not a release, and certainly nothing anyone should have to pay for.

Which, I suppose, is why the entire single-player game was released for free recently. I guess that's an upside.

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men Can't Jump

So, I download this game demo. I'm fond of game demos, as you get to kick the tires before finding out the game was tuned for a button mashing 13-year old.

Anyway, this nearly painless download (608mb, as opposed to most new games which are upwards of a gig... just for the demo) turns out to have a fatal flaw.

The wizards at Eidos and IO Interactive have managed to ship their game demo out without mapping the jump key. Ten seconds of gameplay and then...? You're stuck at a knee-high ledge you're supposed to continue past, but... to no avail. Jump does not exist in the key mapping menu.

Your 608mb will not be much fun until that gets fixed, Kane and Lynch... even though I do suspect this one to be a game my 13-year-old friend would appreciate more than me.