Mr. Burns endorses Romney with a plethora of jabs...

If you watched The Simpson's endorsement of Mitt Romney, you may have missed a couple of the references.

Here are some news articles which explain the references and may help (said in order by Smithers):

1. 47% Tape: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/18/politics/campaign-wrap/index.html
2. Empty Chair: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/31/politics/eastwood-speech/index.html
3. Cayman Islands: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/01/mitt-romney-tax-haven-cayman-islands-abc-news-/1#.UJlP5MWUPDQ
4. Swiss Bank Accounts: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-failed-disclose-swiss-bank-account-income/story?id=15447680#.UJlQMcWUPDQ
5. $10,000 Bet: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mitt-romneys-10000-mistake/2011/12/11/gIQA9aEQpO_blog.html
6. I like to Fire People: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57355212-503544/mitt-romney-i-like-being-able-to-fire-people-for-bad-service/
7. Forcible Haircut: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142469/Mitt-Romney-held-gay-taunt-classmate-cut-hair-school-attack.html
8. Suspicious Tax returns: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/mitt-romney-missing-tax-returns_n_2079903.html
9. Wesley Snipes tax returns : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/business/25snipes.html?_r=0
10. Seamus the shaggy dog: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part4_main/?page=1

Enjoy!!

Blocking Spam Emails beginning with "@a.*.com"

I have been hammered with Spam email which comes from an email domain beginning with "@a.xxxxx.com"
Despite adding every single domain which begins with "@a." to my blocked domain list, new ones keep showing up.

Unfortunately, Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, and Outlook.com email settings do not allow you to add wildcards (such as "*" or "?") to block senders or create email rules.

To get around this, you can set up a rule to block emails which contain the "@a." text.
This is really straightforward. Simply sign into Hotmail or Outlook.com and navigate to the gear icon.

Gear Icon > More Email Settings > Rules for Sorting New Messages > New

Then fill out the two step rule as follows:

Step 1: Sender's Address > contains > @a.
Step 2: Move to Junk

This should help you get rid of the @a.xxxx.com spam emails.

Removing Duplicates in Hotmail and Windows Live Mail

Recently I attempted to import contacts into Windows Live Mail (the free email client from Microsoft). I thought the import was unsuccessful, so I re-ran the import tool another three times.
When I finally looked in my contacts list I had four copies of all contacts.

Luckily, you can [sort of] easily remove duplicates using the Hotmail interface.

First, close down Windows Live Mail.
Second, log into hotmail.com and click on Contacts. At the top of the page there will be an option to "Manage" and then "Clean Up Contacts". Click this option and hit "save" to remove the duplicates.

This works great at removing duplicates and combining profiles, but it only does it three contacts at a time! When you have lots of contacts (I have over 1,000), it takes quite a while.... at least it's automated, though.

Consolidating Service Items on Flights

If you travel internationally or long distances, you’ve probably received an in-flight meal.

The meals are almost always are grouped on to small plastic trays which separate each “course” or meal option (pictured).
If you’re anything like me (or seeming everyone else who sits by me), you might be tempted to “consolidate” all of the wrappers, scraps, and small items which are leftover (napkins, plastic cutlery, salt/sugar sachets, etc.).
While this may make your service tray look tidy, it’s actually very bad for the recycling efforts of the on-board crew. All of these service items are later separated for recycling, and consolidating makes this process more difficult or forces the recyclable materials to be disposed of as general waste (this is especially the case of you stuff things in plastic water bottles).

Next time, embrace a disorderly tray in an effort to aid recycling on flights.