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OK, this is very stupid.

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to mail.(elided).com.:
>>> RCPT To:
<<< 591  The mail server you are SENDING FROM is listed on an
international blacklist. Send your questions to
blacklist-admin@(elided).net
554 5.0.0 Service unavailable

The mailserver in question is dogma.slashnull.org, 212.17.35.15. It's never been on a blacklist. However, it does live outside the US -- in Ireland, to be exact.

So it appears (from the wording) that someone is actually filtering their mail feed and blocking all mail from Ireland. Hello!? It's worth noting, in passing, that I strongly doubt that blocking all mail from Ireland (a) reduces your spam load one iota or (b) accomplishes anything apart from pissing off Irish people. Ah well, not my problem...

SCO: In other news, Ben sends on this Pinky and The Brain rendition of the SCO-vs-the-world saga from Nicholas Petreley -- worth a titter. Given that SCO are now sending invoices to Linux users, including charging 32 bucks for embedded developers -- who almost definitely are not using Read-Copy-Update and that kind of absurdly-high-end code -- it's pretty accurate.

Malware: The latest Windows worm, coming to a system near you; make sure ports 135-139, 445 and 593 are blocked, if you really have to run Windows for some reason. The worm's author includes this notable text string: billy gates why do you make this possible ? Stop making money and fix your software!!

Iraq: Amazing postmortem of the Iraq war. Summary: absolutely inept on the Iraqi side. 'The only order I got was to dismantle my airplanes -- the most idiotic order I ever received.'