Today I fell prey to spammers in a new way - it seems they are able to get email addresses really easily and then send out gazillions of emails that purport to be from you, then you get gazillions of non-delivery notices because lots of email addresses get closed all the time.  My ISP being fairly vigilant then blocked me!  So I had to phone them to get re-instated.

One of the easiest ways spammers get email addresses is people who forward junk mail without deleting the previous addresses and/or who have enormous distribution lists.  Since I always delete the former and use bcc for long distribution lists, I can only assume that my email address was picked up from someone else who is less pedantic.

No finger pointing, no names, no pack drill... just if you are forwarding emails or sending out things with long distribution lists please be careful about what the whole world can see.

Thank you Madasafish for sorting my problem quickly and cheerfully!

Today's BUGB e news-sweep points us to this article in the Guardian, bemoaning the inclusion of 'pause for thought' or 'thought for the day' slots in radio broadcasting.  It asserts that people of no faith don't want them and presumes that people of faith will be irritated by them.  Is that true?  I'm not so sure.

From time to time I do catch the 'God slot' on the Chris Evans breakfast show and am often deeply impressed by the respectful and insightful way he engages with his 'pause for thought' guests.  I have, from time to time, found for myself a moment that speaks into my needs, as well as the occasional ones that make me cringe.  They are, in the words of Douglas Adams, as befits the inhabitants of earth, 'mostly harmless'.

A vicar friend occasionally acts as speaker when the Radio 4 service is broadcast from Manchester, and I recall her showing me the list of speakers and allocated themes...  P 4 T is not about someone picking a twee hobby horse, often it is the BBC who decide the theme.

Should we, as the Guardian writer suggests, have dedicated, multi-faith broadcasting?  Or should we have good quality religious broadcasting in the mainstream?  Should we settle for naff, stereotypical portrayals of religious people in drama (effeminate vicars, fundamentalist Christian nutcases or radicalised Imams to name but three) or should we be reflecting the rich diversity of Christianity (and other faiths) in this multi-cultural nation of ours?

If people really don't want to listen to P 4 T or its equivalents then they can (a) turn off their radio (b) go and make a cup of tea (c) take a shower...

All of which gives me a good opportunity to give another plug to Audiopot which hosts output from a whole range of independent Christain radio producers including (shameless plug here) GRF here in Glasgow.

This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, one of the great excuses we have for doing something creative in worship.  Our service will be both familiar and unfamiliar in pattern and delivery.  Whether it feels like Genesis 11, Acts 2 or Revelation 7 (readings we will be hearing in diverse human tongues) remains to be seen.

We will be using a GRF radio short from a few years back (they'd forgotten they made it when I asked them about it!), music from around the world, and some mildy whacky approaches to prayer.  I am looking forward to it greatly.

Veni Sancte Spiritus...

... So, I post about what a pain Norton is being and lo, it finally behaves.  There's a moral there somewhere!

I am probably very sad but I find the little digital switchover robot rather endearing and will miss him/her/it once the job is complete.

Today BBC2 analogue where I live has been turned off "permanently for ever" in the nice, tautologous words of the leaflet.

The plus part of the switchover is that BBC Alba (pronounced more-or-less as al-le-bu not al-bu) will now extend and reach more people.

So, later on today I will be re-tuning my digibox and waiting for the next set of annoying messages to tell me about final switchover in a couple of weeks time!