Spiderman's pedipalps

If you're wondering what pedipalps are (not what they stand for here, obviously), the Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives the following definition:

either of the second pair of appendages of an arachnid (as a spider) that are borne near the mouth and are often modified for a special (as sensory) function

The appendage, according to the Wikipedia article, is also where the male spider's reproductive organs are located, which makes it relevant in the context of your average spam message.


Considering what one looks like with enlarged pedipalps (see above), though, it is safe to say that you and your family can pass on this and save.

Yay, jsem získala loterie znovu!

Please pardon my broken Czech again.

For those of us not versed in Slavic languages, freetranslation.com provides the following "translation" of the UK National Lottery message I wrote about earlier this week (see this post):

"Your e-mail address he won This is oficiálne notify that the result our pocítace cerpat 844 this on the chosen your name and e-mail address pripojen to tickets Císlo 034-22478556 with poradovým císlem 129, which subsequently won the United Kingdom Lottery large udelování prices in the category. You have been confirmed as vítez category B in the United Kingdom Lottery vylosuje pocítac remíz. Your claim ensemble was rádne predána to this Narodni with the guidelines, which we during handling of prevodem your price 1,000000.00 £ GBP. (One Million United Kingdom pound) to your úcet nominated. Laskave sent the following information of the claims."

I really like the disclaimer accompanying this appalling text:

This translation is ideal for "gisting" purposes, providing a basic understanding of the original text.

Of course, since I don't know any Czech, I may be too quick to blame freetranslation.com, which does indeed provide basic understanding of the message — which I am grateful for. But, as far as I know, "which we during handling of prevodem your price 1,000000.00 £ GBP. (One Million United Kingdom pound) to your úcet nominated" is nothing more than gibberish.

As is often the case, you get what you pay for...

Yay, jsem získala loterie!

I was informed by the following email that I finally won the lottery!

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

Vaše e-mailová adresa Vyhrál To je oficiálne oznámit, že výsledek našeho pocítace cerpat 844 tohoto dne zvolený Vaše jméno a e-mailovou adresu pripojen k vstupenek Císlo 034-22478556 s poradovým císlem 129, které následne vyhrál Velká Británie Lottery velkou udelování cen v 2. category. You mít bylo potvrzeno, že vítez kategorie B ve Spojeném království Lottery vylosuje pocítac remíz. Vaše tvrzení soubor byl rádne predána k tomuto kancelár s pokyny, které jsme se pri manipulaci s prevodem Vaší cenu 1,000000.00 £ GBP. (One Million Velká Británie libra) na Váš úcet nominován. Laskave poslat níže informace o pohledávky.

Oh no, actually, it's my email address that had the winning ticket. It's been having quite a bit of a gambling problem lately and I've been trying to talk it out of staying up so late playing at multiple online poker tables at once. It recently started buying UK Lotto tickets through a Czech bookmaker, and it seems to be paying off after all! One million British pounds! Yooohooooooooo.

Wait, I hope my email address is willing to share... After all I did for it, trying to keep it spam free and all, it should at least be a couple hundred thousand grateful, don't you think?

Seriously, why would the UK national lottery write to me in Czech???

Poetry on the margin

I doubt the poetic figure called acrostic has ever had more exposure in the press than these past few days. Thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger, of all people, acrostics are now all the rage — kind of.

Google trends shows a surge in the number of Google searches as well as news articles about acrostics in the last week of October:

This sudden interest for the poetic figure coincides with the Governor of California's f-bomb, cleverly hidden in a veto letter addressed to the Members of the California State Assembly, among whom Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. In turn, Ammiano encapsulated a coded message in his response to the governor ("A Message on the Margin"). Is that the beginning of a new mind game for political writers?

The following graph shows that the trend setter and his message are still 6 times "trendier" than the form used to convey it.

The revival of acrostics may well be short lived...