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USA: OK, one more then I’m outta here for the day. If you’re easily offended, don’t read Pinkerton’s News Skim Comics. It is, however, damn funny.

Tech: InfoWorld reports that phishing attacks up by 50 percent per month. No surprises there. I was discussing e-mail with my father, who is having problems with his Mailblocks account. He agrees with me that e-mail is broken. John Dvorak’s recent column on broken e-mail is an interesting perspective from a mailing-list owner’s point of view. His call for a central registry of permanent e-mail addresses seems premature, however. To close today’s posts, AOL just bought Mailblocks today, in a desperate attempt to improve AOL’s spam-ridden e-mail service.

Related posts on billso.com

• 22 August 2006: 95 percent of all email is UCE
• 22 April 2008: It’s 2008 and email is still broken
• 25 July 2004: How I protect my Windows boxen from email evil

Tech: Jon Udell in InfoWorld discusses network security’s weak link: people. Students share their passwords, and friends join alibi clubs. Users refuse to change passwords, or keep recycling the same set. A physical token like a USB key can supplement passwords, but it can’t completely replace a password. User attitudes and perceptions can break an organization’s security policy quickly.

Tech: John Dvorak has published a list of the 10 worst portable computers, to accompany his previous list of the best portables. I actually remember some of these beasts. Thanks Boing Boing.

Sports: The Rays are 45-39, if you don’t count the games they’ve played against the Yankees and Red Sox. This season, the Rays play 19 games against each team. A good article in the Tampa Tribune.