Swapping from Entourage to Thunderbird to Oulook for Dummies

At the beginning of the year I was using a Mac. It was very nice and I still have it except that I have switched to a Sony VAIO now which I love (it is only 1.7 kgs which makes it easy for girls to carry ). I needed to get my mail from my Mac to my PC. The problem is that Entourage on Mac and Outlook are not compatible. You would think that because Entourage and Outlook are both Microsoft they would be but alas no. You have to go through this tedious process to get your frikkin mail!

So the process goes: Entourage (Mac) –> Thunderbird (Mac) –> Thunderbird (PC) –> Outlook Express –> Outlook (whew!)

I had no problem moving my mail from Entourage to Thunderbird on my Mac (there are many places that tell you how to do it and it is quite simple). I then moved from Mac Thunderbird to Thunderbird on my VAIO which was also quite easy to do (just time consuming). I am not going to go into this as there are many sites that tell you how to do this.

The trouble came when I wanted to move to Outlook. Thunderbird stores files with an .mbox extension whereas Outlook uses .eml. And you can’t import mail straight from Thunderbird into Outlook express. SO…

1. I downloaded an export conversion add on for Thunderbird from here.
2. In Thunderbird I went to Tools/Add ons/Install and looked for where I saved the file that was downloaded in step 1.
3. Install the add on and it will ask you to restart Thunderbird
4. Once you have reopened Thunderbird you can now select a folder and right click. Select Import-Export/Export all messages in the folder/Eml format
5. Create a new folder on your desktop called Thunderbird and save the file (it automatically creates a new folder for each mail folder). 
6. Repeat step 4-5 for each folder in your mailbox (it is a mission but it works!)
7. Once you have exported all your folders in eml format to one folder, you can now create the same folders on Outlook Express.
8. Open your Thunderbird folder that you saved all your mail in and open the first folder. Click on messages and you should then see all the individual mail messages. Highlight them all (ctrl + A) and drap and drop them into the corresponding Outlook Express folder.
9. Repeat step 8 for all mail folders.
10. Once all your mail is in Outlook Express, Open Outlook.
11. From Outlook click File/Import and Export/Import Internet mail and addresses / Outlook Express / Next.
12. You mail should then import from Outlook Express and voila!

Step 2

Step 4

Step 8

 

 

 

 

Step 8

 

 

 

 

 

Step 11

Step 11

Sex sells, and so do transvestites…

I have been watching with interest my blog stats over the last few days. My top read post is the one about Isis, the transvestite in America’s next top model (ANTM). As you can see above, people are really interested in the ANTM controversy. 

I would have thought that my Paris Hilton video response to John McCain would have been the top post but it just goes to show that Hollywood overpowers Washington when it comes to creating a stir.

I am still watching the presidential race with fascination. I enjoyed Palin’s speech about being a soccer mom and especially the bulldog joke. Her speech was well written and superbly delivered but I think she overdid the whole special needs children bit. I think she definitely raises McCain’s status a few notches because she seems like a real human being with real problems.

I still think that McCain is a doos. And I am sure that there are many more who do to.

No strings attached fun?

I love looking through Gumtree to see what shit people put up there. Anything from jobs, selling furniture, tickets, pets, etc. In fact I found both my kitties and nearly a flat mate there.Today I was looking at their new redesigned site and noticed that they had a dating section. Curious, I scrolled through some ads (reading the funnier ones to my flat mate) and found this one:

All married ladies you bored,neglected,caring and appreciation?

Ad ID: 70090399
Visits: 2
Location: Cape Town Northern Suburbs
Date Listed: 25/08/2008

I’m a married guy thats very appreciative, caring,great sense of humur, understanding, respectful, very discreet, indepentant, so no gold digger, like to and can spoil rotten, loving, can give great sensual massage, good listener, openminded, down to earth,easy going and would allways see to your needs first and see that your needs get the highs priority.

I’m available daytime also because I’m self empolyed. Would be really wonderful to meet with you for coffee or anything that you fancy that you missing in your life.

Lets make contact for very discreet, mutual and relaxing times.

The love rat

Now I am really sorry to point this out. But the guy says he is understanding, respectful, loving, etc. Except not to his wife clearly. What sort of creep posts an ad like this? Lets just say I was looking for some no-strings-attached fun there is not a chance in hell that I would pick this guy.

He gets 2 points for saying he is married (which I am sure most of them don’t). But does he think that there are people out there stupid enough not to see the hypocrisy of his statement. I wonder how many replies someone like this would get. He also directs his plea at married ladies, which makes sense because if you are both married you both have something to lose.

Some stats

The advert was only posted today and has only had 2 views so far (which obviously does not equate to contact). Some stats for the site are:

• Friends / Dating (TOTAL) (13572)
• casual relationships (6437)
• friends only (493)
• girls seeking girls (325)
• girls seeking guys (874)
• guys seeking girls (2977)
• guys seeking guys (2169)
• missed connections (291)

Nearly half of the adverts are for casual relationships. I can understand the girls-seeking-girls and guys-seeking-guys sections as I feel that it is probably more difficult to find a partner of the same sex especially if you are not quite sure you are gay. If I was gay, I would find it less nerve racking hitting on a girl online than, lets say, in a club if I hadn’t had any relationships with women yet.

I can also understand more mature people finding love online (my mom keeps begging me to set her up on an online dating website) because they might not be as social as younger people who frequent bars, clubs, and meet a lot of people at university. But it just makes me feel dirty and sad to see people asking others to help them blatantly cheat on their partners.

Dude get a backbone and divorce your poor wife or seek help

Breakfast at Café Maxim (thanks Dunhill!)

I absolutely LOVE the fact that tobacco companies are no longer allowed to advertise cigarettes. While that must probably suck for big ad agencies, it is fantastic for me and my friends (and I am sure a lot of other people!). Although I am not sure how the no-advertising has worked out in terms of decreasing the number of smokers or stopping teenagers from trying it out.

Since 2001 I have been to the most amazing parties thrown by Peter Stuyvesant, Lucky Strike, Dunhill and the likes. These include house parties in Bantry Bay mansions with the most luscious of culinary spreads and cocktails; watching international superstar bands like Cypress Hill performing at secret locations like an airport hangar with planes taking off in the background; more intimate gatherings with hair and nail grooming thrown in. And today, a ladies (and one guy) brunch at Café Maxim in Green Point courtesy of Dunhill.

Firstly, what an awesome venue. It is situated on Waterkant Street quietly tucked away in front of Signal Hill. It used to be an old barn manor for Lord Somerset or something (if my ears heard correctly). What is special about Café Maxim is the bread that they serve:

Until Café Maxim, the fame of the Poilâne bread and indeed la tartine - imported French Poilâne bread served lightly toasted awakened with gourmet toppings – was not known in Africa. It has been the gourmet bread of choice with the likes of the Royal Family of Monaco and movie stars such as Al Pacino, for many years. Now, Café Maxim imports the Poilâne bread in to South Africa.

They import this bread directly from the bakery in France and it costs around R800 a loaf! That is about R40 a slice (20 slices per loaf). Apparently stars like Nicole Kidman and some other famous people order it from the same bakery. It was quite scrumptious I must say, although I am not sure I would pay R800 for a loaf.

Anyway, if tobacco companies were still allowed to advertise then I would not have had such an awesome brunch with my friends today or received a special gift (an omelette frying pan) either!

P.S., Dunhill nor Café Maxim know that I am writing this. It is my own opinion expressed out of my gratitude for a superb day!

I am an atheist (and Google can prove that God does not exist)

I like to think of myself as quite liberal and tolerant of a lot of things. I have many friends who do not share the same pigmentation as me (my best friend is in fact a beautiful mix of Sri Lankan and Lebanese and she is Catholic).

I am atheist. I do not believe in a God like that of the three major religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). I do not even believe in many gods like the Hindu’s. I believe in energy and atoms and science and Karma (what goes around comes around). Energy is transferred all around the world and we are just its conductors.

Energy givers and takers

When I find myself in the company of my best friend, we can do anything, we talk about everything and my energy levels increase to a height that I could not maintained by myself. It doesn’t matter how tired we were before we saw each other or how little sleep we had the night before. I feel positively energised.

However, there are friends who drain me. The conversation is always one sided (and leans towards them) and does not get much deeper than ‘where do you think she got those shoes from?‘.

Both types of friends are necessary (obviously you get all the different shades in between). My best guy friend is like the former, except he just recently told me that he goes to church and my immediate reaction was WHOA. And not the good whoa.

It was the crazy-scientology, bible-basher fearing kind of whoa. We have never lived in the same city despite the fact that we speak all the time. And I kind of feel bad for looking down on his church-going and not being supportive (after all my other energy-giver is Catholic).

But I think my reaction was indicative of my deeper feelings about church-goers rather than religion per say. Not having been raised in a religious family (my father and brother are atheists too), I have only been to church a handful of times and I was always uncomfortable with it.

Can you disprove the existence of God?

I think faith is either something you have or you don’t and atheists will never be able to convince believers that God doesn’t exist because how can you disprove a faith.

However, I think that Google has solved the problem once and for all:

(thanks to The Red Herring for this)

PS South Africa comes in third for searching Google with the word ‘atheism‘. Very interesting I thought.

What if modern advertisers invented the stop sign?

I found this video on www.septemberthird.com. It is a pretty funny video about a client giving a brief to an ad agency for the creation of a stop sign.

And then I found this picture that someone sent to the Road Safety Blog wrote about women drivers during Women’s Month (yes, that is now, August): Do we need separate road safety tips for female drivers?

He he!

Sex changes, transvestites, Isis and ANTM

This seems to be a hot topic around the world at the moment. People are blogging about it. News people are reporting on it. Even Carte Blanche is doing a piece this Sunday about sex changes. And that’s not all. Isis, one of the models on the upcoming America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) (you know, that show with Tyra Banks), is “a woman who was born physically male”.

Isis

ANTM has always been a little controversial. They have cast lesbians and even plus-size models. While this is fantastic and should happen more on television, it seems like on every cycle of ANTM there has to be one contestant who gets tongues talking.

Other transgendered contestants have been disqualified from the show previously (see the clip below of Claudia Charriez who confuses Janice’s son – he says “the body says yes but the mind says no!).

See Isis’ auditioning on YouTube below:

So maybe Tyra has done what she set out to do. Because there is NO WAY I am missing the season premiere!

ANTM

Your granny’s Facebook profile (Pensionbook)

Is your gran on Facebook? If she is, this is what her Facebook page might look like lol! Instead of having a Birthdays section there is now a Deaths section, you can super poke friends with your cane or walking stick and let people know how excited you are about that new cardigan! HA HA HA HA…

But I shouldn’t laugh really. It will happen to us all. Although I am not to sure I will ever join that knitting group. Crochet maybe but not knitting!

Thanks to CapeTownAlive.co.za for this!

I am Rich – iphone application

Like Facebook, Apple has opened the iphone to outside software developers. Apple earns 30% of all application sales, the developer 70%.

While people die of hunger all over Africa there are some idiots stupid enough to download an application that costs $999 for their iphone just to let people know they are rich.

No-utility!

What do they get for this I am Rich application? No, it’s not the latest updates from wall street or anything even remotely useful. They get to download an image of a  multifaceted ruby, letting the world know that they are rich enough to be frivolous with their cash.

The developer, one German Mr Heinrich, said that it was basically a joke and that he didn’t really expect people to download it. But they did. Ten idiots in fact (well 8, 2 were refunded because they clicked on the “one click” button by mistake).

The bigger idiot

Apple have since removed the application and I am still struggling to figure out who the bigger idiots are:

• the ones who purchased the application for real
• the ones who clicked on the purchase button by mistake (who clicks on something that costs $999 by mistake)
• or Apple for removing the application as they were earning $300 every time someone downloaded it

But I would like to congratulate Mr Heinrich as the zero-utility I am Rich iphone application netted him $6,000 in the less than a day.

I say they keep the application and donate the proceeds to a good cause (no refunds allowed). What do you think?

A good nights sleep at last

My two cats (1 x black half siamese and 1 x ginger) have this annoying habit of whining outside my door when I sleep at night… It was really endearing at first but then it (obviousely) just got annoying. I have tried everything to keep them away even creating a barrier that I had to build up each night and deconstruct each morning (actually the morning part is my flat mates job as she gets up earlier than me).

What I can’t understand is that they never sleep with us, we don’t let them in when they cry, their litter box gets cleaned once a day, they have food, water and toys (and a comfy bed upstairs), yet they are persistent in their crying.

Finally a solution arrived yesterday in the form of my Greek builder friend, who brought me a LARGE plank of wood to put up in the passage way (which ufortunately does not have a door to separate it from the rest of the flat). After a little manipulation (the plank is REALLY heavy), we finally managed to sort out a large enough barrier that my freakishly clever siamese kitty can’t jump over (or figure out how to wiggle around/through/over).

So finally we had a good nights sleep no crying AT LAST! Lets hope my siamese doesn’t figure out a way to scale the 7 foot tall plank of wood, otherwise I’m screwed!