an encrypted email connection has been detected

I have just spent an incredibly irritating hour dealing with an error on my new computer. Software, man. It's a pain in the neck. So, I finally solved it, and I thought I'd just offer this explanation in case anyone else (like me) is googling "An encrypted email connection has been detected."

Hey, kid. You're not on your own. It happens because Norton AntiVirus's sad little mind can't handle SSL. Eudora's genius website suggests turning off SSL. (Not an option - my big brother runs the server, and he makes up the rules.) Symantec says to tell Norton Internet Security to stop scanning your e-mails. (I couldn't. I told it over and over, and it was like, no, thanks for your input, but I'm going to keep trying to scan them.)

Here's what worked:
Open Norton Internet Security.
Under "Firewall" turn off "Privacy Control."

Yeah, I know, silly me - I should have known to turn off "Privacy Control" under "Firewall" when I had an e-mail problem.

Okay, I'm sorry, this is the most boring blog post ever. But I'm just so annoyed! And maybe I can help someone else solve the problem a little faster than I did.

new computer

I'm writing this on...my new computer! It's shiny and exciting. My last computer I spent $2100 on, and it was a piece o' junk. I had it for five years and hated every minute of it. It crashed daily. If I was working hard, it crashed several times daily. It's right here on my desk, and I hope I can start it up and keep it from melting down long enough to burn my data on to CDs and switch it over.

So my philosophy on the new computer was just to get the cheapest one I could...without getting the total cheapo brand I was scared of. It turned out Circuit City has some Compaq deal where, if you get a computer, a monitor, and a printer all at once, you can get $300 in rebates. Which means if I manage to get my act together and mail everything off juuuuust right, this system should end up costing me $455.94. With a flat screen and a bazillion gig hard drive! And an inkjet printer I totally don't need. (But I had to spend $70 on the printer to get $250 of the rebates, so it seemed worth it.)

I imagine me getting my act together and mailing in the rebate stuff is exactly what Circuit City and Compaq do not want.

I wonder if, in the fullness of time, I will grow to hate this computer as much as my old one?