www.whyville.net Mar 6, 2004 Weekly Issue



JasmineK
Times Writer

And Now They're Pink Like Candy Hearts

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If you're like one of the 17,293 or so people who have Y-Mailed me recently, you've noticed something a little strange about your Y-Mails from City Hall (such as those announcing clamgrams or Trading Post trades). For one thing, the background is pink! And for another, they won't delete! They just lie there, like dead fish, no matter what you do (sort of like at the ad agency, eh?).

And you're probably wondering WHY this is. Well I, through my various "connections" (aka City Worker Scyllacat), have found the answer! And I'm going to share it with YOU! (Can you tell I've had a little too much leftover Valentine's Day candy?)

Ok, so here's the deal. A lot of "hacking" occurs when friends give each other their passwords (always a bad idea), thinking they can trust one other. Then one day, Friend A gets momentarily mad at Friend B, logs onto Friend B's account, and sends all of Friend B's clams and face parts to her own account. For each of these transactions, City Hall faithfully sends Friend B a Y-Mail. But Friend A, having figured this out, can easily just delete all these Y-Mails. And when poor Friend B logs onto her account, she will have no clams or face parts, and no idea what happened to them! (Friend A definitely isn't going to fess up!)

Or anyway, that *used* to be how it worked. But now City Hall's Y-Mails can't be deleted. Don't worry, they will automatically disappear after 30 days! But every time you try to steal clams or face parts, you will leave a trail tying you to the crime. Hopefully, you will think twice before jeopardizing her friendship over a momentary grudge.

And the pink background? That's just to make it easier to identify real City Hall Y-Mails from the Y-Mails of scammers who are just trying to trick you. It's happened, it will still happen, but hopefully it will happen less.

And my friends, I'm afraid that's about all I have time over. I need to get back to my busy schedule of homework procrastination.

-JasmineK
Munching candy hearts.

P.S. For those of you who think this is a lame excuse for an article, you're obviously not a Y-Mail helper. ;-)

 

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