<joe> Authorize!

For a long time I've had the AIM screenname blizzard. Pretty cool. No numbers after it, no strange combinations of words, just a simple noun. Recently someone managed to change my password. Then they tried to change the email address associated with the account. For the record, the email that you get that from AOL saying that someone is trying to change the email address on an account is quite possibly one of the worst I've seen. All you get is this:

From: Netscape Registration
To: blizzard@mozilla.org
Subject: Email address change request

Dear User,

  blizzard has asked to change the email address from

  blizzard@mozilla.org to bliz@daveklear.cjb.net for the following screenname:

  blizzard

If you DO NOT wish to make this change, please reply to this email
and type 'OK'. You have 72 hours in which to reply.

Thank you,

Netscape Registration
http://home.netscape.com/

Note the paragraph here: "If you DO NOT wish to make this change, please reply to this email and type 'OK'. You have 72 hours in which to reply."

1. You reply to this email to reject an action with a positive assertion. "If you do not want me to do it, say 'yes'."
2. If you don't check your email every three days someone can change the email address on your account. The lesson learned: don't go on vacation!

So I rejected the email address change and changed the email address to my personal address. I was able to change the password for the account to something else but eventually that password stopped working without explaination. Trying to change it online using the web form results in this very strange javascript alert that just says The service you are trying to reach is temporarily unavailable - please try your request again.

And now, no one can find me. Thanks, AOL! Easy to use, indeed!