There are days I hate Microsoft.

As part of some work I'm doing at BLive's blog, I want to host an internet meeting. This apparently requires that I get an e-mail client up and running on my machine.

So far, s'okay. But all my e-mail's web-based. I want it that way, I like it that way.

But since the mountain won't come to me I set up Outlook.

First, I run into difficulties with the addresses. Finally, I configure it to open my Yahoo! mail, only to have Outlook tell me (after my grand mal seizure over 'error 888142679 . . . cannot open safe' or whatever the message was) that "Outlook does not work with this service".

So I go to MSN Hotmail, a service that I believe primarily exists to help deliver spam. There I set up an address. Returning to my desktop I configure an account to let me into this account.

"Microsoft Outlook no longer supports web-based e-mail for free versions" quoth the program.

Good thing I don't have children, they'd be totally traumatised by the words I said.