Slashdot Mirror

Back in the dawn of prehistory, only universities, government agencies, and a few big corporations could get on the Internet. The rest of us either had computers connected to nothing (except maybe an electric outlet), Compuserve, Prodigy, AOL or another service or possibly to an online bulletin board service (BBS). And then, one day in 1989, Barry Shein hooked a server and some modems to an Internet node he managed for a corporate/academic wholesale Internet provider -- and started selling dialup accounts for $20 per month to individuals, small companies, and just about anyone else who came along. Barry called his ISP The World, which is still out there with a retro home page ("Page last modified April 27, 2006"), still selling shell accounts. We may run a second interview with Barry next week, so please stay tuned. (Alternate Video Link)

Spam sucks. But it's worse for ISPs than for the rest of us, because they get bounces and complaints and other behind-the-scenes spam-caused messes the rest of us don't see. AOL talks of spam as "public enemy number one." Barry Shein, who started (and still runs) the world's first full-service dialup ISP, likens spammers to organized criminals, and calls spam "an organized, vicious, sociopathic thing" in this article, which spurred an interesting Slashdot discussion. So what should we do about spam? Ask Barry. One question per post, please. We'll post his answers to 10 of the highest-moderated questions sometime in the next week or so.

Harry Erwin writes "This article seems to suggest Microsoft is now considering charging for security. I don't mind vendors like Counterpane Internet Security selling security services, but I would prefer operating system vendors to treat security as part of the core functionality of their products, if only because effective security has to be designed into the operating system from the start. This proposal would create a two-tier Internet and probably make things worse rather than better. Security is like public health and education--if you think it's expensive, consider the alternative."

Mitch Wagner asks: "Are you aware of any studies that research the BENEFICIAL effects of computer gaming? Here's why I ask: I volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Village homeless shelter computer lab here in San Diego. Homeless men and women come into the lab to search the Internet for jobs, communicate by e-mail, and learn to use computers and the Internet. Recently, the lab installed computer games on several of the machines. From what I've observed, contrary to popular wisdom, computer gaming is a wholesome activity. It teaches people to use computers, learn problem-solving skills, think and - because the players frequently play in teams, or against each other, or looking over each other's shoulders - the players learn how to solve problems and interact in groups. These lessons are especially valuable because many of the clients are emotionally underdeveloped, lack problem-solving skills,and have difficulty working and playing with others. My observation is that time spent in the computer lab is time that the homeless clients are NOT taking drugs, NOT drinking, NOT being violent and ARE using their minds. We'd like to find some kind of studies to test our observations. Are you aware of any? I did some Googling and found two, but I'd like to find some studies that are more conclusive."

"According to research performed at the University of Bristol, video games teach strategic and planning skills that teacher's find necessary to student learning. The study was conducted on 700 7- to 16-year-old boys and girls, however we can theorize those findings might well also apply to adults, especially the kinds of emotionally underdeveloped adults likely to find themselves in a homeless shelter.

The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western Reserve University notes that computer games can help users learn to use a mouse.

Full disclosure: When I'm not volunteering, my day job is as a journalist, and I might want to do an article on this subject. If that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know. I'm not trying to pull anything here - I really and truly am primarily motivated by a desire to help out the clients at SVDP Village."