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City Of Houston To Offer Free Email To Residents
Don Symes writes: "The City of Houston is getting ready to roll out 'free' email and web-hosted word processing. First to libraries and fire stations(!?), poorer areas, then to those who can afford ISPs."
It would be interesting to compare the cost of Internet Access Technologies' multi-million dollar contract with private ISP access, especially for the dozen other cities considering similar deals.
[wishful_thinking] they're able to give each resident their own copy of Linux if they wanted to as well. [/wishful_thinking]
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
"The city of Hosuton" should be "The city of Houston".
cheers,
eudas
Blessed is he who expects the worst, for he shall not be disappointed.
My local library has been offering free Internet access for a couple years now. Before that, you could get free access from a few government agencies.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
it's a start. next maybe we'll work on getting the poor food, shelter and jobs. i doubt it, but in the meantime, at least they can surf the web and pretend to be rich :)
kansascity.com tried that last year and I don't think it took off too well. I don't know anybody who has a @kansascity.com address, and I've never recieved email from anyone with a @kansascity.com address(not even a SPAM message).
"the fax machine is nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached to it." - Grandpa Simpson
Just another way to violate privacy. More spam. More Spammers. More trouble.
I'm no punk bitch !!!
Why would anybody want to get on the net to word process, or am I merely misunderstanding this statement?
I'm skeptical, though, that the people motivated and able to use it aren't already in possession of an e-mail address from somewhere. Does an illiterate who can't read or type really have much benefit from e-mail access? Isn't it possible that the Internet market is approaching saturation? Does anybody who wants to get online (especially in a major city) not already have at least a Hotmail or Yahoo! address through their local library, school, friends' house or Internet Cafe?
Nonetheless, if it improves communication and helps people, especially those who can't afford a computer or Internet Access of their own, I'm all for it.
Coach
Perhaps the world's greatest tragedy is that ignorance is not impotence.
I'm soooo disillusioned.
jaz
Death to Argument by Slogan!! (This post twice-encrypted with ROT-13. Replies not using same will be ignored)
Will the spammers be signing up all the poor people down there to do their dirty work for them? What kind of terms of service will the city impose and how bad does somebody have to screw up to lose their privileges, and how soon will the fight start over whether it's privilege or right?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
* Microsoft. The software giant last year announced it will donate $100 million in cash and software over 5 years to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to build 3,000 centers where kids can use PCs.
Far be it for me to sound cynical, but I wonder how much of that $100 million "in cash and software" is software licenses?
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Cool! Maybe someday they'll catch up to the Cleveland Freenet, 8 years of free publicly accessible e-mail!
This is a great step forward to catching up with Cleveland.
No wonder. If you're only giving them 1000 access points (PCs) for the whole of Houston then no wonder they'll have to queue for or even book their internet access. What good is a free email account when you dont have easy access to it?
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
What would a true government programm be if it didn't involve standing in a line?
My city has had internet access in their libraries for years. In fact they recently upgraded all the machines to p4 1.7 gigers. Each machine also has Office, so anyone can type documents or do spreadsheets.
There is Hotmail, Yahoo and a ton of other free email services. Why spend tax payer money for another one? What is it going to offer that the other ones don't? You can have all the email accounts you can track, but you still need a computer to access them.
Apparently, police and fire stations will have public Internet access. Does anyone else find the concept of going to the fire station to send e-mail to be a bit bizarre? "Hi, sorry it's taken me so long to respond, but I haven't been able to get to the local fire station this week..."
Also... Don't get me wrong, I have no reason to doubt the integrity of the police, but some people do. So... Wonder what they'll think about Internet censorship if you do your e-mail from a *police station*?
And yet another thing - won't people be in the way? I don't quite see this taking off that well, but if it does, it could become a pain to get to these local places for "normal" reasons...
________________________________________________
suwain_2
If they really want to make a different, why not provide vocational training for the disadvantaged so they can actually learn a skill to help them better themselves. Now, that would be money better spent.
------
www.moneybythenumbers.com
When Joe Sixpack starts to need email for
things like job-hunting, things like this
will be damned important.
It was just a matter of time before someone said this anyway, so I will.
Why should taxpayers be forced to pay for someone else's Internet access? It's bad enough we have public schools and public libraries. Also, why should the lazy and ignorant be the first to benefit from this?
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
I bet every hard working taxpayer in that city will examine his paystub with pride, knowing his labor paid for internet access for others. Never mind if that citizen wanted the money to pay for others or not. No, we should never consider that. only consider the poor, internet-less.
Someday, when people stop vomiting on the constitution of the United States, and the philosophy and principles it stood for, people will stop this nonsense. but for now, it's forced charity.
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
Id guess they chose libraries and firestations,
:)
cause everywhere has one or the other?
On a side note, a numbr of counciles out hear in
.au have offerd free or cheep ($0.50 us an hour)
access to the net for a few years, they also
offer word prossesing, scaining and printing..
basicly so those who cant offred computers can
still use them, its a great idea..
Though the email and web hosting, now thats
something i havent herd of, but is it realy
needed? In our libarys theres just info sheats
up on Hotmail and a few free hosting sights..
do they realy need to spend public money on
some? mind you i havent used either hotmail
or free hoasting for years.. so maybe they
are worse then they used to be.
You have 5 Moderator Points!
Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
Hate to be a cynic, but since when has *anyone* paid for email that didn't want to? Its been a free-via-ads industry since at least 1995... practically an ice age ago in internet time.
the printer is on fire!
What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
Can some one tell how bad the digital divide was before the information age?
Needless to say I am really happy that since the information age is here we can fix this problem.
Ascii artist &
I noticed a small bit when RTFA:
"People who verify their residence will get a SimDesk account number to access the software, including word processing, and e-mail."
What precisely does "verify your residence" mean? My guess is that it means you will have to have a house, or an apartment, or some other solid place to live. People who are living out of a cardboard box need not apply. So although this is lowing the bar, certain people will still be denied access.
Despite that, this is a dramatic step in the right direction. Although some say that only a thousand access points is too few, remember that the majority of Houstonians won't be using the public terminals -- they have their own connections -- and they probably don't even go into the neighborhoods where these will be installed.
Anyhow, if people who can't afford the 'net are lined up to use these, that's a good sign to me. What I'd be most afraid of is that these people would simply have no interest in using them, either due to ignorance or because a particular library terminal is part of a gang's turf.
If the private sector is performing a service amicably -- e.g., providing free e-mail accounts to anyone with web access -- why would a locality waste even a tiny bit of resources to accomplish the same?
The odd legal twist on this -- that reason that I am even posting on this thread -- is that the Houston e-mail account doubtlessly will be more constrained than AOL or its ilk in what it can and cannot do to subscribers.
For example, let's say that some enterprising young tech at Houston's e-mail server decides to start reading e-mail at random, with the intention of invading privacy. That could satisfy the state action requirement necessary to make out a constitutional claim, with attorneys fees available for even a suit that garners only nominal damages.
For a more dramatic example, let's say that the e-mail system is administered in a way that creates a disparate impact on racial minorities. Let's say that some nut commandeers a server and spams hatemail across the ether. The state could be liable where a private actor would not be. (The constitutional generally only prevents state action that impinges on a citizen's rights, not the same conduct undertaken by a private actor.)
That's without even touching on the potential liability under Title VI and other federal statutes if the e-mail program employs federal funds.
Why would any municipality want to do this?
Just how will this change anything? There are already many free e-mail providers out there (e.g. Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, email.com,... etc.). If they're so concerned about bridging "the digital divide by making computers accessible to every Houstonian," wouldn't it be a better idea to get computers into these poor homes first, so they'll have a way to access the Internet without having to go to libraries, fire stations, or police stations every time they want to check their mail or do anything else? Houston could even provide the poorer areas with free (or discounted) Internet access, or they could use one of the few, but remaining Free Internet providers.
As a resident of Houston, it's actually a breath of fresh air to hear about forward thinking initiatives such as this. NO, this does not = free Internet access (as some readers have concluded) but this does give many of Houston's less fortunate (read poorer) citizens access to resources otherwise reserved for those who can afford a computer and regular Internet access. In my eyes, every step to elevate citizens beyond their financial boundaries, through the use of technology, is commendable.
On another note, Houston is also experimenting with electronic voting tablets. They've already invested millions and have held a mock election. I hope this is the beginning of a trend. When I was in SF for training a few months back, I couldn't help but notice the "Peace Love and Linux" symbols on every other sidewalk corner downtown. The perception of a Linux loving community is pretty cool and very forward thinking.
PRIME - Indivisible by anything but ME!
So, will they have the right to monitor your email, since it's a service provided by the government?
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I believe Westplex Information Network started in 1994 or 1995.
www.win.org
You get a free e-mail address and lynx dialup access for free and in addition you can pay $8/month for a PPP connection.
It's more or less a good service. It does have short outages from time to time and during busy periods it gives you a two hour window to stay online and then you get booted and have to dial back in. This is by design.
They're working on offering DSL.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Houston's had free internet access in libraries for as long as I can remember. So what's so good about offering email? :)
The effort will (hopefully) involve an appropriately scaled public information campaign -- that's probably the only way to reach a good number of the city's residents who stand to benefit from email.
It's easy to say that the effort would work just as well if the promoted hotmail or yahoo, etc., but would that be appropriate? What if hotmail goes under (or gets hacked!) - as a Houston taxpayer, I don't want city employees providing free tech support for those services.
Now if the email is anything like the public works projects going on downtown, we're in big trouble (along the lines of 4,000 servers providing about 10 email accounts), but nevertheless, I think this is a good idea.Spam, we can just turn them on to Houston's spamgourmet
who's moderating the meta-moderators?
What the heck is wrong with Yahoo, Hotmail, etc etc ad nauseam? Secret answer: they don't generate votes for incumbents. PCs in fire stations? Good to know my house burned down because of the queue to get that government pr0n.
I love the headline: "Houston citizens get free-email." No, it's not free. It will be paid for by your fellow citizens - most of whom work for a living.
go ahead, mod me down - my dogma will chew the tires off your karma.
Naah. No fire stations, they got confused. They mean fire hydrants, because nowadays everybody and their dog has e-mail.
Question to those who see this is good. If you are for this, then why must you be FORCED to fund it? If you believe it is necessary because 'the people' want it, then why must they be FORCED to fund this? Lazy stupid americans, you always talk about freedom and caring for others, but yet you hypocritically push your views on others, and only CARE if you are forced to. Lazy couch potatoes, why don't you get out and volunteer and contribute instead of lobbying/voting for scum that use violence to fund the 'issues' you claim to hold so dear?
You'll have to watch out for the background image-tagged workstations. :)
Got friends?
From the article, it doesn't sound like this is what they're considering, but a while back a federal program was being considered to assign each social security number would have an email address associated with it and government documents, such as ta forms, legal notices, etc. would be delivered via email. The idea was scrapped for technical, security, and privacy issues.
The question is, does Houston expect to do something similar with their system or are their goals more limited.
--CTH
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
I saw the chaser for this on the evening news tonight, proclaiming "free internet access for all Houstonians." But then my dad changed channels to a Simpsons rerun, so I didn't watch the actual story.
Certainly neat to see it on /. though...
My Webcomic: Asylum on 5th Street
Not true in the details, but true enough in concept. Plus, it throws in a little MS bashing. Everyone loves that...
More specifically, how will this help the poor get the food and shelter they need to survive, to say nothing of assistance in getting vocational training and finding a real job?
How will this help school kids who need to be learning critical thinking, basic logic (not the digital kind!), and social skills, not where to find the latest edition of 'Quake?'
How will this help to keep the city's crime rate down, and pay for things like fire and paramedic services?
I will grant that I don't live anywhere near Houston (thank God), but after reading Cliff Stoll's two excellent books ("Silicon Snake Oil" and "High-Tech Heretic"), I tend to seriously question the motivation and priorities of ANY community that wants to give its citizens "free" 'net access.
Quite bluntly, it's just NOT as important as most politicians would like the masses to think. There are probably any number of better uses that the money required to do this could (and should!) be put to.
I would be interested to see commentary from someone living in the affected area about this project. My open question for them: Do YOU think the project is worth the effort and funds?
If not, where do you think said funds and effort should go?
Keep the peace(es).
We can call it "Minitel".
"..don't you eat that yellow snow."
As a pseudo-resident, I'll say this:
Lee Brown, the mayor of Houston, has his priorities all wrong. He neglects the city and builds the new stadiums (for the "Houston Texans" (I wonder what kind of genius came up with that name), and the Astros) with the name of the energy company, Reliant, tagged onto it. So now the Astrodome is part of "Reliant Park", which consists of the "Reliant Astrodome", "Reliant Astroarena", "Reliant Stadium (a new one)", etc. We're taxed for it.
Also, Houston does nothing for free. If this ever becomes more than a plan, you can rest assured that it will be slow and pathetic. Or, better yet, they'll make you pay -- and it will still be slow and pathetic.
This is what I see in Lee Brown and the management of Houston. They have much bigger fish to fry, imo. Try the roads or the school system, not something to inflate this city's already gigantic ego...
I'll shut up.
Do you like German cars?
While I don't think free email provided by the state is really all that useful, I do like the direction thay're going. What people really need is free broadband. In my opinion, broadband is just as importand as other utilities such as electricity and running water. While the latter aren't exactly free, it would be nice if the govn't would do something about shoddy BB providors.
"Leave the strategizing to those of us with planet-sized brains." -Tycho
perhaps it can help you forget about the disparity in education, substandard housing, and, for that matter, legal representation. Oh, and when you're looking for jobs online, be sure to mention how you don't have any high-tech training because the poorly-funded school systems can't afford as much as a working 386.
Yup, this'll fix that whole digital divide right up.
My sigs always suck.
So you mean the residents who payed for this system can use it in their local library? No kidding.
Being realistic though. The article didn't mention the cost of this new system. Many "free" ISP/E-mail providers are loosing a lot of money and have started charging users. This could lead to higher taxes. Not to mention the legal ramifications of this system. Is it legal to view pronografic E-mail attachments to your free government account at your library access point? What level of MS Office support is offered by this web interface? If there isn't any, what good is this product for resumes?
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug01/voice110
Random Musings at Rum Smuggler
I think it's more of "Has your ISP cancelled you for TOS violations? Did you get cancelled for running napster and spamming? Well, use the free government ISP".
Think they'll ban napster/gnutella from the network? Could the RIAA get your account cancelled easier?
Nicely socialist, that's a good thing.
For about a quarter the federal government will deliver a message from you to another individual. The message can contain pictures and/or text. Correct delivery is insured by using "ZIP" protocol(5 or 9 digit near GUID). For international messages, a slightly higher delivery cost will apply.
My other sig is extremely clever...
Has anyone thought of Carnivore, since it's technically a government ISP, though not a .gov domain?
Yes, there will be people dumb enough to send a threatening letter to the president using that e-mail.
My local library also has been providing patrons with free access to a computer lab for over 3 years. They offer MS Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) plus web access. No personalized email is provided, but you can always use Yahoo or the other free webmail services. They've got about a dozen PC's in the lab and there's usually never much of a waiting line to get to use them. The only restrictive things are that children must be accompanied by a parent to use the PCs and they'll only let you use floppy disks that you purchase from the front desk, no outside floppies are allowed, since they're paranoid of viruses. The machines are kept up to date with weekly antivirus updates too.
"...and we leave you tonight with scenes from the City of Houston where residents today were up in arms because of a 'bug' in their email. City commissioners last year elected to use Hotmail as their free mail provider only to find some 'hackers' are able to read users' email. Well, Tony, looks like all their base certainly don't belong to them!"
"You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
First off i'd like to say that anyone in houston (or any other city for that matter) has had access to free internet almost as long as the internet has existed... juno/yahoo/hotmail/etc... and houston libraries have had computers connected to the internet for a couple of years now, which often remain unused.
So how does this change anything? Well, someone will get rich no doubt and i'm sure it will cost taxpayers money, as everything else does, lets not forget the new baseball stadium, football stadium, the 12 mile/hr train between the old baseball stadium and new one, the upcoming new basketball stadium, city-owned convention center, the poor excuse for a bus system, etc...
If they want to save money they can pay me $10,000,000 and i'll send out some mailings to all these people telling them they can register for free email at the places mentioned earlier and can access it at the libraries for free.
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This free service (known as 'SimDesk') also allows for access to software? While the article did not specify exactly what type of software will be available, I certainly hope the City of Houston has researched the possible legal ramifications of offering access to Microsoft products to each Houston resident. And, I hope the City's legal staff reviewed its city's selection for the mark of this service.
This gratis act may arguably result in one of the largest assessed licensing fees in history and a lawsuit by SimCompany.
I'd like to see the face of the attorney for the software maker of SimCity, SimTower, the Sims, blah blah everything Sim when he/she sees this story.
How much, exactly, does the city of Houston have in cash reserves?
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
Yes, the very same firestations in which Mayor "Out of Town Lee Brown" can't come up with funding to provide four firemen per firetruck. Three has been deemed adequate, and look at all the money it saves.
I suppose Houstonians can all feel better knowing that folks can get on the internet at the firestation, after their house has burned down.
Some of this sucked, you had to know where to go to get a phone card, and there were no phone books in the phone booths, so I had to use my barely passable French and get phone numbers from the operator. But for people who lived there, and had access to these technologies, I imagine they simplified matters.
I guess this might be offtopic, but since we are talking about how the government can help people get access to technology, this seems sort of appropriate.
My other sig is extremely clever...
Since we are on the topic of those who choose to divorce all aspects of logic and reason from their lives, here is a good one. Violent crime is on the rise in France, specifically involving guns. When questioned about how France with its draconian gun laws is having such a dramatic (and proportionately larger than US) amount of gun crimes a police spokesman talked about making more laws and "limiting circulation"
That is about as intelligent as saying that by adding yet another "no peeing" sign and threatening people on the grass at a public pool but providing permits for liscensed 'pee-areas', that you will reduce the pee circulation within the pool at large. stupid morons. Stop empowering criminals. Stop neutering honest citizens of their right to be safe. Spend that money, time and rhetoric on education and reducing CRIME!
We ain't tryin' to be police
You ain't the cops, this ain't anarchy
correction:
We ain't tryin' to be police
When you ape the cops it ain't anarchy
bet you didn't think i owned the 7".
YHBT!
HAHAHAHAHAHAA....
Houston cannot even get the buses to run on any kind of schedule.
This would be yet another joke...
Sig:
Navy nuke sub lifestyle?
No, let's not do anything that might have the slightest potential for problems. We can go back to living in caves where the worst that can happen is being ripped to bits by a tiger.
If they really want to make a different, why not provide vocational training for the disadvantaged so they can actually learn a skill to help them better themselves. Now, that would be money better spent.
An even better way to make a difference would be to eliminate minimum wage laws, which serve as a barrier to employment for those with few marketable skills. Get people into the workforce and let them learn on the job, real world style.
I remember when I worked at a bike shop many years ago, there was a guy from the homeless shelter up the street who would stop by several days a week asking for odd jobs. I think he made regular rounds of all the businesses downtown, and we were just one stop of many. Anyway, the bike shop owner would pay him to clean the parking lot every Saturday, and would often find other odd jobs for him to do. The guy was hard working, punctual and honest, but really didn't know how to do anything but pick up cans.
My point is that people like this are on the verge of entering the workforce, but the value of their labor is less than minimum wage. There are many employers who would give them an entry-level position doing odd jobs like keeping the parking lot clean, but are not able to reconcile the payroll expense of a minimum wage position with the value of the person's labor.
There are some who are upset by any suggestions to lower or elminate the minimum wage. I realize that most people have a gut reaction that 'people need a living wage'... but jobs simply do not materialize out of thin air. Higher minimum wages cause higher unemployment. Lower minimum wages result in lower unemployment. Ergo, it is more humane to eliminate minimum wage laws.
I'll pass on the obvious jokes.
In this situation of free email, the obvious point is that the folks who will be getting the email are folks with less education. This would be true if you imagine that personal income is generally proportional to education.
I can imagine the poor tech support flogs who have to help these folks out, Unless they make them go through a long and extended glass first. or have it at a city facility or a hall for a long time until the folks get certified that they are expert enough to have it set up at home.
It appears that the computer market has reached saturation in the US with maybe 60% of US homes having a computer. The other 40% may not be able to afford one, or the learning curve is a bit too steep.
I can see this. It can get really ugly.
- - -
Radio Free Nation
is a general news site based on Slash Code
"If You have a Story, We have a Soap Box"
- - -
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Although I'm not sure whether I like this news or not. Are we talking about Houston, Texas? I haven't heard anything about it. OH WAIT! never mind Dominique on KPRC just announced it so it must be official. I never underestimate the number of friends our Mayor has that need jobs.
Has anyone had any experience with SimDesk or know anything about it?
Despite their fancy moving menus and weird text animation in the status bar (isn't that a FrontPage thing?), the home page has no . I guess that's not a given when working in FP.
I'd really like to see a web-based word processor (text areas don't count).
Because he answered my question. :D
> "Houston Texans" (I wonder what kind of genius came up with that name)
They set up a website where people could submit name suggestions. I think a committe selected a few and then had a vote.
Why my suggestion of the "Houston Hooters" wasn't selected... who knows.
metric
First to libraries and fire stations. I sure am glad to know that all firemen will now be able to spam "first post!!...ph33r m3!@#" while my house is burning down.
Just my 1.4 cents (after taxes)
How big is St. Peters? Is it anywhere near the size of Houston?
Thinking back to my high school years...
When a publicly funded institution or service provides you with "free" (forgetting about taxes for the moment) internet service (email in this case), you can expect it to be restricted and/or monitored. The government already does enough unlawful invasion of privacy, i certainly don't want them administering my email account.
Hey, if this free email adress seriously hampered other businesses that sold this service (by giving it away free), would it be seen as anti-competative? It would be amusing to see the government's anti-monopoly rhetoric turned against them.
Westplex actually serves all of St. Charles county which is maybe 200,000 people.
No where near the size of Houston, but it's a relatively simple process. You start small and grow the service based on demand.
It will probably suck for the first year or so as they get everything worked out.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Eric S. Raymond had helped design and maintain the free ISP for Chester County, called Chester County Interlink. Their mission is "to ensure that Chester County residents and organizations have easy and equitable electronic access to information while encouraging interaction among them as part of an electronic community". Perhaps Hosuton based hackers could help out in similar ways, lending expertise if not equipment?
Oh, and get it right: Governments have POWERS, individuals have rights.
Bob-
The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
It's unique, convenient, and everyone has one, right?
The idiocy is using force to do what has been done many times before in many different places by interested individuals.
Re-inventing the wheel with someone elses money is an old tradition among bureaucrats, if they have the power to gather other peoples money in the first place.
Bob-
The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
to be able to give away 5-15 million dollars worth of almost nothing to pad the tax write off.
The shrink wrap and printed holograms get a real nice markup.
Perhaps they should reveal exactly what the cash/imaginary ratio is. For all you know it could be 50/50. (Encarta, W2K server CAL's, MSN, you never know...)
Honest question: If you were a charity organization, and were offered a large contribution from Microsoft (or any company) on the condition that you only use their software, would you accept it still?
Is the cash worth the risk of vendor lock-in?
Will the kids even gain as much from the monoculture environment?
I'm having a hard time picturing the process you describe. Should I imagine these newbies viewing a CRT through the bottom of a beer glass? Or using a display two miles away with a telescope (which is certainly an extended (spy)glass.)
I get it! A looking glass.
There was no Hugh's town. They renamed the city after Sam Houston because he did so much for Texas, and ended up settling in the area.
Houston, for those who have never been there and like to just bash those of us in Texas, is one of the few great world-class cities this country has. It has awesome food, and good night life, and diversity that you would not believe. Houston is really pretty cool, if not far too large and congested.
The copper bosses killed you, Joe. 'I never died', said he.
This is good news.
Even greater new can be found at DT
leopard
Ah, but these "fire stations" are actually an elaborate sting operation set up by disgrunted sysadmins. Those guys sitting around sharpening their axes to a razor edge are the same ones that got paged at 3:00 am when the mail server buckled beneath a torrent of spam. They've put out a lot of fires, but not the thermal kind.
When "Dave Smith" asks for his free account, they take his thumbprint and the computer links him up with "Carlos Moreno" whose account was TOS'd last night. Yes, spammers are stupid.
"OK, Dave, we just need you to lay your head on the desk for a minute. Yeah, right on that deep groove."
I've heard of accounts being hosed, but this puts a whole new spin on it...
(drum crash)
"liberty and justice for all those who can afford it"
The library system of Oregon, centered here in Portland, not only had the funds and equipment to offer free PPP service for the whole state but made the decision to offer free PPP service to the whole state. Several local ISPs teamed up and took the County to court, claiming (very rightly, I'd say) that such an offer would put them out of business. The Library system withdrew the offer, although it does still offer a lightning fast dial up (hint: once you are in their shell menu, select a Web address to go to, then telnet://your.favorite.address to open a shell session elsewhere). And all you tattle-tails can put it back in your pants, as the Library is very aware people use their dial up for this purpose and do not mind. Only jackasses would abuse the Library that feeds them. If you must do bad things electronically, do them to deserving parties. Here endeth the sermon.
Donation is something remarkable. It's giving something to other people, no strings attached, no expectations of the outcome. It may make you feel good, but without conditions, it can be even better. You can donate in many ways: Material, money, working, educating and generally helping out or being friendly.
What corporations like Microsoft do when they "donate" their own software to get tax-refunds and with conditions to ensure vendor lock-in, it can hardly be called donation at all. It's like a crack-dealer. The first dose is for free to get you hooked, then they start charging. Let me repeat: There's no way this is donation.
It should not be tax-refundable. Unfortunately, common sense has dropped significantly in later times. Now rules and laws reign supreme, and people abuse whatever holes they can to reach their own ends. It's ironical that donation is on that list too.
- Steeltoe
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/
Perhaps the land of the free should take a look at its legal system?
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Basically, government is there to provide protection from taking by fraud or force. Nothing else. In return for that, we give government a monopoly over the use of force.
Look where that's gotten us. Our monopolists on force now see think it's perfectly permissible to hold a gun to my head, take my money, and provide "free" internet access to eliminate the "digital divide".
Well, just remember, as soon as government has *freely* given away service, it'll start to demand control over that service. And then what?
Is the local government in Houston going to demand control over what you can browse on their "free" internet service? Will it want access to your email, to make sure you're not doing anything illegal? Think PRC, people.
You know, I can't tell you how much a trip to the DMV resembles a trip to communist Russia. Line up for this, then line up for that, then line up for the other. And God forbid your paperwork's not in order.
Think of that the next time the government offers you an ISP.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
> There was no Hugh's town.
... < Hugh's Town.
As I said, the original Hugh's Town was in Merry Olde England.
Houston [Tx] < [Sam] Houston <
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
doesnt this sound a bit like .net being tested out in Houston? Word Processing on the server side?? Am i way off base here, or does anyone else see the same thing?
We're like rats, in some experiment! -- George Costanza
"To be honest, it sounds like a marketing ploy the city of Houston has gotten caught up in," said Ray Quay, an assistant planning director for the city of Phoenix who has extensively studied relations between the Internet and local governments.
1 2
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/10149
You can retreive web pages, ftp files, etc.. all threw email. If they R too poor to afford an isp, then chances R they R too poor to afford a computer. The government should give everyone who has an old working computer 500$ to buy your old system to give to the poor, so we can use that money to buy new computers. I would uppgrade if somebody gave me 500$ for my k6233.
This way they can also maintain the lines of cars trying to get through downtown without losing a wheel or engine by falling in a pothole. So they get more than just one line and an excuse to keep the streets under repair.
"We can't afford to speed up construction with the new city email project draining resources..."
If you have driven through Houston downtown (or Med Center?), you know what i'm referring to...
- Sig
It is no secret that Houston REALLY wants the 2012 Olympic games. To that end former mayor Bob Lanier and current mayor Lee Brown have been "steering" the Houston community to improve it's image world wide. For the last 15 years or so Houstonians (myself included) have watched project after project initiated all the while scratching our heads as to what the city is thinking. The current lite rail project that spans from downtown to the "Medical centers" IMHO actually spans from Downtown to the newly rebranded Reliant Park which just happens to be next to the Medical center. This current announcement is probably just another project to get world wide publicity (Which, to be honest, Houston will need to get the Olympics). Houston has had free internet access in Libraries for years. The only thing new here is offering to give Houstonians a yournamehere@Houston.Texas.com email address. It's about city pride which is important to the Olympic oversight commitee. If people are proud to have and email address then they support their city and that looks good to the world community. This is my opinion and may not in any way reflect the views or opinions of CowBoyNeal or the staff of /.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
yet another randite who hates the poor
what a surprise
or there's a news story about how some molestor hooked up with a kid using his paid by Houston connection or crack dealers are running a free website - blah blah fucking blah. Then the sanctimonious pricks will be screaming to pull the plug faster than you can say "Whaaaaaat about the Chilllllldrennnnnn!!!!!!!!!"
I'm impressed :-)
*Look* at all the unnecessary foo-faw SimDesk provides. You really think the digitally deprived need a spreadsheet, a contact manager and remote printing capability?
This looks more like taxpayer money applied to a dot-com bailout than anything of real use.
I survived the Dick Cheney Presidency 7 to 9 AM 7-21-07
Or better, be shocked when they get a follow-up email from bush@whitehouse.com.
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
Tucked away in a few words is the core of Microsoft's complete Internet reorganization six years ago.
Web-based word processing.
And it looks like they just might make it, having all but killed off Netscape.
Whew! That was a close one! A defacto "thin client", "web-based pseudo-boot to virtual machine" almost made it in without everyone being dependent on Microsoft.
Now you still have to buy Microsoft OS's, ha ha ha ha ha ha (singsong lilt) to get your IExplorer to get to all these great v0.001 web office-style apps that are going to just keep growing and growing and growing over the next decade.
ha ha ha ha ha ha! Whew, I say again! Close one! As Will Smith might say, with spittle flecks flying, "Elvis has left the building!" Whew! Just made it!
As Ripley might say, "Punch it Bishop!" Whew! Just made it!
As Trinity might scream, "Neo! (the phone!)" Whew! Just made it!
As Linda Hamilton might say, "You're terminated, fucker!" Whew! Just made it!
As Arnie might say, "Now I know why you cry." Whew! Just made it!
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
Noticed that the author placed apostrophes around "free", implying the inaccuracy of that word in this context. The Libertarian in me winces every time I see the word 'free' used in conjunction with the Government... As a memeber of the middle class I refexively reach for my wallet to see if it's still there.
In many (most) cases, if the governemnt is involved (any form of government) not only is it not free, it costs one hell of a lot more than it otherwise might. Besides that, did I miss something? Is there a shortage of (truly) free web-based e-mail providers? Typical: government, driven by vote-seeking politicians, proposes a solution to an imaginary problem (in this case, a shortage of free e-mail providers), throws a lot of money at it, wasting it in the process, all for nothing.
The most infuriating (and ingenious) element of this process: those that speak out against the program are bombarded with accustaions of insensitivity to the needs of the poor. It's perfect, in a perverse way: a ridiculous idea that has a built-in controversy eliminator or, at the least, minimizer.
You intentionally meant .com, right?
Thats the porn one, right? [100 pop up windows later] Yup, that is exactly what I meant...
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
ummm people this was supposed to be a joke. u dont have to dissect it.
Democratic USA - Government of the corporations, by the Corporations, for the corporations.
Will the spammers be signing up all the poor people down there to do their dirty work for them?
Yes, something similar has already happened around here (Ontario, Canada). We noticed about a million email relay attempts from a library proxy machine machine in a nearby city that started every day at 7am and ended every day at 4pm -- apparently a spammer had installed spamware on one or more of the machines there and each day as the machine was powered on it'd start it's spamming routine. A couple emails back and forth between the techs there got things straightened out pretty quick, but spammers are certainly aware of the opportunities...
I say just offer free email, don't try to make us all use it. >:|
Got shack?
ShackCentral Network
Worlds best gaming network!!!
don't underestimate it's usefulness
after you become homeless it's hard to break the cycle
not having a contact point only increases the effect of homelessness, no one can offer you a job or a place to live if they cannot contact you
I've spoken to some youth workers who help homeless kids with email addresses (they used free services like Hotmail) and they were surprised how much it helped, even things like keeping contact with each other and youth workers
isolation is increased when communication is cut off, if you have no phone and no snail mail address, an email address may give you a little more stability...
MAKE $$$ FAST FROM HOME!!! is hardly going to be important to them, as they don't have homes, but being able to email a resume... that's another story...
that depends on why they are homeless
not all homeless people are unskilled
the definition of a homeless person is being without a home
is the blurb in the story about the Boys and Girls Club's Internet access centers. I had a similar idea, but couldn't sell it to either the then-local newspaper or TV stations (I thought they'd like the chance to have a portal front page).
This, it seems, is the real issue, the divide between those who own and use a computer and those who don't. Without a computer, this is no big deal since there are already services out there that don't require proof of residency (e.g. Hotmail). With computer access, people can e-mail, set up Web pages, etc.
The
education, communication and support