There have been reports of people getting healed of HIV for years. This is nothing new. This phenomenon is featured in a film called "transformations" by the sentinel group. Many people have been completely healed from HIV after praying to Jesus for such healing. It isn't the sort of thing that a mega-corp can put in a bottle and make millions with, but it is the sort of thing that has given people back their lives. Healing is good, any day of the week. They don't call Jesus "the great physician" for nothing.:-)
Who has 30 seconds to spend every time you need information. By the time a pc boots up and produces a browser pointed to the query I've entered, the question is often long gone and I'm on to something else. Or in the process of doing the 30 second boot I'm nagged to death about technical issues that have nothing to do with the information I seek until I'm unable to keep the question in my mind.
Seems to me that if you have nothing and a bunch of people who are competent at construction come along and spend their time and money to build you a house to live in that is safe and clean (of course it has to meet building codes as new construction), you should not be whining about how it is built.
Looking around the world a significant percentage of the population lives in "virtual deathtraps". Lets not allow our wealth here in North America and our desire to have the best jade our view of a good organization providing good safe homes for people who need it.
If you see room for improvement, switch off your computer get out there and lend a hand.
Posting mail at $.50 per letter here in Canada would hardly be economically enticing for spam victims... People collectively would have to spend $1000s of dollars to send him that much mail.
However signing the offenders up for free trial subscriptions etc... That might work. Of course there is still the cost of ones time. Today I had fun for an hour with spamVampire, but usually spam fighting isn't fun and shouldn't take up much of my time.
So how does USA law get imposed on the Internet. The Internet is not an american property. DARPA was. The Internet may have started in the US, but it was International long before it was commercially "mainstream" in the states... It was educational, linking Universities worldwide who sold access to others (before the ISPs got on board).
So if the USA says he can't spam etc... how is that enforced? Does he simply register a company in some foreign nation like Mexico and continue on as if nothing changed? It wasn't me, it was a company that is at arms length...
Fun with spam. Don't be malicious, we don't want the web to be like that, but do make a point of using an automated tool to "educate" spammers that spam won't be tolerated by the community.
If they give a URL. Use a tool like spamVampire to "visit" their site for what seems reasonable (10MB of bandwidth)... Then leave it alone for the rest of the spammed to take their turn visiting.
If they use a real - non disposable email address you can send them your auto-reply "this looks like spam, don't let this happen again. Because receiving unsolicited email is not very fun" You could use your webserver to spoof the sending address (use theirs) and let the mailer script send them several hundred copies of the email reply so they are sure to read it and understand that it really isn't not random email, but is actually intended for them.
Phone Numbers. If they use a toll-free number, use a dialer program or script to call their number (try it in person first to make sure you aren't harassing the inocent because of a typo. If you get a real person tell them how you feel about spam. If you get a voicemail system inevitably there will be an "incorrect" button on your phone which will require the message to start all over again and explain which button you SHOULD HAVE PRESSED..(dumb users) OOPS.. look we're starting again... and again and again. I actually had fun with spam today dialing the following number (yes this has been verified, feel free to try it out:-) )
*67 - hide your number 1866 - avoid paying long distance , - wait a sec 0 - invalid keystroke that replays message = - 1-2 Minutes of phone time.
Forgive me if this is slightly off topic as I boast about blackberries vs palms, but I think the idea of avoiding "information dead-ends" is significant enough to be of value to some slashdot readers.
For me the usefulness of a tool is connected to how well it allows me to do tasks I already want to do. On my Blackberry I will look up a person's contact information on the internet using the browser, then I'll click on their phone number and my blackberry is calling them. Or In our organization of 20,000 people if I don't know exactly who I'm looking for I do a search against our exchange server and get the closest matches, then I can choose the right one and send an email. My email is always synchronized (no plugging into a cradle etc...) After I use a number or an email, I have the option of adding that contact into my address book.
I can't play solitare on my Blackberry. It isn't a computer, but when it comes to email, the web, phoning, and otherwise connecting those communicating tasks the Blackberry doesn't present many "dead-ends" for information. My palm m125 on the other hand is nothing but a dead end for information.
Much like the Internet or Unix, it's not about one killer feature, but rather the integration and connection of simpler features that allow us to work with tools in a way that is powerful scalable and ultimately useful to us without re-inventing how we do our work (graffiti?)
I guess the question is "What is the value of catch-all mail". If you are expecting customers to be clicking on a mailto: they will have the right address. If a friend replies to your email, they will have your correct address. If a person reads the address off of a mailing list or newgroup, they will have the right address. All of these situations are high value for you. You know the people, or you want the people to contact you. The only case where you lose out is when someone types your email address in incorrectly. Now how often does that happen, and what is the value lost? If you publish a newsgroup about leprechauns, and a complete stranger tries to send you their feelings about the little people, then you have really lost very little.
If your email includes orders for merchandise, and it is possible a person might have hand typed the email. It might be worth catching those, but again... "What is the value?" If you sell $500 stereos and find one order a month addressed to the wrong email, it might be worth your while. If you sell widgets at $2 and find one order a month go missing, searching through a pile of spam to find the treasured Order, is not worth your time.
Do you like dredging through spam in order to find meaningful emails? If you think it is fun to sit up late at night building rules for spam filters then go for it. If however you think the technology should be working for you to reduce the hours you spend dealing with administrivia, drop the folks who can't type? What would the logical extension of email-catchalls to the rest of the world be like... For phone numbers??? For letter mail??? For the serving of legal summons??? Yes, never in a million years (never say never) would we think it reasonable to receive 100s of other people's phone calls letter mail and legal summons(es?) just in order to also receive the people who didn't know our phone-number / address.
Email catch-alls really seem like a "Because we can" technology, rather than necessarily a good feature to have simply because it is included.
If you didn't feel like registering a domain name just to maintain your email address, you could always look to a provider who offers generic email pop3 email accounts at a reasonable price. Like one featuring spam Assassin and webmail with addresses ending in "emailonline.ca" from GreenTree Software.
No. As long as there are dollars to be made selling people computers that exceed their needs, broadband that exceeds their needs, and software that exceeds their needs... corporations will continue to pump millions into advertising and convincing everyone to get online, just the same way the entire 'civilized?' world has now believed the lie that they can't live without cell phone coverage.
No there is an army of clueless people thinking they are now computer savvy because they just laid down $1500 at the local computer mart. They think technology is a product. Behind them are the countless masses volunteering, lining up to join in as soon as they have the $$$.
I like the idea of making people pass a test / get a license to opperate a computer;-) But seriously. Understanding that we share the net with 75% "casual users" is critical in forming any response to the threats the net (or civilized usage of the net) is facing. We keep jumping to solutions rather than asking ourself what the problem is. Force this, outlaw that, control this, mitigate that.... The problem is human nature. People out there are doing bad things, anonymously, when we do identify them, there is no consequence for their actions. (sure they give up their free email account from yahoo or whatever).
It is a moral problem and will never be solved by technological means (although they sure make enduring this moral dillema a lot easier:-) )
What happened to community? The free exchange of information? contributing rather than taking? Why is it that the large corporations selling (excessive) hardware are getting to people before the true GEEKS who understand that the Internet paid for by advertising revenues. (I'm talking to you too SLASHDOT!) We are here for ideas, for putting our heads together, for sharing our hearts, for being part of one large community. We're all in this together.
I keep hearing the same old rants over and over. Pick a target and blamestorm... SO much easier than correctly identifying what is wrong and fixing it... Blame idiots, blame Microsoft, blame Microsoft some more...
I'm not jumping to solutions here, I'm poking the fire in the hope that somewhere a spark will get out and start a useful chain of thought... off the top of my head.
Geeks like you and me could: 1. Adopt a newbie. Be patient, explain stuff, coach them through difficulties. (Let them pay a professional for tech support so you don't get too bitter) 2. Talk to your neighbours (not online) make sure they are virus protected. 3. Set up a huge informative newby friendly (no RTFM'ing allowed) site / forum / mailinglist / non-profit society dedicated to raising the level of intelligence when it comes to using the net in a virus free way. 4. Make Linux newbie install friendly IT SUCKS IN THAT DEPARTMENT though I'm thorougly convinced taht the underlying structure is more robust and elegant than the alternatives. 4b. No I did not say Linux sucks, I said it was unfriendly to newbies. 5. Think public service announcements and events. Make Mondays "update your virus definitions" day. Educate not castigate.
There that is my $0.02
So did I poke your fire? Cmon lets hear some really inspired ideas based on community and addressing the moral issue rather than throwing technology at everything and pretending that we're living on Star Trek.
I assume we're talking about the raid on foonet, there is so much speculation and joking here, that it is hard to actually read the issue (gotta adjust that scoring karma thingama jig... just gotta find a 12 year old to explain it to me again:-) ) I have an account with a company who hosted their services from foonet. Their server got picked up and well... Their service was not available. It simply looked like they'd been DOSsed off the face of the earth. I wasn't able to get the resources I needed, so I couldn't meet the needs of a client when I had an opportunity to do it. Net result.... FBI strong arm tactics cost me a business opportunity, and I build websites in CANADA!!! Who would have thought that the FBI would interfere with my ability to service my customers.
I pride myself on offering quality at affordable prices, and giving my customes a level of customer service they are not accustomed to. Well it didn't work last week:-)
Good point! it would be neat to know how the grid works and to understand the various software and its interactions.
Keeping information like "How the power grid works" and "What vulnerabilities the power grid has" secret is short term thinking at best. All it means is that Joe average can't bring the grid down. Anyone who learns the secrets of the grid (man this is sounding like a B movie) can likely exploit its vulnerabilities. (The power company people I know seem to think it would be trivial for motivated people to pull off this sort of crime). This would be a bad thing (for those of you who have too much time on your hands and no moral conscience).
Better to "OPEN SOURCE" (sorry) the vulnerabilities so they can be addressed. Hey if Canada is wired backwards (I'm Canadian) then that should be fixed. If there are no "Giant circuit breakers at the border (state or national) then maybe there should be. Better for One state to completely black out while the others experience a surge or brownout or whatever than for everything to go down.
It's like our lives. If we hide our character from ourselves or others, our opportunity to have that character refined or improved (or challenged) is very minimal. But if we live our lives openly and honestly, then there is the chance to have good challenges, and improvements.
In the same way we reveal ourselves to others gradually, starting with those who are trusted. It would make sense in this case to reveal this in a graduated way, where initially it would move beyond the power companies (motivation money) to those responsible for maintaining public services / order (motivation serve the public) to those who are not responsible for power, but might have valuable insight (motivation accountability)
Seems these lists are more a wish of what the book-sellers would LIKE to sell... a wish list. If I'm not mistaken, for the past 400 years it seems to me that the Bible in it's various forms has outsold every other book ever published.
Certainly not a read only once book... hardly good for the book sellers if it keeps getting read over and over and they can't sell a new one to the reader...
About 4 months ago I saw it. It essentially is laminated paper that is folded over and over to make the appropriate contacts for buttons. there is a jack (who knows how) out of the "phone" which a headphone type jack plugs into. presumably it goes in the ear and picks up your voice via the earphone.
I couldn't help but think What a collosal waste. I'm in favor of reducing consumption, and building things that last, not this "throw away" mentality.
G.
The truth is often inconvenient. Who are we supposed to believe, the people who still think pollution comes with no consequences? NO The people who tell us to go live in the forest? NO The people who have changed their mind again and don't like living in the forest and say "who cares about the planet, it's inconvenient (who needs grandkids..." OR
People who say technology needs to be applied with the brain engaged. Cautiously, Intelligently, YES
G.
Slashdot Mirror
There have been reports of people getting healed of HIV for years. This is nothing new. This phenomenon is featured in a film called "transformations" by the sentinel group. Many people have been completely healed from HIV after praying to Jesus for such healing. It isn't the sort of thing that a mega-corp can put in a bottle and make millions with, but it is the sort of thing that has given people back their lives. Healing is good, any day of the week. They don't call Jesus "the great physician" for nothing. :-)
Greg.
Who has 30 seconds to spend every time you need information. By the time a pc boots up and produces a browser pointed to the query I've entered, the question is often long gone and I'm on to something else. Or in the process of doing the 30 second boot I'm nagged to death about technical issues that have nothing to do with the information I seek until I'm unable to keep the question in my mind.
My $0.02
Greg.
Seems to me that if you have nothing and a bunch of people who are competent at construction come along and spend their time and money to build you a house to live in that is safe and clean (of course it has to meet building codes as new construction), you should not be whining about how it is built.
Looking around the world a significant percentage of the population lives in "virtual deathtraps". Lets not allow our wealth here in North America and our desire to have the best jade our view of a good organization providing good safe homes for people who need it.
If you see room for improvement, switch off your computer get out there and lend a hand.
Sustainable generation (sorry not development).
Like solar & wind generation in every town.
Write the location of the paper backup on the CD.
Problem solved.
In any system never build it more complicated than need be, never build a pyramid of dependencies that will have its base knocked out.
This is why depending on a centralized electrical grid instead of decentralized sustainable development is such backward thinking.
Greg.
African or European?
Posting mail at $.50 per letter here in Canada would hardly be economically enticing for spam victims... People collectively would have to spend $1000s of dollars to send him that much mail.
However signing the offenders up for free trial subscriptions etc... That might work.
Of course there is still the cost of ones time. Today I had fun for an hour with spamVampire, but usually spam fighting isn't fun and shouldn't take up much of my time.
Greg.
So how does USA law get imposed on the Internet. The Internet is not an american property. DARPA was. The Internet may have started in the US, but it was International long before it was commercially "mainstream" in the states... It was educational, linking Universities worldwide who sold access to others (before the ISPs got on board).
So if the USA says he can't spam etc... how is that enforced? Does he simply register a company in some foreign nation like Mexico and continue on as if nothing changed? It wasn't me, it was a company that is at arms length...
Ideas?
Greg.
Fun with spam.
:-) )
0 ,, ,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,0
Don't be malicious, we don't want the web to be like that, but do make a point of using an automated tool to "educate" spammers that spam won't be tolerated by the community.
If they give a URL. Use a tool like spamVampire to "visit" their site for what seems reasonable (10MB of bandwidth)... Then leave it alone for the rest of the spammed to take their turn visiting.
If they use a real - non disposable email address you can send them your auto-reply "this looks like spam, don't let this happen again. Because receiving unsolicited email is not very fun" You could use your webserver to spoof the sending address (use theirs) and let the mailer script send them several hundred copies of the email reply so they are sure to read it and understand that it really isn't not random email, but is actually intended for them.
Phone Numbers.
If they use a toll-free number, use a dialer program or script to call their number (try it in person first to make sure you aren't harassing the inocent because of a typo. If you get a real person tell them how you feel about spam. If you get a voicemail system inevitably there will be an "incorrect" button on your phone which will require the message to start all over again and explain which button you SHOULD HAVE PRESSED..(dumb users) OOPS.. look we're starting again... and again and again. I actually had fun with spam today dialing the following number (yes this has been verified, feel free to try it out
*67 - hide your number
1866 - avoid paying long distance
, - wait a sec
0 - invalid keystroke that replays message
= - 1-2 Minutes of phone time.
*6718663223376,,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,0,,,,
Greg.
Forgive me if this is slightly off topic as I boast about blackberries vs palms, but I think the idea of avoiding "information dead-ends" is significant enough to be of value to some slashdot readers.
For me the usefulness of a tool is connected to how well it allows me to do tasks I already want to do. On my Blackberry I will look up a person's contact information on the internet using the browser, then I'll click on their phone number and my blackberry is calling them. Or In our organization of 20,000 people if I don't know exactly who I'm looking for I do a search against our exchange server and get the closest matches, then I can choose the right one and send an email. My email is always synchronized (no plugging into a cradle etc...) After I use a number or an email, I have the option of adding that contact into my address book.
I can't play solitare on my Blackberry. It isn't a computer, but when it comes to email, the web, phoning, and otherwise connecting those communicating tasks the Blackberry doesn't present many "dead-ends" for information. My palm m125 on the other hand is nothing but a dead end for information.
Much like the Internet or Unix, it's not about one killer feature, but rather the integration and connection of simpler features that allow us to work with tools in a way that is powerful scalable and ultimately useful to us without re-inventing how we do our work (graffiti?)
Thanks
Greg.
Why Q Entries in FAQ use Structured Differently English.
Are maintainers FAQ also architechts Backbone of English?
Am I Possible Detecting liability project here?
I'm surprised that a company that allows their website to be built with FrontPage could print a paperback in 5 minutes ;-)
I guess the question is "What is the value of catch-all mail". If you are expecting customers to be clicking on a mailto: they will have the right address. If a friend replies to your email, they will have your correct address. If a person reads the address off of a mailing list or newgroup, they will have the right address. All of these situations are high value for you. You know the people, or you want the people to contact you. The only case where you lose out is when someone types your email address in incorrectly. Now how often does that happen, and what is the value lost? If you publish a newsgroup about leprechauns, and a complete stranger tries to send you their feelings about the little people, then you have really lost very little.
If your email includes orders for merchandise, and it is possible a person might have hand typed the email. It might be worth catching those, but again... "What is the value?" If you sell $500 stereos and find one order a month addressed to the wrong email, it might be worth your while. If you sell widgets at $2 and find one order a month go missing, searching through a pile of spam to find the treasured Order, is not worth your time.
Do you like dredging through spam in order to find meaningful emails? If you think it is fun to sit up late at night building rules for spam filters then go for it. If however you think the technology should be working for you to reduce the hours you spend dealing with administrivia, drop the folks who can't type? What would the logical extension of email-catchalls to the rest of the world be like... For phone numbers??? For letter mail??? For the serving of legal summons??? Yes, never in a million years (never say never) would we think it reasonable to receive 100s of other people's phone calls letter mail and legal summons(es?) just in order to also receive the people who didn't know our phone-number / address.
Email catch-alls really seem like a "Because we can" technology, rather than necessarily a good feature to have simply because it is included.
If you didn't feel like registering a domain name just to maintain your email address, you could always look to a provider who offers generic email pop3 email accounts at a reasonable price. Like one featuring spam Assassin and webmail with addresses ending in "emailonline.ca" from
GreenTree Software.
Greg.
Doesn't this result in you shooting people upside down since the beam has to travel through the magnifying glass?
Firefox has the google toolbar... Works quite well.
:: Website Hosting :: Business Information Systems
Greg.
GreenTree Software
Website Design
Die off???
;-) But seriously. Understanding that we share the net with 75% "casual users" is critical in forming any response to the threats the net (or civilized usage of the net) is facing. We keep jumping to solutions rather than asking ourself what the problem is. Force this, outlaw that, control this, mitigate that.... The problem is human nature. People out there are doing bad things, anonymously, when we do identify them, there is no consequence for their actions. (sure they give up their free email account from yahoo or whatever).
:-) )
No. As long as there are dollars to be made selling people computers that exceed their needs, broadband that exceeds their needs, and software that exceeds their needs... corporations will continue to pump millions into advertising and convincing everyone to get online, just the same way the entire 'civilized?' world has now believed the lie that they can't live without cell phone coverage.
No there is an army of clueless people thinking they are now computer savvy because they just laid down $1500 at the local computer mart. They think technology is a product. Behind them are the countless masses volunteering, lining up to join in as soon as they have the $$$.
I like the idea of making people pass a test / get a license to opperate a computer
It is a moral problem and will never be solved by technological means (although they sure make enduring this moral dillema a lot easier
What happened to community? The free exchange of information? contributing rather than taking? Why is it that the large corporations selling (excessive) hardware are getting to people before the true GEEKS who understand that the Internet paid for by advertising revenues. (I'm talking to you too SLASHDOT!) We are here for ideas, for putting our heads together, for sharing our hearts, for being part of one large community. We're all in this together.
I keep hearing the same old rants over and over. Pick a target and blamestorm... SO much easier than correctly identifying what is wrong and fixing it... Blame idiots, blame Microsoft, blame Microsoft some more...
I'm not jumping to solutions here, I'm poking the fire in the hope that somewhere a spark will get out and start a useful chain of thought... off the top of my head.
Geeks like you and me could:
1. Adopt a newbie. Be patient, explain stuff, coach them through difficulties. (Let them pay a professional for tech support so you don't get too bitter)
2. Talk to your neighbours (not online) make sure they are virus protected.
3. Set up a huge informative newby friendly (no RTFM'ing allowed) site / forum / mailinglist / non-profit society dedicated to raising the level of intelligence when it comes to using the net in a virus free way.
4. Make Linux newbie install friendly IT SUCKS IN THAT DEPARTMENT though I'm thorougly convinced taht the underlying structure is more robust and elegant than the alternatives.
4b. No I did not say Linux sucks, I said it was unfriendly to newbies.
5. Think public service announcements and events. Make Mondays "update your virus definitions" day. Educate not castigate.
There that is my $0.02
So did I poke your fire? Cmon lets hear some really inspired ideas based on community and addressing the moral issue rather than throwing technology at everything and pretending that we're living on Star Trek.
Greg.
I assume we're talking about the raid on foonet, there is so much speculation and joking here, that it is hard to actually read the issue (gotta adjust that scoring karma thingama jig... just gotta find a 12 year old to explain it to me again :-) ) I have an account with a company who hosted their services from foonet. Their server got picked up and well... Their service was not available. It simply looked like they'd been DOSsed off the face of the earth. I wasn't able to get the resources I needed, so I couldn't meet the needs of a client when I had an opportunity to do it. Net result.... FBI strong arm tactics cost me a business opportunity, and I build websites in CANADA!!! Who would have thought that the FBI would interfere with my ability to service my customers.
:-)
I pride myself on offering quality at affordable prices, and giving my customes a level of customer service they are not accustomed to.
Well it didn't work last week
http://www.greentreesoftware.ca
Greg.
Good point! it would be neat to know how the grid works and to understand the various software and its interactions.
Keeping information like "How the power grid works" and "What vulnerabilities the power grid has" secret is short term thinking at best. All it means is that Joe average can't bring the grid down. Anyone who learns the secrets of the grid (man this is sounding like a B movie) can likely exploit its vulnerabilities. (The power company people I know seem to think it would be trivial for motivated people to pull off this sort of crime). This would be a bad thing (for those of you who have too much time on your hands and no moral conscience).
Better to "OPEN SOURCE" (sorry) the vulnerabilities so they can be addressed. Hey if Canada is wired backwards (I'm Canadian) then that should be fixed. If there are no "Giant circuit breakers at the border (state or national) then maybe there should be. Better for One state to completely black out while the others experience a surge or brownout or whatever than for everything to go down.
It's like our lives. If we hide our character from ourselves or others, our opportunity to have that character refined or improved (or challenged) is very minimal. But if we live our lives openly and honestly, then there is the chance to have good challenges, and improvements.
In the same way we reveal ourselves to others gradually, starting with those who are trusted. It would make sense in this case to reveal this in a graduated way, where initially it would move beyond the power companies (motivation money) to those responsible for maintaining public services / order (motivation serve the public) to those who are not responsible for power, but might have valuable insight (motivation accountability)
FWIW there is my $0.02 ($0.03 CDN)
Greg
http://www.GreenTreeSoftware.ca
Seems these lists are more a wish of what the book-sellers would LIKE to sell... a wish list. If I'm not mistaken, for the past 400 years it seems to me that the Bible in it's various forms has outsold every other book ever published.
Certainly not a read only once book... hardly good for the book sellers if it keeps getting read over and over and they can't sell a new one to the reader...
fwiw
About 4 months ago I saw it. It essentially is laminated paper that is folded over and over to make the appropriate contacts for buttons. there is a jack (who knows how) out of the "phone" which a headphone type jack plugs into. presumably it goes in the ear and picks up your voice via the earphone. I couldn't help but think What a collosal waste. I'm in favor of reducing consumption, and building things that last, not this "throw away" mentality. G.
The truth is often inconvenient. Who are we supposed to believe, the people who still think pollution comes with no consequences? NO The people who tell us to go live in the forest? NO The people who have changed their mind again and don't like living in the forest and say "who cares about the planet, it's inconvenient (who needs grandkids..." OR People who say technology needs to be applied with the brain engaged. Cautiously, Intelligently, YES G.