I read the review, and it sounds like Kurzweil is too optimistic for me... personally, I found Marshall Brain's Robotic Nation to be much closer to the reality that I think is coming up for us.
Well the temperature here in Saskatoon, SK, Canada got to be that cold (with wind chill) only a few months ago. So it's not just good enough for the penguins - it's good enough for people who don't know better, too.
Yes, having to post your email address for others to see on a web site is no longer a requirement. Especially since most of the web hosting companies will provide you with a free formmail script.
I took a few steps to curb spam in 2002: first, change my email address. That alone put an abrupt halt to the flow. Second, added comments forms to all my web sites, to stop the future flow.
Granted, I still get some spam, assumedly because some messages that I send get forwarded and harvested somewhere. I get about 2 or 3 spam emails per week right now, without using any filters at all. So that's acceptable to me.
I continue to advise people to change their darn email address and start anew. It's pretty easy to do for *most* people. I just don't understand the paralyzing fear that overcomes them when I suggest that. I also think that "but my business email address has to stay the same!" is not a valid argument. I have assisted some people here at the university that I work in getting a brand new email address, and (surprise) life went on and people still managed to send them email.
On a side note, I switched to a different bank in 2002, one with no monthly fees. I was amazed at how easy it was to do, and now I must be their most vocal evangelist. I'm constantly reassuring people that they, too, can stop paying monthly services charges to their bank. I think I have six converts so far:)
And no, 2002 wasn't some magical year of transformation. I think it's just coincidental...
I'm amazed that Lycos thinks this will actually work, simply from the fact that I do not know anyone that has downloaded a "screen saver" for their computer in the last year.
It used to be all the rage... yes, starting with AfterDark decades ago, and finally culminating in WebShots a few years ago. But does anyone really do this nowadays? Seriously?
Maybe if it showed a random "babe/hunk of the day" while doing its nasty work it would be downloaded by more people...
I was working at a university in Canada a few years ago, back when LinkSys wireless routers were cutting edge technology and quite the novelty. I was setting this router up on site for a "career expo", so that the employers could fire up their laptops and, using the wireless PCMCIA cards we supplied to them, access the internet and highlight the careers section of their web site to potential new recruits.
I wasn't even looking when I asked the tech intern I had hired to "hand me the power supply" for the wireless router. He did, and I plugged it in. We both watched, horrified, as some acrid smoke started to pour out of it.
"What the hell?!? Did you give me the right power supply?"
"Um, I don't know... was there more than one?" (Perhaps the fact that the power cube was stamped "US Robotics" instead of "Linksys" should have been a clue - but, really it's my fault for not even looking.)
So I unplugged the thing, checked the label and sure enough - we had given the router 18 volts when it was expecting 9.
I then cracked open the case of our brand-new-toy-with-the-pretty-blue-case right on the spot, and saw that we had fried a surface-mount capacitor. Hmmm. I scraped the charred remains of the capacitor off the circuit board with my flat blade screwdriver and then re-assembled the unit, praying to the gods of electronics.
After plugging the CORRECT power supply, we were both shocked that the darn thing just worked. Good thing, or we would have had to refund a few thousand dollars we had charged for on-site wireless internet access that day.
Slashdot Mirror
I read the review, and it sounds like Kurzweil is too optimistic for me... personally, I found Marshall Brain's Robotic Nation to be much closer to the reality that I think is coming up for us.
Well the temperature here in Saskatoon, SK, Canada got to be that cold (with wind chill) only a few months ago. So it's not just good enough for the penguins - it's good enough for people who don't know better, too.
I routinely BBQ in -40 temperatures...
Yes, having to post your email address for others to see on a web site is no longer a requirement. Especially since most of the web hosting companies will provide you with a free formmail script.
:)
I took a few steps to curb spam in 2002: first, change my email address. That alone put an abrupt halt to the flow. Second, added comments forms to all my web sites, to stop the future flow.
Granted, I still get some spam, assumedly because some messages that I send get forwarded and harvested somewhere. I get about 2 or 3 spam emails per week right now, without using any filters at all. So that's acceptable to me.
I continue to advise people to change their darn email address and start anew. It's pretty easy to do for *most* people. I just don't understand the paralyzing fear that overcomes them when I suggest that. I also think that "but my business email address has to stay the same!" is not a valid argument. I have assisted some people here at the university that I work in getting a brand new email address, and (surprise) life went on and people still managed to send them email.
On a side note, I switched to a different bank in 2002, one with no monthly fees. I was amazed at how easy it was to do, and now I must be their most vocal evangelist. I'm constantly reassuring people that they, too, can stop paying monthly services charges to their bank. I think I have six converts so far
And no, 2002 wasn't some magical year of transformation. I think it's just coincidental...
Todd
I'm amazed that Lycos thinks this will actually work, simply from the fact that I do not know anyone that has downloaded a "screen saver" for their computer in the last year.
It used to be all the rage... yes, starting with AfterDark decades ago, and finally culminating in WebShots a few years ago. But does anyone really do this nowadays? Seriously?
Maybe if it showed a random "babe/hunk of the day" while doing its nasty work it would be downloaded by more people...
I had about the same effect happen...
I was working at a university in Canada a few years ago, back when LinkSys wireless routers were cutting edge technology and quite the novelty. I was setting this router up on site for a "career expo", so that the employers could fire up their laptops and, using the wireless PCMCIA cards we supplied to them, access the internet and highlight the careers section of their web site to potential new recruits.
I wasn't even looking when I asked the tech intern I had hired to "hand me the power supply" for the wireless router. He did, and I plugged it in. We both watched, horrified, as some acrid smoke started to pour out of it.
"What the hell?!? Did you give me the right power supply?"
"Um, I don't know... was there more than one?" (Perhaps the fact that the power cube was stamped "US Robotics" instead of "Linksys" should have been a clue - but, really it's my fault for not even looking.)
So I unplugged the thing, checked the label and sure enough - we had given the router 18 volts when it was expecting 9.
I then cracked open the case of our brand-new-toy-with-the-pretty-blue-case right on the spot, and saw that we had fried a surface-mount capacitor. Hmmm. I scraped the charred remains of the capacitor off the circuit board with my flat blade screwdriver and then re-assembled the unit, praying to the gods of electronics.
After plugging the CORRECT power supply, we were both shocked that the darn thing just worked. Good thing, or we would have had to refund a few thousand dollars we had charged for on-site wireless internet access that day.