7.6.2004: Pleas and Carrots
An Open Plea to All Mail Server Administrators:
PLEASE turn off the virus scan auto reply. No virus in the last two years has used the real 'From' or 'ReplyTo' address anyway. You're not notifying the actual user with the infected computer. All that is being accomplished is confusing people who don't understand why they are getting that message; and annoying those of us who do understand.
When I retire I want to go play in the tabloid photo manipulation department. Somebody is having a lot of fun putting notorious faces into other pictures. Did you see the one of Osama Bin Laden in Vegas with the showgirl on his lap? Western decadence at it's finest, baby!
Who is it out there buying stuff from telemarketers and spammers? Somebody is falling for it, or they wouldn't keep doing it. Are these the same people who keep the four different(?) shop-at-home networks on my cable box indifferent.
I don't mind advertising, even on websites or other 'non-traditional' spaces. It's still my call to look at the ad and say "Yes, I'd like to know more about that" and contact the company. I don't need them calling me telling me what wonderful mortgage rates they have (for a limited time); or that my lawn needs siding.
And while I'm ranting on the subject, remember to be rude to telemarketers. "Just doing their job," you say? But they applied for and accepted the job as a scum-sucking telemarketer. "I have a non-Christian attitude," you say? Look at it this way: If enough people are rude to them they may decide to quit that thankless job and find something else to do, and contribute to society in a useful way. They get to feel better about themselves, society has a useful member, and there's one less telemarketer in the world. So you see, I really have everyone's best interests in mind.
I'm pretty sure that the person who coined the term 'intellectual property' has never been in possession of same.
One of the most encouraging stories in the news this weekend was in sports. No, I don't mean the Cubs sweeping the White Sox or Houston pitching giving up two Grand Slams in the same game (though those were very nice, too!)
This story is about basketball, a sport I don't even like. Coach K. at Duke University, after being there 20+ years and creating something of a 'dynasty' there, was offered $40 million to go coach the Lakers (who, FYI, just lost the championship to Detroit... so they are the 'second-best' team in basketball.) And it wasn't some clerk at the the Lakers HQ calling him with an offer, either: Kobe Bryant, one of the team's stars, called him personally and asked him to come.
So one one hand, we've got a man who has already proven himself at the college level being given a shot at the Pros, support from key players, and a hefty raise; and all he has to do is move to LA. On the other hand, he has grandchildren within 20 minutes of his office at Duke. He turned the offer down.
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds,
and the pessimist fears this is true.-- James Branch Cabell
