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Sunday, May 12, 2002
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‘Everything… Possible… Happens…’ Slashdot-ed!
I apologize if some of you have been having trouble reaching us. Yesterday we posted a story about RoadRunner co-opting user’s “Organization” header field and replacing user inputted text with “Organization: RoadRunner (location). See this link for details.
Well, at 9:45 this morning we were Slashdot-ed. Since that time we’ve been inundated with traffic and, I’m happy to say, we’ve been the number 1 blog at all major rankings all day long and by a wide margin and the hits just keep coming. There’s long threads at Slashdot and a shorter one here with all sort of interesting comments.
This is a great example of the potential power of blogging. Besides the countless eyeballs on the Slashdot story and the thousands and thousands of hits here, it’s very possible this story will get picked up by Wired, C/Net, ZDNet or one of the other tech news outlets in a few days, then hit the wires. And all from one little story in one little blog.
Cheers,
Dusty
7:41:26 PM 
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Amy Grant Spams a Sour Note. She may be just about the most popular Christian-music singer around, but the spam campaign by Amy Grant's record company might not be winning her many new fans. By Danit Lidor. [Wired News]
This one belongs in the RBMI file. This is a classic Really Bad Marketing Idea.
Cheers,
Dusty
7:11:15 AM
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Sammy Sosa accused of stealing signs. On FARK [News Is Free: Popular Items]
I just love the trumped up indignation inevitably behind whines about teams stealing signs. OF COURSE teams steal the damn signs. Or at least try to. That’s why they use signs to begin with. Duh.
But it’s highly unlikely a coach could be tipping Sammy off on location. A runner on second, maybe, but there’s not time to check a coach as the pitcher goes into his wind-up.
Besides, if the catcher is giving the signs right, neither base coach can see them, anyway. And a good hitter can glance down out the corner of his eye and get a good idea of pitch and location from the way the catcher sets up.
This is just baseball’s version of mind games. Remember, a lot of these guys sign straight out of high school. But in days gone by sign stealing was a more serious affair.
The Cubs were caught in the 50’s with a spotter using binoculars from the famous manual scoreboard in center field. He’d watch the sign and hold up a card indicating pitch and location.
They were caught pretty quickly and theoretically nothing like that has happened since. But it doesn’t stop the mind games, especially between the Cubs and the Cards.
Cheers,
Dusty
7:09:36 AM
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Gadget turns woofs into words. Bow wow wow means I love you? Japanese toy maker Takara introduces Bowlingual which translates a dog's bark into human expressions that are displayed on a monitor. [ZDNet Tech News]
My dog has absolutely no trouble communicating. In fact, she makes damn sure you don’t miss a thing. I can’t imagine first off, that this thing works at all or second, that it could greatly improve canine-human communications.
Now, if they had one for women…
Cheers,
Dusty
6:58:59 AM
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Creation scientists answer back. Creationist scientists write to the education secretary arguing against any narrowing of the science curriculum to focus on Darwinism. [BBC News: sci/tech]
Just a few days ago I posted a story about science losing just by having “creation science” discussed as science at all. Here’s a perfect example of how an impossibly unlikely superstition – in fact not original at all, as it is lifted from much older creation myths – can be dressed up in seemingly logical, even scientific clothes. But underneath it’s still a monkey.
Cheers,
Dusty
6:48:19 AM
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Canada set to reject Kyoto protocol. Its prime minister says it cannot ratify the climate change agreement without concessions that the EU adamantly opposes [New Scientist]
Poor Canada. We bully them so badly in every aspect of their existence, fer chrissakes, let’s just annex the whole damn country and add a few new states.
Cheers,
Dusty
6:40:09 AM
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The War on Terror Flounders. Tom Ridge's command center is symptomatic of the floundering war on terrorism. By Nicholas D. Kristof. [New York Times: Opinion]
In an administration of clown’s Tom Ridge’s Homeland Security gang has stolen the show. The truly sad thing is these guys don’t realize how pathetic they look. They think they’re, like, cutting edge, dude. Scary.
Cheers,
Dusty
6:38:46 AM
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Looking to Elections, Bush Plays Up Domestic Issues. Republican strategists are warning that the war will not guarantee their party victory this fall. By Elisabeth Bumiller. [New York Times: Politics]
Looks like Rove has finally figured out they can’t milk the war on terror for midterms, much less a second term. Bush is particularly weak on domestic issues, especially as signs point to a rapidly mounting astronomical deficit. The strategy will be sound bite warm fuzzies for the soccer moms and only vague policy offerings.
Cheers,
Dusty
6:36:02 AM
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RoadRunner Co-opts User Identities
AOL-Time Warner cable Internet Provider RoadRunner has begun co-opting the “Organization” line of Usenet headers, replacing whatever information a user enters with “Organization: Road Runner – (location).”
All RoadRunner customers nationwide, including business customers, have apparently had their organization identity hijacked by with no disclosure whatsoever, much less an opt-in or even an opt-out. Nothing in their TOS or AUP. Nada.
Traditionally users have always had the option of setting their own “Organization” header, their company, for example, or simply leaving it blank. The only exceptions have been the mostly free Web-based Usenet interfaces and other promotional providers who sometimes add headers or signatures, but to my knowledge, all of them disclose this to users up front.
The local Austin techie rumor mill has it that the order came down from RoadRunner corporate headquarters and possibly directly from AOL-Time Warner. News admins in all RR service areas were ordered to make the change.
When I asked RoadRunner about the change the other day, mailing to help, PR and abuse desk addresses, I received only their standard “piss off and die” brush-off form letter requesting info neither relevant nor extant. A local Time-Warner spokesperson reached late Friday said she knew nothing of the practice or any change of policy and declined further comment. Attempts to reach T-W and RR corporate offices went unanswered.
Folks, this sucks giant Canadian moose cock. If RoadRunner wants you to advertise for them, they ought to pay you. If the don’t pay you, they have no right to steal a part of your online identity that is yours by right and long standing precedent. Tell ‘em you want it back.
If you’re a RR customer, or just a concerned Netizen, take a minute and let them know how you feel about this issue, preferably by phone, as they just ignore e-mails. As my great grandmother used to say, “There is some shit which up with I simply shall not put.”
Cheers,
Dusty
12:52:10 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Dusty Rhodes.
Last update: 6/28/2002; 10:30:48 PM.
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