Author Archive
Who?s selling your email to spammers; and for how much?
Let?s face it: Spam is out of control. Every day we open our outlook or gmail boxes and practically drown in mortgage offers and penis enlargement pills. But where does it come from?
Sure, one can expect all those ?free ipod? type sites to sell your email, but you?re a smart one. You?re careful about the sites you give your email to and you don?t list it on forums right? But still every once in a while a golden palace casino ad slips in. (I couldn?t help myself there!)
Well, I?ve done some researching and what I?ve found may surprise you. It?s time you start thinking a 3rd time before you give out your email. It?s true that high schools have been selling your name and address to the military since before World War 2, but would you expect an online job site to do it? Groovejob.com is offering a list of 169,000 job seekers between ages 16 and 24 for only $85. What a deal!
Ever look for a job on CollegeRecruiter.com or Jobanimal.com? They?re selling over 1.1 million email addresses AND telephone numbers of job seekers for only $115.
Hoping to win a million in the publisher?s clearing house sweepstakes? They?re sure cashing in. Everything they know about you and 2.5 million other people is being sold for only $100.
Are you one of the 210,423 people who use 123Jump.com for stock quotes? They?re using your email address to make a quick $150.
Even the national association of secondary school principals is selling their email list. It?s going for $125; which is quite affordable for the average principal who makes $64, 453 yearly. Did I mention they?re selling your financial information too?
Are you an IT professional? Get your Microsoft certifications at CertCities.com and they make $300 / month for their email list. All the Microsoft certs in the world won?t be able to block that spam.
Attended a recent Computer Security conference? One un-named booth received 413,000 visitors, and sold their attendance log for $195. Even the new church life leadership is selling their list.
So if you?ve ever wondered where you?re getting the spam from, there it is. Use a free email service and set up a free account for the sites you visit. Forward them to your real account, then cancel them when you no longer need the service. There?s nothing worse than receiving emails from a site you no longer have any interest in.
Here?s my advice to direct email marketers. Don?t buy these lists. If you want to reach people by email, do it the right way. Don?t spam! Instead, rent ad space in a newsletter that the people actually want to receive, or better yet: create your own.
I subscribe to newsletters regarding PHP, Poker, and even HTML. I like reading these newsletters. I want them in my email. Cash in on this! If I see an ad for KEM cards in my poker newsletter, I might buy them. I even expect to see deals on web hosting in my HTML newsletter.
The key here is that the advertiser doesn?t get the email addresses. They simply send their ad to the author of the newsletter, and the author inserts it in. It?s win-win. Your information stays private, and their ad gets read.
Or, if email advertising isn?t your thing, start a blog. Position yourself as an expert. Start posting stuff people will want to read, and they?ll come to you. If it?s useful, they?ll even sign up for email notices.
Most importantly, STOP BUYING THINGS FROM SPAM. A recent survey says that 40% of email users have bought a product by clicking on a link in a spam email. This is why there is so much spam. If we all stopped buying from spam, it might actually decrease.
August 5th, 2003
With gas prices ever increasing due to (rolls a 12 sided die..) “weather related issues”, many Americans are looking towards buying a hybrid as their next vehicle. But what exactly is a hybrid?
Sure we all know it’s a 1/2 gas 1/2 electric car with a battery that replenishes itself while braking right? Not so fast..
With Americans looking to save gas, auto makers have been quick to slap the hybrid label on just about anything with better gas mileage than last year’s model. Some of the cars being passed off as hybrids this year are merely just gas engines with batteries that re-charge themselves, but don’t actually power anything that a normal battery doesn’t.
Everybody’s trying to cash in on the hybrid craze, even the white house. Despite the 350 patents owned by Stan and Iris Ovshinsky (founders of ECD Ovonics) dating back to the 1960’s, the white house recently credited the department of energy for creating the batteries used in hybrids. If Al Gore can invent the internet, anything is possible I suppose.
Looking ahead to the new 2007 models however, there is one eerily consistant trend: it doesn’t take much to get that green hybrid label these days. Saturn, GMC and Chevy are about to release “hybrids” that don’t really stack up to the competition.
The typical Camry Hybrid has a 244-volt battery, Saturn’s upcoming Vue hybrid will include a whopping 36 volts, and doesn’t really do anything that a typical battery doesn’t already do, but it does get 20% better mileage than the standard SUV. Better fuel consumption? Sure. Hybrid? Probably not.
The old cliche says you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, and until there are some standard rules for calling oneself a hybrid, buyers should remember that it’s what’s inside that counts.
July 6th, 2003
….When Facism comes to america it will be wearing the flag, carrying the cross, and hunting terrorists.
June 6th, 2003
http://marionjensen.com/2011/09 Parents, grandparents now responisble for video game related crimes.
WASHINGTON DC — In a 6-1 decision, the supreme court ruled today that not only game makers, but parents and grandparents as well can be held accountable if their child commits a crime as a result of playing a video game.
Recently passed House Bill 2718 states that if anyone under 18 commits a crime that is in any way related to a video game, the video game company can be held legally liable.
House Bill 2719 expands on that, to hold parents and grandparents responsible as well.
Supporters of the bill say that depsite their MA rating, kids under 18 are playing games like GTA and becoming desensitized to violence.
The purpose of the bill is to shift all responsibility from the person who actually commited the crime. “Parents who allow their children to play games, despite their age requirement should take full responsibility for whatever actions occur,” says representative Joe Fisher of Utah.
Today’s children are so desensitized to violence, that they don’t know it’s wrong to walk up to somebody on the street and hit them in the head with a baseball bat.
“Parents should know better” says Teresa Scaggs, a homemaker from rural Wisconsin. “If they can’t raise their children to know the difference between reality and videogames they should be punished.”
“Just like John Madden Football helps prepare our children for multi-million dollar NFL careers, games like GTA and America’s Army only prepare our children for a life behind bars” says concerned parent Sheryl Haggardy of Mount Pelier.
In extreme cases, the law even applies to grandparents citing “failure to raise children who are capable of properly raising children”. While a juvenile may recieve probation for commting a video-game related crime, parents and grandmothers can face anywhere from 3 years for a first time offender up to 15 years for a parent of a repeat offender.
“While it’s true we banned the death penalty for juveniles who commited their crimes before they were 18, there is no law stating we can’t execute their parents,” says Supreme Court Justice Roland Phizer (R Texas), “We’re always thinking of creative ways to apply the death penalty and eliminate prison overcrowding.”
Bill 2179 is just the latest in a series of attempts to put the blame where it really belongs: Corporate America. Similiar legislation was first attempted, but fell 3 votes short of passing in August 1983 after a rash of Yogi Bear inspired picnic basket thefts.
February 5th, 2003
Death, War, Greed, Hate, Finance, Cancer, Aids, Poverty, Differential Equations.
One of the traits of being human is that we like to solve problems. Fortunately, we’re nowhere near having a shortage of them to solve. What if, however, we could solve them all? Imagine if you will a world in which there is no disease, no poverty, no hate, and no crime. Imagine a world in which terms like ‘greed’, ‘selfish’ and ‘minority’ didn’t exist, a world where everyone lived forever. Imagine a perfect world, a quixotical utopia. Given the choice, would you partake in it?
If life were eternal, would it have a point? Our existence would be dull and void. It seems that while we strive to solve problems, we can’t deal with solving them all. We are analytical machines fueled by problem solving; our existence driven merely by the search, the answers insignificant.
A problem for many, death is life’s next big adventure; in fact it’s the only thing certain in life save heartache and taxes. Since the days of our youth we spend each birthday becoming aware of and counting down to our death, yet we spend all of our resources, if you will, trying to cheat it. We avoid death, prolong it, and in most cases fear it, yet could we live without it? Death begets time’s omnipresent importance. Without death, life is meaningless.
Could we humans psychologically deal with such a world? This writer says no. Life without death is tragedy. It’s like playing poker and getting a royal flush every hand, not only that, but knowing that you’re going to get it before the cards are even dealt. Would you keep playing the game? Or better yet, what would motivate others to keep anteing up? As for me, I’m unsure. I just wanted to use the word quixotical.
January 1st, 2003
Many analyists say that if the NHL doesn’t resume playing this year (at the time of this article it has less than 24 hours to reach a decision), at least 4 teams will fold.
I agree. The NHL needs to lose 5-7 teams immediately. Not only will this take hockey out of the smaller markets, but it will also help spread the talent around.
The borderline NHL-AHL players won’t be playing in the NHL anymore,and while i’m sure that’ll cause alot of my friends in the ECHL to lose their jobs, the NHL talent will be more spread out.
Teams will have talented players and won’t be forced to play the trap anymore, and scoring will go up. more scoring = more attendance.
Also, a few rule changes are needed..
Bring back tag-up offsides like the college game.
Keep the red line for icing, but lose the 2 line pass. Let the players with speed and hands actually do something.
Start actually awarding penalty shots.
Shorten the season so that each game actually matters. A team should play no more than twice / week.
While the current issue at hand is the salary cap situation, the bigger issue is the ratings. Not one nielsen family watched a hockey game on ESPN last year. (perhaps partly because of commentary along the lines of “well Jim, if they wanna win this game, they’re gonna have to try to put more pucks in the net.”
Hockey TV contracts are small to non-existent. Nobody’s watching. Hockey hasn’t had an icon since Gretzky retired. There is no Brett Farve, Kobe Bryant (thankfully), Barry Bonds or Jeff Gordon in the NHL. The average american can’t even name 5 NHL players not on their home team. Something needs to be done about this.
Somebody mentioned that instead of making a salary cap, tie salaries to incentives, but let’s take it a step further. Insert a league minimum: say 300,000 or something, and a max salary too, say $4 mil
Then, add incentives that can bring you over the max salary for things such as making an all star team, scoring over 40 goals, etc.. (every one of these incentives should be something that puts fans in the seats). These incentives would not be yearly, they’d just raise your base salary.
In addition to those incentives, raise the max salary as a function of how long a player has played on teh team.
Example, after 3 years on a team, salary goes up to 5 million. After 5 years, it goes up to 6. etc…
If you get traded, or test the free agent market, you lose your yearly bonuses, but not your incentive bonuses.
Perhaps if players played in the same place longer, fans would actually learn their names.
November 5th, 2002
With Valentines day fast approaching, and many guys out there having already purchased lousy gifts along the lines of oven mits, vaccum bags, or boquets from the “try-n-save”, dotCULT.com is here with our guide of understanding the female language. After all, it’s the least we could do.
What women mean when they say…
Fine:
This is the word women use at the end of any argument that they feel they are right about but need to shut you up. NEVER use “fine” to describe how a woman looks. This will cause you to have one of those arguments.
Five minutes:
This is half an hour. It is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before you take out the trash, so they feel that it?s an even trade.
Nothing:
This means something and you should be on your toes. “Nothing” is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. “Nothing” usually signifies an argument that will last “Five Minutes” and end with the word “Fine”.
Go Ahead (with raised eyebrows):
This is a dare. One that will result in a woman getting upset over “Nothing” and will end with the word “Fine”.
Go Ahead (normal eyebrows):
This means “I give up” or “do what you want because I don?t care”. You will get a raised eyebrow “Go Ahead” in just a few minutes, followed by “Nothing” and “Fine” and she will talk to you in about “Five Minutes” when she cools off.
Loud Sigh:
This is not actually a word, but is still often a verbal statement very misunderstood by men. A “Loud Sigh” means she thinks you are an idiot at that moment and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over “Nothing”.
Soft Sigh:
Again, not a word, but a verbal statement. “Soft Sighs” are one of the few things that some men actually understand. She is content. Your best bet is to not move or breathe and she will stay content.
Oh:
This word followed by any statement is trouble.
Example; “Oh, let me get that”. Or, “Oh, I talked to him about what you were doing last night”. If she says “Oh” before a statement, run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. She will tell you that she is “Fine” when she is done tossing your clothes out the window, but do not expect her to talk to you for at least 2 days. “Oh” as the lead to a sentence usually signifies that you are caught in a lie. Do not try to lie more to get out of it, or you will get raised eyebrows “Go ahead” followed by acts so unspeakable that I can?t bring myself to write about them.
That?s Okay:
This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can say to a man. “That?s Okay” means that she wants to think long and hard before paying you retributions for what ever it is that you have done. “That?s Okay” is often used with the word “Fine” and used in conjunction with a raised eyebrow “Go Ahead”. At some point in the near future when she has plotted and planned, you are going to be in some mighty big trouble.
Please Do:
This is not a statement, it is an offer.
A woman is giving you the chance to come up with whatever excuse or reason you have for doing whatever it is that you have done. You have a fair chance to tell the truth, so be careful and you shouldn?t get a “That?s Okay”.
Thanks: (depreciated)
A woman is thanking you. Do not faint, just say you?re welcome.
Thanks A Lot:
This is much different than “Thanks”. A woman will say, “Thanks A Lot” when she is really ticked off at you. It signifies that you have hurt her in some callous way, and will be followed by the “Loud Sigh”. Be careful not to ask what is wrong after the “Loud Sigh”, as she will only tell you “Nothing”.
October 5th, 2002
When I first started writing for this site, I swore to myself I?d never do a video game related article. Up until now, I honored that promise. Forgive me Stu for treading on your ground.
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, just give it up, the sun has set on your parade. Take a minute, step back, and look at your creations. 3d graphics, fast processors, stereo quality sound, and a cd drive all welded nicely into a small box. I hate to break it to ya, but computers have been around for a while now, and with the right equipment they?re much better at doing what you?re trying to do.
New systems are costing around $300, new entry level computers are costing around $400, and for the most part, they offer the same features, if not more.
When?s the last time you upgraded your console? Could you if you wanted to? If you want to play the latest game, you?re stuck switching to the new console, all at a great profit for the company no less. My computer however, has handled all the latest craze games without ever needing an upgrade; and the graphics are a heck of a lot better on my computer screen.
Sony and Microsoft are now releasing online and storage capabilities for their systems. My computer?s had an internet connection and extra hard drive space since 1987 when I was still playing the text-based Leisure Suit Larry.
Why do we buy consoles? The graphics aren?t better, they?re not upgradeable, and they don?t offer any of the features of a PC. That only leaves game selection.
It?s time for us, the consumer, to stop buying console games, and start telling the companies that we?d prefer PC games.
September 4th, 2002
I used to be your rooster, now I’m just your Cock.
You make a dead man come.
There, I said it. What was so terrible about that?
Thank GOD the NFL had a 5 second delay so that nobody had to be subjected to Mick Jagger saying cock and come in 2 songs that recieve unedited national airplay.
They may be clean enough for the radio censors to play hundreds of times a day across America, but thank GOD they protected me from them during the superbowl halftime show.
It’s not like anybody could understand him anyway.
Does anybody else remember what life used to be like about 6 years ago when people weren’t offended by crap like this?
June 6th, 2002
I awoke one morning to find a mice parade strolling by my bed. They were a pursuant to a vibe, a vibe I heard through the walls of a crashing tumbler. I rose myself from my bed, taking care to not trample the stream of rodents, and lowered my great self to their level. There but one stepped out of the procession and gave me a great stare, unblinking, guiltless and pondering. I too did stare at it in like manner. Having completed this mute exchange the mouse and I returned to our former positions.
Where did the stream of mice begin? Moreover, what is the destination? The obligations of the day, and life itself, dissipated as I readied myself with shoes and a coat, and followed the procession outside my bedroom to the halls outside, down the stairwell nine floors, and out onto the streets outside.
Through ice, through snow, through dirt and weed, sloshy mud and crackling frost, I tracked the mice across the city, the line of rodents never terminating over the horizon. In my newfound sense of purpose, the simple nature of my quest gave way to a serenity and inner peace. All I had to do was follow these creatures to their destination, should they have one.
Yet in that thought terror struck me. What indeed if we did reach the end of our journey? Of what of our lives then, of purpose and desire? Will there be a new quest to embark on? Or with the end of the parade comes the end of us? Folly, folly, folly.
We are but a mice parade. For now, that is all I needed – and wanted – to concern myself with. We were a pursuant to the vibe, the vibe coming through the walls of a crashing tumbler, and we did not know where we came from nor where we go, but we go because that is what we do. In this, we live.
I guess in a way we all have to find our own mice parade to join. It’s not mindless conformity, as most are wont to despise, it’s accepting simple purpose. Life’s too short to submit the body and the mind to grand, epic tasks. It’s about finding a simple stream of creatures and joining them in their confident march toward a goal, a destination, a purpose.
Join the health parade. Join the love parade. Join the happiness parade. Just join the mice parade, and march towards a goal. Singular purpose outweighs the lofty thoughts of the malcontent.
Christ, that was some pretentious bullshit, wasn’t it?
June 4th, 2002
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