No Free Rides, Howsoever Hip They May Be

"Want a free* iPod?"

"I swear** this is true."

"My† friend is a lawyer***************** and he says it's true." (No asterisks).

Just recently, I started a huge shitstorm, lashing out at the world at large like a monkey in a cage with a tattered bag full of feces. It all started on a sunny morning in San Francisco...

I woke up to a fresh pot of coffee and a sweet mug and a bowl with some pot. In my terrycloth robe and my Invader Zim Grrrr Slippers, I went to check my email and grab the electronic news. I was distracted momentarily when I made small talk with my neighbor, Lisa, who happened to be online as well. I didn't notice the big bundle that all but stuffed my inbox. 'Twas a forward to about a million people about a DJ I've never heard of, and a party I would be loathe to go, in a country that was as far from my mind as it was from my body.

I have been spammed by strangers. I have been spammed by spambots. I can so easily write off these fuckers and send them to the guardians of the 'net who are slightly subtler, incognito, and ruthlessly efficient than the Spanish Inquisition (Fear and Surprise, at the very least, being their priority).



But when it's people that I know who are trying to sell me Notox Footspa® or a chance to win another chance to be on the mailing list to the pre-qualifying contest, it is very hard to tell people to fuck off whilst setting a good example. So I replied to all and told them, "stop this". Doesn't the wholewideweb know by now that these mass emails and forwards are what unscrupulous marketers (hate them types marketers) use these email lists to harvest email addresses and personal information? Or is that only a fact I made up in my dredged up mind?

Oh, yeah. What triggered this rant after æons of dormancy? click on the link then:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70420-0.html?tw=rss.index