Lies, Damn Lies

On Spam and security

I just wrote an entire post about Something Positive, my favourite webcomic online (do yourself a favour and read it), before realising, that, in fact, I have already done so.... but I can't find it. Well, I mean I can find a post about it, but not.... oh its probably my first webcomic a day thing isn't it....

Well, never mind. I'm missing a chance to grill the political candidates for Bath today to go to an Amnesty meeting instead, which shows how committed I am. Well, as I am going to be chair next year, I probably should go to the meetings. It would be poor form not to, really. Hmph, I really wanted to grill the conservative candidate about their insane asylum policies.

Incidentally, if you get an invite to join an SMS passport, for the love of god don't agree! Its just a way for you to sign up to endless spam, and also other people when it asks for their email addresses. I have already been invited to join about 4 different people's mobile network. As I understand it, a mobile network is something that should be confined to phones.

The same goes for that infernal crushmaster thingy. Does anyone remember that? Some moron somewhere would say they had a crush on someone, then THAT person would enter in every goddamn address in their book, meaning everyone else would get an email saying they had a crush on them.... urgh, that was frustrating, although they finally seem to have left me alone. I suspect thats due to bankcrupcy rather than anything else, as I'm not completely sure how such a site made money. Perhaps by selling email addresses to other websites....

Spam must surely cost a bit of money to run. Do people make a profit off such things? One would assume so, otherwise they wouldn't exist (or therein lies capatilist theory), but I can't imagine many people getting an email selling them whatever they're selling them (breast implants seems to be top... surely people don't picmk where to have breast implants from email?). I also get emails telling me that I should enlist to help homeland security, and much as I'd LIKE to secure the US (the homeland sounds oddly like the motherland, oddly. Perhaps one day the glorious communist revolution WILL happen), I'm not sure how much good I can do here. Listen out for terrorist plots to attack the US using Bath university technology? I suppose, but considering our top courses are maths and sports, I suppose we could calculate the trajectory of some thrown shot putts pretty damn accurately. That'd be a novel act of terrorism.

Remember after September 11th and experts were going on tv and talking about all the different ways terrorists could attack us? Surely that was a bad idea? I mean, some of these plans were pretty inventive, and I doubt your run of the mill terrorist had though of them all, and now you've just told them all.

Of course, post september 11th security wasn't always great. I remember, two days day after (the day before, if I remember correctly, I decided would be the perfect oppurtunity to ask the lovely Charlotte out. She said no....) I went on a politics trip to London. On the way into an office for many of the MP's, we were all properly searched and let in. Halfway through a tour, a fire alarm went off (set off, apparently, by a toaster), and we marched out... to be let back in again with no security checks whatsoever.

Hmm, I've probably given the hundreds of terrorists who read this blog ideas now (they account for all the hits, ya see.....)

posted by Mr K @ 6:25 pm