letters to dogs on trucks jr.
dec 05
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dear dogs on trucks jr
hi, how are you doing today?
can I please borrow your can of website validation spray?
thanks. yours truly, Henrietta Kittyson.
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dear "Henrietta", sorry, right now I am trying to be thrifty with my validation spray. Can I offer you some content fresheners instead?
Have a great day & thanks for riding the Dogs on Trucks loop!
Sincerely, Dogs on Trucks jr.
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nov 2005
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dear mr. dogs on trucks jr sama,
we went and looked up your credentials and your assets and so forth and boy do we apologize for trying to scam you with those junker robots!!!
warui ne!
please do not turn off the dial tone of the Dogs on Trucks Intranet!
we are ever so sorry we ever let you get wrapped up in the gigantic hassle our robots caused.
please tell the Dogs on Trucks Intranet that we said hello, and we are sorry.
just to re-iterate, we are ultra-sorry we tried to sell malware via your site.
and yes, we can now hear the sound of a door slamming. it really really hurts our ears and we are sorry, we will not try to scam your loyal readers anymore.
sincerely,
Rat Bad Cr*pware Inc.
tags: stateless html, walkout, strike, moshi moshi, ma bell, dial tone, lab, search broker, preference engine
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news - nov. 20, 2005 - via yahoo headlines.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Match.com, one of the top Internet dating websites, has been accused of hiring people as "date bait" to date some of their one million customers to encourage them to keep paying for the service.
more...
letters to dogs on trucks jr.
dear dogs on trucks jr.
EMERGENCY!
your robots are spinning ads for questionable goods and services!
quickly put them on a leash please!
This is a very classy organization and we can't have it be all trashy looking.
thank you for your attention to this matter.
sincerely,
the manager
ideapark.org
tags: sustainability, ecology, global warming, green design, fair trade, fuzzy searching, anti-keylogging
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dear the manager
I was probably as shocked as you were to see my robots spinning content like that.
please forgive me for the oversight. I won't let them get loose again.
sincerely, dogs on trucks jr.
slashdot post - keyboard snoopers are after your money etc.
Posted by
Zonk on Friday November 18, @09:39AMfrom the not-a-friendly-neighborhood dept.
JamesAlfaro writes "Hackers are likely to
release more than 6000 keylogging programs this year--up 65 percent from the number in 2004--according to Reston, Virginia, security vendor iDefense." From the article: "Each variant could lead to anything from a few to several thousand infections, Ken Dunham, senior engineer at iDefense, said. Keylogger software typically tracks keystrokes on infected computers and is used to try to steal sensitive information such as user names and credit card data. The biggest problem with keyloggers, which silently relay data to attackers, is that they often go undetected, easily slipping past firewalls and antivirus software, iDefense, a division of VeriSign, said. "
more...tags: privacy, search, biometrics, security, computer virus
from a Wired article - $100 hand cranked laptops
Negroponte: Laptop for Every Kidby Kevin Poulsen
12:58 PM Nov. 17, 2005 PT
TUNIS, Tunisia -- If tech luminary Nicholas Negroponte has his way, the pale light from rugged, hand-cranked $100 laptops will illuminate homes in villages and townships throughout the developing world, and give every child on the planet a computer of their own by 2010.
more...Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69615,00.html
letters to dogs on trucks jr.
dear dogs on trucks jr.
Is it true that you are a big jagaimo (podunk) ?
I hear that you eat squirrel meat etc, and use a junk car for a closet.
sincerely,
Clarissa in Palo Alto
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dear Clarissa, thanks very much for your visit. I have forwarded your inquiry to the Palo Alto headquarters of Dogs on Trucks Dot Net. Enjoy your time in the queue!
Sincerely, and in a lighthearted spirit of fun,
Dogs on Trucks jr.
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ciao hello everybody, how are you all doing
thanks so much for visiting
the visit counter is getting worn in nicely, it is delightful to see
there is an interesting post in slashdot today about a
book called
my areas of expertiseit really looks cool
so some people do not know this about me but I wish to keep it rather transparent: If given the choice between living on squirrel meat and dandilion greens, etc. WITH my constitutional rights intact OR living on somewhat more luxurious fare, for example buffalo meat and ramps WITHOUT my constitutional rights intact well, there is just no contest, pass me the squirrel meat.
don't tread on me, mofos
so
I learned some interesting stuff about fuzzy searching today...some very intriguing developments in this area...I must say that I am feeling more and more satisfied with the way the human-shaped web is turning out...
ok I must go now, hope you are all well, take care
dogs on trucks jr.
tags: fuzzy searching, constitutional law, web coverage
update on the feral robot situation
hi folks, here is an update on the feral robot situation and the situation with the rabid anti-technology person (we will not name names) that got so bent out of shape about having no phone number to call when things go wrong with adwords -
things are okay now. An actual human wrote me back and told me how to fix the situation.
bye, gotta go!
-dogs on trucks jr.
danger! feral robots
The Bible says,
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;and I suppose that goes double for the Internet.
I guess it serves me right, then, that I should be having so much trouble right now trying to get some help from the robot-clowns at Google, who are charging me for ads I do not want to run.
Does anybody know any ACTUAL HUMANS that work at Google? If so can you please tell them GOOD JOB completely ignoring your customers and letting your robots run wild.
tags: adwords, complaint department
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tags: phytolacca, pokeberry, color sample, ink grinding
letters to dogs on trucks jr.
dear Dogs on Trucks jr.
hello! mighty fine weather we are having, don't you think?
I have a robot question for you.
Please tell me how to train my robots so they will deliver relevant content to my readers.
right now all they are delivering is generic stuff that makes me look like some fool who does not care about relevant content.
I keep trying to tell them to serve some ads about "conservation", "global warming", "alternative energy", "ethical mining" etc. but they are still not getting it.
Can you give me some suggestions?
Thanks
Henrietta Kittyson
201 Dogs on Trucks Blvd.
Colorado, The Internet
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Dear Henrietta,
Try to be patient with your robots. It's not their fault that they are binary.
Keep using your target words whenever you get a good opportunity to do so.
And don't forget to tag your posts!
In the bad old days of the Internet, tagging your text was a no-no. the Big Dogs of the Internet said that that was called Keyword Stuffing, and they considered it spam.
Now, thank goodness, tagging your text is legal, so little dogs like us can get our message to the public without having to grovel and perform demeaning information architecture gymnastics to make our content look like their context.
However, if you do all this and you don't see any good results within a few days or so, it may be time to ice your robots .
hope this helps. have a great day and thanks for writing!
--dogs on trucks jr.
tags: conservation, strip mining, alternative energy, ecology, environment, censorship, mountaintop removal
bird-friendly wind energy?
via slashdot.
Sterling D. Allan writes "After 10 years of prototyping, wind tunnel testing, patenting, and tweaking, Ron Taylor of Cheyenne (windy) Wyoming is ready to take his vertical axis wind turbine into commercial production. Design creates pull on the back side contributing to 40%+ wind conversion efficiencies. Because it spins at wind speed, it doesn't kill birds, and it runs more quietly. It also doesn't need to be installed as high, and it can withstand significantly higher winds (can generate in winds up to 70 mph, compared to ~54 mph tops for propeller designs). Generating costs estimated at 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, putting it in the lead pocket-book-wise not just of wind and solar, but of conventional power as well. Production prototype completion expected in 5-7 months." more...
tags: alternative energy, wildlife protection, wind energy
is ANYTHING on the Internet not a scam?
man holy cow I am just getting scammed left and right of my time on the Internet.
how do I get myself into these projects?
I think I may be getting swindled of some of my money, too, although I do not have the sharpest ability to count money.
Cafe Press HELLO! charge less money for your stuff! or something!
if you are thinking about getting you a Cafe Press shop at this point I would say, fine, do that if you want but do not get disappointed when you check your account and every single time it is BIG FAT ZERO, nada, nothin.
oh and if you are thinking you are going to make Big Cashola microtasking for Mysterious Turf or whatever its called, well please tell me the secret thing you think you are going to do to make over 60 cents an hour because I tried it. And not only is it boring it is INCREDIBLY boring and depressing. I looked at ugly real estate pictures for two hours and am still waiting to find out if I made enough money to buy a cup of coffee.
man I am grumpy this evening good thing I am wearing my grumpy blog.
I am suddenly curious - how would robots sort the content of this post?
I think I may go perform a little test.
ok I gotta go now bye.
- dogs on trucks jr.
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fun constitution facts - did you know that the US constitution was written in pokeberry ink?
tags: mechanical turk, microtask, microchore, microindustry, nanochore, information routing, information sorting, wired thought
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The FBI's Secret Scrutiny
In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans
By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 6, 2005; Page A01
The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.
Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender "all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person" who used a specific computer at a for three dozen Connecticut library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital recordslibraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow...
see the article
tags: information management, library, vendors, privacy, rights, media, ethics
information on dying with pokeberries
source: Chemistry Caveman site.
Pokeberry makes an intense red dye. It is the original "garnet" of the Hampden-Sydney school colors. Without a mordant, however, pokeberry is not colorfast....use sodium carbonate (soda ash, washing soda) as a mordant.
Pick the berries from about half a dozen "heads" and place them in a pot or beaker with 250 mL of water. Make sure the berries are crushed, so that the juice colors the water. Heat the juice on a hotplate until it is hot to the touch, but not boiling. Boiling the juice will destroy the color.
Add 2 tbsp of washing soda to 250 mL of water in an iron pot or glass beaker and bring this to a boil. Immerse the wet yarn in the boiling soda solution until it turns from white to yellow. If you boil it too long, the wool will turn brittle. If your don't boil long enough, the dye will not be colorfast. Remove the yarn from the soda but do not rinse it out. Place your yarn in the hot pokeberry juice for 30 minutes. Remove the yarn from the juice and place it in a plastic bag to "stew in its juices" overnight. Then set it out to dry. You should find that the color does not wash out, even with soap and water.
Throw your berries and stems in the trash and pour your dye down the drain when you are finished. Wash any and all utensils with soap and water and leave the lab or kitchen area cleaner than when you found it.
tags: sallet, poke, pokeweed, phytolacca americana
books & videos about MTR
from the mountain justice summer website.
Books about mountain top removal mining
- To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia, by Chad Montrie
- Destroying of Appalachia is adapted End of the Rainbow, a book by Tricia Shapiro. It gives many facts about the impacts of MTR on communities and the environment in a wonderfully readable story form.
See these video
- Raising Appalachia, a film by Sasha Waters, explores the potential for environmental and economic justice in the coalfields and communities of southern West Virginia by chronicling a grassroots fight against the expansion of the nation's fourth-largest mountaintop mine.
Coal Bucket Outlaw, an appalshop film by Tom Hansell. Coal Bucket Outlaw examines the connection between coal haulers and the larger system that produces America's electricity.
"We're all outlaw truckers... I don't know of one that don't break the law on a daily basis, on an hourly basis, most of us on an every load basis." - Herb Adams owner/operator of a coal truck in Letcher County, KY
Sludge is a documentary that investigates a recent Kentucky coal waste disaster and examines the role of federal regulatory agencies in the coalfields. Filmed over four years, the documentary chronicles the aftermath of the spill, the “whistleblower” case of Jack Spadaro, and the looming threat of coal sludge ponds throughout the region.
- Other Appalachian video documentaries from Appalshop
Kilowatt Ours (2004), a film by Jeff Barrie. The message of this sincere and personal documentary, filmed during an 18-month journey around the southeastern region of the United States in search of answers to the most urgent environmental issues of our day: global warming, air pollution, childhood asthma, and mountaintop removal coal mining in Southern Appalachia. The film encourages all of us to make changes in our use of energy.
Pakistani rape victim honored in U.S.
AP - 2 hours, 3 minutes ago NEW YORK - A Pakistani activist who was gang-raped at the orders of a tribal council was honored by Glamour Magazine as Woman of the Year for her fight against oppression in her homeland. Mukhtar Mai braved social stigma by going public with her 2002 assault, and used the international attention she attracted to set up a girls school in her rural community. "This award is a victory for poor women; it's a victory for all women," Mai said at the Wednesday night Lincoln Center ceremony after actress Brooke Shields presented her award. She said her motto is: "End oppression with education."
tags: Mukhtar Mai
crib notes from ideapark.org
notes from ideapark.org
a preference engine under development
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ideapark.org asks readers: Why is it that "we" so often bear very little resemblance to who "they" say we are? And how can we get that to change, not only for the better, but for the very, very, very much better?
Text tags: demographics, web surfing, web behavior, web hunting, communication, organic search engine optimization---…---…---…---...---
Did you know?A recent scientific study asserts that doing a few "simple" tasks on the computer (like checking your e-mail) will actually lower your cognitive abilities substantially. In fact, the study compared this loss of brain function to that of a person who has been deprived of sleep for an entire night.
Agree? disagree? Demand to see proof? Demand to speak to "The Gestalt"?
Sample answers--Yeah, I have suspected this for a long time. E-mailling is ridiculously complicated. And it's really not safe. Ellen in Bozeman.
---Yesterday I ran across a spam-guard for the e-mail address of one of the Important Bigwigs in the Search Engine Industry. You had to pass through one of those clever bot barriers...you know the ones that say type this in, YJ9kr3? Anyway, like I said, E-mail is dying. Kendra in Western Samoa.
--I get really depressed about the Free Market sometimes, but then I remember how beautiful a thing it really is. If the Captains of Industry want to buy and sell something as priceless and intangible as pure, open human communication, and hope that the cheap paint will go undetected, they are free to throw as much money as they want at their "vision". I got my money catching mitt right here.
--a Gemini in Scotland
text tags: lateral, spatial, thought, study, proof, assessment, e-mail, multitasking, measurement, loss of brain function, speculation, net efffect, sleep deprivation, left to right, communication, router, information design, channel, biometrics, web surfing, search engine traffic, randomizer, sorter, hand sorted content, hand aggregated content, turing test, sales, factor, feature, product, negative, filter, screen, information overload, attention deficit disorder, binary system, inadequacy, virtuality, scam, the human touch---…---…---…---
File under "theories worth investigating"... The idea that we have been so busy building up the Internet with pseudo-edifices in the grand style of Olde Commerce--virtual banks, virtual universities, virtual shopping malls--that we have completely forgotten to ask ourselves whether that musty old economic model is really worth replicating in the Dream Land that is the Internet.
It's time for us to wake up, and quit taking the math test over and over again.
text tags: virtuality, parking lot, shopping center, carbon offset, rat race, green design, telework, information sorting, economy, abundance, labor, perception, commute, robot, distaste---…---…---…---
dear "The Internet",
I am very very very very Lazy and Ignorant, as you can see by the address below.
Do you answer questions from ignorant people?
Sincerely, R in (address not shown)
text tags: developing world, literacy, challenge, public service announcement, vehicle, library industry, inroads, interface, kiosk, public housing---…---…---…---
reader survey--do you find search engine categories useful?(sample answers)
--I don't think those categories are that great at all, really. Who came up with those? Can we please nix those, please? I think they don't work for you-know-what.
--Those web directories are just confusing and commercialized. And not democratic at all.
--They are just another doormat that just says GO HOME to 90% of customers. And PREPARE TO BE SCAMMED to the rest.
--Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
text tags: developing world, literacy, clean water, public service announcement, information as technology, information as artifact, knowledge, model, natural systems, vehicle, library industry, inroads
