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It's Just this Little Chromium Switch Here

Weblogging and commentary by Chip Rosenthal

Lowe's: Spamming Home Improvement

Submitted by chip on Sun, 15-Dec-2002 - 5:09 pm
in

No spam, LowesLink: Letter from Lowe's (95KB scanned image).

Lowe's spammed Dave Lugo with unsolicited email. Dave complained, because he never gave Lowe's permission to email him. Instead, Lowe's probably acquired Dave's email address through means such as web scraping or e-pending. Lowe's responded to Dave, pretty much saying, "Our shit doesn't stink."

Here is the problem: Lowe's acquired Dave's address, but they never acquired Dave's permission. Lowe's performed a mass emailing to people without ever having their permission, and that, my friends, is spam. What's worse, not only is Lowe's email campaign unethical, it is outright illegal in many states.

This gives the potential Lowe's customer pause to consider. First, Lowe's is in denial regarding their offensive marketing policies. Second, they stand firmly behind their "opt-out spam" policy. Finally, they engage in unethical--and possibly illegal--marketing practices. If the cost of doing business with Lowe's is more spam in my mailbox, then I think I'll shop elsewhere.

Santa Likes Beer!

Submitted by chip on Sun, 15-Dec-2002 - 12:46 am
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Thirsty SantaLink: You Better Watch Out!

Is there anything more distressing than turning the corner and seeing a hoard of rowdy, drunken Santas bearing down on you? Why, it's Santarchy! (via MeFi)

pxytest News

Submitted by chip on Sat, 14-Dec-2002 - 3:29 pm
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I released the pxytest open proxy tester last month, and it's received a great response.

When I released the program, I did so without testing the cisco module. This test detects a router without a password set, which can be used to proxy spam. I just received word from Furio Ercolessi that this module works correctly. Cool! And thanks, Furio.

My Boner is Screaming Hello

Submitted by chip on Fri, 13-Dec-2002 - 2:28 am
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signLink: Busy Marquee.

Some immature, juvenille pranksters are running around South Austin rearranging letters on signs. And, of course, I think this is the damned funniest thing I've seen on the web. (via MeFi)

May I Fix You a Nice Roast Beef Sandwich?

Submitted by chip on Fri, 13-Dec-2002 - 12:09 am
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roast beefI believe the most powerful commercial use of the web is the most mundane: using it to deliver better service at less cost. Unfortunately, too many companies believe web-based customer service means slapping up a comment form that goes to some poor webmaster that can't do anything anyway.

I recently had a bad shopping experience at a local Albertson's supermarket that became a positive customer service experience, thanks to their web site. I received an apology, my money back and what appears to be a 30-day supply of roast beef.

Here is what they did right:

  • Confirmed my complaint immediately. The next business day I had an email from the website staff letting me know a customer service rep would contact me in a few days.
  • Referred my complaint to somebody who could do something about it. The following day I received a phone call from the local store manager.
  • Tracked my complaint. I was tied up at a conference and unable to return his call. A few days later I was CCed on email that leads me to believe they have a tracking system and my complaint was showing up unresolved.

Organizations that want to implement effective web-based customer service can take a lesson from this. That lesson is you can make even disgruntled customers happy if you've got good systems and procedures in place--and you give them a heapin' bag of fine roast beef.

Yes, Commissioner

Submitted by chip on Wed, 11-Dec-2002 - 9:09 pm

This month I started serving on the City of Austin Telecommunications Commission. Tonight was the first meeting. I was all excited to come back and blog all the exciting geeky technology policy stuff we did.

But we didn't do any. It was just a worksession to markup the annual workplan document. *yawn*

So, instead I'll pitch the Grant for Technology Opportunities (GTOPS) program. This program awards matching grant money to local organizations that are doing cool things with technology. These are modest grants, ideal for small community projects. If you have some idea for a project or service that would benefit portions of Austin, you ought to look into it.

Cognitive Dissonance

Submitted by chip on Wed, 11-Dec-2002 - 12:42 pm

Mona LisaAlright, let me admit right now the utter hypocracy of railing about copyright and public domain and illustrating the rant with stolen artwork.

But, see, I've got a very good explanation. It looks really, really cool.

Oh, and if that isn't bad enough, I linked to their server, so they get to do the work of serving up images for my blog.

Somebody please spank me.

Public Domain: A Metaphor

Submitted by chip on Wed, 11-Dec-2002 - 1:52 am

JunkyardLast night, I was involved in a discussion regarding copyright issues. Some of the concerns mentioned include shrinking fair use rights as well as devaluation of the public domain.

During the discussion of public domain, a metaphor occurred to me that I kind of like. I suggested that the public domain is becoming considered a creative junkyard, where we cast off stuff when it is no longer of value. That, of course, is not the purpose of the public domain. It would be good if we can turn this perception around, so that people can understand the value of having material in the public domain. Otherwise, where will Disney get the ideas to steal for their great movies?

This metaphor is © 2002 Chip Rosenthal. Reverse engineering and circumvention will be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.

(Photo courtesy Whistler Photo-File. Used by permission.)

Rah! Rah! Open Source

Submitted by chip on Tue, 10-Dec-2002 - 11:23 pm

Tux the PenguinToday, I participated in a panel at the Fifth Annual National Community Network Conference called Open Source Issues. It was the first outing of the EFF-Austin Open Source Posse (open source has a posse ... get it!?!?) I think we did a pretty damn fine job for a first outing.

Jon Lebkowsky organized the panel, and did a great job arranging a discussion that came at the issue from several directions. My presentation was entitled Open Yourself to the Idea of Open Source. Other people covered the cold, hard realities of OSS, I just wanted to get people fired up. I did so through a combination of three approaches. First, I suggested that irrespective of price, open source software can sometimes be a better solution than proprietary software. Second, I showed the attendees some of the groovy things available when you consider open source. Finally, I pointed to Tux the Penguin and said, "Isn't he cute? Don't you want to use his software?"

I think some of those approaches may have been more effective than others.

David Nunez, a fellow panelist, has posted his comments on the session.

Profiling Gone Bad

Submitted by chip on Wed, 27-Nov-2002 - 1:35 am

Link: WSJ.com - If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here's How to Set It Straight.

The WSJ has an amusing article that talks about some funny incidents that occur when profiling software, like in the TiVo or at the amazon.com web site, goes awry.

Very entertaining article ... but raises some concerns. We can laugh because the consequences are silly: the TiVo records Chinese newscasts or amazon.com overwhelms with self-help books. It's not quite so funny, however, if the technology is used in systems where failures are more harmful.

Will we see this sort of software use as a smart profiling system at airports, determining who should be stopped and searched? Who knows, maybe they're doing it already.