Overheard on the playground:
— Well I’m going to go on the internet!
— Well, I’M going to go on the internet and READ A BOOK!
Wrong Number (Email Edition)
Have you ever abandoned an email address? Did you make sure everyone switched to your new one? If your old provider has reissued the address to someone new, your old contacts could still be sending mail to someone else with your personal information.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but InformationWeek reports that Yahoo! users who’ve picked up recycled addresses are getting important mail meant for the previous owner of the email address.
It started off with some stuff from catalogs and clothing companies and I thought, ‘That’s fine, I’ll just unsubscribe.’…But then I started getting emails with court information, airline confirmations, a funeral announcement…
Update: Yahoo! is introducing a “not my email” button to report mistaken deliveries.
Well, that’s an interesting approach to the misdirected email problem. This might even be useful as a general solution beyond recycled addresses. I once ended up receiving someone else’s Sears receipt and promotions, I assume because of a sales clerk’s typo.
But I find myself wondering about the potential for backscatter, collateral loss of mail, and just how people will actually use it in relation to the report spam button.
And that’s just with the honest people who get the reused mailbox!
Update 2: For commercial email especially, XKCD points out the importance of actually verifying that the email address someone gave you is theirs, and not someone else’s address written as a typo, and Word to the Wise highlights some real-world cases they’ve written about in the past.
Originally posted as two link posts on Facebook and one on LinkedIn.
Lick This Button
Spotted on this Wired article on how iOS7’s new visual style will open up app development by making it easier for new apps to be accepted on the platform.
Yeah, I can see that having to know “how to bounce fake light off of a lickable button” would be a barrier to entry.
Reflections on Solar Alignment
Monday afternoon I noticed the sun was still shining into my office window. This was a bit odd since my window looks out at another building, and the sun had already sunk behind it.
I looked, and it was reflecting off the building I was in, then reflecting off the building across the way.
Later that evening, I stepped out of the elevator to the sight of sunlight streaming into the lobby from the east.
Wait, east? At sunset?
You guessed it. Once again, it was reflecting off another building.
This part of Los Angeles is built on a North/South and East/West grid, and with the autumnal equinox approaching, it’s lining up just about perfectly with the shiny reflective buildings.
It also aligns perfectly with the mirrors in my car when I’m driving east at sunset. The triple sun is almost worse than driving straight at it.
It’s no Manhattanhenge, but it’s still interesting. One of these days I’ll look up the grid alignment for downtown LA (it’s diagonal) and try to recapture a moment from a few years ago, when I was in exactly the right spot for the sunset to light up all the towers bright orange. That was awesome
Kind of Messy
I…uh… think I’ll get my ice cream bowl somewhere else.
Peanuts vs. food allergies, and all that.
Also, I’m going to need to walk around a while before I touch my shoes. People have been kind of messy.
Originally part of a longer post kicking off fundraising for this year’s Walk for Food Allergy.
Jobs Paranoia
I don’t know about paranoia, but there’s certainly a lot of anxiety about jobs these days…
This Email Is Not Spam
Whenever you see “This email is not spam,” think of Obi-Wan Kenobi saying, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Of course, spammers are less convincing than Jedi (though they do rely on influencing weak-minded fools).