I offer my thoughts and observations in my annual look at what’s coming for the world of business. [ Adobe Acrobat file ]
by JimCarroll
I offer my thoughts and observations in my annual look at what’s coming for the world of business. [ Adobe Acrobat file ]
by JimCarroll
But in this case, CNN gets it wrong.
CNN notes in a story that DVD players are coming to replace CD players in homes. No problem with that : DVD players are the fastest growing consumer technology ever in terms of adoption rate, and since all DVD players can play CD’s, they’re replacing them.
But DVD’s are just a transitional step. The real home of the future will be just like mine today — with a central server storing thousands of MP3 or other format music files, accessible through a home-ethernet from a consumer audio device. You’ll have a network-based jukebox through which you’ll access your vast music library; will change the tunes that you play through your Web browser or palm-like device; and will find that CD’s have become a relic of the days of old.
The fact is, that is a future that is already here today.
I’ve been doing this for years, as have thousands of other people, with a magical device known as the Turtle Beach Audiotron.
I wrote about this in my article, “Is This Guy Crazy or Just Way Ahead of His Time?” which appeared in Link Magazine, July 2002. There’s also a video on the page that links to this article which explains why my 8 year old son thinks that CD’s are from the ‘olden days.’
[ My article ]
by JimCarroll
It hit -15C (or about 5F) last night here in Toronto. We’ve got a neighborhood rink — volunteer run — and I’m on the flooding committee. I was out yesterday working on it, and again at 5:30this morning. I’m about to head up to see how the ice is coming along, and will give it another 1/2″ or so of water. Some might think you can’t make a rink in December, but they don’t have the constant optimism that I carry with me about anything and everything.
by JimCarroll
If you look at the Weblog for a fellow named Phil Ringalda, you’ll notice it looks suspiciously like this site. That’s because while surfing this morning, I came across his Weblog. I liked the design, and sort of borrowed it. Such is the reality for guys like me — someone who failed art in kindergarten, I suppose — who can’t really design anything that looks half-decent…. [ link ]
by JimCarroll
“Change management is a real key component for success in the future – being able to manage change, embrace change and lead change. Some companies are trying to get a jump on the future by seeking out employees who both flexible and willing to learn. ” American Gas Magazine, 1 November 2002
by JimCarroll
Manage spam by doing it at the DNS, like EasyDNS does…..
This morning was a revelation — I retrieved my e-mail at 5:30am, as I do most mornings.
Of the 95 messages waiting (all of which came in overnight), 4 were real, and the rest were spam.
And the fact it, every single spam message was filed in the trash can, where I could give it a cursory review before tossing it. That’s a first, and it tells me that I finally have spam under control here.
There are two tools that have finally given me such a wonderful spam solution.
First, the company (easyDNS) that provides me domain name management services has implemented a beta test of a new feature that intercepts and tags spam as soon as it arrives. (easyDNS is a Toronto based company that provides domain management services — I’ve been using them for years for the 100 or so domains I operate — highly recommended.)
The beta uses the open-source MessageWall code to examine the sender domain of each and every incoming message. In essence, the name of the domain is checked against a variety of sources — is it on a blacklist of known spam providers? Does it fail a “reverse domain lookup,” which makes it suspicious? Is it coming from an e-mail program that is designed to send spam? Does it fail a number of other tests that indicate it is likely spam? If so, EasyDNS tags the message header with a warning, so that my e-mail software (Pegasus) can automatically throw it in the trash.
easyDNS is using a variety of well-known domain black list services such as the Open Relay Database, the Relay Stop List (RSL) and the Spamhaus Block List (SBL). But they are also a founding member of the DNS Provider’s Blacklist Blocklist, a group of similar companies that has banded together to come up with solutions to the spam problem.
The result of the beta? I’ve found that this new feature is getting 75%-80% of the spam arriving here.
Why does 20% still get through? Spam artists, being the low-life scumballs that they are, hijack valid domains that aren’t caught by domain level tests. There is an obvious time lag between the establishment of a new domain name, and when it is first globally identified as a spam-haus.
To deal with that, I’ve got a 2nd line of defense — SpamPal.
SpamPal watches e-mail as it comes in from my Pop3 server, and examines each and every message for likely spam patterns. It does a wonderful job in getting rid of the rest of the stuff that easyDNS didn’t target.
Result? Today, my first spam-free day!
Links:
[ easyDNS ]
[ MessageWall ]
[ DNS Providers Blacklist ]
[ SpamPal ]
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