[SBE] Paypal, ebay, spam et al

[Cowboy]

On Friday 24 July 2009 06:02 am, Edwin Bukont wrote:

>  

>  Since this isnt really a tech board, it is more of an open forum for 

>  members, and because we do need to be educated on these subjects if our 

>  value is to grow,,,please, continue to educate us.  I would rather be 

>  thought ignorant and prove others wrong, than ignore information and prove 

>  others correct.  There is sooooooooo much misinformation being spwed out 

>  there by 'consumer interest' groups that it helps to have other informed 

>  opinions.



>  They dont always even need  

>  you to enter your email address to get it.  If you pay bills on line or 

>  sign up for email alerts from companies that you pay, I can promise you 

>  that your address was sold, no matter what they claim otherwise.               


 Once upon a time, circa 1992, I was saying yes, you can get a virus
 via e-mail. Most all of the world told me I was as wrong as I could be.
 Some demanded proof, which I publicly refuse to provide, but would
 privately do.
 Then, about 1994, McAfee discovered an e-mail virus, and made it
 publicly known, followed shortly by Norton.
 Folks were shocked that this "Cowboy" actually was right all along !
 Then, about 1995-6, Microsoft released "Outlook Express" and it became
 not only possible, but easy, and immediately thereafter, common.

 Did I contribute to the problem ? I don't think so, as I never released
 details of how, just that it could happen. That I could do it "at will."

 I've always maintained that if one puts a machine on-line, it's a responsibility,
 not a luxury, to know the possible threats, and how to mitigate them.
 It's foolishly negligent at best to ignore the possible threats, and taking
 steps to mitigate them.
 If a machine has a connection to the world, ANY connection, it's "at risk."

 These days, when broadcast projects seem somewhere between very rare
 and nonexistent, I'm finding myself extremely grateful for the foolishly negligent,
 as that seems to be feeding me these days. 
 Custom firewalls, the Spam-O-Matic filtering system, "basic" configuration,
 simple things that should be common knowledge, but obviously are not.

 I don't find a discussion of potential threats and avoiding them to be
 risky or harmful. A "how to" very well could be.
 Pay Pal is not a problem. Blind trust, is !

 If there are no clients asking me to tune a DA, or hang a 6 bay, there do seem
 to be some with IT needs. Perhaps broadcast will lose even me to IT.
 For me, it's disappointing, but not all bad. There's still obviously technical
 work, so I'll still be doing what I enjoy.
 Would I rather tune a phasor, an ATU, or a firewall ? That's a hard one.
 Would I rather recover a station when a tower collapses, or recover
 a crashed hard drive ? Another hard one. Rebuild a transmitter, or a RAID
 array ? Still a hard one.
 If broadcast refuses to support my experience and knowledge, someone 
 else will !!

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

Monday is an awful way to spend one seventh of your life.