Enforcement is therapeutic
3 February 2020
Policies exist for a reason. For instance, most email service providers have a policy forbidding the use of non-opt-in lists. Those policies exist because of statements like this one: Microsoft prohibits the use of the service in any manner associated with the transmission, distribution, or delivery of any unsolicited bulk or unsolicited commercial e-mail (“spam”). You
Laws Still Apply to Bad Ideas
30 January 2020
On Monday, I posted that “[acp title=”Forcing Consent Is A Bad Idea” medium=”blog” url=”https://www.spamtacular.com/2020/01/27/forcing-consent-is-a-bad-idea/” year=”2020″ month=”January” day=”27″ author=”Mickey Chandler” id=”me-02″ day_access=”29″ month_access=”January” year_access=”2020″]{title}[/acp]”. The point was to tell say that, regardless of legal issues, there are very practical reasons in favor of setting a policy of not trying to force consent. But, just because there
Forcing Consent Is A Bad Idea
27 January 2020
We previously asked the question “who is your program for?” The idea behind that post was to briefly examine the idea that we make decisions for our programs that are based upon whom we have in mind to benefit. One example that I mentioned to show an incorrect focus was “We’ll require someone to register
Who is your program for?
21 January 2020
When designing something, one of the things which have to be done first is to consider what the purpose of the thing is. Many design decisions are based upon a consideration of whom the program is intended to benefit. Some decisions will seem to benefit both parties. “If people will give us their email addresses,
Tone Matters
13 January 2020
There is more to the story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis than merely learning that people will discount the possibility that they are, in fact, responsible for things that happen because they believe themselves to be above reproach. Another important part of the story is how Dr. Semmelweis responded to criticism. To put things mildly and
Sometimes, it’s you
10 January 2020
Today’s post comes to us from the story of a 19th-century doctor: [acp author=”Imre Zoltán” title=”Ignaz Semmelweis” id=”Brit-1″ url=”https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ignaz-Semmelweis” media=”website” publisher=”Encylopedia Britannica” day=”19″ month=”August” year=”2019″ day_access=”10″ month_access=”January” year_access=”2020″]{title}[/acp]. Dr. Semmelweis was an obstetrician in Vienna who obtained his degree in 1844 and was appointed assistant at the obstetric clinic in Vienna’s General Hospital. There were
Why Is Policy Important?
6 January 2020
Policies are important documents, but not everyone understands why they exist. Policies exist in order to delineate what is allowable and what is not. They also exist in order to inform people as to what rules will be followed in certain situations. This blog has both kinds of policies. We have a Privacy Policy that
Herd Immunity
2 November 2018
It’s the time of year when people start getting their flu shots. Flu vaccinations are important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the concept of “herd immunity.” Part of that concept is that everything does not always go according to plan. That is, some people will get sick despite being
Political spam: A Few Stats
10 January 2018
I’m not enamored with political senders. As a group, they tend to have a sense of entitlement to engage in poor practices. So, they buy, sell, rent, and trade lists. Today’s post is a case study in the last presidential election. I gave tagged addresses to the Trump, Warren, Sanders, and Clinton campaigns. In each
Overwhelmed Recipients
22 December 2017
On the twelfth day of Listmas, my data showed to me overwhelmed recipients… Almost everything on our list from the 12 Days of Listmas has one result: Recipients are overwhelmed. According to The Radicati Group, the “average” email address should anticipate receiving 72 pieces of email per day in 2017. The Radicati Group, Email Statistics Report,