Who is your program for?
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
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
US Supreme Court to consider TCPA case
https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19-631.html is the docket page for Barr, et al., v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., et al. This is a TCPA case involving automated calls with both the Petitioner and the Respondent in agreement as to what they feel the outcome should be. The favored result would probably gut the TCPA’s prohibition against the
Sometimes, it’s you
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?
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
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
Real impacts of spam
I don’t talk about it very often, but there are some real consequences to the mere existence of spam. In 2004, the FTC mentioned it as a driver in address churn*(Federal Trade Commission 2004). Of course, unwanted messages get lost. Finally, we can blame the mere existence of spam for the existence of spam filters.
Political spam: A Few Stats
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
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,