Tuesday, September 26, 2000
I am trying to change my e-mail address to Hotmail.com. I thought I had done this, but I am not receiving NSD at my Hotmail address. When I tried to resubscribe, I was told I was already subscribed with that address, so I wonder why I didn't get it. I'm hoping you can help me out.
Sheila Dee
You are most certainly subscribed with your
Hotmail account. We are e-mailing you NSD, but it's not getting to you,
apparently. The problem is almost certainly a filter somewhere - either
a new one in your software or one at Hotmail. Several Hotmail (and
other major ISP) subscribers share your complaint. Here's why:
NSD uses the same e-mailing technique as most savvy spammers. Why?
Because it works - it gets out our 80,000 NSD issues quickly. When we
send out NSD, we use a process that sends one NSD to the server at the
ISP of each subscriber, along with a mailing list for that ISP. For
example, say we have 57 subscribers at domain.com. We send domain.com
one NSD and a list of all subscribers at domain.com. Then the
domain.com server distributes all 57 copies to the specified
subscribers.
You can see how this saves time and bandwidth over e-mailing 57
individual copies. In fact, if we were to e-mail all our subscribers
individually, one every five seconds, it would take us five days to
send out each issue.
The problem lies in the efficiency of the system. This process works so
well that many spammers use it too. As a result, many poorly
managed/designed mail filters simply filter all mail using this
method.
We suspect that's what's happening to your NSDs. Either you have a mail
filter on your machine or Hotmail has one in its servers (many ISPs now
prefilter e-mail). If it's not you, try asking Hotmail tech support. -
LN
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain to me why I am not receiving NSD. There was a filter on my Hotmail account and you not only solved the NSD subscription problem, but numerous other subscription problems I was having as well. You really have helped me and I appreciate it very much!
SD
NSD 6.31 had the following lead on the GOLEM project: "You probably noticed a recent article in your local rag that covered computers designing, testing, and selectively evolving robots at Brandeis University."
I didn't know that the New York Times is a rag.
Tom Sheehan
It's not a derogatory term, but a description of its tangible properties. - LN
Dictionaries defined "rag" as informal -- a newspaper or magazine thought to be of low quality. I can't find your definition anywhere.
TS
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary just says a rag is a "newspaper", without a derogatory implication. Word meanings evolve. - LN
Call the NY Times, ask for the news desk, and ask a newspaper editor if the word "rag" has any derogatory implications.
In "Translating Archaic Medical Terminology" (NSD 6.31), you wrote: "Abortus fever, for example, has nothing to do with abortion; it's an old term for brucellosis."
I have not been to the Web site you mention but I can tell you that abortus fever/brucellosis has everything to do with abortion, as any cattleman could tell you. When I was growing up on a New Zealand farm, brucellosis was commonly referred to as "contagious abortion" - pregnant cattle abort and the disease is contagious. The disease can be passed to humans through infected milk and manifests itself as erratic high fevers ( a bit like malaria) and was called "undulant fever" - a nasty disease.
John Elliot - Bathurst, Australia
That's nifty info. But what you're talking about is a miscarriage, not an abortion. Semantics, I know, but it counts. - LN
Yes, I would tend to agree with you that abortion is not the same as miscarriage. However, out of curiosity I went to the Archaic Med Terms Web page and looked at the entries for both abortus fever and abortion. Somewhat to my surprise, "abortion" and "miscarriage" are given as synonyms. The exact entry is:
"Abortion: Expulsion of a foetus before it is viable, i.e. miscarriage. When this results from the actions of the doctor, it is termed induced abortion or termination of pregnancy. The word abortion when used by doctors simply means an early end to a pregnancy, whether it is natural or effected by the actions of someone."
Interesting, and somewhat at variance with current lay usage of the words. Language in action! I would guess that before too long the two words will have distinct meanings through popular usage.
By the way, if you are interested in words and their changing use, I can recommend Michael Quinion's World of Words - a weekly e-zine with lots of fascinating stuff. What that chap can ferret out about the origin of words and their changing use is amazing.
And another thing - from the bottom of your e-mail: DNRC Minister of Adding "ue" to Words That End in "log". What is DNRC and is this intended as a sly dig at the French!? I await your response to this dialogue!
JE
"Abortion" and "miscarriage" already have
distinct meanings for me, apparently. :)
Actually, my ministerial portfolio is a sly dig at Americans. I prefer
catalogue to catalog (which is an abomination), dialogue to dialog
(thankfully not yet in much use), etc. I can see where the tech nature
of "analog" can supercede analogue - barely - but in general I use the
classical spellings.
The DNRC is Dogbert's New Ruling Class, a group of tech-savvy fans of
the Dilbert comic who will eventually rule the world. We are each
allowed a ministerial portfolio. You, not knowing what the DNRC is,
identify yourself as a member of our arch-enemies and eventual slaves:
the induhviduals. To avoid conflict, DNRCers stake out their
induhviduals before the take-over. I hereby claim you.
Should you wish to forego induhvidual status, all you need to do is
subscribe to the Dilbert newsletter at the Web site. Consider finding
the URL a test you must pass. - LN
"Abortus fever, for example, has nothing to do with abortion; it's an old term for brucellosis." But, brucellosis can cause premature birth in pregnant cows, bison, etc. There are some who think it can cause it in humans, too. It's why cattlemen fear bison wandering out of National Parks/Forests onto cattle range land (and sometimes shoot them). I enjoy NSD very much, by the way. Keep up the good work.
Dave Miller
So I learned. But then, that's more a miscarriage than an abortion - or maybe it's not. - LN
My favorite old Funk and Wagnall's defines abortion as "The act of bringing forth young prematurely; loosely, a miscarriage." It defines miscarriage as "A premature delivery of a non-viable fetus." Personally, I think of miscarriage as a natural phenomenon and an abortion as an artificially induced miscarriage, intentional or not. In any case, brucellosis is not a normal part of pregnancy, so it can be considered as inducing miscarriage; i.e., causing an abortion.
DM
OK, so I'm a little tipsy because it's one of those very rare sunny days in Seattle and I'm indulging in a cranberry-infused margarita made from (lower taxed) California-purchased Jose Cuervo. But even in this pitiful state, I found NSD 6.30 both mesmerizing and frustrating as hell.
Why? Well, you have the most provocative articles/links (stem cells, language use, etc.) as you mostly do. But this time, you included typos. And to this I write: enough!
My e-mail to you is a challenge to tighten up the (let's assume) typos - puns/jokes/play-on-words aside. You have at least two misspellings and (horror of horrors) a grammatical mistake in this issue. Of course I refuse to point them out, as any lame spelling checker, even MS Word for God's sake, would acknowledge something amiss.
Please note that I am your most loyal subscriber, having found you and read you since nearly day one. I love you man! (Remember I'm full of home-made margarita and Christ, I make them strong!). C'mon, for the English major in us all, keep up the good work, but proofread, so I can read without being alert.
Keep up the excellent work.
Kevin Horst - Seattle, Washington (apparently)
Loved yer apoligy (NSD 6.31)! Thanks!
Jeri Ferris
I, for one, don't mind the spelling errors - oftentimes it makes for fun reading and it could be quite entertaining too. Keep up the good work - don't wear your tie too tite.
Steve Nagler
Did this issue contain a gag? Or just an ironic mistake?
Your article on the GOLEM Project, which points out that most articles on the subject cut off in mid sentence before giving the URL.
Very funny! Or not?
Bill Adams - Corpus Christi, Texas
Would you buy a stupid mistake?
No, definitely not funny. Well, at least not for me. You, on the
other hand, might be rolling in the aisles. - LN
Every time I see that NSD has arrived, I, in my best ADD/compulsive fashion, drop what I'm not doing and read. This last issue, I had just gotten to the point where I thought to compliment y'all, and in my truest fashion, close with a query about "bathic sea..." being redundant.
Then there's this whole schmear about how things are getting famous there, and you haven't maybe gotten your recently smooth system up to speed. Can I suggest that you go to the nearest railroad yard where you're liable to observe a train moving from a complete stop. Listen to how long it takes for the caboose to get jerked forward. And the intervening clatter.
Then please go back to your cubby and send me the end of the story about the Brandeis computer lab and the URL that goes with it. After "Stuff like this impresses even the", all I've got is a banner about onling gaming. At first I thought y'all'd sold out to the casino folk, but then I realized that some of my own spyware must have turned me in. I think at least one of my analysts would have found the whole apologia self-absorbed. But then he drove a red Eldo convertible with a vanity plate "ROSEO".
Allan Clark
"Benthic sea creatures" isn't redundant, since you can also have pelagic sea creatures, for example. - LN
I thought you might point me in the right direction.
I feel I was ripped off by a company and want to start a site to tell my side of the story so that customers will see this. Can you point me to some information that will show me how to do it? For example, what legal boundaries do I need to stay within?
I see the Web as a good equalizer. This company has, in essence, bought a few Gs worth of bad PR from me.
Adam Seaman
Not sure what help I can offer. Certainly no
legal advice, that's for sure. All I can suggest is back up whatever
you can with scans of documents.
This
site did this sort of thing well. Good luck. Send me the URL if you
get it done. - LN
NSD and its education cousins are a joy and a blessing. I look forward to it, spend hours with it and am delighted by most every entry. You're doing something right, believe me.
William Cumpiano
I have been a subscriber to NSD for quite a while now. I don't remember when I joined, so it must be about two years ago or more. In that time, I have subscribed and unsubscribed to many other newsletters and e-mail periodicals, but none have been as enjoyable as this one.
Keep up the good work.
Geoff
I have another word to add to your Flotsam and Jetsam section - Netsam. This is the collection of all junk things on the Web and is identical in definition as both of the former. I believe that history will record more Netsam than Flotsam and Jetsam combined.
I love your digest. Thanks.
Tfshub
No cash register ("Sound Effects Search Engine", NSD 6.32)? There are 16 of them. Your guys do know how to spell "cash", right?
Barry Etheridge
Please save us from the pulsating ad from Casino-on-Net. It is so annoying that I sometimes stop reading. Folks, you are on the wrong track, and will ultimately fail if you are not true to whom you are perceived to be (signal vs. noise).
Just ask Firestone!
Yves Jodogne
After a bit of time wasted on your Web page with Lynx (you really ought to put labels on the first page of links) after netscape 4.75 on Solaris failed to display the page, I was able to unsubscribe myself from NSS. Why does the e-mail say "Subscribers of Netsurfer Digest"? By then I was irritated and felt like snooping around.
Do your subscribers know that every click is redirected to Flycast.com or that their personal browsing habits may be thus provided to a third party?
You really do have interesting pages. Convert the mailing list to send pointers to your main URLs and your subscribers will not have to worry that they are defeating their security by running scripts locally that ought to be running remotely - or is that the only reason that Netsurfer sends out 50kB emails instead of 1kB e-mails?
Charles Richmond
Our subscribers should know this. We don't keep
it a secret. See FAQs 3, 14, 19, and 20. So far, 80,000+ people don't
mind.
If we don't send out Netsurfer e-zines with ads, we don't make any
money. If we don't make any money, we stop doing this. Again, read FAQ
14.
Hope you understand where were coming from a little better. - LN
See ya in a few months.
Publisher: Arthur Bebak
Editor: Lawrence Nyveen
Address your letters to
editor@netsurf.com.
Letters and signatures edited for clarity and brevity.