From lyger at attrition.org Sun Jun 11 00:32:59 2006 From: lyger at attrition.org (lyger) Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 00:32:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] Movie Review - Harold and Maude - 1971 Message-ID: Harold and Maude 1971 Lyger As with most of my other reviews, I'll tell you what I think about a movie before I go into details about the film itself. Bottom line: 'Harold and Maude' is my favorite movie of all time. The first time I saw it (in my mid teens), I was absolutely floored. Generally catagorized as "dark humour", 'Harold and Maude' is a great mix of comedy, angst, tragedy, and hope. Most people I know either love it or hate it; at one point in my life, I actually recorded the audio track from VHS to cassette so I could listen to it during long drives (anything over 90 minutes). In short, I've probably watched this movie at least 150 times in its entirety. Yes, I'm weird that way. Harold Chasen (Bud Cort) is a 19 or 20 year old "rich kid", perpetually bored and obsessed with death. Either for his mother's (Vivian Pickles) attention or his own amusement (or what seems to be both), Harold stages "suicides" in a variety of ways. In the movie's opening scene, Harold ceremoniously "hangs" himself in his own home. When his mother enters the scene, she examines the situation and tells him "dinner is at eight, Harold.. and do try to be a little more... vivacious." [...] From jericho at attrition.org Wed Jun 14 00:08:52 2006 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:08:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] Drink Coke, Support Attrition Message-ID: http://attrition.org/news/content/06-06-13.001.html Cliff Notes: If you drink Coca-Cola products, email the 'coke reward' code to cokerewards at attrition.org to support a bunch of wack job heathens How many times have you thought, "If everyone sent me one penny, i'd be rich!?" In the case of attrition staff, maybe you thought "If everyone sent me one beer, i'd need a new liver in three months!" Attrition has been going strong for almost eight years now. In that time we haven't plagued the site with ad banners, pop-ups, or even the cute little google ad-words. We've accepted PayPal donations for several years and raked in a whopping 250 bucks (which we are honestly very thankful for). Our Amazon wishlists are never used, half the mail we get is mindless drivel complaining about insipid crap that is usually answered by actually reading the web pages. The box has been fully replaced two times due to hardware problems, payments are routinely made to our landlord for the bandwidth abuse and to keep him too drunk to find our power plug. In short, this isn't a site based around profit or self reward. We're more like those monks that inflict self pain thinking it brings them closer to a higher power. Misguided, pain-ridden, stupid monks. Since we've long been fans of the sci-fi idea of 'micro payments', and no system is in place for such a beast to really work, we've come up with one. Now you too can actually support the site without sending us money or hate mail. Chances are, you are a cracked-out coke fiend like most of us. I prefer the hard-core street drug they call "Coke Zero" these days, moving on from the weak suburban "Diet Coke" or that old-folks home "Caffeine Free Diet Coke" that Munge sips on between shots of Everclear. If you support Coca-Cola like a true patriot, and not those Pepsi jerks like a terrorist would, then you are in the perfect position to contribute. Coca-Cola is running a promotion where you receive a code for each purchase you make. With those codes, you register on one of their web sites and type in the codes to earn points. Enough points and you can earn various prizes, most of which are not worth the time to read about on the web site. If you click around enough, you get to the distant "10,000+ Points" reward list, and things become brighter. In this "pipe dream" category is a pretty swell Sony LCD HDTV that would be a nice reward for the pain and suffering we're put through. So, next time you are getting your fix, take a few seconds to type in the coke code and mail it to us. Only takes a minute of your time and you can spend the rest of the day bragging about how you supported a non-profit site on the intarweb. The codes can be found inside the bottle caps of 2 liter, 1 liter or 20oz bottles, or in the tear off flap of 12-pack cases. They can be found in just about every variety of Coca-Cola products and look something like BNMW7 Y49XR 4X7VJ. This is it net denizens. Some 100,000,000 of you out there, and all it takes is 2,000 of you to mail in the code from a single 12-pack to reach our goal. You would be showing a small token of appreciation for eight years of hard work and it doesn't even require a visit to the post office. If you send in 100 points worth of codes (ten cases, or 33 bottles), we'll hook you up with private access to the old image gallery we used to make available (shut down long ago due to bandwidth abuse), which is up to 5,263 unique images of all varieties, and zero advertisements. That's it, simple and possibly rewarding. cokerewards at attrition.org Cut this out and post it at your work lounge! .------------------------------. | | | E-mail Coca-Cola Reward Code | | to the heathens at | | cokerewards at attrition.org | | | `------------------------------' From jericho at attrition.org Wed Jun 14 19:21:53 2006 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:21:53 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] What users hate most about Web sites Message-ID: What users hate most about Web sites Too many sites are low on usability and high on annoyance http://ww6.infoworld.com/products/print_friendly.jsp?link=/article/06/06/14/79274_HNhateaboutwebsites_1.html By Sandra Rossi, Computerworld Today (Australia) June 14, 2006 Too many organizations unwittingly give their competitors a free kick by having Web sites that are low on usability and high on annoyance. Users have a short fuse when they are browsing the Web, according to Theresa Cunnington, senior usability consultant with services firm iFocus. "It doesn't matter how cool a Web site looks, if users find it impractical they will head to your competitor's site, which is only a click away," Cunnington said. "Flash animations are an obvious, yet stellar, example of what users hate in a Web site; the skip intro button is the most used button on the Internet. "Users hate flash because it's a barrier to the site." Cunnington describes Flash as a classic example of "Jurassic Park Design," that is, designing what you 'can,' rather than what you 'should.' She said Web sites are constantly torn between form and function and as technology changes, new variants on old issues stand out, and new problems emerge. Head of Comunet's Web site design, Damien Coyle believes design is crucial for an effective Web site. "You need to represent your corporate image, which should reflect company ideals," Coyle said. "Not everyone is going to access your site so you need only address the target audience." The top five Web site quirks that users hate the most, according to iFocus are: 1. Invasive advertising: Cunnington says users widely despise ads that cover content, ads that flash wildly and ads that chew broadband. 2. Re-inventing the wheel: people do not want to have to learn how to use a site before they can browse it, Cunnington said. 3. 'Leap of faith' links: that means disclosing information on content and file size. 4. Attention-deficit Web sites: "Users have a special hatred of flashing icons and banners, because they draw the eye away from what is important and hinder their progress," Cunnington said. 5. War and Peace length: "A common mistake in Web design is to just [convert] a brochure to the Web. But the Web is its own medium, and communication has to change to reach users. Users are known to read 25 percent slower on the screen than on paper, read fewer words and don't like long pages which require scrolling down," she said. Another problem is site blindness. "We are now seeing right-column blindness, where users do not see information and links down the right hand side of the screen. This occurs because the right hand column has become known for advertising," Cunnington said. From jericho at attrition.org Wed Jun 14 19:32:39 2006 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:32:39 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] What users hate most about Web sites In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This was too good not to pass up.. : What users hate most about Web sites : Too many sites are low on usability and high on annoyance : : http://ww6.infoworld.com/products/print_friendly.jsp?link=/article/06/06/14/79274_HNhateaboutwebsites_1.html Many users hate long URLs. Even sites that manage hundreds of thousands of pages can use a system that doesn't rely on 300 character URLs that wrap across the screen several times. Not all mail readers will make them pretty clickable links, not all mail readers will do it right. : The top five Web site quirks that users hate the most, according to iFocus : are: : : [..] 6. Web Forms as the only means of contact. While they are convenient for the company, what happens when a form is broken or requires information I don't have? Worse, what happens when I have to put in some number and don't know the format to put in all 0's just to submit my question? Always provide an e-mail address for secondary contact. 7. The web is not special, follow the RFCs. E-mail addresses are allowed to have a + sign in them. Rejecting my e-mail address as 'invalid' shows your company isn't near as hip as they think they are. Its hows you hire sub par web designers. http://attrition.org/misc/no_plus.html 8. Automated systems to 'help' the users, often aren't helpful. Just today I found myself having to "ask Hank" questions to get information about the Coke Rewards web site. My first question of "how do i contact the webmaster" couldn't be answered. CAPTCHA systems that are impossible to read stop spam *and* users. Don't just design the site, use it first. http://attrition.org/news/content/06-06-13.001.html 9. Test your site in multiple browsers! Sites that only work in Microsoft IE are a joke, and the sign of inferior web programming. : Another problem is site blindness. "We are now seeing right-column : blindness, where users do not see information and links down the right : hand side of the screen. This occurs because the right hand column has : become known for advertising," Cunnington said. Perhaps so, but if you read into the philosophy of web design, aesthetics and human nature, that is apparently where a person naturally looks for such controls. Because so many web designers got hooked on left side control design, it propogated and became the problem we see today. Is it right to scold designers that opt to use the right? I don't think it is. As long as the controls are easily distinguished from advertisements, this shouldn't be an issue. From jericho at attrition.org Thu Jun 15 00:44:30 2006 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:44:30 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] the coke scam (was Re: Drink Coke, Support Attrition) (fwd) Message-ID: : http://attrition.org/news/content/06-06-13.001.html : : Cliff Notes: If you drink Coca-Cola products, email the 'coke reward' : code to cokerewards at attrition.org to support a bunch of wack job : heathens After a frustrating day at the coke web site (mycokerewards.com which leads to another server/domain), I finally got all the FAQs and rules to load. Frustrating because the site is poorly written, the pages randomly 404, inputing codez or entering the daily contests error out frequently. Add to that the codes are not always 100% legible on the bottles and boxes. Anyway, after a little math, I see that this loyalty reward program is a complete scam! Here are a few key rules: http://mcr.us.icoke.com/rules.do 1. The Program begins at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on February 27, 2006 and is scheduled to end at 12:00 p.m. ET on January 15, 2007 The Website will indicate whether there is an active Double Points period in effect. 3. Codes can only be used 1 time. Limit: 10 valid codes per Account, per day (12:00 p.m. ET through 11:59 a.m. ET). However, if an Enrollee enters 20 invalid codes before entering 10 valid codes, Enrollee will be unable to enter any more codes for that day. Enrollees may not combine codes obtained by others for deposit into a single Enrollees account, nor transfer, sell, or otherwise dispose of codes in any manner in violation or attempted subversion of these Terms and Conditions. Any attempt to combine or transfer codes or points will result in disqualification from the Program and forfeiture of all points in any Enrollees Account. 9. Enrollees must save the bottle cap, product packaging, and/or promotional item with official code for at least 90 days after the date Enrollee redeems an item online, as it may be necessary to submit it later for verification. 3. The Program is provided to individuals only. Corporations, associations or other groups may not participate in the Program. Cliff notes: You alone, not a group/company/assocation must enter the contest. You have 322 days to input codes, but only 10 codes a day. That is 100 points a day max, for 32,220 points total. So the 20,000 point TV and the rewards for 24,000+ seem feasible. Until you see that you can't combine codes from other people, and must keep the physical cap/box with the code for 90 days after prize redemption. In short, they think that a single person can purchase and presumably consume *2,000* cases of coke in 322 days? If you can drink 74.5 cans of coke per day, every day, for the entire duration of the contest, then you have a chance of getting that prize. Does Coca-cola realize it has implemented a loyalty program that baits people into participating, but won't actually give out the rewards because it isn't possible as outlined in the rules? Is this a cheap gimmick or corporate oversight? I'd like to find out. I'm still aiming to get codes from the masses.. but now, instead of a nice TV as a generous reward for eight years of indentured servitude, it is likely going to be a chance to write a scathing article about corporate lies and the reality of such loyalty reward programs. If I get 20,000 points (which is only now possible if they carry through with the 'double point' days), will they actually part with said TV? Let's find out. From lyger at attrition.org Fri Jun 16 21:13:18 2006 From: lyger at attrition.org (lyger) Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:13:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] Postal: land of the weird and the home of the strange Message-ID: http://attrition.org/postal/p0011.html bcc happens holy airwaves quiz time aol blues, part one aol blues, part B aol blues, part.. oh, screw it more advice from dr. phil lyger so close yet so far we couldn't have said it better do. not. click. the. link. From lyger at attrition.org Tue Jun 27 19:33:19 2006 From: lyger at attrition.org (lyger) Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:33:19 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [attrition] 88 million... is it really an accurate number? Message-ID: http://attrition.org/dataloss/rant/88million.html Tue June 27 18:47:25 EDT 2006 Lyger For the past few days, I've been doing more research on recent data breaches, especially including types of breaches and numbers affected. One number keeps coming up in the media: 88 million. In many cases, "88 million" is described as the number of compromised records. In other cases, it is described as "Americans" or "people": [...] We know that the number 88,000,000 or so has been calculated by adding the number of total people affected from all listed breaches since Choicepoint in February 2005. Looking at this total though, it seems to me that the number is inflated due to the fact that it appears to represent unique individuals. The VA breach really caused me to take a better look at the situation and rework some of the numbers. [...]