<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>HTML Message</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <STYLE></STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none"> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2>Remember lap cards, the postage-paid postcards publishers put in the magazines, hoping to get you to subscribe?  Back in the '60s, Abbie Hoffman suggested gluing them to concrete blocks and mailing them back to the publishing companies, assuming they'd have to pay the postage on the whole shebang.  If only there were something like that for spammers....</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2>Actually, magazines still include lap cards, but now they seem to be bound into the magazine.  My guess is that as automation increased at the Post Office (after it was privatized), the Powers That Be informed the publishers that those cards had to stop falling out of the magazines and fouling the machinery.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2>Spammers won't be stopped until they start affecting the profit margins of large corporations in a significant manner.  The guv'mint can't do it (it's a global phenomenon), much as they love to declaim against it.  And individuals can't stop 'em.  When it hurts Wal-Mart or Microsoft, a solution will be found. <g></FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=968083413-31012007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2>Annie</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Alan R. Barnard [mailto:tune4u@earthlink.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10:42 PM<BR><B>To:</B> annie@allthingspiano.com; pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: OT - Federal "No Call List" ???<BR><BR></FONT></DIV> <P>What I really want is a button on my computer that, when depressed (or when I'm depressed), immediately sends a command signal to the computer of whomsoever I decide is a low-life spammer, the receiving computer then delivers about a 50 Gigglevolt shot directly to the testicles (or equivalent tender parts) of said slime-ball, resulting in serious death, or worse, and then he'd get a popup message giving him a very stern talking to and a fabulous opportunity to invest in a Nigerian Viagra mine!</P> <P><BR>Maybe, just maybe I shouldn't be trusted with all that power. </P> <P> </P> <P>Say, we could require the federal courts and a congressional oversight committee to approve each zapping. This would reduce the violence, but also the effectiveness of the program because nothing would get done until said slimy creep spammer has already died of old age--as well as his great, great grandchildren.</P> <P><BR>The Unknown Cynic<BR>Salem, MO<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>