More wireless feeds

I've added a few more feeds over at our Mac OS X Unwired site. Got any others that we ought to add? Let me know what you think and if it's useful to you.

Yankee or Dixie quiz

The only explanation I have for why I scored "61% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score!" on the Yankee or Dixie quiz is that my Dad came from Virginia. That was a long time ago, though, so it really doesn't explain why I still have a habit of saying "y'all." (Via Medley, who still scored lower than I did even though she lives in Virginia.)

Small town life

Reason #348 why I love living in a small town is this story from the local paper: 19-year-old bank robbery suspect arrested 6 minutes after caper. Keep in mind that that picture was taken by the editor of the paper as the kid was getting arrested. And no, it wouldn't surprise me at all if this genius showed up in a future This is True.

A special note for a spammer

Here's a note, specifically for the spammer who sent me email this morning:

You are a spammer. Spam is bad. Sending spam is evil.

I don't care how many mailing lists we're on together. I don't care how much you like this weblog. What you have repeatedly sent out was bulk, unsolicited, commercial email that did not include any way to unsubscribe. That's spam, by definition.

So yes, I have called your clients up to complain. Hey, I have free roaming miles on my cell phone, so it doesn't cost me anything. And yes, I told them that what you are sending out (i.e., spam) is illegal under the CAN-SPAM act because, well, it is. And I happily made it clear to them also that they, as well as you, are liable, and if they have a problem with you getting them into legal trouble, that they needed to discuss it with you.

I'm not responding to the email you sent me today, because item #1 on any spam fighting list is to not respond to spammers. But, after all, you did say that you like this blog, so I figured that I'd answer your question here: please remove any addresses from your spam-blasts at the following domains which I control: dori.com, chalcedony.com, javascriptworld.com, macosxunwired.com, osxunwired.com, macbullshit.com, seanbsmith.com, negrino.com, and wise-women.org. And while you're at it, remove all addresses from aol.com, earthlink.net, hotmail.com, and yahoo.com, too—I'm sure that they didn't ask for your crap, either.

Want to know more about CAN-SPAM? Check out The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy's site, especially their PDF, Ten Things You Should Know About CAN-SPAM.

Thanks, Howard

To say that we here at Backup Brain are sad at the ending of Howard Dean's campaign for president is to understate it. We commend and thank him for waking up the Democratic Party, and we support his future endeavors to oust Bush from the White House and take back Congress from the GOP and their special interest owners.

Creative Class War

This terrific article, Creative Class War, details how the tightening of visas after 9/11 and the general anti-knowledge bent of the Bush Administration is harming the US economy, and is driving creative people from the sciences, engineering, and the arts to Canada, Europe, and other places. It's a frightening piece that shows yet another reason why the conservative movement is bad for this country. Thanks to one of our readers for the pointer.