Aaron Thomas wrote to Dr. What <=-

hundreds of dollars so people pirated it. Lotus was, of course, mad.

I remember downloading it just because it was popular. I never learned
how to use it or anything. That's one thing they did right: they got
their name out.

They did. But their pricing model was poor and encouraged others to do better for much less. Which hurt Lotus in the long run - not only in sales, but in reputation.

I always feel like big tech wants my phone number, and I don't wanna
give it to them (even though Google already probably has it.)

I think the main thing is that we want some level of control over our information.

Certain companies have a legitimate need for my phone number (ex: Doctor, Dentist). But others don't.

Some companies use your phone number as an ID. Our local grocery store uses it as your ID for their points program. But if you don't want to participate, you don't have to.

So far, I've only encountered 1 store (which is no longer in business) that demanded to know what my phone number was. But the cashier couldn't tell me why and what I get out of it. I declined the transaction and walked out. Based on the fact that it no longer exists, I'd say that many others did the same.


... If it's useless, it will have to be documented.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

I always feel like big tech wants my phone number, and I don't wanna give it to them (even though Google already probably has it.)

I think the main thing is that we want some level of control over our information.

Certain companies have a legitimate need for my phone number (ex: Doctor, Dentist). But others don't.

Some companies use your phone number as an ID. Our local grocery store uses it as your ID for their points program. But if you don't want to participate, you don't have to.

I try to give my old phone number in those situations, but then when I try to log to check my points or something, they ask "What's the code we just texted you?"

I used to get a lot of scam calls. Every day, every night. But then I changed my # to one with an odd prefix and that seems to have solved that problem.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

I try to give my old phone number in those situations, but then when try to log to check my points or something, they ask "What's the code we just texted you?"

Ya, half-participation usually doesn't work. But in this case, you can say "It's not worth it to me to give out my personal information." and refuse to participate.

I used to get a lot of scam calls. Every day, every night. But then I changed my # to one with an odd prefix and that seems to have solved that problem.

For now.

I set up system that was visible on the Internet and noticed it was hit with many, many dictionary attacks. I moved the SSH port to something strange and it stopped the attacks - for about 6 months when someone did
a port scan and found the strange port number - and the dictionary
attacks came back.

Do they have a dictionary of phone numbers though? (Probably!)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

A while back, I set up a BBS on an old Raspberry PI setup that I had.
It was an experiment to test out some ideas. Part of the experiment was that I needed to access it from work - so I opened it to the Internet on the router and set the port to something weird.

Keep in mind that at no time did I advertise this BBS. I did not post
my IP address and say that there was a BBS here. Nothing. But one day someone logged in as a new user. So I took care of that - actually a couple of times because the guy couldn't understand things.

That's weird. I wonder if they actually ever accomplish anything with all that port scanning and password guessing? I'm confident that the most important web portals (govt, military, corporations, etc) have remote access (to important stuff) disabled.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Dr. What <=-

That's weird. I wonder if they actually ever accomplish anything with
all that port scanning and password guessing?

They do. It's amazing how many people have open, unsecured systems on the Internet.

I'm confident that the
most important web portals (govt, military, corporations, etc) have
remote access (to important stuff) disabled.

You'd be surprised. But knowing how incompetent the gov't is, you may not be surprised.


... (A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail, (G)rab_Hammer
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

I'm confident that the
most important web portals (govt, military, corporations, etc) have remote access (to important stuff) disabled.

You'd be surprised. But knowing how incompetent the gov't is, you may
not be surprised.

Well, "it's not equitable" to disable remote access :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

Ron L. wrote to Aaron Thomas <=-

Aaron Thomas wrote to All <=-

I don't believe it. Oprah has always been supportive of Democrats
running for president. Now this time we're supposed to believe that the billionaire did it for a measly $1 million dollars?

Well, they was paid $5 million, but only donated $4 back to the Dems.
:)

No way. And why does Fox News want us to believe this?

Because Fox News is well known controlled opposition. They are no more trustworthy than the rest of the Propaganda Ministry.

Agreed! They are just right wing fake news...




... AAAAA - American Association Against Acronym Abuse
--- MultiMail/Mac v0.52
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com (1:105/7)

jimmylogan wrote to Dr. What <=-

Because Fox News is well known controlled opposition. They are no more trustworthy than the rest of the Propaganda Ministry.

Agreed! They are just right wing fake news...

They aren't even that. They are fake news masquerading as right wing news to give the appearance of "balance" in the news industry.


... "640K ought to be enough for anybody." (Bill Gates, 1981)
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)