Author Archives: jik

MADD cleans up its act

I recently posted about MADD’s failure, for over a year, to stop sending me junk mail. I remain somewhat appalled by what happened, but I think it’s important to give credit where credit is due. Since I sent them the complaint which I posted, they have been quite responsive, culminating with this email which I… Read More »

A study in contrasts: handling stolen email lists

I try to make a habit of giving out “tagged” email addresses to web sites when I sign up for accounts / mailing lists / whatever. For example, when creating an account at widgets.com, instead of just signing up as “jik@kamens.us”, I might sign up as “jik+widgets@kamens.us”. It ends up in the same mailbox regardless,… Read More »

Google AdWords is staffed by poorly trained monkeys

Back when I was doing my week-long Shave a Redhead for Israel fundraiser, Google’s search index was taking an unusually long time to index the fundraiser page. This was a problem because I was publicizing the fundraiser and telling people they could find it easily by searching for “Shave a Redhead for Israel”, but they… Read More »

AT&T GoPhone disservice

Dear AT&T, Some people don’t pay for their own cell phones. There’s a reason why account emails about my 12-year-old daughter’s cell phone go to me instead of her. Thanks for screwing that up! Sincerely, An unimpressed customer In reference to: Dear AT&T GoPhone® Customer: We want to alert you that future notifications regarding payments… Read More »

Astroturf for (or against?) Obama

An interesting comment showed up a few hours ago on an earlier blog posting of mine about Barack Obama: “Just wanted to say that I am eployed at a large Pharmaceutical company in Clayton NC and I support Barack Obama with all my heart. I would love for all my friends and colleagues to re-elect… Read More »