Text 7454, 57 rader
Skriven 2010-05-01 12:16:01 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
Ärende: Connectability (was: Question about democracy)
======================================================
Hello Bob,

On Friday April 30 2010 19:26, you wrote to me:

 MvdV>> I think you literally do not know what you are missing.

 BA> Oh, but I do.  I did have a 24x7 Internet connection when I lived in
 BA> Plattsmouth, NE, right up until the end of 2004 when I pulled the plug
 BA> and finished the move out here.

I see. So you do know.

 BA> Not having an Internet connection means I never have to worry about
 BA> government spying on what I'm doing,

I do not like the government's data greed either. But not having an internet
connection won't stop them from gathering data about you. And if you do not
trust the government, you may not want to raise their suspicion by not having
an interet connection. It IS odd, you know.

For me it is one of those things that I could do without when it did not exist,
but now that I have had it for many years, I find it almost indespensible.

 BA> or about various kinds of malware infecting my equipment. They cannot
 BA> connect through a cable that isn't there.

Malware existed before the InterNet became available to the general public.
Even FidoNet was used to spread it and in theory it still can.

 MvdV>> But you do have a telephone. Fifty years ago there were
 MvdV>> people aho did not have a telephone and who thought the
 MvdV>> would never need one...

Today it is next to impossible to have a normal life and not have a telephone.
The InterNet is rapidly taking the same position.

 BA> Yes I do.  I use it once a week to talk with my sister in California.
 BA> Thus far this year I received a total of *two* calls that were not
 BA> from telemarketers (and I hang up on them within five seconds) or
 BA> robocallers of some sort (which I hang up on instantly, they never get
 BA> more than three words in).

Telemarketeers used to be a pest here too, but that is a thing of the past
fortunately. There is strict legislation in force now that almost outlaws it.

 BA> My computer uses the other line to call my Micronet uplink once a day.

That may not last forever. Sooener or later modem over POTS will stop working
and if you want to remain connected to FidoNet you will have to get in internet
connection. See my FidoNews article of September 2008 and the follow-ups by
Richard Webb and myself.


Cheers, Michiel

--- GoldED+/W32-MINGW 1.1.5-b20070503
 * Origin: http://www.vlist.org (2:280/5555)