![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Shop Around the Corner
May. 7th, 2004 07:47 pmHey, I just mentioned Google in a post, and that reminded me of something...
The folks at The Internet Archive are doing a really amazing thing. They've archived back copies of all kinds of web sites. Which makes sense if you have any kind of historical instinct, given how ephemeral the web is.
Trick is, they don't appear to let Google spider them. Which is a shame.
But here's a story I've been reminded of, working at The Client. If you want, you can see the Archive's original source for it. It's from Jack Rickard's late, lamented magazine Boardwatch. It's a column by Harley Hahn and Wendy Murdock (as she then was -- she's now Wendy Russ). Hover your mouse pointer over those links, and you'll see just how long Harley and Wendy have been around, given their domains. It's from the March 1995 issue, and I've never seen it either verified or refuted. You'll see what I mean.
*^*^*
excerpt from Anonymity:
The point is, some people have a real need for anonymity when they participate in Usenet... Say that you work for Microsoft (or any other fine worldwide operating system company with predatory marketing habits) and you want to let people know that there are undisclosed bugs in the latest mission-critical, industrial-strength, enterprise-oriented product line. If you posted such information under your own name, it might go poorly for you at the office. Being able to send anonymous messages to the world at large allows you to blow the whistle and still keep your job.
Not convinced? OK, here is an everyday example that we are sure you can identify with. Imagine that you are the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of a large, worldwide operating system company with predatory marketing habits. You are of marriageable age, but you are so shy that the only dates that you have ever had have been set up by your mother. And, you never really know if the women that you see like you for yourself or for your money.
So you decide to meet people by responding to personal ads on the Net - but you know that, as soon as a woman sees your real e-mail address, she will figure out who you are. To solve this problem, you can arrange to send and receive your e-mail anonymously and, only when the time is right, do you reveal your real identity.
In fact, one of our best friends - who happens to be a fabulously wealthy co-founder and Chairman of the Board of a large operating system company - was able to find his wife in just this manner. They met when he responded anonymously to a posting on the alt.geek newsgroup. Imagine his surprise when, after a long electronic courtship, he found out that he and she worked for the very same company (just like Jimmy Stewart in the movie "Little Shop Around the Corner").
*^*^*
Aside from the alternate universe where Little Shop of Horrors and The Shop Around the Corner merged into one... I'm just really, really curious about this.
The folks at The Internet Archive are doing a really amazing thing. They've archived back copies of all kinds of web sites. Which makes sense if you have any kind of historical instinct, given how ephemeral the web is.
Trick is, they don't appear to let Google spider them. Which is a shame.
But here's a story I've been reminded of, working at The Client. If you want, you can see the Archive's original source for it. It's from Jack Rickard's late, lamented magazine Boardwatch. It's a column by Harley Hahn and Wendy Murdock (as she then was -- she's now Wendy Russ). Hover your mouse pointer over those links, and you'll see just how long Harley and Wendy have been around, given their domains. It's from the March 1995 issue, and I've never seen it either verified or refuted. You'll see what I mean.
*^*^*
excerpt from Anonymity:
The point is, some people have a real need for anonymity when they participate in Usenet... Say that you work for Microsoft (or any other fine worldwide operating system company with predatory marketing habits) and you want to let people know that there are undisclosed bugs in the latest mission-critical, industrial-strength, enterprise-oriented product line. If you posted such information under your own name, it might go poorly for you at the office. Being able to send anonymous messages to the world at large allows you to blow the whistle and still keep your job.
Not convinced? OK, here is an everyday example that we are sure you can identify with. Imagine that you are the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of a large, worldwide operating system company with predatory marketing habits. You are of marriageable age, but you are so shy that the only dates that you have ever had have been set up by your mother. And, you never really know if the women that you see like you for yourself or for your money.
So you decide to meet people by responding to personal ads on the Net - but you know that, as soon as a woman sees your real e-mail address, she will figure out who you are. To solve this problem, you can arrange to send and receive your e-mail anonymously and, only when the time is right, do you reveal your real identity.
In fact, one of our best friends - who happens to be a fabulously wealthy co-founder and Chairman of the Board of a large operating system company - was able to find his wife in just this manner. They met when he responded anonymously to a posting on the alt.geek newsgroup. Imagine his surprise when, after a long electronic courtship, he found out that he and she worked for the very same company (just like Jimmy Stewart in the movie "Little Shop Around the Corner").
*^*^*
Aside from the alternate universe where Little Shop of Horrors and The Shop Around the Corner merged into one... I'm just really, really curious about this.
