By now just about everyone's spent some time on-line, but you've gotta be
careful what you type or you could end up somewhere on-line you never
expected. And joining us with his own cyber-horror story is our own
un-common sense expert and Dallas Morning News columnist Benjamin Dover.
Question 1: So I see in
your column in today's paper that someone created quite a headache for
you in last week's edition?
Answer 1: As a matter of
fact they did. Last week's column generated several hundred
e-mails...the column discussed how to obtain congratulatory letters from
the president (as well as the governor). Why the huge response to that
topic?
Because someone here at the paper allowed the typesetting software to
inadvertently "break" the URL (web address for the special web page on
my site) with a hyphen. Anyone who’s spent a little time on the Internet
by now knows that it’s a most
un-forgiving place. You’ve gotta
type website or e-mail addresses
exactly
as they’re written: Adding an extra dash, slash, dot or hyphen will
shoot the wheels off of your cyber-hunt. So to answer your question,
Dennis: You’re right–they published the incorrect web address...here’s
the correct one:
www.bendover.com/congrats.asp.
Question 2: A reader also
pointed out that these letters can be requested by e-mail...and you warn
people about the uncertainty of e-mail. Why?
Answer 2: I’ve been
burned on several occasions by either ridiculously long or
randomly-changing URLs published by government agencies...so my
solution? I simply direct readers to a permanent (and hopefully simple)
web address on my site for additional information and (hopefully) a much
easier web environment to navigate for answers. You’re right, it’s
possible to now fax or e-mail letter requests to the White House, but
it’s important to remember that e-mail is still an inexact science.
Relying solely on e-mail for crucial communication is risky.
My advice if you’re determined to e-mail something
important? Print a copy of the e-mail after it’s been sent
and then fax a copy of it as a back-up.
Question 3: In your
newsletter last week you had a story about a grandmother who shocked her
grandchildren when they got on-line on her computer...and this hammers
home your warnings about the dangers that lurk on the Internet doesn't
it?
Answer 4: Oh
sure...they've done such a great job at stopping junk faxes and spam, so
I'm sure they'll be equally-effective going after spyware.
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