Good for you, Jeff.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Bayard" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 5:11 PM
Subject: Re: Re-run: Re-vised Re-post: Internet Identities - Who Are We?


> Great Email, Janet.
> Although I do not have Parkinsons, I do love people with
> Parkinsons, amen. I can run errands, cut grass, clean house,
> bring a meal. My kids love to help folks, too.
>
> If there is anyone in the Richmond VA area on the list, and
> if you need your grass cut, errands done, or just a good visit,
> meal cooked or just someone to talk to, email me directly, or
> call me directly.
> What is great about the internet is that it can be a great resource for
> offline communications too.
>
> If you are a member of this list, but have trouble with computer
> viruses, or have computer problems, I can help on that some, too.
>
> You folks are great!
>
> OH, want to hear a weirdo story?
> I have lots of these in my archives.
>  This is really out of left field--and if you want more,
> I have 'em.
>  http://www.woowoo.dwoloz.com/car.wmv
>
>
> God Bless You All,
>
> Jeff Bayard
> 701 Pocono Drive
> Richmond, VA 23236
> Cell Phone:804-869-4485
> Help Fund the Cure!
> http://dialforacure.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "janet paterson" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 6:41 PM
> Subject: Re-run: Re-vised Re-post: Internet Identities - Who Are We?
>
>
> > hi all
> >
> > an encore of
> > a re-visioning of
> > a re-post of
> > a re-minder
> >
> > janet
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> > Internet Identities - Who Are We?
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >
> > The miraculous medium which is the Internet provides access to
> > unprecedented communication on a global scale. On a personal scale, I
> > discovered the PARKINSN listserv support group on-line in July 1995.
Both
> > events, going on-line and finding a Parkinson's Disease (PD) support
> group,
> > changed my life.
> >
> > The Upside: I can now lay claim to a PD cyber-family whose members are
> > contributors to several PD forums on-line.
> >
> > The Downside: I have discovered Internet 'games' - hoaxes, viruses,
> flames,
> > spam, parodies, cyber-stalking, all perpetrated under the umbrella of
> > Multiple Internet Identity Syndrome. This is still an uncontrolled
> > frontier, after all.
> >
> > A brief history. The Internet was created in 1972 for some USA
government
> > agencies and universities; it was 'free' and limited to plain-text-based
> > E-mail messaging. And then the games began: E-mail anonymisers and
> > re-mailers entered the scene (begging the question: When does
'anonymising
> > one's E-mail address' morph into 'protecting one's privacy' and
> 'concealing
> > one's identity'?)
> >
> > After the World Wide Web (WWW) was invented in 1991, photographic images
> > became WWW-viewable and Internet-transferable. In fact, pornography,
much
> > of it illegal around the world, comprised the bulk of the initial
traffic
> > on the WWW. 'Chat rooms' and 'avatar games' where identities are
> > re-invented as a given part of the 'action', and which had been popular
in
> > the text-based Internet world, now flourished.
> >
> > Enter the general public of the global village, you and I, who want to
> look
> > up information for homework assignments, or buy a book at amazon.com, or
> > check out the hurricane warning, or locate long lost friends and
> relatives,
> > or share inspiration and experience via a web site, and who don't
> > necessarily understand what kind of world they are surfing into.
> >
> > Anonymity can be used to share ideas, emotions, and information without
> > racial, religious, disability, lifestyle, or economic 'factors' getting
in
> > the way.
> >
> > Anonymity can also be used to manipulate and deceive with apparent
> impunity.
> >
> > It pays to be circumspect: I would never walk into Central Park or
Queen's
> > Park or any Park (say) and sit down on a bench donated no-charge by
> > Columbia University or the University of Toronto or the Massachusetts
> > General Hospital (say) and lay my emotional self bare to a stranger who
> > simply happens to be there and sporting a nametag declaring "Hi! I'm Joe
> > and I have PD!", just as I would never leave my grandson or my
> > granddaughter, not to mention my cats, in the care of a stranger wearing
a
> > nametag claiming "Hi! I'm Joe and I am a baby- / pet- sitter!"
> >
> > 'Buyer Beware' or maybe 'Money Talks' pertains here. Most of the WWW
> forums
> > and chat rooms and website services are free; if we pay 'nothing' for a
> > service (e.g. free user names and e-mail at yahoo.com or msn.com or ...
> ?),
> > we need to be cautious about how we use it, especially in this
> > market-driven society of ours. Which brings me to the concept of a
> > market-driven WWW.
> >
> > Meshing a non-commercial entity which has been geared to anonymity with
a
> > commercial community which has to guarantee transaction security above
all
> > or fail, has one or two inherent potential pitfalls. When telephones
were
> a
> > relatively new technology, some were abused; I worked for the phone
> company
> > way back when, advising customers on handling obscene or harassing
calls.
> > Caller ID and other techno-advances have transformed that scourge into a
> > virtual antique. Telemarketers are the new version, but technology is
> > catching up with them, too (at least I hope it is - where do they get
> their
> > calling lists from anyway?)
> >
> > The difference between the telephone communications networks and the
> > Internet and WWW communications networks is that the users, you and I,
pay
> > hard cash for every aspect of telephone service. (I pay Bell Canada
$35.00
> > every month for the my own phone line and I pay Look Communications [aka
> > Idirect.com] $24.56 every month for access to the internet on an
unlimited
> > basis.)
> >
> > In a sense, those payment transactions form the basis of our 'id' or
> > 'password' or entitlement. I suspect that future Internet users will
have
> > to ante up something similar, maybe in the form of a combination
> internet -
> > identity - passport - cashcard.
> >
> > My cyber-hint for this month? If you join an on-line PD forum, I
recommend
> > sharing telephone numbers and telephone calls as part of getting
> > acquainted. Although my telephone number and my E-mail address have been
> > plastered all over the Internet for the past two years, I have NOT
> received
> > a single unwanted phone call; there is nothing to fear but fear itself;
> > trust me!
> >
> > Do not necessarily suspect all, but do be circumspect with all. The
> > 'medium' may not bring the 'message' we expect, but it is still a
miracle,
> > in my humble opinion.
> >
> > Marshall MacLuhan's famous quote comprised two parts: "The medium is the
> > message and the content is the user". A-men to that!
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> > revised and updated 2003/08/02
> > ---------------------------------------------
> > original published
> > in the May 2002 newsletter of:
> > Parkinson Society Ottawa,
> > 1053 Carling Avenue,
> > Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4E9
> > Canada
> > Tel: 613 722 3241
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >
> > janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit primarily perky, parky
> > pd: 56-41-37 cd: 56-44-43 tel: 613-256-8340
> > e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> > w-site: www.janetpaterson.net
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
> > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
mailto:[log in to unmask]
> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn

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