Gord Richardson
Resident of Winnipeg MB since 1956 though born in Prince Albert Saskatchewan in 1945. I'm a life-long bachelor. Dad was with CN Rail which in terms of transferring its employees hither and yon, was much like the military. Prince Albert SK>Winnipeg MB>Dauphin MB>Regina SK>Winnipeg! Phew! Guess that's why I'm still in the first house I bought in 1976. Enough moving already.
I was raised in the United Church of Canada and prefer Augustine United in Osborne Village to the family church, Westworth in River Heights where I live.
I had a 4-year flirtation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but in the end, did not convert. I have never been in the company of any group whose members are so universally upbeat and happy, and who reach out warmly when they see a new face at the meeting house. As a single DOC - Dreaded Only Child - I had no immediate family offering a place to go for holday meals but when I was involved with the Mormons, I ALWAYS had a place to go on important holidays. These folks exude love and acceptance from every pore. I felt a warmth in their company. Several of the American missionaries remain friends to this day, some 7 years after I ceased my affiliation. One thing that intrigued me was the fact that they have a living scripture. The Book of Mormon is, of course, the foundation of the faith and is fixed but what they call 'quads' include the Holy Bible as well as the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. The D & C is what lives and the most recent additions were added in 1978 (!) with others in the late 1800s. Sadly, I was the old dog who wouldn't learn new tricks and I remain a coffee addict who, as mentioned earlier, likes the odd beer on the patio! That, of course, doesn't wash in the CJCLDS.
Posted in: How Annoying Is the Captcha?
Hi Ken,
Captchas are not about protecting the integrity of a user account but about preventing bots from registering on the Network and posting SPAM such as links to advertising or to malicious or 'immoral' websites. Humans can much more easily decipher distorted characters than any computer program currently available. Theoretically, Captchas ensure only humans can register and post comments.
Anyone can set up a Twitter account so why hack them? My Twitter account was hacked and then followed a litany of Tweets purportedly from me but all featuring links to 'amazing new products'.
Anyone can open an anonymous Hotmail account but ALL users that I know have had their accounts hacked and all their contacts, including me, started getting torrents of SPAM.
Ease of availability of anonymous accounts of all conceivable types is no assurance that existing user accounts won't get hacked. A scenario: a malicious new account with a name you don't recognize SPAMs you. Do you open the email and click links or do you delete it because you don't recognize the sender? Hopefully the latter Ken! If a trusted friend APPEARS to have sent you an email, are you not much more likely to click on links in them, perhaps expecting to see something pertinent to both your interests? That's why user accounts get hacked.
Hope that helped.
Gord