Now Kay, the first thing I learned about computers is that they cannot essentially be called "dumb",because they have no proper life status, but have in their inside an enormous amount of data and programs which very intelligent, often geniuses, but always very dedicated, persevering and people with a vision have put into them. Therefore they are marvellous boxes whose secrets, however, need to be unlocked by us users who might be dumb in unlocking them. But in a maze of so much information and interplay going on while we play around with the boxes, just like in our finetuned bodies, things can go wrong and need to be fixed. If I cut myself severely, well I can hold the flow of blood for a while with a bandage, but finally I need the thing sewed up. Good for us if we are clever enough to manage to have a bandaid available, good for us if we have -in the computer world, a way around the problem, but if we all just did that, ultimately nothing would get fixed. Therefore, first I try to fix things myself, that's what my godgiven intelligence demands from me. If I cannot, then I turn to my good friends who might be able to help with their suggestions -often two clicks will fix the matter, and if all fails, I turn to a professional who will charge me, because he makes his living that way. But the last action is , due to the help of the many in the group, my last resort. From your writing ( this is the second one giving the computer industry and Apple a mouthful) I must deduce you are in a hate relationship with computers and use them just because they are a fact of life you don't have much use for. Now for me they are a source of great joy and while they can give lots of headaches like our beloved friends in the flesh often do, too, we would never get rid of our friends for a misunderstanding or while tempers flared, so we don't throw computers against a wall, either.- You make in your other letter reference to the patch that Apple ,in your words, FINALLY came up with. You should instead of getting the digest version, get the mail as it comes along in our group, for Jerry had already announced the coming of the patch ( I sound religious here )and gave quick fixes for those who could not wait. I waited, because I understand from my plumber that quick fixes are just what they are, quick fixes for temporary relief)- And would it not be better to wait a bit until somebody had really tested the fix (here the patch) so that we could be confident it works? Sometimes we need to get out of our "instant everything mode". As it is always better to put one's energy in saving a relationship with a friend, so it is always better to use one's energies to find solutions for bugs in the computer system, in both endeavors we further our human interconnectedness.- In my "invalide-mail" search, I have come up with some answers I shall talk about ia separate mailing.
Marta On May 22, 2004, at 18:04, KR'sListMail wrote: > Hi- > > Marta wrote: >> >> Folks, here is my question: Recently, when I want to give my e-mail >> address, the very same one I use for this account, in filling out a >> form - like to the Washington Post, or another company, I have not >> already been established with, it tells me my e-mail address is >> invalid, I should enter a valid one. I called Insight on this, but >> they >> were of no help. Can anybody out there tell me what might be going on? >> Marta >> >> > Marta, > > The most important thing I have learned about computers, > is that they are basically -->DUMB<---. > > There is no reason to think that a computer will work flawlessly on > everything little thing on the web. Unless you are a webdesigner, or > administrator, If you try to figure out everything that goes wrong > with your computer, surfing the web, you will drive yourself crazy, > (and in turn, everyone around you crazy) for trying to understand hows > and whys of all the various ways, of the dumbness of a computers. > > In the future, Anytime you come across a problem like this? > You need to trust yourself more. You need to learn when to prioritize > the importance of the importance of problem-solving a computer issue. > You need to ask yourself, How big of a problem is this? You need to > accept, that when things don't go right with a machine > and and learn to recognize, whether the issue, is this a BIG problem > or a LITTLE problem? > You need to determine, if it worth my time to figure it out? Or next, > is it worth paying someone else to help me figure it out and fix it? > Or... is there a way to find a workaround which can reach the goal? > > Those of us, that use machines all day in business, usually go the > 3rd route, and look for a workaround, and learn to ignore dumb > computer things like this. Looking to discover the cause of an error > like this, takes more time than it is worth. However, if you want to > be a good internet samaritan about this problem, you can always report > the error to the webmaster at that website. Because, ultimately, they > are the one you should turn to in a matter like this... > > Ok, given that, is how I approach situations like this... > if you decide that this situation worth your time in understanding? > In answer to your question about your email address error, as a > designer, off the top of my head, here are some quickie reasons, and > possibilities to what went wrong at this page: > 1) Maybe the person that coded the webpage or script, made an error in > code. > 2) Maybe it is a machine interface problem. Maybe you are using a > keyboard with a differenet ASCII set than the site needs to have (be > sure you are using an American keyboard with a Western set, at an > American input page > 3) Maybe your java auto-script is adding an additional space or > character to the > entry area. (Always hand type in these kind of things...) > 4) Or Maybe in the past, the website you are dealing with, has had > problems with InsightBB.com people. Maybe someone was sending spam > email into their service --and the webmaster decided to block that > domain from registration at their site. > > The reality is--- WHO KNOWS! it could be any number of factors > contributing to this error. > > So therefore, you have to determine, if it is a big enough problem for > you to spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to figuring out > the source of the problem -or finding a workaround to resolve it.. > > Bottom line, the Good thing is? You have already found a successful > workaround (by using another email address) --and in the end this is > all that matters! > > So I suggest you forget the webpage you had problems with, (they might > dump it next week as soon as you get it worked out) and instead, go > with the flow, and use the other email address you got to work as a > user name, instead. > > Yours, > Kay > > > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be May 25. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> > | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be May 25. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
