RSS Feeds: Lifehacker Ignores Their Mistake
On May 10, Lifehacker posted an article about how to Stop spam from foreign countries. I do not know who the author is and I do not care. There should have been an apology, a retraction, or something to explain publishing a monumental blunder such as this.
Anyone with any sense at all can look up statistics at a variety of anti-spam websites. The US is the largest originator of spam, yet the author recommends blocking everything but the US. This is personally offensive. I am a US citizen, an American, living in one of those "so-called" undeveloped countries. They're recommending that my IP, based on my current country domain, be blocked from communicating with others in my home country. I live in the Philippines but all of the relatives from my side of the family live in the US.
Anyone who even thinks of agreeing with that article needs to have their head examined. There are American businesses located outside the US. There are friends and relatives located outside the US. Are you willing to cut them completely out of your email communications, based on the recommendation of an ill-informed author?
I got behind in my reading due to other commitments and want to thank Chris at Blog-Op for bringing this to my attention. More than four days have passed. No one from Lifehacker has taken the time to read the comments or review the material again. Their credibility with me, or anyone like me, just flew out the window. Lifehacker was one of my bookmarks and a website I had in my feed reader. Both are now permanently removed.
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lol…
That's why I love Chris, he always plays along!
You'll want to check out this related story.
There's a half-assed apology posted on Lifehacker now.
LifeHacker's reply:
"Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor says:
Hi all – just to address your concerns: Rick wrote this post up based on a reader tip, as detailed in the post. The 95 percent figure was a direct quote of an email tip we received, which is why it was included as a blockquote. Rick did not research the numbers John mentioned, and I'm sorry if the reader's wording offended you.
Like everything else you find on Lifehacker, take or leave it, depending on whether or not the tip helps you."
So noted RT. Never visited the site and certainly won't now. Great post as always.
Hm, half-assed indeed.