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Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies

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<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message 
news:09a54edd-2171-4c8f-980f-d72549e2da9a@googlegroups.com...
> On Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 1:54:48 PM UTC-5, Jorgen Grahn wrote:
>
>> And now in 2016, there's not really a working email system on the
>> Internet.  Outside work, most people I know seem to use email as only
>> a way to be fed information from various companies.  It's not a major
>> person-to-person medium.
>
> Well, I know lots of people, including myself, who use email to
> communicate for non business purposes.  It's not the only medium,
> of course, but IMHO it remains popular.
>
>
>
>> I used to think in the future people would have reliable, permanent
>> mail addresses and use PGP for encryption.  But instead we seem to be
>> jumping between different proprietary services instead, like Facebook.
>
> It would be nice if we had permanent authenticated email addresses.  I
> don't know if that will ever happen.
>
>
>
>> It's a pity, because internet mail as it used to work, between people,
>> was such a powerful idea.  On the other hand, so was Usenet ...
>
> The power of the Internet is due to its open nature.  But the Internet
> is very weak due to its open nature.
>
> People knew back in the _1960s_ that computers could be abused, either
> by accidental or malevolent means.  Likewise with anonymity.  As the
> Internet grew beyond a tightly controlled restricted environment,
> the designers clearly should have early on installed far better
> safeguards in the very structure of it.  Perhaps its growth would've
> been slower, but we'd have a better and safer system today.
>
> Sadly, in the 1980s, lots of computer advocates strongly defended
> the 'open' structure of the Internet.  IMHO, they were naive, and
> ignored existing lessons and factors of human nature.  By as early
> as 1975, any high school computer teacher could've given them an
> earful about what some people will do.
>
>
> Many years ago, Western Union carried stock market orders and
> confirmation back and forth from NYC to brokerages.  They also
> carried "wire transfers" of money between banks.  Presumably there
> was both physical and logical security and controls on these
> transmissions so a thief couldn't just wire himself some money.
> I wonder if such controls ought to be applied more so today to protect
> our communications.

They are with the communications that matter, online
banking, wire transfers, stock trading etc etc etc. 

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Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Walter Banks <walter@bytecraft.com> - 2016-03-09 15:42 -0500
  Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2016-03-10 18:54 +0000
    Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Fred Smith <fred@smith.com> - 2016-03-10 20:47 +0000
      Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-03-11 04:20 +0000
    Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-03-11 04:20 +0000
      Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2016-03-11 21:12 +0000
        Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-03-11 22:05 +0000
    Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-03-10 21:48 -0800
      Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies "Sam Crean" <sg55443@gmail.com> - 2016-03-11 19:43 +1100
      Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-03-11 09:07 +0000
    Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-03-11 08:13 +0000
  Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies "Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> - 2016-03-10 15:49 -0600
  Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-03-11 15:00 -0800
    Re: Ray Tomlinson, inventor of modern email, dies Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2016-03-11 16:09 -0800

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