Is spam beginning to cripple the internet?
Thursday, 14th December 2006

Dear friends,

Things seem to have gone awfully quiet on the internet all of a sudden. I know a few people from our community are already on holidays but a number of other discussion communities I subscribe to have had a significant down-turn in traffic in recent days. I suppose part of it is Christmas but the down turn seems to be more marked this year. I've also noticed that there is less traffic from my own children and friends and have been wondering if the volume of spam is now beginning to turn people away from using the internet?

The problem is really becoming unmanageable now. I have three or four different email addresses so I tend to cop it in a quadruple dose. Some of my children and other friends were complaining about spam two or three years ago when I didn't see it as a significant inconvenience. My views have changed today though. Democracy is always a fragile commodity. I am sure the number of spammers in the world, like terrorists or graffitists, is relatively small. They cause enormous damage by their behaviours though. What poor, warped personalities all of these people have.

Unfortunately Farmer Jack is still waiting to have the words from last week put into his mouth because I've simply been so busy, firstly dealing with the problems we had with our discussion forum — and in the last couple days completing the animated Christmas card for Church Resources which I've been doing for the past couple of years. Rosemary's Offering today is a gentle tug back into the true meaning of this season though. In lieu of Farmer Jack, Barry Sinclair alerted me to a funny that's been circulated on the net in recent days which I am sure will be enjoyed by women as much as by us blokes.

Have a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world.

It is the time for... Rosemary argues "it is the time to take a mini retreat in prayer in our daily lives, to assess how we are with God, how our lives are unfolding and how we might move closer to God". [more]

Farmer Jack came across this joke in his inbox and thought he might share it around. (Due to pressures of other assignments the editor still hasn't been able to complete the Jack animation.) [read it]

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia