October 16, 2012

There were 2 posts published on October 16, 2012 (this is page 1 of 1).

Thirty years of computing

I was at a dinner this evening and shared a table with two retired IBMers. We began trading technology stories and I bragged about being one of the first to use the IBM PC. My dad bought it for the family back in 1982.

Only after getting home did I realize that this year marks the 30th anniversary of my use of computers. Our first PC lasted a year or two before my brothers and I upgraded it with a new motherboard, doubling its speed to a blazing 8 MHz. A subscription to Computer Shopper magazine and few years of part-time-job salary saved up and we had added our first hard drive, an incredibly fragile 10 MB model. Then it was two truly ahead-of-their-time 19.2 Kbps Fastcomm modems, two phone lines, and we had our own bulletin board system in 1987 (another anniversary at 25 years ago this year) with over 300 users.

Thanks again, Dad, for bootstrapping my career!

Costco marketing email has fake unsubscribe link

I signed up for Costco’s emailed specials a while back and decided today that I didn’t need them anymore. Mousing over the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email didn’t seem to do anything so I decided to look at the message’s HTML to find out why.

It turns out Costco’s unsubscribe link isn’t a link at all, but is just made to look like one. Here is the code:

< p > In the past you provided Costco with your email address=C2=A0 [EMAIL REDACTED]. Occasionally, you will receive brief advertising ann=
ouncements regarding special items and services. If you no longer want to r=
eceive these advertisements, please click < a > < span style=3D"text-decoratio= n:underline;color:#069" >unsubscribe< /span >< /a >.=20

It’s a span, not a link. Here’s how it renders in Thunderbird:

There’s an “update email preferences” choice also in the email but, like the unsubscribe “link,” it isn’t real and doesn’t go anywhere, either.

I think Costco is a great company and I trust them. Still, I’m curious about why Costco felt the need to include fake links in their marketing email.