[GTALUG] The story of computing

[Thomas Milne]

On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 12:08 PM, Jamon Camisso
<jamon.camisso at utoronto.ca> wrote:
> On 2015-01-31 10:38 AM, Thomas Milne wrote:
>>>> It's such an dangerous thing to do if you think at it from security
>> perspective. I usually just don't bother clicking on it
> <snip>
>> Nope. I was not even using a web browser. This is the problem. You are all
>> making assumptions that are invalid. Read it or don't, I couldn't care less
>> about people's paranoid fears.
>
> That's just inconsiderate. It only takes an extra second or two to copy
> a link - no one's time is that important that they can't be bothered to
> copy/paste a full URL.

This is what I am very patiently trying to explain.

THERE NEVER WAS A FULL URL ANYWHERE. I WAS NOT USING A WEB BROWSER.

Am I speaking Russian or are you people just thick?

> I saw your post and just deleted it based on the link. Providing a
> little context would go a long way toward helping engage your audience,
> which I assume was your intent given the time spent even posting to the
> list.
>
> To understand why shortened links without context are an issue, take a
> look at this Google generated short URL to CSIS's site:
> http://goo.gl/GO9PkW

If we never visited a link unless we knew what was there in advance,
most of the Internet would be cut off from us.

> If I were malicious and posted a link to a less *cough* reputable site,
> then I could potentially do all sorts of nasty things to anyone who
> opened it.
>

Yes we should always behave as if the worst possible thing is about to
happen to us.

-- 
Thomas Milne