October 11, 2004 spout

How is anyone supposed to know that?”

The high priests that run the Internet and the IT industry have betrayed the trust of the secular community.

My wife called me over to her computer the other day when she was worried about an email stating a problem with her eBay account. By reflex, I said, Oh, just ignore that.”

What? Why? They’re going to shut off my eBay account,” she said, motioning me over more urgently this time.

Looking over her shoulder, I saw an email that looked very official, including the eBay logo.

See?” she pointed at the From line. It’s from ebay.com.”

I know, sweetie, but hang the mouse over the link they want you to click. It’s a number; it’s not ebay.com”

Looking at me like I’d just broken the news about Santa Claus, But how is anyone supposed to know that?”

I didn’t have an answer. There really should be one.