Spam, which is the mass mailing of e-mails, doesn't work primarily because of how people react to it. Spam evolved from postal mailing which has been moderately successful. People like to get mail, even when it is junk mail because people like to get gifts.

But e-mail doesn't work that way. It's just a form of communication. Granted, it may still be nice to get an e-mail from a friend, but getting one from someone you don't know has no emotional impact and can only serve to offend.

Spam no only doesn't work, it can be a form of anti-advertizing. Any company that uses spam may develop a tainted repuation and the reader may develop a negative attitude towards the product or company. It's more likely that one will choose not to use your product because they were offended by your spam.

Worse is that spam has been taken over with scammers and con-artists out to steal from those they spam to. This has given spam an overall tainted reputation and had damaged the credibility of anyone using it. And it's a nuisance for people to go through and delete the e-mails they don't want.

Spam can work in one case: where the individual receiving it has done so because they signed up--with no pressure--for a mailing list, and remembers that they did so. But too often the person may forget they signed up and find the e-mail offensive because they feel it unsolicited. Many times such mailers will put details at the bottom of the e-mail stating such, though scammers will mimic this practice making it harder to tell the legitimate ones from the fakes.

So if one decides to use it they must be very careful as to how they use it. It can help, but it can also hurt.

Well not exactly. I was tightening a screw and the head sheered off. The screw must have been made of fairly soft metal. It's going to take replacing a part to fix it, but I really don't want to get into that.

I've always considered my strength to be in my legs, since I've done so much walking over the course of my life. I don't drive, so if I'm going anywhere I'm either walking or taking the bus--which requires walking to and from. I've also found that with the latest story I'm writing that I dictate into a portable tape player while walking. It's a good way to get over the anxiety of what I'm going to write. And the dictation becomes like a first draft as I will often change what I dictate when I type it in. For those trying such an idea, it's important to have the microphone close to the mouth but not in front. I clip mine to my collar. And be prepared for traffic noise when playing it back if your recording outside.

I've had a few ideas for the podcast but I also had a cold a few weeks ago and it's left my voice a little congested. I'm waiting for that to fully clear before I try anything. I also need to work on making the podcast sound more natural as I tend to fall into dictation mode when recording.