[PRCo] Re: Ecartis

[Joshua Dunfield]

On 18 April 2012 00:22, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Joshua
>
> When I send you this message, it will appear on your email screen.  It will
> also appear on mine.

Yes, eventually.  Something happens along the way.  It's not magic.

> If I were to (I've learned not to) include (or attach) a photo, or map, or
> any such sort of graphic with the email, it will not appear on either your
> or my computer screen.

No, it will certainly appear on my computer screen—when I click on the link.

> It has been "stolen" by Ecartis and put into the
> proverbial trash can in cyberspace.  I realize that it may be possible to
> retrieve it therefrom, if one cares to dig about in the trash.

When you reply to this message, your computer will send your message
to your mail server (from your email address, I expect that's some
computer at Verizon).  Your mail server will see the line "To:
pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org" in the message.  Your mail server
will look up the IP address to be used to send mail to "dementix.org".
 That IP address is 128.2.235.26.  Like dialing a phone, your mail
server will then "call" 128.2.235.26, and the computer at that address
will answer and accept your message.

The computer at the address 128.2.235.26 is Derrick's server.

Derrick's server will, after committing the apparently mortal sin of
moving attachments to the server's hard disk, resend your message to
everyone on this mailing list.  The mail server I use (somewhere on
the CMU campus) will receive your message from the computer at address
128.2.235.26 which, again, is Derrick's server.

Now, when you (assuming you can overcome your fear of Ecartis) follow
one of the links that Ecartis adds to a message, that link is

   http://lists.dementix.org/...

Your web browser will look up the IP address for "lists.dementix.org".
 You know what?  That IP address is also 128.2.235.26.  When your web
browser asks 128.2.235.26 for a photo that the "dreaded Ecartis" took
from a message, the very same machine (Derrick's server—the
"proverbial trash can in cyberspace", as you put it) will send it to
you.  Just like this message.

(In my experience, trash cans get emptied, hopefully on a regular
basis.  AFAIK Derrick has never deleted any of the material that
Ecartis has gathered from our messages.  It's all there on his server,
along with all of our messages.  Quite an interesting trash can.)

-j.