[ale] restricting web input

Tue May 5 20:38:11 EDT 2009

Why rely on stupid users and javascript?  If YOU want the address for spam
purposes, they won't verify.  If THEY expect a product in the mail, they'll
be sure the address is correct (mostly).  Give them one input box and a
confirmation page.

What about verifying on your end?  Maybe use perl's www::mechanize to
screenscrape a shipping address verification service like  melissadata.com (
http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/AddressCheck.asp).  I think they check
that USPS will deliver mail to a given address.   An ebayer friend of mine
tried twice to send to a valid address.  The customer verified the address
by phone the second time.  After the product was returned to sender, he
called again.  Turns out, USPS would not deliver to her physical address.
The customer assumed they'd use UPS.

Never trust a user if you care about the input.

Brian

On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 8:17 PM, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Paul Cartwright <ale at pcartwright.com>
> wrote:
> > try snopes.com and search for a urban legend.. I can't seem to cut &
> paste the
> > results.
>
> I'll take your challenge.
>
> ============== Begin Paste ==============
> Bottle Royale
> Claim:   Reusing, freezing, or heating plastic water bottles will
> cause them to break down into carcinogenic compounds or release
> dioxins.
>
>        MIXTURE OF TRUE AND FALSE INFORMATION
>
> Examples:
>
> [Collected via e-mail, 2007]
>
> No water bottles in freezer. A dioxin chemical causes cancer,
> especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of
> our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as
> this releases dioxins from the plastic.
>
> [Collected via e-mail, 2007]
>
> Do Not Drink Water Bottles Left in the Car
>
> This information was given to me by my husband and I know all the
> ladies in my life should know and please forward it to all the ladies
> in your life.
>
> My husband has a friend whose mother recently got diagnosed with
> breast cancer. The doctor told her women should not drink bottled
> water that has been left in a car. The doctor said that the heat and
> the plastic of the bottle have certain chemicals that can lead to
> breast cancer. So please be careful and do not drink that water bottle
> that has been left in a car and pass this on to all the women in your
> life.
>
> [Collected via e-mail, 2009]
>
> On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said this is what caused her breast
> cancer. It has been identified as the most common cause of the high
> levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue. Sheryl Crow's oncologist
> told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a
> car. The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the bottle
> which releases dioxin into the water. Dioxin is a toxin increasingly
> found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do not drink
> bottled water that has been left in a car. Pass this on to all the
> women in your life.
>
>
> Origins:   Sorting out the various claims made about potential health
> issues associated with
> plastic water bottles is a difficult process, both because so many
> different claims are being circulated and because the generic term
> "plastic bottle" can in fact refer to any one of several different
> types of bottles with distinctly different chemical properties.
>
> Water, soda, and juice are typically sold in bottles made from
> polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE. These
> containers are intended to be disposable, single-use bottles, although
> many consumers wash them and re-use them to hold drinking water (or
> other beverages). One common claim referenced above is that freezing
> or re-using PET bottles releases "dioxins" into whatever liquids they
> may contain, but of this claim Johns Hopkins researcher Dr. Rolf
> Halden says:
> Q: What do you make of this recent email warning that claims dioxins
> can be released by freezing water in plastic bottles?
>
> A: This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In
> addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals.
> Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would
> limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don't
> think there are.
> Another common type of plastic bottle is made with bisphenol A, also
> known as BPA. These products are typically rigid plastic bottles
> intended for multiple re-use, such as baby bottles or water bottles
> carried by cyclists. Concerns about tests that may link BPA ingestion
> with cancer and reproductive damage in some animals and the
> possibility that BPA could leach out of plastic bottles and into the
> liquids they contain has led to bans in some areas on the use of BPA
> in plastic products intended for children (such as baby bottles), and
> has prompted some consumers to seek out non-BPA alternatives.
>
> Last updated:   8 April 2009
>
> The URL for this page is
> http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp
>
> Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P.
> Mikkelson.
> This material may not be reproduced without permission.
> snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
>
>
> Sources:
>
>    Cassutt, Melissa.   "Glass Bottles Pacify Fear of Chemical."
>        The [Colorado Springs] Gazette.   25 June 2007.
>
>    Merle, Renae and Ylan Q. Mui.   "For Parents, Bottle Safety Still
> Unclear."
>        The Washington Post.   22 August 2007   (p. D1).
>
>    Pelletier, Jenna.   "A User's Guide to Plastic."
>        The Boston Globe.   28 September 2008.
>
>    CBC News.   "Study Links Plastics Chemical with Cancer."
>        28 August 2006.
>
>
>
>
> [close]
>
>
> --
> James Sumners
> http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/
>
> "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
> pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
> is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
> drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
>
> Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
> CH:D 59
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>
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