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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Not all software
created equalA local information technology company is responsible for the connectivity that allows any person to check out criminal histories at the state Criminal Justice Data Center and main police stations statewide.
Of course it's bigger than just a matter of public access.
"We developed a system that takes data from a variety of agencies: the cops, prosecutors, courts, even federal agencies," said ISDI Technologies President John Agsalud.
The information is aggregated and provided on the statewide database for the law enforcement and judicial communities.
Everybody else can access records deemed public information on terminals at locations previously mentioned. Viewing the information is free, but printing it costs $10 per record.
Other fees for additional services are explained on the center's Web site state.hi.us/hcjdc.
That brings up the spam that is filtering its way through e-mail filters touting "astounding new software (that) lets you find out almost anything about anyone."
One version of the e-mail promotes "brand new version 8.2" while the other is about "brand new version 9.0." Both were supposedly just released.
The software claims to give one access to a database of information 200 million Americans strong.
Click, freeze, mutter frustratedly and restart. Copy and paste the numerical domain into a browser, and a page of gobbledygook appears.
So much for an effective ploy to make money and satisfy people's nosiness.
Agsalud suspects the number of people who buy in to such claims is minuscule.
He gets 10 spams an hour, but it takes him about 7 minutes a day to deal with it all. It doesn't take long to press the delete key.
"The spam people figure out ways to get around all these (filters). It's a huge effort to really try and eliminate spam from coming in."
For clients who feel overburdened by spam, ISDI recommends managed services companies that intercept and filter company e-mail before it is forwarded into employee mailboxes.
Mainland-based Postini Inc., FrontBridge Technologies Inc. and BrightMail Inc. are examples.
"The biggest problem with these filters is the false-positives," Agsalud said. Mail gets dumped when it shouldn't.
The service can cost $300 to $500 a month, depending on the e-mail volume, he said.
There can also be mistrust of a third party reading incoming e-mail.
Agsalud recommends against signing long-term agreements to with spam-busters.
"Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo are actually taking a stand to help prevent spam. That's where you're going to see more of the movement," he said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com