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  11. Copyright © 2015 Alex Yst <mailto:copyright@y.st>
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  23. <!DOCTYPE html>
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  26. <base href="https://y.st./en/weblog/2015/10-October/20.xhtml" />
  27. <title>Coursera is creepy &lt;https://y.st./en/weblog/2015/10-October/20.xhtml&gt;</title>
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  65. <header>
  66. <h1>Coursera is creepy</h1>
  67. <p>Day 00227: Tuesday, 2015 October 20</p>
  68. </header>
  69. <p>
  70. I decided to create an index file for my domain directory last night, but that quickly became complicated.
  71. The file name format for the page on a particular domain is &quot;{domain}xhtml&quot;, so there was no way to differentiate between the <code>index.xhtml</code> file that was in place to act as the index of the directory and the <code>index.xhtml</code> file that held information on the <code>index.</code> <abbr title="Top Level Domain">TLD</abbr> if I were somehow able to acquire it.
  72. As unlikely as that would be, I can&apos;t stand such ambiguity.
  73. Next, I considered moving the domain pages to <code>/en/domains/&gt;domain&gt;/index.xhtml</code>, but that would cause a directory name clash between the <code>.</code> directory that is itself the directory that contains it and the <code>//.</code> root domain.
  74. Another possibility would be to move the domain files from &quot;{domain}xhtml&quot; to &quot;{domain}<strong>.</strong>xhtml&quot;, which would clear up any meaningful ambiguity.
  75. File names would look silly with the double dot, but the <code>//index.</code> <abbr title="Top Level Domain">TLD</abbr> would be documented in the <code>index..xhtml</code> file and the root domain would be documented in the <code>..xhtml</code> file, leaving <code>index.xhtml</code> as the index file.
  76. At this point though, I realized that I wasn&apos;t going to be happy with any sort of regular index file.
  77. Technically, the <code>index.xhtml</code> file could then refer to some <code>//index</code> domain that was not fully-qualified.
  78. As stupid as this is, I would be happier leaving the file names without the double dot and just putting the index file outside the directory.
  79. Navigating to the directory won&apos;t get you anywhere on the current server, so if you want a domain list, it&apos;s at <a href="/en/a/domains.xhtml"><code>/en/a/domains.xhtml</code></a>.
  80. </p>
  81. <p>
  82. I was looking into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-configuration_networking">zero-configuration networking</a> again, and found something interesting on Wikipedia.
  83. Apple&apos;s implementation became an <abbr title="Internet Engineering Task Force">IETF</abbr> standard while Microsoft&apos;s implementation never did and is rarely used.
  84. I already knew Windows was performing <abbr title="multicast Domain Name System">mDNS</abbr> queries incorrectly because most of these queries were hitting the <abbr title="Internet service provider">ISP</abbr>&apos;s corrupt <abbr title="Domain Name System">DNS</abbr> servers, but this further backs up that knowledge.
  85. </p>
  86. <p>
  87. I managed to get help with the broken Coursera videos.
  88. I don&apos;t know why they won&apos;t play in-browser, but it seems that on the video page, there is a download option so the videos can be played locally.
  89. I probably missed it because the video pages tries to auto-play the videos.
  90. If there is a download option, it does not make sense to automatically start the streaming version because the user might not be choosing to view the videos in-browser.
  91. When it came time to take the quiz and submit the homework, the Coursera website was pretty insistent that I give it access to my webcam.
  92. Even if I <strong>*had*</strong> a webcam, I wouldn&apos;t give Coursera access.
  93. That would just be creepy.
  94. Coursera said that if I did not give it access to my webcam, it could not verify that I was the one doing the work, but I don&apos;t need that verification anyway.
  95. The other thing you have to do for verification is pay them a large sum.
  96. If the courses and coursework were under a free license, I would have no problem handing that money over, but as it is, I&apos;m just going to learn what I can without paying for proprietary work.
  97. </p>
  98. <p>
  99. One of my credit unions in Springfield sent me a new debit card that I did not ask for.
  100. As usual, it has my legal name on it, and as a result, I will not be spending with it.
  101. Merchants do not need to know who I am, that is just creepy as well.
  102. But if they are going to have a name down for me, it will be my real name, not my legal name, so when I have to spend from a card (such as over the Internet), the only card I will use is my Yst Dawson Discover card.
  103. As usual though, I will activate the card when I get a chance.
  104. I&apos;ll be headed back to Springfield on Friday, so I can walk into the credit union at that time.
  105. This will give me a chance to assert the fact that I do not live in the area and it would have been very nice to have some sort of Web-based activation system like Discover has.
  106. Not everyone has a telephone and there should be other options besides using a telephone to activate their cards from a distance.
  107. </p>
  108. <p>
  109. My <a href="/a/canary.txt">canary</a> still sings the tune of freedom and transparency.
  110. </p>
  111. <hr/>
  112. <p>
  113. Copyright © 2015 Alex Yst;
  114. You may modify and/or redistribute this document under the terms of the <a rel="license" href="/license/gpl-3.0-standalone.xhtml"><abbr title="GNU&apos;s Not Unix">GNU</abbr> <abbr title="General Public License version Three or later">GPLv3+</abbr></a>.
  115. If for some reason you would prefer to modify and/or distribute this document under other free copyleft terms, please ask me via email.
  116. My address is in the source comments near the top of this document.
  117. This license also applies to embedded content such as images.
  118. For more information on that, see <a href="/en/a/licensing.xhtml">licensing</a>.
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