Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

August 2001

At the site you can download The Malta Postal Diary, the Society's journal, as well as important reference material, such as "Great Britain Stamps Used in Malta" by Anthony Fenech, originally published in seven parts from 1983 to 1986 by the Society.

The Society's organizational information rounds out the site, as well as a page of useful philatelic links, but the most interesting aspect of the site is the register of its members' "wants" and "for sale" items which is e-mailed to registered visitors of the Web site.

Educating and giving us a glimpse into the philatelic past of Malta is one thing, but then helping newcomers make contact with other Malta fans with whom they can swap and learn from is a great service.

Malta Philatelic Society
http://www.maltaphilately.org

The MPS's member want/sell list is a innovative way stamp clubs and Web sites can serve members.  The "Post Office in Paradise," which is devoted to Hawaiian philately has a simple e-mail list which sends out alerts about specious lots listed on eBay, offering another type but equally valuable and educational service.

Post Office in Paradise
http://www.hawaiianstamps.com

Curtis Collection

U.S. Revenue collectors are fortunate to have a census of U.S. Revenue multiples online, maintained by Dan Curtis.

The Curtis Collection is an update of the Turner Census, which lists the multiples by Scott number, along with the source of the information, what auction catalog it was gleaned from and the date of the sale, along with whose collection it was in as well as scans of each entry if available.

It's an extensive list from R1 through R170 and with each issue having several entries, but it's not a static list.  The purpose of the Web site is to funnel more information into the site, and each individual listing has a link if you'd like to provide more information about the stamp shown.  

If you'd like to help with this ongoing work, you can check the site and e-mail Dan Curtis, and if you'd like to see how a large stamp project can be hosted on the Web, then you can just visit the site at your leisure and enjoy the experience.

The Curtis Collection
http://www.thecurtiscollection.com/default2.asp

Curtis utilizes abbreviations and acronyms throughout the site that might be obscure to non-revenuers, but there's a Glossary page that reveals all.

READ THIS!!!!!

E-mail hoaxes are proof that no matter how much the technology changes people are motivated by the same things that moved and inspired Alley Oop and Cro Magnon and today e-mail hoaxes account for a huge percentage of the glut of unwanted e-mail clogging the Internet.

You'd think people would learn after a while that users don't get advance warning of e-mail viruses or that church congregations don't set up disaster area e-mail relief funds hours after a storm, but we do learn.  The trouble is the several hundred thousand new people who come online and fall for the same hoaxes for the first time.

Most e-mail that asks you to forward the email to "everyone you know" is probably a hoax.  The hoax that says something like "This is not a hoax" is, and lots of UPPERCASE LETTERS and lots of !!!!!!!! means it's an enthusiastic hoax.

Hoaxes are about emotional persuasion, so if you read the letter, ask yourself if it's pushing emotional hot buttons or rationally explaining a topic, and if the e-mail is trying to be logical does it quote legitimate sources?  

Typically, the e-mail hoax starts with paragraphs of emotionally packed text and cuts right to the chase and the moment of decision, which is usually a plea to send copies to everyone in the known world.  And you'd think people would know better?

Unfortunately, we can't help ourselves and one of the most successful hoaxes was an e-mail virus warning, which countless millions of people promptly told their friends about, though there was no virus other than the one sent out with each copy of the warning e-mail.

For more about e-mail hoaxes the U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Center runs Hoaxbusters.  Their motto is "Keeping DOE Secure," so you know they won't be pulling your leg and having you on.

Hoaxbusters
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

Text to Html

You may have a use for this little program.  It converts text files to html format, rendering the text for use in a browser and turning "
http://" into clickable links.  It's nothing fancy, but it gets the job done quickly without a lot of fuss.

I've started using it to organize the various sites I need to reference for my various online activities.  I just copy and paste the links to a .txt file and then convert them to .html, in effect using the pages like a bookmark file.

But you can use Text2Html to automatically code short stories, articles or masses of text for your Web site.  It's freeware and a tiny download.  Something for your toolbox.

Text2Html
http://www.cyber-matrix.com/txt2htm.htm