Use for fast computers

[LiamC]

I have heard a lot of people say it (and said it myself) that very few people really need fast PC's.

Well I now know what the saviour of Intel/AMD is.

SPAM!

Yep that's right. Spam. I was looking at my Eudora filters this morning and if the list keeps growing, I'll need a top of the line PC just to process all the filters when I check my mail! :mrgrn:

Who woulda thunk? Spam, the corprate/economic saviour.

 

[jtr1962]

Isn't most of the filtering done on the server side? I know Yahoo seems to block quite a bit of junk mail on it's own. With the dozen or fewer spams I get a month in my Yahoo inbox I generally add the domain name(rather than the complete address) to my personal block list(also taken care of by Yahoo's server) and then they can't pester me at all. My Bluelight inbox has more spam(maybe 2 a day), but I've been diligently adding to the filters there as well. Once again, rather than just blocking the address(xyz@abcd.com) I block the entire domain(abcd.com) since I've noticed spammers have taken to sending junk from the same domain under many different user names. In all cases the filtering is done by the server, not by my PC. I don't use Eudora, Hotmail, or Outlook. In fact, I really don't understand what the point of using any of those are as opposed to just checking a few inboxes. I even save and index my messages(plain html) myself.

The answer to spam is hopefully pending in Congress. If we're lucky we may finally get a national "DO NOT SPAM" list as well as a "DO NOT CALL" list for telemarketers. I don't recall ever giving anybody permission to use my inbox or phone as an advertising instrument, and commercial advertising certainly doesn't fall under free speech. Provided the new laws have some teeth and enough high profile spammers get fined into bankruptcy we may finally see the end of spam. In not, I think e-mail will become next to useless. Nobody has time to wade through hundreds of e-mails each day to find the few that are relevant. The spammers are getting cute lately sending messages with subject lines like "Regarding our conversation", "You forgot to write", and "Haven't heard from you in a while" which won't be caught by many ISP's junk mail filters. One guy even had the nerve to write me complaining that I blocked his domain. I felt like sending him back a nice message not suited for general family viewing but decided against it. Sometimes not reacting to garbage like this makes them even angrier.

 

[LiamC]

Telstra is my ISP. They don't filter anything on their servers :x

So I'm limited in my choices. Eudora is much better than Outlook IMO.

:bigeek: I can't believe a spammer would have the nerve to complain about blocking his crap. Now there is a good use for thermonuclear weapons.

 

[Onomatopoeic]

...The spammers are getting cute lately sending messages with subject lines like "Regarding our conversation", "You forgot to write", and "Haven't heard from you in a while"...

I've been getting a lot of spam lately with "Undeliverable Message..." or some variation to that.

I just can't see the reason for spam anymore. Is someone actually making money off this crap? I guess there are still sizable numbers of gullible newbies logging onto the Internet.

 

[Tea]

Telstra is my ISP.

Well, thatz a zelf-inflicted injury. You'll get no zympathy from me.

 

[LiamC]

Aww Tea, I thought you'd at least understand my plight.

Trouble is, it's not worth switching to any other ISP with their "registration fees". It would take 18 months just to break even with slightly reduced monthly cost (ADSL).

 

[Pradeep]

Personally I don't want any server side spam filtering by my ISP. If it's an option, fine, but don't make it compulsary. That way I don't lose important emails that some AI program decides must be pRon or somesuch.

 

[Tea]

Ahh, you are on ADSL (Awful Damn Slow Line). I'm on Cable (CAn't Bloody Load Enything). That's the trouble with ADSL. You can sign up with Telstra and get ripped off by Telstra and all for useless bloody Telstra "service" standards. Or else you can sign up with a non-Telstra supplier and get ripped off by your non-Telstra supplier and all for useless bloody Telstra "service" standards (cuz either way, it's still the Telstra technicians who provide the "service"). On the one hand, they mess you up worse if you are not a "proper" Telstra customer. On the other hand, at least you don't have to put up with the Telsta accounts department as well as their service department. Hobson's choice, really.

Alternatively, you can go cable (if you have in in your street). Her in the Rat, at least, that means you can have the cable company, or you can have the cable company. And if you are not happy with them, you can simply say "I'm going to go to your competition instead" and pick up the phone and call ... er the same cable company.

Failing that, if you are really peeved, you can go to ... er ... Telstra for an ADSL line.

Anyone for 56k dial-up?

 

[LiamC]

Aint competition grand?

Speaking of Telstra, their authentication servers have been mighty flaky in the past two weeks, and o/s sites load very slowly. I wonder which cable has been cut this time?

 

[Mercutio]

Anyone for 56k dial-up?

I'd love it.

I use server-side blocking on my own mail. It works very well. Every weekend I go through the spambox to see what didn't make it to my normal inbox, and every weekend I gleefully delete it all.

I'd estimate I get around 150 spam messages a day through my various accounts, and maybe 20 real messages. I've had my addresses for quite awhile.

 

[Tannin]

I get those same 130 messages. You know what we ought to do, Merc - have our mail clients do a compare. Any message that goes to only one of us is probably genine - the ones that land in both in-boxes could be deleted unread.

Well, almost.

 

[Adcadet]

just load two email accounts into your email client - a real one and a bogus one. Any email sent to both accounts is deleted.

 

[time]

You know, that's not as silly as it sounds. Every time you publish your email address, you make sure you also use a second one.

Then, any email that arrives in both is clearly noise (a balanced line). Hmmm ...

 

[jtr1962]

I've been getting a lot of spam lately with "Undeliverable Message..." or some variation to that.

I've been getting those in my Yahoo inbox occasionally. Also, I've gotten a few things with attachments that the Yahoo virus scan says have virii. Needless to say those are consigned to the bit bucket.

I just can't see the reason for spam anymore. Is someone actually making money off this crap? I guess there are still sizable numbers of gullible newbies logging onto the Internet.

I don't get it either. Span and telemarketing are two things which I just can't fathom how anyone makes money off of. Spam in particular since most of the goods hawked by it are of a rather shady nature, or are stuff you can get through more legitimate channels.