Re: Going into hiding

[L Nyveen <lawrence@dsuper.net>]

At 23:13 -0500 10/1/99, Jeff Poling wrote:

>   A recent problem involving List members adds a rather ironic exclamation
>point to this announcement.  Very soon, I will go into "hiding", reading
>the List but no longer replying to the list at large.
>
>   The reason is spam.
>
>   It was bad enough when spammers sent one message, but now they use
>robots to comb the web and usenet, use multiple email list CDs, and use
>multiple servers to violate as many people as they can.  I now receive two
>to SIX copies of every spam sent to my mailbox, to the point where it's
>gotten overwhelming.

I doubt that mailing lists contribute to spam-gatherers, but if the
messages are Webbed, they might.  Still, I use my e-mail address freely on
the Web and it doesn't seem to have contributed to too much spam.

I have my name/e-mail out there probably more than any of you.  Every week
I send in e-mail/post on the Web one of my e-mail addresses with each new
issue of Netsurfer Digest and the spam level is quite controllable.

Two things I do to keep it that way:

1) Never ever ever ask for your e-mail address to be removed from a spam
list.  This only confirms that your address is valid.

2) Don't use a valid e-mail address anywhere in your Usenet posts.  I tack
on an extra "t" to the ".net" of my address.  If someone has to mail me,
they know what to do.  When I made this change it really seemed to cut down
on the spam I get.

If you want to test this, get a HotMail address or something like it.  Get
two or three.  Use one for Usenet only, one for Web posts only, and one on
your Web page.  Use filtering to send e-mail sent to each of these
addresses into unique in-boxes.  In two months, or six, see which gathers
the most spam.  You can just keep a running tally.  At the end, you'll
discover what's safe and what isn't.

This has been a public service announcement.


Laurie Nyveen                                  lawrence@dsuper.net
__________________________________________________________________
Editor, Netsurfer Digest - <http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html>
DNRC Minister of Adding "ue" to Words That End in "log"
"All we are, basically, are monkeys with car keys."
                             - Grandma Woody (Northern Exposure)