RE: [Rollei] Re: OT SPAM

[Don Williams <dwilli10 >]

At 04:38 PM 5/27/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>I don't think the SPAM is related to our Rollei list, but I have
>received one or two offers that I know are based on someone/some group
>trolling the RUG.
>
>I did not receive any SPAM at work until about 6 months ago. Even though
>my organization implements a multi-level anti-SPAM programs to block out
>SPAM at the server level (40,000+ messages per day blocked!), I still
>receive several SPAM messages per day from the same annoying spammers.
>
>R.J.

My SPAM level has continued to increase almost exponentially for the past 
few months.

I agree that it doesn't really seem related to the Rollei list.  Often I 
get SPAM messages which are all directed to my domain, with different names 
in front of the @.

Years ago I used to try to track everyone, find their host machine, and 
send a note to the owner of the URL, but that is like spitting (a polite 
word) in the wind.

I think the only hope is for some existing and proposed new laws to come 
into effect which will require the ISP's to verify that a source address 
actually exists before accepting a message.  This may seem like a lot of 
work for the ISP but I'll bet that if that is ever done it will result in a 
net savings to the ISP's.

What makes me think that the Rollei list isn't a specific target, is that 
my business address (I consult from a home office) keeps getting messages 
such as:

"Dear sds,

Would you like to . . . . . "

(sds being Spectrum Data Systems, sds at san dot rr dot com)

On a related subject, Pop Ups, I have found the free version of Pop-Up 
Stopper is excellent.

One more thing I would recommend, is that you get the latest free version 
of Ad-Aware from LavaSoft.  It tracks down and deletes Trojan horses which 
are sitting in your machine reporting your every move to various data 
banks.  Here's a true example:  My daughter's machine is used mostly by her 
kids, and they of course play games and also accept all the nice "helpful" 
downloads.  Last week I installed Ad-Aware 6 on her system and found 254 
reporting files on her system.  Took two runs to get it cleaned up.

You can find Pop-Up Stopper and Ad-Aware with Google.  Their objective, of 
course, is to sell you advanced versions, but the free ones work very 
well.  Also, while you're at it, be sure to turn on the little firewall in 
Internet Explorer.  It will do wonders for you, especially if you are 
on-line with a cable modem or DSL.

It goes without saying that everyone out there has Norton System Works 
2003.  It's being closed out and you can get it for around $5.00 net after 
all the rebates, etc.  It has an all-up anti-virus program, one year of 
automatic updates, and many nice tools to clean and check your installation 
if you are running windows.

I just got back from almost seeing Bill Gates.  He is up the street at UCSD 
but when I got there for the meeting, the line was a mile long so I went 
for a smoothie instead.  I'll see him on the nightly news.  The subject was 
"A conversation with Bill Gates".  I saw him speak a couple of years ago 
and the smoothie went down better anyhow.



Don Williams
La Jolla, CA

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