Monday, September 30, 2002

Maximum Spam Trap

The default filter for SpamCop is their inhouse list of spam.  The option is available for several other spam lists.  I started off with the SpamCop filter, and some spam was getting through.  I was reporting it one message at a time.  However, if SpamCop traps the spam, there is an option to report several messages at once.  Thus, I could see an advantage to using more than one filter.  In fact, I decided to try them all.  So far the spam lists have only trapped spam.  All legitimate messages are going through.

Well...  except for my Yahoo Groups.  The default spam list traps all Yahoo Groups messages.  I can add the sender's address to my white list, and then the next message will go through.  I haven't figured out a way to whitelist the whole group.  I don't really see this as a negative, however, because it keeps me paying attention while I'm checking the spam to make sure it really is spam.

BTW, I've added Keith's address back to the list of filtered addresses.  Everything is working fine now that I've applied the instruction, "Here, you can enter a forwarding address where mail will be sent after it is filtered. If you wish to leave your email on the server, leave this blank."  And the caution, "Note:  It is extremely important that if you are forwarding your email to the filtering system, that needs to be a different email address than what you enter here."

Saturday, September 28, 2002

SpamCop is Cool

With all the perils that I've set up for myself with SpamCop, you may have gotten the impression that I don't like it.  The program is cool!  It does more than I imagined and possibly will replace all the Hotmail accounts that I've set up to manage my spam up until now.

As the saying goes, "If all else fails, read the instructions," ....the FAQ,, the forums and the help files.

I was too impatient for that.  I could figure it out by myself, couldn't I?  Yeah, right!

No Sense At All

After I posted the last message, I realized that it made no sense at all.  So I copied it into an HTML document to edit it.  Somehow I copied it and posted it again into the middle of the post.  I'm not confused enough, am I?

Thanks to those who sent me an e-mailat spamcop.net.  I got all the messages.  Hmmm... however, how would I know if I didn't get a message?

Off to ponder the imponderable... or to sleep.... whichever comes first.

Friday, September 27, 2002

You've Got Mail .... and mail... and mail

I found out that I can't use the SSL option with my server.  When I chose this option, SpamCop would get an error message.

I don't know what made me think I could check Keith's mail and leave it on his server while filtering it with the SpamCop program.  I tried it, and it took me two days to fix it.

Everytime I checked my mail, I had one, two, three, or more copies of each of his messages, each of his spam, because he gets 10 spam for every one of mine.  I logged on and had 377 messages to wade through.  It took 20 minutes to download them with my slow Net connection (26,400 bps).

As Amanda would say, "It was Aunt Pam's good idea!"

I had reasoned that I'd filter Keith's messages, delete the spam, and leave his other messages on the server for him to download on his machine.

Well... it sounds good in theory.  The problem is that I don't understand exactly what the SpamCop program does (or doesn't do).

One e-mail from Curtis arrived 16 times, then twice more, and finally one last time (not counting the one time that I read it).  Judging from those 19 duplicates, that means I looked at the spam 19 times for each message.  I didn't even try to report it.  The sorting would have been a nightmare, and spam had robbed enough of my time for one day.

When I realized that I was looping again, I knew it had to be Keith's box that was doing it.  I had made the same mistake with my e-mail.  You'd think I'd have seen the connection ahead of time, but I didn't.  So I un-selected the SpamCop option that said "leave mail on server" for Keith's address.

Now I needed to get those messages off that server!  Thirty-two stuck messages would download over and over into SpamCop, and then forward to my address.  When I'd check Keith's e-mail and try to delete the messages, an ERR popup launched that said something about being unable to lock the box.

After I tried Keith's box, I downloaded my e-mail one more time.  I received a double round of the looping messages.  Then I checked his e-mail and it was still stuck, ERR popped up, but no messages downloaded.  Next I went to SpamCop and deleted Keith's e-mail address totally off my list.

One more orbit of my e-mail downloaded the last round of Keith's looping spam, and then I went back to his e-mail.  The messages were gone, and the program was finally able to clear the stuck "32 messages still on server" problem.

Surprisingly, I did not get diddled over these occurrences.  Mostly what I am is tired.

As soon as I get my website moved and the domain changed to the new server, I'm abandoning my old e-mail address.  So if you can't get a message to me, you can always write to my Hotmail address, faith__7 two underlines at Hotmail dot com.

If anyone is writing to Keith, he's not checking his e-mail.  *smirk*

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Aha! Looping

When I was filling in the blanks on my new Spam Cop account, I didn't realize I was setting up a loop.  That's me, ole loopy.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Weird E-mail

I got over 100 messages at one time in my e-mail box today.  I think most of them are spam.  I'm getting two of every e-mail message *and* all my messages are marked as read when I download them from pti.  Eeek!  What's going on?  I'm feeling paranoid.  Is someone reading my e-mail before I do?

Monday, September 23, 2002

Spam Cop

I did it!  I signed up for a Spam Cop account.  I was surprised that I was able to get "pamela" as my user name.  Isn't that cool?  That, in itself, is worth the thirty bucks to have my own name!  Then I was surprised to find out that there is a web-based e-mail account included.  I can use this account while I'm traveling, too.  Wow!  That is so cool!

I can make my own blacklist, and I've collected quite a few domain names that I do *not* want to get e-mail from.  Then I set up my own white list, people that I want to get e-mail from.  Of course, my sister is first on the list!

Spam Grrrrrrrrrr

I've been aware of spam since my first days on the Net back in 1997.  I've guarded my personal e-mail address with great care (ask my sister!)  I always used a web-based e-mail account or e-mail forwarding addresses.  Anyone who knows my private e-mail address shares it on pain of receiving a hysterical e-mail from me.

I've always used a Hotmail address on my website.  I've never used my private e-mail address on *anything*.  So how did the spammers get it?

I have not used my personal e-mail address
• in a newsgroup posting
• on forms
• signing guest books.
• registering software.
• Yahoo groups
• registering domain names

and
• I do not reply to spam.

Even with all these precautions, I still deal with a lot of spam.  It is annoying and wastes a lot of time that could be spent doing something productive (like moving my website to RivalPro.net).

I'm seriously considering signing up for a spamcop account for $30 per year.  I'd still need a new address to have the spamcop address forward to since my pti address gets about 50 spam a day now.

I am so annoyed with spam that I can barely stand it.  No, I can't stand it.  I'm not going to take it anymore!