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Real-time Spam Map

iggychaos writes "Mailinator, the free, temporary email service gets a lot of spam (over a million emails a day). And with another cool application of Google maps, the site now shows a Spam Map indicating what sites are spamming mailinator in (nearly) real time. It's oddly addictive to poke around and see where the spam is actually coming from."

24 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. No Australian spammers! by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

    We're too busy spamming mailinator.com.au e-mail addresses.

    1. Re:No Australian spammers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, well done. You've spoted a problem with the Mercator projection that was recognised hundreds years ago.

    2. Re:No Australian spammers! by Cygnus78 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well I see there is one now.

      Subject: Send blankets, it's friggin cold down here!
      IP address: 1.2.3.4
      DNS Name: friggin.cold.com
      Location: Antartica
      Emails: lots

  2. Australia is spam free by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Funny

    although that isn't because we're more moral then the rest of the world. It's because we've yet to discover electricity.

  3. Middle of the Atlantic? by strider44 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I see one spam message from "The Middle of the Atlantic". Damn those spam sending cruise ships! On the other hand, it's perhaps the first spam message that I'm disappointed that I can't read the body of the message.

  4. Hey! It's Steve Jobs!! by moehoward · · Score: 3, Insightful


    Looks like they count iTunes New Music Tuesday newsletter as spam.

    Does this mean we sign up Steve for a bunch of catalogs and junk mail to be sent to his home address?

    And why do almost all of the points on the map say 100 Emails received? Seems odd.

    I think this is not exactly what it's cracked up to be.

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
  5. Scientologist's Sea Org by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's verbal tech. You're downstat. Report for auditing.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  6. Turkey by Democritus2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    You see the spam coming out of turkey? "Enough with the Thanksgiving Jokes already" or something like that-- pretty funny

    --

    no god is good

  7. Not the source of spam by Underholdning · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More likely, this is a map of open relays and zombies.

    1. Re:Not the source of spam by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, it's a map of NT 4.0 and Windows 98 sys...
      Never mind.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  8. This is your chance by Tribbin · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is your chance to put your village on the map.

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    If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  9. Re:Warning by GigsVT · · Score: 5, Funny

    I personally think anyone that's unable to cope with seeing certain combinations of the latin alphabet probably aren't mature enough to be surfing the web, myself.

    Yeah, fuck them. :)

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
  10. Purpose by mudbogger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "You know if you give it, you're gambling with your privacy. On the other hand, you do want at least one message from that person. The answer is to give them a mailinator address." --from the website

    Isn't that gambling with your privacy as well though, to store the email you want to receive in an inbox that anybody can access? Other than that it's a pretty cool site/idea; however, I think a lot of people have email accounts already that they dedicate to web usage.

  11. Where is New Zealand? by tetranz · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to that map, my country has disappeared off the face of the earth.

    1. Re:Where is New Zealand? by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

      Meh, it was never that important to begin with :P (Don't mod this down unless you're a kiwi).

  12. Wow... no FL? by Alizarin+Erythrosin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm surprised. Most spammer businesses seem to be based out of Boca Raton, FL (a fact that makes me pissed off, being a Floridian). No little pips in FL... yet. I guess I should wait a few days.

    Either that or they still use open relays (or even zombie computers at this point), so they won't show up.

    --
    There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
  13. Duplicate post but with CRLFs by Stunning+Tard · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ugh! Formatting! *slaps forehead*

    There seem to be a lot of jokes on there. It must be by the mailinator staff.

    Subject: Um, the brochure said it was GREEN here
    IP address: 1.2.3.4
    DNS Name: greenland.aintgreen.com
    Location: Greenland
    Emails: lots
    (Pin in middle of Greenland)

    Subject: Mom, a funny thing happened on the way to the store
    IP address: 1.2.3.4
    DNS Name: helpme.ocean.com
    Location: Middle of the ocean
    Emails: lots
    (pin somewhere in the Pacific)

    Then this one
    Subject: Send money. I had a few beers then...this
    IP address: 1.2.3.4
    DNS Name: too.much.beer.com
    Location: Middle of the Atlantic
    Emails: lots
    (pin somewhere int he Atlantic)

  14. Re:Not all that accurate by filenabber · · Score: 5, Informative

    We threw in a couple joke locations just for fun. The algorithm is sound.

    --
    Are you a Candy Addict?
  15. Re:Apple? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative
    There is no algorithm. People sign up and get a one-shot email address. The first email sent to this address is forwarded to another address, and all subsequent ones are considered spam.

    I suspect the reason for the large number of Apple emails is idiots who download iTunes and supply a one-shot email address instead of simply unchecking the `send me iTunes newsletters' box on the download page.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  16. Invalid Survey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is really an invalid survey because of tunnels and portals that most spammers use. This link gives a far better representation of the overall spam locations in the world. They actually trace backed the mail to its origin to map where it was coming from.
    On a side note there are far better services out there similar to mailinator like shortmail.net and pookmail.com that should be checked out.

  17. poking the source of spam? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It's oddly addictive to poke around and see where the spam is actually coming from." "

    Kermit agrees. Miss Piggy unavailable for comment.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  18. Bill Gates and Google Tools... by MosesJones · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Ummm so when Bill said that they wanted to give people the tools to organise the information....

    How is Google not providing the tools? Seems to me that Google is providing better tools, just not requiring people to buy and operating system to use them.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  19. Re:haha look at all the Americans by Ph33r+th3+g(O)at · · Score: 3, Insightful

    China is where the "bullet-proof hosting" services are mostly housed. You can't shake a stick at a group of spamvertised sites without hitting Chinanet. The emails themselves don't come from China because lots of intelligent mail admins block the whole country.

    --
    I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
  20. Re:So how long unitl the Spammers... by Drinian · · Score: 3, Informative

    So how long unitl the Spammers simply block the mailinator.com domain? Or websites refuse to take email addresses from that domain?

    From the FAQ:

    What are alternate domains?

    Every now and then you bump into a website that does not permit email addresses at mailinator.com (scoundrels!). Don't fret. There is more than one domain pointing to the mailinator system. If you send email to one of the listed alternate domains - it will come to mailinator.com just as if you sent it directly. For example, stinky@mailinator.com is EXACTLY the same as stinky@fakeinformation.com (which are exactly the same as any other domain in the list).