Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The New Yorker On Spam

Posted by kdawson on from the they-don't-like-it-one-bit dept.

aqk notes an article in the Aug. 6th New Yorker surveying the spam problem up-to-date. The New Yorker may not be exactly the MSM, but it is pretty influential. The author got only one fact wrong that I noticed: Canter and Siegel's seminal spam was propagated through Usenet and not email. Still, it's a good look at the history of spam and the scale of the problem today. The amount of spam that "spam king" Robert Alan Soloway, indicted under the CAN-SPAM Act, is accused of sending over a period of four years is now pumped out about every 30 seconds, around the clock, around the world.

8 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. MSM... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Guess you must be one of them "bloggers" right?

  2. Re:Need More Exposure to Ideas and Methods by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    That being said, newspapers should be trying to innovate
    No, they should move to Canada, live in a commune, smoke various substances, plook each other, and quit bothering the untainted with their nonsense.
  3. Re:It'll be hard to change minds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    This individual (Not an in-duh-vidual - a Ph.D.)

    I'm pretty sure the point of your comment is that a Ph.D. is a piece of paper.

  4. The New Yorker On Spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    The first thing that poppped into my head when I saw the headline was "nerds on fashion".

    The New Yorker? Huh??? Methinks there are a few faux nerds reading slashdot. I think that may be a good thing, how about you guys?

    -mcgrew

  5. Re:It'll be hard to change minds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Ph.D. is, specifically, a 'Doctor of Philosophy.' It's a title, like esquire or CMG.

  6. Re:It'll be hard to change minds. by gsslay · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm in the middle of starting up a small business and was talking to someone about marketing. This individual (Not an in-duh-vidual - a Ph.D.) suggested that I send out mass emails. Please tell us you weren't paying this individual for this advice. Please tell us you haven't paid him anything since.
  7. Re:It'll be hard to change minds. by KlomDark · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Dude, you need SalesGenie!

  8. Re:It'll be hard to change minds. by iknownuttin · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Please tell us you weren't paying this individual for this advice. Please tell us you haven't paid him anything since.

    Don't worry, he's a friend of mine and we were shooting the breeze. I did bring spam into his awareness, though.

    --
    I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.