Why can't we start filtering based on the URL's in spam? There would need to be some verification process (otherwise valid URL's would be blocked), but wouldn't it increase the cost to spam since spammers would need to register even more domains? After a while, this should also give us a list of spam-friendly hosting providers who should be banned from the rest of the internet.
SPAM will continue to exist until people stop making spam profitable.
Based on my latest spam, I'm assuming that the spammers are the only ones making money, and only based on the quantity of messages sent. (like the old pay per impression banner ads, before everyone moved to counting click-throughs only)
My latest ones are along the lines of:
[random crap] L 0 w e s t r a t e [crap] for your home [link removed] [more random crap]
Yes, it's making it past the spam filters, but at what cost? I recognize it as spam, but can barely understand what they're trying to send me! How are people even finding the link to click on it? The only thing the spammers are doing is destroying the email addresses that *I* pay for.
Most likely it was the hosts file. But another trick to remember is that Norton releases stand-alone updaters once a month. Incredibly useful if you're needing to install updates over dialup (standalone update to the last month, then liveupdate from there), or in this case, if the box refuses to liveupdate.
I always bring the updates for AV software with me, along with spyware updates (for the same reason, spyware likes to block or modify the definition file).
Other times, the virus is resident in memory and gets in the way of LiveUpdate or Norton itself. Stinger, running in safe mode is another good tool. It's self-contained and small enough to fit on a floppy. It only scans for the larger viruses, but often it's enough to eliminate the problem virus.
I recently moved 4 machines out of my work area into another room (not to mention the worst one of all, a nortel switch which sounded like a jet engine). Now they can make as much noise as they want somewhere where it won't matter (one even has a noisy cpu fan).
All I have now is one desktop and a notebook. With the data living on the other machines, the desktop often spins down it's HD's reducing that noise (the PS fan is another issue - and it's a G3 desktop so it doesn't use a standard ATX power supply).
What if the system bounced mail with a "Your network is not currently authorized. Click here and fill out the form", along with a captcha to prevent automated spidering. Most spam uses forged headers so the bounce should never make it back.
Removing shouldn't be much of an issue (you're blocking to prevent spam relays). If you really want to, auto block after 90 days of non-activity from the IP.
You might have some luck reconditioning the battery. Discharge completely until the computer goes into sleep, then recharge completely.
This will only adjust the battery meter to read correctly though; it won't restore capacity due to aging.
I have a 15" 800Mhz, and my battery was toast in about 18 months. It's good for about an hour. I bought a second battery which I swap in every little bit (to preserve the life) and when I need a long run time. I use the old one most of the time though, since I'm usually on AC within an hour (+ sleep time).
How old is your battery? My original battery is two years old now and stores at most an hour of charge. When it was new I made it through two 3.5-4 hour trips watching DVD's and still had power when I arrived. Notebook with me as long as I wasn't sleeping (although it did), and was charged at most twice a day.
My new, barely used battery gives me at least 4 hours of solid work with only the default energy saving. (powerbook with the 15" screen)
(at least from my experience). Sony stuff is garbage. Total, complete garbage. I've seen many sony products die prematurely. Example: my Sony VCR died well *before* the vcr it replaced.
Yet, many people are convinced that Sony is one of the best electronics brands. And, in fact, pay more to have a Sony product.
IIRC, Software Update uses HTTP to access the update list, but it uses a specific client app rather than a web browser. (otherwise it wouldn't make it through corp firewalls)
It's also the fault of the designers for not including strict rules as part of the standard for how frequently the client is allowed to check back, and, duh, the client shouldn't be user-configured to check at common times, like on the hour.
IIRC, there is a how-frequently-this-feed-is-updated header available, but clients don't actually use it.
I'm wondering why clients don't have the ability to change the refresh rate for feeds - I like to update the main/. page hourly, but the Apple feed doesn't change that often. My trick has been to setup my webserver to wget the other feeds once a day, and hit my own server hourly.
I agree with your idea though - the end user shouldn't be able to decide how frequently to update. Why hit a web server every 30 minutes if the feed changes once a day?
While it's a great idea, users don't always know what wants the password or why, and might just enter it anyways. Or the program might just say "Enter your password at the next screen".
Still, it is one more security step that windows doesn't have: even as admin you don't have full access to the machine.
What do they use to store news footage and episodes of "Friends" anyway? VHS??
VHS would be confined to a dubbing room somewhere. Even Super-VHS (at twice the resolution) is barely broadcast quality.
The standard format used to be Betacam (betacam is not beta, but both were developed by Sony), although Panasonic's M format was also popular (IIRC, it was used for sports because it did slow-motion well). An older format was 3/4" Umatic (also Sony)
These days, it tends to be Digital Betacam, or more recently the pro versions of DV - DVCPro and DVCam.
AppleCare is a great warranty plan, and I seriously considered buying it (notebooks get all kinds of abuse that desktops never see). I'm always careful with my machine, but things can happen.
But, buying it would have bumped the machine out of my price range. IIRC, it was something like $1000. The price on desktop machines was a little more reasonable, and I would have very easily bought it if it was offered at that price on the powerbook.
Considering that most warranty plans are extremely high margin items (90% iirc), and Apple has a high margin to begin with, I would have like to see AppleCare priced on a lower cost/higher volume model.
Negative selling (bashing the product) is not how to sell warranty. My usual response is along the lines of: If the product is so bad that it requires the warranty, then why am I buying it in the first place? That usually gives some standard response about value and protecting the investment, etc.
However, the extended warranties aren't always a bad thing (provided by the manufacturer, not the store), provided the cost is reasonable. I would have bought AppleCare for my powerbook if Apple didn't want another $1000 or so for it. (now to call Apple about how to fix something that I wasn't supposed to be able to do)
TV, VCR, CD, DVD, Receiver, Digital cable box... and that's in just one room! Other rooms have TV and DVD/VCR, and one is a Receiver/VCR/LCD combination.
Universal remotes don't work (yes, I have one). Why? Too much context switching - [TV] - power - input - input - [DVD] - power - [Receiver] - Power - Input DVD - [DVD] - Play. Adjust volume? Receiver - Volume. Pause movie? DVD - pause. Not much of an improvement over separate units. Macros won't work either because the remote doesn't know the state of devices (how many times do I send the "change input source" button to cycle to video 2?). And, the remote isn't intelligent enough to know what mode I'm in (should the pause button pause the DVD? CD? VCR? Does it mute the TV or receiver?)
I thought I read somewhere that the industry was starting to come together to standardize basic remote functionality. About #%*! time!
Basic functions should be standardized across all companies - both IR codes as well as UI. For common functions, I shouldn't need to program my remote (ex: volume up should always be volume up!). Eliminate multiple-state buttons. One of the other reasons why universal remotes fail is the differences in UI - my Panasonic TV and Sony VCR remotes didn't get along because both companies had completely different ways of controlling their devices and the remotes lacked the appropriate buttons/functionality.
If you want to get more advanced (I doubt it, since we haven't seen the basic stuff yet), interconnect the devices with a firewire/serial/etc cable. Basically, a more advanced verson of the camcorder/vcr "remote" cable functionality. Bang & Olfsun had a great system - press play on the vcr and the other components adjust their input/mode/etc automatically. One remote for the entire system. Even the phone could be tied into the system to pause/mute when in use.
Multiple devices? Sony had a great system with one line of VCR's - a "device id" switch on the remote and VCR.
The average person doesn't understand how this stuff works. Make it simple.
The spammers are paid to get the messages out to x number of people. Their success is not dependent on the actual return rate on the advertising money.
No kidding. I have received spams with forged headers, various tricks to get around filters, and after all that, absolutely no contact info (no email/web/phone/fax/etc). Why go through the effort?
(I was just upset because I couldn't trace the mail)
In my intro accounting class, one of the basic things I learned was that expenses/revenue was to be included in the financial statements in which it was spent/earned. So if the income was received in Q2, why is it not on the Q2 statements?
I think everyone in Toronto used Turing. I actually hit the stack limit one year, and I couldn't actually add any more characters or it refused to compile. (Take that U of T!:-) )
The important thing is that I was able to apply the turing knowledge to C/Java/etc. The languages I use now probably won't be around much in 10 years. When you teach specifics rather than concepts, the information is useless.
Do I need to remember that Works used F2 to search? No. Do I need to know what a record, table and query are? Of course.
If StarOffice doesn't act EXACTLY like Office, then many people won't be able to adapt. It's not because they don't know that Spell Check exists, it's because they only know it as F8.
Agreed. I get very little spam on my personal accounts (most of my spam is on my webmaster accounts. A bunch of Chinese hosts spidered my site a while back - it's obvious when ALL accounts on the site receive the same "You subscribed to our list" spam at the same time)
However, with the flood of viruses going around now, I doubt I can control my addresses much anymore. I've received numerous virus hits, and I'm sure that somewhere along the line messages are originating from me. I've received the occasional "You sent a virus" message, and one of my accounts suddenly went from no spam to 3/day.
I've been lucky with my work address. But I can't control where that goes, or change it easily.
Wonder if I can invoice microsoft for the damage they've done to my inbox? While no system is completely secure, there was no such thing as an email virus before MS Lookout showed up.
... doesn't mean they'll use it. The TCDSB (Toronto Catholic school board) IT department is so pro-microsoft that even anything Mac related was not supported. Even when it had to do with cross-platform software like FileMaker (used for elementary report cards, and owned by APPLE!) IMHO, the policy was reversed only because schools were buying Macs out of their own budgets for media use/etc.
Their student information system (Trillium), developed either by the Ministry of Education, or at least by a few school boards, runs on Microsoft (SQL server with a horribly written front end, most likely in VB). The alternative (Oracle) wasn't well supported IIRC.
The grade 9 "intro to computer" and compsci courses are taught with Office & VB and from what I've seen tend to focus on learning those programs, not the general concepts. (Where would I be if I focused on learning the 1993 version of Works, rather than generic database/spreadsheet concepts?)
Finally, if nothing else, their education agreement probably ensures that licensing is cheap enough and/or forced on every machine, or prevents them from installing competing software.
Slashdot Mirror
Why can't we start filtering based on the URL's in spam? There would need to be some verification process (otherwise valid URL's would be blocked), but wouldn't it increase the cost to spam since spammers would need to register even more domains? After a while, this should also give us a list of spam-friendly hosting providers who should be banned from the rest of the internet.
Based on my latest spam, I'm assuming that the spammers are the only ones making money, and only based on the quantity of messages sent. (like the old pay per impression banner ads, before everyone moved to counting click-throughs only)
My latest ones are along the lines of:Yes, it's making it past the spam filters, but at what cost? I recognize it as spam, but can barely understand what they're trying to send me! How are people even finding the link to click on it? The only thing the spammers are doing is destroying the email addresses that *I* pay for.
Most likely it was the hosts file. But another trick to remember is that Norton releases stand-alone updaters once a month. Incredibly useful if you're needing to install updates over dialup (standalone update to the last month, then liveupdate from there), or in this case, if the box refuses to liveupdate.
I always bring the updates for AV software with me, along with spyware updates (for the same reason, spyware likes to block or modify the definition file).
Other times, the virus is resident in memory and gets in the way of LiveUpdate or Norton itself. Stinger, running in safe mode is another good tool. It's self-contained and small enough to fit on a floppy. It only scans for the larger viruses, but often it's enough to eliminate the problem virus.
I recently moved 4 machines out of my work area into another room (not to mention the worst one of all, a nortel switch which sounded like a jet engine). Now they can make as much noise as they want somewhere where it won't matter (one even has a noisy cpu fan).
All I have now is one desktop and a notebook. With the data living on the other machines, the desktop often spins down it's HD's reducing that noise (the PS fan is another issue - and it's a G3 desktop so it doesn't use a standard ATX power supply).
What if the system bounced mail with a "Your network is not currently authorized. Click here and fill out the form", along with a captcha to prevent automated spidering. Most spam uses forged headers so the bounce should never make it back.
Removing shouldn't be much of an issue (you're blocking to prevent spam relays). If you really want to, auto block after 90 days of non-activity from the IP.
I cna typ e300 wrds a mniuet
You might have some luck reconditioning the battery. Discharge completely until the computer goes into sleep, then recharge completely.
This will only adjust the battery meter to read correctly though; it won't restore capacity due to aging.
I have a 15" 800Mhz, and my battery was toast in about 18 months. It's good for about an hour. I bought a second battery which I swap in every little bit (to preserve the life) and when I need a long run time. I use the old one most of the time though, since I'm usually on AC within an hour (+ sleep time).
How old is your battery? My original battery is two years old now and stores at most an hour of charge. When it was new I made it through two 3.5-4 hour trips watching DVD's and still had power when I arrived. Notebook with me as long as I wasn't sleeping (although it did), and was charged at most twice a day.
My new, barely used battery gives me at least 4 hours of solid work with only the default energy saving. (powerbook with the 15" screen)
(at least from my experience).
Sony stuff is garbage. Total, complete garbage.
I've seen many sony products die prematurely. Example: my Sony VCR died well *before* the vcr it replaced.
Yet, many people are convinced that Sony is one of the best electronics brands. And, in fact, pay more to have a Sony product.
webmaster@the-site-I'm-accessing.com works well.
If I'm in a bad mood, I'll subscribe them to all the lists.
(I've noticed more than one form that no longer requires an email address after doing this)
IIRC, Software Update uses HTTP to access the update list, but it uses a specific client app rather than a web browser.
(otherwise it wouldn't make it through corp firewalls)
It's also the fault of the designers for not including strict rules as part of the standard for how frequently the client is allowed to check back, and, duh, the client shouldn't be user-configured to check at common times, like on the hour.
/. page hourly, but the Apple feed doesn't change that often. My trick has been to setup my webserver to wget the other feeds once a day, and hit my own server hourly.
IIRC, there is a how-frequently-this-feed-is-updated header available, but clients don't actually use it.
I'm wondering why clients don't have the ability to change the refresh rate for feeds - I like to update the main
I agree with your idea though - the end user shouldn't be able to decide how frequently to update. Why hit a web server every 30 minutes if the feed changes once a day?
While it's a great idea, users don't always know what wants the password or why, and might just enter it anyways.
Or the program might just say "Enter your password at the next screen".
Still, it is one more security step that windows doesn't have: even as admin you don't have full access to the machine.
What do they use to store news footage and episodes of "Friends" anyway? VHS??
VHS would be confined to a dubbing room somewhere. Even Super-VHS (at twice the resolution) is barely broadcast quality.
The standard format used to be Betacam (betacam is not beta, but both were developed by Sony), although Panasonic's M format was also popular (IIRC, it was used for sports because it did slow-motion well). An older format was 3/4" Umatic (also Sony)
These days, it tends to be Digital Betacam, or more recently the pro versions of DV - DVCPro and DVCam.
AppleCare is a great warranty plan, and I seriously considered buying it (notebooks get all kinds of abuse that desktops never see). I'm always careful with my machine, but things can happen.
But, buying it would have bumped the machine out of my price range. IIRC, it was something like $1000. The price on desktop machines was a little more reasonable, and I would have very easily bought it if it was offered at that price on the powerbook.
Considering that most warranty plans are extremely high margin items (90% iirc), and Apple has a high margin to begin with, I would have like to see AppleCare priced on a lower cost/higher volume model.
Negative selling (bashing the product) is not how to sell warranty. My usual response is along the lines of:
If the product is so bad that it requires the warranty, then why am I buying it in the first place?
That usually gives some standard response about value and protecting the investment, etc.
However, the extended warranties aren't always a bad thing (provided by the manufacturer, not the store), provided the cost is reasonable. I would have bought AppleCare for my powerbook if Apple didn't want another $1000 or so for it. (now to call Apple about how to fix something that I wasn't supposed to be able to do)
TV, VCR, CD, DVD, Receiver, Digital cable box... and that's in just one room! Other rooms have TV and DVD/VCR, and one is a Receiver/VCR/LCD combination.
Universal remotes don't work (yes, I have one). Why? Too much context switching - [TV] - power - input - input - [DVD] - power - [Receiver] - Power - Input DVD - [DVD] - Play. Adjust volume? Receiver - Volume. Pause movie? DVD - pause. Not much of an improvement over separate units. Macros won't work either because the remote doesn't know the state of devices (how many times do I send the "change input source" button to cycle to video 2?). And, the remote isn't intelligent enough to know what mode I'm in (should the pause button pause the DVD? CD? VCR? Does it mute the TV or receiver?)
I thought I read somewhere that the industry was starting to come together to standardize basic remote functionality. About #%*! time!
Basic functions should be standardized across all companies - both IR codes as well as UI. For common functions, I shouldn't need to program my remote (ex: volume up should always be volume up!). Eliminate multiple-state buttons. One of the other reasons why universal remotes fail is the differences in UI - my Panasonic TV and Sony VCR remotes didn't get along because both companies had completely different ways of controlling their devices and the remotes lacked the appropriate buttons/functionality.
If you want to get more advanced (I doubt it, since we haven't seen the basic stuff yet), interconnect the devices with a firewire/serial/etc cable. Basically, a more advanced verson of the camcorder/vcr "remote" cable functionality.
Bang & Olfsun had a great system - press play on the vcr and the other components adjust their input/mode/etc automatically. One remote for the entire system. Even the phone could be tied into the system to pause/mute when in use.
Multiple devices? Sony had a great system with one line of VCR's - a "device id" switch on the remote and VCR.
The average person doesn't understand how this stuff works. Make it simple.
The spammers are paid to get the messages out to x number of people. Their success is not dependent on the actual return rate on the advertising money.
No kidding. I have received spams with forged headers, various tricks to get around filters, and after all that, absolutely no contact info (no email/web/phone/fax/etc). Why go through the effort?
(I was just upset because I couldn't trace the mail)
In my intro accounting class, one of the basic things I learned was that expenses/revenue was to be included in the financial statements in which it was spent/earned. So if the income was received in Q2, why is it not on the Q2 statements?
Is this just manipulation of the statements?
I think everyone in Toronto used Turing. I actually hit the stack limit one year, and I couldn't actually add any more characters or it refused to compile. (Take that U of T! :-) )
The important thing is that I was able to apply the turing knowledge to C/Java/etc. The languages I use now probably won't be around much in 10 years. When you teach specifics rather than concepts, the information is useless.
Do I need to remember that Works used F2 to search? No. Do I need to know what a record, table and query are? Of course.
If StarOffice doesn't act EXACTLY like Office, then many people won't be able to adapt. It's not because they don't know that Spell Check exists, it's because they only know it as F8.
Agreed. I get very little spam on my personal accounts (most of my spam is on my webmaster accounts. A bunch of Chinese hosts spidered my site a while back - it's obvious when ALL accounts on the site receive the same "You subscribed to our list" spam at the same time)
However, with the flood of viruses going around now, I doubt I can control my addresses much anymore. I've received numerous virus hits, and I'm sure that somewhere along the line messages are originating from me. I've received the occasional "You sent a virus" message, and one of my accounts suddenly went from no spam to 3/day.
I've been lucky with my work address. But I can't control where that goes, or change it easily.
Wonder if I can invoice microsoft for the damage they've done to my inbox? While no system is completely secure, there was no such thing as an email virus before MS Lookout showed up.
... doesn't mean they'll use it. The TCDSB (Toronto Catholic school board) IT department is so pro-microsoft that even anything Mac related was not supported. Even when it had to do with cross-platform software like FileMaker (used for elementary report cards, and owned by APPLE!) IMHO, the policy was reversed only because schools were buying Macs out of their own budgets for media use/etc.
Their student information system (Trillium), developed either by the Ministry of Education, or at least by a few school boards, runs on Microsoft (SQL server with a horribly written front end, most likely in VB). The alternative (Oracle) wasn't well supported IIRC.
The grade 9 "intro to computer" and compsci courses are taught with Office & VB and from what I've seen tend to focus on learning those programs, not the general concepts.
(Where would I be if I focused on learning the 1993 version of Works, rather than generic database/spreadsheet concepts?)
Finally, if nothing else, their education agreement probably ensures that licensing is cheap enough and/or forced on every machine, or prevents them from installing competing software.
Something like a Rakgear bag would work. Pick an unusual colour to further camouflage it.
Size, for one. My tiny 450VA ups is larger than a standard ATX power supply.
My server ups which has a decent runtime (an APC SmartUPS 2200) is the size of a mini-tower and takes 2 people to move.
If spammers have to buy new domains for every couple of thousand spams they face a big problem.
.biz every day.
I should show you my inbox. All the spam on one of my accounts comes from the same source, and with a different
A domain is, what, $8 US at GoDaddy? Less in bulk?