You can set up a filter that removes (what you consider to be) an acceptable TP:FP ratio, but it won't be effective for long. The Spammers are constantly adjusting their tactics to get around filters. Eventually the noise will take over and you will either lose an unacceptable amount of non-spam email or you will receive an unacceptable amount of spam email.
Perhaps the assessment is too pessimistic? Although individuals, organizations, etc. come and go, here we are years later and most people don't seem to worry too much about SPAM on a day-to-day basis....
You cannot win with filters, period.
Depends on what a "win" is... but if a simple solution that is rooted in nothing more than thinking first (i.e. giving out unique addresses when solicited) & being smart (e.g. filtering known abusers and doing one's part with respect to compliance) results in a little learned and a whole lot of utility then perhaps one can win with filters...
The truth of the matter - that a lot of people seem to either not be aware of or not be concerned with - is that spam is an economic problem. Spammers don't send out spam to piss you off, they send it out to make money. No amount of filtering or criminal prosecution will change that; in fact it generally just increases the total volume of spam that traverses the internet continuously. We all pay for this spam to be transmitted, stored, processed, downloaded, etc, even if we never buy any spamvertised product. We pay for it in that it increases the consumption of internet bandwidth, it increases the consumption of storage at ISPs, and has other downstream impacts as well
Although bandwidth is (essentially) free and SPAM is as much a behavioral problem as it is an economic problem one would tend to agree with the expressed sentiment; the only problem/oversight is that the people who send SPAM also pay! No matter how passionately one feels about the commons the subtlety is that debasement of said commons is everyone's concern; as such, suggesting (or even expecting) that government be involved (e.g. via a CAN-SPAM act and enforcement of said act) is not unreasonable. Perhaps the problem (and its persistence) has something to do with how we weigh our (domestic/national) interests against a global interest when said interest spans geographic/cultural/social/economic boundaries?
If you want to make a difference on spam, you need to go after the only thing spammers care about - money. The most effective tactics ever used against spam have been the ones that prevented spammers from getting paid, nothing else - not even the sum total of all the filters ever installed worldwide - has had an impact even remotely near it.
IMHO we can all do our small part and have a reasonable hope that society will accommodate the same...
And in addition to getting a real email account that is free of any ISP, I could also suggest that you use a free forwarding service such as spamgourmet.com.
It's a great suggestion (especially in light of the fact that there are *very* few providers who will allow one to both establish an unlimited number of forwarding accounts on one's domain & turn off automatic filtering to allow for manual filtering and reduction of false positives. One can even implement it to a certain extent with Gmail using the '+' character feature which is built-in to the service (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html)...
Uhmmm, why are you using your ISP's email in the first place?
Depends on how/when you look at it... but (along the way, say around 2003-2005) some ISPs got really strict with standard mail configurations (which they called "open relays' and decided that, rather than fighting the good fight which is concomitant with their privilege of being a service provider they would simply marginalize their own customers (who, in most cases, really didn't have a choice between ISPs). As such, the impetus to run one's own mail server, in some cases, got (unwillingly) sacrificed.
It's far better to use a third party email provider, so that you can switch ISPs at will without having to change your email address.
In theory yes, but (in practice) depends on the third-party provider. It should be noted (as none of the replies happened to mention it) that, due the availability and perceived need for SPAM filtering software (around 2003-2005) many providers implemented filtrations with little (if any) control of said filtering being offered to their customers; given the high cost of false positives (in just about every way) it behooves one to check with a third-party provider about whether filtering can be turned off before finding out the hard way that whitelisting (and, indeed a capacity to peruse filtered messages to recover false positives) is reserved by the third-party provider.
Yahoo! recently revamped Yahoo! Movies and appears to have thrown away user lists and ratings (which, unlike Netflix ratings, only required a free account); what's the alternative to a "free" service for keeping your data?
Unlock codes for AT&T-exclusive phones only is a recent phenomena (I was able to receive an unlock code for a Nokia 2610 phone acquired by way of a $20 GoPhone package); perhaps the policy can change over time?
When I signed up for DSL service (during the summer of 1999) the setup process was exactly like your ideal scenario; when I helped get my sister set up (in 2004) the process was slightly more involved (due to PPPoE configuration) but certainly wasn't too encumbered... perhaps you encountered the service in one of its less successful iterations?
Order execution (time to execute an order and the probability of execution) has something to do with it. Also, the OP is not correct in stating that "You'll match the first offer to sell no matter how high it is"/"you just put in a request to give it away for a penny a share"; execution as such would imply a market which is not functioning correctly (i.e. low order volume, mis-pricing, and/or malicious order routing), which (statistically speaking) is not common.
Actually, what is more dangerous is the assumption you've made regarding infinite amounts of capital; see the Wikipedia page for "Gambler's Ruin" to understand how an age-old paradox makes your argument dilatory at best.
Why do you need a copy? If the library has the text and it's been assigned for a course which is being offered then it's probably on "reserve" (i.e. available for 2-hour check-out periods). Just borrow the book when you need it!
I think your post is vulgar; I could equally characterize your post (and zero-sum attitude) as a sort of "violent nerd porn", akin to a sentiment expressed by someone who gets his jollies seeing others being choked or shat on. Within the context of your own analogy: how is it that consumers chose one car brand over another when making a purchase? Are the countless hours spent washing, maintaining, (or even enjoying) because "it isn't doing what they want it to do"? How would you explain America's love affair with the road, the countless monthly automobile publications and thousands of communities which center around nothing more than a common love of automobiles?
Yeah, but the thing is: *you* recognize the situation and even commented on the fact that the chances of bias being put aside are near 0%... isn't that in and of itself progress?
I agree completely; it's annoying that some of these attitudes (whether conscious or subconscious) never seem to change... A given Slashdotter (and/or comment poster) might *think* he/she know about backups; spending some time supporting enterprise-class backup software would really set him/her straight...
The one thing you didn't mention (but perhaps alluded to) is that failures can happen even *after* you'd laid out the $$$ for an enterprise-class backup solution. What recourse do you have when your discover bugs in the software after the fact (i.e. after you've done the homework, implemented a backup strategy, and then needed to restore)? What about when the software vendor can't fix your bugs or tells you you're SOL because the defect is "working-as-designed"? How about when they say "you should have configured it differently" or "it won't be supported until a later release"? Having worked in Level II support at an enterprise software company I can tell you these things happen on a day-to-day basis; the success of your solution unfortunately depends as much on luck (e.g. who you talk to you when you call support) as it does planning, implementation, etc...
I feel really bad for the Ma.gnolia guys; there's more to learn about backups than any given individual could ever want to learn, and pretty much nothing to learn from data loss and business failure. "Sucks" is definitely the way to put it.
Actually... unless there's a hack that I'm not aware of (another, later, Windows OS in a VM or something?)... IE7 is not supported for Win2k and won't download/install by default. Also, IMHO Chrome is still in its infancy and there's definitely no reason not to use Firefox (aside from the fact that Microsoft software works best with Microsoft software)...
Every six-pack has a say... just, not from his couch... the standards are all created by working groups with RFC's released to the public and with the public's best interest in mind, no?
Perhaps you've stumbled on the root of the problem; the reality (or, more likely, the perception) of "CS=computer gearhead" is fundamentally flawed. After all, you eat food every day; that doesn't mean you only pursue a degree in chemistry or biology because you want to get under the hood. Perhaps the fact that computer science has very little to do with computers (and isn't really a science) is being lost on prospective students.
It's also possible the OP is the luckiest person in the world; why would you want to be a part of a club that wouldn't have you as a member, Groucho?
FWIW: the economy isn't so hot right now... but that doesn't matter if you're a recent graduate; interviewing is a skill... but not one that you'd want to be terribly proficient at if you're looking for your first post-college job; you could do some independent development... but having got a computer engineering degree means someone should be paying you to user their platform/technology/tools; there might be a stigma associated with tech support... but only if the employer doesn't know what a software development lifecycle is; you could embellish your credentials... but you'd only be lying to yourself. Perhaps considering graduate school is a possibility?
You wouldn't necessarily have to re-install... there is such a thing as physical-to-virtual (P2V) virtualization; depending on the vendor/tool you can even virtualize a "box" while it's running.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't fool yourself on this one.
Okay... but maybe too late, yeah?
You can set up a filter that removes (what you consider to be) an acceptable TP:FP ratio, but it won't be effective for long. The Spammers are constantly adjusting their tactics to get around filters. Eventually the noise will take over and you will either lose an unacceptable amount of non-spam email or you will receive an unacceptable amount of spam email.
Perhaps the assessment is too pessimistic? Although individuals, organizations, etc. come and go, here we are years later and most people don't seem to worry too much about SPAM on a day-to-day basis....
You cannot win with filters, period.
Depends on what a "win" is... but if a simple solution that is rooted in nothing more than thinking first (i.e. giving out unique addresses when solicited) & being smart (e.g. filtering known abusers and doing one's part with respect to compliance) results in a little learned and a whole lot of utility then perhaps one can win with filters...
The truth of the matter - that a lot of people seem to either not be aware of or not be concerned with - is that spam is an economic problem. Spammers don't send out spam to piss you off, they send it out to make money. No amount of filtering or criminal prosecution will change that; in fact it generally just increases the total volume of spam that traverses the internet continuously. We all pay for this spam to be transmitted, stored, processed, downloaded, etc, even if we never buy any spamvertised product. We pay for it in that it increases the consumption of internet bandwidth, it increases the consumption of storage at ISPs, and has other downstream impacts as well
Although bandwidth is (essentially) free and SPAM is as much a behavioral problem as it is an economic problem one would tend to agree with the expressed sentiment; the only problem/oversight is that the people who send SPAM also pay! No matter how passionately one feels about the commons the subtlety is that debasement of said commons is everyone's concern; as such, suggesting (or even expecting) that government be involved (e.g. via a CAN-SPAM act and enforcement of said act) is not unreasonable. Perhaps the problem (and its persistence) has something to do with how we weigh our (domestic/national) interests against a global interest when said interest spans geographic/cultural/social/economic boundaries?
If you want to make a difference on spam, you need to go after the only thing spammers care about - money. The most effective tactics ever used against spam have been the ones that prevented spammers from getting paid, nothing else - not even the sum total of all the filters ever installed worldwide - has had an impact even remotely near it.
IMHO we can all do our small part and have a reasonable hope that society will accommodate the same...
And in addition to getting a real email account that is free of any ISP, I could also suggest that you use a free forwarding service such as spamgourmet.com.
It's a great suggestion (especially in light of the fact that there are *very* few providers who will allow one to both establish an unlimited number of forwarding accounts on one's domain & turn off automatic filtering to allow for manual filtering and reduction of false positives. One can even implement it to a certain extent with Gmail using the '+' character feature which is built-in to the service (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html)...
Uhmmm, why are you using your ISP's email in the first place?
Depends on how/when you look at it... but (along the way, say around 2003-2005) some ISPs got really strict with standard mail configurations (which they called "open relays' and decided that, rather than fighting the good fight which is concomitant with their privilege of being a service provider they would simply marginalize their own customers (who, in most cases, really didn't have a choice between ISPs). As such, the impetus to run one's own mail server, in some cases, got (unwillingly) sacrificed.
It's far better to use a third party email provider, so that you can switch ISPs at will without having to change your email address.
In theory yes, but (in practice) depends on the third-party provider. It should be noted (as none of the replies happened to mention it) that, due the availability and perceived need for SPAM filtering software (around 2003-2005) many providers implemented filtrations with little (if any) control of said filtering being offered to their customers; given the high cost of false positives (in just about every way) it behooves one to check with a third-party provider about whether filtering can be turned off before finding out the hard way that whitelisting (and, indeed a capacity to peruse filtered messages to recover false positives) is reserved by the third-party provider.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=FIO+Major+Holders
I'd love to be able to invest in a venture with which you are associated but I can't tell if they are giving you adequate compensation...
Yahoo! recently revamped Yahoo! Movies and appears to have thrown away user lists and ratings (which, unlike Netflix ratings, only required a free account); what's the alternative to a "free" service for keeping your data?
Are you sure the technology is at fault? What was the reason for the change from whatever was already in place?
Unlock codes for AT&T-exclusive phones only is a recent phenomena (I was able to receive an unlock code for a Nokia 2610 phone acquired by way of a $20 GoPhone package); perhaps the policy can change over time?
When I signed up for DSL service (during the summer of 1999) the setup process was exactly like your ideal scenario; when I helped get my sister set up (in 2004) the process was slightly more involved (due to PPPoE configuration) but certainly wasn't too encumbered... perhaps you encountered the service in one of its less successful iterations?
Order execution (time to execute an order and the probability of execution) has something to do with it. Also, the OP is not correct in stating that "You'll match the first offer to sell no matter how high it is"/"you just put in a request to give it away for a penny a share"; execution as such would imply a market which is not functioning correctly (i.e. low order volume, mis-pricing, and/or malicious order routing), which (statistically speaking) is not common.
Actually, what is more dangerous is the assumption you've made regarding infinite amounts of capital; see the Wikipedia page for "Gambler's Ruin" to understand how an age-old paradox makes your argument dilatory at best.
Good riddance to bad rubbish; the quandary which you've pointed out is clear to anyone with even half a brain...
Why do you need a copy? If the library has the text and it's been assigned for a course which is being offered then it's probably on "reserve" (i.e. available for 2-hour check-out periods). Just borrow the book when you need it!
Moderated "informative"?
I think your post is vulgar; I could equally characterize your post (and zero-sum attitude) as a sort of "violent nerd porn", akin to a sentiment expressed by someone who gets his jollies seeing others being choked or shat on. Within the context of your own analogy: how is it that consumers chose one car brand over another when making a purchase? Are the countless hours spent washing, maintaining, (or even enjoying) because "it isn't doing what they want it to do"? How would you explain America's love affair with the road, the countless monthly automobile publications and thousands of communities which center around nothing more than a common love of automobiles?
Yeah, but the thing is: *you* recognize the situation and even commented on the fact that the chances of bias being put aside are near 0%... isn't that in and of itself progress?
I agree completely; it's annoying that some of these attitudes (whether conscious or subconscious) never seem to change... A given Slashdotter (and/or comment poster) might *think* he/she know about backups; spending some time supporting enterprise-class backup software would really set him/her straight...
The one thing you didn't mention (but perhaps alluded to) is that failures can happen even *after* you'd laid out the $$$ for an enterprise-class backup solution. What recourse do you have when your discover bugs in the software after the fact (i.e. after you've done the homework, implemented a backup strategy, and then needed to restore)? What about when the software vendor can't fix your bugs or tells you you're SOL because the defect is "working-as-designed"? How about when they say "you should have configured it differently" or "it won't be supported until a later release"? Having worked in Level II support at an enterprise software company I can tell you these things happen on a day-to-day basis; the success of your solution unfortunately depends as much on luck (e.g. who you talk to you when you call support) as it does planning, implementation, etc...
I feel really bad for the Ma.gnolia guys; there's more to learn about backups than any given individual could ever want to learn, and pretty much nothing to learn from data loss and business failure. "Sucks" is definitely the way to put it.
Actually... unless there's a hack that I'm not aware of (another, later, Windows OS in a VM or something?)... IE7 is not supported for Win2k and won't download/install by default. Also, IMHO Chrome is still in its infancy and there's definitely no reason not to use Firefox (aside from the fact that Microsoft software works best with Microsoft software)...
More great news for Windows 2000 users... This is my call to "upgrade", yeah?
Every six-pack has a say... just, not from his couch... the standards are all created by working groups with RFC's released to the public and with the public's best interest in mind, no?
Perhaps you've stumbled on the root of the problem; the reality (or, more likely, the perception) of "CS=computer gearhead" is fundamentally flawed. After all, you eat food every day; that doesn't mean you only pursue a degree in chemistry or biology because you want to get under the hood. Perhaps the fact that computer science has very little to do with computers (and isn't really a science) is being lost on prospective students.
How about:
unset HISTSIZE
unset HISTFILESIZE
for removing the arbitrary limit on the command history?
Given the "Unix philosophy" isn't there something you could use to pipe in all files and return only those files which aren't "irregular"?
Perhaps you're better off (i.e. maybe you don't want to work for these companies anyway?)...
It's also possible the OP is the luckiest person in the world; why would you want to be a part of a club that wouldn't have you as a member, Groucho?
FWIW: the economy isn't so hot right now... but that doesn't matter if you're a recent graduate; interviewing is a skill... but not one that you'd want to be terribly proficient at if you're looking for your first post-college job; you could do some independent development... but having got a computer engineering degree means someone should be paying you to user their platform/technology/tools; there might be a stigma associated with tech support... but only if the employer doesn't know what a software development lifecycle is; you could embellish your credentials... but you'd only be lying to yourself. Perhaps considering graduate school is a possibility?
You wouldn't necessarily have to re-install... there is such a thing as physical-to-virtual (P2V) virtualization; depending on the vendor/tool you can even virtualize a "box" while it's running.