Spam after two days

PB · Post by PB » Thu Feb 05, 2004 4:46 am

I signed up for a new Yahoo mail account just two days ago, and already I'm
getting spam mail there! How do people know it exists? I haven't even used
it yet!

Danilo · Post by **Danilo** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:04 am

Do you think Yahoo doesnt sell email addresses?

PB · Post by PB » Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:22 am

> Do you think Yahoo doesnt sell email addresses?

Hmm, it would definitely seem that they do!

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:25 am

I though you had a fool proof method of preventing spam ??
viewtopic.php?t=4659&start=0

Post by **Dare2** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:14 am

I can't say too much and PB is probably restrained from saying anything, however ..

The method was so effective that the method itself was banned.

The reason, it is rumoured, is because bandwidth is sold, and a significant drop in usage (like the elimination of junk email) would have a serious negative economic impact.

Ever wonder why emailed virii (easily detected in transit) and, possibly, DOS attacks are not culled?

Anyhow, I am now likely to have ASIO (Australian Semi-Intelligent Organisation) around.

If you don't hear from me again you know why!

PB · Post by PB » Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:43 am

> I though you had a fool proof method of preventing spam ??

I still do, but as I said at that URL, if I tell everyone about it then how can
I make money from it before I'm ready? Only a fool would give away their
secret before it's patented/copyrighted/etc.

The thing is, for my technique to be really useful, it'd have to become part
of an e-mail client, and I don't have the skill to write a client yet. So what
can I do? I watch every post here about POP/SMTP access with interest,
but it's still all way over my head -- networking is not my forte. Also, is
anyone going to want to switch away from Outlook (or whatever) to use
my client? I really doubt it.

If this Bill Gates thing starts to look real serious (paying for e-mails) then
I'll probably post my method first, to prove it works and hopefully stop Bill
from going ahead with his pay plan.

GedB · Post by **GedB** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 12:10 pm

Only a fool would give away their
secret before it's patented/copyrighted/etc.

The thing is, for my technique to be really useful, it'd have to become part
of an e-mail client, and I don't have the skill to write a client yet.

If your idea is good, and you release it to the world proberly, then you can do well out of lucrative contracting deals.
http://www.angrycoder.com/article.aspx? ... 3&m=1&d=18

Paul Graham seems to be doing okay with this approach:
http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html

If anybody is wondering why their spam has started to contain streams of strange unrelated words, Paul Graham's articles about Bayesian filtering will explain all.

Post by **Dare2** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 4:44 pm

Hi GedB,

Thanks for the Paul Graham link, interesting article and also leads to some other very interesting stuff.

I especially liked the idea of taking the fight back to spammers (sinking their servers, etc).

Now if only we could get the whole world organised on this!

PB · Post by PB » Thu Feb 05, 2004 4:52 pm

> I especially liked the idea of taking the fight back to spammers (sinking
> their servers, etc).

In reality it's not that simple -- most spam comes from sources that can't
be identified, so there's no way to "pay them back". Besides, payback just
results in more wasted bandwidth and is no real solution to the problem.

The only solution is to stop your own mailbox from receiving the spam in
the first place, before your mail client downloads it (why download it just
to send it to the Trash?), with 100% success and no false hits. Impossible?
Not at all. I'll reveal all, one day.

Kale · Post by **Kale** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 5:09 pm

The thing is, for my technique to be really useful, it'd have to become part
of an e-mail client, and I don't have the skill to write a client yet. So what
can I do? I watch every post here about POP/SMTP access with interest,
but it's still all way over my head -- networking is not my forte.

I've just started writing a full email client in PB just as a bit of an exercise and to learn the POP3 protocol. I shall post the source if i ever get it past alpha!

I've swiped a few graphics from outlook for now until i redo them and it uses Danilo's fantastic toolbar lib to great effect!

Also, is
anyone going to want to switch away from Outlook (or whatever) to use
my client? I really doubt it.

They might if its small, lightweight and portable! Just imagine an email client on a floppy!

If this Bill Gates thing starts to look real serious (paying for e-mails) then
I'll probably post my method first, to prove it works and hopefully stop Bill
from going ahead with his pay plan.

eh? paying for email

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 5:35 pm

Very nice Kale, I can't wait to try it out.

Post by **Dare2** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:34 pm

PB wrote:I'll reveal all, one day.

Um, 8O no thanks.
Perhaps just reveal the technique.

RJP Computing · Post by **RJP Computing** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:55 pm

@Kale

OH Please hurry. I REALLY want to use this. It looks so great!

PB · Post by PB » Fri Feb 06, 2004 12:07 am

> Just imagine an email client on a floppy!

There already are quite a few e-mail clients that fit on a floppy...

> eh? paying for email

Yeah, stupid Bill Gate$... check it out:

http://news.com.com/2010-1028-5154136.h ... nefd_acpro

ricardo · Post by **ricardo** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:41 pm

@Kale

Take a look at FoxMail its very nice one, maybe you can add some of its features (filters, do something when email that has some conditiosn arrives, etc).
I hope your email client will be released soon.
Does its handles authentication?