OT: bastards!

[Serpico]

.
my favorite... pristine email address just got wrecked--I've had this for years

how are people managing email and spam? mind you, this was just a personal email address--I wasn't even "doin' business" or anything

are you using pop mail (an actual application) or http mail (hotmail.com gmail.com etc)? what http mail seems to have the best spam filtering? I think gmail is good, but the weird "conversation" construct is silly imo

is there a "best-of-both worlds" solution?

thanks
.

[zank]

I hear ya. I just killed and replaced my personal email due to high volumes of spam. I am about ready to do the same with my business one as well. It will be a major headache, but so is filtering through the 150+ spam emails I get on a daily basis.

I don't know what the best solution is. I now have a garbage yahoo address that I use for any online merchant transaction. Other than that, I don't think there is much else you can do. :crap:

[Ginger]

They killed Kenny?

[fmbp]

I don't know if this will help, but I've had a Yahoo account for at least the past 5 years, and it has remained pretty spam free. I have used this email address for purchasing items online (where it has presumably been sold) and I still don't get much spam. Yahoo does have some sort of spam filter, and most everything that is junk gets kicked over to the Spam/Bulk folder.

I realize that a @yahoo.com email address isn't the most glamorous email to have, but I've been pretty happy with it. I also realize that this sample is n=1, so YMMV.

One thing that I don't care for with Yahoo is that their new beta email seems to be slower than the old format. This doesn't impact me very much because I am using Safari, and it currently isn't supported with the new email account format (so I default to the old method). If you are using IE or Firefox, then Yahoo mail beta is the default (but I think you can elect to go back to the old format).

I hope this helps.

[sellsworth]

spam - a classic "tragedy of the commons" where people don't pay for the damage that they cause.

[Frank]

I am very frustrated with the volume of SPAM I get also. I would guess more than 95% of all the e-mails I receive are SPAM.

====================

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3648401

[thejen12]

I use hotmail and I hardly get any spam at all. I even use it for my online shopping and stuff. It puts any suspected spam in a "Junk" email folder, but even that hardly gets any messages in it. Unlike my Yahoo account that has tons and tons of stuff in the corresponding email folder. I've had my hotmail address for a few years now, so I'm pretty pleased with how they seem to be filtering the spam.

Jenn

[onekgguy]

...to charge a few pennies for each email you send out so that it would no longer be profitable for spammers. i know the solution isn't quite so simple but it should be.

Kevin

[RABikes2]

It's ridiculous how much spam I get on my work e-mail (earthlink). As far as I'm concerned, AOL is just as bad. They all blow. :crap:
RA

[toaster]

I used to go to a bicycle Google group but I stopped because it seemed as though after I would post an ad or inquiry there I would get more and more spam.

The good news is I've got new vitamins to grow a couple more inches in length and girth, a buttload of Viagra in the medicine cabinet, a new refinance deal, lots of stock advice and best of all, I'm going to New York City to meet a Nigerian fellow who needs my help with a bunch of old money.

[shinomaster]

I use hotmail and get little spam... It seems to come in waves though..

[fierte_poser]

mind you, this was just a personal email address--I wasn't even "doin' business" or anything

I have thought about this before... how did the spammers get my email address. I think the most likely situation (for me) is that I have friends who will mass email those pithy forwards without using bcc:, thus, my pristine email address is now in an email header that is getting passed around like a bad habit.

FWIW, I have a yahoo address that I use sparingly for internet purchases, but I have never handed out to friends. This yahoo address gets 0 spam, so its not a yahoo vs hotmail vs gmail issue, IMO.

Kent

[Xyzzy]

Use Gmail, then have all the good mail forwarded to your favorite POP3 account, so you can use folders and your favorite email program.

Fast, easy, no spam, free, no ads.

Problem solved.

[onekgguy]

from the article Frank posted...

"A notorious U.S.-based spammer, Jeremy Jaynes, was convicted of spamming by a Virginia court in November 2004 and sentenced to nine years in prison. (The decision was upheld in September and prosecutors are pressing for the jail time to begin immediately, according to antispam organization Spamhaus.) Testimony during the trial showed that Jaynes sent millions of spams a day, netting $350,000 to $700,000 a month after bandwidth charges, despite the fact that only 1 in 30,000 recipients purchased anything, according to Spamfo, an information site."

That sorta sums up the problem.

Kevin

[OldDog]

Monty Python Spam Song
Scene: A cafe. One table is occupied by a group of Vikings wearing horned helmets. Whenever the word "spam" is repeated, they begin singing and/or chanting. A man and his wife enter. The man is played by Eric Idle, the wife is played by Graham Chapman (in drag), and the waitress is played by Terry Jones, also in drag.

Man: You sit here, dear.
Wife: All right.
Man: Morning!
Waitress: Morning!
Man: Well, what've you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam;
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam...
Waitress: ...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam...
Vikings: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!
Waitress: ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.
Wife: Have you got anything without spam?
Waitress: Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Wife: I don't want ANY spam!
Man: Why can't she have egg bacon spam and sausage?
Wife: THAT'S got spam in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much spam in it as spam egg sausage and spam, has it?
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam... (Crescendo through next few lines...)
Wife: Could you do the egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam then?
Waitress: Urgghh!
Wife: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I don't like spam!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up! (Vikings stop) Bloody Vikings! You can't have egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam.
Wife: I don't like spam!
Man: Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam spam spam spam spam spam spam beaked beans spam spam spam and spam!
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!! Baked beans are off.
Man: Well could I have her spam instead of the baked beans then?
Waitress: You mean spam spam spam spam spam spam... (but it is too late and the Vikings drown her words)
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam! Spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam. Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Spam spam spam spam!

[Hysbrian]

So first off if you're not using Outlook, or Thunderbird, or Mail (that's apple's I think) then you are missing out. Logging onto the internet signing into a site blah, blah, blah...you just wasted 5 mins times however many times a day you check your e-mail.

Once you have one of those programs set up you can create folders, and more importantly set up filters and rules. I think I have 4 different e-mails right now, school, personal, work, and a hotmail which I use to sign up for stuff. I can pool all of these emails into one folder in outlook to exclusively only allow messages from my contacts. The rest gets into different folders, Junk and School announcements.
IMO its the only way to go.

[gt6267a]

ackowledging that i am not a spam crusader, but am spam avoider, i have multiple e-mail accounts and treat them seperately.

1) abc @ yahoo.com for personal mail. each time i give this address out it comes with a, "never distribute this address or e-mail me something from a website" speech.

2) def @ yahoo.com for job applications or soft core career related stuff.

3) xyz @ yahoo.com for website confirmation e-mails, and generally distributed.

only acct 3 gets junk mail. it gets a lot. but the problem is isolated to one account. the other two are junk free.

[gt6267a]

So first off if you're not using Outlook, or Thunderbird, or Mail (that's apple's I think) then you are missing out. Logging onto the internet signing into a site blah, blah, blah...you just wasted 5 mins times however many times a day you check your e-mail.

Once you have one of those programs set up you can create folders, and more importantly set up filters and rules. I think I have 4 different e-mails right now, school, personal, work, and a hotmail which I use to sign up for stuff. I can pool all of these emails into one folder in outlook to exclusively only allow messages from my contacts. The rest gets into different folders, Junk and School announcements.
IMO its the only way to go.

do to the nature of my job and travel blah blah, i end up being a computer whore and use whatever is available. setting up one computer as the master does not really work. that said, i would probably dig your setup.

[Hysbrian]

do to the nature of my job and travel blah blah, i end up being a computer whore and use whatever is available. setting up one computer as the master does not really work. that said, i would probably dig your setup.

You can have a "master" set up then use a setting to leave a copy of the message on the server for X number of days. This is a great option for what you have stated, and essential for someone using a (treo, smartphone or pda) to remotely access their e-mail.

You can also use a Microsoft exchange server to host outlook online. You can then access an identical version of your outlook over the internet.

[rasterdogs]

I'm using comcast as my ISP. My mail tool is Eudora.

I rarely get spam.

Comcast have great spam filters ATMO.

Cheers,
JimD

who hopes this doesn't jinx me.

[pale scotsman]

how did the spammers get my email address.
Kent

Spammers get addresses from viruses that harvest addresses, un-secure email servers, buy them from other spammers, running searches on un-secure sites to harvest addresses, ad naseum.

It's pure hell at times, and it's getting worse. Setting filters like hysbrian recommends means you still get the spam, only it doesn't go to your main folder. Settings rules and filters like that is fine for an advanced user, but not for your average joe. Using hotmail or yahoo or any one of the above mentioned webmail services have pretty good filters, so that's what I recommend.

In our corporate environment, AS400 running Lotus Notes, we use a mailgate service that blocks known blacklisted spammers, RBL lists, and queries for potential spam giving the user the option to release the email into their inbox, or just leave it out there. I'd say 51% of our mail is spam and viruses. Literally thousands a month and the mailgate lets our email server do it's job instead of processing 50% crap.

However you choose to fight spam be it through filters on your machine or using a service make sure not to respond to spammers. They don't know if they have a working address unless you respond. Once you respond with a remove from list request or "hey I don't need this crap." like my Dad did then you get hammered because they know they've got a live fish.

[Serpico]

I wish I could buy the email address from lycos (lycos is http mail like hotmail or yahoo) and use it through a pop mail application. but I like the portability of http mail.

I think lycos has the best features and interface, but the filters are pretty sub-standard. I think gmail has the best filters, but the "conversation" interface/whatever is a bit awkward. google seems like a pretty smart company, I'm not sure why they're trying to re-invent email.

[Bud_E]

...to charge a few pennies for each email you send out so that it would no longer be profitable for spammers. i know the solution isn't quite so simple but it should be.

Kevin

Apparently a large percentage of spam is actually sent by thousands of zombies - which are computers owned by unsuspecting folks like you and me which have been infected by programs that forward the spam to recipients. That way the e-mails can never be traced back to a particular source or internet provider. These bastards are getting really good at it!

[Keith A]

I too have been happy with my Yahoo email account. It does get some spam, but I use this account for everything. Yahoo's spam filter is very good and I only occasionally get spam in my inbox or have a false positive that ends up in my spam folder. My work account that uses my companies address gets sooooo much spam it is out of control. I use MailWasher to filter out the spam and this does a good job, but there is just so much of it that it has made this address almost unusable :crap:

Topic drift...I love using the new Firefox with the built in spell checker!!!