How to Stop Spam

I ASKED FOR YOUR SPAM-STOPPING SECRETS, and, man, did you let me have it. I received hundreds of e-mails detailing tried-and-true methods for getting rid of unwanted e-mail advertising. 

The ugly truth is that spam messages are growing more annoying, more objectionable in content and much greater in number with each passing day. So as technology-savvy users like you and I get better at preventing spam, the spammers continue to seek fresh meat among the uninitiated. Novices, the elderly and children will increasingly become the new targets for spammers' odious messages. 

That's why it's important for us to not only protect ourselves from Spam, but to help protect others as well. One way to do that is to make spamming an unhappy business to be in. Here's the spammers' dirty little secret: It's possible for you and me to cause serious damage to these unethical companies and make it almost impossible for them to keep spamming people. 

Spamming is actually very expensive and difficult to do. Sending millions of e-mail messages costs tens of thousands of dollars. Changing ISPs, keeping identities secret, evading the law -- something spammers cannot avoid -- all cost them a bundle. 

Our goal should be to make spamming as difficult, expensive and painful as possible. Here's one way to hurt spammers. Here's another. But perhaps the best revenge is to learn how to defeat them -- and tell others how to do so as well. Forward this newsletter to everyone you know who wants to stop spam. These instructions are golden. 

Anti-Spam Software and Services

It turns out that the easiest, cheapest and most effective way to stop spam also helps harm spammers worldwide. It's called SpamNet from Cloudmark. (The downside is that the software works only with Microsoft Outlook, though it will soon also support Outlook Express.) If you use Outlook, I strongly recommend that you download SpamNet now. It's free. The installation creates a "spam" folder in Outlook, and dumps most of your spam there automatically. When spam isn't caught by SpamNet, you simply select that message and click "Block." Here's the good part. Clicking "Block" tells central SpamNet servers that the message is spam, so message, sender and advertiser are placed on the global block list, which means you're helping to identify spam for other users. The software becomes more effective for you -- and more damaging to spammers -- with each passing day. 

Another favorite among Mike's List readers -- especially those who don't use Outlook -- is MailWasher. MailWasher is highly configurable shareware, so you can tweak and customize it until it eliminates 99% of all spam. Best of all, it can automatically return fake error messages to the spammers, telling their automated computers that your e-mail address is no longer valid.  

There are a wide variety of other anti-spam solutions recommended by your fellow readers. Some cost money, others are free. Some emphasize effectiveness, others convenience. Each takes a slightly different approach to stopping spam. I recommend that you experiment with combinations of these solutions until the spam stops. The solutions are: MailShell; SpamAssassin; ChoiceMail; Spam Killer; Spam Cop; Spam Gourmet; iHateSpam; and Postini. 

Anti-Spam Tips and Tricks

The reality is that you need to give a valid e-mail address to register for web sites, verify passwords, etc. Some of those web sites sell or rent their list of e-mail addresses to spammers. One of my favorite tricks is that I use a spam-specific e-mail address ([email protected]) whenever I need to enter an e-mail address on any web site. I don't download from that account until I'm required to click on a verification link provided in a message sent to [email protected]. At that point, I download all the spam that's been collecting there, and deal with only the most recent message. Then I permanently delete all the spam in one pass, which takes less than a second. I never use my regular e-mail address for web sites. 

Many of you sent your own favorites techniques for managing spam. Here are the best in random order: 

• Use obscure e-mail addresses in Hotmail and Yahoo, ones which cannot be "guessed" by spammer software that auto-generates e-mail addresses.

• Ask your friends and family to never send e-cards to your main e-mail address (in doing so, they risk giving your e-mail address to spammers). 

• Never forward jokes or chain letters. Your address travels with the forwarded message, and you never know who will get their hands on it. 

• Never reply to spam -- even to request removal. When you reply, you verify that your e-mail address is current, which means spammers can sell your address to other spammers for even more money. 

• Use Outlook and Outlook Express "Rules" to delete spam based on keywords or sender e-mail addresses. 

• Create a special e-mail address for e-mail newsletters -- or even a separate address for each newsletter you subscribe to. (Editor's note: 68 Mike's List subscribers have signed up with custom addresses like "[email protected]." I love it when people do that because they can see for themselves that I never share their e-mail address with anyone.) 

• Never post your private e-mail on the web or in chat rooms, message boards or anywhere else.

• If you need to post an e-mail address on your personal web site, create a graphic image of the address. Site visitors can see the address, but e-mail-harvesting spiders can't.  

• Change your address from time to time (but make sure you tell me your new address so I can keep sending you Mike's List!) 

• Never reward spammers by buying anything advertised through spam. 

• Create an Outlook rule or mail filter to automatically delete any e-mail that doesn't contain your e-mail address in the To: field. (Make sure you exempt Mike's List and other newsletters that you do want to receive.) 

There are also numerous reputable anti-spam organizations that offer more help, products, services, tips and ideas for fighting spam, including Junk Busters, Spam.Abuse.net and others. 

I hope this helps. If I missed any effective products, services or tips, please let me know! And do keep me posted on your ongoing efforts to stop spam! 

Robot to Search Great Pyramid

Famed pyramid expert Dr. Zahi Hawass will send a custom-built robot into a mysterious, unexplored shaft in the Great Pyramid at Giza. Like Geraldo Rivera's infamous opening of Al Capone's empty vault in 1986, the exploration will take place on live TV. In the U.S., watch "Pyramids Live: Secret Chambers Revealed" on Fox September 16 at 5pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). In the U.K., watch it on the National Geographic Channel September 17 at 1am. Check local listings elsewhere.

Apple Newton Finds a Job

Despite all the bad press, the Apple Newton was a first-rate pocket computer with just one fatal flaw: It didn't fit in pockets. But one enthusiast found a good use for his Newton. Designer/photographer Grant Hutchinson is using it as a web server. Click here to jack into Grant's Newton. 

War Names

The 1983 Matthew Broderick movie "War Games" gave birth to the concept of "war dialing," or the use of special software to auto-dial phone numbers and identify those with hackable computers at the other end. In the past few months, wireless enthusiasts have hijacked the prefix "war" and appended it to various forms of transportation or communication used for finding and sharing unprotected wireless networks, coining "war driving," war chalking," "war jogging," and even "war flying." Where will it end? 

Business Booming in Silicon Valley

Er, the Real Estate business, that is. Despite the deflated local economy, Palo Alto, California, the epicenter and birthplace of Silicon Valley, is the most expensive housing market in the U.S., according to Coldwell Banker's 2002 annual Home Price Comparison Index. The average Palo Alto home price: $1,263,250.

Proof You Can Buy Anything on the Web

Don't sweat the small stuff. Instead, open up your browser and BUY small stuff, including Mini Cows, Mini Donkeys, Mini Goats, Mini Beamers and even Mini Me!

Mike's List Brought to You By...

This exciting issue of Mike's List was brought to you by the good people who sent money to support ad-free, spam-free content: Bob, Barbara, Max, Richard, Frank, James, Henry, Jeff, Lynn, Michael, Robert, David and Silvio. The newsletter is also sponsored by the Mike's List "Buck a Month Club": Mark, Sherrin, Michael, Ian, Ricardo, Jeff, Terry, Dennis, Frank, Amira, Judy, "L", Joel, Charles, Ray and Holly. On behalf of all Mike's List readers: Thank you, sponsors!! (If YOU would like to make a contribution, please click here. It's quick and easy.) 

Reader of the Week

Love the newsletter, and thought I would include a couple of pics for you. One was taken in 1983 when I was 9, and features me playing the classic game 'Choplifter' on my Commodore 64. The other pic is more current, and depicts me at my job here in Ottawa, Canada, with Synercard Corporation. I am beta testing some of our new software in the pic, but for the most part I work as a network admin, customer support manager and technical writer for Synercard.

In terms of gadgets, I would be in lots of trouble every single day were it not for two great pieces of tech - my Palm Vx with modem has been faithfully serving my needs for almost three years now, and the lovely software VNC helps me stay connected, either to my home computers when I'm not home, or my office computers when I'm not in the office. Long live VNC! Beyond that I have to say that my Belkin Nostromo n50 Speedpad is something I would be in big trouble without, as I travel with my laptop (Dell Inspiron 8100, with Nvidia GeForce 2 Go! - another essential piece of gear for me!) a great deal, and this sweet little unit from Belkin ensures that I don't lose any valuable control over Quake 3 Arena or Grand Theft Auto 3 when I'm playing on my laptop in a hotel room.

I have never carried a cell phone, and I hope I never will! Humanity somehow managed to do just fine when we all weren't available 24/7. Makes me sick! 

Cheers, keep the great newsletters coming! 

Mike McGrath
Ottawa, Canada

Want to be a Mike's List Reader of the Week? What are you waiting for? Send a photo of yourself -- and tell where you live, what kind of computers and gadgets you use and why you love Mike's List -- to: [email protected]  (Pictures may be cropped and submissions edited for space and content.) 

This Could Be the Wireless 'Killer App'

OpenWave, a wireless-software company, got tired of the speed trap near their Silicon Valley headquarters and decided to do something about it. Company engineers created an application for employees that enables them to instantly warn each other when a cop is hiding near their offices issuing speeding tickets.

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

The Snowcrash Netsurfer chair is designed for long stretches of compulsive web surfing and game playing. It puts you in a semi-reclined position using pillows and adjustable parts to support  your arms and legs. The computer goes between your legs. If you've got $2,800 burning a hole in your pocket, you can order one by sending e-mail to: [email protected] 

France Telecom researchers have created software that turns a Pocket PC into a George Jetson video phone. The company will begin lab trials of the software in October, and roll out real-world trials next year. 

Wacky Web Sites

Here's one guy in Japan who loves his Nintendo game cartridges just a little too much. 

Your own private Elvis (or, share your creation and send to a friend...) Thank you. Thank you very much. 

To pee or not to pee. That is not the question. The question is: Where? The Uristat web site provides relief.

 Upload your photo to the Jones Soda Inc. web site and you just might get your mug on a bottle of soda. 

Yes, even rats have their own web site. 

Here's a web site that advocates the bald lifestyle. Bald R Us says: "Just say no to rugs, drugs and plugs." 

If you enjoy looking at frightening, disturbing images, then check out the Microsoft Crash Gallery. It's a visual romp through error messages produced by Microsoft software.

Here's a free, online game that pits a terrifying Great White shark against scuba divers. The shark tries to bite the divers in half. The diver's defense is nothing but a diving knife. It's a fun game that takes skill and coordination. Oh, and uh, you're the shark. 

If you hate mayonnaise as much as I do, then join the worldwide I Hate Mayonaise Club. 

Here's an incredible web site that lets you manipulate a creepy, photo realistic ass puppet (it's not what you think).

What do you get when you mix little trees, little cars and a little alcohol? What else? Bonsai car accidents. 

Last Week's Mystery Pic

No, it's not the "world's largest remote-controlled car," a "mother-in-law ejector seat" or even "Fred Langa's European GPS automobile," as suggested by some readers. (The number one response was a war-driving setup, and the number two guess was a mobile ham radio.) The right answer is the HighWLAN, a "Highway LAN" put together by Casey West to connect a caravan of cars driving to a Perl conference in St. Louis. Read all about it. Congratulations to Marc H. Nathan from Houston, Texas, for being first with the right answer. 

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live). If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

The Elgan Report

The way I used to do "Broken News" was, well, broken. It was taking too much time, space and money (my list host charges more for longer e-mails). So I've re-created the way I'm doing news links. I'm using blog software to post to a separate web site I'm calling "The Elgan Report," which I'll be linking to each week from the Mike's List newsletter. Check out The Elgan Report and let me know how you like it!