Spam War Games

IN MY RECENT COLUMNS ON SPAM I mentioned that one casualty in the War On Spam is ease of publishing via e-mail. I didn't realize until recently just how much difficulty I was having with Mike's List. 

By the way, If this is the first Mike's List you've received since May, blame it on spam. Here's what happened. 

Back in May, I switched list hosts from Dundee to Topica to save money. Though Dundee's pricing is very good, Topica costs only a fraction of what Dundee charges. Topica is cheap because of the volume of e-mail they send -- literally dozens of billions of messages per month, mostly ads and marketing messages. 

Because of the volume of advertising Topica serves, all mail from Topica is "blacklisted" by several spam-blocker lists. ISPs and companies can subscribe to these services to block any e-mail coming from blacklisted domains.

A secret jury found me guilty by association. 

I thought I understood the problem, because Topica reported some 6,000 or so messages weren't being delivered. Because Mike's List is reader-supported by voluntary contributions, I really wanted to save every penny, and decided to try and figure out how to somehow serve those 6k readers. All the while, Topica tech support assured me that they would have it fixed RSN (Real Soon Now). 

What I discovered recently, however, is that -- in addition to the 6,000 or so readers -- some unknown number (literally in the thousands) of readers were being reported to me as successfully served, but in fact were not receiving newsletters. 

To make a long story short, I asked Topica to send me my subscriber list so I could move back to Dundee. After repeated requests and two weeks time, Topica finally returned my list to me. I moved back to Dundee, which is serving this newsletter to you.

Note that I believe Topica is a reputable company. Their tech support people tried very hard to solve my problem. I think they're definitely one of the better services for sending legitimate ads and marketing messages. They just weren't right for Mike's List. 

Some might blame Topica for problems like the one I had. Others might blame the secret blacklist services. Ultimately, however, the blame lies with spammers. 

A humorous footnote: Why did it take two weeks for Topica to send me my own list? My ISP was blocking them as a spammer. 

By the way, famous tech law professor Lawrence Lessig has come up with a brilliant plan to fight spam. He told me in an e-mail this morning that he's really going to push the idea. Given Lessig's influence, I suspect you'll be hearing much more about it.

Torture is the Best Revenge

A free new online game called Torture-a-Spammer lets you blast spam e-mail for points. Once you've earned enough points, you get to torture the spammer of your choice. To play, choose one of six spammer characters, then choose the method of  torture. Choices include boiling oil and my favorite: flying killer monkeys. The game is sponsored by EmailSherpa, which is a weekly trade publication for the opt-in email industry. (Note that the site will ask for your e-mail address, but if you ignore the request you'll still get to play the game). 

Bad, Bad Spam

Spammers in Japan have come up with a way to make victims pay for spam. They use special computers to call literally millions of users. The phone rings once and hangs up. Victims, thinking they missed a call, use their "call history" feature to call back. At that point, automated systems offer services, mostly sex hotlines, etc. But because callers, rather than the party who answers the phone, pay for cell calls, the victims pay for the spam. Worse, the calls usually come in the middle of the night when people are least likely to answer within one ring. It's a triple whammy: Victims get woken up, spammed and then charged. The spammers are called "wan-giri" in Japan, which means "ring once, then cut off." 

If It Crashes, Just Reboot

Los Angeles based Becker Automotive Design is in the business of taking a regular van or SUV and turning it into the ultimate Geekmobile, complete with satellite TV, high-speed mobile Internet access, phones and fax machines. The company announced this week that it's using the TracVision satellite TV and TracNet mobile Internet systems from KVH. Becker clients include Tiger Woods, Bruce Springsteen, Shaquille O'Neal and others. If you were racking your brain trying to figure out what to get me for my birthday this year, your troubles are over. 

'Like a Friend and a Lover'

Almost a quarter of Thai teenagers say their cell phones are as important as relationship with other people, according to a survey published Tuesday. About 23% said their mobile phones are "like a friend and a lover they could not live without." The Nation newspaper reported that 22% of teenagers chose their cell phones as their main interest, followed by computer games (14%) and sports (7%).

Only In Japan

A site called Syberpunk features wacky Japanese products, inventions and even words. One particularly strange feature on the site is Game Boy Boots, which are platform shoes with built in Game Boy consoles. 

This Newsletter Brought to You By...

This exciting issue of Mike's List was brought to you by your sponsors -- the people who sent money to support ad-free, spam-free content: Harry ($10), John ($10), Max ($20 -- again!), Judith ($10), Ian ($20) and David ($3) -- and by the Mike's List "Buck a Month Club": Mark, Sherrin, Michael, Ian, Ricardo, Jeff, Terry, Dennis, Frank, Amira, Judy, "L", Joel, Charles, Ray, Eric and Glenn. If you'd like to support the Mike's List Movement, click here now!

Proof You Can Buy Anything on the Web

You've seen those wacky screen savers that make your computer monitor look like an aquarium. Well, I've found the most realistic one by far, though it won't save  your screen. Maqaquarium, who's motto is, "The Final Upgrade," will sell you a kit for converting that useless old Mac into a real aquarium!

Have too many Firewire devices and not enough ports? It's Hubzilla to the rescue! Hubzilla is a Godzilla-themed Firewire (IEEE 1394) port. You plug it into one Firewire port in your PC, then you can plug 4 devices into Hubzilla for 400 Mbps data transfers. The little monster costs $74.95 and will be available in November for a limited time.  

Mike's List on the Radio

 Craig Crossman's Computer America features Mike's List's Mike Elgan every Thursday night from 8pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Mike will come to you live this week from the HP World conference in Los Angeles, California. Listen to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or over the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer America!

Follow-Up

Last issue I featured a Wacky Web site with a broken link. Here's a repeat of the item, with a link that works:

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.

Reader E-Mail

Mike,
You don't have to go that far to get your Osama Bin Laden Action Figures ("Proof You Can Buy Anything On the Web," Issue 44). You can go to a site named Hero Builders.com and find a full array of such figures as: 

• Osama Bin Laden in full camouflage gear
• Saddam Hussein in his uniform
• John Walker - the American Taliban

That's not all! You can even order "action outfits" like a lovely pink dress, special S & M outfits, executive suits, etc., for your heroic action figure. These are not to be missed! Some of them are downright kinky, but then again so are some of the real people. These folks also get some hate mail, as to be expected. Best part of this is that it's a Yahoo! Shopping site, so that you can trust your order to be processed properly. You can actually order some "good guys" here as well, but in any case, don't miss it!
John Williamson, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

The Samsung MITs M330 Smartphone is yet another Palm/cell phone combination. The gadget sports a 160 x 240 pixel, 256-color screen. The phone uses CDMA and supports pgsOne. With 16 megabytes of  memory and Palm OS 3.5.3, it's a pretty typical Palm device. But Samsung is supporting it with some cool peripherals, including a digital camera and a full-size keyboard. Samsung has not announced U.S. pricing or availability. 

Sony says that it will start selling on September 26 the new PUD-J5A head-mounted console for the PlayStation 2. The input device lets you "look around" within games by simply turning your real head. Two small LCD panels in the eyepiece creates the illusion of a 42-inch screen. The PUD-J5A has a voice-input terminal for network-game taunting and stereo headphones.

Wacky Web Sites

If you're thinking of visiting your local theme park, make sure you check Theme Park Insider's list of horrible Theme Park Accidents before you go. The page covers everything from roller coaster death at  Six Flags Over Georgia to a Salmonella outbreak at Disney World.

Skateboarding is not a crime. But these Skate Park ID photos should be.

It's impossible to actually draw good pictures on an Etch-A-Sketch, right? Wrong! At least if you're artist Michael McNevin.

If there's a movie you want to watch, but just don't have the time, Movie-A-Minute will boil it down to a sentence or two for you.

If you're confused about all the corporate scandals involving Enron, WorldCom, ImClone and the rest, this printable diagram should clear everything up.

Modeled after "class reunion" web sites, Taliban Reunited is a place for terrorists to hook up with their old Taliban and Al Qaeda buddies.

Let's face it: There's just not enough parking space in Europe. Well now some concerned Americans have come up with a solution. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Parisian Asphalt Initiative is raising money to pave the entire country of France.

Here's a web site that serves as a heartfelt, loving tribute to cheap mesh caps. 

Last Week's Mystery Pic

No, it's not a "time travel device programmed to take people back to saner times (before the HP-Compaq merger)," an "iPAQ Temporal Viewer that allows the operator to view the past, present, and future without actually traveling through time," or even a "handheld car stretcher," as suggested by some readers. The picture is a look at the Virtual Harlem Project, which is an educational network designed to enable students to study the Harlem Renaissance through Virtual Reality. The system uses an HP iPAQ (shown in the foreground) for navigation and control. The VR system takes users to Harlem, New York, in the 1920 and 1930s. It was developed by Bryan Carter at Central Missouri State University and Bill Plummer at the Advanced Technology Center at the University of Missouri. Congratulations to Paul Medlock of Baltimore, Maryland, 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!

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