Category:Spam

From LentzWiki

spam, the colloquial name for unsolicited email, is possibly the biggest scourge of the Internet.

One problem is that spam still works. It works in numbers. Sending an email costs nothing or close to nothing. Sending lots of emails is therefore cheap. And even if only a few people respond, a profit can be made. And so it continues... No, I don't believe we should somehow start charging for sending email. Apart from the technological impossibility, we wouldn't want to hinder this vital and otherwise brilliant communication medum. Email users should educate themselves, and really not respond to any spam. If it's no longer profitable, it will cease. Of course you will not notice this immediately, where one quits another will pop up. It will take a (long) while.

Another issue is that many companies don't understand that they themselves engage in spamming. A commonly heard line is "but we're only sending out one email so it is not spam". Sorry, no. There's no need for any complicated or elaborate definitions. The recipient didn't ask for it, so it's spam.

One of the most effective spam-filtering measures are the so-called Bayesian filters. Thank goodness that Paul Graham didn't take out a software patent on it! Bayesian filters use a statistical method to decide whether an email looks like spam or not. They don't have fixed rules, and they adapt based on previous emails as well as feedback from the user. While not perfect, it's bloody brilliant!

Phone Spam

Australian anti-spam legislation (2004)
- AU spam complaint form
Do Not Call - Register (AU govt initiative)
WhoCallsMe? - global website that tracks phone#s from nuisance callers. If you get a spam call with callerID, check there and add your own comment.