GENMSC-L Archives

Archiver > GENMSC > 2004-05 > 1084763656


From: (Steve Hayes)
Subject: Re: Dealing with spam (was) Re: Help please with Birth Certificate data
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 03:14:16 GMT
References: <eouo90t6bj732uhp1gjbk2uk3ni9557nm5@4ax.com> <009c01c434cb$aa8ded50$0a01a8c0@Atech> <c7ic51$him$1@news6.svr.pol.co.uk> <VR8nc.5717$kB2.54426766@news-text.cableinet.net> <iqdq90tj3qtssn7p3liskfebqj826me26p@4ax.com> <409dc337.55847975@news.saix.net> <40A7E880.C0C14787@icehouse.net>


On Sun, 16 May 2004 15:17:36 -0700, wrote:

>Steve Hayes wrote:
>> Until the law deals with spam and spammers, there is a better way of
>> protecting yourself from spam on newsgroups.
>>
>> Get a free webmail address from www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.co.uk
>>
>> and use that address for posting in newsgroups.
>>
>> They will attract spam, certainly, but Hotmail allows you to set it so that
>> spam is deleted automatically, and Yahoo tosses spam into a bulk mail folder
>> where you can delete it with one click, without even seeing it.
>>
>> You can then forward genuine messages to your regular e-mail address, and
>> answer them there, or set the web mail address to put that as a "reply-to"
>> address om amy replies you send from the webmail adress.
>>
>> There is no need to used munged addreses in newsgroups. The webmail solution
>> is free, and it works.
>>
>> I prefer Yahoo, because it lets you forward messages "as is" to your real
>> address, and does proper message formats.
>>
>> Hotmail puts messages upside down, with your signature at the top, and puts
>> forwarded messages in quotes; if you reply, you reply to yourself, so they
>> take a bit of fiddling.
>>
>> But at one time Yahoo was clogged by worms - your mailbox would fill up in 15
>> minutes, after which no mail would get through. They have now solved that by
>> making spam not count towards your mail box quota, even though you still have
>> to delete it manually.

>If a person is a serious genealogist they don't want to be changing e-mail
>addresses often. You lose contact with many people that way. And it's a
>pain if you have a Web Page.

True, but a free webmail address allows you to have a REAL address in
newsgroups without necessarily attracting spam to your main address. The web
mail address acts as a spam trap, because you can set it to either delete most
spam immediately (Hotmail) or you delete it with one click (Yahoo).

>I use MailWasher and it does a great job. You can form a list of Blacklist
>and one for Friends and MW will so mark messages it intercepts from your ISP.
>
>I also just started using FixNews that permits you to mung your identity to
>whatever you chose for the "open" NGs. It doesn't affect your identigy in the
>Secure NGs because...well because they are secure.

The whole [point is to avoid the necessity of munging your identity. If you
use a free webmail address, you don't need to do it. It simply acts as a spam
trap to keep spam away from your main address.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

This thread: