There are only two things.....

That are inevitable in life: Death and Taxes. I'm still alive, so we'll leave death for another occaision. But taxes on the other hand....

Not to say much, but I already have mine done.

Stupid spam of the day

Stupid spam of the day (note, this is the complete message):
<quote>
From - Fri Jan 27 02:21:31 2006
X-Account-Key: account5
X-UIDL: 20060127101900r16006uq79e000cql
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Received: from ctb-cache1-vif0.saix.net (dsl-146-231-174.telkomadsl.co.za[165.146.231.174](untrusted sender))
          by rwcrmxc16.comcast.net (rwcrmxc16) with SMTP
          id <20060127101851r1600bgotme>; Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:18:59 +0000  
X-Originating-IP: [165.146.231.174]                                        
Message-ID: <000c01c6232b$1f21ea00$f2ff19c4@private>
From:   "Rowell Audra" <mmyigdmymj@brinkshofer.com>
To: Munged.  I get enough spam at this address, thank you.
Subject: hey roger_bryant
Date:   Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:19:13 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/related;
     type="multipart/alternative";
     boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0008_01C6233B.E2AABA00"
X-Priority: 3                                                              
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal                                                  
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180                        
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180
X-HTMLM-Score: 0                                                          
X-SpamPal: SPAM SORBS 165.146.231.174                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

------=_NextPart_000_0008_01C6233B.E2AABA00
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
     boundary="----=_NextPart_001_0009_01C6233B.E2AABA00"


------=_NextPart_001_0009_01C6233B.E2AABA00
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

</quote>

Noticed how the spammers’ ratware choked on the actual message body.  This didn’t actually get to my inbox.  I use SpamPal as a filter and I use Thunderbird as an email client.  The latest version of Thunderbird has a built-in junk mail filter that will read the SpamPal headers directly  (for previous releases of Thunderbird, or for any other email client, SpamPal can be set to tag the subject line, and you can manually set filter rules).  Now, I could only figure SpamAssasin, and I could get my mail filtered when I run linux….

Yahoo users, take note:

Not everyone really likes Yahoo’s consistent habit of auto-ignoring spam complaints.  Take Spamhaus, for example.  I myself have blocked Yahoo for the past two years (with the exception of the occaisional whitelisting).

Will Miracles Ever Cease

It was a dry day to today. No rain whatsoever. And I had a day off. Those two never go together.

A Bit of Advice For The SPEWS Listed

I read news.admin.net-abuse.blocklisting and news.admin.net-abuse.email on a regular basis (and I post to NANAE as well.).  Many of the posts I see are people complaining about being blocked by SPEWS.  First of all, SPEWS isn’t blocking you.  The admin controlling the receiving mail server who’s using SPEWS is blocking you.  But that doesn’t mean that the world is coming to an end.  SPEWS doesn’t list ip addresses just for fun.  Usually the listing isn’t just against you.  It’s against spam-friendly Internet Providers who provide connectivity to spammers.  The understood modus operandi of SPEWS is to just first list the spammer, and then complain to the provider.  When the provider refuses to terminate the spammer, the listing escalates.  There are steps you can do:

• Scream Bloody Murder at your isp.  Get them to terminate the spammer who caused the listing to begin with.  If they do terminate the spammer, you’ll also find that other blocklisting issues (ie SORBS, and Spamhaus) will also go away.


• Take a look at the listing (you should have an spews record from the bounce message).  Occasionally, providers do nuke spammers without telling someone, and listing otherwise get outdated.  Post it to NANABl, and it may get delisted.


• If you’re don’t really send out that much email, you also can:


• Ask the person rejecting your mail to whitelist your ip address.  I myself use SPEWS, and I have done this on occasion.


• Just live with the reduced connectivity.


• Vote with your feet.  Find another provider who isn’t as spam-friendly.  And move there.  And make sure you tell your current provider why you’re leaving them.  SPEWS has been known to ‘punch holes’ in listings when people announce that they’re leaving spam-friendly providers.


• If none of the above will work, then think Smarthost.  Find a mail provider and use their outbound relays to send out your mail.  I personally use spamblocked, because the operator is a BOFH.  You can also try here to find an outbound mail relay.

Go Seahawks

At 3:30pm today (on channel 13), the Seattle Seahawks will go into Qwest field, and the Carolina Panthers will learn the meaning of All Your Base Are Belong To Us. The 12th man flag flies from the Space Needle. I know for a fact that the Seahawks will win this one for two reasons:

1. They’re playing at home, and they’ve never lost at home this season. Qwest field is almost as loud as the Kingdome (obscure fact: the last event at the Kingdome was in fact a playoff loss by the Seahawks).


2. I have to work during the game. They always win when I have to work during the game.

Hopefully, bringing my portable TV to work won’t jinx them.

A calender and some other things.

I bought a Mariners calendar today.  Not that I’m  a Mariners fan, but it’s only $4.00 It’ll replace the SPAM (yes, that’s the Hormel meat product) calendar on my wall.  The past two years in row, the Seattle Mariners have spent about $90 million on payroll, and have garnered 90+ loss seasons.  How do they keep their fan base loyal?  Think mind-control.  Shiny Side Out, people!  Most people think that the government is behind psychotronic Mind-Control radiation.  That’s what the New World Order, Mind-Control Division wants you to think.  Its real name is Major League Baseball.

Of course, if you believe this, then you really should be wearing a Tin-Foil Hat….