On Fri, 2003-10-17 at 08:36, Tom wrote: > On Fri, Oct 17, 2003 at 02:04:44PM +0200, Kjetil Kjernsmo wrote: > > On Friday 17 October 2003 12:53, Jeff Elkins wrote: > ... > > Unfortunately, using a good anti-spam system is a necessity today, and > ... > > I read this book called "The Illusion of Technique" by William Barret > which taught me about Wittgenstein, Heidigger, and William James. The > gist of it is: in a technological society, it is easy to fall into the > trap of "if I just figure out the right techniques, life will be a piece > of cake...". > > i.e., If I just buy Jane Fonda's workout tape, I'll lose weight. If I > just act right in the bar, I'll go home with that hot chick. If I just > put the means of production in the hands of the workers, there will be > no more economic injustice. If I just develop the right behavioral > psychology stimulus-response patterns, there will be no more anti-social > behavior. If I just build a big enough computer, It'll figure out the > answer to arbitrary problems. > > What does this have to do with spam? It bemuses and befuddles me to > observe extremely intelligent people to swatting the air with tools like > spamassassin, when the correct solution lies elsewhere. The correct > solution is to merely enlighten all of humanity not to send spam. When all you are doing is fighting off Alligators, it is hard to remember that the original task of draining the swamp, still needs to be done. OR When all people are getting *IS* spam, why would they read and comprehend a message *ABOUT SPAM*. OR How will you deliver your message, causing it to stick in the brain of NON-Enlightened people, when these people are the same ones that drive all the way up to the Construction "Blink and Flashing" Closed Lane Warning signs at the end of a lane causing Brakelight propagation delays... and there fore stalling traffic... even though it has been proven merging easily ahead of time slows traffic very little if any and actually helping them get to where they are going faster. OR How will you get the message to people that ignore tremendous amount of proof/data/testing showing that it is GOOD to NOT send spam, when the message SAYS (paraphrasing): Send this to EVERYONE you know... and You will receive 2 Million Dollars from Bill Gates if enough people get this message... and they proceed to do it. Then get a scathing e-mail back for doing it from some "asinine" person claiming this is not real... *THEY* got it from a friend, therefore it MUST be true... message deleted. > Sounds stupid right? Read the book to read why it's the *only* > solution, and all technical solutions are doomed to failure... No, doesn't sound stupid. Sometimes technical solutions causing *PAIN and SUFFERING* to the offender is the only solution. If by that your e-mail enlightenment campaign is an utter failure... so be it. Just by trying to enlighten the offenders... YOU are spamming. Case In Point, every Swen Mail that came from a valid mailing host *I* got, had in the headers a "From:" address which was real(NOT the spoofed one that it looks like, as Outlook leaves its finger print that way) but because of the way the mail was formatted(spoofed) you usually saw nothing of the sort. I setup an automated response tailored to the user that sent the mail message. It was amazing at how many people e-mailed me back and said thank you and now understand that MS doesn't communicate that way and that executing stuff like that is not a generally good thing even IF from trusted people. I also how and why to keep Anti-Virus definitions and solutions up-to-date. I also included alternatives to Outlook, most didn't even know that there were some 300. But, I also got the messages that I should stop harassing these people with these Update Patches as they don't work. They also stated they did not trust the Download places for the "De-Swen" solutions.(Being Norton, McAfee, F-Prot and other vendors) And why didn't I just e-mail it to them in the first place. The majority of the 55,000+ SWEN response mails I have sent have gone un-noticed. And I have sent that standard message to some individuals 50-100 times. And a vast majority are in the "repeat" arena. So it falls on deaf ears. So, how much effort/money/time are you willing to put into the enlightenment of humanity? I do my part, automatically... whilst using Spam Assassin as well to keep my enlightenment. Eagerly awaiting your answer... -- greg, greg@gregfolkert.net REMEMBER ED CURRY! http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry Your nasal hair speaks volumes concerning the Isle of Wright.
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