I often say that blogs are currently where the web was in 1998, with history repeating itself only this time with blogs. The latest sign: spyware and viruses are now being transmitted via blogs, specifically, random blogs on blogspot.com, found via the "Next Blog" button. Remember, just because a delightful purple gorilla wants to read blog entries to you doesn't mean you should click on him.
posted by mathowie on Feb 21, 2005 - 29 comments

SpamCon 2001 gets underway in one month. It's a meeting of the minds to crush spam and guys like this. But it's probably too late. Can legislation ever make a dent in spam? Are technical solutions possible (no open SMTP ports allowed)?
posted by mathowie on Apr 26, 2001 - 10 comments

Cell phone spammers will be hated more than email spammers, but I just hope someone stops Plugout.com before some competitors think it's a good idea.
posted by mathowie on Apr 11, 2000 - 3 comments

The Washington State Anti-Spam law found unconstitutional because the person named in the suit was in Oregon, and the law can't be enforced across state boundries. Damn. As if your location means anything on the internet. What a lame ruling.
posted by mathowie on Mar 28, 2000 - 8 comments

Ouch! The sad reality of the web is that most servers are built to handle thousands of people (not millions, or 100s of thousands, and sometimes not even tens of thousands), as long as they are spread out over a day. It's sad to see a company pay millions for a superbowl ad, but their server is down when you go to visit them. I guess it's not all bad, I hear this epidemic.com company was going to pay people to spam others anyway...
posted by mathowie on Jan 30, 2000 - 4 comments

Today on a web list I subscribe to, some members were complaining about spam and the need for sites to have privacy policies that promise not to sell your address. I have a hotmail address that I use whenever a site requires an email address and doesn't post a privacy policy. I hadn't checked my account in a month, but I did today and look what was in it. 74 useless messages in 30 days. Thanks spammers.
posted by mathowie on Nov 21, 1999 - 0 comments

Although this is dated, it is still interesting. The long-story-short is someone left some spam out on a plate to see if would ever decompose. This person also left out other items for comparison. Check out the archived experiments for past projects and notes.
posted by mathowie on Oct 13, 1999 - 0 comments

This new inforrmational site actually looks like an interesting place to read about all sorts of topics, BUT they told me about through multiple copies of spam. When are companies going to get it? Spam is worse than a telemarketer waking you up at 6am on a Saturday! Oh yeah, they're also destined to fail because they are charging for their information (*cough* Slate.com *cough*). Good luck infostry!
posted by mathowie on Oct 9, 1999 - 0 comments

This is one of the stupidest company ideas I've seen in ages. At work yesterday, this company 'Ad Car Us', spammed everyone's car windsheild with a note asking if you'd like to get paid to carry their bumpersticker. If you go to their site, you can see sample images. This is really stupid. Pay people a few bucks to make their cars look ridiculous, what a great revenue model kids.
posted by mathowie on Sep 24, 1999 - 0 comments

In the 'Automakers that don't get it' file comes this. Saab USA is spamming people to tell them about their new cars. Great, thanks to Saab USA's inept marketing department, I'll never buy a Saab in my entire life.
posted by mathowie on Aug 28, 1999 - 2 comments

Revenge is sweet. I just wish this company would do a partnership with SpamCop, so I could report spam and send the spammer some crap in the mail, in one convienient place.
posted by mathowie on Jul 21, 1999 - 0 comments