Spam!

Let's talk about Spam...

Lately, I have been working diligently to get Saline up and running with our own Spam filter and here are some quick statistics since it's been up and running.

2 day total volume: 78,941 email messages

percentage of Spam: 87.4%

dropped for no known user: 3,241

dropped because server is on a blacklist: 36,417

As you can seen very little email is actually valid email, it's absolutely amazing how much junk comes in. So here's a few tips to help reduce Spam:

1. Don't sign up for lists - when given the option when you're buying something and looking at a product, DO NOT sign up on their mailing list, make sure you uncheck that little box that says "keep me updated" or "send me emails".

2. Do not respond to Spam or click any of the links in a spam message ever.

3. Think of your email as your personal phone number, only give it to people you would trust to call you either at home or the office.

4. Disguise your email address if you have to post it on a website, forum or blog. For example: user@user.com would be user(at)user(dot)com, this way the data miners won't be able to pull out your email.

5. If you do want to sign up for things use an alternate email address. I myself use my gmail account for all purchases, mailing list info,etc. You have to remember that your school email is for school business only.

Words of Wisdom: Avoid using the "@" sign on the internet at all costs.

For those of you math nuts out there, this made me laugh: