15 Mar
2002
15 Mar
'02
8:13 p.m.
On Sat, 16 Mar 2002, Owen Robertson wrote:
I would just like to point out that there have been
between 20 and 30
replies to this, and the topic only came up a few days ago. It would take
weeks for that many SPAM posts to come accross here. It seems to me like
we're doing a much better job of cluttering the list than the SPAMmers are.
First of all, let me publicly thank Jay for providing the server, the
bandwidth, and his TIME to host the list. If I seemed ingrateful it was
my fault. Jay IS doing a very good job. I let the spam issue cloud my
judgement of Jay's performance. Jay is a fine list operator.
All things considered, the spam issue is not that great...YET. Now, I'm
not saying I'm 100% right about this, but if experience is any indicator,
it always starts out slow and then builds. I see the spam trend building.
Maybe it's just my perception. Or maybe it's a fact. Whatever the case,
WE HAVE SPAM. I don't like it. I fear it will get worse, and I want to
do something NOW to hopefully put a stop to it.
We grew used to off-topic postings. Fine. We may grow used to seeing
spam on the list, and if my predictions are correct, we may have to get
used to seeing spam on the list daily. Hmm, OK. But what if a bunch of
wailing banshies uses the list to talk about stuff completely unrelated to
our topic (which, surprisingly, is classic computers)? Is that going to
also be passed off as "something to deal with" or "something to use the
delete key for"? What if Al Quaeda started to use the list to broadcast
secret messages to each other?
Look, I'm the last guy to proclaim the sky is falling, but the simple fact
of the matter is that this issue can be resolved, quite painlessly,
without ANY detriment to the list, and it could have already been
implemented. That's all.
I'll try very hard not to say anymore about this. Hell, I pretty much
gave up on it and was just deleting the spam until the Nigerian scam
bastards showed up. It just signaled to me that the situation was getting
worse. I kid you not but I get at least 2-3 of those messages weekly,
sometimes 2-3 a day between my various e-mail addresses. I save them.
They're funny. I just don't want to see the list cluttered with them.
As I stated to Jay privately, this is a sanctuary to me. Imagine this as
a big-domed meeting hall. I like to hear the rumblings of various
conversations happening all over. But then some asshole comes in and
yells "BUY MY CRAP! BUY MY CRAP!" It just ruins the whole setting.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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