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Is there such a thing as good Spam? Well
I guess if I was starving, I might be willing to open a can. If I didn't
have any ethics, I might have made a few bucks off e-mail spam. The bottom
line, Spam is served to very few people who enjoy it.
Things you can do with Spam
| The Food |
E-mail |
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1. Donate it to the local food drive.
2. Serve it to uninvited dinner guests.
3. Set outside for the neighbor's dog to eat.
4. Use it for a paper weight. (unopened, please)
5. Trash it.
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1. Forward it to an ex (spouse, or boy/girl friend)
2. Forward it to a lonely person, who doesn't have a life.
3. Recycle it into a humor page.
4. Read it, and wonder about what type of person that wrote
it.
5. Trash it.
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One thing I wish to cover right off the bat, is accidental
spam. Believe it or not sometimes a person/company will spam not meaning
to. I'm even guilty of the first one twice in 18 months.
1. A person sends an e-mail to a bunch of friends at
one time. When responding to one of these messages, you must use the "Re:mail"
button not the "Re:all" button that just happens to be the next button
over. If the hand slips, and you don't catch it in time, everyone that
received the first message will also get a copy of the message you sent.
Since these other people don't know you, and didn't ask to hear from you.
You have now sent SPAM.
2. A business that hires someone to handle their website,
may by pure ignorance hire someone with out ethics. The company had no
intention of offending anyone, they just fell victim to a good sales pitch.
3. A business that is trying to do their own website and
marketing, but are not "net savvy". I receive many offerings each day to
buy mailing lists. These marketers often allude to these being quantified
mailing lists, but as we all know many aren't. A person who is new to the
net may not know the differences in mailing lists.
4. If you sign up for something on a site, the owner may
feel that you may be interested in something else they have to offer. After
all you asked for the first one.
Now for the serious side of spamming. Many people complain
about it, just like they do junk mail and telemarketers. However, most
of the time we have brought it upon ourselves.
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Enter a drawing? - Many times the those little sheets of
paper you filled out become a mailing/phone lists.
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Is your phone listed in the phone book? - a telemarketer's
dream
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Sign a guest book, post a message on a board, or taken advantage
of something free on the net - same as entering a drawing in the real world
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Register with any of the "who's who" sites on the net - same
as being listed in the phone book.
Of course if the truth be told, most of us at one time or
the other has found something they would like by these methods. After all,
ever used a coupon that came in the mail? It's amazing if we use it, we
don't call the sender bad names, but if we don't use it the sender is a
low life.
Why do companies call, mail, and spam us? Because they
have found it to be a profitable way to market. Enough people buy, that
it pays for it's self. Will this ever change? Probably not.
Now for the good news. There are ways to get off these
lists. It is to the marketers advantage not to market unwilling people.
Companies that bulk mail must pay for printing, addresses,
and postage.
Companies that call, must pay the telemarketers, and often
the extra phone lines, and a source for calling lists.
Even companies that spam have over head. They must take
the time to track down their own mailing lists, or pay a service. Also
many have web sites, and have to deal with the possibility of being kicked
off their host if too many complaints are received.
How to lower the amount you receive.
For the real world
Don't enter drawings!!!
Tell companies you do business with to keep your personal
information private.
Have your phone unlisted, than contact the Criss-cross
directory folks, and ask to be removed.
You won't see immediate results, but with in a couple of
years it will almost vanish.
If you do move you have it made! You have a fresh address,
and phone number don't pass them out!
For the virtual world
If you truly don't want spam, don't leave you e-mail
address laying about. If you wish to sign books, and have fun, use a separate
e-mail account for these activities.
How I deal with the hard core spammers.
Heaven help them if they give me a 800 or a 888 phone
number, I will call them on their phone bill and tell them what I think.
I'm nice at first, but can become very firm if needed.
Will track down their server using one of several tools
on the net, and let the host server know of the problem.
Now rather than go into a long rant I have decided you give
offer some links to sites that offer information, tips, and even software
to help with the problem.
Tools - Use these sites to get phone
numbers and addresses to the Domain's owner
American Registry for Internet Numbers - http://whois.arin.net
European IP Address Allocations - http://whois.ripe.net
Asia Pacific IP Address Allocations - http://whois.apnic.net
US Military - http://whois.nic.mil
US Government - http://whois.nic.gov
US non mil. or gov - http://rs.internic.net
Alldomains.com |
This page is all about "spam" , that junk mail we appear to receive.
Here are tips, tricks, and sites to help with the problem. There very few
cures, but a few ways to trim it down. Just remember there will always
be telemarketers, commercials, junk mail, and spam.
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