A NEW WAY TO REDUCE SPAM
How long does it take you these days to wade
through your email when you log on in the morning? The ever increasing
number of junk emails better known as spam, continues to grow at an
alarming rate, with no end in sight. I almost dread logging on at the
beginning of the day in anticipation of some huge number of unread
junk emails waiting for me in my inbox. And that's with all my spam
filters and special destination folders in place! So anything that's
new and that helps to diminish spam is worth looking into and the
latest one is called Mailblocks. Mailblocks is a new email service
that takes the concept of an email white list to the next level.
A white list is basically a list that contains
email addresses from which you will accept an email. Unfortunately,
white lists do not work if you wish to remain accessible to those you
do not know. For example, as a columnist I receive a large number of
emails from readers and public relation firms. It is impossible for me
to use a white list since there is no way of my knowing who will be
trying to reach me.
The problem Mailblocks addresses is the
automated spam list. Spam rarely comes from a live person directly
typing an email to you. Spam comes from automated programs that have
access to huge lists of email addresses obtained via numerous methods.
Once your email address is on any of these lists, you get lots of
spam. But Mailblocks has come up with a clever method designed to
detect if an incoming email is coming from one of these automated
systems. In fact, that method is what Mailblocks is all about.
After activating the Mailblocks service, anyone
sending an email to your address for the first time receives back a
Challenge/Response email asking them to authorize themselves. The
message contains a link to the Mailblocks website, where the sender is
presented with a series of numbers. They must retype those exact
numbers into the page, thus authorizing themselves as a real person
and not some automated spamming service. Once completed, all their
subsequent emails will be routed directly to the Mailblocks monitored
address without any further interventions. Using this method assures
that anyone sending email to your Mailblocks monitored email address
is a real person and not from some automated spam service.
With Mailblocks, you set up an email address
that ends in a mailblocks.com address, or have the service monitor
your existing email addresses to apply the same screening method. This
later method works with services such as Hotmail, Yahoo!Mail, and
America Online. This is especially nice if you have more than one
email address since all of them can be managed through just one
Mailblocks universal inbox.
The system is quite clever in that graphic
images of the numbers are used in anticipation of some clever spamming
programmer writing a program to automatically read the numbers.
Graphic images are not so easily converted into their numerical
counterparts. Mailblocks will also not send its Challenge/Response
email to any illegitimate email addresses it already knows about.
Other service considerations are that Mailblocks
generally offers larger capacities and limits than those found on
other email services, especially the free ones. For example, email
addresses have the capacity to archive 12 megabytes (expandable up to
50 for an additional charge) of emails, and attachments of up to 6
megabytes are allowed.
The initial service charge for Mailblocks is
$9.95 a year for the standard service with 12 megabytes of storage,
$24.95 for the expanded service that includes 50 megabytes of storage.
While no one thing will annihilate the spam
monster, certainly a combination of filters and clever services such
as Mailblocks will certainly trim it down to a manageable size.
www.mailblocks.com
Wall Warts, begone!
I hate wall warts and if you've had to buy
several power strips because of them, there may be a solution. If
you've ever run out of AC outlets, you've probably invested in one of
those power strips that give you around six additional AC sockets. And
like so many who do, you discover you can only plug in around three of
your extra devices because there's one of those huge, clunky
transformer bricks at the end of the plug. When you plug in one of
those transformers, it's so big that it overlaps the socket next to
it, rendering it useless. Affectionately referred to as a "wall wart,"
these unsightly power regulators are found on the cords of many
computer peripherals and until recently, you just had to put up with
them. Now from Sousley Sound & Communications comes a clever little
add-on that gives back all those unused plugs in all of your power
strips.
 The
Power Strip Liberator is one of those little "Why didn't I think of
that" gizmos that comes in three different versions. The Power Strip
Liberator Plus is a well-constructed one foot extension cord with a
heavy duty, yet compact plug that fits snugly into one of the power
strip sockets. Attached to the plug is a one foot cord with another
female socket into which you plug in the wall wart. Basically the
Power Strip Liberator lets you use all of the power strip's sockets
while giving you enough room to lay all of the attached wall warts in
a neat little row beside the power strip.
 The
Power Strip Liberator Plus version has an additional female plug on
the back side of the plug so that you don't lose the socket it
occupies. And the Power Strip Liberator 2X is a Y adapter version that
gives you two separate female plugs at the end of the cord. The Y
version lets you double the number of wall warts you can plug into
your one power strip. Now you can reclaim your power strip and manage
your wall warts at the same time.
All versions are available in a 5, 10 or 50
pack. Check the web site for price details.
www.sousley.com |
