Piss Off!

This is a message to you Marketing Scum out there:  Leave me alone.  Go away.  I don't want your crap showing up in my Inbox, I don't want to see your annoying, intrusive ad banners distracting me during my surfing, I don't want your popup windows keeping me from enjoying my reading, I don't want your evil Web Bugs tracking and storing everything I do, and I don't want to hear from your automatic porn-spewing robots when I'm Instant Messaging or in chat rooms.  Stay the hell out of my way.

I'm pissed, dammit.  But you know what?  People NEED to get pissed about this.  Marketers will stop at nothing to get their product or website in front of your face online, so if YOU are tired of it, YOU need to take steps to stop it on YOUR END.  This means setting up simple mail filters, installing ad-blocking software, and taking control of your own surfing to make sure that the Marketing Scum don't prevail.

"If it weren't for advertising, we wouldn't have the Internet we enjoy today!"
Yes, many sites clutter their pages with intrusive, distracting, privacy-invading ads, and it's their right to do so, if that's the only way they can survive.  But through the magic of ad-blocking software, I have the option to NOT see these annoying things, and I take full advantage of that option.   Remember that the Web was thriving for years before the marketers came along and turned it into a get-rich-quick scheme.  The web was supported by people who enjoyed the Web for what it is.  So if lack of advertising makes the Net revert back to the way it used to be 10 years ago, I'd cope.

"What's the big deal about spam?  Nobody's forcing you to read it...just delete it and get on with your life!"
Yes, I could just shut up and take it.  But I don't.  Spammers abuse the Internet for their own gain...they jam entire networks with unwanted junk, which is basically THEFT in that they are using someone else's valuable bandwidth at YOUR expense to send you mail that you don't want and never asked for.  It should be ILLEGAL.  If telemarketers have to ahere to certain laws, why shouldn't spammers?  If you still don't get it, click here.

So this is a simple little page devoted to the methods I use to keep my own online presence unknown to the Marketing Scum out there.  I'll update it now and then with news, software, and other info which will hopefully be useful to anyone who cares to check it out.

Spamkilling

What's the simplest way to avoid being spammed?  In my experience, the best way to stay off the spamming lists is to avoid using your real e-mail address for everything except personal e-mail.  This goes for posting to Usenet newsgroups or any website which requires you to enter your e-mail address before downloading software or joining a service.  Even if you're ordering a product, use your "spam address" because you can bet that it will be used for some kind of marketing in the future.  (Some sites offer some kind of "Reply to unsubscribe" option, but DON'T trust any of them...9 times out of 10, it's a trick they use to confirm that your e-mail address is "active" so they can send you more junk.) This is the cardinal rule...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give your actual e-mail address to ANY third party. Save it for friends and family, and perhaps your mailing lists (provided the list service allows you to opt out of marketing spam).  Yes, there ARE ways that spammers can reach you even if you never give out your address, but you will get FAR less spam by never giving it out.

In addition to this basic rule, here are a few helpful hints:

• Set up a "spam only" address with Hotmail or some other free service, and whenever a website requires you to provide your e-mail address in order to access a service or download, use your new spam address.  Hotmail is ideal because it has a very nice Junk Mail option which allows you to send ALL e-mail into the self-emptying Junk Mail folder unless the sender is in your Hotmail address book.  This is what I do... I get over 30 spams a day at my Hotmail spam address, which I have had for many years now, and it works great.  Nobody has my personal e-mail address except those I want to have it.  Thus, I NEVER get spam at my home account anymore.  Woohoo!

• Be aware that many online e-mail providers (especially Hotmail) are open targets for spammers.  Even if you don't send a single e-mail from a new account to announce your presence to the Marketing Scum, within a few days you're almost guaranteed to start receiving spam, most likely of pornographic nature.  That's why I consider Hotmail as nothing more than a spamcatcher, and for that purpose it works great.

• Ask your internet provider about implementing some spam-blocking software.  My webhosting company, www.lunarpages.com, uses SpamAssassin which is the best spam-catching product I've seen yet.  My ISP is www.comcast.net and they use some sort of spam filtering software which works extremely well also.  I don't know what it is, but I've gotten less than 10 spams in 9 months so far.

• Check out the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, or CAUCE.  They have great page of spam-fighting resources (far more thorough than this one) which is a must-read.

• Want to know if your internet provider is allowing spam to be sent from or through its services?  Check SpamHaus and find out!  If your ISP is on there, it may be time to switch.

• Take some advice and DO NOT forward junk mail of your own to your friends.  You know what I mean...those cute "cyber hug" letters, those moronic chain letters, those gooey inspirational tales which bring a tear to your eye, those patriotic diatribes against Bin Laden...it's all crap.  Amusing, yes.  Thought-provoking, perhaps.  But does everyone in your address book want to see it?  Don't bet on it.  Don't be a spammer, even if you mean well.  Be sure and check out my Good Netizen page for some great tips on how to avoid irritating everyone you know!

Filtering

If you get a LOT of spam, then filtering is an easy way to keep most of it from reaching your Inbox.  NOTE:  Be sure to send all filtered mail into a Spam folder of its own, NOT the Trash!  It is absolutely possible for your filters to catch "legitimate" mail, and if you send everything into the Trash, you'll never see it.  Create and use a Spam folder, and peek in there every few days to catch any legitimate mail which might have been filtered.

When setting up e-mail filters, one of the best things you can do is tell it to send anything that doesn't contain your exact e-mail address into a Spam or Junk Mail folder.  This is easy to do...just go into the Options section of your e-mail program or site and give it a try.  This is a good idea because many spammers find ways to conceal your address from the headers...I'm not sure how they do it, but I know they can.

You can also try setting up a list of keywords in your custom filters.  Any e-mail containing these words/characters in the subject can be filtered into a Spam or Junk Mail folder.  Here is a list of words that has worked wonders with my spam problems in the past.  More words can be added, and feel free to do so...but these keywords are very common in much of the spam I have gotten.

I have only tried SpamAssassin, and I know it works very, very well.  However I use another product by the makers of SpamSubtract and I would be willing to bet that it's worth looking at as well.  These programs will intercept spam before it reaches your mailbox, and are fully customizable so that they can "learn" and better recognize (and delete) spam as they go.  If your ISP won't help with killing spam, these two are worth a look.

Ad-Blocking

If you're passionate about your adblocking and popup-blocking and want lots of customization (especially in the adblocking dept.), you can't go wrong with AdSubtract.  I was a long-time user of this program before I switched to Firefox and it was no longer necessary, but if you're still using IE and want to really slam the ads, this is the program for you!  I've tried 'em all, and this is absolutely the best adblocker I've ever used.  It's not free, but it's very much worth the small price if you care about clutter-free and private surfing.  The setup is easy, and you can completely configure every part of it to filter (or not filter) things in great detail.  And yes, you can turn it on/off whenever you want.  I can't recommend it enough, and it doesn't cost cost much at all...I believe it's still around $29, but sometimes they knock $10 off after the 30-day trial period.

If you don't want to spend any money but still want to block those ads, I'd recommend that you install the GoGoData Toolbar.  This thing wipes out most ads (including those infuriating animated ones) and knocks out the popups as well while allowing the ones you want.  It's also got some spyware detection and protection features as well as other goodies you might like.  It's free, it's won lots of awards, and it's not a security concern like the Google Toolbar.

www.bugnosis.org
What's a web bug?  Well, it's a graphic on a website or in an e-mail message designed to monitor who is reading the page or message.  Web bugs are often invisible because they are typically only 1-by-1 pixels in size.  In most cases, web bugs are placed on websites by third parties interested in collecting data about you.  What kind of info, you may ask?  Well, for starters:

• Personal info:  your e-mail address, health interests, political affiliations, personally identifiable information, sexual disclosures...anything you express at the website where the web bug is located
• Data on your shopping habits (many advertising networks store this data in a profile so that their ad network can show you banner ads "coincidentally" suited to your interests the next time you visit)
• Your IP address
• The URL of the page you just came from
• The URL of the page you are viewing
• The time when you viewed the page
• What kind of browser you're using
• Any preset cookie values
• How many people have visited the site

All this information can be collected by web bugs on a page and transmitted to other web bugs on other sites.  These invisible little buggers can tell someone out there a LOT about your activities on a particular site, not to mention any personal information you gave out at the time.  And you'll never know it, because they're designed to be hidden from your sight.  Well, Bugnosis reveals them for you.  It will show you where the web bug is, who owns it, and what it's doing.  Unfortunately it doesn't block the information being transmitted, but at least you know where they are.  To block web bugs, I suggest using Webwasher, which is something that no PC should be without anyway!  Install Bugnosis and soon you'll notice that many sites have web bugs lurking in them... (And yes, you can turn off the "uh-oh!" alert sound.  Once it's installed, click the Bug icon in your browser toolbar to bring up the Bugnosis data screen, then right-click in there to get to the Options.)

"Adware" is known by many names--spyware, trackware, or even Big Brotherware, but trust me, it's all evil.  Usually it is installed invisibly along with that little program you just downloaded, and it's primarily used to collect information about your Internet habits in order to deliver ads tailored to your interests.  And the more spyware you have on your system, the slower things get...soon your internet slows to a crawl, because so many programs are tracking you and "phoning home" to report on what you're doing.  Ad-Aware is a great little program which identifies and removes this evil crap from your system.  This thing scours your PC (including registry and temporary internet files) and looks for traces of recognized adware modules.  Then it displays a list of what it found and lets you select the items you'd like to remove from your system.  The only drawback is that some ad-supported programs (like Kazaa) may not function if you remove their ad modules.  But if privacy is your main concern, Ad-aware really does a great job!

Security

Firefox Browser - Thanks to weekly warnings about new security holes in Internet Explorer, thousands of people have discovered the fabulous Firefox Browser from Mozilla.org.  Besides a good firewall, this is truly one of the best ways you can safeguard your PC against the vast numbers of Trojan horses, viruses, and spyware lurking out there on the Web.  It's so good that the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team said that people should just stop using Internet Explorer because of its security problems, and so far this is the best alternative out there.  It also has dozens of extensions which give the browser a lot of extra capabilities, such as adblocking, blogging, image tweaking, etc.  It's definitely worth a look!

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Shields UP! quickly checks the security of your computer's connection to the Internet.  This by far the fastest, most thorough security test I have seen yet.  And the information you receive is incredibly thorough and easy to understand.  This site explains everything it does, and suggests solutions to any problems it may find with your connection.  Also, be sure to run the "Probe My Ports!" thing as well, as it will let you know if any "holes" are wide open for malicious hackers or Trojan Horses.

A good firewall is absolutely essential for protecting your system against trojan nasties and malicious worms which lurk out there looking for unprotected systems to prey on.  Zone Alarm is (in my opinion) simply the best firewall out there...it's easy to set up and use, and it's a product trusted by zillions.  They offer a free version for basic protection, and it does a great job.  If you want to be able to customize it more and be able to open up specific ports in the firewall (sometimes required for online gaming or video chat, etc.), you can buy the Pro version which is very reasonably priced.  But do not hesitate to install a firewall, because otherwise sooner or later something will get into your system and you will be in deep caca!

In my experience, Norton Antivirus is faster and more effective (not to mention less annoying) than McAfee Antivirus.  It does a great job, and its LiveUpdate function makes it easy to stay on top of all the latest viruses out there.  It also scans incoming/outgoing emails for viruses and other nasties, which is probably the most common way people get infected.  I'd recommend setting it to use SmartScan, which only scans common virus-prone file types...otherwise it will scan every file every time you do anything, which is totally unnecessary and can slow your system to a crawl.  You can also get Norton Antivirus as part of the excellent Norton SystemWorks package.