Author Topic: Spam? (Read 3651 times)

jcarter · « **on:** April 10, 2003, 12:39:00 PM »

Has anybody tried this one yet?
http://www.vechtwijk.nl/dev/

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #1 on:** April 10, 2003, 01:00:00 PM »

ABSOLUTELY, Positively! Everyday, All machines! It's one of only 3 items in my Startup Folder. I finally just turned off the automatic checking that Eudora does, I let PopMonitor see everything first. Now most of my Eudora filters are showing signs of neglect! Not much is getting through for them to filter.

I have PM set to delete from the server anything I want it to block.

I have not had much luck with it's "Bounce" function, but that is probably because most SPAM doesn't have a valid address.

I have recommended this program several times, to many people. Get it, use it, enjoy less SPAM!

Jim C.

jcarter · « **Reply #2 on:** April 10, 2003, 01:44:00 PM »

Hi Jim, I do remember that you have recommended it before, but I forgot the name until I just saw it in MacHome magazine.
Will it work well with Netscape 4.75 mail?
Our ISP, Adelphia cable, has cut way, way down on spam, but every once in a while, a blast of nasty stuff comes thru. Takes them a day or so to plug up the hole again.

I have been taking Photoshop Elements lessons and having a ball with it! What fun!
Thank you, Jane

Gregg · « **Reply #3 on:** April 10, 2003, 02:59:00 PM »

Does it work through a firewall?

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #4 on:** April 10, 2003, 07:12:00 PM »

Jane & Gregg,

From the manual (Introduction):
"A connection to the Internet or to your local network"
"A POP3 compatible e-mail account (POPmonitor does not work with Hotmail and AOL)"

Mainly, I think this means it does not work with any sort of web-mail account. I could find no mention of firewalls, so I doubt it will work with one. However, you may be able to contact the author and find out otherwise. And you can always install it and see before you pay!

From the FAQ:
Is POPmonitor compatible with Emailer, Entourage, Eudora, Magellan Pro, Netscape
Communicator, Outlook Express or PowerMail?
Yes. These e-mail applications can process e-mail related AppleScript events and therefore
they are fully supported by POPmonitor.
Is POPmonitor compatible with Netscape 6/7 or Mozilla?
No. Netscape 6/7 and Mozilla do not support e-mail related AppleScript events.

This is really only a problem if you ask POPmonitor to open your e-mail client after it checks your account. I don't use it that way. I have it set to check every 30 minutes and if it detects new messages, it throws up a floating window (it can also play a sound) to let me know. I then either dismiss the window or make the program active (its on my Applications tear-off palette) and see if I want to download the message(s). If not, I just go back to my previous scheduled tasks! If I see something important, I then startup Eudora and download the mail manually.

When I have some free time, I check its windows and decide if I need to add some blocked addresses/domains or just create some filters. Mostly I just block stuff and never look back! I probably should enable the 'log' function which will keep a list of stuff it has deleted, just incase I set up a badly designed filter or accidently started blocking my mother-in-law!

Here is what I see when I activate the program. Since the windows are hidden when it is not active, I can keep them as large as I want without wasting screen space.

Jim C.

jcarter · « **Reply #5 on:** April 10, 2003, 08:23:00 PM »

Hi Jim, I do not use AOL or Hotmail, I use Netscape Communicator 4.75 regular mail. Tried to use Netscape 7.1 mail and it won't work well compared with what I have set up with 4.75, which works flawlessly. So now I assume this software won't work with NS 7?
I think I will let this alone, as I am confused what works with what. What is webmail, and what isnt?
What aint broke,,,,,,,
I will let my cable people deal with spam, as they do a great job, except once in a while when something slippery and nasty slimes its way thru. That is not very frequent any more. Don't want to upset my mail system which never gets messed up. I guess I am just confused with all the terms, and my mail is very important to me, as it connects all our relatives and friends, so I am intimidated with fooling around with something which works so well.
I will decline this software for the time being, what aint broke,,,,,,
Jane

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #6 on:** April 11, 2003, 08:24:00 PM »

You are correct, POPmonitor does not work with NS/Moz 6/7 (I hid that fact in the previous reply).

Also in that reply, I said that is not really a problem (at least for me!). It only means that POPmonitor cannot open NS 6/7 to show you the mail. That's because NS/Moz don't have the AppleScript commands in their library. But you don't even need NS/Moz/Eudora/Outlook/etc. to see the mail, explained below...

I don't want my e-mail client opening until I tell it to, So I don't use that feature or care if it works in any browser/e-mail client. I just let POPmonitor run in the background, always (it just sits there, watching the clock, until it's time to check for mail). It is set to check my accounts every 30 minutes. When it does and sees new mail, it gives me a little floating window to let me know. Then I can decide if and when I want to see what's there and use Eudora, if I want to.

But I can also read the first 100 characters (or whatever I set that pref to) of any message right in POPmonitor - without actually downloading it to my drive. Then I can (1) delete them, (2) add them to my blocked list (and never see them again), (3) add them to my 'trusted' list (these will now be marked with a green dot, so I can pick them out easily - see picture in my last post), (4) just leave them alone so I can download it when I use Eudora.

What I do is always check the POPmonitor list before using Eudora, that way, I can be 99.99% sure I'm not going to download any SPAM, but more importantly, anything that clearly seeks to get my address. That's why I turned off the automatic checking in Eudora, the POPmonitor author even suggests that.

So, it is not quite correct to say that it will not work with NS/Moz 6/7. It just won't open those programs for you.

If your e-mail server address has "smtp' or "pop" in it, POPmonitor should work with it. Webmail is usually read with a browser, I think.

Jim C.

[ 04-11-2003, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: airbusdriver ]

jcarter · « **Reply #7 on:** April 12, 2003, 08:13:00 AM »

Hi Jim, Thank you for further explaining it to me. Yes, my e-mail does have the smtp and the pop, so it would probably work. But I usually use the Netscape 4.75 communicator part, with my cable ISP.
I should just get brave and try it. I have all my other accounts forwarded to the cable one, so I guess it would all be based on that one account with Adelphia.
It seems that I get less spam now, since Adelphia put their new mail system into operation in Feb. Once in a while a bunch will slime through, but they must set up filters immediatly, as I never see those again. And some come thru with nothing in the message part. And those usually don't have my address correct anyway.
Spam problems have turned into quite a business! I could never see in the first place how the spammers could ever make a dime, as everybody views it as such a nuisance. But there must be some people out there somewhere, who actually click on the stuff. But who would actually give them money? That's what I can't understand. Anyway the situation sure is improving as our ISPs are getting more sophisticated spam-blocking software.
Jane

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #8 on:** April 12, 2003, 09:11:00 PM »

quote:
Yes, my e-mail does have the smtp and the pop, so it would probably work. But I usually use the Netscape 4.75 communicator part, with my cable ISP.

There is absolutely no change in how you use whatever to recieve your e-mail. You will still do it exactly the way you now do. All POPmonitor does is allow you to safely check it before you recieve it/download it. It is specifically designed to do just that, as well as filter, delete, bounce, and or mark as 'trusted'. It does not allow answering, creating, sending, or editing e-mail - that is still the job of whatever you are now using.

quote:
I should just get brave and try it.

There is nothing to be worried about using it. It won't delete an e-mail unless you 'train' it to or tell it to manually. Think of it as a preview of what you will get when you actually check your mail. It's like seeing what the mail carrier is bringing you before they even leave the Post Office!

jcarter · « **Reply #9 on:** April 13, 2003, 07:28:00 AM »

I will give it a try! I just was afraid of messing up my mail program.

I still am using 9.2.2 and chickened out on the upgrade to X. Next year I might get another machine with the new OS already on it. From what I have read, a lot of software isn't being written for 9 any more. Ill stick with what I have until it becomes necessary to go up.
Just bought GoLive 6, so this will be the next project. Always something new and neat to do!
Thanks again, Jane

FLASH1296 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 12, 2003, 10:06:40 AM »

I adore SpamfirePro. It functiuons perfectly with Eudora6, my email client of choice.I adore SpamfirePro. It functiuons perfectly with Eudora6, my email client of choice.

WDL · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2003, 11:47:14 AM »

"But there must be some people out there somewhere, who actually click on the stuff. But who would actually give them money?"

The same people who send money to televangelists, cancer "cures",
penis enhancers, breast enlaring creams, etc.

According to a recent study - if they only get a reply from 0.001% of the people they mail to - they're making money and lots of it.

If you can't change people - "greed & stupidity" - you can't eliminate spam. Like drugs, if there's money to be made there's no end of people who will participate.

I'm lucky - our ISP does a real bangup job on spam. It isolates suspect messages on their server where I can examine, delete or accept without it ever getting to me! In the past year I've only viewed approx three spams - other messages that were quarantined were actually legitimate messages which I accepted.

WDL

Gary S · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2003, 12:15:37 PM »

I've been able to go to my server(Charter) also to delete my spam. It's still a pain but it's better than downloading it. I had 31 this morning and 1 legitimate email. I'm seriously thinking of changing my e-mail address but I don't know if it will do any good. I get Spam from anything with an s in front of the name with charter in the email address.

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2003, 07:38:53 PM »

You've probably read the topic started by Tonye by now, but you should certainly have more than one addy. Save one (a new one, probably) as a primary and don't give it to anyone but trusted friends (preferrably not those using a M$ mail program).

BTW, POPMonitor allows you do do the deleting from your end (and automatically, also of course). No need to call the ISP at all. That's one of the two primary jobs of POPMonitor, actually.

Another solution that is causing problems are 'services' that list supposed SPAMMERS. While 99.9% probably are, these list are also causing problems by listing whole domains that may have legitimate newslists. The lists are bought/used by ISP's and it is sometimes very frustrating (and even impossible) ot get ones name/address removed.

Jim C.

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Author Topic: Spam? (Read 3651 times)