The Saga of Spam
12-30-03 - Like most of you I have been deluged with spam. To solve the issue I recently downloaded the trial version of iHateSpam from Sunbelt Software. It has been easy to set up up and spam messages are kept in a "quarantine" folder until you decide to delete them. You can set different settings for the spam and add and delete names that are "quarantined. Works like a charm so far - will keep you advised.
1-6-04 - Spam software is working very well. Had to add back in some newsletter e-mail that was being quarantined. Easy to use and very effective.
1-21-04 - IHateSpam software mysteriously disappeared today. Also, Outlook has not been closing improperly and has been occasionally blacklisting valid e-mail for no reason.
1-21-04 - Installed Qurb today. Very simple 3 buttons - Approve, Block and Qurb folder to view blocked e-mail. Easy to install, Outlook is running faster. Well, will wait to see results.
1-27-04 - Installed Office 2003. Started to use their "new" spam filtering software. The instructions read "Junk E-mail Filter - The new Junk E-mail Filter helps prevent much of the unwanted e-mail that you receive every day. It uses state-of-the-art technology developed by Microsoft Research to evaluate whether a message should be treated as junk e-mail based on several factors, such as the time it was sent and the content of the message. The filter does not single out any particular sender or type of e-mail; it is based on the content of the message in general and uses advanced analysis of the structure of the message to determine the probability that it is junk e-mail. Any message that is caught by the filter is moved to your Junk E-mail folder, where it can be retrieved or reviewed at a later time. You can add e-mail addresses to your Safe Senders List to ensure that messages from these senders will never be treated as junk e-mail and block messages from certain e-mail addresses or domain names by adding the sender to your Blocked Senders List."
It collects about 1/2 of the spam messages I received. Since it is based on a "ruled based" system I will have to block new spam everyday.
