New Levels of Spam
August 3, 2007
At work we have recently been discussing the problem of spam sent through our web forms (formmail.pl). Apparently somewhere people are paid to sit and fill out web forms in order to submit unwanted advertisements. Now let’s take it a step further. Below is something that was submitted as a question via the internal eBay messaging system regarding an item I’m auctioning:
dear friend:
We are www.superll.com. we are distributer,we have many wellknown
products such as dell,ibm,sony,panasonic,philip,samsung,nokia,nikon,olympus,canon,
fujifilm and so on.
there are many sorts of digital products in stock for sale.
they are original and in good condition,also one year international warranty with
the manufacters.
We do business such as drop ship and wholesale.
if you are interested in our product please have a look on our website
and contact us by following means.thanks.
Web address : www.superll.com
Email : superll8@hotmail.com
Msn : superll8@hotmail.com
thanks.
After a quick Google search, it appears that others have received this as well. What’s funnier is that the spammer’s eBay account purchased two (very cheap) items in June in order to gain a small amount of legitimacy. Oh well, they probably wouldn’t be doing it unless the occasional person fell for the scam.
Unfortunately spam appears to account for 80 – 90 percent of all email traffic, depending on the source. Due to this, many are predicting an eventual transfer of messaging to a combination of IM and social networks. However, I’m sure spammers will only come up with a more sophisticated solution. It’s the web’s version of the Cold War.
Updates!
May 10, 2007
Wow, so much has happened both personally and professionally over the past few weeks! I’ll be covering them in soon in new blog posts. In the mean time, the Pew Internet and American Life Project told me that I’m an omnivore :lol: , which I guess is a good thing… Anyway, you can see my results here, and be sure to take the survey yourself!
CIL 2007
April 17, 2007
I am currently in Arlington, Virgina attending the Computers in Libraries Conference. It is in it’s 22 year and has the most attendees this year than any previous conference. So far most of the sessions have been interesting, and a few inspiring! Regardless, all of this is tainted by the events yesterday at Virginia Tech. I know a few librarians who work there and read in a report from the Roanoke Times that Newman Library became a temporary shelter while the campus was on lock down and can only imagine the worry and fear everyone was experiencing. My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to everyone involved and the families who have been affected by this senseless tragedy.
We Heard an Owl Last Night
March 23, 2007
Last night was the second time in my life that I recall hearing an owl in the wild. Not that suburban America is “the wild,” but you get my point. Anyway, after listening for a while I was able to determine that it was a Barred Owl (also known as a hoot owl) by researching North American owls online, and sampling a few audio clips (listen below). Special thanks to the Owl Pages for the audio clip and the Wildlife Center of Virgina for the image. I also really like this picture from Wikipedia.
[audio:http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Strix-varia-1.mp3]Updating…
March 6, 2007
The time has come and I’m trying to get all of the content from my old university hosted site to AndyMorton.org. Based on my Google Analytics data, I was getting quite a few hits on my previous site, so I’m going to redirect those links to this site via an .htaccess file. It’s interesting to review the content I was linking to, as it was all very web 1.0, including my own site!
Documentary: North Korea – Children of the State
December 19, 2006
As you’re enjoying this holiday season with friends, family and food, please remember that there are many, many others less fortunate than you…
Family Dynamics
November 12, 2006
Overheard at home while eating lunch:
Me – “Would you like a pickle with your sandwich?”
Two-year old daughter – “Sure… I’ll take a pickle.”
Re-launch!
October 23, 2006
Welcome to the re-launch of AndyMorton.org! I’ve been experimenting with multiple blogging platforms, plug-ins and such for quite some time. It’s time that I get serious about this and use these tools to enhance both my work and personal lives! I’ll be posting commentary related to work and libraries, new and interesting technologies, and tell you about personal developments. Feel free to comment on any of my posts or send me an email using the contact form linked at the top of the page. Also, I’ve been overhauling my personal website (www.richmond.edu/~amorton), which is now in it’s version 7. I created version 1.0 while working at Wake Forest University back way back in 1996. My goal is to post a screen capture of each version showing the development of the site over the past 10 years. Enjoy!
