Archive for 3rd July 2008

“Carrier Pigeons Bringing Contraband into Prisons”

3 July 2008, 2:49 pm

An interesting application of the famous RFC1149, if nothing else. But some of the comments below the story are priceless.

Category: Amusing/Interesting/Appalling  |  1 Comment

Spam Problem Over?

3 July 2008, 2:33 pm

As noted previously, I rarely post about spam anymore, simply because there’s little new or interesting to post about. In fact, I rarely even see spam anymore, maybe one or two messages a day at most. This one is slightly interesting though, because it’s a perfect example of the contortions that spam purveyors have to go through to even have a slight chance of getting their messages read anymore:

Hej, VL Ia A G R VA 1) Open your browser 2) Enter http://www.capedyinlaxyz[IZ]com 3) Replace “IZ” with “.”

This is followed by the now-usual block of semi-random text that attempts to disguise the contents of the message from Bayesian spam filters.

Three items of interest:

  • “Hej”? A Scandinavian might read that as “hey,” one of the half-dozen standard greetings for such messages, but few native English speakers would.
  • The “Viagra” text is on an orange background, and each letter has a separate different-colored background box on top of that. With the (deliberate) misspellings, it makes it kind of difficult to read, unless you already know what it’s likely to say.
  • The HTTP address (which has been altered, slightly, from the one that I actually received in the e-mail) is random nonsense, and has to be decoded manually on top of that.

    • If this is the kind of thing spammers have been forced into, I think the spam problem is all but solved… at least, until the next evolution in computer science gives them a new way around the current defenses.

    Category: Spam and Malware  |  Comment

    “Are the ice caps melting?”

    3 July 2008, 2:00 pm

    A lesson in Bad Science from NASA (predictably on Global Warming again): if the facts get in the way of your favorite theory, ignore the facts.

    Category: Amusing/Interesting/Appalling, Global Warming  |  3 Comments

    “Openmoko to release Linux handset tomorrow”

    3 July 2008, 1:34 pm

    Want a good cell phone/organizer, but don’t want to pay through the nose for a proprietary and closed-source system that limits you in all sorts of ways? Looks like there’s an alternative coming Real Soon Now. :-)

    Category: Science and Technology, The Great OS Wars  |  7 Comments

    “Now that Vista is now the only Windows you can buy preinstalled…”

    3 July 2008, 1:27 pm

    Apparently a lot of people have decided to avoid Windows Vista. Good for you, guys! :-)

    Category: Amusing/Interesting/Appalling, The Great OS Wars  |  2 Comments

    “Don’t hide or disable menu items”

    3 July 2008, 1:24 pm

    I generally agree with Joel Spolsky on most things computer-related, but I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, and I just have to disagree. I see where he’s coming from, but it seems to me that there’s a better way to let the user know why an option is disabled (maybe a mouse-over tooltip?), rather than leaving it enabled but useless.

    Category: Software and Software Development  |  1 Comment