Re: An Amazing Fact

tony_at_aplawrence.com
Date: 09/02/03 

Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 21:28:29 +0000 (UTC)

John Winters <newstmp@linuxemporium.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <kU35b.5848$tw6.4876@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
>Alan Connor <alanconnor@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>You SAY that. Yet, for example, most mailing lists send RAVs and do not
>>suffer for subscribers.

>True, but there's a big difference between going through a challenge-response
>process when you're subscribing to something and doing it just so you can send
>an everyday e-mail. I subscribe to a mailing list perhaps once every 3
>months; I send dozens of e-mails every day (and no, not to the same people
>all the time).

>>And many websites require people to log in with a password and do not suffer
>>for visitors.

>How do you know? I know the contrary to be true because I have often
>stopped looking at websites which said, "You must register if you want
>to see more".

Absolutely. There are very few that I will register for.

And if I ever inquired to a business by email and got back a challenge,
they'd have to be the ONLY business selling whatever it was I was
looking for.

I wouldn't dare implement a challenge system for my email for
exactly that reason. RAV might be OK for individuals; it's not
suitable for business.

>>You've just touched on one of the reasons I abandoned the SA strategy: You
>>just can't design negative filters that can reliablly, over time, tell the
>>difference between spam and not spam. As soon as you think you have it
>>covered, the spammers change their ways again. The list of mail that you don't
>>want to receive is endless and forever changing form.

>True, but have you tried the Bayesian approach? It is astoundingly good
>at adjusting to changing requirements.

And, as I keep pointing out, nothing stops you from using multiple
approaches: procmail filters, sendmail access lists, Spamassassin,
Bayesian filters, and mail application filters. None of these
conflict.

--
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