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You think the spammers are getting frustrated by filters?

I just got this spam, do these losers really think people are going to buy prescription medicine when it is advertised like this? I assume the letters making up the larger letters are randomized.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,C:H:E:C:K O:U:R S:P:E:C:I:A:L O:F:F:E:R !!!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ah  us    ty    mm      al  td  ep  vh    ag
su  ga   zeee   ok      yk  ch  eq  jrg  ymp
fd  vj  tg  yc  jv      yo  vp  km  zgdadmrv
dh  kr  lclyea  fp      wv  ja  au  ln bh bn
 gmdu   nw  vs  he  kb  ay  nq  ak  fa    ko
  lt    er  pu  kqvyfs  pz   ovsc   dn    oj


ri  lh  yp    jc     fvzw   zogle     kq
an  tq  wj   egpk   kz  se  fv  vp   hblm
cr  ju  ls  zr  ji  uj      jj  ko  nc  ji
wd  rf  sw  cwwrqj  ui ecx  mvhue   lexkdx
 evnu   fz  ha  ei  gc  ef  og  py  lc  dk
  mf    fl  qd  bp   puom   ot  vk  si  po


 fypp   xi    ze    ki      qz   lwgy
in  pt  xq   gevp   bq      ke  at  zj
hp      ym  mh  pq  pe      ur  kik
tc      lj  ptecon  lt      iq     iui
nr  qq  nm  it  lo  cw  bt  bo  ly  qt
 rlpn   is  ii  pk  nteynd  fa   wpti


rv   lg    pa    dn  gt    jj    hu   wu
 vf ju    gfmp   xlj bh   bifl    fp ly
  bfr    wq  ij  xgnbzk  xo  kp    aqx
  tiu    ffrdpe  btzppp  cbisjv    lus
 os pa   fq  re  vq zdh  zq  lq   au ac
ov   db  oh  el  od  nj  qa  qs  ll   mb

I’m a Published Author

Woohoo! I am now writing for The Apple Blog. My first article came out today, and of course I made a stupid mistake in it. But regardless, it’s out there. MacBook Pro vs. MacBook/iMac vs. MacBook/Mac mini Now I have to continue writing one article a week.

O’Reilly Safari Signup Process Turning People Off

I googled a question about Photoshop, and one of the first page results was found in a book available in O’Reilly’s Safari service. The safari service gives you access to O’Reilly books online. I needed to signup for a free ten day/50 page account to see the info I was looking for. To actually get the demo account, you have to go through a four page signup process, including giving them a credit card number so they can bill me when I forget to cancel my “free” demo. Plus, on page two I have to choose between a $39.99 Safari Library account or a $19.99 Safari Bookshelf account. I wonder if that fee is annually, monthly, one-time? There is no information or details about that at all. I think the O’Reilly webmaster needs to read through Getting Real, starting with Easy On, Easy Off. I knew I was going to bail at Step 2, but I continued on just to confirm that they were going to ask me for my credit card info.

It would have been much better to get me into my demo after the very first screen. Then when my limit was reached, for them to email me (once only! don’t spam me) suggesting I sign up for their services. The email could show which pages or books I looked at. Then give me the price of buying those books vs the cost of a Safari membership. I believe an easier demo signup would convert more browsers into buyers. At this point, I’ve given up on Safari, and it will be a hard sell to get me to try it again when it comes up in a search results page.

novemberb755.com Scam Spam (Bingo)

novemberb755.com aka PlayBingoLive.com is still active and scaming people’s email address and passwords. A family member of mine fell for this somehow, and my wife received an invite to play Bingo. My wife asked me if the web site was for real? I checked it and the first thing it does is ask for your email address and password! Be aware that going to www.novemberb755.com doesn’t work, no DNS is set up. Remove the www and you are fine.

A Google search turned up: Don’t give your password to PlayBingoLive.com and I need help with situation at PlayBingoLive.com

Whois Info for novemberb755.com:

Registrant:
   Radiance Enterprises
   Kosta Ourani, 6
   Pera Chorio Nisou, PC 2572
   Cyprus

   Registered through: MyDomainBook.com
   Domain Name: NOVEMBERB755.COM
      Created on: 13-Nov-06
      Expires on: 13-Nov-07
      Last Updated on: 

   Administrative Contact:
      Enterprises, Radiance  support@expertservers.net
      Kosta Ourani, 6
      Pera Chorio Nisou, PC 2572
      Cyprus
      (800) 949-1828

   Technical Contact:
      Enterprises, Radiance  support@expertservers.net
      Kosta Ourani, 6
      Pera Chorio Nisou, PC 2572
      Cyprus
      (800) 949-1828

   Domain servers in listed order:
      NS1.PBL-SUPPORT.NET
      NS2.PBL-SUPPORT.NET

Looking through the novemberb755.com Privacy Policy gave me the link to PlayBingoLive.com. The EULA says the governing law of the web site will be Costa Rica. They also have a prominent link to ReportMySpam.com. That site has no privacy policy, or terms. They just want your email address.

ReportMySpam Whois info:

Domain name: REPORTMYSPAM.COM
 
 Registrant Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Administrative Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Technical Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Status: Locked
 
 Name Servers:
    ns3.expertservers.net
    ns3.expertservers.net
    ns4.expertservers.net
    ns4.expertservers.net
    
 Creation date: 11 Aug 2006 16:10:07
 Expiration date: 11 Aug 2007 00:00:00

I submitted a virgin address to ReportMySpam.com, we’ll see when it gets spam. Looking at the source code of the page that comes up after entering an opt-out request shows some web bugs with the email address and my IP address being recorded at billionsmachine.com. Again, no www web presence, but leave out the www you get a login prompt. The web bugs were at http://services.billionsmachine.com/ws_reportspam.asp and http://services.billionsmachine.com/ws_getresponse_unsub.asp. Billionsmachine.com Whois info:

Domain name: BILLIONSMACHINE.COM
 
 Registrant Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Administrative Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Technical Contact:
    Tech Support
    Technical Support (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    PO Box 7334 - 101844
    San Francisco, CA 94120-7334
    US
 
 Status: Locked
 
 Name Servers:
    ns3.expertservers.net
    ns3.expertservers.net
    ns4.expertservers.net
    ns4.expertservers.net
    
 Creation date: 23 Mar 2006 22:47:50
 Expiration date: 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00

ExpertServers.net (mentioned in both Whois listings above) does not have a web presence. Their Whois:

Domain name: EXPERTSERVERS.NET
 
 Registrant Contact:
    Radiance Enterprises
    NULL NULL (NA)
    NULL
    Fax: 
    Kosta Ourani, 6
    Pera Chorio Nisou, PC 2572
    CY
 
 Administrative Contact:
    Radiance Enterprises Ltd
    Radiance Enterprises (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    Kosta Ourani, 6
    Pera Chorio Nisou, P.C. 2572
    CY
 
 Technical Contact:
    Radiance Enterprises Ltd
    Radiance Enterprises (support@expertservers.net)
    +1.8009491828
    Fax: 
    Kosta Ourani, 6
    Pera Chorio Nisou, P.C. 2572
    CY
 
 Status: Locked
 
 Name Servers:
    ns1.load.com
    ns1.load.com
    ns2.load.com
    ns2.load.com
    
 Creation date: 06 Dec 2005 16:08:32
 Expiration date: 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00

Why DRM Sucks

Read The Top 10 Arguments Against DRM at Learn Out Loud.

Reason #692 to Use Your Own Domain Name

Wil Wheaton is agonizing over using his domain name for his blog vs the TypePad blog he’s been running ever since Moveable Type crashed a couple years ago. So for two years he’s been building the brand of Typepad. I think Wil (I should say Mr. Wheaton since i’be never met him, but I feel like I know him through his writings) should go back to his WilWheaton.net site, and continue his blogging there. What happens if TypePad changes their Terms of Use? What if they go bankrupt? What if they change their pricing structure based on how popular your blog is?

It simply doesn’t make sense to put all your eggs in a basket that you don’t have any control over. The flexibility of using your own domain name is worth a lot in peace of mind. And when you’re a celebrity, a published author, a poker player, etc… you really should take control where you can; since there are so many places that could take advantage of you.

I liked the suggestion that Kuroshii made: “set wilwheaton.net up as your ‘professional/resume’ front page for both acting and writing.” But I’d put the blog up at blog.wilwheaton.net.

Your Name on Toast

Doh! The next million pixels web site? A purple cow? Oddly misshapen burnt toast? Whatever it is, it’s a neat idea. Pay a few bucks, they write your name on a piece of toast, then link to a web site. YourNameOnToast.com Do they eat the toast? Is sharpie ink edible?

Tripwire has moved to Eloqua for their spam/newsletter

In July 2005, I finally added tailorednews.com to my site’s blacklist, because Tripwire.com would not honor my opt-out requests. I guess those bounces go nowhere, because I just got the Tripwire newsletter from en25.com, run by eloqua.com. Blocks have been updated.

Why is there a monthly fee for RAM in a server?

I’ve been looking around for a new dedicated web host for my web sites. Can anyone tell me why adding more hardware (e.g. upgrading the RAM from 1Gb to 2GB) would cost more per month? I don’t mind paying a set up fee, but paying an extra $30/month for a stick of RAM seems weird. What am I missing here?

The New Battlestar Galactica

One of my friends (hey Brad!) asked me a while ago if I had seen the Battlestar Galactica. We don’t have cable TV, so no I haven’t. But I just watched the first two seasons in 43 minutes. I downloaded Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far into iTunes. It’s a 465MB file, but it looks really good. And it mostly makes sense. So the download worked, I just added Battlestar Galactica to my Netflix Queue.