Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2019 21:11:22 -0700 From: Frank Fenderbender <frankfenderbender@council124.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: how to filter advertisers from joining the list Message-ID: <E2153FD1-AF25-4F29-9647-C517E3EDAD4D@council124.org> In-Reply-To: <CACNAnaH%2BmAUkQSRAeqxMo1BM%2BGqeAcvhJKz=u%2BS6b9uxgpKg-g@mail.gmail.com> References: <CAGBmCT7sQN0Jgxq8px-q-0YkWkVpA9emW0UPCKE_t2eptq0QQg@mail.gmail.com> <D946A379-D7DA-431B-A2BD-84CB629CC770@council124.org> <CACNAnaH%2BmAUkQSRAeqxMo1BM%2BGqeAcvhJKz=u%2BS6b9uxgpKg-g@mail.gmail.com>
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Sorry that I posted under another current questioner's subject-line. I clicked the reply so I didn't have to type anything else in to get the = To: <address> filled in, and then forgot to change the question to my = own, before asking my own inside the question. email's body. I should've slowed down after having to delete 3 of my 10 = incoming list emails as overt spam. Since BSD is based in security and a history of being older than most = all surviving OSs, I My question is whether we can imagine reducing overt email from the list = that send "questions" about dating, or about buying a service/product... = as a captive audience. It seems ironic that a list membership about a secure OS exhibits = insecurity in who can access our mailboxes and detour our = attention-spans with misrepresentation of purpose. So, I thought that others so-captured might want to seek some proactive = revenge if we can decipher the problem, the tasks, and access. If it's an "open" list then it's up to use to fend off invaders, right? = It's not in anyone's "job description" unless it's in all of our = membership implications? If we don't do it, who will. eh? We do lots of this stuff by ourselves = all the time, so a list mechanism may just need some known detail = brought up so that volunteers will be able to research, prototype with a = test-list, validate, and suggest workarounds or fixes.=20 Examples of everyday improvements we all have made, or could make: Problem: In this day-and-age, 80% of all US phone calls = are robocalls, esp. between 7-9am and 6-8pm.. Workaround: we've used the wildcard features of CPR CallBlocker = and Ooma to pre-delete junk calls and callers. Problem: We send about 30% of what Amazon sells back as = misrepresented, faulty, or incorrect. Workaround: we avoid Jeff Bezos whenever possible. Problem: We screened fake-people from a Yahoo Group = mail-list I used to have; it was tough, because you had to screen for = real people. Workaround: We did not admit to membership anyone who did not = issue a self-statement , semi-divulging that they were not going to lob = ads at us. Problem: quantities of fake-people assault forums. Workaround: on our SMF forum, we use email verification, BOT = lists, and essentially block all eAddresses with alphanumeric = name-fields since that indicates a spammer more often than a lazy = person. =09 Problem: Sado-parasites, thieves, and psycho-terrorists = assault WAN-connected systems on auto-pilot so they can destroy = somewhere else concurrently. Workaround: We added TXT/SPF files to reduce having our spoofed = email addresses get us blocked from relaying mail-servers. We added anti-malware programs to reduce = battles with viruses, spyware, etc. Problem: Approx. 20% of all our USPS-handled packages are = delayed, damaged, or lost. Workaround: We use non-USPS deliverers whenever it's an option, = as a workaround to them ever improving anything but 'images' of quality. So, rather than "getting used to" or tolerating the intolerable creep of = 'quantity over quality', small efforts can often reap great rewards. I enjoy, and thus, prefer reading real questions and answers because a = topic relates to me or just because it sounds interesting. There's so much interesting use and knowledge in listees' worlds that I = resent being demographically-manipulated, like having to answer spam = calls to find out I'm colluding in wasting my time by NOT proactively = blocking them. So, maybe we can get some info about the system running the list so we = can try to make some improvements in proactively blocking spammers at = the membership level? If it is near-"impossible" then we find out from one or more answers why = that is, and, if it is not impossible, then we find out what it may take = and approach it like any other software project that "raising the bar" = for higher quality implies? here's to saving the Delete-button finger for more interesting pursuits, frank=
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