We have taken several new steps to protect ourselves and this list from
spam.
For some time we have blocked posts from people not listed as list
members. If your postings haven't made it to the list in the past, this
is probably the reason. You need to make sure your posting address and
subscription address match, before your messages will be able to get
through. If not, your message gets discarded, without any error message
getting sent back to you.
We now also block all email from addresses on any of six real time lists
of known spam addresses:
RBL - static IP spam addresses - http://maps.vix.com/rbl/
ORBS - static IP open relays - http://www.orbs.org/
DUL - dialup IP address blocks - http://maps.vix.com/dul/
DSSL - dialup IP host names - http://www.imrss.org/dssl/
shub-inter.net - open relays - http://www.shub-inter.net/
shub-inter.net - spam IP addresses - http://www.shub-inter.net/
You should receive an error message if you accidentally run into any of
these blocks.
Additionally, we now block postings with an invalid "From" domain, and
messages to the list without any "From:" line, which used to bypass our
anti-spam measures.
The goal is to significantly cut down on the volume of spam we receive,
while minimaly impacting the operation of the list. These are new
measures with the possibility of unintended side-effects.
The thought of intentionally blocking email generates a fair amount of
trepidation on my part. I don't want to accidentally and unknowingly
end up blocking legitimate messages. So, if you used to be able to post
to the list, but now find yourself unable to do so as a result of these
measures, I *want* to know. *Please tell me*. Either send me a message
to me from a non-blocked host, relay a message to me via someone else on
the list, or phone me at +1 (415) 566 7479.
thanks,
gordoni (list admin)
PS: In other administrative news: we have upgraded to the latest version
of majordomo (this allows us to send a verification message before
subscribing someone (we were having problems with bogus subscription
requests)), we have upgraded to the latest version of sendmail (for
improved spam blocking), we have moved our server from a friend's house
in Mountain View to my new place in San Francisco, and we switched to a
higher speed Internet connection around a month ago.
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Unsubscribe & list info -- http://www.scruz.net/~luke/signup.htm
