Types of SPAM and how to avoid or cure it

Personally, I have never, ever sent out any type of advertising email of any sort out of respect for others privacy. I figure if they want to find me and my sites, they can do that on search engines and directories or from the byline on the articles I write. But I have been plagued over the years by spam and spammers because of the past advertising I've placed on the web. That's a no brainer for everyone that has a presence on the web. There are quite a few ways to fight it, but oft times it seems like a loosing battle.

Spam method number one and it's cure:

Many of you have used auto submitters to advertise your site. Some of you probably made the mistake of using you main email address to submit it with. Some disreputable submission sites will harvest these emails and compile a list of suckers. Your email then is sold on that list to thousands of spammers. Big mistake.

If you have a website, most likely you have a way to create multiple email accounts. The best thing to do is to create a email address like submit@whateveryourdomainis.com and after a month of submitting your ads, delete that one and make a new one like submit2@whateveryourdomainis.com. Next month, repeat the process. So then you have actually created a problem for the ones spamming you. In order to stop all the bounce backs, they will have to edit their lists. It may not be a major task, but even if you cause the spammer a moments aggravation, you've succeeded.

Spam method number two and it's cure:

Spammers love message boards. Especially the guys who don't speak English. There seems to be a quintessential group of nationalities who just love to fill your message board with virility pills and pornography from Russia, Croatia, and Korea to name a few.

I personally have four message boards used for various reasons. One is for my online architectural drafting classes at http://101info.org/drafting/. I'll check the board daily and wouldn't you know it, a spammer has joined and filled the threads with images that would make some sailors blush.

The cure can come in several forms. The best but most inconvenient for me is to require their registration be approved by me before they can post. This however takes up quite a bit of time on my part. The second best is to keep an eye on your forums and when they register, ban their back sides. They usually are easy to spot because of the user names they use like Amequelet, PraigeZoori, or Detoxon. Banning on my SMF message board usually take a second or two and they have been stopped in their tracks because of IP blocking. After a while most spammer groups will give up on their efforts.

If your message board has a calendar, you might better set the permissions to admin only for posting to it. Spammers love calendars also. On my Christian fellowship board I found over 600 posts with URL and key words that were eating bandwidth like candy.

Spam method number three and it's cure:

Do you have an article directory? I have one called E-Articles R US. Spammers love this method too. But not in the submitting of articles. No, actually what they do is make multiple drafts of a particular article, stuff them with key words and url's, then leave them in draft form where they are actually picked up by search engines. Of my three article directories, my general directory was plagued by this. When I figured out what they were doing, there was over 5,000 drafts in my database. The solution I've found is to disable drafts on your directory.

Tim Davis is the webmaster for many various sites including House Plan Drafting 101 at http://houseplandrafting101.com where I teach students how to draw house plans over the internet.

Right now I'm trying an experiment that I hope will draw spammers away from my sites. It is a message board devoted to spammers and the junk they want to post at http://101info.org/spam/

The Fear Of 2012

A conversation has started on the Old Pathways Message board concerning every bodies fears of the predictions concerning the year 2012. The thread is at http://101info.org/oldpath/index.php?topic=75.0

Don’t Be Deceived, Ask Questions

There is a popular saying; If you don't ask, how are you going to know? You've probably heard it many times. It's a true saying to a major degree in that knowledge has to be sought. We aren't born with it. And if you don't seek knowledge from the right source, you are more apt to be deceived.

I've run a Christian Question and Answer web site since 1995 and have found that those things I've learned over the years do not seem to be common knowledge to the majority of those asking.

Prophecy seems to be one of the number one areas that people have questions about. For instance, did you know that the Bible tells us that in the last days, danger will be everywhere. It then goes on to tell us why. It says this will happen because men will love themselves more than anything else. They will be jealous of what others have and will boast about themselves wanting all the attention on them and no where else. They will also be proud. So proud that when help is needed, they'll believe they can handle everything themselves.

The Bible then says that they will speak terrible things against God. That children will be totally disobedient to parents, and unthankful as if everything is owed to them and will be unholy. Folks will ignore natural affection and they'll do things that are totally against nature. They'll be trucebreakers, false accusers, not happy or content in any situation and unable to control their emotions, fierce, hating those that are trying to do good.

The Bible also states prophesies that in those last days, there won't be many loyalties because they are traitors and have a high mind about everything. Then it caps off the prophecy with everyone loving pleasure more than God and gaining all kinds of knowledge but never realizing the truth.

The greatest pleasure I have is to answer questions concerning the scriptures. My name is Tim Davis, otherwise known as The Parson. If you have a question about the Bible and want a plain, no nonsense and direct answer, go to http://101info.org/oldpath and submit any question you may have. It will be a blessing for both of us.