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The War On Spam Winning With Forms
By James Pendleton
©2004 All Rights Reserved
All of us hate Spam mail. Email we receive without Our permission. Unsolicited mail sent to us over and over. Despite request to be removed, which in its self is risky. Knowing it could possibly mean subscription to hundreds, maybe thousands, of these so-called safe lists that are sold as marketing tools.
I would think it is far to say most of us feed up. Others learning the ins and outs of their email Clients. Using the filtering capability. Blocking And using the readily accessible web based email alternatives to dump the crap.
Then there are the warriors. Some right up there with the activists that lobby in our very Government. Down to the lowly overwhelmed surfer.
Netrepreneurs, seeking contact in a serious effort to be seen. A difficult task given the expanse of cyber space. Being inundated with bulk mail after using FFA's and other submission tools. Finally fed up. Seeking recourse and control in the force of the many anti-spam coalitions springing up all over the web.
With some systems having the ability to put a serious hurt on the new spammer to the experienced Bulk mailer! Shutting down many domains and even ISP's. These serious events occurring as I write this article.
As you know my work is always inspired by real events. Something worth writing about. Also this article helps me bring closure to most recent events.Having built my own opt in/out lists as I began *The Reality Ezine* Base 300. A monthly weblication about the realities of Internet marketing. With many core links and articles. Now only available online.
Also a very controversial issue of actually having a spammer make a mistake and dropping well in excess of 5000 address in the old in box! Really funny when I look back on it. His begging to delete it and his apologies. Being a individual seeking opportunity it became The Greed Makes Blunders Discussion list.Having a great run Now ended.
Only and only after it was purged of all bad mail and a total of 5 initial mails of who had their address and why with the option to leave with a click of the mouse. With removal options in each mailing It stabilized at 400. Many utilizing it as a free safe way to advertise for free.
My evolution as a Master of the Web and Netrepreneurs has brought me true presence and the ability to integrate my self with it. Starting as a researcher with a mission to help others. Now knowing the eminence size of the web. Also knowing what makes it tick being a goal realized. Now all lists combined and used only for sending info when I update my site with new content. If you would like up dates. Go to: http://jgp-distribution.com/feedback.htm
One must admit. Power corrupts being one suffering the ramifications of being accused of spam. I must admit. My role as a Human Guide at freebonanza motivated me to find a better way to find the much needed content of free web resources for my category of tools. An important part of the site. A major player on the Internet.
Having a robot spider to comb the web. A tool that builds a data base of 10's of thousands of URLs and email addresses bares a huge responsibility that I learned the hard way!
Being overly excited about my breakthrough in PHP and Mysql! Though small in web standards. It gave me the full functionality and interactivity I have always wanted for my friends and visitors.http://jgp-distribution.com now evolving to it self. As it grows again a new. This time however from interaction with others like me. Honest boyhood excitement of a young Webmaster. Don't ask me my age. :)
Thus my unsolicited mailing. A invitation to visit. No more no less. The result was not what I expected! Believe it or not I am still here! With the powers that be knowing a honest mistake. Was it worth it? I would say no. Was it fair I got slapped as being a spammer. No way!! Not with all the crap being sent and forced upon net citizens. O well who said life was fair. I took it all in stride.Knowing my intent was honorable. However using emails as a means to communicate is a must. Worth big bucks as advertising revenue also. Being a big time email publisher and advertising is not one of my goals. Publishing a Ezine has gotten old. Also helping others to advertise for free not worth the effort because of it not being appreciated. Just being used.
My reputation unhurt but my pride badly bruised. Being one very tolerant of all the x rated spam and sales pitches of all manner and form. Never ending excepted and managed as just being part of the web. Spam a fact of web life.
Now no longer tolerant. Seeking ways to stop the bombardment of my many email boxes. Already having a major effect. Take that!!! I wrestle with my motive. However I have paid my dues on the net these past few years. One person ate at time. Not bulk mail millions.
Now casually rebelling knowing full well of my transgression. With this article also being a means to add formal apologies to the web community. Now those sending me all that crap must suffer the consequences. Well I have vented enough!
Part of my battle is waged in areas unknown to many on the web. The world of the spider robot. I do not want to estimate how many are out there crawling the web. Some in the hands of super Webmaster. Many highly complex algorithms belonging to the major data bases. Also those small crawlers belonging to little directories and individuals.
Lets not forget the real spammers. They have them too! Out there searching for the @ character. Using keywords of Webmaster, support, common names and many others. Is yours out there exposed to that spider. Ever wonder how you get on that list for real? O sure you say. I use a cgi script or send mail. Well they need that address in the html to perform the action. So the spider still gets it!
Here is a way to hit back. Cut down on the harvesting and abuse of your exposed email! How do you protect your address and still use a form that does not have a email address on it in the html? Well a form handler of course!
A form handler calls a include script instead of using a email address. Your email address is safely tucked away in the script behind secure file permissions! Take that you crawler. Power you spider. What will you see? From method action post file!
So how is it done? One way is with PHP. Being free to the public and powerful. Does your site support PHP? If so then you are good to go. The power of this form handler written by Richard Heyes this year has the ability to process forms from your other domains also. Other parts written by contributors makes it easy to customize. Set up a snap with my custom form included. My only request. leave my signature if you use the form. Edit it as you wish. You may download this form possessor in zip format at: http://jgp-distribution.com/downloads/FormProcess.zip
Create a folder of any name you choose. Unzip to the folder. Read the documentation file and install the script. Need help? Just ask me by using the feedback form http://jgp-distribution.com/feedback.htm
JAMES PENDLETON
Thanks you for reading his article.
Be sure to visit
http://jgp-distribution.com/index.php
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