Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

Hotmail Fights Spam (and So Do I)

Dan Knight - 1999.11.11 - Tip Jar

Although c|net finds it controversial, I'd like to welcome Microsoft's Hotmail service to the ranks of those using MAPS RBL.

As an email administrator, Mail Abuse Prevention System's (MAPS) Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) is one of my favorite anti-spam tools. It only lists servers known to relay spam after the email administrator has been contacted and doesn't shut down the open relay.

There are several other anti-spam tools. One (ORBS) will blacklist any open relay, whether it's ever been used to relay spam or not. Another blacklists specific dialup addresses known as spam sources.

My current mail server only allows me to use one of these tools. Like Microsoft, I chose MAPS RBL because it doesn't presume a server is guilty by association, as ORBS does. Until they have proof of relayed spam, RBL won't list a site.

Controversial?

As someone whose been dealing with spam since we first set up a company mail server with a connection to the internet, I'm disappointed c|net labels MAPS RBL controversial. Any email administrator not using some anti-spam tools should be flogged - and MAPS RBL seems to find the right balance between blocking too many servers and not blocking enough.

It has certainly reduced the amount of spam I receive via the two servers I run.

Granted, MAPS RBL does block some legitimate email. Any anti-spam mechanism takes that risk, but at least it only blocks servers tried and found guilty of relaying spam. When I explain this, most users are understanding. Most email administrators will do all they can to stay off the ORBS and RBL lists. It's only those servers that persist in maintaining open relays for any and all email that are blocked by MAPS RBL.

It's an area I and other email administrators have discussed heavily on the SIMS (Stalker Internet Mail Server, a freeware Mac-based internet compatible email server) email list - how do the various blocking lists work, and which best fit our paradigm who should be blocked. In fact, SIMS is being upgraded to allow use of more than one anti-spam service, a move everyone on the list applauds.

Until the government makes spam illegal and spammers comply with anti-spam laws, email administrators will continue using blocking lists, controversial or not. LEM

Further Reading

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.