Challenge/Response spam filters
Posted on March 20, 2004
Filed Under Misc. | Leave a Comment
Chuqui doesn’t like them, and neither do I. I absolutely refuse to employ any spam filter that counts on the person who sent me the email to take a second action to get the email through. Particularly if it means they have to log into a website. Do I really want this site knowing my IP and computer info? It just seems _wrong_ to me, even though I do have Caller ID on my phone line and privacy manager so folks who block caller ID can’t get through without being pre-announced. I suppose it’s the same thing, but it feels different. And like Chuqui, when I get one of those emails I don’t respond. It’s never been for anyone I’ve found important. In fact, most of the time it’s someone who misconfigured the settings on these things so the challenge is sent to a mailing list.
Instead of a challenge/response, I just send all email from anyone that passes the first line of defense (SpamNet on the PC, SpamSieve on the Mac) and is not in my contact list to a “pergatory” folder. This usually ends up collecting all the little newsletters and sales emails that I can scan without any urgency. At least it’s reaching me.
Pair.com
Posted on March 20, 2004
Filed Under Design | 1 Comment
Years ago, my very first momathome.com website was hosted with Pair.com. Their FTP only account (which they still have, at the same price) was only $5.95 month including “vanity” domain.
They were an excellent host, however as time went on I outgrew the basic FTP account (needed more email address, custom CGI, MySQL, etc.) I wasn’t ready to spend a lot per month to get the features I wanted so I moved on to other hosts.
For the last year I’ve been hosting my sites with ICDSoft.com. Feature-packed and fast for only $40 per *year* ($50 for the first site, discounted for additional sites). As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, their tech support is outstanding. Tickets are answered within 10-15 minutes, tops. However, one client wasn’t particularly happy. The site itself was fast, but the POP3 server would act up unexpectedly. Tech support was sympathetic but there was nothing obviously wrong. He also wanted server-side junk mail filtering. ICDSoft has SpamBayes installed, but it’s all or nothing. You set the sensitivity level and email that fails is bounced to sender. Not good for a commercial client. And finally he wanted anonymous FTP which wasn’t an option. We talked about it, and together we agreed that we were better off moving the site and he was more than willing to pay the $20-30 a month it would cost.
Rather than shop around and take my chances on other people’s recommendations, I just went right to Pair. I know they have an impeccable reputation and the “Advanced” account meets all my client’s requirements for just $17.95 a month. The domain transfer went through yesterday and so far so good. This afternoon, I got this email:
bq.. Hello,
This is just a followup message to your recent signup with us. The purpose is to make sure that everything is going as expected with your account.
I see that so far, your site has been uploaded to the web server, and your domain has been switched to our DNS server. Looks like everything is good so far.
If you do have any problems with the account, or any questions please let me know. There is some additional information on the advanced account, and how we can be contacted below.
Thanks,
Matt L.
pair Networks
support@pair.com
p. I know that this is probably an auto-generated email, but it was still nice that someone/something took the time to make sure that there was a site up and the name pointers were correctly set.
I am sure there are many cheaper hosts out there, probably with more features. But when you have to make a quick switch and you want to please a client it’s nice to feel that you’ve made a good, solid decision. The experience made me think about my own site. I’m getting a major redesign itch which I’ve been working through in Fireworks this week. Maybe I’ll have something to upload in the next week or so, and switching servers is always a good way to redesign without worry about messing up a “live” site. I really don’t have another reason at the moment to switch this site, although having access to server error logs, Telnet ability and some other little things would be nice. It’s certainly something to consider.
It’s March 19th! Enough already!
Posted on March 19, 2004
Filed Under Life | 3 Comments
Spring begins this weekend and this is what it looks like outside my window:
Yes, I know it’s Connecticut but I can’t take it anymore. Last Tuesday it was 60 degrees out and beautiful and now this!
The iron wall of Norton
Posted on March 18, 2004
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Wow, thanks Norton AntiVirus.
I’ve been sending my personal email through to the PC so I can keep my calendar & tasks in Outook. Although quite a few of the features that I like in Outlook (3 pane view for example) will be in Entourage 2004.
Anyway, I have Outlook configured to convert all HTML to plain text immediately (I can selectively view HTML when I’m sure what I’m looking at), filter spam both using built-in filters and SpamNet and block access to potentially unsafe attachments that don’t come from people in my address book. My definitions are up-to-date and I even confirmed that Norton is checking for updates on a daily basis and I can see that every incoming and outcoming email is scanned. It’s like asking the person in the “worst” housing projects if they feel safe. They point to the 24 deadbolts on their door, the shotgun in the drawer and the can of mace in their hand and answer, “Sure? Why wouldn’t I feel safe?” 
In 2 months I never had a virus sneak through. Until today.
Somehow, my website email address received an email from someone I don’t know but the attachment wasn’t screened out by Outlook. BOOM! Norton descended! No sirens, but close. A big window popped up on my screen letting me know that a virus was detected, which message had it and the fact that it’s been taken care of. Cool!!
Hey, cut me some slack…after 15 years using Macs exclusively I’ve installed virus protection before, I just never knew what happened when it worked. 
Updated portfolio
Posted on March 18, 2004
Filed Under Design | Leave a Comment
I just updated my portfolio section with recent projects that I thought were worth highlighting.
First, a new website. This one is for Dr. Nancy Tice, a physician specializing in online support. This one, like most of my recent work was built in MovableType so the client could add/edit her own articles. If a site doesn’t use comments & trackbacks and there are less than 100 total entries there is no noticeable slowdown as many MT sites have been dealing with (mine included to some extent).
I’ve created a portfolio page for the Saglo website (which I’ve just relocated to Pair.com, maybe more about that later).
The best projects don’t have to be big. I had the best time doing this little postcard for the Housing Development Fund.
And finally, I designed business cards for CancerActionNow which I think go well with the visual identity I’ve been building for them since launching the website.
