Return to Home Page
For those suffering chronic vsnet spammage, try www.mailwasher.net for winblows platforms. It's freeware and has the rather pleasant feature of bouncing back selected email addresses to the guilty party. You can use a wildcard select for the email address, eg *tkato*, for instance, and a single click allows it to very quickly check your pop account (email account) for the headers only of the emails, far faster than downloading them, and if you have the wildcard set in the blacklist to say *kusastro* the spam emails are _all_ automatically bounced back to the sender, and then deleted at your ISP so you don't have to download the full emails. Check the options carefully first, but they're straightforward enough. I've been using it since Sunday, and although it still doesn't make up for the massive amounts incoming, if enough victims started using it I think it would be fair play. We don't want them, why not send them back? Return to sender, address unknown, etc. There's even a "friends" option so you can ensure that your friends emails get through, even if they are a vsnet subscriber, ie so they don't get blacklisted by association. It's all readily settable and easy to safely filter. Then simply download the remainder, ie _your_ email, to your email client proggie in the usual way. Very nice on a morning, tens of emails bouncing back and being removed without download, and your wanted half dozen being the only things to grace your inbox. Anyway, I can't keep hassling poor Gary for forwardings like this (no, I'm not on any vsnet lists, I just get spammed by them, so I can't post in, as a test posting just confirmed, NOR DO I WANT TO BE SUBSCRIBED TO ANY, this is _NOT_ a request for _any_ subscription!), so I'll finish off with an apology. To all those people I have suggested to that joining vsnet-chat would be helpful for them when looking for advice, and to all those I have suggested to that they use vsnet-newvar to send their newly found stars to, I am very sorry if in listening to my suggestions you end up being unable to unsubscribe from these lists and/or end up, like so many, being forcibly included on mushrooming new and obscure ones. Sorry folks. For new variables I can suggest an alternative. The IBVS appears to have been taking positive steps towards the problem of dealing with new stars found, something they once couldn't quite cope with, and have provided a nice little venue, see: http://ftp.konkoly.hu/pub/ibvs/newdis.txt although you're going to have to be able to suggest a type and reveal a period, it seems suitable for a lot of folk. I don't think they'll arbitrarily start spamming you either, they're not really known for that. See http://vsnet.konkoly.hu/cgi-bin/IBVS?5500 for the submittals so far. Anyway, cheers, and hope some folk get some spam relief from this. When I finally manage to get hold of an appropriate bod with authority at Kyoto U I'll find a way of getting the contact email available without hassling poor Gary. John Greaves PS, stop spamming me with vsnet lists...
Return to the Daisaku Nogami
vsnet-adm@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp
