We’re always on the lookout for spammers creating fake blogs, comments and forum posts.

There are plenty of evil-doers posing as bloggers and putting up fake content and pasting their advertisements on our site.

We’ve just launched a new system that will allow us to target individual spammers, and block them from posting anything on our site.

Once a spammer has violated our terms of service, they are easily pinpointed and blacklisted, never to be seen again.

It’s just another way we are keeping this site as informative and helpful as possible for you and the rest of the community.

We catch most spam, but we can’t catch it all on our own.

Help us make TravelPod a friendly place to blog.

Let us know if you see any spam on your blog, or anywhere else on the site.

ALL About Spyware

There are a lot of PC users that know little about “Spyware”, “Mal-ware”, “hijackers”, “Dialers” & many more. This will help you avoid pop-ups, spammers and all those baddies.

What is spy-ware?
Spy-ware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Ad-ware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don’t have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.

Known spywares
There are thousands out there, new ones are added to the list everyday. But here are a few:
Alexa, Aureate/Radiate, BargainBuddy, ClickTillUWin, Conducent Timesink, Cydoor, Comet Cursor, eZula/KaZaa Toptext, Flashpoint/Flashtrack, Flyswat, Gator, GoHip, Hotbar, ISTbar, Lions Pride Enterprises/Blazing Logic/Trek Blue, Lop (C2Media), Mattel Brodcast, Morpheus, NewDotNet, Realplayer, Songspy, Xupiter, Web3000, WebHancer, Windows Messenger Service.

How to check if a program has spyware?
The is this Little site that keeps a database of programs that are known to install spyware.

Check Here: http://www.spywareguide.com/product_search.php

If you would like to block pop-ups (IE Pop-ups).
There tons of different types out there, but these are the 2 best, i think.

Try: Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/) This program is Free
Try: AdMuncher (http://www.admuncher.com) This program is Shareware

If you want to remove the “spyware” try these.
Try: Lavasoft Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) This program is Free
Info: Ad-aware is a multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them. The included backup-manager lets you reinstall a backup, offers and multi language support.

Try: Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/) This program is Free
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer. Blocks ActiveX downloads, tracking cookies and other threats. Over 10,000 detection files and entries. Provides detailed information about found problems.

Try: BPS Spyware and Adware Remover (http://www.bulletproofsoft.com/spyware-remover.html) This program is Shareware
Info: Adware, spyware, trackware and big brotherware removal utility with multi-language support. It scans your memory, registry and drives for known spyware and lets you remove them. Displays a list and lets you select the items you’d like to remove.

Try: Spy Sweeper v2.2 (http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php) This program is Shareware
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer.
The best scanner out there, and updated all the time.

Try: HijackThis 1.97.7 (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html) This program is Freeware
Info: HijackThis is a tool, that lists all installed browser add-on, buttons, startup items and allows you to inspect them, and optionally remove selected items.

If you would like to prevent “spyware” being install.
Try: SpywareBlaster 2.6.1 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareBlaster doesn`t scan and clean for so-called spyware, but prevents it from being installed in the first place. It achieves this by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage.

Try: SpywareGuard 2.2 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against so-called spyware. It works similar to an anti-virus program, by scanning EXE and CAB files on access and alerting you if known spyware is detected.

Try: XP-AntiSpy (http://www.xp-antispy.org/) This program is Free
Info: XP-AntiSpy is a small utility to quickly disable some built-in update and authentication features in WindowsXP that may rise security or privacy concerns in some people.

Try: SpySites (http://camtech2000.net/Pages/SpySites_Prog…ml#SpySitesFree) This program is Free
Info: SpySites allows you to manage the Internet Explorer Restricted Zone settings and easily add entries from a database of 1500+ sites that are known to use advertising tracking methods or attempt to install third party software.

If you would like more Information about “spyware”.
Check these sites.
http://www.spychecker.com/
http://www.spywareguide.com/
http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm
http://www.theinfomaniac.net/infomaniac/co…rsSpyware.shtml
http://www.thiefware.com/links/
http://simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html

Usefull tools…
Try: Stop Windows Messenger Spam 1.10 (http://www.jester2k.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/j…r2ksoftware.htm) This program is Free
Info: “Stop Windows Messenger Spam” stops this Service from running and halts the spammers ability to send you these messages.

—————————————————————————-
All these softwares will help remove and prevent evil spammers and spywares attacking your PC. I myself recommend getting “spyblaster” “s&d spybot” “spy sweeper” & “admuncher” to protect your PC. A weekly scan is also recommended

Free Virus Scan
Scan for spyware, malware and keyloggers in addition to viruses, worms and trojans. New threats and annoyances are created faster than any individual can keep up with.
http://defender.veloz.com// – 15k

Finding . is a Click Away at 2020Search.com
Having trouble finding what you re looking for on: .? 2020Search will instantly provide you with the result you re looking for by drawing on some of the best search engines the Internet has to offer. Your result is a click away!
http://www.2020search.com// – 43k

Download the BrowserVillage Toolbar.
Customize your Browser! Eliminate Pop-up ads before they start, Quick and easy access to the Web, and much more. Click Here to Install Now!
http://www.browservillage.com/ – 36k

Everyone hates spammers. I hate them not because of the spam but because of the measures they force people implement to prevent spam, which in turn forces me to go through aforementioned measures. Pretty much every blog I try and comment on now makes me go through a Captcha word association game but now that’s even extended to Twitter via TrueTwit. It’s not enough that you could just decide not to accept the request, no, people have to put a TrueTwit response on their account which means:

1. You follow them
2. TrueTwit sends you a direct message
3. You click link to confirm you are real
4. You complete irritating Captcha
5. They then allow you to follow them

Such a pain in the arse as I’m getting TrueTwit come up on about 1 in 6 follows now – which means soon it will be one in 5… 4… 3… then everyone will have it. Soon, there will be a script/ robot/ platform to respond to TrueTwit to prove you are a human (or a spammer). Soon there will be something new. Soon we will have robots talking to scripts, talking to robots to prove we are human. Until then, join me in Beloved Raping… sorry, I mean the joy of robots throwing out random words.

I’m going to talk about anonymity. Online anonymity and what people act like when anonymous.

Before I go on, if you are new to MLM or just researching any other info. Craigslist forums is NOT the the place to do it. Just “google it”.

I visited a forum recently where I was new. Most of the time, most forums have what you might call a “queen bee” which is typically a female or on occasion you might even get the odd guy trying to be the “boss of the board” so to speak. Typically however, it’s women. Maybe we can examine why later. For now, lets talk about their online behaviors.

Anonymity affords many people an opportunity to “show their true colors” and not face the consequences. Maybe to their family, they’re the nice, self respecting mom of who knows how many kids and wife of who knows who. BUT, online under the guise of either fake names or as it appears to be on Craigslist “Gray Handles”, they can be who they “really are”. Nasty and hostile to those of us who might find success when they do not. I found that who they really are happens to be extremely rude, nasty and unprofessional at best.  Of course not all gray handles are created equal. I have met some who actually had a positive contribution. Consequently, those turned out to be men. Now, keep in mind that I “assume” the ones I talk about were female because the rest of their posting history was in “women’s issues”, “romantic this or that” or whatever. One even mentioned her husband. They seemed to be just simply rude to most everyone, especially new people.

Now I wonder, how would they behave online if we actually knew who they really were? Had their names and phone numbers? My guess is they would behave much differently. After all, they wouldn’t call somebody at the grocery store who didn’t behave the way they thought they should, face to face, an idiot would they? Of course not. Keep in mind there are many reasons to be anonymous online however, much of the time, it’s simply because they’re to chicken shit to state their mind in their own identity. Me, I am okay with stating my opinion and speaking my mind. I don’t need to rely on the veil of anonymity. Those who post trashy things and insult people who are simply seeking help, doing research and asking questions, while they themselves hide under the guise of anonymity or some fake name have ZERO credibility and more often than not, lack any kind of control in their own lives.

Let me tell you this, if I give you a bitch out, it will come from me, me directly in my own name and not while I’m hiding behind a wall so you can’t see me. If I give you praise, it will come from me, me directly and not while hiding behind a wall so you can’t see me. If you linked here from Craigslist, you know who the “Gray Handle Brigade” is and know this, they really are powerless people in their own lives and if they truly believed sincerely and openly what they say they wouldn’t need to hide their identity. To the Gray Handle Brigade, F-You! Stop being so insulting, degrading and demeaning to new people who just want to know things, expand their breadth of knowledge and have questions to ask. You clearly are NOT the queen bee in your own life or you would not need to be that way online and hide while you’re at it. Get off your fat asses and be real with us if you want even an ounce of credibility because when you hide behind the walls of anonymity, insulting others and being demeaning to them it tells me you are afraid to speak your mind in your own identity and are a very weak person in real life. Sorry about you and your weakness. To me and those of us like me who do NOT feel the need to hide, good for us! We actually are strong enough to speak our minds and share our thoughts in our own identity because we don’t have to worry about who we are. We aren’t nasty, rude people like those who insult while hiding behind the wall. Like those who throw stones while outside of our view, in fear. You’re a chicken.

This is the third attack on the InBoxRevenge antispam forums within one month. The first DDoS attack which was posted below was on October 28, 2009.

Since about 10:45 Eastern Time on Monday, November 16th, 2009, IBR’s forums are once again offline.

We will give you more details as they become available. It seems that spammers are definitely still very angry with the content posted on IBR.

We will continue to spread information online via various twitter accounts, blogs, and other websites about collecting information which leads to shutting down illegal spammer operations. Attacks such as this one and others do not stop our efforts as we continue to report spamming operations.

As a reminder, check out our other websites online for updates:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/inboxrevenge
Other blogs:

http://garwarner.blogspot.com/

http://inboxrevenge.blogspot.com

http://inboxrevenge.spaces.live.com

Wiki:

http://spamtrackers.org

Please note: that SiL also has his two blogs, which also accept moderated comments:
http://ikillspammers.blogspot.com

http://spamitmustfall.blogspot.com

Salva pessoal! A última postagem da série sobre SPAMs é, na verdade, uma dica extremamente útil…

Por exemplo:
Sabe aquela piadinha fantástica que você recebeu por e-mail e quer repassar a todos da sua lista?

Seguindo estas dicas, você poderá fazer isso sem correr o risco de se tornar um spammer ou ter o seu endereço de e-mail capturado por um!

Elas valem principalmente quando você quer enviar ou reenviar uma mensagem para diversos destinatários… Vamos lá…

• Utilize o CCO (BCC)

Adicione todos os endereços nesta opção. Além de garantir mais privacidade, é muito mais seguro.

* Diferentemente da opção CCO, quando a lista dos destinatários é adicionada à opção PARA (To) ou CC, toda aquela lista é adicionada também ao corpo do e-mail.

• Se você for reenviar algum e-mail…

Conforme dito anteriormente, ao errar na opção de envio, a lista de endereços é adicionada ao corpo do e-mail… Então, apague toda aquela lista antes enviar (como na imagem abaixo). Isso evita que um spammer consiga centenas de endereços numa única vez.

Colabore evitando a proliferação de SPAMs na web! Aplique estas dicas!

Seja consciente!

→ Repasse também esta dica aos seus amigos e garanta uma nevegação segura a você e à eles!

Gostou da postagem? Tem dicas, comentários, críticas? Deixe seu comentário!

Abraço e até a próxima!

You know how you have to fill out these little captcha thingies when you are trying to post something on facebook so they know you are not a spammer? Well, if you don’t, then take my word for it.

So here I am posting something and the words that come up are ‘pervert investi-’ which I am taking is the knickname for pervert investigation.

Uh oh. Did the vagina couch go to far? I mean, what the hell, I have posted about National Penis Day and the true meaning of Steely Dan before. But those were penis related. Could the va-jay-jay cross over the line and force the internet police to investigate a crazy old hag who has the nerve to list herself as a mom and family blogger?

Nah, just a coincidence.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

:  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

“An internet troll, someone who posts deliberately provocative comments on a blog, group or message board with the intention of aggravating the other members and causing disruption”

The topic of “Internet Trolls” has entered my thoughts for the last two weeks since starting a Facebook group in support of a lovely lady who has recently been in the news “Katie Piper”. After only a few short hours of starting the Facebook group I was inundated by offensive comments that overwhelmed the groups wall (for those of you who don’t use Facebook the wall is where comments are left by the group members.) Of course I had the administrative powers to delete the offensive comments and block the members (trolls) from the group, but there were so many comments in such a small space it would of taken me hours to do it by myself. I recruited members to become moderators of the group and help me tackle the trolls and their disgusting comments.

I was always aware of Internet Trolls (aka Flamers, Haters,Spammers & so much more) being a member of a few message boards, forums & groups, although admittedly I often lost interest in most of them. I sometimes laughed at as well as argued with the Trolls who left messages on groups I was a member of . They never really bothered me until I started my own group and I had to deal with them day in and day out.

This afternoon I logged on to my Facebook and immediately realised I had 3 messages in my inbox, to most members of Facebook this is a joyful occasion (Oh wow, I have a message!), I knew straight away before I opened them that it was going to be from concerned members of my Facebook group: “I think Katie Piper is still beautiful!” bringing to my attention that Trolls had been invading my group and leaving offensive comments. My fears were right the first message I opened in my inbox was:

“hey just been reading some of the comments on katie pipers group page, and those guys seriously need to be blocked. i understand your not around all the time to delete posts etc, but if you need a hand then allow me. im so angry right now with their comments and they need to go asap!
anyways sorry for the rant, well done for sorting the group out
hope your ok x “

After reading the message and taking a long (a very long) deep breath I proceeded to my group and was greeted by a tirade of abusive and sarcastic comments from “wannabe comedians”. Unfortunately none of my moderators were online (as we all have lives away from the computer unlike these dreadful Trolls) so I had to go through pages and pages of comments whilst deleting and blocking the offensive messages and it really (yes really) isn’t as easy as it sounds!

Right guys, Sorry I didn’t realise I’d rambled on for so long.. after this morning/afternoon’s surprise attack by the trolls I started to look for information on the internet about them and found this website:

http://www.flayme.com/troll/

It really is worth a read (even just for the LOL’s), provides some relevant information for people who moderate groups as well as explaining what one of those dreadful trolls is.

Keep smiling and have a good weekend!

Existem diversas regras de “etiqueta na internet”, e algumas dela dizem respeito ao envio de e-mails.

Aqui vai uma dica para que evitará que seu e-mail e o de seus contatos tornem-se alvos de spammers: (Leia mais sobre spam aqui!)

Observe as seguintes opções e para que servem esses ítens quando for enviar um e-mail:

• Para [ou To em inglês]: Se houver mais de um destinatário, todos verão a quem o e-mail foi endereçado. Deve ser usado sempre que não houver problema em todos os destinatários saberem para quem você está enviando a mensagem e quando todos forem de confiança.
• CC (Cópia Carbono) [ou Carbon Copy, no inglês]: Utilizado quando é necessário enviar uma cópia do e-mail para outra pessoa. Também neste caso, todos poderão ver a quem o e-mail foi endereçado.
• CCO (Cópia Cabono Oculta) [ou BCC = Blind Carbon Copy, no inglês]: Utilizado para enviar e-mail para um ou mais destinatários, porém, nesta opção, os destinários não poderão ver a quem mais o e-mail foi endereçado. Esta é melhor maneira de enviar e-mails a várias pessoas sem correr o risco de spammers capturarem os endereços de seus contatos.

Pronto! Está aí uma dica simples para manter a sua conta de e-mail e a dos seus contatos longe de problemas!

» Dúvidas, reclamações, sugestões? Deixe seu comentário abaixo!

As of October 31st, 2009, the attackers were DDoSing InBoxRevenge website again. This is where the IBR anti-spam forum is hosted, though the content is definitely offline at this time.

Early morning 11/1/09 it was reported by @themarkgiles Twitter user that IBR was under a flood attack from 750 bot IPs at a rate of 50/second. Source IP countries: TH (Thailand), IN (India), BD (Bangladesh), RU (Russia), BR (Brazil), PH (the Philippines), etc.

The spammers are hitting the IBR website with IPs that are compromised and under control of a botnet. Obviously some spammer is not happy with the reporting we do of  cybercriminal activities.

We will continue to post more information as it comes available.

UPDATE on 11/1/09

Taken from the most recent IBR Blogspot entry:

Good news — DDoS attacks not over

Members may have noticed another recent outage for several hours. It was another confirmed DDoS, via a method called “syn flood.” In the past, these sorts of attacks have gone on for weeks. We just roll with it.

Why is it good news? It lets us know our efforts are worthwhile, because making internet crime less profitable is exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. If we weren’t making criminals want to attack us, we’d have to wonder what we were doing wrong. We never expect to achieve the amazing level of spammer ire that Blue Security suffered in its famous 2006 attack, but then we aren’t planning to try to keep the site on line during the attacks. We just fall back to the alternate methods of spreading information. If our attackers would like to try to simultaneously take down Google, Microsoft, Twitter, WordPress, and all the other sites we’ve established a presence on, they’ll get themselves a lot more law enforcement attention than they’re currently planning on.

Comments are open for this blog, though they have to be approved by a moderator. And if you have a comment that seems to merit its own “thread,” we can repaste it as a blog post that can get its own comments.

Remember that SiL also has his two blogs, which also accept moderated comments:
http://ikillspammers.blogspot.com
http://spamitmustfall.blogspot.com

And we have our other sites for announcements:
http://twitter.com/inboxrevenge
http://inboxrevenge.webs.com
http://inboxrevenge.blogspot.com
http://spamtrackers.org
http://inboxrevenge.spaces.live.com

As always, the best response to retaliation is to continue to do the reporting you were doing before — but to do more of it.  At the time of this post update, the IBR website loads as a 403 error as of 18:00 GMT on 11/1/09.

Inboxrevenge.com, the little forum that creates big headaches for internet criminals, is under another distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. That means hundreds or thousands of zombie computers — computers like yours that have been infected by malware and put under the control of criminals — are all trying to access the site simultaneously. Websites can only handle a certain amount of traffic, so having so many requests going on continuously shuts out legitimate visitors.

Frankly, we were wondering what took them so long. We’ve been through this before. We’ve got lots of backup means for forum admins and mods to communicate with each other and with the other members.  We are prepared to just let the site be off line while these guys spend their money attacking. We’ll just chill and spend the extra time reporting their domains and bots. The difference is they don’t get to read about it.

What the rest of our members can do is take extra time reporting. Report your spam emails to spamcop.net, so more of their IPs are blocklisted and more of their bots are disinfected.  Fire up Complainterator and report domains and their nameservers to registrars. We are not some discrete target that can be shut down with a DDoS. We are our members, all over the world, and we’re in it for the long term.

Check out our other websites online for updates:

http://twitter.com/inboxrevenge
http://inboxrevenge.webs.com
http://inboxrevenge.blogspot.com
http://spamtrackers.org
http://inboxrevenge.spaces.live.com

The night I returned from my month-long break to the keyboard I missed so much to blog again, I noticed I have 19 comments waiting for me. Yup, NINETEEN SPAM COMMENTS by people who have nothing better to do. Surprisingly, these spammers are oh-so polite and charming.

And I thought, Oh I MUST share these! Because it is just. too. rich.

REALLY?  “info” and “substance”??? MY blog?! I have absolutely NO idea what he had been reading. As if reading about a teenage girl’s puberty dilemma is a “definite great read”.

Well I got news for you: you said the exact same thing three hours ago. Feel free to come back a few hours later to say it again. (It’s not like I can stop you anyway)

Which site? MY blog or that cheap Viagra site?

LOL. CSS code FAIL! Feel free to come back and try again later.

Ah. At least you got it right this time.

Would appreciate if you said that earlier in ONE comment post only. But then again, third time’s the charm.

I want to make sure we’re on the same page before I click that link. Are you talking about computer programmes “crack” or crack as in the ones that make you feel like you just died and went to heaven kind of “crack”? Or are we talking about a whole different thing entirely?

Oh that’s really nice of you but it’s okay, really. The last thing I need is more spam and spammers hanging out at my blog. Thanks anyway. PS, I liked your movies. PPS, it’s an honour for me to have an aspiring actress like you here.

Yeah, you really should. I should give you my email address too. It’s: gofuckyourself@yahoo.com. Looking forward to receiving that email from you.

Tch. I can say the same for your name.

I am truly grateful that you are entrusting the secret of “The Dofus Kamas” to me. You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this opportunity to knock on my humble door. I give you my word that I will continue following the sacred path of “The Dofus Kamas” so long as I still have a soul in this sinned body.

Note: For those of you who are wondering, no I do not know what the hell I am talking about. I also do not know what in the holy world is ”dofus kamas”. Sounds like something disgusting and should be flushed down the toilet to me.

Thanks! I can’t wait to check it out…

… my ass!

 Thank you Mr. Jimmy Bean. I must say though, you sound oddly familiar to the guy who goes by the name Mr. Tony Brown. Could it be possible that you have a brother that was separated from you at birth?! How exciting! I wish the both of you to have the best reunion ever! No need to thank me.

 Never heard of it. Is it edible though?

Okay, I am looking at it. What’s next?

Gee, those sound very reasonable! I’m off to steal my dad’s credit card now–!

Miley Cyrus ain’t worth my attention. I rather cut my own wrist and watch it bleed in fascination than see her disgusting naked body.

Oh mighty life savior! You totally saved my life today. I have been searching for hours for the light of “The Dofus Kamas” and I almost gave up and strayed from that holy path. But, thank “The Mighty Dofuser” for bringing you to me and showing me my bright dofus future again.

Note: I still have no idea what I am talking about.

Too bad though, I live on the other side of the world from London. But very titillating offer though!

Conclusion: Spammers are very entertaining people albeit they don’t make sense half MOSTof the time.

~ Anonymously Secret

Oh come on! I know you can relate!

This was an image that I reblogged some time this week. I just made a Tumblr account last week and as much as I hate spammers, I think  I have become one myself.

I have a total of ten different online accounts–Facebook,  Twitter,  Plurk, Blogger,  YouTube,  Friendster, two Multiply (personal and that of LMS) accounts, WordPress (of course!), and the latest addition yet already “overly used” account **drum rolls** Tumblr.

Don’t ask me about my email address because I have four–two in Gmail, and another two in Ymail. For instant messaging, I also do Skype, Chikka, and Yahoo Messenger, of course.

All these basically have the same features–profile customization, security or privacy settings, networking, photo and video uploading, and the search box. Some are simply better than the rest.

1. Facebook

Facebook

Unlike Friendster, Facebook implements a better privacy feature. Also, it is easier to decide whether to confirm or ignore a contact invite because you can readily see if you have any mutual friend/s. In Friendster, it’s necessary to open first the profile of that person trying to add you as contact.

Others may not like this restricting feature of Facebook but actually, it’s what I like most about this SNS. I think the purpose behind this is that what Facebook wants is that people share an online experience with people that they already knew–whether it’s a close friend or a friend of a friend.

The applications such as the quizzes, trivia, quote finders, and games are equally interesting and fun. Currently, aside from trying to maintain a spot in the Topblogs top 20, I’ve also been trying to increase my rank in Cafe World.

For someone who wants everything colorful, I think what’s lacking in Facebook is that you can’t customize your profile. Not that it’s a bad thing for Facebook because with the variety of applications that they offer, having a uniform layout and setup is an advantage for them.

2. Friendster

Friendster

My Friendster account is 5 years old (and I wouldn’t have known this fact if I hadn’t checked my Friendster profile saying I was a member since July 2004.) This was my first SNS account.

I used to like Friendster because it was where everyone was. We just changed residence then and I lost my SIM card so this was the only means for me to be in touch with my elementary friends.  It’s funny thinking about those times when I would ask people to make me a “testi” and in return, I’ll make one for them too. HAHAHA

Now, all I do with Friendster is to check the upcoming birthdays. For this reason, Friendster is most reliable because everyone I know has a Friendster account, be it active or inactive.

Despite the evident change in people’s taste or interest (which I think is the reason behind the shift or transfer of the audience to other SNS), I don’t think Friendster is dying. I know a lot of pre-teens who are still signing onto their Friendster accounts, actively answering surveys in the Bulletin, leaving testimonials of course, and changing their shoutouts and layouts every now and then. However, Friendster is not thriving either because the new and improved Friendster is actually a make-up of bits of ideas from other SNS like Facebook and Twitter.

3. Plurk

Plurk

Of all my SNS accounts, Plurk was something I joined to due to the bandwagon.  The higher your karma points is, the more flexible and interesting Plurk becomes because new features becomes available for your use. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that trying to achieve Plurk Nirvana was that tedious. What makes Plurk unique is that it makes you curious “what’s new?” everytime you advance to a higher level of karma points. As time progresses, “what’s new?” becomes “what now?”. Once a plurker achieved the highest possible karma points, what can Plurk still offer?

Three things I love most about Plurk are: (a) the emoticons, especially the dancing bananas; (b) the verb change feature (is, likes, thinks, wishes, etc.); and (c) the “mark all as read” option because sometimes, you just can’t read all those plurks and comment on each. What I usually do is I choose the interesting ones and mark all the others as read. HAHA

However, when it’s the same thing over and over again, you can’t help but lose interest. The appeal through aesthetics doesn’t really last, at least for someone like me. Unlike Facebook which always has something new to offer, Plurk before and now is as ease.

While trying to search which came first between Plurk and Twitter, I saw this article that explains the origin of “Plurk” as a term.

• People + Lurk = Plurk
• Play + Work: Play-Work.
• Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Karma
• Verb potential: “Oh I googled this -> Oh I plurked it”

Source:http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/plurk_unique_or_just_another_t.php

4. Multiply

LMS Multiply

Multiply (personal)

I had my Multiply account back in Freshman years. So yes, that was the only time I started blogging. Aside from its blog feature, I also like it that I can label my contacts based on my relationship with them because it makes choosing or selecting the readers and viewers of my blogs, photos, and videos easier.

I don’t upload much photos then because unlike Friendster where I can select all the photos at once before I click the Upload button, Multiply requires you to click those pictures one at a time. Now, Multiply (just like Friendster) redesigned their system, but then again, it wasn’t all that unique. Still I must say that Multiply TODAY is better. They now have a chat feature. Also, the current set-up is easier to operate. The Multiply Autouploader really uploads automatically. HAHA. It made photo and video uploading effortless.

5. Blogger

Blogger

Unlike other children who hesitates to tell stories to their parents, I was always like reporting what happened to me from the time I left the house until the time I got home. I was just too talkative. My dad told me to maintain a journal when I was in grade school. He didn’t say the reason but probably because he got tired of listening to me. Anyway,  I think that was the time when I lessened the storytelling habit. I will just leave my diary besides my bed and if they’re curious what happened to my day, they’re free to read it.

Of course, things changed when I grew up and matured. My journal is now locked in a very secret place not even a rodent can find. HAHA. I just made a Blogger account last last month, and my blog posts are already thrice the number of my commblogs I posted. This Blogger account serves as my online diary.

Blogger’s features are light; it is easy to use and it’s very simple. My Blogger account used to be open for public to view but when we talked about online reputation, I realized that not all my posts may be self-redeeming in the eyes of other people; and of course, I wouldn’t want my future employers to see that. HAHA

6. Twitter

Twitter

I was first a Plurker before a Twitterer. The way I describe Twitter before was “parang Plurk lang.” However, judging by the number of plurk counts and tweets I’ve made, I’m enjoying Twitter more.

Despite Plurk’s etymology, I must say that people lurking is more of a Twitter feature. Also, Twitter is proven to be more useful as it is being used as a platform for news updates, advertising, marketing and promotion by other companies and sometimes, people such as celebrities and bloggers.

Re-tweet (RT) and hashtags are  Twitter’s unique features. I’ve observed this during the height of Typhoon Ondoy’s attack. With re-tweet, it’s much easier to spread the news without owning it. For hashtags, all I have to do is to type #Ondoy on the search box above trending topics and all tweets regarding Ondoy fill the screen.

#Ondoy search results

Another thing that I like about Twitter is that same as Facebook, I can update my status using the first-person point-of-view. In Plurk, most of the time, it’s the third person because of the use of some qualifiers.

There are also a lot of Twitter applications that allows me to tweet even when I’m not on the Twitter Web page. I’ve used Tweetdeck before. Now, I’m using Twhirl, which is basically like Tweetdeck, only made more organized and not space consuming. The only difference is that it’s specific to Twitter, unlike Tweetdeck which allows you to update even your Facebook status.

There are only two problems I see on Twitter: (a) you only get to build relationship with those whom you follow and follows you in return. For celebrities whom you follow, or for strangers who follow you, it’s a one-way, linear communication; and (b) it;s hard to maintain or follow the conversation because comments are to be made as separate tweets. Retweeting the ‘tweet’ that you would like to comment on is not really an option since there is a 140-characters limit (just like Plurk), unless of course your comments are basically “HAHA” or “LOL” or “Agree!.”

7. Tumblr

Tumblr

Tumblr is the recent addition to my online accounts. If Plurk has “karma points”, Tumblr has “tumblarity.” If Twitter has “retweet,” Tumblr has “reblog.”

Reblog allows you to easily copy content from other Tumblr users, but of course, credit is given to the original user who uploaded or found the content. Unlike all the other online accounts I have, Tumblr does not allow photo or blog comments so a comment or interpretation of a photoblog may be done through reblogging.

Tumblr basically has the same features as a blog. You can make a blog post, upload photos and videos, and place links. Following Tumblr postings is as easy as following a blog in Blogger. Liking a post is just the same as liking an update in Facebook, only with different icons.

What sets Tumblr apart from the others is that it’s somehow concentrated on the artistic side of people. What’s even nicer is that the more I encounter creative Tumblr posts–whether it’s a picture of a cookie or a Photoshopped image–the more inspired  I strive to become creative myself.

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If you think I haven’t been updating all these accounts, you’re wrong. #7 in my 2009 New Year’s Resolution says that I have to “regularly update all online accounts.” Actually, even if this is not in my resolution,  nothing would have changed. I didn’t even know I had that in my NYR until last week when I sorted out some files in my desktop.

Also, updating each of those online accounts is not very stressful and confusing at all due to some applications that allow you to post status updates in only one account, and it will be automatically posted in some of your other accounts. For this, I’m using Plurk. If I simply want to greet everyone “good morning,” I will just have to post that to my Plurk page and it will be copied to my Facebook and Twitter page. This helps build consistency over ones thoughts online. But of course, Plurk allows its users to toggle this option. I just have to include !TW at the end of my plurk if I don’t want it to appear in my Twitter page; !FB is the code for Facebook.

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Bottom-line:

So what really is the joy of having 10 online accounts (not that I’m encouraging anyone to be online as much as I do)??? Maybe it’s the limitless possibilities for human interaction.

With all those accounts, I get to reestablish relationships in a whole new environment, and the fact that whatever it is that’s happening online continues offline doesn’t make these relationships virtual (i.e. of course if we will not count the relationship I have with the celebrities I follow in Twitter.) at all.

The ability to publish content, whether it’s a must-know information or just ranting, without restriction is actually just a plus factor for me. The other bonus features of course will be the various applications that make the online experience easier and more fun.

]]> http://thousandwordphoto.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/dont-feed-the-spammers/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:29:48 +0000 Thousand Word Photography http://thousandwordphoto.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/dont-feed-the-spammers/ http://ubuntugide.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/spammers-attack-on-youtube/ Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:18:33 +0000 hardik123 http://ubuntugide.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/spammers-attack-on-youtube/ http://romycayabyab.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/the-role-of-internet-service-providers-in-curbing-spams/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:54:17 +0000 Romy C http://romycayabyab.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/the-role-of-internet-service-providers-in-curbing-spams/

Top 10 Worst Spam Service ISPs

Today, I posted an entry, Australia not in Top 10 worst spam origin countries, but home to #6 spammer.

The gist of my blog is that Australia has been able to stay away from the Top 10 list because of its strong spam laws.

But governments can only do so much in fighting spam. The real key to fighting spam is the private sector’s network of internet service providers. Unless ISP networks cooperate, the fight against spam will be a losing battle.

But will networks cooperate?

The daily updates of the independent spam-tracking organisation, the Spamhaus Project, show that the positions and ranking of the world’s worst spam service ISPs keep on changing. Last May 2009, even one of the largest ISPs in the United States was in this Top 10 list, and it was ranked #6 worst spam service ISP.

Here is a part of the Spamhaus Project report :

Although all networks claim to be anti-spam, some network executives factor revenue made from hosting known spam gangs into corporate policy decisions to continue to sell services to spam operations. Others simply decide that closing the holes in their end-user broadband systems that allow spammers access would be too costly to their bottom lines.

The majority of the world’s service providers succeed in keeping spammers off their networks and work to maintain a positive anti-spam reputation, but their work is undermined daily by the few networks who, out of corporate greed or mismanagement, choose to be part of the problem.

If corporate greed, it would of course be foolish to assume that these networks will give away the proverbial “goose that lays the golden egg”. At best, they may stop servicing spam business only when cost structure arising from loss of customer support or from government lock-down pressure will be greater than the profits they derive from servicing spammers.

If mismanagement, networks have to put plugs to holes in their operations including a regular monitoring and reporting of any unusual activities in their network. Even that would mean extra costs which many ISPs will try to avoid as much as they can.

You can read more about this in my blog, A Matter of Sharing.

Hi All !!!

Participo da Rede Social da Revista Exame PME e surgiu uma nova discussão sobre o funcionamento ou não do anti-spam e a perda de mensagens importantes por causa dos falso-positivos. Resolvi postar a pergunta e resposta para compartilhar com todos vocês.

Enjoy!

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