Preserved Topic: i have a new email address - now what do i do with it? (Page 1 of 1)

so, i've gone and gotten myself a great new email address - and this one, i hope to keep long term.
now, i want lots of people to know this address - family, friends, potential clients even, and asylumnites who want to contact me.

what i don't want is this email address falling victim to hordes of spam and junk emails, which brings me to my question:

where and when is it safe for me to broadcast my email address? if i post it here, in text, will some scary internet spider come and take it and add it to some spam broadcaster?

any advice, links or personal horror stories welcome.

areitsma@it.uts.edu.au.
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~We're not here for long, we're here for fun~

Very nearly at the end of the MS article http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum1/HTML/006760.html#bottom

"Michael Jennings
Futurepower ®
P.O. Box 14491
Portland, OR 97293-0491
U.S.A.

E-Mail: ms-article AT myrealbox DOT com

(Take out the spaces, change AT to @, and change DOT to a period to e-mail the author. The coded e-mail address helps discourage misuse of the address by computer robots that harvest email addresses for sale to those who send unwanted e-mail.)"

=)

Do not put it on the internet in any way, shape, or form. The only safe way I know of putting an email on a web page is through JavaScript - this is what I'm doing on my web site, and while I know it makes it unreadable to some users, the sacrifice is worth it, IMO. It's only recieved about five spam emails in over a year.

Whenever you give it to a friend, make it very clear to them that they are not to enter it into a form on a web page. Don't let your friends start sending you e-cards or whatnot via the internet, because you won't know who's getting your email.

I think, if you follow those two rules, you'll be pretty safe.

Well, couple of things could help.

As I control the domain(s) related to my email address(es), I'm able to afford greater control over what I get in my mailsludge each day.

For example, when I fill out a form somewhere (say, PORNPORNPORN.COM), then when I give them my email address, I set it as PORNPORNPORN.COM@absoluteminutiae.org. That way, when I start getting lots and lots of spam, I simply block *that* address. I'm also able to find out to whom they are selling my address, which then goes in my book of "AVOID THIS CRAP."

Additionally, I tend to fill out my address in places like blogs as "sATabsoluteminutiae.org" That way, the spiders will completely miss it - because they are stupid, stupid robots...and they'll eventually take over the planet, but not for a couple more years--I feel relatively safe right now.

Also, use a mail client (web-based, preferably) that has an updated list of spammers, and continually updates with new lists. SquirrelMail, for example (php/mysql treatment) has a good following, and lots of users that keep the lists running with peak performance.

Of course, this may not be something that you'll be able to accomplish with your new address...but an ounce of prevention adds up a great deal in the future. Just a few ideas for you.

Oh, and I did a bit of digging, and came across this: http://www.mailfrontier.com/ -- I've not read anything on it, but it looks pretty. Maybe you should do the research for me. Thanks. I'll expect the report on my desk tomorrow morning.




[This message has been edited by twItch^ (edited 02-26-2003).]