Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:46:14 -0400
From: Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: HTML messages and why they are bad [was: Re: [WSFA] Re: Quoting]
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Mike B. wrote:
> ...  At the very least, the SPAMmer knows that his message got
> through to someone at your IP number and can use that to justify selling
> more SPAM services in future, and to direct more SPAN your way.

Actually, more than that.  Most of the "Web bugs" that I've seen appear
to have some kind of code embedded in them.  I suspect it's your e-mail
address -- if the spammer gets a hit on the image, he knows that the
e-mail address is "real".  Fortunately, Thunderbird lets you turn off
remote images in e-mail, and I suspect other mail clients do too.

Also, a nit.  SPAM is a tasty meat byproduct consisting of water, salt,
cholesterol, and saturated fat.  Spam is Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.
    (The nice folks at Hormel would really like us to talk about UCE
instead of spam, but it ain't gonna happen.)

See <http://www.spam.com> for more than you want to know about the meat
version.  (Warning -- it comes with background music.)  (Don't miss the
glow- in- the- dark SPAM boxer shorts,
<http://www.spamgift.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=982>)

--
Steve Smith                                    sgs at aginc dot net
Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."