The Vent and Rant Thread

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Outlook does a pretty good job of catching these things. That one was in my spam folder, but I always make it a habit never to click on links in email.

If you are running a 32 bit version of Office and Outlook, I recommend Spambayes. It's an open source Bayesian spam filter, written in Python, and installs as an Outlook plugin.

You train it by creating Ham and Spam folders, and putting about 50 each of known good mail into Ham and known spam into Spam. Spambayes analyzes the samples and creates a database of spam characteristics, then classifies incoming mail against them. I ran it when I used Outlook and found it highly useful. I never saw it make a mistake about stuff it was sure was spam, and saw only a handful of false positives on stuff it thought might be spam but wasn't certain.

As spam arrives that it doesn't catch, you mark it as spam and it's added to the database, so it gets more effective over time.

SpamBayes is a 32 bit plugin, and will not work as a plugin in 64 bit Outlook. In that case, you must install SpamBayes as a proxy server between your Internet feed and Outlook, and let it classify the mail before Outlook sees it.

Also, if you run Win Vista/7/8, you need to install SpamBayes in a non-default location. Win V/7/8 changed the permissions model, and if SpamBayes is installed into Program Files, it won't be allowed to run. Put it in something like C:\SpamBayes instead.

See http://spambayes.sourceforge.net.
______
Dennis

[CRussel]

99% of spam never gets to me. I use ExchangeDefender in front of my mail server, and it catches a LOT of crud. Which is a good thing, since my email address hasn't changed in 23 years and has been published in quite a few books. (Yes, I've owned my own domain for 23 years. And run my own email server. )

I agree, for a portable, well filtered and spam free email account, Gmail is as good as it gets. I connect to several gmail accounts from my Outlook client. But the web interface will never be my first choice.

[cromag]

On the "plus" side, the card was canceled within an hour of his getting had, and there were no new charges. It will still be inconvenient.

There were MAJOR red flags in this email, but Dad comes from a generation that tends to be more trusting of the written word, and more active about responding to reports of problems.

In this case, the biggest red flag was the transaction itself -- it was masquerading as a receipt from Itunes for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ... for $165. (Right there I would have started laughing.) But it went on to give directions on how to dispute the transaction ... which he did.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by CRussel

(Yes, I've owned my own domain for 23 years. And run my own email server. )

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by cromag

On the "plus" side, the card was canceled within an hour of his getting had, and there were no new charges. It will still be inconvenient.

There were MAJOR red flags in this email, but Dad comes from a generation that tends to be more trusting of the written word, and more active about responding to reports of problems.

In this case, the biggest red flag was the transaction itself -- it was masquerading as a receipt from Itunes for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ... for $165. (Right there I would have started laughing.) But it went on to give directions on how to dispute the transaction ... which he did.

I can understand his reaction. Flight or fight.

My younger sister who is 60 and internet paranoid, keeps getting sucked in by phone scams. No permanent financial damage, but only because she calls me and tells me about it and I convince her to call her bank.

Best thing to do is call or contact the credit card company by a way that you are sure you know who you are dealing with.

Helen

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I agree, for a portable, well filtered and spam free email account, Gmail is as good as it gets. I connect to several gmail accounts from my Outlook client. But the web interface will never be my first choice.

Like I said, I have no need for local copies of the mail I get.

For me, aside from spam blocking, the power of Gmail is labels and filters. At one point years ago I switched to Outlook at home from Outlook Express because I needed more sophisticated Inbox rules than OE provided, and Outlook could do what I wanted. Gmail provides equivalent power.

My Gmail mailstore is a database, and labels are arbitrary index keys into that database. I have a plethora of filters that apply labels to incoming mail, and most of it never appears in my Inbox. It gets labeled and archived. To read it, I click the label on the left side of the browser display, and I see a list of mail with that label I can choose to read. It acts like an email folder.

The advantage is that more than one label can be applied to a message, and the same message can be in more than one "folder". There's only one copy of the message, but more than one way to access it.

I use Firefox as my browser, and there are an assortment of UserScripts and UserStyles I can use to tweak the Gmail interface, and I do so.

It's no longer supported, but under Windows I still run the last version of the Google Desktop product, that indexes the contents of my file system. Google Desktop can also index Gmail, and I have it do so. My Gmail mailstore is an important source of information, and being able to search my local files, Gmail, and the Internet from one interface is a boon.

(And the majority of the mail I get is from one list or another. Gmail's "Conversation View" is just made for that traffic.)
______
Dennis

[CRussel]

Yah, know, it seems like they always put the STUPID ones in Accounts Payable. Sweet, smiley, but STUPID!

So, I submitted chapters 3 weeks ago, meeting a milestone that is supposed to pay me, so I can actually pay the [expletive] mortgage. The official turnaround time for payments once authorized by the customer (Giant Software and Now Hardware Company Started By Really Rich Guy Who Now Does Good Works). Said customer, in the form of my project editor, immediately authorized said payment, 3 weeks ago plus 30 seconds. Payment is supposed to be a wire transfer. Which takes, AT MOST, 2 days. But have we received the payment? No, of course not. So, when project editor is queried today, she immediately queries the IDIOTS who are supposed to do the actual payments (O'Reilly who are now, thank goodness, no longer part of the equation for all future ones.) And the reply back?

I apologize for the delay on this! Unfortunately, this always seems to be the case with these wire payments.

Our controller just submitted the wires this afternoon so CRussel should see the funds in the next day or two

This moron gets HER paycheque every [expletive][expletive] week, but can't seem to care that any one ELSE gets paid. Completely casual about it.

[CRussel]

Whew. Well, that actually DID help.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[cromag]

Maybe they just need faster wires?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

So, I submitted chapters 3 weeks ago

Said customer, in the form of my project editor, immediately authorized said payment, 3 weeks ago plus 30 seconds.

There's the problem.. The payment was rejected as the work had not been submitted when the payment was authorized.

[Rumpelteazer]

Wondering why some people think they can motivate me to open the store early by calling me names through the letterbox.

[kindlekitten]

well, I've been bank hacked. nothing online, just capturing the digits at the point of sale. first raised eyebrow was a sale of over $400 at a truck stop in Ohio, then a similar one in Iowa. the thousand in checking is gone, the 10k in savings is gone. in theory it will all come back, but when? I have to leave this account open until the investigation is complete, then will leave a small amount in as it is a local bank and finally switch everything over to USAA which I've been trying to do for years. the amount of payments that you don't always think about like the "good to go" toll pass, norton, things like that are staggering, even op top of normal ones like mortgage and utilities. I have $200 cash and my USAA low balance credit card. it couldn't happen at a worse time, I need dog and cat food, that's over 100, horse feed, gas, realtor fees, and oh yeah. people food. when will we chip our cards like is done in Europe to stop this crap?

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

well, I've been bank hacked. nothing online, just capturing the digits at the point of sale. first raised eyebrow was a sale of over $400 at a truck stop in Ohio, then a similar one in Iowa. the thousand in checking is gone, the 10k in savings is gone. in theory it will all come back, but when? I have to leave this account open until the investigation is complete, then will leave a small amount in as it is a local bank and finally switch everything over to USAA which I've been trying to do for years. the amount of payments that you don't always think about like the "good to go" toll pass, norton, things like that are staggering, even op top of normal ones like mortgage and utilities. I have $200 cash and my USAA low balance credit card. it couldn't happen at a worse time, I need dog and cat food, that's over 100, horse feed, gas, realtor fees, and oh yeah. people food. when will we chip our cards like is done in Europe to stop this crap?

I'm so sorry to hear that, kk. I think identity thieves are some of the lowest scum on the planet. They take so much more than just money. They take your credit, your good name, your peace of mind. This really sucks.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

... Story ...

when will we chip our cards like is done in Europe to stop this crap?

I'm sorry to hear that. I can just say: "I hope it never happens to me."

I refuse to use my credit card anywhere. I don't think it's a good idea you can pay for stuff by only punching in some names and dates. There have to be a few conditions for me to use my credit card:

- There is no other seller (that I can realistically use) that has what I want.
- There is no other method of paying.
- The seller must be well regarded.

If I'm not sure about one of those three points, especially the last one, I rather forego the entire transaction than to use my credit card. While PayPal might not be perfect (I've read about problems with them, in the past, although I never had one), I run all my non-Netherlands transactions through them as much as possible, to avoid leaving my credit card data all over the globe. The only exceptions are Amazon, and two other stores I know that are very well regarded throughout the world, and within several communities/online forums. (The owners are actually IN the communities and on the forums, and started the stores because of that. Bad reviews = dead store, probably.)

Originally Posted by PeterT

There's the problem.. The payment was rejected as the work had not been submitted when the payment was authorized.

LOL. It's actually funny, and you beat me on posting that remark

[CRussel]

KK, that's AWFUL. I've been there, and it's not at all fun, though they didn't get me for nearly as much. Thank goodness. (Oh, and we're all chipped here in Canada now.)

PeterT: Kudos and karma to you. Well done.