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Testing out Google's spam filter
(old news - 02:04PM Monday Jun 14 2004)
WebPro News and Slashdot put the spotlight on one man's effort to test out Google's new spam filter for their 1 gigabyte Gmail service. Aaron Pratt (prattboy@gmail.com) maintains a website where he tracks his effort to be spammed to death. As of May 25, he was using 30% of the 1000 MB allowed by the service.

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B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28

50% Failure?

First, I'm impressed by how fast »gmail.prattboy.net/ loads, especially considering the publicity.

Second, what's with the 40-50% GMail spam filter accuracy rating?

Perhaps it's because he's purposely stuffing it with spam and little ham, but 50% is just abysmal performance for ANY spam filter...

-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function
Samwoo

join:2002-02-15
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Re: 50% Failure?

wait what does he consider spam?
if i send him 5 emails that contain gibberish i bet gmail won't filter it.
i mean if people are sending him gibberish and random emails i bet that gmail cant filter it...
B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28

Re: 50% Failure?

Bayesian filters would catch that kind of junk at over 99%, as long as they had any ham at all.

But you make a very good point; I don't know what he's getting 'stuffed' with, and didn't really read that carefully.

-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southeast

Stupid

Gmail is another stupid product of the internet. 1gig of email. What a waste of space. 1 email msg is like 2k, from a friend. Hi, bye, write back, is about all. After you read that, you delete it and move on. So whats the point of 1gig?
--
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KeepOnRockin
Music Lover Forever
Premium
join:2002-11-08
Beaverton, OR
·Comcast
·Verizon Online DSL

Re: Stupid

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
Gmail is another stupid product of the internet. 1gig of email. What a waste of space. 1 email msg is like 2k, from a friend. Hi, bye, write back, is about all. After you read that, you delete it and move on. So whats the point of 1gig?

Yeah, 1 email msg is like 2k. However, email messages with attachments can be over 10 megabytes.

I'm sure people will utilize the space they were given in gmail to send attachments back and forth.

xmrocks
I like Sirius Better
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-23
clubs:
·Comcast

Re: Stupid

FYI from GMail's help page (which you won't be able to see if you don't have a GMail account:

said by GMail Help and FAQ's:

What's the maximum message size limit?

Answer:
You can send and receive messages up to 10 megabytes (MB) total. Any message that exceeds this limit will not be delivered to your inbox and will be returned to the sender. If you attempt to send an email that exceeds this limit, you will get an error message and your email will not be sent.

Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
Gmail is another stupid product of the internet. 1gig of email. What a waste of space. 1 email msg is like 2k, from a friend. Hi, bye, write back, is about all. After you read that, you delete it and move on. So whats the point of 1gig?
Some people transfer many large files via e-mail, and like to keep copies of everything. I do this at work so when someone calls up and complains, I can go back 2 months and verify who said what and when about which file.

I have over a gig of stored e-mails on my work PC.
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DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:

Re: Stupid

I dont get it, thier are so MANY better ways to transfer files. Email is the slowest in my book, so why use it?

Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
I dont get it, thier are so MANY better ways to transfer files. Email is the slowest in my book, so why use it?
We offer web and FTP uploads/downloads, and we accept zip disks and CD-R, but for most idiots clients, it's simpler to attach it to an e-mail, so that's what they do. And I end up with many megs in my inbox. Shrug.
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koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA

Because most Internet inhabitants are lazy bastards. Durr hurr hurr, let's send this screen saver I found on some back-water website to all members of the company! Hurr hurr!


Reminds me of an employee at Best Internet shortly before my employment there. Apparently he came across some Win32 application called "BRAINTEST.EXE", and after playing with it, decided it would be intelligent to send it as an attachment to all the members of the company. If I remember correctly, the executable was about 3MBytes.

The end result is that he managed to crash the internal SMTP server intended for employee mail -- the disks filled, and (at the time) sendmail wasn't very nice about handling out-of-disk errors.

After the SAs figured out what the hell was going on and proceeded to empty out the queue, only one employee responded to the Email. All he said was:

"Looks like someone failed the test..."

There's a reason all SMTP servers let administrators configure what the maximum permitted MIME attachment size is, you know. And there's a reason administrators are continually DECREASING that maximum.


Like you, I too think Gmail is worthless. It's going to become spammer central, especially with disk space like that. Think of all the space spammers will have for bouncebacks. That's all spammers use Hotmail for, by the way. It's all automated...

Google's just trying to start a fight with Microsoft over services like Hotmail. I don't deny Google could do a better job (and I've WORKED at Hotmail!), but in lieu of all of Google's recent TOS changes and how anti-privacy they've become, I can safely say I really want nothing to do with Gmail.
--
Making life hard for others since 1977.
vic102482
Premium
join:2002-04-30
Upper Marlboro, MD

Re: Stupid

said by koitsu See Profile:
After the SAs figured out what the hell was going on and proceeded to empty out the queue, only one employee responded to the Email. All he said was:

"Looks like someone failed the test..."

There's a reason all SMTP servers let administrators configure what the maximum permitted MIME attachment size is, you know. And there's a reason administrators are continually DECREASING that maximum.


Liek you said thats the fault of the administration. You are supposed to set those limits for a reason. Also number of recipents etc.etc.
--
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pcdebb
I see you
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Tampa, FL
clubs:

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
I dont get it, thier are so MANY better ways to transfer files. Email is the slowest in my book, so why use it?

the casual user may not know other ways of transferring files (i.e. the n00b friend i have who likes to send huge files via email, this would be perfect for him)

sunburn1

@mcgraw-hill.com

said by DaMaGeINC "I dont get it, thier are so MANY better ways to transfer files. Email is the slowest in my book, so why use it?"

You obviously have NO experience in a corporate environment.

So just what exactly is one of your many better ways to transfer word, ppt, pdf's and such to mailing lists or clients??

LoL or should I just laugh your foolish statement out of here. lolololololololololoolololololololololololoololololololololololololol

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:

Re: Stupid

Im not talking about little pictures and word documents. obviously email would be the best way to transfer small files. Im talking about 5-10Mb files. So please take your negativity somewhere else.

2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:

Rather a repetitive answer, but I've dealt with many clients who simply were not FTP saavy, or else did not have access to FTP (corporate restrictions), or even to the WWW from within a corporate firewall. But I still needed to exchange large (4-8 MB) files with them. Email attachment was pretty much the only way. My Cox email system has a 5 MB limit on attachment size (actually more like 4.5MB) and that even pushed me into getting my own site with pretty much unlimited email size restrictions. But that overcame the 4.5MB limit but at a $$ cost. I'd have loved to have had this service for free back then.

But the point is almost moot for me now, since Cox now requires that ALL outgoing email go thru their server, once again nullifying alternate ability to send anything larger than a 4.5MB file. :(
--
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DrTCP
Yours truly
Premium,ExMod 1999-04
join:1999-11-09
Round Rock, TX

Re: Stupid

said by 2kmaro See Profile:
But the point is almost moot for me now, since Cox now requires that ALL outgoing email go thru their server, once again nullifying alternate ability to send anything larger than a 4.5MB file. :(

Don't you have Webmail with your webhost? You can use webmail to send those large attachments. If you also support IMAP, you can prepare the mail on your PC, put draft on IMAP folder on your webhost and just logon and send from your webhost. Some webhosts are now starting to offer altertate port for mail for those ISPs/corportations that block outgoing port 25. You may want to look into that as well.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:

Re: Stupid

Well, I HAVE YOU ALL BEAT ON SECURITY. NO EMAIL IS THE BEST SECURITY. AMUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
LrdVader
Premium
join:2003-12-18
San Diego, CA

Re: Stupid

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
Well, I HAVE YOU ALL BEAT ON SECURITY. NO EMAIL IS THE BEST SECURITY. AMUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Yeah, well, I have the most hacker-proof firewall in the world! It's called a pair of wire cutters!

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:

Re: Stupid

OZ NOS, WELL. I HAVE L33T 56K MODEM, I AM AWSOME

johnsea
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
Give me your IP addreess and we will find out how secure you are

pcscdma
Chocobo Chocobo Random Battle
Premium
join:2004-01-14
Winterset, IA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

192.168.1.100

Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

said by pcscdma See Profile:
192.168.1.100
OMG... you're posting from my wireless mp3 server! How the heck did you manage that?!


pcscdma
Chocobo Chocobo Random Battle
Premium
join:2004-01-14
Winterset, IA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

You better not post from my XBOX - 192.168.1.101

Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

I'm not posting from it, but I'm running an FTP server on it.

johnsea
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada

Re: Stupid

Thoose are internal IP addresses, lol!

pcscdma
Chocobo Chocobo Random Battle
Premium
join:2004-01-14
Winterset, IA
clubs:
Don't mess with my PGR 2 profile.

quanta
Premium
join:2002-05-07
Toronto, ON

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
Gmail is another stupid product of the internet. 1gig of email. What a waste of space.
It's not the 1gig that is the primary feature of GMail - it's how they've designed the mail threads to appear as "conversations". Essentially, the 1GB is just to augment the ability to use the GMail box as a life recorder - essentially a lifetime storage of all your Internet correspondence.
--
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LrdVader
Premium
join:2003-12-18
San Diego, CA

Re: Stupid

said by quanta See Profile:
Essentially, the 1GB is just to augment the ability to use the GMail box as a life recorder - essentially a lifetime storage of all your Internet correspondence.

Unfortunately, that means Google is recording your life. Not a good thing in my book.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
clubs:

Re: Stupid

I guess this is for some people and not others.

johnsea
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
·Aliant Communicati..

Re: Stupid

Ever think this Aaron guy could be just doing this to collect e-mail addresses to send OUT spam? Im not sending anything to contribute!
--
»annoying.bounceme.net Of course, a creation just to annoy cousins and parents.
LrdVader
Premium
join:2003-12-18
San Diego, CA

Re: Stupid

said by johnsea See Profile:
Ever think this Aaron guy could be just doing this to collect e-mail addresses to send OUT spam? Im not sending anything to contribute!

I think the idea is to get people to spread the address around so it picks up actual spam, rather than sending it junk themselves.

johnsea
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
·Aliant Communicati..

Re: Stupid

Well DOH!!! I know he is trying to get SPAM by spreading it to test Gmail's spam blocker. What I meant was that people like you or I could just send him a mail (many people have) with our personal address and he could collect it and sell it to SPAM companies.
--
»annoying.bounceme.net Of course, a creation just to annoy cousins and parents.

pcscdma
Chocobo Chocobo Random Battle
Premium
join:2004-01-14
Winterset, IA
clubs:

said by LrdVader See Profile:
Unfortunately, that means Google is recording your life. Not a good thing in my book.

As if RoadRunner doesn't already keep a copy of everything that you receive or send for compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act.

--
Be patriotic or I'm reporting you to Ashcroft.
LrdVader
Premium
join:2003-12-18
San Diego, CA

Re: Stupid

said by pcscdma See Profile:

As if RoadRunner doesn't already keep a copy of everything that you receive or send for compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act.


No, I really don't think RoadRunner takes the time to crack the 128 bit encryption I use when communicating with my email service so that they can log it.

pcscdma
Chocobo Chocobo Random Battle
Premium
join:2004-01-14
Winterset, IA
clubs:

Re: Stupid

I use ROT13 encryption to secure my emails. Double-ROT13 is the future though.
LrdVader
Premium
join:2003-12-18
San Diego, CA

Re: Stupid

said by pcscdma See Profile:
I use ROT13 encryption to secure my emails. Double-ROT13 is the future though.

LOL!

New User

@uu.net
some people have more than one friend...

DrTCP
Yours truly
Premium,ExMod 1999-04
join:1999-11-09
Round Rock, TX

said by DaMaGeINC See Profile:
Gmail is another stupid product of the internet. 1gig of email. What a waste of space. 1 email msg is like 2k, from a friend. Hi, bye, write back, is about all. After you read that, you delete it and move on. So whats the point of 1gig?

With the HTML mail, the simplest one or two line mail is now about 4-5KB of storage. Still, the attachments is what takes most of your mailbox.

Oh, some of us want to keep all our correspondence.

X_Digit
Binary Enhanced
Premium
join:2003-06-12
Mansfield, TX

No thanks...

I hope their spam filter is as well-off as they claim, because you know DAMNED well that spammers will take advantage of the 1GB cap!

Could you imagine opening your e-mail box and seeing 30000+ messages of spam (with legitimate messages sprawled out in-between the spam... leaving you to sort them out one by one). No thanks...

Torn
Premium
join:2001-05-11
USA

Archive Yourself Maybe?

I'm sure everyone has a gigabyte to spare on their local harddrive nowadays...

zemus

join:2001-01-13
Brooklyn, NY

1 gig not email

I have 11000 emails. some with huge attachments. ignore the attachments, even with just plain text emails average 50k to 150k. depending on if it is html enabled and also reply history. i don't know about you guys but i reply with included text so I do not have to go hunting for the previous emails. after 10 or 20 replies it gets quite large. in any case I have email dating back to 1999. are they useful? some are some are not. you be amazed when you need to find an old email or serial key. or pwd.

Augustus III
If Only Rome Could See Us Now....

join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA

Re: 1 gig not email

11000 emails? I think that is not your problem. Your issue is having that much email in the first place.

Erase stuff...

Teriwyn
Neko Girl
Premium
join:2002-06-06
Germantown, MD

Re: 1 gig not email

With so much storage space available (not even talking about Gmail, but in general), why should someone have to choose to "erase stuff"? I find that to be a considerably inappropriate suggestion.

I do not want to erase stuff. I have my email archived from as far back as 1999 and have carried my huge archive from computer to computer. I have had legitimate need to go that far back at some points, to dig up some information on an account I may have worked with, or an invoice/purchase confirmation, or to look back and smile upon an old email from a friend.

Why should I 'erase stuff'? That's like telling me to throw away my belongings. I don't understand the basis of your suggestion at all.

AdamB

join:2001-01-07
Westerville, OH
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T Yahoo

Wow

As I read all the comments above, it's amazing how many people are complaining about it. If you have no need for 1 gig of e-mail space, THEN DON'T SIGN UP. If you are going to bitch about a free service, move on. Some people can utilize this, good for them. Some people don't need this type of service so why not just stick with the e-mails your ISP gave you. Jesus Christ people the internet is going to hell.
--
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Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-02-18
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
·Comcast

Re: Wow

said by AdamB See Profile:
As I read all the comments above, it's amazing how many people are complaining about it. If you have no need for 1 gig of e-mail space, THEN DON'T SIGN UP. If you are going to bitch about a free service, move on. Some people can utilize this, good for them. Some people don't need this type of service so why not just stick with the e-mails your ISP gave you. Jesus Christ people the internet is going to hell.

Same here, I (like other rational people) like free stuff. Gmail is free, and has 1 Gig of storage. Let me think, use gmail, don't use gmail... I choose gmail for free storage space.

I'd be willing to bet a lot of people don't like gmail because they don't have it.
--
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Lurch77
I was once Lurch77
Premium
join:2001-11-22
+44.88-87.89

Gmail

Gmail might be worthless to some of you. But I like it. I don't need the space all that much. But when it comes to FREE internet based email, I like the features, and the lack of annoying pop up ads. I like that I can keep a copy of an email for a while, even if it has an attachment, without worrying they are going to shut me down for going over the storage limit. I like that my emails and all replies are kept in categories. I like that I can send and receive 10MB files. All this for free, and in an internet based setting. Yeah, it might not be better then running your own server, or using the one your ISP gave you with software on your own PC, but Gmail beats the hell out of services like Hotmail.

Joony

join:2001-12-08
Skokie, IL

Re: Gmail

can anyone hook me up?

NightLinks
Premium
join:2001-06-04
Bronx, NY
can I get an invite
Chessman2004

join:2004-06-21
Glendale, AZ
Could ya please send one here?

Jonathan Cooper
jonathan@azcoopers.com
darthmalak

join:2004-06-21
Galt, CA
Please send a gmail to jmcinaz@aol.com

Thanks a bunch!!!
MudWhistle

join:2003-08-11
Saint Charles, MO

still waiting

It sounds good to me, but I still have not received a response after I gave them my email address to let them know that I was interested in an account.
Is that the only way to get one? Anyone?

Sholnay
My Name Is In My Profile
Premium
join:2000-12-08
Goleta, CA
clubs:

I for one cannot wait

yea, free is free.

1and1 offered free webhosting, I told everyone I knew. When it ended, why did I all of a sudden get all these requests for the link and the question, oh yea, how can I get that free space?

Gmail will be the same for me, I'll take a free gmail account, I wont have to worry about my measly 6mb yahoo account anymore (which is almost full of personal and business correspondences, not spam)

If I never have to worry about deleting a sales receipt again, i'll be happy.

Look what google did for searching. I never use anything else, google has become an integral part of my web surfing. Its my almanac, my dictionary, my 3billion+ volume encyclopedia.

I cant wait to see what they do for email.
--
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Chodite

join:2003-08-21

I love my Gmail

No spam yet and 1GB of space. The back and forth emails with friends show up as a conversation... like a message board. Awesome java tricks and no need for folders, since you can archive everything.

For anyone interested in an account, I have one invitation available. For anyone interested, drop me a line - chodite@Gmail.com
Forums » Spam Me


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