[Elecraft] Simple-minded SPAM filters vs. list participation

[Don Wilhelm]

Craig,

Sorry, but I beg to differ with you.  If someone asks me for my help, I do
not expect to fill out any forms to provide that assistance - and I will
not.

There are many very good and effective spam filters out there - I use
Spambayes, and after a very short period of training, I have no false
positives and all but a very few unsolicited emails are properly classified
as Junk.

To block all that are not whitelisted is more cumbersome than using a good
spam filter, and reviewing the 'authentication' list takes much more time
than training a good filter.  The authentication process takes time on both
ends.

Note that I have replied to the list only because I expect I would be
'authorize requested' if I replied in a personal note - and I will NOT fill
out the 'form'.

Yes, each of us is the president of our personal 'company', and since we do
not have a staff to do this task for us, it does take a lot of undue time.
I may be retired, but I am certainly not idle!!!  My time IS valuable.  I do
offer my time to help fellow hams, but for those who want to block me, I
will not go to extra measures to provide that assistance.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----
>
> > Please...if you are requesting help, don't insult me by
> > expecting me to jump through these idiotic processes
> > that say, in effect, that your time is more valuable
> > than mine.
>
> I'm normally one who doesn't put up with a lot of crap. I just got a call
> from a company asking me to make sure I've submitted my proxy for the
> upcoming shareholders meeting. Did you send me the proxy
> announcement in the
> mail? Did it give me three different ways to state my preferences (mail,
> Web, and phone)? Is one of my options to withhold my vote? Then
> why are you
> calling me? -- that kind of thing.
>
> However, your logic in this post is self-defeating. By refusing to go
> through the process of being whitelisted, you are saying, in effect, that
> your time is more valuable than the person to whom you sent the
> email -- the
> same accusation you make of him or her.
>
> Under normal circumstances these systems are harmless as long as they're
> working properly. Everyone to whom you send an email should be
> automatically
> added to the whitelist so their response is not blocked. Everyone
> who sends
> an uninvited email is temporarily blocked. In that case the
> sender obviously
> wants their email to go through, so filling out a form to make it
> happen is
> not a problem.
>
> When replying privately to a post on a list like this one, there's no way
> you can expect the original sender can pre-approve all list
> members. So when
> you choose to reply privately I don't see why it makes sense to complain
> about having to go through the authentication step. Are you
> really trying to
> help a person or is this spirit of helpfulness just a thin veneer over an
> otherwise cold, dark heart? The latter seems likely if all it takes to
> discourage you from helping is an email asking you to authenticate your
> identity. (By the way I'm replying to someone who replied to the original
> sender, whose message I missed, so I'm not picking on anyone in particular
> here.)
>
> In my position as president of my company I get a lot of unsolicited email
> from customers. In many cases I'm sure if we did the math, my
> time really IS
> more valuable than theirs. I like to think that I'm above lording
> that over
> them, however, and have no problem doing a little vision test and
> filling in
> the numbers on an authentication form.
>
> Craig
> NZ0R
> K1 #1966
> K2/100 #4941
>
>