[Lowfer] ..Spam robots die!!

[Mick Reed]

I agree that the message itself is SPAM, and definitely comes from a
spammer.

The subject reminded me of another way to hide your address besides using
"nospam" in your email address.  I saw it while getting an AOL or Yahoo
account. You can do it yourself, too.

The trick is to create a graphic image, like a jpg or gif.  When you look at
the image, it is easily readable, but the letters are surrounded by a
pattern of stripes or blotches.  This makes it impossible for robots to get
your email address.  The graphic will thwart most of the robots first thing,
since most of them read text.  Then, the splotches or stripes which surround
the letters will also thwart any type of OCR (optical character recognition)
software.  Therefore, even a really sophisticated robot couldn't steal your
address.

It takes more time than adding 'nospam' but could be fun.  There are a few
ways to make one:

Handwrite the design, add the splotches yourself, and then use a scanner to
get it into the computer.

Use a graphic program.  It is okay to use the built in text tool to make the
text, and then add a design around the letters.

Use a graphic program, but use the mouse to make the text. Then you don't
really need a pattern surrounding the text.

Mick Reed
(you know...)
LEA (184.3241 & 1704.811) currently: down until further notice.. Darn it!