Daily Tech Bits

Backscattered - Now I Know

I’ve been looking for the answer to this question for months. I couldn’t understand why I was getting bounced back emails that I had never sent, that looked like they were coming from my domain. I worried that a spammer had hijacked my email somehow, or perhaps my whole site. Once I realised that wasn’t the case, I calmed down, but I was still puzzled by the issue.

Now, thanks to an article on PCWorld, I know.  Spammers are sending emails that they pretend come from a legitimate domain. All that’s needed is for your email address to have appeared online and to have been harvested.

The good news is that there are ways to reduce the backscatter tide. Check out the article for the full story.

Spam Is 30

Can you believe that spam is 30 years old today? I won’t be celebrating the anniversary, but it’s definitely one to note. I can still remember email before spam and blogs before spam comments (I know that’s giving away my age ) However, the New Scientist has a great article on the history of spam, including the fact that in 2004 Bill Gates promised a world free from spam by 2006. (I think you goofed there, Bill.)

Apparently, some people have also put their entire collection of spam online. Read more about it in the the follow up article on one of the New Scientist blogs.

Weeding Out The Scrapers

If you’ve had your own blog for a while, then you’ve probably come across the scrapers. These are the people who steal your content (in whole or in part) without even the courtesy of acknowledging the source.  They put your content on their blogs so they can make money with Adsense or their advertising of choice. Meanwhile, there’s not much you can do about it. Or is there?

Actually, there is, and this rant from my friend Jen on the Domestik Goddess blog tells you how. If this seems a strange place to find this info, rest assured that Jen harbors a not so secret geek inside her and knows what she’s talking about. Here’s how she sees the situation, using the analogy of an artist going into a gallery:

One day, you waltz yourself into a brand-new gallery with a brand-new original collage under your arm, full of optimism, chin held high. You’re sure that today’s the day you’ll break through into the big-time art world… but shock! The gallery walls are already covered, top to bottom, with perfect copies of your original work!

Needless to say, you don’t have to take this lying down.  Jen shows you how to fight back in Pond Scum Scrapers: No More Ms Nice Blogger.