Re: I think we're really back now [a warning of some sort orother may be appropriate]
At 08:01 PM 2/13/03 -0600, Julia Thompson wrote: Nick Arnett wrote: In other good news, I straightened out some IP-based open relay blocking stuff, which is stopping even more spam. Doesn't affect the list much (except that anything that loads the mail server and Mailman slow them down), but makes life easier for the list managers. How does this IP-based open relay blocking work? And if blocking doesn't work, is the result IP-freely? --Ronn! :) Bathroom humor is an American-Standard. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I think we're really back now [a warning of some sort orothermaybe appropriate]
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 08:01 PM 2/13/03 -0600, Julia Thompson wrote: Nick Arnett wrote: In other good news, I straightened out some IP-based open relay blocking stuff, which is stopping even more spam. Doesn't affect the list much (except that anything that loads the mail server and Mailman slow them down), but makes life easier for the list managers. How does this IP-based open relay blocking work? And if blocking doesn't work, is the result IP-freely? Only if you want to, Ronn! And better not say that in front of Moe, he's likely to bop you over the head with a beer mug. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
From: Nick Arnett [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] To: Killer Bs Discussion This new To: line really messed up my filters that move all Brin-l mail to a separate folder. I couldn't understand why I came in this morning and had 50 new emails in my inbox! But I've adapted... - jmh ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Horn, John Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 11:58 AM To: 'Killer Bs Discussion' Subject: RE: I think we're really back now From: Nick Arnett [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] To: Killer Bs Discussion This new To: line really messed up my filters that move all Brin-l mail to a separate folder. I couldn't understand why I came in this morning and had 50 new emails in my inbox! But I've adapted... Twice, I hope. That one really did suprise me. In other good news, I straightened out some IP-based open relay blocking stuff, which is stopping even more spam. Doesn't affect the list much (except that anything that loads the mail server and Mailman slow them down), but makes life easier for the list managers. Everyone -- don't hesitate to report problems directly to me, especially right now as I make sure the new server is working properly. Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I think we're really back now
Nick Arnett wrote: In other good news, I straightened out some IP-based open relay blocking stuff, which is stopping even more spam. Doesn't affect the list much (except that anything that loads the mail server and Mailman slow them down), but makes life easier for the list managers. How does this IP-based open relay blocking work? I ask because awhile back, I was in the situation of all my outgoing mail going through a server that was known as an open relay; I got mail bounced back to me for that reason (fortunately I had another address for the party I was trying to correspond with, or the conversation would have died and he wouldn't have known why, and might have been upset with *me*), and I'm wondering if anyone is currently in that situation, and if so, depending on how the blocking worked, would end up being for all intents and purposes censorship of that person, even if that were not the *real* intent. Julia (sorry if the sentence was too long) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Julia Thompson How does this IP-based open relay blocking work? I ask because awhile back, I was in the situation of all my outgoing mail going through a server that was known as an open relay; I got mail bounced back to me for that reason (fortunately I had another address for the party I was trying to correspond with, or the conversation would have died and he wouldn't have known why, and might have been upset with *me*), and I'm wondering if anyone is currently in that situation, and if so, depending on how the blocking worked, would end up being for all intents and purposes censorship of that person, even if that were not the *real* intent. A little background for those who may be confused. An open relay is a mail server (what your mail client *sends* mail through) that will let you send mail to any domain. In the good old days of the Internet, before spam, people didn't generally mind if you used their mail server for your outgoing mail. There was no need to set up your own server for many people, because you could usually find a machine that would accept your mail. But open relays are a spammer's dream, because they allow anybody to send mail to anybody. Spammers have two choices -- find an ISP that will allow them to operate legitimately, or find an open relay that they can use. The former is getting harder and harder, as ISPs realize their liability if they don't catch this stuff fast. A few years back, Paul Vixie (who wrote BIND, as I recall), came up with an easy way to share the identities of open relays -- use the domain name system. This isn't the real DNS, it just uses the same software, since the the IP address of the open relay is what needs to get shared around. And DNS is great for sharing IP addresses. Thus, the real-time blackhole came into being. Now there are several such services, some free, some for pay (including Paul's original service and follow-ons, unless you're an individual). And there have been serious legal fights, to the point where it's necessary to fax in an agreement to use the original. Some market research companies sued Paul's company because they were blocked as known spammers, having send millions of unsolicited surveys by e-mail. By any liberal definition, that's spam. But Harris, etc., saw that this would make their traditional business very, very difficult, so they sued. All this is from memory, I may be screwing up a detail or two. The black-hole list operators tend to be very careful about making sure that a given server really is open or really is spamming before they block it. And they make it relatively easy to get off the list when you've fixed the problem (open relays are often accidental -- Sendmail is hideous to configure.) Otherwise, they'd really have some liability issues, as you might imagine. Now watch and enjoy as I tie this back to the list's topic -- David Brin. When I was a vp of Invisible Worlds, Paul was on our advisory board and hosted our servers. I had to drop off something at his offices in Redwood City and was more than a little intrigued to see a car sitting in the parking lot with the license plate, Kithrup. Turns out that that's where kithrup.com lives, and there's a big fan of DB who works with Paul. Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I think we're really back now
At 04:32 PM 2/12/03 -0600, Marvin Long, Jr. wrote: Thank you very, very much for all you do. But what's with the meter-long description of the list that keeps popping up in the reply-to field? Seems like overkill, maybe. Me, too. Obligatory Second Line Maru -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
I think we're really back now
Took a while to find a problem with the new server config... for those who care, it was in the hosts file, which got messed up when I swapped IP addresses between the machines. I'm learning to distrust many of Red Hat's convenient UIs. Got to take care of family matters... Back in an hour or two. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I think we're really back now
Thank you very, very much for all you do. But what's with the meter-long description of the list that keeps popping up in the reply-to field? Seems like overkill, maybe. Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) http://www.breakyourchains.org/john_poindexter.htm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
Just noticed that myself... We upgraded to the latest released version of Mailman, and I guess it does something different. So I've modified it. Should be different in this message. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Marvin Long, Jr. Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 2:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: I think we're really back now Thank you very, very much for all you do. But what's with the meter-long description of the list that keeps popping up in the reply-to field? Seems like overkill, maybe. Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) http://www.breakyourchains.org/john_poindexter.htm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
-- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Nick Arnett Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 4:20 PM To: Discussions of the writings of science fiction/futurist authors David Brin and Gregory Benford. Subject: RE: I think we're really back now Just noticed that myself... We upgraded to the latest released version of Mailman, and I guess it does something different. So I've modified it. Should be different in this message. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Marvin Long, Jr. Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 2:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: I think we're really back now Thank you very, very much for all you do. But what's with the meter-long description of the list that keeps popping up in the reply-to field? Seems like overkill, maybe. Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) http://www.breakyourchains.org/john_poindexter.htm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think we're really back now
And there was much rejoicing! Not a one-line reply maru On Wed, 12 Feb 2003, Nick Arnett wrote: Just noticed that myself... We upgraded to the latest released version of Mailman, and I guess it does something different. So I've modified it. Should be different in this message. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Marvin Long, Jr. Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 2:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: I think we're really back now Thank you very, very much for all you do. But what's with the meter-long description of the list that keeps popping up in the reply-to field? Seems like overkill, maybe. Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) http://www.breakyourchains.org/john_poindexter.htm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) http://www.breakyourchains.org/john_poindexter.htm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
