SPAM

December 2002

Only how many shopping days until Christmas?? Not enough, I'm sure we'd all agree!

Hopefully you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with plenty to eat and good friends and family to share it with.

Last month I mentioned Spam, and promised to get back to you with more information on some filter options that are available. Here are the reports on the local (Flathead Valley) ISP's and what they offer, if anything: 

Bigsky - offers a Spam and virus filter, for $2 per month if you are paying a discounted rate, otherwise included in your normal standard fee

Centurytel - nothing offered (that I can find)

Cyberport - currently planning to offer an opt-in Spam filter in the near future

Montanasky - blocks spammers in general by blocking known IP addresses, preventing Spam from being received by their members

Aboutmontana - nothing offered (that I can find)

If your ISP isn't offering a filtering service, then you will have to sign up with an outside company that will filter for you. There are a number of them available:

SpamBuster - http://www.contactplus.com/products/spam/index.htm $19.95

There is also a free version available, that depends on banner advertising topay for its usage. Requires a POP3 account (no hotmail, yahoo, msn, etc.)

SpamCop - http://www.spamcop.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/104-3155057-9794323/ $39.95

Does support Hotmail accounts. Free version only supports Outlook and AOL.

MailCircuit - http://mailcircuit.com/ $19.95 per year

Supports POP3 accounts. Also filters for viruses.

These are just a few of the many that are available. In order to test them all out, I would have to invest a lot of time and money, and since I have little of both, I shall rely upon what I could learn from the users at CNET:

SpamInspector $19.94 96% of 25 users gave this a thumbs up. "easy to use" "easy to install" "works great with Outlook"

EmC-Email Control Free 84% of 25 users gave this a thumbs up "good job" "good product" "easy to use"

SuperGoogie Spam Filter $39.95 80% of 10 users gave this a thumbs up Works with AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, MSN,  and POP3 accounts "a must have" "no flexibility" "fantastic"

Bottom line? If you need a Spam filter, and there isn't one available through your ISP, then go to http://download.com.com/3120-20-0-1-3.html?qt=anti- spam and read the user reviews on each of these, and more, to see which is best for you. Each one works a little differently in the way that it blocks the Spam, so it will depend on how you use your email which will be best for you! Just remember, having a spam filter doesn't mean you won't have to deal with spam. The primary objective of a spam filter is to keep the offensive material out of your inbox - away from innocent eyes. But you will still need to monitor what the filter is trapping, as they are well known for trapping "good" emails. Most have options that allow you to "train" them, by telling them that certain email addresses are to be ignored.

Recently you may have heard that there were some difficulties over at Cyberport, one of our local ISP's located in Whitefish. I now have word that there is new ownership in place, and their hope for The New Cyberport is that they will be able to offer the valley reliable, high-performance internet access with superlative technical support. From what I've heard, there are to be many new features to come from The New Cyberport! I do hope this holds true, and will be watching closely in the future to see what will come. For those of you who have chosen to remain as Cyberport customers, I do hope that you will continue to keep me up to date with how things go - connection speeds, ability to connect, disconnects, and most of all, customer service. 

Time to go now, as I've drug this on far too long. I do hope my research has been of some use to you. Please feel free to email me with any questions that you may have!

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