protecting your email address is outdated

[Roy Janik]

So as not to derail the other conversation, I'm starting a new thread here.

So "jeremycupholders@gmail.com?"

Also the reason they DIDN'T just write it out like that is because spambots like to prowl forums for valid email addresses and add them to their spam lists. The bots are even getting smarter, like, learning that "spaminator at happywaffle dot com" is the same as "spaminator@happywaffle.com."

I used to use a different email address for everything I signed up for or did. homedepot@23goe.com, aic@23goe.com, etc... then I had it all filter to go to my actual email, roy@janik.org. I also did this so I could tell if Home Depot sold my email address to some other company behind my back. I still like that idea, but it was a pain to keep up.

In the forums or other places I would play coy about my email address, and list it as MY FIRST NAME cat GMAIL or some such rubbish.

But ultimately I gave up and started just directing everyone directly to roy@janik.org, which is hosted by Gmail.

And you know what? I don't get any more spam than I used to.

Or rather, I don't get any more spam that isn't filtered out by Gmail. I think Gmail does a pretty decent job of filtering shit out nowadays, and it's way easier to trust it than to make people jump through hoops to email you.

[Brad Hawkins]

It's one of those old habits that die hard, I guess.

[zyrain]

I agree with Roy. I've had the same email for 14 years, its even in the public whois database, and I have no spam problems thanks to gmail. I receive about 1000 spam a day, so yeah, not searching that for false positives.

[happywaffle]

I do the exact same thing as Roy, but I'm still grateful for the filtering (and I cringe when I see somebody's gotten ahold of my "actual" email address).

Plus there's that smug satisfaction when I get spam directed to, say, homedepot@happywaffle.com and I know exactly who betrayed me.

[B. Tribe]

I like making it obscure. It makes me laugh to type btribe art gmail dart carm.

[Marc Majcher]

Yep, I used to do the exact same thing as Roy, had the same address/domain for a decade and change, used different emails for everything, tricky procmail rules, all that. Then, same as Roy, got the gmail religion, dropped the nerd-fu, and have been as close to 100% spam-free as can be expected ever since. The march of progress!

[Ryan Hill]

dropped the nerd-fu

In that one specific instance, sensei...

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

dropped the nerd-fu

In that one specific instance, sensei...

nerd-fu would be derived from Chinese kung fu. so sifu would be more correct than sensei (the equivalent in Okinawan/Japanese karate).

(meta-nerded.)