| Hobbit spam [message #265454] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 00:58 |
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In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
filters. It's very odd: the subject lines read like "Re: your
VtAaGRA", and the body of the email starts out with a bunch of
misspelled and mis-spaced drug names followed by a URL. And then
after that, random chunks of Tolkien (all from TH), like the
following:
"and had such a breakfast as they could, chiefly cram and
water. (If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I
dont know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good
indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not
entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing
exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys)."
My spam filters are still doing a pretty good job of identifying the
things, but it's disappointing to realize that terms like "Bilbo" that
used to be sure-fire signs that an email to me was legit are now being
learned as spam keywords.
Has anyone else out there seen these emails? Do you think it's random
chance that I happen to be getting them, or are there spammers out
there with databases of filler text sophisticated enough to correlate
it with where they collected their email addresses (presumably Tolkien
newsgroups and websites, in my case)?
Steuard Jensen
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #265455 ] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 01:13 |
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In article <mOsag.22$25.1056 [at] news.uchicago.edu>,
sbjensen [at] midway.uchicago.edu says...
>
> Has anyone else out there seen these emails? Do you think it's random
> chance that I happen to be getting them, or are there spammers out
> there with databases of filler text sophisticated enough to correlate
> it with where they collected their email addresses (presumably Tolkien
> newsgroups and websites, in my case)?
I got a spam e-mail the other day that was from something like 'elendil-
Iowa' for 'growth' products IIRC (though it went to my non-Tolkien e-
mail).
--
Tar-Elenion
He is a warrior, and a spirit of wrath. In every
stroke that he deals he sees the Enemy who long
ago did thee this hurt.
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #265456 ] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 04:22 |
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Hello Steuard,
Funny you should mention this. I work for a web hosting company and
just this week I've received quite a few spam technical support tickets
which were identical to your description and contained quotes from The
Hobbit. I almost didn't want to delete them as I found it so odd. I'm
guessing its just a random chance as I haven't received any of the
emails on my Tolkien-related accounts.
-- Hyarion
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #267700 ] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 09:40 |
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Steuard Jensen wrote:
> Has anyone else out there seen these emails? Do you think it's random
> chance that I happen to be getting them, or are there spammers out
> there with databases of filler text sophisticated enough to correlate
> it with where they collected their email addresses (presumably Tolkien
> newsgroups and websites, in my case)?
I'm sure it's random, I get them at my work address which I've not had news
group access via for over three years. It's an attempt to foil Bayesian
filtering by filling the message with neutral words.
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #267703 ] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 16:53 |
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Steuard Jensen wrote:
>
> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
> filters...
These messages come from Sauron. He was reduced to a mere spirit
of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows but cannot again grow
or take shape.
This is a perfect description of a spammer: an anonymous spirit
of malice that dwells in the shadows. Although maimed, he can still
try and wrest control of your Palantir.
Sean_Q_
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #267705 ] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 22:43 |
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On 2006-05-16, Steuard Jensen <sbjensen [at] midway.uchicago.edu> wrote in
<mOsag.22$25.1056 [at] news.uchicago.edu>:
> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
> filters. It's very odd: the subject lines read like "Re: your
> VtAaGRA", and the body of the email starts out with a bunch of
> misspelled and mis-spaced drug names followed by a URL. And then
[snip]
> Has anyone else out there seen these emails? Do you think it's random
> chance that I happen to be getting them, or are there spammers out
> there with databases of filler text sophisticated enough to correlate
> it with where they collected their email addresses (presumably Tolkien
> newsgroups and websites, in my case)?
What a coincidence! I only really have a filter through Gmail, but I
have three other e-mail accounts with very little filtering. Sometime in
the past two weeks I actually opened a spam and was surprised to see
something like you described. I can't remember what was in the subject
line that caused me to view the contents. I don't even remember seeing
drug names or links, just a chunk of text from TH. I expected it to be
random gibberish with Tolkien names in it, but it was straight from the book.
--
Huan, the hound of Valinor
<http://www.douban.net/people/2000366>
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #270520 ] |
Fr, 19 Mai 2006 05:48 |
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Steuard Jensen wrote:
> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
> filters. It's very odd: the subject lines read like "Re: your
> VtAaGRA", and the body of the email starts out with a bunch of
> misspelled and mis-spaced drug names followed by a URL. And then
> after that, random chunks of Tolkien (all from TH), like the
> following:
i used to get spam where the subject heading consisted of large chunks
of text from my e-text chapters. that was just this side of weird.
though i think my favorite remains the e-mail from
gollum [at] myprecious.com.
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #270523 ] |
Fr, 19 Mai 2006 18:28 |
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Quoth "Count Menelvagor" <Menelvagor [at] mailandnews.com> in article
<1148010479.953825.116320 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
> Steuard Jensen wrote:
> > In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> > number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/...
> i used to get spam where the subject heading consisted of large chunks
> of text from my e-text chapters. that was just this side of weird.
That's /really/ weird. Were they your chapters in particular, or your
chapters among others? (Because that sort of correlation would be
especially striking, and would reflect an incredible amount of spammer
effort. I've made a point of not including other peoples' un-munged
email addresses on my website for some time now, so it's unlikely that
they would have gotten a correlation from there...)
Steuard Jensen
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #270527 ] |
Sa, 20 Mai 2006 02:34 |
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Steuard Jensen wrote:
> Quoth "Count Menelvagor" <Menelvagor [at] mailandnews.com> in article
> <1148010479.953825.116320 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
> > Steuard Jensen wrote:
> > > In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> > > number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/...
>
> > i used to get spam where the subject heading consisted of large chunks
> > of text from my e-text chapters. that was just this side of weird.
>
> That's /really/ weird. Were they your chapters in particular, or your
> chapters among others? (Because that sort of correlation would be
> especially striking, and would reflect an incredible amount of spammer
> effort. I've made a point of not including other peoples' un-munged
> email addresses on my website for some time now, so it's unlikely that
> they would have gotten a correlation from there...)
i think it was my chapters in particular. (it's been a while, since i
gave up using that particular e-mail address.) i don't know if they
got it from TSP or directly from usenet.
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #270532 ] |
Sa, 20 Mai 2006 10:05 |
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Steuard Jensen wrote:
> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
> filters.
>
I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT for
Hobbits. How disappointing.
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #270565 ] |
Mo, 22 Mai 2006 06:01 |
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Quoth "Sam's the little guy" <samdekat [at] hotmail.com> in article
<1148112353.515072.191560 [at] j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
> Steuard Jensen wrote:
> > In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
> > number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/...
> I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT
> for Hobbits. How disappointing.
Actually, I initially intended to write an email advertising my new
grocery product: Spam MADE from Hobbits. But fortunately, I
remembered the groups' dislike for commercial messages in time, so I
just changed gears and wrote about the email problem. But if anyone
out there is interested in a convenient way to add tasty, low-fat
protein to their diets, by all means drop me a line!
ObTolkien: I know it's been discussed before, but I can't recall
whether we hear much about Elves eating (or raising) meat. We know
that they hunted at times (the hunted deer in Mirkwood in /The Hobbit/
come to mind), so they probably weren't strict vegetarians at the very
least. But we don't hear anything about, say, the beef jerkey
equivalent of /lembas/ (whose making was a closely guarded secret
given to the Elves by Orome). Just how close to Spam(TM) did food
preparation in Middle-earth ever come?
Steuard Jensen
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274437 ] |
Di, 23 Mai 2006 19:15 |
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"Sam's the little guy" wrote:
>Steuard Jensen wrote:
>> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
>> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
>> filters.
>
>I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT for
>Hobbits. How disappointing.
InCREasE YoU'RE SIZ3!!!
I get that stuff all the time...
Jim Deutch (JimboCat)
--
"Evangelize marsupials!" - Jim Baerg
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274453 ] |
Mi, 24 Mai 2006 20:18 |
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It would have had to have been a Mordor product. "Natural smokey
flavoring!!" growls the Uruk.
And like sausage, you don't want to know how it's made.
Hmmm, digging around in the depths of ME, what kinds of "meat" do you think
they'd find to use in their product? Oh, it may be tough and stringy but it
is tasty! Just wish it came in larger packages... Urtuk looks up,
surprised, "What's yuer problem?? Ain't like its one o' them Illuvatar
Children!"
--
http://depts.washington.edu/reecas/events/conf2002/papers02/ Niekum.doc
"Steuard Jensen" <sbjensen [at] midway.uchicago.edu> wrote in message
news:lIacg.1$25.252 [at] news.uchicago.edu...
> Quoth "Sam's the little guy" <samdekat [at] hotmail.com> in article
> <1148112353.515072.191560 [at] j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:
>> Steuard Jensen wrote:
>> > In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
>> > number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/...
>
>> I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT
>> for Hobbits. How disappointing.
>
> Actually, I initially intended to write an email advertising my new
> grocery product: Spam MADE from Hobbits. But fortunately, I
> remembered the groups' dislike for commercial messages in time, so I
> just changed gears and wrote about the email problem. But if anyone
> out there is interested in a convenient way to add tasty, low-fat
> protein to their diets, by all means drop me a line!
>
>
> ObTolkien: I know it's been discussed before, but I can't recall
> whether we hear much about Elves eating (or raising) meat. We know
> that they hunted at times (the hunted deer in Mirkwood in /The Hobbit/
> come to mind), so they probably weren't strict vegetarians at the very
> least. But we don't hear anything about, say, the beef jerkey
> equivalent of /lembas/ (whose making was a closely guarded secret
> given to the Elves by Orome). Just how close to Spam(TM) did food
> preparation in Middle-earth ever come?
>
> Steuard Jensen
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274463 ] |
Fr, 26 Mai 2006 05:26 |
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On 23 May 2006 10:15:02 -0700, "JimboCat" <103134.3516 [at] compuserve.com>
wrote:
>"Sam's the little guy" wrote:
>
>>Steuard Jensen wrote:
>>> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
>>> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
>>> filters.
>>
>>I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT for
>>Hobbits. How disappointing.
>
>InCREasE YoU'RE SIZ3!!!
>
>I get that stuff all the time...
Maybe that is the key to defeating spam: Sic the lawyers on the
manufacturers of those products. Just imagine the headlines...
"An Arkansas man filed a federal lawsuit today against several
spammers claiming that they marketed a defective penile enhancement
product. Mr. Red N. Eckhillbille, of Little Rock, has asked for $200
million to compensate him for emotional damages after his genitals
grew so large and heavy that he must now use a wheelbarrow just to
haul his testicles around."
:-)
Morgoth's Curse
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274477 ] |
Fr, 26 Mai 2006 19:11 |
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Goddang, that would be a funny bit at the beginning of Jackn's first
movie....
--
http://depts.washington.edu/reecas/events/conf2002/papers02/ Niekum.doc
"Morgoth's Curse" <morgothscurse2002 [at] nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7atc72htodrdu5t9jejopfvdftq849p5d9 [at] 4ax.com...
> On 23 May 2006 10:15:02 -0700, "JimboCat" <103134.3516 [at] compuserve.com>
> wrote:
>
>>"Sam's the little guy" wrote:
>>
>>>Steuard Jensen wrote:
>>>> In the past few days, I've found myself on the receiving end of a
>>>> number of spam emails using quotes from /The Hobbit/ to throw off spam
>>>> filters.
>>>>>>I thought based on the title that you had been recieving spam MEANT
>>>>>>for
>>>Hobbits. How disappointing.
>>
>>InCREasE YoU'RE SIZ3!!!
>>
>>I get that stuff all the time...
>
> Maybe that is the key to defeating spam: Sic the lawyers on the
> manufacturers of those products. Just imagine the headlines...
>
> "An Arkansas man filed a federal lawsuit today against several
> spammers claiming that they marketed a defective penile enhancement
> product. Mr. Red N. Eckhillbille, of Little Rock, has asked for $200
> million to compensate him for emotional damages after his genitals
> grew so large and heavy that he must now use a wheelbarrow just to
> haul his testicles around."
>
> :-)
>
> Morgoth's Curse
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274479 ] |
Fr, 26 Mai 2006 21:01 |
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sbjensen [at] midway.uchicago.edu (Steuard Jensen) writes:
> Actually, I initially intended to write an email advertising my new
> grocery product: Spam MADE from Hobbits.
Public Service Announcement: Any r.a.b.t readers who shuddered at this are
advised to never, ever, read Mary Gentle's _Grunts_. You Have Been Warned.
(Garlic sauce, anybody?)
--
mailto:jjk [at] acm.org As the air to a bird, or the sea to a fish,
http://www.bawue.de/~jjk/ so is contempt to the contemptible. [Blake]
http://del.icio.us/jjk
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| Re: Hobbit spam [message #274507 ] |
Mo, 29 Mai 2006 13:53 |
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"Morgoth's Curse" <morgothscurse2002 [at] nospam.yahoo.com> skrev i meddelandet :
[snip]
> "An Arkansas man filed a federal lawsuit today against several
> spammers claiming that they marketed a defective penile enhancement
> product. Mr. Red N. Eckhillbille, of Little Rock, has asked for $200
> million to compensate him for emotional damages after his genitals
> grew so large and heavy that he must now use a wheelbarrow just to
> haul his testicles around."
>
> :-)
He should have hired the Gaffer to navigate the wheelbarrow.
Öjevind
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