Version:
easy to use, still growing
Feedback Type: Review
Contributed by: jdien Saturday, January 29 2005 @ 01:30 PM PST
Product Platform:
Used Product For: Less than a month
Recommend Product: YES
I find sp@mx quite easy to use. I had some problems with earlier versions but the latest one (3.2.9) works well and easily. Using Mail, I just use the save as command to save the offending message in raw format to a spam folder and then tell sp@mx to report everything. It just does it. No instructions needed. Apparently there are still things to be worked out with false positive reports that have gotten some ISPs unhappy but the software writer is clearly making rapid progress. For example, it now loads a white list directly from his server to make sure that spam-checking services whose IPs are in the header aren't sent complaints. I think the main competitor for this product is spamcop.net, which is a long-standing website. spamcop is free but requires more work since you have to copy and paste each message one at a time into its interface. Overall, I'd say that sp@mx is worth the extra $20 for ease of use. Support is also good with quick replies via e-mail or via a web forum. One major drawback, hopefully to be rectified soon, is that unlike spamcop, your complaints are in your own name. As another poster on this site noted, this means that complaining could get you onto a spammer's list as a verified real e-mail address if they are running their own ISP and thus receive your complaint note. Hopefully, though, they will instead decide a complainer is not worth having on their e-mail list; of course, they might still include it on lists they sell to other spammers. Anyway, for this reason I will give the product four stars. If anonymous reporting can be implemented I will upgrade it to five stars.
Overall Rating:
Comments
easy to use, still growing - jdien
Hmmmm.....not bad. I notice it's opening up a separate browser page for each report. I would imagine that for folks struggling with dozens or hundreds of messages the sp@mx approach would be easier. I'm only getting about a dozen each day so I may use this instead. My spam count seems to be going up, alas, so maybe not.Saturday, February 05 2005 @ 01:03 PM PST
spamcop - jdien
Spamcop is also making me hit a confirmation button for each report which gets annoying. I'd say sp@mx is still easier to use.Saturday, February 05 2005 @ 01:15 PM PST
another note - jdien
Another thing to consider is that the developer making the spamcop plugin says that they are no longer supporting it due to some misunderstanding with the spamcop site and so it will likely stop working with the next OS X upgrade (10.4).Saturday, February 05 2005 @ 09:12 PM PST
another note - epc
You are right on all accounts. I use OMNIWeb, and each report gets a tab. From there I just select the report, click on submit, close the tab and go on to the next one.Regarding the spam level going up, there's an explanation in their forums:
http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=587
In summary, spam is growing for everybody, regardless of whether or not you report it. The advantage of using SpamCop is that the reports are anonymous. Some of the reports I have received back from abuse desks actually have links to SpamCop and recommend it :)
I agree that Sp@mX is easier to use. I still don't know whether it is actually effective, though. After 3 weeks my spam level is pretty much the same as it was before, plus I have gotten some "new" spam and spammers now know that my email address is valid :(
Anyway, I have one more week to go before posting a full review. Maybe by then my spam will be near zero :)
Tuesday, February 08 2005 @ 01:49 AM PST
easy to use, still growing - epc
You can use SpamCop 1.3.2 with Apple's Mail http://www.subsume.com/assembled/SpamCop.htmlIt still works, and you can select all of your spam and report it simultaneously. SpamSieve gets all of my spam into one folder, and from there it's a matter of one or two click of the mouse.
I wish Sp@mX had a similar functionality, since reporting is easier and faster that way.
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Saturday, January 29 2005 @ 05:01 PM PST