I'm testing a new method of displaying a clickable e-mail link. If the above link doesn't open up your e-mail program with a new message the way mail links on other sites do, please e-mail me kevin at kevingoebel dot com and let me know what operating system your computer is using and which version of whatever browser and e-mail program you are using. I removed the conventional clickable link to my address on my main page because spammers use software to extract e-mail addresses out of web pages.

I have some strict anti-spam filters on e-mail so even forwarded materials or carbon-copied messages may not survive the filtering. If you sent me something and I didn't respond, you may wish to send a plain message directly to confirm if I received it.

making spam disappear
Unfortunately, spam is not going to disappear in the near future. Most ISPs are using commercial methods to filter out spam and/or working to develop custom methods of screening out the digital crap without removing valid e-mail. Many business domains host list servers (programs that generate form and mass mail which people DO want). The format of many of these legitimate messages is similar to that of spam e-mail, so ISPs can't just "toss the babies out with the bath water".

With my personal kevingoebel domain... I, on the other hand, can toss out everything I want to. To start off with, I will delete anything my ISP server marks as spam. Anything from a mail server ending in .ru and .kr gets tossed. I don't know anyone in Russia or Korea, but there are a lot of unsecured mail servers in those countries that allow relaying (spammers anywhere in the world can send e-mail through them). Das Vidanya Comrade Spamovich!

Most ISPs offer web-based access to e-mail for their customers. This allows the convenience of checking your e-mail when you are at another computer other than your home or work PC that you normally read the e-mail at. You can check your e-mail from a friend's PC, one at a public library or Internet Cafe, etc. Most web-based mail programs have two other advantages.

First, you can preview the senders and subject lines of waiting messages without having to download the body of the message. This is great for tagging and deleting spam without having to wait for all the crappy HTML message to load. Second, most web-based mail programs allow you to set up filters to delete junk mail so you don't even have to preview it in web mail to throw it out.

Items I'm filtering for include: Nigeria, South Africa, Zaire, Congo, University of Phoenix, online degree, frisbee offers, biz opp, extra value, increase your penis, Norton-System Works, 12 CDs, earn your college degree online, copy any DVD, casino, viagra, pre-approved, get a free quote, access your PC from anywhere, get a Visa or Mastercard, get paid for opinions, get paid to take surveys, increase breast size, nascar, mortgage, personalized NFL mug, !!!, member services, and certain pesky email addresses, such as offers@, deals@, or @milespree.com.

With many web mail accounts you can set filters at the beginning of your list to protect e-mail from other filters further on down the list. For example, if you get e-mail from your bank, you can make your 1st rule "if it's from mybank.com, put it in the main mailbox". This will save your bank e-mail from being deleted by the 2nd rule "if the subject has 'mortgage' in it, delete it" even if your bank sends you an e-mail with the subject "about your mortgage".

Unfortunately, almost everyone has that relative or otherwise likeable close friend who repeatedly forwards you spam because you are in their address book and they simply send it to everyone in it. Perhaps you've politely asked them (and asked them again and again) to refrain from including your e-mail address when they send you that urban legend, that virus hoax, or the complete set of vacation photos direct from their camera at maximum resolution. They still send the stuff to you and you don't want to be too rude, but you'd really like to get off their list. Try sending them this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSA7kKNu2Y
They may learn to recognize it after the first few times, so you may wish to use TinyURL's http://tinyurl.com/ alias to give it some creative alternative names during subsequent sendings, such as. http://tinyurl.com/tax-on-emails. Send it often enough perhaps they will learn, or perhaps they will get mad and remove your address from their address book.

Kevin