Vioxx Replaces Porn as Spam King 200
An anonymous reader noted that CNN is running a story crowning vioxx the new king of spam, upsetting poor old fashioned pornography. Of course, for me all my spam seems to be about rolexes.
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro
Vioxx topples porn as spam king? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wait a minute... (Score:2, Informative)
from http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/vioxx/defau
Vioxx is a prescription COX-2 selective, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that was approved by FDA in May 1999 for the relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, for the management of acute pain in adults, and for the treatment of menstrual symptoms. Vioxx was later approved for the relief of the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in adults and children.
Re:yourname(misspelled) CH3ap Softw4res (Score:2, Informative)
Wanna R()()1-E-X? (Score:3, Informative)
(?i)r[[:space:][:punct:]_]{0,3}(o|0|\(\)){1,3}[
So, bring on the R0001ex!! spam
Hopefully, the next revision of Astaro will include Rolex spam filters in SpamAssassin so that I don't need to use this custom regex anymore.
Here's one message that I'd love to see (and hopefully blocked):
=========
Gr33tingz, Dear Sir! I'm Dr. Jfjweaiofjweoif Iejfiowefjioe from an official bank in Nigeria and am trying to move $39,000,000 MILLION (million) US DOLLARS (United States currency) worth of \/1@gra pills and C1@li5 out of the country but need to confirm your CitiB@nk banking account details. In exchange for the sum of the transfer, you will have the opportunity to be a man like Britney Spears with real-like r()()()()()1eX watches with a screw-in bezel and a second hand that looks like the real thing. All you have to is click here (http://4.12.44.52:39/removeme/now.idc?really=yes
Re:NULL body messages (Score:4, Informative)
Graham: Only half right (Score:3, Informative)
Spam would become, essentially, hyperlinks
Hyperlinks would reduce the revenue per spam so much that spamming would become uneconomic
Unfortunately, it seems he got the first right, but was too optimistic about the second. Still, Bayesian filtering removes the most egregious sales pitches, so I don't complain.
When we can work out that strings of unrelated words make no syntactic sense, we'll really have the spammers nailed (and most of Usenet, but that's just a positive side-effect).
INCORRECT (Score:3, Informative)
Here's some background information:
http://arthritis.about.com/od/cox2inhibitors/a/saf etyreport.htm [about.com]
http://money.cnn.com/services/tickerheadlines/djh/ 200412231648DOWJONESDJONLINE000879.htm [cnn.com]
That said, the majority of pharmeceudical spam I receive is for Cialias and Viagra, the anti-impotency pills. Does anyone here actually receive spam for Vioxx more frequently than these?
Re:Why, you ask? (Score:2, Informative)
There are a few pain syndromes where medication is not of help and may be due to psychosomatic factors, but arthritis is not one of these. Telling an arthritis sufferer their problems are psychosomatic is incredibly insensitive and my stop patients taking medication that can improve their quality of life. Don't get me wrong - NSAIDs and painkillers in general are not the answer to everything. But they are an important component. Please consider this before offering your opinion.
Re:Why, you ask? (Score:1, Informative)
When I lost my job my COBRA payments were $420/month to continue the health insurance I had. Wasn't allowed to change the plan. Couldn't afford that. Also couldn't afford the $125/visit charge to see the doctor in Boston. Definitely couldn't afford to pay retail on the drugs I was taking. So when my prescriptions ran out, I went online and ordered from Canada. The drugs came FedEx the next day. Without health insurance it was the only way.
US Health care system is badly broken. I wouldn't want to see the online pharmacy operations shut down until everyone has affordable drugs.
Of course since I've moved to New Zealand it doesn't matter to me much now.
Re:more and more spam (Score:2, Informative)