Why do I get spam? Doesn't my ISP protect me from that?

Once an old man was talking to me while I was in the computer shop and he was complaining about his spam problems. He didn't understand why his ISP couldn't "put a filter on their signal" to block that stuff. In short, an ISP doesn't work like a TV station. You choose what you see on the internet, the ISP is simply the portal to get there. A TV station chooses everything it broadcasts, an ISP does not broadcast the Internet. Blaming an ISP for getting spam is exactly like blaming the people who built the road for getting into a car accident.

The good news is that most ISP's in the United States have banks of servers dedicated to spam filtering only. One such server can filter as many as 10,000 pieces of spam per hour. Imagine the amount of spam you would receive if these servers were not in place.


Why can't my ISP block all spam from getting through?

1. Spammers are spending all of their time concocting new ways to get around spam filters
2. ISP adminstrators only have 8 hours a day and have many duties in addition to spam filtering
3. The ISP can do nothing for you if your email address is hijacked, you will have to change your address.

What can I do to prevent spam?

1. If you are signing up for a website that requires an email address and you only intend to use the website once then get a throw away email address from this place: http://www.drisgill.com This will prevent your email address from becoming hijacked.
   
2. Do not forward chain mail. Most of this will quickly get you put on spam lists
3. Make sure you are using a good free virus scanner. I suggest AVG or Avast. And UPDATE the virus definitions.

ISP's already do all they can do in order to prevent you from receiving spam. Be sure to take a little time to make sure you follow some precautions too. The roads are already as safe as they can be built, please wear a seatbelt.

Dirty Power Printer Problem

Dirty power is the state of voltage coming from the wall being either badly grounded or fluctuating abnormally. This can cause absolutely bizarre problems while working on computers and networks. Typically it is the last thing on my mind when I am troubleshooting because it is such a rare occurrence in well developed areas.

Recently I had a peculiar problem with an all in one printer. It would have problems at random either connected to the computer or being used independently as a fax machine or copier. Sometimes it simply would not function. Other times it would function flawlessly and even other times it would function erratically by either printing a portion of the job then stopping or printing the first page and random sequences of symbols on subsequent pages. The client finally told me that the house had been struck by lightning multiple times and they had previously had trouble with the phone lines as a result.

Ultimately the solution was to move the printer to another circuit in the house. The problem was instantly solved.

This is a difficult problem to troubleshoot on a regular basis but simple to diagnose. Either move the equipment in question to a different circuit or if that is not possible then a plug-in circuit can be used. They are inexpensive and can save hours of troubleshooting headaches (they can be purchased here (http://www.unistorage.com/unistorage/index.cfm?fuseaction=shop.dspSpecs&part=932889)

The Answers

Computer System Associates is a small computer shop based in North Central Alabama. We are a team of professional PC technicians who have taken it upon ourselves to provide business class PC and Network service. Additionally, we have the expertise and experience to work both in the office and in your home. We will be using this blog to provide answers to many of the leading questions people have about their computer and networking needs.