What a great resource. An Interface Design Hall of Shame. Mostly filled with screenshots of Windows apps, naturally :-)

Posted by alastair at 6:28 PM Digg It | Permalink | Comments (0)

I used to think that the DNS e-mail blacklists were a good idea. After all, on the face of it, they seem like they might actually offer a way to combat spam. Certainly, they can reduce the amount of spam you receive—I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

So what don't I like about them? Well, since I started trying to run my own company, to be perfectly honest, DNS blacklists are the bane of my life. Why? Well, small companies tend not to own their own equipment on the 'Net… rather, they tend to use the services of web hosting companies. Coriolis Systems Limited (as well as this website) are using the services of 1 and 1, aka Schlund, who offer cheap and flexible hosting.

Why is this a problem? Well, here's the rub. Whenever anyone buys anything from the Coriolis Systems website, they are sent an e-mail (actually, in most cases, two e-mails). This e-mail goes via 1&1's mailservers before going out onto the Internet. But, because 1&1 are a hosting company, and anyone can sign-up to use their equipment, inevitably one or two of those most hateful animals—I am, of course, referring to Internet spammers—signs up with 1&1 every so often. The upshot of this is that some bright spark somewhere adds 1&1's mailserver to one (or more often several) DNS blacklists, the result being that our customers don't get their e-mails. What do our customers do? Well, usually, they blame us—after all, they assume that their e-mail system is reliable and that they should receive messages if we send them, not realising that their ISPs have thrown a spanner in the works by making use of DNS blacklists.

OK, you might say, most blacklists let you ask to be removed, and if 1&1 aren't spam-friendly, then it should be easy enough to get this done, because they'll kick the spammers off. All of this is true, except that by the time we know that there is a problem, it's already too late… we already have an irate customer (ironically, it is usually American customers who become most annoyed—I say ironically, as it is largely their brethren that are responsible for the spam problem in the first place).

Anyway, all of this is very irritating. Is it really too much to ask for the maintainers of spam blacklists to adopt a more sensible approach towards shared infrastructure companies like 1&1? At the very least, you might reasonably expect them to use a notify-first policy for such people… that way, blacklist maintainers avoid inconveniencing large numbers of people whose perfectly legitimate e-mail goes missing because of the activities of the occasional spammer (who will be kicked off anyway, once the web hosting service is informed).

Oh, and before anyone goes hunting around and decides that the problem is anything whatsoever to do with open mail relays, you should note that 1&1 use authenticated SMTP, so you do at least know that any mail you get from their servers really came from one of their customers.

Posted by alastair at 12:42 AM Digg It | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm fed up with trackback pings linking to sites I don't care for, so, as of the date of this post:

1. By sending trackback pings to this weblog, you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.
2. You acknowledge that this site makes use of resources owned or paid for by Alastair Houghton.
3. You acknowledge that the facility to accept trackback pings has been provided for the benefit of readers of this weblog and for the benefit of authors of other weblogs making legitimate comment on the content of this blog.
4. You further acknowledge that this facility is not provided for the benefit of commercial operations, and it is specifically prohibited to use the facility for advertising purposes.
5. You agree that if you act in breach of item 4, above, you will pay a fee of GBP£1,000 for each and every trackback ping that contains unwanted links and/or text.
6. Furthermore, you agree that, should any trackback ping contain or link to material of an illegal or pornographic nature, or to an Internet gambling site, you will pay an additional fee of GBP£1,000 for each instance.
7. Additionally, you agree that you will bear the full cost of recovery of any fees should you default on payment, including but not limited to fees associated with obtaining your legal identity, court fees and associated costs.
8. Payment is to be made within 30 days. You agree to take sole responsibility for any bank charges payable. Payment details provided upon request. Overdue payments incur interest payable at 10% per calendar month.
9. Governing law for the purposes of this agreement is the law of England. Conflict of law rules of any jurisdiction shall not apply. Any dispute will be held in an English court as determined by Alastair Houghton and/or his legal representatives.

Posted by alastair at 12:23 AM Digg It | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)