Asia, the World’s Spam Factory

By | November 23, 2011
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A new list from Sophos shows that spam is far from dying, thanks largely to Asia:

While the U.S. still tops the chart, for the first time it accounts for less than a quarter of all spam relayed. (Compare this to more than 50% two years ago.) But that’s not the problem anymore. The problem is a rise in non-English spam “with the vast majority now being relayed by ‘zombie’ computers hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers.”

Much of this is coming from China and South Korea, which together accounts for 32% of the world’s spam. Add Taiwan’s 2.1% to that and Asia is the world’s biggest relayer of spam. But lumping them together doesn’t do justice to the rise of China as a spam relayer: in the past two years it was responsible for less than 10% of the world’s spam; this year that figure has more than doubled, much of that rise in the last few months.

Of course by using percentages Sophos is able to avoid actually quantifying the problem — how much spam are we actually talking about here, and is it getting bigger or smaller? — saying only that “the level of non-English language spam is continuing to increase”, without offering any figures. But there’s no question of the trend: Crackdowns on spam in countries like the U.S. is only contributing to this, as “zombie computers – responsible for relaying more than 60% of the world’s spam – can allow spammers to escape country-specific legislation, as they no longer have to be located in the same country as the spamming machines they operate.”

Unconscious Bandit Suspect Scratches Self

By | November 23, 2011
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This news is not new, it’s not technology related, and it’s not particularly nice, but I like the way it’s written (thanks, Johnny). From The Post Online (Cameroon): Mob Justice In Bali:Three Suspects Lynched:

Mob Justice In Bali:Three Suspects Lynched

By Peterkins Manyong

The third of the four suspect bandits dragged out of the police cell in Bali and beaten by a mob, has died. Eric Che Zama, of Mankon extraction, died on Saturday, April 23, four days after he received his own share of the beatings. Sources at the hospital told The Post that Zama, an ex-convict at the Bamenda Central Prison, was suspected to be the biological father of the baby recently brought forth by Caroline Lambif, the woman sentenced to death by firing squad in connection with the murder of Alkali Garoua, former GMI Bamenda Commissioner.

A nurse at the male casualty ward told The Post that Crispus Tetuh, the last of the four bandits still alive, is very conscious but pretends to be in a comma. [sic]

During the day, he pretends to be unconscious, but late at night he eats his meals with an appetite quite unbecoming of a sick man, the nurse said.

Our source was convinced that Tetuh is feigning consciousness hoping that hospital staff and the police would comply with his mother’s request that he be evacuated to Batibo, his area of origin for better medical attention.

But the police are reported to have rejected the request to have him evacuated. Patients sharing the same ward with Tetuh said he demonstrates visible signs of consciousness by scratching himself where he feels itches but refuses to respond when spoken to.

Sounds a bit like a few people I know in the office.

Needless to say this is not Bali, Indonesia, but Bali in the West African state of Cameroon.

The Etiquette of Instant Messaging

By | November 23, 2011
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I put all my IM contacts on my blog because I think we bloggers should be reachable; and, besides, sometimes interesting people get in touch. But I’m starting to get a bit disillusioned. Most folks don’t introduce themselves — they just start with “hello”, and then, usually “I want help”, or “I am new to this. I want a friend” without giving me any idea whether they’re a scammer, an ordinary person, a friend or a bot.

Most assume that I’m there to help them without having the faintest clue who I am; if they’ve read a blog entry they seem to assume I work for one of the companies I mention on the blog. How hard is it to read the About page? Most are not really very polite, I have to say. When I ask for more details about who they are before engaging in a conversation with someone called “hfak_7832”, they usually go quiet. Whatever happened to IM etiquette? Is it so hard to say, “Hi, I’m Bob from Nebraska, could I trouble you for some help?” or something similar?

So, here are my rules of engagement for any future cold call IMmers:

  • Read my blog a bit before you start pinging me. I don’t work for Nokia. I am not a help center, I’m a journalist.
  • Tell me a little bit about who you are — such as a name — and where you got my IM profile before you start asking for help;
  • Please write in vaguely decent English. It may not be your native language but I need to understand what you’re saying.
  • Be patient if I’m in the middle of something and don’t answer immediately. IM is like that.
  • If you’re using Skype, do not try to call me without chatting first (in fact you can’t but occasionally Skype seems to default all its settings, so sometimes you can even when I think you can’t.) And all the above rules apply.

I love hearing from people, especially people who have actually read some of my stuff, and even PR types are welcome (they’re always the polite ones, interestingly). But please, keep it civil.

What Early Groomers Used For Hair Gel

By | November 23, 2011
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I don’t use hair gel anymore — no, really — but I do remember wandering around war-torn Kabul trying to find some when my stash ran out during an unexpectedly long stint there shortly after the Taleban takeover. Needless to say I felt somewhat superficial about it, given all the suffering around me, and was worried it was frowned upon by the puritanical Taleban. I shouldn’t have worried: most of them wore eyeliner, took way too much interest in my babyish features and in any case, there’s a long history of wearing hair gel, as National Geographic News reports:

Male grooming has an ancient history in Ireland, if the savagely murdered bodies of two ancient “bog men” are anything to go by. One shows the first known example of Iron Age hair gel, experts say. The other wore manicured nails and stood 6 feet 6 inches tall.

Disappointingly, you have to look elsewhere to find out what kind of hair gel. I personally like Slick from Body Shop, but it might not have been available then, namely between about 400 BC and 200 BC. Another piece from National Geographic, suitably titled ‘Iron Age “Bog Man” Used Imported Hair Gel’ details the product he was using:

The man’s hair contains a substance made from vegetable oil mixed with resin from pine trees found in Spain and southwest France. The man might have used the product, researchers say, to make himself appear taller.

Sounds like my friend John.