Spam Blocker - Update

I wrote a review (which is here now: Review Of Spam Blocker) of some software I was testing called 'spam blocker'. It's a tool from the people at CoffeeCup Software which is aimed at liberating your inbox of the dreaded spam demon. Here's some of my findings having used the software for a couple of weeks now.

Did it work?

I found that the software was OK'ish at deciding which emails were spam and which were real ones. You have to carefully scan down both the top and bottom lists of emails to make sure you're not deleting an important email. This hasn't been much of a problem and it seems the longer you use Spam Blocker, and the more you 'teach' it what is spam, the less work you have to do. But very few spam emails have been getting into outlook express, which has been very nice. It works a bit like a nightclub doorman.

In the new version

I did end up coughing up the thirty bucks for Spam Blocker. And there was a new version available (3.0). It doesn't look that different, or perform in a drastically different way, but the one thing I did notice in this version was a button that looks like a spring. Clicking this will do what's called a 'bounce back' to any spam emails you choose. And this will make it seem like your email address is not really there any more - that there's some problem with it. The theory is that you'll then be taken off that particular spam list. I'm not sure if this thing would do any good, but I kinda like the idea of returning fire to some of the spammers out there.

Upgrading was pretty easy and it seems to have kept all the settings I've built up.

Drawbacks

The software crashed once and had to be restarted. Other than that, no major technical problems.

I did find Spam Blocker a bit distracting at times, especially if it's set to check mail every couple of minutes. I didn't realize how often spam is sent to me until I got this tool. I found I kept clicking on the tray icon and checking my mail more than I should. I got round this by setting it to check every 10 minutes instead of two, and making a concerted effort not to 'fiddle' unnecessarily with it.

For anyone who enjoys reading the occasional spam mail (to get some of their advertising ideas) you can still view the email subject and body (complete with images) in spam blocker.

Worth the $30?

Something funny happened with the trial actually. In the version 2.0 shareware, if you didn't shut down the PC, the software just kept saying you had the same number of days remaining on the trial. Theoretically, if you didn't shut down the computer, you'd be able to use the free version indefinitely. But unless you've got the world's most reliable PC that's not going to work. I thought that was kinda funny - obviously an oversight on the programmer's part.

Overall Spam Blocker is definitely a tool I'd recommend. Managing email BETWEEN the mail server and your regular email software is definitely faster and less hassle than dealing with it in something like Outlook. I also found I was starting outlook express up less. (Spam blocker is always running and it doesn't take any time to load up. So checking your mail in that is a lot faster. Most of the time it was just SPAM and wasn't worth checking in my real mail software.)

Final verdict? Definitely a breath of fresh air for anyone who's tired of "XXX H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E HERE!!!" and other spam.

TOM ^"^

ICQ 12616560
Email tom@tomsnewbiebooster.com

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