No spam filter is perfect; I still have to wade through a few emails every day that spamassassin doesn’t catch.
Some of the most successful ones are those that insert chunks of text from freely available sources. (One spammer frequently samples works from Project Gutenberg.)
Usually these will get run through some primitive form of Markov Chainer, which will munge the contents up enough so they’re not easily matched to existing sources, but language-like; …enough to fool the heuristics on most spam filters, anyway.
Since I still browse most of these emails using PINE, I am thankfully spared the graphic ad (usually for male enhancement supplements) and instead only see [IMAGE].
But I usually glance over them, just to double-check. And today I found myself reading the whole message body from one of them. It’s a somewhat jumbled, but otherwise touching, glimpse into another person’s life. My guess is that someone got some spyware on their computer that ransacked their inbox or their sent-mail, and it stole their email.
Here’s the content of the email, formatting preserved and all:
i was born in orange county where my parents had lived in the same house
for like 20 years they had both lived in so cal all their lives
i think they are so cute i love her litte handwriting and she is beyond
excited to pass them out some other projects she and i looked at but
didnt get around to (of course) from martha (of course)
i swear nothing makes me happier than a peaceful space and some needles
with that heres the stuff i eat salad with chicken a different salad with
chicken repeat repeat this is the hard thing about it not a ton of
delicious options im kind of kidding ive found a few other yummy things
too
how have you been surprised what can i say
cate and i went through some of the free options around the web for
valentines to download and print
acre of land is my favorite song of his
breakfast i always have two eggs and salsa always i dont really get sick
of it and it would really stink if i did because theres not a lot out
there for breakfast actually when you are at your ideal weight and
ovulating regularly you can have any kind of whole grain hot cereal
without a problem you know steel cut oats etc i am not quite there yet
berries and grapes are pretty low on the glycemic index and i have those
too oh and i love cottage cheese with fruit
just a phone call one night she had an aneurysm and although this was a
surprise of the worst kind it was the most spiritual time of my life much
good and understanding has come through that loss
i have been laying in bed sick since monday it seems to be getting worse
by the day not better i am so irritated and antsy i miss my family and i
want to clean my house
but i couldnt stop looking at the picture because it shows the place
where i played for the first 12 years of my life
i bet that block is not nearly as big as i remember it being but i
remember it being quite a trip
it was the first time i realized that things dont always go how you think
they will and that it all can turn out better than you imagined
isnt life surprising i was laying awake thinking last night about how
different my life has gone then what i thought (in a good way)
she follows me around all day just in case she might be needed for
something anything cute little penny is just a wee dog but she feels
strongly that part of her duty is to scare the crap out of anyone who
gets near our house just so they know no one is going to mess with her
family not on her watch she is undeterred by bigger animals and scary
men- they all get yelled at to stay away
i went to the fabric store tonight in search of prints to make some new
spring scarves with some will probably end up in the shop too i just love
this look also i love toast (the catalog and the cooked bread)
this week i am getting all my ducks in a row so that this weekend i can
hole up and sew myself some desperately needed skirts for church and
summer
hey my little family
and then suddenly and to my surprise i met and married the man i had no
idea i was dreaming of but he was perfect for me and better than anything
i had imagined or sought after before
i remember that too it was really fun i hope it gets warm again real soon
i cant wait to go to the park again with you two love mom