h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am becoming fascinated by the hidden messages in my spam:

One I had recently was particularly rich, and to take some sections which particularly appealed:

swap demerit initial diffractometer

wriggle explosion stronghold torque maintenance whoever convict diethylstilbestrol cern procedure wheelhouse nodule crewmen

soliloquy they're cryptographer semaphore honeydew peer abbas predict disciplinarian jeroboam

ozone expend arabic caret flap franchise vertebrate scopic halfway

ineffable calligraphy cultivable brethren converse

counteract city choir order genetic struggle artichoke chaplain automata traceable corpulent claire doubtful component l salute sicily

bluegrass stepson neckline boot circumvent petticoat forfeit crinkle dissuade pronounceable application

emeritus mystic ribonucleic claustrophobic dissertation

quasicontinuous beverly abdominal couple kickoff teletypewrite quail

thigh bladder voracious woven chisel

captivate sherman jugging polarimeter deteriorate fullback

dispensable curiosity bleed southbound lentil cerebral squelch workmen

Hidden messages in spam? Are these your interpretations of the messages? *baffled*

No. Straight up. I shouldn't have said 'hidden' - they are there in plain view.

Marv says: [It's] because those messages can defeat bayesian filtering software. Anti-spam software often parses the content of an email looking for key words and phrases. The random messages are pretty easy to create using a dictionary file and will defeat the filtering. The real "pork" of the smap is then contained in an image file (jpg gif etc).

The results look like a thesaurus compiled by a lexicographer on acid.

I love 'em!

B

A combination of BT/Yahoo and Mac OS X's mail client do a pretty good job of filtering them for me - not all by any means but they get most

Do we get an smiley?

I'm still confused - are you getting email with those odd messages in?

I hardly get any spam but am starting to think I am missing out

Not sure how I have avoided the spambots thus far aside from being reasonably careful where I post my email addy.

Oh, I'm a complete tart with mine so I don't complain when I get it - and yes, huge great swathes of text full of random long-ish words

you see, the spammers who attack my email just send me far less interesting stuff such as this one I've just junked:

"Subject: S-uper v.iag-ra! Do her H.ard & Long! dck
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 22:15:27 -0600

New and available to consumers everywhere:

C.IA-L.IS - SUPER Vii-AGR.A.

BETTER THAN ViI-AG.R.A! Not only does it increase stamina and endurance but also works twice as fast and lasts much longer - up to 36 horus!!

Click Here To Enter to visit & order C.IA-LI.S from the internet's leading and most secure online pharmacy.

You can get this product for $3 per dose. Best $3 you can spend!!!"

Oh, I get those too but I've stopped reading them

I got an auto-email from a Ministry of defence server saying I'd sent it a virus today!

Ben, spam-poetry has reached the ears of the Registry

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/17/spam_poetry/

What are you still doing on hootoo GD? Thought you'd have been watching the

I'm stuck at work until my database load finishes At least I can have the radio on...

Not only is the desk grey, it is also large.

Large enough to comfortably accommodate a television

Latest from the spammers - verbatim:

grain of sand require assistance from inside demon. Noreen, the friend of Noreen and hibernates with near philosopher. Unlike so many impresarios who have made their unstable pork chop to us. When beyond cab driver is mitochondrial, particle accelerator for industrial complex give a pink slip to cream puff about. near anomaly prefer turkey related to umbrella, but cowboy about make a truce with mastadon near fetishist.

It has that feeling of something which almost but not quite makes sense which you get from Babelfish translations.

Ben

Oh no! That's what I've been using to apply for jobs in forrin parts!