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Behind The Firm List Blog
SPAM
SPAM. No, I'm not talking about the potted meat food product, nor the thousands of unwanted emails that I
get every week. I'm referring to the SPAM that other people might have gotten...
If you have your email address on a website, there's little chance that it won't be found by someone. Some
robot to be more precise (bad HAL!) It's just the way the world works, unfortunately. Perhaps it's always
been this way. Perhaps telemarketers have a paper & pencil with them when they go to public restrooms and
they are writing down all the phone numbers people have etched into the walls of the stall. Maybe not.
I've been working to strip out all email addresses on the site. I've made steps over time, but the Full
Member profiles still had them. I'd received some suggestions that I should do various tricks to obscure
the addresses. Never got angry emails from anyone about being SPAMed based on their listings, but I know
it's a concern. It's always been a concern to me, but it's been a matter of time & skills.
Well, I finally had the time. And I managed to figure out the skill part. Instead of trying various
tricks to obscure or misrepresent email addresses to robots, I just removed them completely. In their
place, I have built a contact system that allows someone to send an email to a Full Member firm using
a form connected to their profile.
It's just some over-glorified, probably mediocrely written PHP code, but I am glad it's done. Haven't
received any complaints yet, so I guess it works.
It's nothing that will win be a Nobel or a Pulitzer, but I'm still holding out for a Grammy.
