Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

I Am a ‘Joe-Job’ Victim

Posted on January 23, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

A spammer is forging my address in the 'from' line of his spam. As a result, my email address is being blacklisted in some places, and I've received about a thousand bounce messages in the last hour.

For the life of me, I can't think what to do about it….

Update: From a first look, the mail is coming from 80.225.253.178 (for which there is no meaningful whois contact data) and it's advertising a web site owned by this owner:

Domain ID:D9457357-LRMS
Domain Name:PINOMEDS.INFO
Created On:22-Jan-2005 14:49:19 UTC
Last Updated On:22-Jan-2005 17:02:21 UTC
Expiration Date:22-Jan-2006 14:49:19 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:R139-LRMS
Status:ACTIVE
Status:OK
Registrant ID:C8594388-LRMS
Registrant Name:Ms. Alexandrina Sirakova
Registrant Organization:V+D Auto GmbH
Registrant Street1:Postfach 25 Sofia
Registrant City:Sofia
Registrant State/Province:na
Registrant Postal Code:BG-1407
Registrant Country:BG
Registrant Phone:+3.5928614244
Registrant FAX:+3.5928614244
Registrant Email:lora_2005@inorbit.com
Admin ID:C8594388-LRMS
Admin Name:Ms. Alexandrina Sirakova
Admin Organization:V+D Auto GmbH
Admin Street1:Postfach 25 Sofia
Admin City:Sofia
Admin State/Province:na
Admin Postal Code:BG-1407
Admin Country:BG
Admin Phone:+3.5928614244
Admin Email:lora_2005@inorbit.com
Billing ID:C8594388-LRMS
Billing Name:Ms. Alexandrina Sirakova
Billing Organization:V+D Auto GmbH
Billing Street1:Postfach 25 Sofia
Billing City:Sofia
Billing State/Province:na
Billing Postal Code:BG-1407
Billing Country:BG
Billing Phone:+3.5928614244
Billing Email:lora_2005@inorbit.com
Tech ID:C8594388-LRMS
Tech Name:Ms. Alexandrina Sirakova
Tech Organization:V+D Auto GmbH
Tech Street1:Postfach 25 Sofia
Tech City:Sofia
Tech State/Province:na
Tech Postal Code:BG-1407
Tech Country:BG
Tech Phone:+3.5928614244
Tech Email:lora_2005@inorbit.com
Name Server:NS2.PINOMEDS.INFO
Name Server:NS1.PINOMEDS.INFO

But that doesn't really help much…

Second Update: the flood has stopped, or something upstream of me has stopped it.

Third update: Not. Getting. Any. Mail.

Fourth update (@ 11:30pm, which is to say several hours later): New mail is now getting through. No idea what happend to any mail sent in last four hours or so except that I didn't get it.

Posted in Internet | 3 Comments

More on the $40 Million Inauguration

Posted on January 23, 2005 by Michael Froomkin


J.D. Crowe, Alabama — The Mobile Register (spotted via NYT, reproduced via Slate).

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | Comments Off on More on the $40 Million Inauguration

Update on TSA Metastasizing

Posted on January 22, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Update to TSA Metastasizing, the item on American Airlines demanding intrusive personal info from EFF's Cory Doctorow at Heathrow, and then being unable to explain why they wanted it or how they would keep: Ryan Singel writes to AA and gets a reply. Trouble is, as Cory Doctorow explains, it's a pretty weaselly reply.

Posted in National Security | 1 Comment

Fascinating Article in NYT on Road Design. Yes, Road Design.

Posted on January 22, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

A Path to Road Safety With No Signposts. This profile of Dutch road safety engineer Hans Monderman is the most interesting article I've read in the New York Times in quite a while. At least in civilized countries like the Netherlands, roads in suburbs are safer without many signs and without sidewalks. It doesn't work for highways, and it may not work for the most built-up urban centers, but in mid-density areas,

To make communities safer and more appealing, Mr. Monderman argues, you should first remove the traditional paraphernalia of their roads – the traffic lights and speed signs; the signs exhorting drivers to stop, slow down and merge; the center lines separating lanes from one another; even the speed bumps, speed-limit signs, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings. In his view, it is only when the road is made more dangerous, when drivers stop looking at signs and start looking at other people, that driving becomes safer.

“All those signs are saying to cars, 'This is your space, and we have organized your behavior so that as long as you behave this way, nothing can happen to you,' ” Mr. Monderman said. “That is the wrong story.”

Instead of a regulated, dirigiste system, Mr. Monderman promotes roads that permit a decentralized self-organizing traffic system.

“This is social space, so when Grandma is coming, you stop, because that's what normal, courteous human beings do,” he said.

Spain, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Britain are trying it out, and the EU is doing a Europe-wide study.

The idea of running traffic a bit like the Internet — a self-organized anarchy working within the guidelines of set basic standards — is intensely appealing. It's also safe, at least in Europe: “there has never been a fatal accident on any of [Monderman's] roads.”

Of course, whether this could work in lawless Miami, where as Dave Barry once said 'everyone drives according to the laws of his home country,' is a different question.

Posted in Sufficiently Advanced Technology | 4 Comments

Death to the Washington Monument Ploy!

Posted on January 21, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

One of the enduring mysteries of our time is how the media can fall for the Washington Monument Ploy time and time again. It's as bad as Lucy, Charlie Brown, and that football.

If only they would read Mark Schmitt, The Decembrist: How to Read a Bush Budget — A Rerun.

Posted in The Media | Comments Off on Death to the Washington Monument Ploy!

Winning Hearts and Minds in Iraq

Posted on January 21, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Every day, we're getting better in every way, and yes, the good news is that they just love us in Iraq.

Or, then again, maybe not: When even your hand-picked cabinet members resign in disgust, you're really doing great.

Posted in Iraq | 2 Comments