Gandi said thanks :-)

What a lovely surprise! A T-shirt arrived in the post from the folks at Gandi.net

Gandi are the company that provide all my domain names and server hosting for work and play, including the hardware behind this blog. I’ve been using them since 2009 and they’ve always super. If you need domain names or hosting, I can recommend them with confidence.

They are always improving things and the side effect is small errors on the web site admin interface. Mostly, that means they’ve forgotten to translate a French word into English (eg, it displays Serveur instead of Server). One of the recent improvements to their web site was to allow a table of information to show how much memory each of my servers was allocated, but it was showing the maximum amount that could be allocated. A small error, but as always I sent an email with the details. Not only did they fix it and say thanks, they sent me a Gandi T-shirt in the post. Nice

Speaking of Gandi, they are always improving things. Today, I’ve just been switched to their new IaaS platform (Infrastructure as a Service). The previous platform style was to have VPS (Virtual Private Server) shares. So my one rackspace dedicated server back in 2009 became 8 Shares of their VPS platform (actually, the VPS had more power, but could be scaled up and down on demand). Over time they’ve increased the power. Couple that with some software improvements to my web sites and yesterday I was running on 2 VPS shares (which I had set as two servers) with a little extra memory as an extra and a ‘SimpleHost’ instance. Hosting is a lot cheaper today then I when I first moved to Gandi.

The new IaaS allows a more fine grained control of the resources allocated to my virtual servers. On the old platform if I needed more than one processor it would have to come with more disk space. Now I can just allocate more processors, or more memory, or more disk, all independently. The change also means they’ll be charging me less for the same resource as before. So it’s still a virtual server, it just costs less.

The other new feature is a ‘web accelerator’. I haven’t played with this yet, but I think it will work like a Varnish Cache in front of my servers so that pages can be delivered faster with no alteration to the servers themselves. That will also mean I can reduce the power of the server and save more money.

This blog is hosted on the ‘SimpleHost’ platform they offer and has been since November last year. Essentially that’s a virtual server that they set up and control and has a lot of restrictions on what software will run on it, which version, and so on. Its other restriction is that it can only process two simultaneous requests at a time (on the cheapest package that I have) but that really isn’t a problem. As the pages don’t change very often, the built in varnish cache has probably delivered the page your reading so the server never even got the request, and there’s no limit or delay in responses from the cache. Here’s a quick fact: In the last hour 73% of the requests that reached the server were robots or spammers trying to post. Even then, there are nowhere near enough of these to block both processes to real users. I have other web sites on the simplehost server as well as this blog (just like you would a virtual server) and for the simple sites simplehost is great.

Extracting images from PDF (free, using command line)

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This is a day when I love computers. I have a multipage PDF and I need to extract the images from it.

Option 1: Open the PDF on screen, capture each section, save each file.
No thanks, that’ll take far too long and lose quality (which already isn’t too great)

Option 2: Open the PDF using Adobe Illustrator. select each image, copy/crop/save as, etc.
No thanks, almost as bad as option 1

Option 3: Google for an answer to “Extract images from PDF”. Discover all the top results are for paid applications.
No thanks. I don’t mind paying for applications but this is a (probably) one off job and I feel sure someone would have written a script to extract all the images from a PDF.

Option 4: Try PDFtk, a PDF toolkit that takes instructions by command line.
Almost there. It can do all sorts of things to PDFs, but extract the image objects appears not to be one of them.

Option 5: Re-discover The Unarchiver
It works! It really was so simple. The Unarchiver views PDF files as if they were a compressed file. Select the PDF, tell it to extract all. Voila! 652 tiff images from 44 pages of PDF. 20 minutes to find the solution. Maybe 2 seconds for unarchiver to run (oh, and I already had it on my Mac, probably from having to extract a less common file archive format).

One last note. It maybe that ghostscript could also do this task, that would have been my option 6…

Building an automatic infrared remote control for the shop

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My second Arduino based project has been to build an infrared remote control that will turn on a TV when the TV is powered up and defaults to standby mode.

Here the background. I have a showroom that sells kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. On the second floor one of the displays has a TV that we use to play videos from suppliers along with our own youtube videos (which we still haven’t got around to creating).

However, we don’t get very many customers during the day (we’re a specialist shop) and so to save energy I had our electricians install an infrared timed switch for all the upstairs power. The lights turn on automatically when people walk up the stairs and turn off 15 minutes later. The original TV was connected to this power circuit and everything was good. Except it died. The replacement TV doesn’t automatically turn on when the power comes on but it does remember the channel that was selected.

So, I needed to find a way of turning the TV on when the power came on. I couldn’t find any off the shelf solutions so I built my own remote control using an Arduino. Arduino is

“an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.”

For me, I treat it like a simple small computer. I can plug in various components like LEDs, flow meters and LCD display screens and program it to respond to events in the way that I want. I’ve used an Arduino to build a flow meter for the showroom so we can compare the performance of different showers. I’ve realised I’ve never blogged about that so I may do later. This weekend though I wanted to build an InfraRed remote control.

Buying some components.

I ordered about £50 worth of parts on the internet. The Arduino board was about £24, the IR receiver, LED IR emitters, a suitable resistor (all in pack quantities far larger than I needed) about £10 and a prototyping board and jumper cables made up the difference.

If you’re trying to replicate my remote, the important bits I bought are:
Infrared LED 5mm, 940nm 22deg Vishay TSAL5300
IR Remote Receiver 38KHz 45m Vishay TSOP38238
PR01 Resistor, A/P,AXL,1W,5%,39R Vishay PR01000103909JA100 [remember to size the resistor according to the LED you get]

Putting them together

It’s important to remember that I don’t work out all this stuff. I’m not that clever. I rely on a lot of googling and a little past experience. For this project, I relied upon Ken Sheriff’s Multi Protocol Infrared Remote Library for the Arduino. You’ll want to read that blog post. It may be old (2009) but it worked just like described there. I also found a useful hint at this blog about prefixing HEX output.

I put it all together just like Ken Sheriff said. Well, almost. I had a different IR Receiver so I had a slightly different pin setup there. I had my IR Led connected to pin3 of the Arduino which is a requirement of the library.

My plan was to: 1) get the IR reciever working to record the code from my remote. 2) Send the IR code from the LED, make sure I’m receiving it. 3) Test it on the TV.

Step 1 worked very well. The sketches (example code) included with the IR library worked perfectly. I used it to get the power code from my remote (It reported the TV uses NEC codes and FE50AF is power).

Step 2 I thought worked very well, but I later discovered it didn’t work at all. I did read that the library could only send or receive and not do both at the same time. To test sending, you’d need a second Arduino. So the code I wrote to send and receive wasn’t working and the result I got which I thought was a success was a coding error on my part. See how I’ve lined my LED up with my receiver? Well, don’t bother, it won’t work.

When it didn’t work on the TV I started to fault find. Seeing an IR LED is a little difficult.. seeing as our eyes can’t see it. Fortunately a camera can so I used my smartphone to see the LED. I couldn’t see it. It took me a while to discover, because the LED is sending a command it’s modulating so fast and that on my smartphone it was very faint. When I wrote some code to test the IR Led I was giving it full constant power so it was nice and bright on my screen. When I used the library to send a remote command it was dim, but working fine. Here’s a video, if you look really closely, you’ll see the IR LED pulsing slightly.

So why didn’t my IR LED turn on my TV? I’d forgotten to prefix the HEX code with 0x. I’ve learnt that before… but forgotten. Now I know it again, at least until I forget again.

With that fixed, my remote was working. All I had to do was tidy up the code, position the Arduino and LED somewhere in range of the TV and watch it work. Here’s what it looks like:

Here’s the code:

//Steve Root's IR signal to turn TV on when Arduino powered
//
//Created because our showroom TV doesn't turn on when the power comes on
//The power only comes on when people walk into the showroom
//So this arduino will pause for a short while then send the command
//TV_on via infrared to the TV.

#define NECPower 0xFE50AF //NEC TV power. the 0x in front is because FE50AF is hex

#include <IRremote.h>

IRsend irsend;

void setup()
{
//when the device is powered, pause then send remote TV on by IR
delay(15000);
//15 second delay. the tv takes a while to wake up.
irsend.sendNEC(NECPower, 38);

}

void loop() {
//nothing to do here now.
}

A quick review of WordPress comment and trackback spam

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One down side of running a blog has got to be the amount of comment spam. I’m going to have to put in place better systems to stop it but before then, here’s a brief unscientific analysis of the last 23 spam comments (they all get held until I approve them) and what I think the spammers are trying to do:

1) Trying to flog fakes

Brand name sunglasses are popular. Rayban and Oakley frequently appear. Also hand bagsThe destination sites appear to like Western Union money transfer and a good number are based in China.

Sometimes the link(s) they include point to another site which then links to their site

They comment with phrases like

“Have a good day!I’m very pleased when see your post.I quite approve of your point of view.I will continue to following on your blog.I believe that the future I will see more about your wonderful views….”

“If you thinkI do not care to set eyes on this article, the next time I am concerned about your article, I think I will never again careless. Do you be satisfied of yourself, you do not know your article can make people so obsessed with….”

One of my recent favourites, several appear to have an error in their code,

Have a {great|good|excellent|fantastic} day!I’m very {happy|glad|pleased} when see your post.I quite {agree with|endorse|approve of} your {point of view|viewpoint|standpoint|views on politics|opinion on public affairs}.I will continue to {focus|atte…

My web server is in Paris. A fair number of spammers appear to recognise this fact, spamming with French phrases like “longchamp pas cher”

2) … actually, it appears they all want to sell fakes

All the spam was trying to sell fakes and it was all priced in US dollars. My really simple anti spam question commenters have to answer stops a lot of the robots. Here’s an extract from the logs which shows one persistant robot being refused.

www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:37 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:44 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:47 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:52 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:58 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 91.121.64.168 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:31:23 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.0" 500 4130
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:02 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:07 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:12 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:15 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:25 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:29 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1" 500 4132
www.steveroot.co.uk 142.4.209.47 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:36 +0200] "POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.0" 500 4130

Caught in my spam trap – Evolutia.co.uk (evolutiadesign.co.uk)

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I’ve decided to start naming and shaming the people who spam me. I have an email address hidden in the code of one of my web sites. It doesn’t display to visitors but robots will read it. To give the spammers a sporting chance, the email address is nospam@….mydomain… I then email them to ask where they got the address from.

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

Asked tom@evolutia.co.uk and abuse@evolutiadesign.co.uk – no response.
That said, I’m not sure where I got the abuse address from, so maybe there’s no one there to receive it. It didn’t bounce.

Observations

They used AmazonSES (Amazon Simple Email Service) to send the spam but the images in the email are hosted on a UKFast server (with a lot of other web sites they host for customers based on the server IP address).

Email headers

Delivered-To: nospam@...
Received: by 10.76.83.136 with SMTP id q8csp81063oay;
        Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:46:53 -0700 (PDT)
X-Received: by 10.229.78.80 with SMTP id j16mr4036499qck.87.1363013212607;
        Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:46:52 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path: <0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@amazonses.com>
Received: from b232-185.smtp-out.amazonses.com (b232-185.smtp-out.amazonses.com. [199.127.232.185])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id d3si14312946qec.1.2013.03.11.07.46.51;
        Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:46:52 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of 0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@amazonses.com designates 199.127.232.185 as permitted sender) client-ip=199.127.232.185;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=pass (google.com: domain of 0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@amazonses.com designates 199.127.232.185 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@amazonses.com
Return-Path: 0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@amazonses.com
From: "Tom" <tom@evolutia.co.uk>
Subject: ROI based internet marketing agency
To: nospam@...
Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="h=_LDJb1Xy8jUh44wvGFj0flX3mgKF1eVj"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Organization: Evolutia
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:46:50 +0000
Message-ID: <0000013d59eb1090-48f545c1-8ea7-47f3-8872-849bbf8e32cf-000000@email.amazonses.com>
X-SES-Outgoing: 199.127.232.185

This is a multi-part message in MIME format

--h=_LDJb1Xy8jUh44wvGFj0flX3mgKF1eVj
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="udMLfRvwbTuEklbsO80=_4PSgQ0HRDFq4Q"

--udMLfRvwbTuEklbsO80=_4PSgQ0HRDFq4Q
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Disposition: inline

=EF=BB=BFEvolutiaSearch

call us today on=20

Yes, we know - we=E2=80=99re probably the 100th SEO company to have co=
ntacted you this morning. For that reason, I=E2=80=99ll keep it to the=
 point.=20

Not all SEO companies are created equal. Some rely on automated proces=
ses, outsourcing, no communication and a client turnover rate high eno=
ugh that they can keep offering a sub-standard service even once they=E2=
=80=99ve been found out.=20

No copy and paste jobs from Google Analytics here. No sir, all our rep=
orts are carefully constructed on a per-client basis, assessing the im=
provements month-on-month and suggesting clear, definite action steps =
for the next month.=20

Website hits alone are pointless. We want to increase your number of v=
isitors, but also increase the chance that they will buy, enquire or s=
ubscribe. This is called Conversion Optimisation and is achieved throu=
gh testing real users on your site, and don=E2=80=99t worry, it=E2=80=99=
s all part of your SEO contract with us.=20

We have a dedicated web design team on-hand, so when we recommend chan=
ges to improve your On-page Search Optimisation or Conversion Optimisa=
tion, we have the staff ready and waiting to make those changes. Every=
thing in one place, no crossed wires, no stress for you.=20

One complaint we always hear from those who=E2=80=99ve had their finge=
rs burnt by SEO companies is that, once the initial contract is signed=
, the only communication they receive is a single automated email ever=
y month. That=E2=80=99s why we give our clients direct access to a com=
pany director=E2=80=99s mobile and you=E2=80=99ll only ever hear the h=
onest truth from us.=20

You won=E2=80=99t get poor quality or dodgy work from us... everything=
 is done in-house and above-board. Google doesn=E2=80=99t give second =
chances, so you can=E2=80=99t afford to place your business interests =
in the hands of cowboys.=20

<

Tom Markowicz=20
Business Development=20

Evolutia=20
Williams House=20
Manchester Science Park=20
Manchester=20
M15 6SE=20
t:   0161 868 0008 (Ext 115)=20
w: www.evolutiaseo.co.uk=20

* 10% referral fee for length of agreed initial contract=20

Not displaying properly? Click here to view in your web browser

Unsubscribe by email <<Email Address>>

Copyright =C2=A9 2013 Evolutia Design=20

How to get noticed on LinkedIn (before LinkedIn existed)

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What a pleasant surprise! I had a contact through LinkedIn (which, to be honest, I don’t really use very much) from Hannah Skerritt of Qube Recruitment Ltd saying

Hi Steve
you just popped up on my “people you my know” screen and for the first time I think I do!! I think we studied together for a very short while many many years ago… Did you study software engineering at Mid Kent?

Whilst I didn’t study Software engineering, I did do a business studies course there as part of a training scheme with GEC Avionics in Rochester. So a short email conversation with Hannah later she explained she remember me from the induction training week we both did there. There were about 40 of us starting different training schemes that week. So having met me for that short period of time she remembered me because of the way I introduced myself. She says that I said:

I’m Steve Root, that’s Steve with a V and Root like a tree

Wow! I remember using that in the past but didn’t realise it had such an effect. It’s impressive and humbling to be remembered for that long simply because of a few words of introduction. Maybe I’ll need to start future presentations with that phrase.

Also worth noting is how lucky it was that LinkedIn made the connection. I’ve not put on linked in that I worked at GEC or that I studied at Mid Kent College so I think the only connection it could have had to work on was that I’m also in the ME postcode area. We have no other links in common.

Email from a new business that want’s to supply my business

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Hoorah! Matthew actually took the time to visit our web site, read the page about supplying to us and use the special email address. Sure, the video wasn’t really just for our company but effort was there. So, we don’t need a video right now but maybe if I share this here google will notice him quicker and help this new business become an established business.

Hi my name is Matthew Jones, I have started a new business called Blue Dot Media offering promotional videos as well as graphic design, since this is my first week in business I have made a video for your company please find below. The reason for this email is I am offering you a promotional video with your own photos for only £65.00.

Click to view the video on Youtube

A professionally designed video adds value to your website and credibility to your business, you can put it right on your homepage to be viewed as soon as a visitor hits your site.

Another bonus is YouTube videos have a habit of coming close to page one faster than your website does sometimes.

You’re also able to submit the video to the top video sharing websites, creating a network of back links and potential traffic sources to your business. You can post it on your Facebook page, it gives you something to Tweet about, send out to your mailing list etc.

Thanks Matthew Jones
Blue Dot Media My Website

Caught in my spam trap – cloud-mailer.co.uk / brainycat.co.uk

3 Replies

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

hello@cloud-mailer.co.uk – no response

Observations

Appear to be a couple of web developers. They seem quite nice on their web site. A shame then they are not only sending spam to my spam trap, but offering a service of sending spam for others too.

Headers

Delivered-To: nospam@....
Received: by 10.76.80.100 with SMTP id q4csp157962oax;
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:10 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.194.89.167 with SMTP id bp7mr33008343wjb.0.1360695609612;
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:09 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk>
Received: from server.brainycat.co.uk (server.brainycat.co.uk. [5.77.38.165])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id d2si4372759wix.36.2013.02.12.11.00.09
        (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128);
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:09 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) client-ip=5.77.38.165;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk
Received: from cmail by server.brainycat.co.uk with local (Exim 4.80)
	(envelope-from <cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk>)
	id 1U5L5M-0002E6-7b
	for nospam@....; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:00:08 +0000
To: nospam@....
Subject: Marketing
From: hello@cloud-mailer.co.uk
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Message-Id: <E1U5L5M-0002E6-7b@server.brainycat.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:00:08 +0000
X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report
X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - server.brainycat.co.uk
X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - ....
X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [521 32007] / [47 12]
X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - server.brainycat.co.uk
X-Get-Message-Sender-Via: server.brainycat.co.uk: authenticated_id: cmail/from_h
X-Source: /usr/local/bin/php
X-Source-Args: /usr/local/bin/php /home/cmail/public_html/cron/hourly_marketing.php 
X-Source-Dir: /home/cmail

<html>
  <head>

    <meta http-equiv='content-type' content='text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1'>
  </head>
  <body bgcolor='#FFFFFF' text='#000000'>

  <p style='color: #125474; font-size: 22px;'><strong>Reach Thousands Of People This Evening</strong></p>

<p>We'd like to take the opportunity to introduce href='https://www.cloud-mailer.co.uk/'><strong>Cloud Mailer</strong> - a revolutionary new email-networking platform that provides millions of UK business email addresses for you to use in your email marketing campaigns. </p>

Delivered-To: nospam@....
Received: by 10.76.83.136 with SMTP id q8csp93204oay;
        Fri, 1 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.194.89.169 with SMTP id bp9mr20366076wjb.57.1362177919027;
        Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk>
Received: from server.brainycat.co.uk (server.brainycat.co.uk. [5.77.38.165])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id ua5si6017960wjc.61.2013.03.01.14.45.18
        (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128);
        Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) client-ip=5.77.38.165;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk
Received: from cmail by server.brainycat.co.uk with local (Exim 4.80)
	(envelope-from <cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk>)
	id 1UBYha-0006qM-67
	for nospam@....; Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:45:18 +0000
To: nospam@....
Subject: E-mail Marketing
From: team@cloud-mailer.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Message-Id: <E1UBYha-0006qM-67@server.brainycat.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:45:18 +0000
X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report
X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - server.brainycat.co.uk
X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - ....
X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [521 32007] / [47 12]
X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - server.brainycat.co.uk
X-Get-Message-Sender-Via: server.brainycat.co.uk: authenticated_id: cmail/only user confirmed/virtual account not confirmed
X-Source: /usr/local/bin/php
X-Source-Args: /usr/local/bin/php /home/cmail/public_html/cron/hourly_marketing.php 
X-Source-Dir: /home/cmail

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Cloud Mailer - Revolutionary Email Marketing</title>

<style type="text/css">
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<body>
<h1>Thanks for your interest in Cloud Mailer</h1>

<p>With many returning customers, href="http://www.cloud-mailer.co.uk/">Cloud Mailer has changed the way people make new business contacts and leads.</p>

<p><strong>If it still isn't clear what we do - </strong>We send your email to an <em>up-to-date</em> database of UK based companies in industries and locations of your choice. All you need to do is choose who you want to send your email out to, write your email and then choose when you want to send it out. <strong>We do the rest</strong>.</p>

Caught in my spam trap – paramountbathrooms.com / .co.uk

Leave a reply

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

sales@paramountbathrooms.com – asked twice, they never responded.

Observations

Their third spam email actually used someone elses domain (A foreign exchange business) as the sending address. I suspect that was an error rather than deliberate.

However, they are using multiple domain names to send the emails, probably so the spam filters don’t associate the main domain name with the spam they are sending. You can see them using tradeonlyfurniture.com and parabath.asia

Email headers

Delivered-To: nospam@...
Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp32517oab;
        Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.68.200.228 with SMTP id jv4mr6271839pbc.139.1358973435326;
        Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <bounce@parabath.asia>
Received: from smtp8.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.79])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id y9si21951485paw.333.2013.01.23.12.37.15;
        Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 69.163.35.79 is neither permitted nor denied by domain of bounce@parabath.asia) client-ip=69.163.35.79;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=neutral (google.com: 69.163.35.79 is neither permitted nor denied by domain of bounce@parabath.asia) smtp.mail=bounce@parabath.asia;
       dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 bh=MfK1igzDiEHCErhHt425qJHnp9U=;
 b=4echPfnHqn2ifY7Xaj+DldwWQ+nivZa5wkBuiyZgzNgieicGahcw4s5O21+BDZiL2vv2RikvyhiT
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   IT0F17OUd7GwYEAmsAk=
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 b=ePacO6003esB+1NpbkhcBQXBt136pmZoMYK0CZXhkmPwM2EVvD8JjDpmHUgg9LmHI6kblMkGbOtL
   6yc+xjwN2lp+SsHBQ/05sW3aEiP5lAFPST0tiJ7mw9AGQC67w0M9y9H1WW3kdUELIGSfk6zUgPAs
   S40ZGeeVnnxnwqyuBuw=;
To: nospam@....
Subject: Trade only furniture prices
Message-ID: <839dd245850f86aabd86a30cfa0b42e5@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Return-Path: bounce@parabath.asia
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:50:15 -0700
From: "Trade only furniture" <sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer-LID: 10
List-Unsubscribe: <%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%>
X-Mailer-RecptId: 62235
X-Mailer-SID: 16
X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset="UTF-8"; boundary="b1_65aaffd92098ab741635a3be8d1c70fa"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

--b1_65aaffd92098ab741635a3be8d1c70fa
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Paramount
Bathrooms
The UK's number 1 furniture supplier

www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk
sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk
Dear nospam@....

----------The best quality furniture at TRADE ONLY prices-------

These prices are ongoing prices and not just a special offer.
At lot of our customers make a tidy sum each month just from
supplying

And another

Delivered-To: nospam@....
Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp157377oab;
        Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:16:01 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.68.209.230 with SMTP id mp6mr5645209pbc.8.1359490561457;
        Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:16:01 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Received: from smtp8.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.79])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id rg4si13467235pbc.323.2013.01.29.12.15.59;
        Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:15:59 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) client-ip=69.163.35.79;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) smtp.mail=bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com;
       dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 bh=C1fm2Xc58QbaHwLIozse44OOv2k=;
 b=eDKzKplg11sZC9VZ9BDdd8akalLTBTTwkq9UCoZ1q8YIcvGhK/42579pdUlfqbq5RRa+7yrZJDVx
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   RCmp521KMsbff5ytDhM=
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com;
 b=qwM01mq514iC3cPtNSY0wirabc77kDoDHlVwUxAniXnbTcScmfutrGfNdBk9uPTluUHqScisj56I
   16mUtss2YGGnu1tZigV1HD2oNyYWpb3Ye8/obDqvB38GivekgphvJ7AkzNbRsLmIpz1lrTnp7kvk
   gyxgqrQT2BugCifKflo=;
To: nospam@....
Subject: Trade only furniture prices
Message-ID: <df6a8af754cbc985f3203fb731b52eb7@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Return-Path: bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:44:08 -0700
From: "Trade only furniture" <sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer-LID: 11
List-Unsubscribe: <%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%>
X-Mailer-RecptId: 66944
X-Mailer-SID: 18
X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset="UTF-8"; boundary="b1_f7c7d8b7d4c760c1fb02191f3bbcd7bf"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

--b1_f7c7d8b7d4c760c1fb02191f3bbcd7bf
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Paramount
Bathrooms
The UK's number 1 furniture supplier

www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk
sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk
Dear nospam@....

----------The best quality furniture at TRADE ONLY prices-------

These prices are ongoing prices and not just a special offer.
At lot of our customers make a tidy sum each month just from
supplying

And even after asking twice where they got the email address from they continue. Obviously I’m being too subtle.

Delivered-To: nospam@....
Received: by 10.76.80.100 with SMTP id q4csp149267oax;
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:52 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.50.88.228 with SMTP id bj4mr4140815igb.85.1360684792036;
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:52 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Received: from smtp2.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.207])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id d6si1343494paw.260.2013.02.12.07.59.50;
        Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:50 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) client-ip=69.163.35.207;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) smtp.mail=bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com;
       dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=tradeonly@trade.com
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=trade.com;
 h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=tradeonly@trade.com;
 bh=8Uo4IJnEM6oSi3E92G1oYiNtO34=;
 b=lyn+8E1YRksUlkjO8KrBZHKd2tN+gE3Zzn7ZaggHoyWXB/6I1KiMoUy/OLjR8eAInODFG78Db1zT
   h9CxZjb3pK3kQFN/+1dGmV7l/cSAlYzS9xevch/k/ajJnxItJ46jHDAMQSWChZmWpo0ht7U/hHEt
   KsZ1hSEFAgGdWBFwm5s=
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=trade.com;
 b=K/b9Slma+Ee6IbDL+B6k26rX3vULqOg61cmaXbndp6CeSkJKUwwSWL8kVw0SD4BlTyGccaO00wQ8
   JyJ6cYYO4CKPe7E4RVcSICAoNh4hgWBZy3Y74JHVSSFn92UCeMUOXBovMJF9zZuhovxQcpIltQj9
   A1bDsdr+gBr3ydoujEs=;
To: nospam@....
Subject: Why use anyone else?
Message-ID: <e5c5f6bf9ad026910436816c1c1cde83@tradeonlyfurniture.com>
Return-Path: bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:30:29 -0700
From: "Why use anyone else for bathrooms?" <tradeonly@trade.com>
Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer-LID: 11
List-Unsubscribe: <%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%>
X-Mailer-RecptId: 66944
X-Mailer-SID: 32
X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset="UTF-8"; boundary="b1_8bce6dbe71b7111c29a83ae3a319f45e"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

--b1_8bce6dbe71b7111c29a83ae3a319f45e
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Having trouble reading this email?
[http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/display.php?M=66944&C=a9ef5551407eef3445e5d28533ecfc6e&S=32&L=11&N=10]http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/display.php?M=66944&C=a9ef5551407eef3445e5d28533ecfc6e&S=32&L=11&N=10

[http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/link.php?M=66944&N=32&L=2&F=T]
www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk
email:sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk       Tel:02392 586616

Newsletter
February 2012

Caught in my spam trap – buildingmergers.co.uk

Leave a reply

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

No reply from ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk (also the address on the web site)

Email headers

Delivered-To: nospam@....
Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp11088oab;
        Sun, 6 Jan 2013 13:22:30 -0800 (PST)
X-Received: by 10.194.123.105 with SMTP id lz9mr93095986wjb.43.1357507349814;
        Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:22:29 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <ibenson@mergermail.co.uk>
Received: from nm2-vm0.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com (nm2-vm0.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com. [212.82.108.92])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id y7si7407329wix.34.2013.01.06.13.22.29
        (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128);
        Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:22:29 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 212.82.108.92 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of ibenson@mergermail.co.uk) client-ip=212.82.108.92;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=neutral (google.com: 212.82.108.92 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of ibenson@mergermail.co.uk) smtp.mail=ibenson@mergermail.co.uk
Received: from [212.82.108.229] by nm2.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000
Received: from [217.146.189.78] by tm2.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000
Received: from [127.0.0.1] by smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000
X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 109670.56545.bm@smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com
Message-ID: <109670.56545.bm@smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com>
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-3
X-YMail-OSG: sLH2K_UVM1kwPXZM0.Ah8akr8wNQ930om9q9JK4WB4hdc8u
 Ariw1Bdel_5usjDGzr0rK9j_ZZKarqT2DABdVVbqi_IfACfQcLQCBtYBXabF
 KW0gQPl0lyfA4Og1qc3sfrFt1Y1MAEwfCZiO_xqseGb5nY42BHlojG9f_uuZ
 Uffed.5Tht5yv6h9GArJKrkPgj4rr7Jwy4YNZLhzQoqna.n_9pUXdBK8Gh_B
 ckAWpZ6ty6vl2JTq13G3UK7ZovncSurQ7bKD8iJgX7gmshgv1idVjw0tw3fy
 2H8sCFgyJkw3X1na_k8O8ymPyBAASj8yJA.cfOyoQKf3Lhvg0bg5nvMv0_pf
 uUe7a3b_NmnlJdEaiOEP8T6uCPGAkwifrh35w5Bzs2uuWVBYMR5.Z6JnSwH0
 pNrBFVs8_3uqeE20E6wDebSPNl0gBaQD2ZhhqIEavyyfWIJLu6KNEcLe5ej6
 imyx3M3eef8bMlSl5AXvMJHH0JQwsuwa6DkA3D1QvbkGOTPOYhtJEnLQEQ84
 VgXgERU6G3.1VHa5jpzXWPlODTfWNhgrTtva6bn7Pty0-
X-Yahoo-SMTP: 5XLkSliswBDaNmfSrYcmC2Iyqy2G6up4yzBofV05ID6qaACd56g3sp0-
Received: from IAN-LAPTOP2 (ibenson@92.41.236.239 with login)
        by smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com with SMTP; 06 Jan 2013 13:22:28 -0800 PST
From: "Ian Benson - Building Mergers" <ibenson@mergermail.co.uk>
Subject: Design, Construction, Fitting Out & Maintenance Businesses For Sale
To: "nospam" <nospam@.....>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="winmDNq44pC1H=_jEWoPgurp494tw2s4he"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Reply-To: "ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk" <ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 21:22:19 +0000

This is a multi-part message in MIME format

--winmDNq44pC1H=_jEWoPgurp494tw2s4he
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Disposition: inline

=EF=BB=BFBuilding Businesses For SaleBUILDING
MERGERS
Design, Construction, Fitting Out
& Maintenance Businesses For Sale

We market design, construction, fitting out and maintenance businesses=
 for sale across the UK. These include retirement sales, disposals by =
larger firms concentrating on core activities plus sales by entreprene=
urs who have built up businesses and wish to embark on fresh challenge=
s.

The blog of Steve Root

Steve's personal blog.

Gandi said thanks :-)

Extracting images from PDF (free, using command line)

Building an automatic infrared remote control for the shop

Buying some components.

Putting them together

A quick review of WordPress comment and trackback spam

Caught in my spam trap – Evolutia.co.uk (evolutiadesign.co.uk)

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

Observations

Email headers

How to get noticed on LinkedIn (before LinkedIn existed)

Email from a new business that want’s to supply my business

Caught in my spam trap – cloud-mailer.co.uk / brainycat.co.uk

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

Observations

Headers

Caught in my spam trap – paramountbathrooms.com / .co.uk

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

Observations

Email headers

Caught in my spam trap – buildingmergers.co.uk

Their response to asking where they got the email address from?

Email headers