Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with spf

Spam No More! How do I convince gmail of this?

darth_tedious — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:53:39 -0800

How Do I Get Hosts to Stop Labeling My Email As Spam? For the last five years or so, spammers have been systematically spoofing my domains, and sending out the usual Viagra and whatnot emails under my name. I finally asked my hosting service the right question, in the right way, and they finally uncovered the misconfiguration that apparently allowed this to happen. Since my domain name rep is now so shredded that even my actual emails to myself get automatically routed into my Spam Box, I'm curious: How do I go about reversing this, so that my actual emails get sent to my customers' inboxes, instead of their spam boxes?

reverse dns

srboisvert — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:55:58 -0800

Is there an easy way for me to check if a domain I don't control has reverse dns and spf setup?

Responsible mail server use on a residential network?

Wild_Eep — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:51:14 -0800

How do I send email from a linux box from my residential cable modem connection? I've got a box running CentOS that fires a shell script every day. (The script backs up a friend's webserver via rsync) The log from the script is a text file that I turn into an email message. I want to send the message to my friend (at a gmail address).

When I send the messages, I get replies from gmail reading "The IP you're using to send email is not authorized."

It's implied that they want me to use my ISP's (TimeWarner) SMTP server, but I can't use that directly, mail relay restrictions and all.

I figured I could solve this problem by setting up Sender Policy Framework information for my domain. So I used I set up a TXT record for my domain with the appropriate SPF string.

Still, a few hours later, no go with GMail. Tried sending to another email address and found that my IP was listed with SpamHaus. Jumped through the requisite hoops there to attempt to remove my IP from their list.

I'm sure there's an obvious solution I'm overlooking.

Mark as Not Junk

Eater — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:24:25 -0800

Any tips for keeping email I send out of the recipients' spam folders? I have my own domain name, and my home machine uses qmail, with the domain's web host's SMTP server as a smarthost. This setup has worked beautifully for quite a few years, just recently a number of messages I send seem to be getting tagged as junk by the recipients -- Apple's Mail client in particular seems to have it in for me.

The home machine is on a cable connection with a dynamic IP address (which never actually changes), and that seems to be at the root of the problem. SpamAssassin complains in particular about RCVD_IN_NJABL_DUL, RCVD_IN_WHOIS_INVALID. I have a valid SPF record but I wonder what else I can do to make my outgoing mail seem less spammy.

spf 15

striker — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 06:54:52 -0800

SPF, gmail and my own domain. I'd like some assistance in properly getting spf set up for my domain. I have creativemethod.com (registered through godaddy.com) that I send mail from, often using gmail (set up to look like it's sending via creativemethod.com). It appears that I can send the same message via the gmail interface, one sent from email@gmail.com and the other sent email at creativemethod dot com, and to certain email addresses, only the gmail one will get there. I've also been getting bounced messages from a spammer pretending to use my domain to send mail. I want to set up spf to see if this helps, but I'm not sure what to put in the spf wizard at http://www.openspf.org/wizard.html. Thanks!

Setting up SPF on shared hosting

hodyoaten — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:09:14 -0800

An AskMefi question today about joe-job spam has me interested in setting up a preventative SPF record for my business server, which is a hosted domain at Dreamhost. However I do all my mail through my home DSL, connecting via SMTP to my domain at Dreamhost. Is an SPF record a viable solution? Can I put in a range of my ISP's addresses to whitelist them in SPF? I looked at OpenSPF's wizard and am overwhelmed by all the mx, ptr, a:, ip4:, etc questions it asks; it looks too dangerous to mess around with. I tried the Dreamhost support boards but questions about SPF there are unanswered; their Wiki is nonspecific. I also wonder how long it takes for a change to propagate, in case my server moves.

Sunscreen for sensitive skin?

crapulent — Thu, 26 May 2005 11:02:56 -0800

I have sensitive skin and I need a good sunscreen. I am desperately seeking an all-natural sunscreen that won't irritate my very sensitive facial skin. I am extremely picky about ingredients, therefore I have a grudge against all department store and grocery store brands. I'm looking for something with no fragrances, no preservatives, and all that junk. I would prefer a product in which zinc oxide is the only active ingredient, but I guess titanium dioxide is okay too.

I need something with an SPF of 25 or higher to wear under my makeup. I ordered some MexiTan (www.mexitanproducts.com -- sorry, don't know how to link in this window), which is the best that I could find after many hours of Googling, but I am looking for other suggestions as well.

Sunblock

insideout — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 12:51:09 -0800

SunFilter: Any recommendations for a daily facial sunblock that 1) does not leave my face all shiny; 2) provides full-spectrum protection of at least SPF 15, preferably including a physical sunblock (zinc or titanium dioxide); 3) is ok for sensitive skin? Cost is no object.