I've been trying to keep this area pertinent to the project, after all this is the project update page, but this month please bear with me while I talk about something non-related (sort of) that's been on my mind. I need to vent.

Let's talk about spam... No, I'm not talking about the canned meat that everyone loves, I'm talking about Internet spam, the spam that everyone hates. Each day I receive, on an average, over 200 e-mails containing advertising and viruses. Mixed in with all these bogus e-mails are about half a dozen legitimate messages. How did it get this bad, you ask?

Every time you place an e-mail address on a web page you become a target for Internet spam. Every time you register your domain name and give them your e-mail address (which you have to do) you become a target for Internet spam. Every time you post your e-mail address on a message board you become a target. Every time you enter a sweepstakes online you become a target. Basically, anytime you share your e-mail address with others your opening yourself up to spam mail.

I've tried anti-spam software to no avail. The spammers are crafty and use a different return address every time they send a message. Sometimes the return address is your own. Because of this there's little or no way to filter spam effectively.

In my business (web development) it's not an option to hide my e-mail address so I'm a sitting duck. I could complain about the hours that are wasted each month deleting mail and updating virus programs. I could complain about the strain on my server and wasted bandwidth (that I have to pay for) or that I had to pay $9 the other day to check my mail from a hotel because of the extra time needed to download all the junk mail. But what bothers me the most is the pornography that's sent daily to my inbox. It's so bad that I can't allow my children to be in the room when I check my mail.

The car insurance, printer cartridges, breast enlargement, Viagra and cell phone ads are bad enough but when they send XXX-rated photos in the e-mail (and some of them are disgustingly sick) that's the last straw! Everyone says there's nothing you can do about it but I think there is. To start with I'm inviting every spammer to come to Sioux Falls for a good old-fashioned South Dakota ass kicking! That's right, come out from behind your screen and let's get it on!

While that might weed out a few of them I'm afraid it will take global legislation to stop them all. Of course legislation is no good unless it's enforced and enforcement is no threat unless the punishment is extreme. In the old west, cattle rustlers were hung and even today in some countries thieves have their hands cut off. When you consider the monetary damage that spammers and hackers create, at a minimum, removal of body parts seems a fitting punishment. They're ruining our Internet and it's time we take it back!

So, if you e-mail me with attachment and no subject or text body I'll never open it. If an attachment is anything other than a JPEG or GIF image, I'll never open it. If you put Viagra and the subject line, I'll never open it. Unfortunately there's been a few times that I've accidentally deleted "good" mail so if you've written and I haven't replied, that could be the reason. I'm sorry, but the spammers have screwed everything up!

On the Project33 web site front it never ceases to amaze me how many people visit this site each week. Try over 20,000 unique visitors a week! Here's a screen shot I took the other night that you might get a kick out of. Almost any time of the day there's over 20 visitors in the site at the same time - this night there were 69! I find these numbers incredible and thank everyone for visiting.

I receive an average of two e-mails every week from guys who have always wanted to build a street rod but didn't think they could do it until they visited this site. That's way cool! I'd like to picture myself as a disciple of street rodding but in reality I'm just showing the world that any idiot can build a car. They're all thinking, "if this moron can do it then I know I can do it!" :)

Seriously, it gives me warm fuzzies to know this site has helped others become interested in the hobby and it kind of freaks me out on the rare occasions that it's been helpful to a veteran rodder. Maintaining this website is a lot of work but in the end it's all of you that make it a pleasurable and worthwhile experience - thanks again!