While scanning through my junk mail folder in Gmail, I noticed a new spam tactic: directly insulting the reader.

<img class=”snapshot” src=”/files/for_blog/20080609_insulting_spam.png” title=”Snapshot of my spam folder, with subject reading “You look really stupid kip.robinson”” alt=”Snapshot of my spam folder, with subject reading “You look really stupid kip.robinson”” />

I’m curious if this is effective.  I find it hard to believe that anyone would ever read mail that is obviously spam nowadays, but these people must be making money somehow or they’d stop sending this stuff.  My guess is that anything which stands out is likely to be effective in piquing readers’ curiosity, much like the “I love you” e-mail virus from several years ago.  But only if other spammers don’t copy the tactic.

While authorizing a third party to conduct a criminal background check (for my application to grad school), I noticed this:

I clicked the “FAQ” link, expecting “why do you only need to know the ethnicity of Michiganis?” to be the most frequently asked question.  But it was nowhere to be found.

Maybe it’s like how they ask you if you have had gay sex with a man from the Congo since 1976 before you can give blood.  If you answer “yes”, they just assume you have AIDS and throw your blood away without testing it.  Similarly, if you are from Michigan and select the wrong race*, you must be a sociopath.

*Note: I did not say what the “wrong” race is, lest everyone call me a racist.  But I think I know what you are already thinking. “Other”.  You filthy anti-otherite bigot.