I’m sure you’ve seen spam that includes random bits of text, maybe out of novels or legal documents or lists of sayings. They do this to confuse filters that learn based on messages people classify as spam or non-spam. The idea is that if there’s enough garbage mixed in with the spam, these filters will see non-spam patterns in the spam — or just miss the spam patterns in all the noise — and be less effective.

Well, one just came across my desk that started with this highly appropriate phrase:

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom.

This was followed by sensationalist “best product” and “unbeatable” deals. (You know, the $50 copy of Windows XP that they’ll probably claim fell off a truck or something.)

In other words, the kind of post that just needs more salt.