How many of you have been thought to address the recipient of your letter with "Dear So-and-So"?
Do schools still teach that today?

When examining the header of a recent email, I found the following:

X-Spam-Report: 
 *  1.7 DEAR_SOMETHING BODY: Contains 'Dear (something)'

That was inserted by some spam filter software. That software assigns points to various attributes of an email, and if all the points add up to 7.0 or greater, the email is considered spam. Having a "Dear So-and-So" line in your email contributes 1.7 points towards the 7.0 points needed to classify your email as spam.

Apparently addressing your recipient with "Dear so-and-so" is now considered a sign of spam.

But So and So = SOB or it did when I was a youngster.

What happened to "To Whom It May Concern"?

That's what I remember being the polite default form of address to a stranger.

We wrote a class letter to another teacher last week and addressed it “Dear ……………”. They suggested it. Grade 1/2.

quote:

"To Whom It May Concern"

I think at some point this expression fell out of favor. It sounds cold to many people.

When I write something (like a recommendation letter) and I don't know how to address it to, I generally find an alternative to "whom it may concern" -- for example, I'll write "Dear Members of the Selection Committee" or something.

I teach a professional development class for first year students, and I tell them that they should always try to find out the name of the person they're emailing, and always start with something like "Dear Professor LastName"

I wonder how email etiquette and sensibilities about what's polite or appropriate is changing with younger generations...

Just to be clear, the spam filter software looks for a “Dear (any name)” line and assigns it 1.7 points, not specifically “Dear So-and-So.”

If I were to send an email to Shiro and I start that email with “Dear Shiro,” the spam filter software will assign that attribute 1.7 points towards its spam rating.

That just seems ridiculous to me. What filter is it?

I wonder what the other factors that get points are.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

I wonder what the other factors that get points are.

This is an example using an email where the sender offers to split a $10.5 million inheritance with me:

X-Spam-Score: 11.4
X-Spam-Report: *
  1.7 DEAR_SOMETHING BODY: Contains 'Dear (something)' *
  0.1 TT_MONEY BODY: Talks about money * -2.0 TT_FREQUENT_SENDING_DOMAIN Envelope sender domain name is *
      frequently seen *
  3.0 HASHBL_EMAIL_BLACK Message contains email address found on the *
      EBL Black list (tunkaradesirejoseph[at]gmail.com -> 127.0.0.2) *
  0.1 DKIM_SIGNED Message has a DKIM or DK signature, not necessarily *
       valid * -0.1 DKIM_VALID Message has at least one valid DKIM or DK signature * -0.1 DKIM_VALID_EF Message has a valid DKIM or DK signature from *
      envelope-from domain *
  2.0 PYZOR_CHECK Listed in Pyzor *
      (https://pyzor.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) *
  0.1 TT_UNDISCLOSED To: undisclosed-recipients *
  1.4 FSL_BULK_SIG Bulk signature with no Unsubscribe *
  3.0 ADVANCE_FEE_5_NEW_MONEY Advance Fee fraud and lots of money *
  2.2 UNDISC_MONEY Undisclosed recipients + money/fraud signs

it’s cool to see those details!

What is DKIM? Dark something?

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

What is DKIM? Dark something?

See https://securityintelligence.c...iltering-mechanisms/

I use gmail. About half of the e-mails that I got from this fiasco:
http://well-temperedforum.grou...0004433/m/9893931797

...went into my spam folder.

Sadly, about half of the e-mails that go into my spam folder are not spam.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
But So and So = SOB or it did when I was a youngster.

me, too