Testing didtheyreadit.com's Mail-Tracking Claims 400
iosdaemon writes "didtheyreadit.com claims to be able to track your sent email: "When, exactly, your email was opened. How long your email remained opened. Where, geographically, your email was viewed. DidTheyReadIt works with every single internet provider and e-mail account, including EarthLink, AOL, NetZero, Juno, Netscape, Hotmail, Yahoo, and much more." Read on for more.
"This appears to be snake oil. I put it to test just in case someone had come up with some magical code. I sent email from a Yahoo.com account through the service, to an account on a Linux Box. Running tcpdump, I received the email from my pop and let 5 minutes pass before opening it. I left the message open with the cursor in the text for another 5 minutes. Tcpdump revealed absolutely no questionable traffic. And, the service control panel indicated the email had not been viewed. Sending email to a Yahoo.com account results in a 'read' in the service CP. But I had the message open for 10 minutes, and it indicated a 2-minute read......" The company's "How it works" page explains the system to some degree; it involves redirecting all mail to be tracked through their servers by appending "didtheyreadit.com" to your recipient's email address. I doubt this is mutt-compatible ... Reader xrxzzy points out USAToday's article on the service as well.
Lets Implement a Similar System (Score:5, Funny)
This post is a joke so don't moderate down. Also I am aware that this wouldn't be really effective.
Why not do it yourself (Score:5, Funny)
Re:this is cool (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Definitely snake oil. (Score:5, Funny)
In Soviet Russia (Score:1, Funny)
*ducks*
Re:this is cool (Score:3, Funny)
I'm just guessing here, but, based upon my previous experiences with Outhouse, it probably downloads an activeX script from a site in Korea and promptly reboots. But then again, that's the default behavior.
I'M RICH!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Definitely snake oil. (Score:1, Funny)
mwahaha (Score:4, Funny)
Awesome! (Score:3, Funny)
heh - and he says he doesn't get it
Re:get your privacy back easily (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Lets Implement a Similar System (Score:5, Funny)
aww crap.
Re:Smoke and mirrors (Score:5, Funny)
It seems to be good, just an awful slow load (which no doubt is intentional to measure the length of your 'reading' of the e-mail).
Re:Single pixel gif? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Definitely snake oil. (Score:2, Funny)
Actually (Score:3, Funny)
im *really* *really* sorry for the asterix's (spelling)
Can I Short This Stock? (Score:1, Funny)
Say buhbye to your business model. When 98% of email readers no longer can be sniffed, your business is dead.
Can I short your stock?
It's a scam, and here's how I know (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How it 'works' (Score:3, Funny)
Ahem. I happen to have a BBA in Management. I know how to take screen shots under Windows. You just hit "printscreen" and paste, though I prefer to use a nifty little utility called "ScreenHunter" Of course the only time I need to take screenshots in windows is at work, since that's the only time I ever use windows. I'm typing this message in Mozilla, on a Linux box, running GNUStep (nee Window Maker) for my window manager, with xinerama running for dual displays. If someone sent me email through didtheyreadit it wouldn't track me because I use PINE as my MUA, running directly on the FreeBSD server that runs my domain, acerbic.org. The last time I took a screenshot on this setup I used The Gimp to capture VNC screens on an XP box I'd setup for a client to digitize images pulled off an analog MRI unit. I was documenting the system for him.
Don't assume that every business major out there is some noob that couldn't hack it in CS. I chose to major in business because I knew I could learn the tech stuff I wanted to on my own, but for the finer points of business and economics I wanted a formal education in. In fact my first job out of college was as a Unix SysAdmin for an ISP, after that I worked as IT manager for a cancer clinic. A couple of months ago I got out of hands on tech work to take a job as an account manager at an ASP - I wanted a change of pace.
Just like the mythical geek girls and liberty defending geek lawyers there exist geek 'suits' as well, some with more techie experience than most of the posters on