Killing web bugs using Privoxy
Really bright this morning. Amazed I don't wake up sooner.
Just figured out how to kill all the web bugs in HTML e-mail that MS Outlook 98 won't cut off. I use Privoxy (GREAT open-source sw!) and use this regular expression in a +block section:
/.*\?M=
These HTML e-mails have a pic that sends a code back - probably a hash of the e-mail address. So they can see who clicked on the damn thing. Now, I just zap those hashes (yes, I know - stopgap measure) and they won't know that my e-mail address is valid.
Update:
I noticed that the web bugs would have a hash of my e-mail address in them, so I set up a filter to catch the first 5 or so characters - works great!