It's hard to believe it's come to this, but only 1 or 2 out of 20 email messages is now not spam, according to Barracuda Networks, which offers spam filtering services and which analyzed a billion messages to arrive at that figure.

The speed with which this figure is rising is astonishing. In 2001, Barracuda says spam accounted for only 5 percent of all mail, hitting 70 percent by 2004, 80 to 85 percent by 2005, and 85 to 90 percent by 2006. While spam won't actually hit 100 percent next year, it could certainly be close. (For its part, Symantec pegs the 2007 spam figure at 71 percent, up from 56 percent last year.)

Whichever figure is right doesn't really matter: The truth is that spam is getting worse, and fast, no matter how many laws are passed outlawing the nuisance. (The linked story also notes that over half of business customers consider spam the "worst form of junk advertising" there is. My vote: Junk faxes.)

Another trend I've been seeing: Spam filters' false positives for good messages are getting worse, too, but at the same time you can't really live without the filter, can you? The takeaway: Check your spam folders regularly, and train your filter as accurately as you can to reduce false positives down the line.

LINK: Report: 95 percent of all e-mail has that spammy smell