"But as well as being a spammer, I'm an habitual liar."

You're right, it is sad. I could have disguised this question in some way, but that I chose not to do this should demonstrate, to some extent, that I have nothing to hide. I would be more suspicious of such a posting where the opening sentence was "this isn't spam". In fact, it didn't even occur to me that anyone would think this.

I'm sorry I asked the question, really I am. The script works just fine anyway, so your mission to free the net from all that spam I'm sending out is doomed to failure ;-) I had hoped to get some further insights into a problem, and also that this might help others. I regret I've been forced to defend myself in this way.