Has anybody else noticed an increase in spam recently?

You would need a wire to connect your record player line out socket(assuming it has one) to your PC line in, or microphone socket. Then you need to use a sound recorder program to record each song, and then save the file to a .mp3... It's possible, it depends what sockets are on the record player.

My turntable is connected to my receiver/amp, which has RCA plugs for recording onto a cassette deck. I have RCA cables running from the "record" plugs on the receiver to my computer. At the computer end, I have a small adaptor (easily obtainable at Radio Shack) that accepts two male RCA plugs on one side, and has a stereo mini-plug on the other side. The stereo mini-plug plugs into the microphone plug of my computer.

I'll second Audacity as excellent free software to do the recording.

How do I get iTunes to stop looking for those files, without going through and manually deleting each entry? Because that's a pain in the neck and hard on my hands.

you can delete from within iTunes, and it asks "remove from iTunes or delete from HD". Just clicky delete. Of course that doesn't help you now, but, thought I'd mention.

The other option, I suppose, is "consolidating" my library but I'm worried about that because I don't like the way iTunes sorts things. It has a terrible time managing soundtracks and compilations, I've noticed.

If you do the "get info" there is a check box that ask if it is a compliation. Of course, then it sorts it in a compliation folder, which might not be where ya want it.

And Kevin, YES! I've noticed a LARGE increase in SPAM lately. Hate it!

Kevin, I think I saw some article somewhere about a recent increase in spam volume. The newest thing is sending a .GIF file with the spam ad in it, with a bunch of text that is designed to be random enough to not trigger the spam-blocking parser.

Yeah, I've noticed that for about 6 months, but over the last few days it seems to have gone crazy here. We block about 10,000 or so a day spam messages at work at the moment.

There's always more advertising during the holiday season... ;)

Oh, about that connecting the turntable to the computer thing -- my turntable is from the late 80s and my computer is from this year. I have a feeling the input/output stuff won't work -- are there adapters for that sort of thing?

Has anybody else noticed an increase in spam recently?

Err, sorry, this is my fault. All the spam in the world is being sent from my domain. Sorry about that.

are there adapters for that sort of thing?

Most likely.

Oh, about that connecting the turntable to the computer thing -- my turntable is from the late 80s and my computer is from this year. I have a feeling the input/output stuff won't work -- are there adapters for that sort of thing?

Read my post above, Sumi. Do you have a receiver you can plug the turntable into like how you would normally play a record? Does the receiver also have "record" and "play" rca jacks for connecting a tape deck? If so, you can use my method above.

The big thing when dealing with a phonograph is that you need some piece of gear with a Phono preamp in it. This can usually be a receiver like Jon is describing, though newer ones don't always have a phono input on them. You need to make sure that it is specifically a phono input for two reasons, one is that a turntable puts out a different level than other components and also because there is a equalization curve on those inputs that is needed. Basically certain frequencies are boosted or cut in the mastering process for vinyl and those must be compensated for with a specific EQ curve on the phono input. You can get a standalone phono preamp as well, here is a site with a selection of them.