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The World of Grandpa Don
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| Do
you hate Spam? |
Grandpa Don ... 2/21/04
The best way to send this
information to a friend
is to send them a link to this page.
http://www.plefka.net/computerSpam.htm#DoyouhateSpam? |
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I
hate Spam.
It
takes a lot of time to go through all the trash that lands in our mail
boxes, deleting them, hopeful that we didn't inadvertently throw away
something important. All that volume of email also taxes the capability
of the internet overloading email servers and slows things down.
But,
are we an unwitting contributor to the problem? When that warning of a
new virus lands in our mailbox ... usually from a trusted friend ... do
we immediately send it on to everyone we know and love? Of course we do!
We want to protect them from harm.
The
problem is that we have done the same thing that our friend did when he
sent it to us. We ASSUMED it was true. I recently received one
such message about a warning (reportedly) just issued that very day by
Microsoft. Except, I remembered seeing it before, more than a year
ago. Sure enough, after checking with HoaxBusters ( http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
) I found the warning was a hoax. Simply, ... NOT TRUE!
In
sending these bogus warnings we do several things. We flood the internet
with unneeded traffic, slowing down the system and over burdening
servers. We unnecessarily alarm our friends. We become unintentional spammers
and invite our friends to do the same.
So,
what should we do? We could check it out before sending it on. Or we
could simply ignore it. Even if it is true, ... is the warning
necessary?
Viruses
are transmitted when we open an infected attachment to an email. The
best defense is to NEVER ... EVER open an attachment to an email unless
we KNOW it was intentionally sent by a friend. All the emails
that I receive which are detected as infected by my anti-virus program
are emails that I would not open anyway. No warnings of new viruses are
necessary when we make it a firm rule not to open any mail or attachment
that is not recognized as intentionally sent by a trusted
source. We don't even need a virus protection program if we
follow this rule.
And
so, lets just tell our friends to follow that rule. AND ... ask them to PLEASE
identify themselves when they send emails with attachments. There are
viruses out there that can use your return address to propagate
themselves. (Spoofing) Always put something in the body of the message
which will let the recipient know it is really you who intentionally
sent it. That is one of the reasons I always include one of my canned
signatures in the body of my emails. (Any
email utility worth it's salt includes the ability to create
'signatures' which are easily inserted into our outgoing email) It's
the courteous thing to do. I would go so far to say that not to do so is
downright rude! After al., ... l if you care enough to send it,
... care enough to sign it.
(If that offends you, maybe it
should! ... But I say it with kind intentions.)
Always be
more kind than you need to be.
Shop on line and help the parish
at our OneCause Mall
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| If
you can't say anything good ... |
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The
old adage is that "If you cant' say anything good about someone,
don't say anything at all." Destroying the good name of a person or
corporation is slander and it is wrong.
What
has this to do with email, junk mail and spam?
Once
in a while I receive an email, usually with instructions to send it to
everyone I know, that maligns a company or corporation. Even if what is
said is true, it is wrong to forward the email for several reasons. This
contributes to the glut of email and is SPAM. It is
slander.
Most
often, it is not true. That makes it libel and illegal. It is a HOAX.
Some people think that the only way to demonstrate their influence and
power is to see how far and how long a lie can circulate on the
internet. They are small
people indeed.
There
is a place that you can visit which will list the various hoaxes and
give information about them. It also explains the reason that this kind
of email is to be avoided.
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
If
you are not sure if an email may be a hoax, go to this site and check it out. If
you don't want to take the time to do that, be safe and don't forward it to
anyone.
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"School
project"
I fell for it! |
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I fell for it and I tried to drag you into it. So if you haven't responded to "School project", DON'T.
I keep preaching against chain mail of any kind and then I get caught myself.
This is part of a message that I received today:
Comments: Neither an original idea nor a particularly good one. In the eyes of system administrators, chain letters like this are no different than spam. The terms of service of most ISPs prohibit them.
Teachers have been instigating "class project" chain letters of this ilk for the past several years, often coming to regret it when their email accounts are overwhelmed with responses, if not canceled, within a very short period of time.
The Internet can be a wonderful tool for education, but this is probably one of the least advisable ways to make use of it.
Original message
*******************************************************************************************
Hi, my name is (deleted). I am in 2nd grade at (deleted). I doing a Project for the District Science Fair to be held on February 7th. I am trying to see how long and how fast it takes e-mail to travel around the world in 3 weeks. I will be keeping track of how many e-mails I get back and from what towns, states and countries they are coming from. I am hoping you will help me with my project.
There are only 2 simple steps that will help me to track this e-mail:
1. Please send an e-mail to the following address: (deleted) . In the subject area of the email please include your town, state and country. You do not need to include your name. Please respond only one time.
2. Please forward this e-mail to everyone on your mailing list. I will be keeping track of how many responses I get, as well as the locations they are coming from.
Therefore, send them even to people in the same town. With my project I am trying to show how fast and how far information can travel on the internet in a 3 week period. If you receive this e-mail after February 1, 2004, please disregard it, since my project will be finished.
Thank you very much for helping me!
(Name deleted)
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Do Not Call List
More sinister than
plain old JUNK MAIL
Author unknown
Shared by Alex K |
(Continued from left) |
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This is to all of you
that signed up for the "do not call" law.
This week I received a card in the mail that looked all right-- It said
"vote for your favorite cola - Pepsi or Coke- and receive a
complementary 12 pack" It didn't look suspicious--but for some
reason I kept looking at it. THEN I FOUND IT !!
At the bottom of the card there is a VERY small statement. It is SO
small it is hard to read--but here is what it says----
"By completing this form,
you agree that sponsors and co-sponsors of this offer may telephone you
, even if your number is found on a do not call registry or list "
This REALLY upset me
and I just wanted all my friends to be aware of this way to get around
the "do not call" law !!
(Continued at right) |
Just
think how many people will send this in and their "do not
call" registry will be NO GOOD!!
The company's name is MARKET SOLUTION. Please send this to all your
friends that signed up for " do not call" . I think this is
just one of many that we will get in the future--so READ EVERYTHING
before you SIGN AND SEND !! ... AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IT.!!!!
Grandpa Don adds ...
So, watch your mail and I wouldn't be surprised to see a form of this
arriving in your email. Also, they try to appeal to our greed and when
we bite, they have us. If we bite, they also know that we are the kind
of sucker to whom they want to direct their telemarketing calls. I have
a rule which I follow. If it is free, I know it will cost me in the long
run and I refuse to accept it.
09/02/03 |
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Tips for handling Spam
From the Symantec web site. |
My Comments |
Do not respond to suspicious spammed emails. A
response only confirms the accuracy of your email address, and may
result in even more messages filling up your In-box.
If you are suspicious, do not click on the link asking to be taken off
the sender's list, as the senders often use that as a ploy to confirm
the recipient's address, resulting in even more spammed email.
Never submit your credit card details or other personal information to
non-secure Web sites (there should be a locked padlock icon that appears
in yellow, or in a yellow box, on the bottom bar of the order form Web
browser).
Use spam filtering or spam blocking software
Do not send your email address through chat rooms, instant message
services or Internet bulletin boards and newsgroups
Report suspicious online promotions of Symantec/Norton branded software
by e-mail to spamwatch@symantec.com. You may also connect with the local
contact of the Business Software Alliance (check the contacts list at
www.bsa.org). In the US, you can also file a complaint with the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) about a spam email that you have received. Visit
the FTC online to file a complaint, or forward the spam email to the FTC
for investigation.
Do not give out your primary email address for online registration or on
e-commerce sites. Have another free email address to use more publicly.
Do not forward chain email. This special type of email is considered
spam. It is unsolicited, intrusive and may clog up email servers and
slow down Internet traffic.
(See my comments at right) |
As you may know, I
do not do "chain mail". I have not, however considered it as
spam. Those who send it to me usually have the best intentions and very
often the message itself is worthwhile.
My problem with it
is that it promotes, ... or is a form of, ... superstition. "If you
send this to X people something good will happen." "If you
don't send this, something bad will happen." "If you send this
back to me, I will know you care for me." RUBISH!
If there is a
meaningful message, or even if it is just cute, I will send it on to
others. BUT, I will strip off the superstitious part. If something is
worth sending to my friends, I'll do it but I will not impose conditions
on them. I value their friendship too much. This does require a little
more time but there are two things to consider. I do not forward
everything. I try to be selective. Secondly, I am retired, use my
computer a lot and have the time to do this. Others do not have that
luxury or are so inclined.
And, ... if I want
my friends to have it, I do not force them to dig through a long series
of forwards in order to get to it. I value them enough to take the time
to select and send just the message. It is not difficult to do this.
As an alternative
to forwarding, I will place the message on one of my "Sharing"
pages. When I do that, I give credit to the person who sent it to me as
a way of thanking them for wanting to share it. It is also then
available to any visitor to this web site. |
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| Manage Junk
E-mail - Category: Microsoft
Outlook 2000 |
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Outlook 2000's built-in
filters can help cut down on the amount of unwanted junk e-mail that you
open. Select Inbox from the Outlook Bar, click the Organize button, and
select Junk E-Mail. You can set Outlook to color suspected junk
messages, or those with adult content, in one of many colors by clicking
the Turn On button for each option. You can also filter them to another
directory. |
For more tips on MS Outlook,
visit:
www.pcmag.com/category2/0,4148,2154,00.asp |
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What to do with
Spam.
Fried to a golden hue and served between two slices of
fresh bread .... OH!, I'm sorry, ... not that kind of Spam! ...
Here's a little tip for you. We all know that
spam is an incredible nuisance, and getting rid of it can be an enormous
pain in the...well, you know. What you may not have realized is that it
can also be a huge computer privacy and security risk.
The best thing you can do with spam is delete it.
That's right, don't even attempt to get off the spammer's list by using
the unsubscribe link or instructions you may find included. Why? Well for
one thing, you'll just confirm your address for spammers who e-mail to
randomly generated addresses, hoping for a response that will verify valid
addresses they can then add to their spam lists. Secondly, responding
could give a malicious hacker access to your PC.
Now go zap that spam.
From PC Magazine.
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Filter Your Email?
You can filter your email to keep out objectionable or
unwanted content. Sounds great! However, there is a price.
I send out a weekly notice of web site updates and for
a while, used the word "Hello" in the subject line. One person
wrote that their "filter" was sending my messages to the junk
file. How could that greeting be objectionable?
Filters are not all that smart. They often ignore
spaces and combine words. Then they search for imbedded words. When they
look at hello, they find 'hell' and say "this is
objectionable".
Filtering may be the answer for youngsters who should
not be exposed to everything out there on the internet. Some families have
a sign-on password for each member. They can have their own email account
and restricted access can be set for the youngest members.
I think the best filter (for me) is my own discretion
and the "DELETE" key. Filters just aren't smart enough to decide
what I want. They keep out too much and still manage to let garbage in.
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Stop WORMS
I have seen this in PC Computing and it was
also sent by email. It has been verified to work although it may not
stop every worm from being forwarded. At the least, you will be notified
that you received the worm and it is trying to execute.
Here's a computer trick that's really ingenious in its simplicity:
As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads
straight for your email address book and sends itself to there, thus
infecting all your friends and associates. This trick won't keep the virus
from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your
address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact that the
worm has gotten into your system. Here's what you do: first, open your
address book and click on 'new contact just as you would do if you were
adding a new friend to your list of email addresses.
In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in !000
(that's an exclamation mark followed by 3 zeros). In the window below
where it prompts you to enter the new email address, type in "WormAlert".
Then complete everything by clicking add, enter, OK, etc. (Your computer
may give you an error message saying that it is not a valid email address,
but you can override that and accept it anyway!)
Now, here's what you've done and why it works: the 'name' !000 will be
placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This will be where the
worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But when
it tries to send itself to 000, it will be undeliverable because of the
phony email address you entered (WormAlert). If the first attempt fails
(which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no further and
your friends will not be infected.
Here's the second great advantage of this method: if an email cannot be
delivered, you will be notified of this in your InBox almost immediately.
Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to
WormAlert could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the
worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it!
Please let your friends know about this and hopefully we can reduce the
number of worms and viruses being transmitted!
Thanks Alex for passing this on.
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You And Junk Email
Are you getting tons of junk email? If you only get a little, you may not
be aware of just how hard it is to get your email read by those who do.
When the stuff just keeps flying at you, the forefinger tends to hover
close to the Delete key. And most who are busy often accidentally delete a
well intended message. Here are some suggestions for making your email
stand out as legitimate.
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Use the following form for your email address: My
Name<me@email address>. This is what shows in the
"From" column in most email handlers. Anything resembling
ace4@yahoo.com is likely to be deleted very quickly. bk21@home.com
brings immediate deletion. Given a name, most will look a bit further.
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Use a short, meaningful subject. Never all caps, for
it's popular with spammers. "Need A Quick Look At My Site,"
will get my attention, even though only the first 14 characters are
displayed the way I have my email windows adjusted. Avoid words such
as "rich," "easy," "money," and all the
hot words spammers love. When I see "great,"
"free," or "special," I seldom look further.
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Address me by name, if you know it. If not, try,
"Hi!" "Dear Internet Marketer" is a loser every
time.
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Here's the biggie. Assuming the message passed
the above tests, most will read the first line. And maybe the second.
So just as on a good website, be sure the reason for the message is
crystal clear right quick. If a busy person is not drawn into the
second line from a very fast read of the first, your message is quite
likely to be trashed. Short sentences that get quickly to the point
will grab attention.
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Use straight text. More and more people are filtering
out HTML. Use it, and your message will never even be seen by some.
Microsoft Outlook is often delivered with the default set to HTML.
Change it to text, and you'll get better response.
Even if you don't get a lot of spam, take a look at what you do get
with the above ideas in mind. Then make sure your messages don't look
the same way. To delete or not delete, is a decision many make in less
than a second.
The
above is an article from "STAT News".You can receive articles
like this by sending a blank email to
join-stat@lyris.dundee.net
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