NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, July 2002
Stop the Madness
by Judy Shulman, PC Users' Group, Jacksonville, FL


Among the most common complaints I get from people is how to control the amount of e-mail they get, and how to stop the spam madness. Believe it or not, both have many of the same remedies. So let's take a look at the various items that really get your ire up when it comes to the amount and type of e-mail.

It's Too Much -- Isn't it amazing how much e-mail you now receive on a daily basis. I know people who get 250 e-mails a day and are proud of it. It's like a badge of courage; people actually think that the amount of e- mails they get a day translates into importance. Well, in my world, 250 e- mails a day would translate into total and utter insanity, and what I call e-mail paralysis. I'm truly fortunate that I see no more than twenty e- mails a day pop into my main inbox. This I can manage.

I Have No Friends -- I know what you are thinking. She has no friends and that's why she doesn't get any e-mail. Take a look at your stack of e-mail and tell me how many of those are from friends and family and how many are spam? Of those from your friends, how many do you actually read? So how do I do it?

First, I make sure that all my friends do not propagate spam. I let them know as politely as possible that I would prefer that they not send me any non-verified threats At their first forward of a hoax, I will send them an e-mail explaining what hoaxes are all about, how to detect them and several Web sites they can use to verify that they are not sending a hoax. On their second infraction, I will repeat the message. On their third, I send Guido. — Just kidding.

I also make known (as I have to this group) that unless the e-mail they are forwarding makes them laugh uncontrollably, sob with abandon, or change their life completely, don't forward it to me. With these rules, I really get some powerful insight into how my friends' and family's minds work!

Rose-Colored Glasses -- I see the e-mail world through rose-colored glasses because I use a great feature called Filters. And they work just like a camera filter; they make my e-mail box look really good!

When I start getting e-mails from unsavory e-mail addresses or have rather rude subject lines, I set them up in MS Outlook to be deleted upon receipt. I never actually see them. I would actually love to give you instructions on how to set up filters. Unfortunately, there are too many versions out there and they keep changing how to do it. Your best bet is to look up, in Help, the words filter, spam or junk mail. And that should give you your step by step directions.

AOL is a little different from using something like Outlook Express or Eudora. AOL, because it is a content provider, has a feature called Parental Control and a Junk Mail feature. Additionally, in AOL you can forward any nefarious e-mails to TossSpam, and you will see most of your junk e-mail dwindle very quickly. Be consistent about forwarding and give it about two weeks to kick in.

One thing you must never do is reply to any of these, and for heaven's sake, don't buy anything from these spammers!

There is a great site called http://spam.abuse.net/ that tells you everything you want to know about spam. The section that is most helpful is Tips and help for regular users. For those of you who are over-whelmed with the amount of spam you get, this is a must-see site.

Many Mailboxes -- I also have a number of e-mail addresses. I have set up the usual (personal and business) and then I have set up a few more. I have one for newsletters, one for travel, one for using when I get on a site and they ask for an e-mail address and I don't want to give out my real one. How can you get multiple mailboxes? Well, there are lots of free e-mail services out there like Yahoo, Excite, Hotmail and iVillage. Or in AOL, you have up to seven screen names that you can use.

Fold-in What's Left -- The final tip that I have for you is to create multiple Inbox folders. You can do this in all the standard e-mail packages. I use multiple folders along with filtering options to organize my e-mail before I even see it.

For example: I have set up a folder called Newsletters. I then created a filter called -- you guessed it -- "Newsletters" that filters any e-mail that has the word newsletter in the subject line or from a specific e-mail address into that Newsletter folder. Voila -- instant filing!

This also helps me get organized. If I need to keep an e-mail that I have read, I can then move it to a different file folder so it does not clutter up my main inbox folder. So, I have a folder for each of my clients, I have a personal folder, and I have a PCUG folder.

See, I'm very organized and almost spam-free.

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