No spam!
Unsolicited mass-emailed messages are known as spam. These messages clog your inbox and slow down internet traffic.
Have you ever wondered how people get your email address without you giving it to them?
If you post your address anywhere on the web, it becomes available to spammers.
This includes publishing your own website- if you include an email address on the site, expect to start receiving spam.
But there is a cure for this disease. If your webpage code is written in ascii character codes instead of text, most spammers won't see your email address.
You can translate your email address into ascii by typing it in the "Enter your HTML page code here" box at Fantomaster.com: Click here
You can also fight back against spammers by using a free spam-fighting service, such as this one found at SpamCop.net: Click here
Think before you forward!
You wouldn't send spam, would you? Of course not, you say, but wait a minute- did you know many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have
rules against spamming that also prohibit sending chain letters? Maybe you're only sending that interesting story or email petition on to a few of your nearest and dearest friends,
but then they'll send it on to everyone they know, and so on... Before you know it, that email is bouncing around the world.
If you get a message that says "forward this to everyone you know," there's a clue right there that the message is probably spam.
Check out these articles for more about chain emails:
"Chain EMail" from About.com
But what about a virus warning?
Mary Landesman has written an interesting piece at about.com on which is worse- the virus or the emails warning you against it.
For a benign virus, the sole purpose is to replicate itself by emailing copies out to everyone in your address book.
When you get a email about a virus warning, don't you automatically send it out to everyone you know? What, really, is the difference?
ALWAYS check the links in David Emery's Urban Legends area of About.com to see if you have received a hoax before you forward the message on to others.
A to Z listing of Virus Hoaxes
Now you need some good basic info on viruses. Click here. And subscribe to this free email newsletter: Internet Tourbus.
If you are using an Apple computer, or using a PC but not using a Microsoft email program, you have cut your risk of being affected by a virus substantially (but not completely to zero) because MOST (but not ALL) viruses take advantage of Microsoft programs running on a PC, simply because that is what most of us have.
If you want even more information about computer viruses, visit VMyths
