Sunday, September 16, 2001
SWET Monthly Lecture Delves into E-mail
An interested and active audience met on June 28 to learn how to improve their e-mail technique and make their electronic correspondence safer and more efficient. SWET members Sako Eaton and Hugh Ashton shared the benefits of their vast experience in matters of e-mail with a well-organized and lively discussion of a wide range of e-mail topics and raised and answered dozens of questions, including some that many in attendance did not even know they had.
The free-wheeling give-and-take throughout the evening belied, yet complemented the great effort Eaton and Ashton had made to divide the time and the topics they would cover. They managed to elaborate on all the points listed in the many pages of useful printed handouts, although there was a bit of a rush at the end, owing to the inevitable limits of time, to get through it all.
Eaton began with a general explanation of how using filters and folders can make dealing with large quantities and different varieties of messages a manageable prospect and increase the efficiency of one’s time use. The filters, sets of rules such as sender’s name, subject keywords, and address (to an individual or to a mailing list), automatically sort incoming mail into defined groups. Each group has its own folder, a file containing messages. Other filters can similarly sort outgoing mail to retain needed information and clear out what is not needed. Eaton surprised virtually all in the audience by mentioning that he uses about 40 folders and 120 filters to handle his e-mail deliveries averaging 500 messages a day. He gave several examples of how to set up and customize one’s inbox.
A further segment of his presentation dealt with how to use different e-mail identities for different occasions and purposes. Identities, Eaton said, can be established simply by use of selected signature files, such as one for business clients, another for SWET correspondence, and a third (or none at all) for personal correspondence. Multiple e-mail accounts provide even greater separation of identities.
Ashton went into great detail on how to deal with and fight back against unsolicited and unwanted mail (“spam”) and measures available to protect your computer from virus attacks. He went on to describe advanced, yet relatively simple, methods to ensure privacy, including the use of encryption software. Both Eaton and Ashton emphasized the necessity of using good anti-virus programs and updating them regularly.
The increasing number of computer users whose machines are kept always online through cable modem or ASDL connections were strongly advised to avail themselves of anti-hacker protection through the use of hardware or software firewalls. These prevent other people from gaining control of your computer.
Many of the questions, most of which were raised during the presentation, dealt with software-specific issues and were answered privately after the meeting came to an official end. One general piece of advice that not everyone seemed to agree with or to be happy to hear was to avoid the use of HTML text in sending out e-mail. Not all systems are equipped to handle HTML text. The result may be almost undecipherable intermingling of format codes and text. Especially on the small screen of a palm-size unit or, worse yet, a cell phone, this makes HTML messages highly unwelcome. Other Internet etiquette (“netiquette”) points advocated by both speakers included using minimal quotes in mailing list replies and making new thread titles when the subject is substantially changed.
Another proffered piece of advice that all would do well to take to heart was regular backup of all important information, including address books, on removable media such as floppy disks and keeping the backups separated from the computer. When disposing of old computers, it is also necessary to take special measures for complete erasure of the information that nefarious scavengers could find on a hard disk, even including files that have been “deleted” but actually remain and could reveal such matters as credit card numbers, passwords, and confidential business information.
The handouts were among the best ever distributed at a SWET lecture. In addition to outlining all the subjects covered, they also listed a host of useful resources. Those who were unable to attend may still profit from this excellent presentation by securing copies of the handouts at: http://www.j-views.com/SWETinfo/SWETtalk.php3