Hot Tips for Hotmail and Other Email Programs

1
Hot Tips for Hotmailand Other Email Programs

• Suzanne Braun-McGeeInternet Training
  SpecialistINCOLSA

2
The First Email Computer

• In 1971, the first email was sent between the
  two
• machines shown in this photograph at BBN
• Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

3
Email Basics

• There are two basic types of email available to
  users of the Internet
• POP3 If you get online using an Internet
  Service Provider (ISP) via dial-up account, cable
  connection or satellite connection, you are
  provided at least one mail box for email with
  your account. These accounts are called POP3
  accounts. POP3 refers to the protocol or
  language your computer and the mail servers
  located at your ISP use to communicate with each
  other.
• To access your mail account, you need a mail
• client (an application or program used
• entirely to send and receive email).

4
Email Basics (cont.)

• Both of the most widely used Internet browsers,
  Netscape and Internet Explorer, have mail clients
  included with them.
• There are also stand alone email clients such as
  Eudora, which can be downloaded free from the
  Internet.
• The primary advantage of the POP3 email account
  is that it is usually not restrictive of the size
  of files which you can send or receive.
• Another advantage is that if you encounter a
• problem with your account, you normally have
• a live technical support person you can
  contact
• to help resolve the problem.
• The primary disadvantage to using POP3 mail
• is that most viruses are transmitted
  through
• this type of mail.

5
Email Basics (cont.)

• Web-based Email This type of account is
  available free from dozens of Internet services,
  such as Hotmail and Yahoo.
• An advantage of Web-based email is that filters
  are easy to use, cutting down your receipt of
  spam.
• Another advantage is that you can connect to your
  email account from any Internet connected
  computer anywhere in the world. (With a POP3
  account you usually have to be logged onto your
  ISP and set up the email client on the computer
  you are using to be able to send and receive
  email.)
• A huge advantage of Web-based email accounts
• is that many of them automatically prescan
  all
• your received attachments for viruses
  before you
• download them onto your computer. The main
  
• disadvantage of this type of account is the
  limited
• space you have in your mail box, and the
  limited
• size of the files you are allowed to send
  and receive.

6
Email Statistics

• According to International Data Corporation, by
  2005,
• 11.5 billion emails will be sent each day on
  average in
• the U.S. and 26.1 billion worldwide.
• Web-mail is booming
• 355 million accounts worldwide at the start of
  2004
• Two companies dominate the Web-mail market
• Microsofts MSN Hotmail makes up 37 percent of
  the total
• (187 million active accounts)
• Yahoo Mail makes up 30 percent of the total

7
Email Storage Stampede

• Google caused a stir in the Web mail arena this
  year with its introduction of Gmail Beta. At the
  time of Googles announcement of its new online
  mail service, leading services such as Yahoo Mail
  and MSN Hotmail were offering free e-mail
  accounts with one or two megabytes of storage,
  while Gmail boasted a whopping one gigabyte of
  storage for free.
• Yahoo was the first to respond to the competition
  by upping the storage maximum for its free
  service to 100 MB. It also increased attachment
  size to 10 MB.
• Microsoft followed suit by increasing storage in
  its free Hotmail service to 250 MB. It also
  increased attachment size to 10 MB.
• WallaMail from Israeli Web portal provider Walla
  Communications now offers its own free 1GB email
  service. Users are able to watch video
• clips in their in-boxes and attach a digital
  image to a
• message to add personal style.

8
Get More Out of Your Email

• Tips for taming your in-box and making your email
  life easier
• Filter the spam. Some Web-based email services
  (like Yahoo Mail and MSN Hotmail) and tools (like
  Microsoft Outlook or Qualcomm Eudora) come with
  spam filters built in. For the rest, you need
  programs like Sunbelt Softwares IHateSpam
  (http//www.sunbeltsoftware.com/product.cfm?id930
  ), Network Associates McAfee SpamKiller
  (http//us.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid156c
  id9903), or Symantecs Norton AntiSpam
  (http//www.symantec.com/antispam/).
• Keep your in-box clean. If you leave too many
  messages in your in-box, your email software will
  take forever to load and it may even crash.
  Delete the emails you dont need and save
• the important messages to folders organized
  by sender
• or topic. Also, dont forget to empty the
  trash
• periodically.

9
Get More Out of Your Email (cont.)

• Use Rules or Filters. Most email clients let you
  create rules or filters that scan messages as
  they come in, move them into folders, send
  automated responses, etc. Search your Help menu
  for instructions.
• Get Rid of the Pane. Outlook, Outlook Express 6,
  Eudora 6, and Netscape Mail 7 all open a preview
  pane by default, giving you a sneak peak at each
  message. If you preview a message for more than
  a few seconds, your software may mark it as read.
  Also, the message could be a piece
• of spam containing Web bugs (small bits of
  software code that alert the senders server that
  youve opened the message and are ready to
  receive more spam.)

10
Get More Out of Your Email (cont.)

• Back it up. If your software doesnt
  periodically archive email or let you save
  folders to a compressed file on your hard drive
  (and you dont want to manually copy them to your
  backup media), purchase a backup utility that
  does it automatically. WinGuides Softwares
  Email Saver Xe (http//www.winguides.com/software/
  display.php/50/) backs up your messages,
  attachments, contacts, message rules, and more.
• Create a list. If you send messages over and
  over to the same group of friends or co-workers,
  put them into a group or list so you can type
  just one word.

11
Get More Out of Your Email (cont.)

• Scan for Viruses. Dont open or launch file
  attachments you arent expecting to get (even if
  theyre from people you know). Internet worms
  spread by sending themselves to every address
  inside an email program as an attachment. Set
  your antivirus program to scan incoming and
  outgoing email to ward off infection.
• Watch the Size of Those Files. Most ISPs limit
  attachment size and will strip off anything too
  large. Store large files on the Web and tell
  people where to find them or pay for
• additional storage space from your email
  provider.

12
Get More Out of Your Email (cont.)

• Check the Web. You dont have to be at your PC
  to check your email. Many ISPs offer Web-mail
  options you can access from any Internet
  connected computer. You can also have your email
  forwarded to a paid Hotmail or Yahoo account.
  Also, you can use Mail2Web (http//www.mail2web.co
  m/), a site that serves up your
• POP or IMAP email for free.

13
Spam, spam, spam, spam

• The term spam comes from the Monty Python
  comedy sketch in which a group of Vikings in a
  restaurant start singing Spam, spam, spam, spam,
  lovely spam! Wonderful spam! They annoy the
  waiter who tells them to shut up. The meaning of
  the term simply refers to a repetitive act that
  annoys. This annoyance has developed into a
  crisis!
• 40 of all email is considered spam.
• 28 of email users reply to spam.
• Media Matrix predicts that the average American
  will receive at least 1,480 spam messages in
  2006.
• By 2007, spam will have increased by 63.
• 26 states have anti-spam laws.

14
Gone Phishin

• Phishing is when spam is used as a means to
  fish for the credentials that are necessary to
  access and manipulate financial accounts. (The
  email will ask the recipient for an account
  number and password with the explanation that
  their records need updating or a security
  procedure is being changed that requires
  confirming an account.)
• Like spam, email from phishers usually contains
  spoofed FROM or REPLY TO addresses to make the
  email look as though it came from a legitimate
  company.
• In addition to the spoofed credentials, the email
  is usually HTML based so the email bears the
  authentic trademarks, logos, graphics, and URLs
  of the spoofed company.
• Anyone can file a phishing report at
  www.antiphishing.org.

15
Tips for Dealing with Spam

• No amount of legislation and technology tricks
  can completely stop spamming. The perpetrators
  will only stop when theres no profit in it.
• Use a service like anonymizer (www.anonymizer.com)
  , which acts as a go-between, enabling you to
  send email without revealing your return address.
• Set up multiple accounts (use free accounts like
  Hotmail and Yahoo to identify yourself when
  filling out forms at online stores give your
  private email address only to close friends and
  business associates)
• If possible, do not use your real name in your
• email address (rather, choose some random
• combination of letters and numbers).

16
Tips for Dealing with Spam (cont.)

• 4. Use Web mail (Web-based email applications)
  to take
• a first look at your mail (from anywhere
  with a browser) and eliminate unwanted messages
  (then you can open
• email in Outlook, Eudora, etc.).
• Use Instant Messenger for exchanges with close
  friends and business associates that previously
  you would have done with email.
• Use a peer-to-peer file sharing service (like
  Kazaa available at http//www.kazaa.com/us/index.h
  tm) for exchanging files that you dont need to
  keep secret (instead of using email attachments).
• For exchanging files you need to protect, use
• password protected FTP.

17
Tips for Dealing with Spam (cont.)

• Use personal Web pages to deliver non-secret
  messages.
• Use a personal code in the subject line (one
• that you change each day) so they can know
• what messages are really from you.
• 10. Set your email filter so you only receive
  email from
• known addresses.
• 11. Switch to an ISP that pre-screens email for
  virus and
• spam, and that allows you to set your own
  email
• before the messages arrive at your
  computer.
• 12. Report spam to SpamCop - http//www.spamcop.ne
  t/ or the National Fraud Information Center -
  http//www.fraud.org/.

18
Humor Break
19
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 1
• Problem The list of email addresses is longer
  than the message.
• Solution When youre sending an email to more
  than one person, just hide the recipient list
  using your email applications Blind Copy (Bcc)
  feature. You can either address the message to
  yourself or leave the To field blank (if your
  mailer will let you). Then Bcc everyone else.

20
Solving General Email Problems (cont.)

• TIP 2
• Problem The forwarded messages you send are
  overloaded with excess baggage - distracting gt
  symbols, extra spaces, carriage returns, and
  bizarre word wrapping.
• Solution A quick cut and paste into eCleaner (a
  free utility available at http//www.pcworld.com/d
  ownloads/file_description/0,fid,6492,00.asp will
  rid the email of junk before you forward it on).

21
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 3
• Problem You have a file thats too large to
  attach to an email but you need to send it to
  someone.
• Solution If you need to send and receive large
  files, use znail (http//www.znail.com), a web
  site for file storing and sharing. You upload a
  file to znail using your browser, then send the
  recipient an email with a link for file
  retrieval.

22
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 4
• Problem Youve asked someone to remove you from
  their email list to no avail.
• Solution Use the Bounce Spam Mail utility to
  deliver a fake bounce message (http//www.pcworld.
  com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5402,00.asp).
  It looks authentic and the other person will
  think your email address is invalid.

23
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 5
• Problem You reply to email and include all the
  text of the original message which wastes
  bandwidth.
• Solution Most email clients include the
  original in replies but you can change the
  default by following the instructions in your
  email program. If you prefer to keep the
  original text in your reply by default, you can
  remove it on a case-by-case basis. In any email
  program, press Crtl-A to select all of the
  original text, then start typing your reply. The
  original text will disappear, replaced by your
  response.

24
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 6
• Problem You want to forward a URL to someone
  but the URL is very long.
• Solution Use SnipURL.com (http//snipurl.com/),
  a free site that trims long URLs to 13
  characters. Add the snipped Url to your email,
  and when the recipient clicks it, the site
  invisibly sends them to the lengthy link.

25
Solving General Email Problems

• TIP 7
• Problem You read mail on newsgroups but you want
  to keep prying eyes (bots that scoop up email
  addresses for spammers) from getting a usable
  email address.
• Solution You can either insert characters that
  legitimate
• users can remove, or you can physically
  break up your address so a bot cant read it.
  For example, change your email address in the
  Reply to field to something like
  SuzanneREMOVETHIS_at_incolsa.net, or break up
• your signature line like this
• Suzanne_at_incolsa.
• net

26
The Future of Email

• Voice Recognition (http//dir.yahoo.com/Business_a
  nd_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Computers/Softwar
  e/Voice_Recognition/)
• Email retrieval systems from public telephones
  (http//www.tccteleplex.com/services.htm)
• Incorporation of rich media (http//www.dynamicsdi
  rect.com/profile.asp)
• Greater personalization (http//www.incredimail.co
  m/english/splash.html)
• InterPlanetary Internet (http//www.ipnsig.org/hom
  e.htm)
• Send email to yourself or others at some time in
  the future (http//www.mailtothefuture.com/pub
  lic/logon?http//www.mailtothefuture.com/)
• FaceMail (email with virtual people)
  (www.lifefx.com/FaceOfTheInternet/introA.html)

27
The Future of Email (cont.)

• Incredimail http//www.incredimail.com/english/s
  plash.html

28
The Future of Email (cont.)

• LifeFX www.lifefx.com/FaceOfTheInternet/introA.h
  tml

29
The Future of Email (cont.)

• TCC Teleplex http//www.tccteleplex.com/services
  .htm

30
Resources

• The Email Guide -http//emailaddresses.com/email_g
  uide.htm
• Email Access via the Web - http//www.firstpr.com/
  au/web-mail/
• Which Free Web-mail Address is the One to Own? -
  http//reviews.cnet.com/4520-9236_7-5148351.html
• Hassle-Free E-Mail -http//www.pcworld.com/resourc
  e/printable/article/0,aid,114149,00.asp
• Electronic Mail - http//livinginternet.com/e/e.h
  tm
• Spam-Proof Your In-Box http//www.pcworld.com/re
  source/printable/article/0,aid,115885,00.asp
• Bigger Threats, Better Defense
  http//www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/
  0,183,115939,00.asp