Email Management If you utilize a computer at home or work it is likely that
you use email. Email is an electronic message that is sent from one computer to
another following a specific protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP). As
email's popularity has grown so too have the inherent problems with email.
In order to send email you must have the exact spelling of the email address.
If there are any typographical errors in the recipient's email address then an unintended
recipient could receive the email message. When creating an email address avoid
characters that cause confusion, like the number 1 (one) and the letter l (el),
computer fonts often cause those two characters to have similar appearances. Try
to create an email address that cannot easily be misspelled.
As email has become a popular communication medium the email address should not
be too long or complicated, but easily said in a phone message. Choose an email
address that is easy for others to remember, as a pen is not always handy.
Unfortunately spam, unsolicited email has become common place, though many countries
are taking action to make spamming illegal, these measures will unlikely have any
short term effect on your email inbox. Many email clients that are used to read
and respond to email messages, include basic filtering options that will sort your
email messages into folders, based on rules that you define. Email messages can
typically be stored and filtered by sender, subject and contents. There are also
a number of 3rd party tools available for limiting the amount of spam received.
Spam filters typically use different filtering technologies. When evaluating whether
a spam solution fits your needs consider sorting filtered email into a specific
mailbox for review prior to deletion. This will prevent any important messages from
being unintentionally deleted.
As with almost anything, the best defense is a good offense. It is best not to
post your email address in public forums, where spammers can harvest it. If you
have a website consider typing out the email address: 'name at domain.com', without
using the "@" symbol, as this will prevent the address from being abused by email
harvesting bots. Another alternative is to provide a contact form rather than an
email address.
Resources: Email Clients - http://www.messaging-software.net/e-mail-client-software.htm
Spam Filters - http://www.email-software.org/spam-filter-software.htm
