*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** For the week of October 7, 1996 This is the weekly newsletter for the community of Internet users on America Online. Come see what's new at keyword ANSWERMAN. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, scroll down to the end of this message for instructions. *This week, AnswerMan's Focus is Electronic Mail and Spam.* =*=*= IN THIS ISSUE =*=*= AnswerMan's Update -- Electronic Mail and Spam Upcoming Weekly Focus & Chats -- What's on Tap in AnswerMan? The End -- How to contact us or unsubscribe =*=*= WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK WITH ANSWERMAN =*=*= Go to keyword: For: ANSWERMAN Leave your Internet questions on the message board AM FOCUS Read the Beginner's Guide to Effective Email online AM CHAT Read transcripts of Internet chats that you missed AM GLOSSARY Get definitions for hundreds of Net jargon terms NET HELP Decode those cryptic Internet error messages Here's a direct link for AOL 3.0 users: Go to keyword AnswerMan. =*=*= ANSWERMAN'S UPDATE -- Electronic Mail and Spam =*=*= Greetings once again, Internauts. This week's AnswerMan focus is electronic mail, a tool that is central to the utility and power of the Internet. America Online users send and receive more than six million e-mail messages each and every day. If you don't use e-mail regularly, you're missing out on one of the Net's finest features. You can use e-mail to send a message to a friend or co-worker, subscribe to a free newsletter (like this one,) have the news, weather and sports delivered to you, and much more. Try this: send a message to instantwv@merc.com by picking COMPOSE MAIL from your MAIL meuu. In the subject line, enter the name of a city and state, such as "Denver, CO". Type anything in the message body then press "Send Now." Very soon (perhaps in less than two minutes,) you'll receive an e-mail message telling you the weather and forecast for that area. The service is called Instant WeatherVane -- it is a simple but effective example of the power of Internet e-mail. It's brought to you by the same folks who created Mercury Mail (which I talked about in issue 14.) Mercury Mail offers news, weather, snow, stocks, sports, and entertainment via e-mail, for free. (Go to http://www.merc.com for more info and to sign up for the service.) If you're confused about how to send an e-mail message to someone who uses another online service, then check out the InterNetwork Mail Guide web page, at http://www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/cgi-bin/inmgq.pl. Here you can enter the network you're sending from (that's AOL, pay attention! :) and the name of the destination network (the one that your associate uses) and you'll get simple instructions on how to send mail there (eg. from AOL to CompuServe). Once you've got someone to send mail to, and you know how to get it there, I highly recommend that you brush up on your E-mail "style." The Beginner's Guide to Effective Email by Kaitlin Duck Sherwood (available at keyword AM FOCUS) focuses on how to write better, clearer e-mail messages. The short document includes several handy tips on making your meaning shine through with e-mail, which can be very different from other forms of written communication. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Mercury Mail InterNetwork Mail Guide Go to Beginner's Guide to Effective Email AnswerMan Focus. -.-.- Bulk Mail, AKA Spam -.-.- Despite its power and utility, some would say that e-mail has a dark side: bulk e-mail, also known as "spamming" or (if you prefer) junk mail. One AnswerMan reader summed up the feelings of many after receiving a bevy of unwanted bulk e-mail messages: "How does this happen and how the heck do I make it stop? I have never responded to one of these trashy ads, yet I have beat my way past ten of them every time I log on. Do I have to cancel this account and sign up under a different screen name to be free of this drivel?" Well, I'm sorry to say this, but changing your screen name won't help. America Online doesn't sell or rent lists of e-mail addresses to anyone. But marketers can make lists of addresses themselves by trolling the service. Basically, if you have a member profile, post to Usenet, or use AOL chat rooms, mass marketers can find you. And once they know your screen name, the mail can start to come. Internet writer Geoff Duncan recently wrote a fantastic article called Those Bulk E-mail Blues for TidBITS magazine. He has graciously given permission for me to share the article with you. It was a bit too long to include in this newsletter, but it is available at keyword AM FOCUS. It covers the pros and cons of bulk e-mail, explains the "spam industry" and tells what you can do to protect yourself against bulk e-mail. If you are bothered by bulk e-mail (or just wondering about it) I highly recommend that you take the time to read it. Once again: go to keyword AM FOCUS and follow your nose. You know the drill: if you have any comments about the newsletter, please send them to me at answerman@aol.com -- if you have any questions about the Internet (you know you do!) take 'em to keyword ANSWERMAN. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Those Bulk E-mail Blues. AnswerMan Focus. =*=*= THE WEEKLY FOCUS & CHAT =*=*= Every week, AnswerMan focuses on a particular facet of using the Internet. Here's what's going on this week. Live chat on Sunday, October 13, 6PM ET: ARRRRGGHH! SPAM! It just makes you want to scream -- those incessant messages hawking long distance service, thigh cream, get-rich-quick schemes and all manner of other stuff you don't want. You don't want the messages, you didn't ask for them -- why are you getting them? How did they find you and how can you make it stop? This hour, AnswerMan cooks up some answers about "spam", unsolicited mass e-mail messages and Usenet posts. Learn to protect yourself! And, here are the Weekly Focus topics we'll be covering in the near future: Oct 14 - Oct 20: Comics & humor sites Oct 21 - Oct 27: Usenet Oct 28 - Nov 3: Music sites Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the AnswerMan Chat. AnswerMan Focus. =*=*= THE END =*=*= That's all for this week. Got comments about this newsletter? We want to hear them! Send 'em to AnswerMan. The e-mail address is "AnswerMan@aol.com". There are two easy ways to unsubscribe yourself from the AnswerMan mailing list. You can use either. #1: send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN #2: If you are a Windows AOL user -- Go to keyword ANSWERMAN Press the 'Internet Extra Newsletter' button Press 'Unsubscribe'. Here's a direct link to the unsubscribe page for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the unsubscribe page. Copyright 1996 by America Online. All rights reserved. Made from 100% recycled electrons.