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Two Tips to Handle “Those” Emails…
By DanB | December 1, 2006
How do you know when the email is true?
TNPC Newsletter
by Dan Butler
1 December, 2006
Hello
Winter has officially hit here. Thanksgiving day our temperature
was in the 80’s. Two days ago we were in the 70’s. Currently it
is 21 F! Amazing how fast things can change sometimes.
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This issue an interesting cell phone fact, two ways to deal with
those questionable forwarded emails, and a book review.
First go read last weeks issue at the blog:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?rXbFXSoM2M60PrVFpzF_JQ
Our drawing winners are: Ellen Helberg and Jeff Morgan. Their
prizes are already on the way. Details on the next drawing in
the next newsletter. Don’t miss it!
Dick Ainsworth, author of Typing Trainer at qwerty.com, and I
had an interesting conversation. I’m editing that now and will
send you details in a follow up note.
Last issue mentioned F-Secure for virus/spyware protection. At
least one of you had trouble getting the program installed. It
also turns out I had installed F-Prot and not F-Secure on my
personal system. I’ve tried both and like both. F-Prot was what
was handy at the time. Read up on both and choose what fits your
needs.
*Cell Phone Shuffle*
We have used Cingular for our cell phone service for several
years now. We are happy with the service and we get decent
reception, not to mention no roaming charges. Previously we used
Sprint and had roaming charges literally depending on which end
of the couch you sat on!
Recently, one of our phones was broken through an accident. I
was due for a free upgrade but wasn’t looking forward to signing
a two-year contract just to get another cell phone. I know about
the used cell phones out there and to watch out for locked
phones.
So I head to the local cell phone superstore - Wal-Mart. While
speaking with the representative she tells me I can buy a “GO”
phone. “GO” phones are pay as you go and I did not like that
option. Then, she told me to buy the “GO” phone but put my
existing SIM card in the phone and talk away. I did this and
have been very pleased with the results.
This process let me use a new phone, my current plan, and not
have to sign a new contract. I have spent a few dollars on
phones in the last while.
What about the phone? I chose the Motorola C139 for $19.95. It
isn’t the fanciest phone around. It does not have Internet,
ringtones, camera, or any of that. Just the way I like it. It is
just a phone. I do not need all the bells and whistles to talk
on a phone.
Most of the services offer phones you could use this way. Good
to know in case you find yourself suddenly needing a new phone.
*Two Tips for Dealing with Urban Legends*
Do your friends forward all sorts of things through your email?
Ours do as well. To start with most of the items have come
through our mail box more than once. Some dozens of times. We
have friends who think we need to see the latest alarming,
amusing, tear jerking, email to hit their inbox. I even
considered telling them I had changed my address then sending
them each others address as my new address so they could happily
forward the notes to each other.
In general we just ignore the emails here. Seeing who they are
from lets me know the person is still functioning even without a
person note. My filtering system catches most of the forwarded
emails anyway so they don’t clutter up my inbox.
Forwarded jokes and “feel good” stories are one thing. Urban
Legends are an entirely different matter. Urban Legends are
stories that sound good but aren’t really true. Many involve
warnings of one type or another. Some involve a kidnapped child
or other person in trouble. Some started out true then took on a
life of their own.
When someone sends me what may be an “urban legend” I direct
them to Snopes.com (My wife likes TruthorFiction.com) The sites
are thorough and they do give some history of the legends which
can be interesting.
How do you recognize an Urban Legend? One of the big tip offs is
the punch line that tries to guilt you into to passing the note
along. Something like “if you really care you’ll pass this on to
five people before lunch.” That alone is a good reason not to
forward the note to anybody! Trying to use social pressure to
obligate you. Don’t fall for it.
If you want to help your friend you can research the item on
Snopes then send a link back to the story. In my experience this
does not really help. You will receive more urban legends in the
future. It is better to send your friend a link so they can
research the article for themselves. Will they use them?
Probably not, but you never know.
One time I cc’d everyone on the friends list with the
information that the story was false and how to research it.
Result? No, change and some of the friends writing to tell me
“it could be true.” Well lots of things “could be true” but
that doesn’t make them true. Better to spend your time on actual
problems rather than all the imagined things out there.
Bottom line. Research any “stories” before passing them on as
true. It only takes a few seconds. At the very least take the
time to remove all the extra addresses before hitting forward.
You will help cut down on future spam and make the email shorter
for those that will actually read it.
–
© 2006 Dan Butler
Dan Butler is the Editor-in-Chief of TNPCNewsletter.com and the
author of the amazing new book that shows you how to save your
identity, get your email read, and put more time into the things
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Canned laughter, opera, fraternity hazing, G. Gordon Liddy, Jim
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One of the six techniques discussed is “Social Proof” and why it
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As you read this book your awareness of what’s happening around
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Copyright 2006 Dan Butler
All Rights Reserved.
ISSN: 1522-4422
Popularity: 20%
Topics: Communication, TNPC News |
One Response to “Two Tips to Handle “Those” Emails…”
Comments
« TNPC 4 Tips to Protect Your Data… | Home | Essential Perl 5 For Web Professionals »
December 24th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Just a comment about reading your site. The archived newsletters from 2004 are much easier to read than the 2006 ones. I don’t know whether it is the choice of typeface or some quirk of the HTML. Probably both. I adjust the typesize with Ctrl+Plus and Ctrl+Minus in Firefox, but when the contrast is satisfactory, the letters are too large, and lines won’t wrap.
No doubt part of the problem is bad eyesight. But could you please go back to the old style? Us older geeks would appreciate it. And.. it would improve our productivity.
(My warranty has not expired yet at 65, but I am “returned for repairs” more and more frequently.)