spam

i’m going to try my best to write this post from the perspective that everyone knows exactly what i’m talking about and knows exactly how to remedy it. the only reason i would is because spam is so frequent, everyone who has ever connected to the internet has had an encounter with it.

well, fear not ybp’ers. i have a few tips and tricks.

1st : when you see spam in your email box, actually mark it as ’spam’. dont just delete it. most of the better email services have logic to parse the messages and who they’re from so that they don’t show up in your inbox. by deleting it, you’re not helping yourself.

2nd : get a ‘registration’ email address. if you sign up for offers, news sites, and anything that is not connected to your banks or credit report, use an alternative email address when registering. there are plenty of free email programs out there that let you create names on the fly. i personally use gmail and have 4 accounts. one is my main, one is for the blog, and two are my ‘registration’ ones.

think of it like telemarketers in a phone book

3rd : if you’re information is going to be published on a website, don’t put your full email address on it. there are tools called ’spiders’ that sift through thousands of web pages a day looking for email addresses to send spam to. think of it like telemarketers in a phone book. if they spot a phrase like ‘james.black@email.com’, they’ll put it on their list to spam. instead, have the website put your email (or even the link for that matter) in a format like ‘james {dot} black {at} email {dot} com’.

4th : don’t delete right away. if you’re just getting started with your spam filters, sometimes the system needs to know what emails you actually want to see. if you’re favorite magazine, user group, or friend sent you an email and you don’t see it, check your spam folder. once you mark it as ‘not spam’, the logic will not this and keep out of the box.

if any of the ybp’ers want a gmail address to use for free, just let me know! i have plenty of invites to dish out!