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Spam
and How to Deal with it Easily. -
part 2 of 3
By Matt Western.
So
how do you create an inbox rule to filter out all the spam? Well
you may not be able to filter out all the spam, but you can grab
alot of it. Without going into all the specific steps of clicking
this and clicking that etc etc, this is what I've done. I've created
and inbox rule that filters email baed on what words are in the
emails subject field. If any of the words in the list appear in
the subject filed, POW they get directed straight into the deleted
items folder. How did I come up with my list of words you may
ask.
I
simply created a list of all the smutty, filthy disgusting and
dirty words I could think of, to them I add terms and words from
spam I receive, such as viagra, prescriptions, pharmacy, free,
degree etc. Then I add in words from topics I receive that just
annoy me.
As
an example, a while ago there was a lot of spam going around trying
to get people to buy some schmucko program that would allow you
to find out anything about anyone. It was called Detective something.
I added the word detective to my inbox rule list and all the spam
email I received about this program never made it into my inbox.
Thirdly
and this is a good thing to do, but carries a little bit of risk.
Have your email client delete or empty all the email from So inbox
rules are great things, I recommend you use them.
Thirdly,
go take a look for an option within your email client that allows
you to empty its' deleted items folder or trash can when you close
it down.
If
you've set up an inbox rule as I mentioned above and have it directing
all your spam into your deleted items / trash can folder, I'm
sure you won't want to keep it any longer, so you may as well
get rid of it straight away. This is also a good idea as it frees
up or makes available hard disk space that would only be consuimed
by all the spam and rubbish you download, as well as all the old
mail you no longer wish to keep.
But,
there is some risk involved here. Once you empty your deleted
items / trash can folder you can no longer get that email back.
It is gone forever. So what's the risk? Well you may find from
time to time that legitimate email (non spam or email that doesn't
contain any words you're filtering by inbox rules) somehow ends
up in your deleted items / trash can folder. This email will be
deleted as well when you close your email client.
Ok,
so there are three things we can do to help filter out spam and
protect us from it visually and none of them cost us a cent. If
you need help with any of these tasks, try using the help function
within your email client, also, many companies that produce email
software will have support discussion forums, you can also get
a load of help from other users of the software within these forums.
So
how can you provide your children with safe spam free email?
This
isn't too easy, it's even harder if your children are 'Net wise
and get their own free email account such as those offered by
Hotmail, Yahoo and others.
I
spent some time and looked into how I could let my kids use email
and not be spammed by pornography and everything else online.
I looked into products that could do this that and the other.
I set up my own email servers and tried various things. But the
best and simplest solution I came up with was this.
What
I came up with will work for anyone. It is a very simple solution
that again, will not cost you anything. In a nutshell, the solution
involves you receiving your childs email and checking it before
you pass it on to them.
Here
goes. Step one, implemenet the three suggestions I've mentioned
above, don't use any preview or auto preview option, create an
inbox rule to direct spam into the deleted items / trash can folder
and empty or permanently delete the contents of this folder upon
closing or exiting the program.
Step
two. Most ISP's these days offer you more than a single email
address. So, have the ISP (or do it yourself if you know how)
create email accounts for your children. Then have your ISP direct
all mail addressed to your childrens email accounts, into YOUR
email account.
Now
when you download your email, you will also be downloading your
childrens email. Also, you will be filtering the spam out of yours
and your childrens email. Now that you have downloaded and filtered
your email you can now either let your children read their mail
or print it out etc.
As
I mentioned earlier, this procedure wont work if your children
set up their own mail accounts as you will need to know their
email account details, whether their mail can in fact be downloaded
(not all the free email providers allow you to download your email)
and if your ISP will allow mail to be forwarded to your email
account from an outside source.
Spam
and How to deal with it Easily Part - 1
Spam and How to deal
with it Easily Part - 2
Spam and How to deal
with it Easily Part - 3
Article
© Matt Western - deTechnify.com
**********************************************************
Matt Western has been working in the electronics and IT areas
since 1983. These days he heads up deTechnify.com a web site aimed
at clearing away the technical haze surrounding computers computing
and the internet.
You can contact Matt via http://www.detechnify.com
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