dacs.doc electric

E-MAIL is by far the most popular use of the Internet, with more than 90% of the estimated 70
million people online using it at least occasionally. I use it daily, if not hourly, to communicate with my partners, customers, dealers, suppliers, and even my Mom. If you have an
Internet account (such as one from AOL, SNET, or North American Internet), you can send e-mail to anyone on the Internet, no matter where they are in the world.

I routinely send and receive e-mail to Europe, Asia, South America, Russia, and even Japan. I love it because I can answer it at any time, from almost anywhere, and I don’t have to play phone tag.

If you don’t have an Internet account, don’t worry. A great way to get started on the Internet is to use a service like Juno, a free service that enables virtually anyone with a computer and a modem to send and receive e-mail. (And you don’t have to have the latest and greatest models. A 386 with Windows 3.1 is adequate.)

The best way is to get the Juno disk is from a friend who has Internet access (www.juno.com). Or you can call Juno direct at (800) 654-JUNO, but they will charge you $8.82 if you order by phone. You will never have another bill from them because the service is totally free. But you will pay a price. Juno is subsidized by advertisers who pay for the service, so you’ll have to endure their ads to get and receive your mail. I recently set a friend of mine up on Juno, and although they had almost no computer experience, they were quickly sending and receiving e-mail from friends
in Connecticut and Lebanon.

If you already have an Internet account and are looking for a second e-mail address, there are many alternatives. You might want the second e-mail address for business or home use, or for getting information from newsgroups (see below). Some of the services claim to offer a “lifetime” e-mail address. Check out www.hotmail.com, www.netaddress.com, or even www.yahoo.com for a free second e-mail account. There’s even a list of free e-mail services if you search on “free e-mail” at www.yahoo.com. I’m considering using a Web-based e-mail service when I go to Hong Kong at the end of the year, I’ll just forward my e-mail to that account and read it using my brother-in-law’s account in Hong Kong. If you’re curious about how to forward your e-mail, it depends on what type of account you have, so be sure to ask your Internet service provider.

Mail filters

Filtering the mail you receive is important if you’re like my partner who gets hundreds (yes, I’ve seen it) of e-mail message every day. He subscribes to many different mailing lists, and uses e-mail to keep in touch with dozens of clients at a time. The filtering ability exists in almost every e-
mail program, including Eudora, Netscape Mail, and Microsoft Internet Mail (what I use).

To filter your mail, you must already have folders set up for the different types of mail you want to automatically file. I have folders called “humor,” “DACS,” “WebWork,” and many others. You sim-
ply tell your e-mail program that you want to put any message with “DACS” in the subject field into the folder called “DACS.” That’s it. If you get stuck, check with the online Help file in your e-mail
program.

Newsgroups

Newsgroups are another type of service that your Internet service provider might offer. North American Internet (800-952-INET) offers more than 28,000 different newsgroups, which are simply
mailing lists on a wide variety of topics, including politics, religion, sex, computers, jobs, life, practical jokes, and much more. Almost any topic you can think of has its own newsgroup, and even some topics your haven’t. You can use a newsgroup reader to see the messages, or you can subscribe to them. Check the instructions that came with your Internet account for information on how to access newsgroups.

Spam

This month Allen Ostergren, our underpaid and overworked DACS editor, asked me to write about unwanted e-mail, commonly known as “spam.” Unlike the pink, canned meat product, spam is sim-
ply an offer for a product or service that you did not request. And unlike an unwanted fax, which is illegal, spam is not a crime.

I get several unwanted messages a day, and although it only takes me a minute to delete them, it is still a pain. Unlike direct mail delivered by the Post Office (analog mail), which really doesn’t cost you anything to throw away, you are paying for your Internet connection. Some people argue that since it costs you money, spam should be illegal. Others argue that it really doesn’t cost you any-
thing, and provides businesses with a way to market goods and services. The debate rages on, and the battle is being fought in court. One solution is to filter your mail (as described above) and read only what you want.

I like to hear from people who read these columns, so feel free to send me mail at mikek@de- morgan.com. Just don’t try and sell me anything, otherwise you’ll get deleted!

A partial listing of free e-mail services:

• Bigfoot -- www.bigfoot.com
• Excite -- www.excite.com
• HotMail-- www.hotmail.com
• Juno -- www.juno.com
• Lycos E-mail -- www.lycos.com
• Yahoo E-mail -- www.yahoo.com

Note: All of the services above (except Juno) require a separate Internet account.