By
The
Crabby
Office
Lady
If
you
have
an
e-mail
address,
it's
just
about
impossible
for
you
to
eliminate
spam
completely.
However,
there
are
steps
you
can
take
to
reduce
that
pesky,
unsolicited
commercial
e-mail.
Here
are
my
10
favorite
methods
for
hitting
spam
where
it
hurts.
Compass
Technology
never
shares
your
e-mail
address
with
any
other
company
and
only
sends
e-mails
to
those
people
who
want
to
receive
information
that
relates
to
ACT!
software!
"Spam":
The
word
alone
strikes
terror
in
the
hearts
of
e-mail
users
(although
not
necessarily
in
lovers
of
the
processed
pork
luncheon
meat
by
the
same
name,
and
to
which
this
columnist
bears
no
ill
will).
It
has
no
manners,
knows
no
boundaries,
and
takes
no
prisoners.
It
makes
you
wring
your
hands
in
frustration,
shake
your
fist
with
rage,
and
wear
out
your
DELETE
key
and
finger.
What
is
spam?
No
one
I
talked
to
is
really
sure
what
the
letters
in
"spam"
stand
for:
- spam:
Stupid
Pointless
Annoying
Mail?
- spam:
Stymieing
Practice
of
Altering
Minds?
- spam:
Scrambled
Pieces
of
Asinine
Marketing?
Actually,
it
stands
for
nothing
—
it's
just
unsolicited
e-mail
(commercial
or
otherwise)
that
comes
to
your
Inbox
in
droves.
How
it
was
named
"spam"
is
debated
in
countless
newsgroups
and
Web
sites
on
that
oracle
of
misinformation
we
call
the
Internet.
In
other
words,
no
one
is
really
sure.
(Yes,
folks,
I'm
aware
of
the
Monty
Python
skit
but
the
connection
between
that
and
e-mail
seems
rather
coincidental.
Who
was
using
e-mail
then?).
How
can
I
avoid
spam?
While
you
can
spend
lots
of
your
hard-earned
cash
on
spam
blockers,
spam
butchers,
spam
SWAT
teams,
spam
sharpshooters,
and
spam
spammers,
you
can
also
take
a
few
steps
yourself
to
reduce
your
daily
spam
rations.
Ready?
Let's
get
crackin'.
Method
#1:
Use
Outlook
to
manage
junk
e-mailers
Now
that
you
have
Outlook
2003
on
your
desktop
(and
if
you
don't,
what
I'm
about
to
lay
out
for
you
might
just
get
you
on
your
feet,
out
the
door,
and
off
to
get
it),
you
may
have
noticed
a
folder
called
Junk
E-Mail.
(No,
we
didn't
prepopoulate
it
for
you
with
spam.)
This
new
folder
is
the
embodiment
of
the
Junk
E-mail
Filter
—
soon
to
be
your
new
best
friend.
This
filter
basically
scans
messages
before
they
get
to
your
Inbox
and
annoy
you.
It
decides
whether
a
message
is
junk
based
on
several
factors,
including
the
time
of
day
it
was
sent
and
the
content
of
the
message.
While
the
filter
doesn't
initially
single
out
any
particular
sender
or
type
of
message,
here
are
a
few
steps
you
can
take
to
customize
this
filter
to
be
your
very
spam
bodyguard:
- You
can
add
message
senders
to
the
Safe
Senders
List
so
that
their
messages
will
never
be
treated
as
junk
e-mail.
- Contacts
are
automatically
trusted
by
default,
so
messages
from
people
in
your
Contacts
folder
will
also
never
be
treated
as
junk
e-mail.
- You
can
configure
Outlook
to
only
accept
messages
from
the
Safe
Senders
List,
giving
you
total
control
over
which
messages
reach
your
Inbox.
- Conversely,
you
can
easily
block
messages
from
a
certain
e-mail
address
or
domain
name
by
adding
the
sender
to
the
Blocked
Senders
List.
- If
you
belong
to
a
mailing
list,
you
can
add
the
address
for
the
list
to
your
Safe
Recipients
List
so
that
messages
sent
to
the
mailing
list
will
not
be
treated
as
junk
e-mail.
- If
you
are
using
a
Microsoft
Exchange
Server
e-mail
account,
messages
from
within
your
organization
will
never
be
treated
as
junk
e-mail,
regardless
of
the
content
of
the
message.
(I
live
in
such
a
world,
and
I
want
to
take
this
opportunity
to
thank
all
my
coworkers
and
higher-ups
for
their
warm
regards,
pointed
remarks,
and
misplaced
aggression.)
By
default,
the
Junk
E-mail
Filter
is
set
to
a
low
setting
that
is
designed
to
catch
the
most
obvious
junk
e-mail.
Any
message
that
is
caught
by
the
filter
is
moved
to
a
special
Junk
E-mail
folder,
where
you
can
retrieve
or
review
it
at
a
later
time.
If
you
don't
have
Outlook
2003
installed
yet,
here
are
two
solutions
in
the
interim
(the
very
short
interim)
for
previous
versions
of
Outlook
or
Microsoft
Outlook
Express:
- Add
senders
to
the
junk
e-mail
list.
You
can
add
whole
domains
this
way,
too.
- Create
rules
that
can
recognize
spam,
such
as
a
rule
that
flags
or
deletes
e-mail
messages
with
certain
words
in
the
subject
line
or
body
of
the
message.
You
can
also
create
rules
to
color-code
these
messages
(instead
of
deleting
them
automatically),
so
that
they're
easily
recognizable
in
the
Inbox.
That
way,
if
your
Great-aunt
Bessie
sends
you
e-mail
that
for
some
reason
has
the
words
"HOT
HOT
HOT"
in
the
subject
line
(one
can
only
speculate
why:
pies?
Great-uncle
Sol?
Vinyl
seats
in
the
Buick?),
it
won't
get
deleted
until
you
see
it
first.
To
learn
how
to
add
senders
to
the
junk
mail
list
or
how
to
create
rules,
press
F1
for
Help
in
Outlook
2002,
Outlook
2000,
or
Outlook
Express.
Method
#2:
Avoid
replying
to
the
sender
When
you
reply
and
type
REMOVE
in
the
subject
line,
this
is
a
great
way
to
let
spammers
know
that
yes,
your
e-mail
address
is
up,
running,
and
being
used
right
now.
It's
like
waving
a
white
flag
that
says,
"I
read
unsolicited
e-mail.
Please
send
more."
The
best
way
to
"opt
out"
of
a
spammer's
mailing
list
is
to
pretend
you
never
received
the
e-mail
message.
Put
your
hands
over
your
ears
and
sing,
"La-la-la-la...I
can't
HEAR
you!"
(No
one
likes
to
be
ignored.)
Method
#3:
Alter
your
e-mail
address
when
you
post
it
You
might
post
your
e-mail
address
sometimes
to
a
newsgroup,
chat
room,
or
bulletin
board.
But
you
don't
have
to
post
it
correctly.
The
funky
term
for
this
is
"munging"
your
address.
This
means
adding
a
character,
number,
or
symbol
(or
two)
that
has
to
be
taken
out
for
your
address
to
work
(for
example,
"cr@bby@mi(rosft.com").
It
really
throws
those
automatic
"address
harvesters"
(yikes,
what
a
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