Electronic Mail
Electronic Mail, aka E-mail, is a way of sending a private
message to a specific mail address. Only the recipient and the sender will see
it. It can be of any length, and you can send and receive as many messages as
you like without any additional cost. E-mail is usually almost instantaneous,
unless the recipient's mail server only picks up the mail at scheduled times.
This is common for people who use e-mail though a BBS (Bulletin Board System) or
some online services.
"Snail Mail" is the affectionate buzzword for
mail sent through the regular post office.
Quoting Back
It is considered good Netiquette
to "quote back" the significant parts of a person's e-mail,
when replying to that person. This way they don't forget what was being
discussed, especially if your reply is no more than a "yes" or a
"no". You may choose to quote a little, reply a little, quote a
little, etc., or you may wish to put all of your reply above or below the quoted
text. Whichever you pick, be sure to only quote back those parts which are
relevant to your reply. Not only does this save bandwidth, and keep internet
costs down, but it means there will be less text for the other person to scan
through.
Netscape Navigator's built-in e-mail will automatically
quote back. Other e-mail software will quote back automatically or if you
activate this setting. It may also give you the option of whether to
"comment out". This means that a character will be placed in front of
each line which is being quoted, and this will make it easier for the reader to
see which text is new. For example:
> How about we get together on Saturday? I could
> run by the video store and pick up a movie.
Could we make it Friday? Then we'd have a better
chance of getting a new release.
The above example shows the first two lines are
commented-out with a "greater-than" sign. The first two lines were
written by one person, the second two lines by the person replying. Sound
confusing? Don't worry - you'll get used to seeing it and it will all fall into
place!
Carbon Copy
The "CC:" option works just as with paper
correspondence. If you wish to send a copy of your e-mail to another person
other than the main recipient, enter the address under "CC:". You can
also make distribution lists, which send mail to everyone you specify in a list,
all at once. You can also do blind carbon copies, and you can enter more than
one address on a line. See your e-mail software instructions for specific
details.
Attachments
An attachment is simply any kind of computer file which is
attached to an e-mail message. Whether it's an image file, a spreadsheet file,
your resume, or something else, you can send and receive it. Your e-mail
software will offer specific instructions. Usually you simply select the
"attachment" option, and if you are sending an attachment it will ask
where the file exists on your computer. After you tell it, it will make a copy
to send through the mail. Nothing on your original file changes. Receiving
attached files is often just as simple, but see the help offered with your
software to learn about how to deal with MIME and UUencoded files.
Return Receipt
Some e-mail software allows you to request a "Return
Receipt". This is a message which tells you that your e-mail successfully
made it to the mail server of the person you were writing. However, some
Internet Service Providers do not send receipts, and a receipt is not a
guarantee that the message was retrieved or read by the individual to whom it is
addressed.
Sending Unsolicted Commercial E-Mail
This is a serious breach of Netiquette
and will usually cause a number of problems, the least of which is action
against your account. One reason for this is that some people must pay per
e-mail message, or pay for their connect time, and cannot be expected to pay for
advertising in their mailbox.
If you are interested in getting the word out about a
product or service you offer, the internet is the place to be. Two options are
building a web site, or posting to a newsgroup. Both will reach a wide number of
people who will probably be looking for you as much as you are for them. For
details about maintaining a commercial web site on ActionNet, please see our Web
Services section. More information on posting to newsgroups can be
found in the News
section of this guide.
Receiving Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail
If you receive commercial e-mail which you did not request,
please forward it to the postmaster of the site where the mail originates. If
the mail comes from person@somewhere.com, forward the mail to postmaster@somewhere.com.
Please note that most 'mail spammers' forge their headers so any messages
sent to them or to the postmaster of the domain will not be received or will go
to an uninvolved third party. Use your e-mail program's option to reveal all
headers and choose the first header in the list. This is not a guarantee,
but it will help should you choose to complain. Also you may wish to use a
database such as Yahoo to find web
sites where you may file complaints.
Anonymous e-mail is available free of charge from several
services. The most reputable one, anon.penet.fi, has unfortunately closed.
ActionNet cannot recommend a suitable substitute yet, but
doing a search on keywords 'anonymous remailer' with a search
engine, or reading newsgroups such as alt.anonymous
, will lead you to information on which services are the most popular
and how they are used. Although anonymous servers are abused by some people,
they do offer an option for people who wish to speak candidly about personal
issues, but keep their indentities private.
A mailing list is a group of people who correspond via
e-mail, usually on a specified topic. There are two addresses: one to which
commands are sent (to subscribe, unsubscribe, change the way you receive the
messages), and the other which will deliver your message to the group. Mailing
lists are usually like small newsgroups,
and some mailing lists are mirrored in newsgroup form. Mailing lists tend to be
free of charge.
A bounced mail message is one which comes back to you with
an error message, usually explaining why the message wasn't delivered. The four
most common reasons are that you typed the address incorrectly, that the address
no longer exists, that the remote mail server was down (the error message will
probably tell you not to resend, since the machine will keep trying), or that
the recipient's mailbox is full. Full mailboxes are generally only a problem
with addresses at online services. If you encounter this error you will have to
try again after the individual or the online service has deleted some of their
mail.
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