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Knowledge is power
Using proper e-mail etiquette is essential to those
who value privacy and convenience with their e-mail. E-mail is a powerful mode
of communication and it's easy to overstep boundaries when they have never been
spelled out. We hope to have cleared up any issues regarding etiquette. Now
everyone can go forth and e-mail with confidence!
You've always wondered...
"Am I going about this in the right way?" "John just sent
me this virus warning.. is it real?" "How many people should I
send this joke to?" We have all asked ourselves these questions or
similar queries when send e-mail to friends, family, and coworkers - but have
never really been sure of the answer.
How many of us really have a good grasp on what "good etiquette"
really is?
Not many. And this is said without any tone of disrespect; only
honesty. We're all new to the Internet in some aspect, and most people
have never had someone explain to them what is proper and what isn't. This
is what we hope to accomplish. : )
How many times should a message be forwarded?
Not more than once. It's alright to send a message on to someone else
after you've read it, but not to use the forward feature in your mail program
without first editing the message.
The reason: Most e-mail programs have a feature that puts a '>'
before each line to show that is has been forwarded. Thus every time a
message is forwarded after you initially receive it, another '>' is placed
before each line. Many of you already know this because you received
messages that look something like this:
>>>>>>>>Two
cows and a pig walk into a bar. The
>>>>>>>>bartender,
>>>>>>>>>>>who
>>>>>>>>happens to be a chicken, looks at the pig
>>>>>>>>>>and begins
>>>>>>>>to comment on how udderly ridiculous his
>>>>>>>>friends
>>>>>>>>>>>are.
When you see a message like this, it has been forwarded several times.
All of the greater-than signs( '>' ) signify each time this joke has
been forwarded. The proper thing to do before you send this wonderful
joke off to other people on your list is to edit the greater-than signs out of
the message... this will make it much easier to read!
The Importance of Bcc
Bcc is Blind Carbon Copy. This feature allows you to send a message
to more than one address WITHOUT disclosing any of them. This is
VERY important. When people put multiple e-mail addresses in the
"To:" or "Cc:" fields every address is revealed.. allowing
EVERYONE TO SEE EVERY ADDRESS. Many people see this as an invasion of
privacy.. and they are right to assume so. The sad truth of the
matter is that people will often take the e-mail addresses from these mass
mailings and use them for the purpose of sending Spam. Spam is
unsolicited bulk e-mail... otherwise known as junk mail. Here is
an example of the proper use of Bcc:
To:
jbloggs@intergate.bc.ca
From: Joe Bloggs <jbloggs@intergate.bc.ca>
Cc:
Bcc: john_doe@nowhere.com, gi_jane@nothinghere.net, someperson@notreal.ca,
jackthedipper@justkidding.com, sneakyjim@ilovetospam.com
Subject: Cow Jokes!
What our friend Joe has done is put his own address
in the 'To:' field of the address and all of his friends in the 'Bcc:' field.
This means that when the Cow Jokes reach his friends, they won't know who
else it was sent to. This means that Sneaky Jim (the guy who has been
secretly selling these addresses or using them to send bulk mail) won't be able
to get at them. Now, I know this seems like a rather elementary example,
but it holds more truth than you can realize.
My e-mail program doesn't show Bcc!
There are some mail programs (mainly the older ones) that either don't show
Bcc as an option or just don't have it. Here are the two most common:
Netscape Mail 3.0: You're in luck! This program HAS Bcc!
It's hidden under the "view" option. Click on "View"
and select "Bcc:" to uncover your secret security weapon!
Internet Mail 3.0: Sorry to have to break it to you... but
when the folks at Microsoft were designing this little program, they didn't have
much foresight. This program has NO Bcc function. But don't despair!
There are newer versions of this program that have this necessary tool at Microsoft's
Web Site.
Just as a side note.. if you're sent a
message that's been forwarded AND has a long list of e-mail addresses, it's best
if you trim the extra e-mail addresses off as well.
AFAICT
- As Far As I Can Tell
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AFK - Away From Keyboard
AIUI - As I Understand It
AOL - America Online
ATM - At The Moment
B2W - Back To Work
BAK - Back At Keyboard
BBFN - Bye Bye For Now
BBL - Be Back Later
BFD - Big F***ing deal!!!
BFN - Bye, For Now
BG (Usually in Brackets) - Big Grin
BRB - be right back
BRH - be right here
BTA - But Then Again
BTDT - Been There, Done That
BTFM - Beats the Funk out of Me
BTSOOM - Beats the s*** out of me
BTW - By The Way
BWG - Big Wide Grin
CIS - CompuServe Information Service
CP - Copy protection
CU L8R - See You Later
CYA - See ya
CYAIH - Cya in hell.
EG (Usually in brackets) - Evil Grin EOF - End Of File
EOS - End of Story.
F2F - Face to Face
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
FCS - For Christ's Sake
FDROTFL - Falling Down Rolling On The Floor Laughing
FM - Fine Magic
FOAF - Friend Of A Friend
FOTCL - Falling Off The Chair Laughing
FRO - F*** right off!!!
FUA - Frequently Used Acronyms
FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition
FWIT - For what it's worth
FWIW - For What It's Worth
FYEO - For Your Eyes Only
FYI - For Your Information
G (Usually in brackets) - Grin
GAL - Get a life!
GD&WVVF - Grinning, ducking, and walking very, very fast
GIYODS - Get It Your Own Damn Self
GMTA - Great Minds Think Alike
GR&D - Grinning running & ducking
HAND - Have a nice day
HTH - Hope this helps.
IAE - In any event
IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer, also IANA... such as CPA
ICOCBW - I Could, Of Course, Be Wrong
IIRC - If I Remember Correctly
IITYWTMWYBMAD - If I Tell You What This Means Will You Buy Me A Drink?
ILY - I Love You
IMCO - In my considered opinion
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO - In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO - In My Opinion
IMPO - In my pious opinion
IMSHO - In My So Humble Opinion
IOHO - In Our Humble Opinion
IOW - In Other Words
IRL - In Real Life
ISP - Internet Service Provider
ISTM - It Seems To Me
ITC - It's the coolest
ITILY - I Think I Love You
IUD - Insert Usual Disclaimers
IYDM - If You Don't Mind
IYDMMA - If You Don't Mind Me Asking
IYKWIM - If You Know What I Mean
IYKWIMAITYD - If You Know What I Mean And I Think You Do
IYSWIM - If You See What I Mean
JFYI - Just for your information
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
KWIM - Know What I Mean?
LMHO - Laughing my head off
LOL - Laughing Out Loud
LOTI - Laughing On The Inside
LZ - Loser!
NBD - No Big Deal
NFW - No F***ing Way
NJTH - Not Just Thinking Here
NOYB - None Of Your Business
NP - No Problem
NRN - No Reply Necessary
NTYMI - Now That You Mention It
OIC - Oh, I See
OTFM - Only the Facts, Ma'am
OTL - Out To Lunch
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OTOH -
On The Other Hand
PB - Potty Break
PEKUSH - Press Every Key Until Something Happens
PITA - Pain In The A**
PMFJI - Pardon Me For Jumping In
PMJI - Pardon My Jumping In
PPL - People
PTMM - Please Tell Me More
PWYP - Practice What You Preach
R - Are
RIP - Requiescat In Pace = Rest In Peace
ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing
ROFLASTC - Rolling On The Floor Laughing And Ccaring The Cat
ROFLMAO - Rolling On the Floor Laughing My A** Off
ROFLMBO - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Butt Off
ROFLPMP - Rolling On The floor laughing, peeing my pants!
ROTM - Right On The Money
RS - Real soon
RSN - Real Soon Now [which may be a long time coming]
RSVP - Répondez S'il Vous Plaît
RTFM - Read The F***ing Manual
RTFMSH - Read The F**ing Manual S*** Head
RUMF? - aRe yoU a Male or Female?
SHIT - Sure Happy It's Thursday
SIG - Special Interest Group
SITD - Still in the dark
SNAFU - Situation Normal, All F***ed Up
SOE - Silly/Stupid Operator Error
SOL - Sooner or Later...
SOS - Same Old S***
SOS - Save Our Souls
SWINGO - She Who Must Be Obeyed (The Wife)
TAFN - That's All For Now
TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
TCOY - Take Ccare Of Yourself
TIA - Thanks In Advance (also AtDhVaAnNkCsE)
TIC - Tongue In Cheek
TLA - Three Letter Acronym (such as this)
TPTB - The Powers That Be
TTBOMK - To The Best Of My Knowledge
TTFN - Ta Ta For Now
TTYL - Talk To You Later
TVM - Thanks Very Much
TWF - That was fun
U - You
VBG (Usually in brackets) - Very Big Grin
WAMKSAM - Why Are You Kids Staring At Me?
WB - Welcome Back
WBS - Write Back Soon
WGAS - Who gives a S***!?!?
WRT - With Respect To; concerning
WTF - What/Where/Who The F***
WTG - Way To Go
WYSIWYAG - What You See Is What You Almost Get
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get
WYWH - Wish You Were Here
XXX - Three/many-many kisses (girl talking)
YAFIYGI - You Asked For It, You Got It
YDAGWYW - You Don't Always Get What You Want
YGWYPF - You Get What You Pay For
YHM - You Have Mail
YMBJ - You must be joking
YMMV - Your Mileage may vary
YSWUS - Yea, Sure Whatever You Say!
(:-) Bald
(:-D Big Mouth
:-! Smoker
:-# Kiss
:-$ Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
:-( Sad
:'-( Crying
:-) 8 Dolly Parton
:-) Happy
:-{) Moustache
:-| Frown
:-| Disgusted
:-o Surprised
:-X My Lips Are Sealed
;-) Wink
;-@ Swearing / Angry
[:-) Wearing A Walkman
|-o Very Surprised
=:-) Dickhead
===:-D Don King
143 I Love You
3:-o Cow
8-) Wearing Glasses |
Thieves may be exploiting automatic "out
of office" e-mail replies to rob people's homes while they are on vacation,
a British industry group warns.
The Infrastructure Forum, which represents
the technology departments of the United Kingdom's largest companies, is
advising office workers to use the feature cautiously after learning of a
possible scam during a meeting of its members.
Criminals can easily buy lists of e-mail
addresses on the Internet and send out mass mailings to gather automatic replies
from employees. Many people even include the dates when they will be on the
road. Burglars can then cross-reference the employee's name with free online
directories or even telephone books to get a home address.
"People are, in a way, leaving the
equivalent of a large sign on their front door saying, 'I'm away for the next
two weeks, please call at your convenience," said David Roberts, the
group's chief executive officer.
The group advises workers to keep their
automatic replies as general as possible by using such phrases as "I am
unable to deal with this query" or "I am out of the office on
business."
Employees should also think twice about
including an important-sounding job title in an automatic reply or the exact
dates of their absence, because either one could pique thieves' interest.
The automatic reply function is widely used
by office workers to redirect associates and clients in need of immediate
assistance. The group does not have proof the scam has yet been used, but Mr.
Roberts stressed it poses a serious risk.
"People are using the Internet for all
sorts of scams and illegal activities," said Neil Boyd, a criminology
professor at Simon Fraser University. "It would be surprising if that
hadn't been done.... It's probably a prudent warning."
- Mary Vallis National
Post 12 Dec 2002
Warning! Watch out for this virus!
Ok. I know that people get this ALL the
time. It's safe to say that 99.9% of all these messages are hoaxes.
Some of the indications that these are fakes are phrases like:
"Just released this morning..." Ok.. Which morning? Is
there a date? "This morning" could have been "This morning"
in 1992! - If they don't provide some sort of a date.. it's more
than likely a hoax.
"Announced today by Compaq, IBM, AOL, Microsoft, Your mom, Apple.."
All of these corporations would more than likely have some sort of a news
release. And, if they *did* have the inside line on a virus, they
would NOT propagate the message via e-mail. It is more likely they would use an
announcement on their web site or through some large online news source.
When in doubt, check the web site of the company in question. - If they
don't provide a URL (web site address) then it's probably a hoax.
Here are some well known hoax viruses and the sites to
find out more information about them:
Wobbler:
http://www.uk.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/california.html
http://www.symantec.com.br/avcenter/venc/data/wobbler-hoax.html
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
http://home.ptd.net/~larrysch/page17.html
AIDS Hoax..
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/aids-hoax.html
http://www.uk.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/aidshoax.html
Win A Holiday Hoax:
http://www.uk.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/winaholiday.html
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/win.a.holiday.html
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