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Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery.
Get Read: The Cardinal Rules of E-Mail (Part 2)
More smart ways to get your e-mail read, security hassles, and time wasters.
In this issue:
Smart Ways to Write E-Mail
Holy Mackerel
What I'm Reading
Time Wasters
A Personal Note
Smart Ways to Write E-Mail
Last week I showed you how to stop sending e-mail that no one bothers reading. This week I have a bunch more tips that you can use -- pay attention now -- the very next time you send me a message. know.
You like forwarding stuff, I know, but you've gotta remove all those annoying remnants -- the angled brackets, for instance -- from the last 300 people who forwarded the message.
While stripping the junk from forwarded e-mails is a good idea, removing the millions of e-mail addresses is a necessary, no, essential security requirement. If you dare send an e-mail to me and I see the e-mail addresses of those same 300 people I'll be at your front door, hollering like hell. Really. Copying everyone, and not hiding the addresses using blind copy, is a royal invasion of privacy and a terrible security breach.
Don't know how to scrub your e-mail clean before forwarding? No problemo. Read "How To Forward E-Mail Appropriately." [Thanks to John Braun for this lead.]
Tip: Here's How to Blind Copy. In Outlook Express, create a new message, select View, and check All Headers. In Outlook, choose View and check the Bcc Field; in Outlook 2007, choose the icon in the Quick Access toolbar located in the upper left of the email you are forwarding. Mozilla's Thunderbird has a free add-on "Contacts: Add BCC button" that puts a Bcc button at the bottom of your address book column.
In Netscape, click the To field and scroll to Bcc. In Yahoo Mail and Gmail, click BCC. In AOL, Eudora, and MSN Hotmail, just fill the "bcc" field. The classic AOL online service is more work: In the Copy To box, enter each recipient's e-mail address in parentheses. If you have another email program, use the program's help to figure out how to do it.
Please get rid of IncrediMail, the annoying program that sticks oh-too-cute animations at the bottom of e-mails. Or if you insist on using it, send all your e-mail to your Aunt Sadie who I'm sure appreciates it. Make sure, though, not to send any to me.
im going to the HR mtg, RU? Yes, I'm going. But if you're going to IM me, use Meebo or text me by cell. If you're doing e-mail, take a couple of nanoseconds and use English, okay? And do me a favor and adhere to some basic writing standards -- capitalizing proper nouns, for instance, and using periods, for Pete's sake.
Do your best to check your spelling. It makes for a more pleasant read. I'm a terrible speller (how do you spell embarrassed? I always get it wrong the first time around). Every e-mail program has a method to check the spelling before you send a message; I encourage you to use it. I cheat, however, and use Asutype, an automatic spell checker. It checks me in every program, including dialogs, browsers, whatever. At $40, Asutype isn't cheap, but it's very handy for writers; it's also loaded with useful features, such as a decent macro tool and a clipboard manager. There's a 30-day free trial.
I hate writing to Phil&Bertha@aol.com. It confuses the dickens out of me when you and your lover, spouse, esposa, or partner use the same e-mail address. I just don't know whom I'm writing to -- or who wrote to me. Most ISPs give out a half-dozen e-mail addresses as part of the fee; Web-based e-mail is free. If nothing else, sign the e-mail so I know who it's from.
If you use a signature line, include your e-mail address. That way, if I have to forward your message, I don't have to cut and paste your address from the From line. And listen, I don't need to know your life history in the sig file, so keep it to 2 or 3 lines.
Add a line at the end of the e-mail with your real first and last name. There's nothing sillier than having to reply to "Dear beerlover4983@aol.com." And please, if you can help it, don't use initials. If I used "S. Bass" as a signature, it would force you to write back to "Mr. Bass" and make me think you're writing to my father.
If you forward an e-mail that has lots of uppercase text, scroll over to SpellCheck and use the handy text manipulation tool. In a flash you can convert text to lower- or sentence case. [Funny! SpellCheck misspells uppercase and lowercase in its interface. --Editor]
You have something I missed? Send it to me (I want it in a perfectly formatted e-mail, y'hear?) and I'll save it for a future newsletter.
Holy Mackerel
Worried about flash drive security? You should be. A recent survey by a data security firm, which, of course, is looking for publicity, claims that 9,000 flash drives in the UK were left in customers' pockets when they took their clothing to local dry cleaners. (More here.)
Even worse: A used MP3 player sold at a thrift shop was loaded with the home addresses, cell numbers, and Social Security numbers of U.S. soldiers. It landed in the hands of a New Zealander on vacation in the US. The MP3 player, which is essentially a flash drive able to store data files, was also loaded with confidential Afghanistan and Iraq mission briefings. More on CNN, including a video.
What I'm Reading
 Need a little creative oomph? Mediapedia is loaded with ideas for dozens of your projects -- editing images, fiddling with digital photos, displays, PowerPoint shows, and tons more. "Mediapedia: Creative Tools and Techniques for Camera, Computer, and Beyond," by Kit Laybourne -- about $14 on Amazon.
Time Wasters
More quality time with animal videos, a coffee cup for the office, and a game that's sure to stump you.
 Did some dork walk away with your prized coffee cup? Here's a cup with a nifty security device: A hole. When it's stored in the coffee room cabinet, take the hole-plugging key with you. (Too bad this is only a concept cup -- it's not yet for sale.)
Watch out for blue balls (which is good advice no matter what) and keep the red square moving while you head for the green patch. Chances are good you'll have a little trouble as this called the "World's Hardest Game."
Why you should always keep your window rolled up while in a national park... (I just know you're going to forward this one. Don't forget to say where it came from, eh?)
I love videos showing two species getting palsy-walsy, and this is one those heartwarming sagas. And no, to answer your next question, the dog doesn't get squashed at the end of the video. [Thanks, Brad.]
A Personal Note...
There's nothing personal about it. It's my usual harangue asking you to forward my newsletter to anyone--no, make that everyone--and ask them to subscribe. It'll make you feel good and it might even boost my stats. That URL you're looking for is right here: http://www.techbite.com.
_____________________
You have any unblemished, picture perfect e-mails? Steve Bass is patiently waiting for one at feedback.
 Steve Bass is still the publisher and Content Czar at TechBite.com and occasional author of a PC World article. He's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. Buy one or two for your sweetie for Valentines Day.
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