To avoid this, you can use the BCC: area to input addresses instead of TO: or CC:. BCC: means blind carbon copy. Any e-mail addresses in BCC: cannot be seen by any of the other recipients.

Some e-mail services require that there be at least one address in the TO: box. Why not type your e-mail address in the TO: box and then delete the e-mail when you receive it? That’s a good way to know if the e-mail went out and you won’t have exposed any of your recipients’ e-mail addresses to each other.

For more tips on netiquette take a peek at “Is This Thing On?” (BBC: p. 191, 236, 239).

Here’s how:
1) Open the e-mail you want to send on to others.

2) Scroll to the bottom of content that you want to capture.

3) Place the cursor to the right of the last word of the text.

4) Depress the left mouse button and keep it depressed as you move up the text.

You’ll notice that the text will scroll down as you move up. This clicking and dragging is a tricky operation, but with a little practice you’ll get it. Do NOT release the mouse button until all of the desired text is highlighted. If you have gone to far up the text, keep the mouse depressed and move back over the highlighted text. This will deactivate that text.

5) Once the text is highlighted release the mouse button and click on the word “Edit” at the top of your screen.

6) Click on “Copy” in the menu that opened. The text you highlighted is now being held in the brain of the computer until you tell it where to place it.

7) Generate a new e-mail template. This is most likely done by either clicking on “Write”, “Compose” or “New Mail”.

Click inside the text box of the new e-mail to activate it.

9) Click on “Edit” at the top of your screen.

10) Click on “Paste” in the menu that opened. Bravo! Now you can now tidy up the text by deleting any unnecessary spaces or you can add your own text within the content that now appears.

11) Address the e-mail to whomever you want remembering to use the BCC feature to keep people’s e-mail addresses private.

Why not ask your friends if they want to receive forwarded jokes, petitions, etc. Keep in mind that a personal note from a friend is much more welcome than a bunch of impersonal e-mails passed on to many.

The first half of our trip was spent on a cruise ship where I wasn’t able to connect my laptop for Internet access. The ship did offer Internet access on their computers at $7.50 for 15 minutes. (Ouch!)

Read below for helpful hints on accessing e-mail while away and how to avoid hefty Internet fees: 

• It is important you know what company you use for your e-mail (i.e. your Internet Service Provider or ISP). It will be their web site that you’ll visit for your e-mail. For example, if you’re an AOL user, you’ll go to www.aol.com to check for new e-mail. Some ISPs do not allow access from outside computers. Call or e-mail your ISP to find out what they offer.
• Write your e-mail password down and bring it on your trip. You will not be able to access your e-mail without your password. Many people think they can remember their password, but it is always safer to write it down.
• Bring the e-mail addresses of the folks you want to e-mail while you’re traveling. Just in case your ISP doesn’t let you access your e-mail address book, always bring the addresses that you think you may want to send e-mail.
• Take advantage of the public library at your destination. To avoid the hefty Internet fees on the cruise ship I visited the local library when we were in port. I was able to access the Internet for free!

Being away no longer means being out of touch. I’ve been able to receive and send e-mail no matter how remote our location. I’ve even been able to send e-mail to my grandmother every day so she can experience our adventures almost as they happen.

Spam is another name for junk mail. In the same way that you get bulk junk mail in your mailbox at home, this is bulk junk in your e-mail inbox. You can often look in the “To:” area and see that the same e-mail has been sent to many other people.

Unfortunately, there is no telling how you got on the spammer’s e-mail list, but there are some ways to minimize your future exposure:

1) Establish a secondary e-mail address that you give out when making purchases. Take advantage of the free web-based e-mail accounts available – i.e. www.hotmail.com, www.gmail.com, or www.yahoo.com. Here you can have an e-mail address for free to give out to the general public and save your other e-mail address for friends only.

2) Check if your e-mail provider can block Spam. Many services will offer to detect bulk e-mails and place them in a “Junk Mail” folder for you to view and delete. Some providers will, if you choose, prohibit the receipt of all bulk e-mail. The latter is a bit dodgy as you might get sent bulk mail from a friend or company that you want to receive. Be sure you understand how your service block the e-mails.

3) Visit chat rooms and message boards incognito. Chat rooms and message boards are a great resource for spammers to add to their mailing lists. Do not use your “friends only” e-mail address when visiting either.

For those of you that like the meat in a tin, more power to you. But you don’t have to put up with it in your inbox. If you get really objectionable spam, please contact the Network Abuse Clearinghouse at www.abuse.net.

Innocent enough, except I clicked on the wrong e-mail address in my address book and received this e-mail from one of my students (well into his 80’s): “Dear Abby, Nothing warms the heart of a man my age like your invitation …”

It took me some time to realize what had happened. GOOD HEAVENS! I had addressed my invitation to the wrong person! An e-mail address is as specific as a phone number. If you are off by one digit, it’ll be routed to the wrong person. Therefore, it is essential that you double-check what you’ve typed before you send the e-mail on its way.

Here are some helpful hints for e-mail addresses:

• There will never be a space in an e-mail address. A space would break up the transmission.
• E-mail addresses are not case sensitive. However, if someone has specifically chosen to have some of the letters in their e-mail address in upper case, you may as well typed it accordingly.
• All e-mail addresses will end with @ and the name of the company used by that person for e-mail. For example: @aol.com, @hotmail.com, @rr.nyc, etc.
• Double check the e-mail address in the To: box before sending your missive. Whether typing the address or choosing it from your address book, be sure that you’re sending your e-mail to the intended recipient.
• Put a dollop of nail polish on your period key. The period key “.” and the comma “,” are so close together on the keyboard a dollop of nail polish will distinguish one from the other.

I’ve heard countless tales of e-mail being routed improperly and the embarrassment that ensued. ALWAYS check the address before you click on Send. Just in case you are wondering, I never did make it to San Diego, but I did send an e-mail to correct the misunderstanding. Trust me, you do not want this to happen to you!

Let it be a lesson to us all not to forward e-mail from someone who is forwarding it along after it had been forwarded to them without checking its authenticity. These are the e-mails that show an endless listing of past recipients before you get to the actual e-mail message. This goes for virus warnings, as well as tragic tales where you’re instructed to forward it so some unfortunate can get a $1 for every e-mail sent in their honor and chain letters that threaten bad luck if they’re broken.

Sometimes these forwarded e-mails are research for a school paper and we’re the student’s unwitting guinea pigs. Or, it may be someone with an enormous ego wanting to see how far their bogus e-mail will travel. Either way, you become an accomplice by blindly passing on the message.

Here’s some advice before passing on an e-mail:

1. If the e-mail refers to a virus, call your computer manufacturer to check its validity. Alternatively, you can check for current viruses and hoaxes at this web site address: http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp? (Note: Do NOT precede the web address with www.)
2. Call the medical institution that is supposedly going to donate money for every e-mail sent in the name of the poor unfortunate. Chances are they won’t know what you’re talking about.
3. Send the chain letter back to the person who sent it to you—10 times! Hopefully, they’ll remove you from their chain letter list.

We all remember the rumors that began in the playground and haunted us through the school day. Think twice before you forward an e-mail. That person you knew in the playground may be all grown up and sitting at a computer up to their old tricks.