Hewie's Views and Reviews
By Hewie Poplock

Welcome to this issue of Hewie's Views & Reviews. Be sure to visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/ .

In this issue I thought that I would share my e-mail pet peeves and how to avoid them:

++++ Use BCC
++++ Forwarding Forwarded e-mail
++++ Sending forwarded messages without cleaning them
++++ Sign your name
++++ Create complete links
++++ Be sure the warning is factual
++++ Finally
++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

++++ Use BCC

In the old days of typewriters, I used carbon paper and had a "carbon copy" of my document. With e-mail CC stands for Carbon Copy and sends a duplicate copy of the message to the original recipient (the TO person) and to all listed in the CC Box. The recipients' e-mail addresses are listed for all to see. E-mail programs give us one more box for a BCC or blind carbon-copy. Any one who is listed in the BCC box will get the message, but all of the other recipients will not see their address.

If a BBC recipient clicks on Reply ALL, then only those listed in the To and CC lines are sent the reply. With today's problems with junk mail, I don't like my e-mail being listed with several names in either of the public lines (TO or CC). A proper way to send all of your friends the message that you think is so funny is to send it to yourself and BCC all of the recipients. They and I will be much happier. By the way, even AOL Mail has a BCC choice. You may need to click on Help and search for BBC for your version of AOL software.

++++ Forwarding Forwarded e-mail

I usually delete messages that are forwards, of forwards, of forwards. The original message is buried several layers deep. If you wish to send every friend a copy of a received joke, etc. take only the original message and forward it or copy and paste it into a new message. Every buried message contained in that message usually has a bunch of addresses in the TO and CC lines, which can be put together for a good advertising blitz.

++++ Sending forwarded messages without cleaning them

This is similar to the above section. If a messages has been forwarded several times it may not bury the older messages, but simply add more indents and ">" to the messages, as well as include the headers with all of the addresses. You should delete all of the old headers and clean up the ">" signs. There are programs that can easily remove the greater than signs. I use ClipMate http://www.thornsoft.com/ but there are many more.

++++ Sign your name

Many of you have e-mail addresses that do not contain your name or anything like your name. Always sign your real name in the message. I have deleted many messages just because I did not know who had sent the message. Other times, I didn't know how to answer a question, because that person's email address didn't give a hint as to who sent it.

++++ Create complete links

Most e-mail programs recognize complete URLs or web addresses. If they don't, you can copy and paste an address into the Browser program. If you refer to hewie.net do so as http://www.hewie.net . If it appears at the end of a sentence, the period may get included in the link and create an error reaching the page. I always place a space or 2 after the link and before the period. Sometimes links are very long and the recipient's e-mail program will not include the entire link, giving an error message in the Browser. I try to include a reminder that the URL is long and may wrap to the next line. There are some websites that will shorten a long URL, such as http://tinyurl.com/ or http://shorl.com/ . Both of these are listed on http://www.hewie.net .

++++ Be sure the warning is factual

Many times I get a warning of some impending doom or strange event that has been forwarded several times. Before sending such a message, I recommend that you search the net and see if it is factual. There are several sites listed at http://www.hewie.net under the topic "Virus Info – Hoaxes" at http://www.hewie.net/32.html . Some of my favorites to check are http://www.snopes.com/ and http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/ but just take a few words from the message and put it in Google http://www.google.com/ and you should find references to the validity of the message.

++++ Finally

Be considerate of the people to whom you send e-mails. Think about each of the items above. Before you send that joke, poem, or warning, you should be sure that your recipients would like to receive your message.

++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

Spare Parts Warehouse
http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/
Laptop Parts & Repair, Notebook Computer, Printer Repair - Spare Parts

Computing.Net
http://www.computing.net/
Computing.Net is one of the biggest and oldest technical support web sites. It can help almost anyone obtain technical support for their computing needs

Email Privacy
http://www.emailprivacy.info/home
Comprehensive source for information regarding email privacy and security

AWD
http://www.awdorlando.org/
Association of Web Developers - Orlando

Digital Web Magazine
http://www.digital-web.com/
Intended for professional web designers, web developers and information architects

Web Design for Beginners
http://www.virtuallyignorant.com/
Learn web design for yourself at Virtually Ignorant. From HTML to Mouseovers to site promotion and money making, you can make your own site

Web Hosting Reviews
http://www.web-hosting-reviews.org/
Reviews of Domain Hosting Services - Comprehensive source for unbiased advice on Web hosting providers. It is an independent nonprofit testing and information organization

HME Apps
http://hme.pvrblog.com/
TiVo Home Media Engine applications and discussion from PVRblog

Countdown
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6873319/
Keith Olbermann's Countdown on MSNBC live blogging of the newscasts

MakeZine
http://www.makezine.com/current/
Information about the current issue of MAKE, a magazine devoted to digital projects, hardware hacks, and D.I.Y. inspiration

Orlando Digital TV
http://www.orlandodigital.tv/
High Definition Television (HDTV) is the new standard for television broadcasting that will replace the current broadcast standard in 2006. This site is dedicated to informing people about digital television

AllPages.com
http://www.allpages.com/
AllPages.com Yellow Pages provides online yellow pages, reverse phone book and directory, business directory, telephone search, business name finder, white pages, and more

Montage-a-google
http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/
Create a collage by using Google's Image search facility

AXCEL216's MAX Speeed WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets
http://www.mdgx.com/
AXCEL216 MAX Speed Performance Windows 2003 XP SP1 ME 2000 2K 98 SE OSR2 OSR1 95 NT4 3.1 DOS 8 7 6
Tricks Secrets Tips Tweaks Hacks Fixes MDGx

Redmond Magazine
http://redmondmag.com/
Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community

Linux Introduction
http://www.linux-unix-info.com/
Learn the basics of using Linux (and thereby Unix) without getting bogged down in too much detail or techno babble