Many of us use emails these days. Who doesn't? Many of us by now handle well unwanted or annoying emails. Who doesn't? Some of us who only choose a moderate use of cyberspace or some of us who prefer phones or penmanship. Well, most of us end up starring at a mail that came without invitation. How to proceed? Barbara this week proposes to review the following tips: Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT. This lesson could save you and I hundreds of dollars. Try the following if you haven't done it before: * When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all. * Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC:(blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it. *
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps.
* ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.
* Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. DO NOT put your email address on any petition. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition. (And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just ain't so!)
Some of the other emails to delete and not forward are:
1. The one that says something like, "Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen." Or sometimes they'll just tease you by saying 'something really cute will happen.' IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (We are still seeing some of the same emails that we waited on 10 years ago!)
2. I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed.
3. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert' , or a 'Virus Alert', or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes. Just go to http://www.snopes.com/ . It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass it on.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.
Posted by NWH

Not Picking Up the Rope
I have been receiving some forwarded political emails that are filled with fear, hate and are just downright nasty. As I was pondering on how to deal with this issue this quote came from Abraham this morning.
“There is a big mix out there, and there's lots of different things going on, and there is not one way that was intended to be the right way. Just like there's not one color or one flower or one vegetable or one fingerprint. There is not one that is to be the right one over all others. The variety is what fosters the creativity. And so you say, "Okay, I accept that there's lots of variety, but I don't like to eat cucumbers." Don't eat cucumbers. But don't ask them to be eliminated and don't condemn those who eat them. Don't stand on corners waving signs trying to outlaw the things that you don't like. Don't ruin your life by pushing against. Instead, say, "I choose this instead. This does please me. --- Abraham”
(Excerpted from the workshop in Rye, NY on Sunday, October 12th, 1997, #204)It makes perfect sense to me for I do not want to resist the fear and hate, for that would only give it more energy. I know that what I resist persists. My first thought is to argue with them, to show them how wrong they are, which gets me enmeshed with them and with the issue.This is a no win solution and I am stuck, sucked into that downward spiral of fear, hate and resentment. It is so easy for me to get into righteous indignation! And what would that get me? Stress, separation, anxiety, loss of sleep and all that good stuff.
It takes discipline for me to just unplug from that energy without judgment or anger. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes I fall short. With practice and patience I am getting better at letting go, or of "not picking up the rope" and playing tug of war.
So how is it with you, my friends, are you affected by all this mud slinging and madness? What gets you out of it? I am grateful when my friends remind me to stay out of the craziness. Is this something that we as a spiritual community might work on together? Suggestions, please!
Peace, Love and Blessings,
Barbara
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Posted on September 24, 2009 at 05:30 PM in Barbara's Point of View, Colleagues, Computer/Email Security, Conciousness, Creative Commentary, Inspiration, Journal, Meditation, Planetary Consciousness, Social/Political Consciousness, Spirit, Study Groups | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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