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to Internet 101
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Question: What is a email?
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Answer: Electronic mail (e-mail) is a message sent electronically over the internet.
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E-mail usually arrives at its destination in a matter of seconds.
Everybody that uses the internet has a unique e-mail address. E-mail addresses always
have an at sign (@) in them. This separates the username from the
location that their mail is stored.
E-mail addresses can be CaSe SeNsItIvE - so if someone reads you
an e-mail address - ask about the capitals.
Just like the postman must be able to read the address to hand deliver your regular mail, (snail mail - it's referred
to on the internet, because it take so long to get there) the e-mail address must be exact in order for the computers
to deliver it to your electronic mailbox.
username |
@ | MailServer |
jtracy | @ | intek.net |
Here are a few e-mail terms that you should be familiar with.
address book | list of personal contact with their e-mail addresses |
forward | sends the original message on to someone else |
reply | sends a e-mail to the sender of the message you are currently
reading (sort of like someone sending you a self addressed stamped envelope)
- this copies the senders e-mail address as well
as the text from the message, you type your additional comments if necessary and send the message. |
attachments | sends actual documents created with other programs along with (or attached to) your e-mail |
CC carbon copy | sends the
same message to several people (separate their addresses with commas) |
BC blind carbon copy | send message to several addresses without showing everyone all of the addresses
(this is a good way to avoid those annoying messages that are 2 lines but 4 pages of addresses
you really could care less about) |
bounced | if a message has a invalid e-mail address it will be marked undeliverable and will bounce back to
your e-mail address (the sender) |
Question: I've got a million e-mail messages on my hard drive. What should I do to avoid this?
Answer: Too often people keep everything they get. If it's garbage - DELETE IT! If it's important - make a directory
and organize the important stuff so that you will be able to find it and retrieve it.
Question: What is a good e-mail program to use?
Answer: Eudora by Quailcom comes in both a freeware version and a more robust commercial version. Both are excellent.
Microsoft also offers a free e-mail program Microsoft Outlook Express which is very good. These require a SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) server so they
will not work with HotMail or many other free web based mail services.
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