[vicsireland] Re: Vics training day
- From: "Ed Harper" <goat@xxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:35:45 +0100
Hi Karen, Don't know about Sean, but I very much appreciate that very full
answer. I am plagued with the stuff because my address is necessarily
around on the Net and in advertising to be picked up and persecuted. I am
quite tempted by your description to try spam fighter.
Thanks
Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Karen Ashe
Sent: 16 October 2006 10:23
To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Vics training day
Hi Sean
What email client are you using to receive your emails? When I used
webmail alone, I had to change my address several times, as then the spam
fighters were rather poor. Now I use Outlook Express on my desktop PC and
Thunderbird on the laptop. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express, you can
download a plug-in called SpamFighter at www.spamfighter.com. It wasn't as
straightforward to download in my case as I'd like, but does seem to
effectively recognise spam. There's a 'blacklist' for specific email
addresses (as well as a 'whitelist' to make 100% sure mail from your
friends/newsletters/whatever gets through) and a 'blocking' feature, which
actually blocks the content of the email (not only to you but to everyone
who uses the program) which is more effective since of course spammers use a
multitude of different addresses. The instructions about how to use all the
program's features are offered to you at installation, and are available at
any time on the website. Apparently you should keep an eye on the Spam
folder the program creates for about a month after you install it, as an odd
piece of legitimate marketing email for which you have signed up may end up
there; you can then tell SpamFighter to allow this. Also, if a piece of
spam gets through to your inbox, you can tell it to filter this to spam. In
other words, it learns what's legitimate and what's not.
The above is a bit like marketing for that product! Sorry, I do tend to
go on about things, but just want to give a full picture. So far I've found
SpamFighter quite an effective too, and I like the fact that as soon as any
user blocks an email, no one who uses it will get that same email. Anyway
the full version of the program is available for a 30 day trial. If you
want to keep SpamFighter after that you can get the free version (or you can
pay for the full version, but I don't think there's enough extra features to
justify the cost).
As far as Thunderbird goes, it has a built-in anti-spam tool, which I have
also found rather quite effective. It too 'learns' what is spam and what is
not; all you have to do is hit a button on the toolbar. By default, what
Thunderbird considers spam is marked as spam, but annoyingly is not filtered
to the 'Junk E-mail' folder. This is easily rectified by going to the Tools
menu and selecting 'Junk Email Controls...' from which you can select the
settings appropriate to you. You can even start a spam log if you want to
keep track of how much you're getting. Of course, check the spam folder
until you're confident that no legitimate email is getting through - if
welcome email is classified as 'Junk', the 'Junk' button on the toolbar
becomes 'Not Junk' and you simply click that to tell Thunderbird, and it
will be safe from now on.
Thunderbird is Mozilla's version of Outlook Express, and in many ways
bears a striking resemblence to that program. I find OE slightly easier to
use to be honest, but I like supporting shareware products and not market
monopolies when I can ;-) You can get Thunderbird from
www.mozilla.com/thunderbird. Whilst on that subject, Mozilla's web browser,
Firefox, is - for those who don't already use it - much better that Internet
Explorer, and I really recommend that anyone who doesn't have it gets it!
Both programs are compatible with Jaws 7.0 and above, though I understand
that there are a few teething problems (see
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Assistive_technology_compatibility).
There are other anti-spam tools of course, not that I know anything about
their usage though. Have a look at
http://email.about.com/cs/winspamreviews/tp/free_spam.htm for reviews of ten
free programs. The first one, POPFile, sounds quite good as it filters the
spam at the POP stage before it gets to your email client (if I'm reading
that correctly), though the negative side is that it's a uses a wee bit too
much CPU power.
OK, I have gone on for far too long as I always tend to, but hopefully
there's something vaguely helpful somewhere in the above mire of words.
Good luck with cutting down on the spam however you proceed.
Best
K
On 12/10/06, Sean Loftus <seanlofty@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Tony:
I enjoyed those, too, and look forward to an early repeat performance.
In the meantime, can anyone on the list recommend a simple, effective
method
of dealing with the large amount of spam and junk E-mail which I have
been
receiving recently?
I know of one individual who felt it necessary to change his E-mail
address
because of this.
Does the treatment really have to be so drastic?
Sean.
----- Original Message -----
>From: Tony Murray <tony.g.murray@xxxxxx>
To: < vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 3:47 PM
Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Vics training day
> Hi Sean,
>
> I'm so glad you found the day useful, and thanks for your support.
>
> You are right. It is a great tribute to VICS, the fact that some of
our
> members came along and gave up their free time to make this possible.
>
> Everything VICS does is based on voluntary work on the part of those
> involved. It just proves to me that others are as passionate about
this
> organisation as I am. For that reason, I love to see an event like
last
> Saturday's training day pay off.
>
> Seeing people gaining knowledge, having a good time, and becoming more
and
> more confident in the use of their technology is payment enough in my
> opinion. I get a great sense of personal satisfaction, knowing that
the
> things I do as Chair of VICS, works to empower my fellow Blind and
Visually
> Impaired people in the field of technology. I have an excellent
Committee
> around me, and their enthusiasm and drive allows us to work well for
our
> members.
>
> So, roll on November 18th in Galway!
>
> It was great catching up with you afterwards Sean for a few cold ones
too,
> we must do it again sometime soon.
>
> Take care,
>
> Tony
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sean Loftus" < seanlofty@xxxxxxxxxx >
> To: <Vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 2:54 PM
> Subject: [vicsireland] Vics training day
>
>
> Dear all,
> Thanks to everyone involved in planning and carrying out last
Saturday's
> Vics training day. I am in full agreement with my fellow participants
that
> the day was an enormous success. It is a great tribute to Vics that
members
> of the committee willingly gave up a Saturday to provide this
instruction
> for us. The material handed out at the conclusion of the day's
activities
on
> c D, braille and other desired formats will certainly keep me occupied
for
> some time to come.
> I would urge any Vics members with a wish to improve their computer
skills
> to watch out for future announcements concerning training days and
sign
up.
> Well done Vics committee.
> Sean Loftus.
>
>
>
>
>
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