[vicsireland] Re: Vics training day
- From: "Flor Lynch" <florlync@xxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 10:39:11 +0100
Hi Karen,
have you found thurnderbird able to work with JAWS7 and above? JAWS' main
competition, Windoweyes, works much better with Firefox than JAWS; and even
Eric Damery of FS isn't too happy with Firefox' performance with JAWS in the
upcoming (soon to be released) version 8 of JAWS.
----- Original Message -----
From: Karen Ashe
To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 10:22 AM
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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