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Net Gains (Mar 19, 99) |
I sincerely hope that none of you have recently emailed me for
Internet related help with a subject "Help Needed!!"
- cause if you did, it was filtered into my trash mailbox before
I even saw it, let alone read it. That's one of the beauties of
technology - my email program - Eudora - has an automatic filtering
facility which allows me to have it automatically sort all my
email as soon as it downloads it. So all my jokes go into a folder
that I read when I have nothing better to do, and all URL submissions
get sorted into another folder, while all mails from my classmates
go into my alumni folder… you get the drift. Last month,
I was forced to put another filter to automatically junk all mail
with the subject "Help Needed!!", since it had started
flooding my mailbox.
For those of you who haven't yet got the "Help Needed!!"
mail, here's a brief background on it: There's apparently this
lady named Divya Singh from Bangalore who's husband has some form
of lung cancer which cannot be cured, because people have no information
on the disease. And to exploit the power of the Internet to network
and possibly get in touch with people who could help her, she
apparently sent an email to everyone in her email address book
asking for help. It got more emotional as this group of well meaning
people forwarded it to everyone in their address books in turn…and
it went on and on and on… And it tugs at the heart strings
so well that even some of my most hard hearted friends have succumbed
and forwarded the email to all their friends. The only problem
is that the email address is wrong, and the ICQ number listed
there belongs to one Jo Ann. Genuine? A prank? You decide.
The "Help Needed!!" mail is an example of a chain letter.
A email chain letter is an email directing the recipient to send
out multiple copies so that its circulation increases in a geometric
progression as long as the instructions are carried out. And those
who don't follow the instructions are threatened with dire consequences:
bad luck, lack of love, and even deprivation of sex! Till today,
I've not forwarded a single chain letter and haven't yet had bad
luck or lack of love!
A few suggestions when you get what appears to be a chain letter:
- If the email asks you to send the message to many people, don't send it. If you feel the urge to send something to everyone you know, send this week's column; at least that way they get net-educated!
- If you feel you really need to send it, check with the person who sent it to you if they know for a fact that it is true. Chances are, they won't. So don't.
- If you do forward it to junta in your address book, their addresses and yours will be added to the email, creating a neat database of email addresses for future unsolicited email from every Rajesh, Sai and Abhishek the mail reaches - then don't grumble about junk in your mailbox!
Catch up on Internet chain letters (what they are, some examples
and how to tackle them) at the CIAC Internet Chain Letters site,
and read up on CNET's favourite Net Hoaxes. Don't spread that
hoax!
is another site with a bit of a background, advice and some
of the most famous hoaxes of all time.
And remember the golden rule: when in doubt, don't hit the send
button!
NewsFlash! Readers have written in about an email apparently
being sent by VSNL asking them to send in their username and password
since their Internet accounts are on VSNLs watchlist for misuse.
Don't lose your calm - NEVER EVER give those details out to anyone.
And the mail is sent from [email protected] - think about
it: why would VSNL send mail from a free web email service?