Monday, March 12, 2007

Module 2: Email Tasks

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

From an email , you can usually derive:

-the senders URL and name ( having used hotmail as my resourse)
-the recievers' URL and name
-the time and date which it was sent
-a summary of the contents in the "subject" field
-whether or not the email has an attatchment

Within the email, if it has been replied to, you will often get the old message requoted, if it has not been tampered with by the responder.


If that still leaves you unsatisfied you can proceed by clicking

File >Properties

will give you extra email information such as:

-The full URL
-The size of the email
-Protocol
-Type
-Date Creates
-Date Modified



2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?

CC is an acronym for Carbon Copy. This allows you to send the one email to a multitude of recipients, this allows all the recipients to see who the message has been sent to.

BCC however is short for Blind Carbon Copy, this has the same features as CC, in that it allows the sender to mail information to a multitude of recipients, but now the recipient can not see who the email has been sent to.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

Every computer has different programmes downloaded, in these days of fast technology it is impossible to download every programme available, this can become a problem when sending attachments. To ensure that all recipients receive a readable copy of your attachment you must make sure that you don't send unnecessary attachment that take time to download, and be thoughtful about who you are sending them to, will they have an Internet connection as fast as yours, will they have the programme you are using, so on. To ensure that the recipient of the attachment can read it, it is safe to send the attachment as ASCII file, this will ensure that text is received, though it does not deal with graphics as well.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

The only filters I am aware of with my email account are SPAM FILTERS, this is an automatic spam filter supplied by hotmail, I have created a few seperate folders within the "junk email" folder, these are websites that have somehow got hold of my email address and now send me news letters, I was able to filter this mail so I no longer receive it in my Inbox.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

I have had the same email address with Hotmail since I was about 13, I had never even considered organising until I decided to go away for a year, while I was away email was the only form of communication I used to stay in contact with everyone at home, the emails were coming in by the faster than I could answer them, I was losing a lot of them, deleting important contacts and notes, that is when I finally noticed the folder link! What a saviour!! Since then I have made it a priority to have my email well organised, to me my emails hold many memories, a little like a diary, and while I realise this may not be a conventional way of using Hotmail, it is a method that has worked for me for many years.

Now I have two email addresses, one for what I consider important matters, such as banking, university, work, while the other email account is purely social. My "important" inbox is separated into folders and then sub-folders, such as University, sub folders Assessments, Emails from Classmates, Important Notices. My "social" account has been split into groups, such as Family Emails, Friends I made while backpacking, Friends Australia, Friends UAE and so on. For the moment this method is working well, I am able to keep on top of all emails received and have put in filters for those I do not wish to have shown in my Inbox.

I do not believe that Hotmail has the best filing system available, but its simplicity is a positive for me. I have it organised well, and while I am learning about new ways of filing, it will do!