Discussion:
Annoying EMailer
(too old to reply)
Jim Redelfs
2004-02-25 03:55:23 UTC
Permalink
An annoying emailer is a friend, neighbor or mere acquaintance that, for
some reason, has decided that you deserve to receive a regular stream of
forwards bearing jpeg images, anecdotes, stories and other "invaluable"
wit and wisdom.

I am the reluctant recipient of the output of one such person. He's a
neighbor. Were it not for this annoying aspect of his behavior, I would
call him a GOOD neighbor.

In all honesty, he really IS a good neighbor - except for this glaring
habit. His emailings are prolific enough that I have created a separate
folder for his messages and have set up a rule that sends all his stuff
there.

A couple of years or so ago, I politely asked him to cease and desist,
which he promptly did.

Then, in a moment of weakness and utter stupidity, I sent HIM something
that I thought was very worthwhile to read. That simple oversight
opened up the floodgates and I am now again bombarded almost daily by
multiple messages - virtually ALL "forwards" with nary an original word
to be found. In fact, I believe I have received only one or two
personal messages from him in all these years - and they were in REPLY
to an ORIGINAL message I sent him. <sigh>

I guess my biggest beef is that my definition of the PURPOSE of email
and his obviously differ: I use email for mostly legitimate, personal
communication. He uses it simply as a convenient pipeline for
disseminating what he must consider to be irresistible entertainment.

I am frustrated by the thought that, in the admittedly unlikely event he
would sent me some ORIGINAL email, I wouldn't see it until I venture
into his folder - and that can often go unopened for days.

I guess that, if he REALLY needs to communication directly with me,
there's always the telephone.

<sigh>
JR
jsw
2004-02-26 00:23:54 UTC
Permalink
Not to mention any names, but not too long ago I and somebody near and
dear to me had a conversation along the line of ...

A: Say, how do I forward something to everybody in my address book?

J: You don't!

A: But what if I want to?

J: Don't do it!

A: But it's CUTE!

J: Yeah, it was cute, once, maybe back in 1995 or so!

I suppose eventually somebody will create a web page, the nostalgia
of the Eternal September or something. ;-)

Good day JSW
Post by Jim Redelfs
An annoying emailer is a friend, neighbor or mere acquaintance that, for
some reason, has decided that you deserve to receive a regular stream of
forwards bearing jpeg images, anecdotes, stories and other "invaluable"
wit and wisdom.
Jim Redelfs
2004-02-27 04:36:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by jsw
A: Say, how do I forward something to everybody in my address book?
J: You don't!
A: But what if I want to?
J: Don't do it!
A: But it's CUTE!
I have more fingers than the number of times I've sent something to a
GROUP of people. In all cases, I have personally read it COMPLETELY,
edited-out any extraneous material (numerous re:re:re:, etc) as well as
multiple quote marks.

It's the DAILY dose of SEVERAL items from the SAME person that I find
particularly annoying.

Who has the TIME to read all of this stuff? Further, it certainly
imples to me that the sender needs to "get a life" if s/he has enough
disposable time to keep the stream of drivel flowing so briskly.

Then there's the 2-3 dozen/day spams I get pushing vigra(sic), other
remedies and, of course, the requisite pr0n<tm>.

Fortunately, it's a short "trip" to the [delete] key.

:)
JR
Mike Riddle
2004-02-27 18:36:42 UTC
Permalink
Aha! But Jim, not only do you edit out all that stuff, I bet you even
bcc it to the group to protect the email addresses of the innocent!

;-)
Post by Jim Redelfs
Post by jsw
A: Say, how do I forward something to everybody in my address book?
J: You don't!
A: But what if I want to?
J: Don't do it!
A: But it's CUTE!
I have more fingers than the number of times I've sent something to a
GROUP of people. In all cases, I have personally read it COMPLETELY,
edited-out any extraneous material (numerous re:re:re:, etc) as well as
multiple quote marks.
It's the DAILY dose of SEVERAL items from the SAME person that I find
particularly annoying.
Who has the TIME to read all of this stuff? Further, it certainly
imples to me that the sender needs to "get a life" if s/he has enough
disposable time to keep the stream of drivel flowing so briskly.
Then there's the 2-3 dozen/day spams I get pushing vigra(sic), other
remedies and, of course, the requisite pr0n<tm>.
Fortunately, it's a short "trip" to the [delete] key.
:)
JR
--
Mike Riddle /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign
mriddle%***@ivgate.omahug.org \ / Respect for open standards
"To Reply Remove the Obvious" X No HTML/RTF in email
http://www.blackhole.ivgate.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email
Jim Redelfs
2004-02-29 23:03:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by Mike Riddle
Aha! But Jim, not only do you edit out all that stuff, I bet you even
bcc it to the group to protect the email addresses of the innocent!
Ahhhh! It was YOUR valued missives that induced me to discover that
feature of Entourage (Outlook)!

With the one or two groupmails I sent before learning of that feature, I
was troubled by the fact the I was revealing the email addresses of
everyone to all recipients. Had I merely SUSPECTED that even ONE of the
recipients would have objected, I would have refrained from sending it
to that individual as part of the group. I would have either bypassed
them completely (they would've missed out on the EXCELLENT message!) or
sent it separately/privately.

Can a skilled hacker extract those bcc'd names/addresses? I can't find
that info in the source view.

:)
JR
Mike Riddle
2004-03-01 18:59:37 UTC
Permalink
Post by Jim Redelfs
With the one or two groupmails I sent before learning of that feature, I
was troubled by the fact the I was revealing the email addresses of
everyone to all recipients. Had I merely SUSPECTED that even ONE of the
recipients would have objected, I would have refrained from sending it
to that individual as part of the group. I would have either bypassed
them completely (they would've missed out on the EXCELLENT message!) or
sent it separately/privately.
Can a skilled hacker extract those bcc'd names/addresses? I can't find
that info in the source view.
As far as I know, no. It's stripped somewhere in the email process.
Perhaps we can get a definitive answer by referring to the encyclopedia
source of all things internet, the "World According to Winslade."

'-)
--
Mike Riddle /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign
mriddle%***@ivgate.omahug.org \ / Respect for open standards
"To Reply Remove the Obvious" X No HTML/RTF in email
http://www.mikeriddle.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email
Paul W. Schleck
2004-02-26 18:20:09 UTC
Permalink
In <jim.redelfs-***@news.central.cox.net> Jim Redelfs <***@redelfs.com> writes:

[...]
Post by Jim Redelfs
A couple of years or so ago, I politely asked him to cease and desist,
which he promptly did.
Then, in a moment of weakness and utter stupidity, I sent HIM something
that I thought was very worthwhile to read. That simple oversight
opened up the floodgates and I am now again bombarded almost daily by
multiple messages - virtually ALL "forwards" with nary an original word
to be found. In fact, I believe I have received only one or two
personal messages from him in all these years - and they were in REPLY
to an ORIGINAL message I sent him. <sigh>
[...]


"Many times I say only 'yes' or 'no' to people. Even that is too
much. It winds them up for twenty minutes or more."

- Calvin Coolidge

("Meet Calvin Coolidge" p. 133)


--
Paul W. Schleck
***@novia.net
http://www.novia.net/~pschleck/
Finger ***@novia.net for PGP Public Key
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