The agency that I work for runs a good number of listservs for library staff and organizations around the state. As a result, we see a lot of the messages that get sent to these listservs. Most users are responsible but there are those who are not. The latter not only clutter up the inboxes… Continue reading Are you on a listserv? Don’t be this person
Category: email
Your email signature: good or not? Take the quiz
Recently, a friend complained to me that the email signature of one of her coworkers was ridiculous. It included a quote, a plug for one of the library’s services, a graphic and several other unnecessary elements. All of this detritus was just something she had to visually wade through to figure out what was important. … Continue reading Your email signature: good or not? Take the quiz
Phishing: it happens, even in libraries
When the folks I work with at OPLIN suggested this topic, my first reaction was “Isn’t that too basic for MeanLaura to be covering?” All of my colleagues assured me, sadly, that it wasn’t. And then I, too, was sad. You’ve almost certainly heard the word “phishing” before. Chances are you even know what it… Continue reading Phishing: it happens, even in libraries
Listen up: you’re in charge!
It’s a pain, but security is each user’s responsibility, not just the tech’s.–Bobbi Galvin, OPLIN One of the most common misconceptions library staff typically have about their email accounts is that nobody would want to hack them. WRONG. Your email account is an extremely valuable commodity, especially to a spammer. Check these stats out: The… Continue reading Listen up: you’re in charge!
Short and sweet…URLs
Sometimes, URLs can be insanely long. For example: http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com/ Or: http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032301951%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e Yes, both real. Both annoying. And, if you try to email these, they will not display properly in some email clients. Some people won’t be able to click them at all. But, never fear…URL shortening services are here! There are many free URL shortening… Continue reading Short and sweet…URLs
Time to talk spam
(With a lot of credit to George Lenzer, blogger at alt.think!) Here’s some facts about email’s biggest annoyance. Did you know: Spam is largely automated? There aren’t sweatshops full of people typing up those messages at lightning speed in some less developed nation for half a cent per day. In fact, the automation of spam… Continue reading Time to talk spam