I put a virtual end to unwanted forwarded emails from people I know.

At the beginning of this dilemma I was much more polite and proper but this type of response did not cause change in their behavior so I was forced to get more strict about it.

May I suggest that if you want to take more control of your “In Box” and end the endless barrage of ‘forwards’, simply cut and paste this in a direct response to your friend or family member. Obviously, you may feel the need to customize certain elements of the wording but if you reduce the urgency and importance of it, you will fail in your quest.

Dear friend,

I want you to know that I appreciate your friendship. The idea that you think of me when you find a funny joke or amazing fact or photo on the internet and wish to share your joy with me is a great compliment. I wish to share something with you which is very important to me and hopefully to you as well.

I have learned that hackers, spammers and other generally evil people often use innocent email messages and images to secretly plant spyware into the computers of innocent people. They often use cute or funny photos, heartwarming stories, political statements and various non-profit donations letters to hide invisible computer bugs in the script.

Even scanning these forwards with anti-spyware or anti-virus devices may not locate these bugs as they are in a capsule which is sealed on delivery but which self extricate to cause either damage or theft of your personal information including passwords, account numbers and banking information.

Even if the forward does not contain a virus or other spyware bug, you may notice that when the forward first came to you, your email address was amongst an ever-growing list of other email addresses. Well, ONE of those email addresses reports back to a spamming warehouse where you are being added to countless lists of pornographers, businesses and scam organizations who deluge your inbox with more crap than you can delete, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In other words, a friend of yours, who cares about you, added your name and email address (and perhaps other personal information) to people who send a never ending flow of junk mail to your email address and perhaps your physical address. In the worst scenario, your complete information is in the address book of your friend which is compromised by these bugs giving the bad guys access to your entire families names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, anniversaries and more.

When you send me a forward you compromise me in the very same way. This is not the act of a friend.

I will assume that you hadn’t considered these possibilities and perhaps even regret sending forwards. I will assume that you will take this information and never send me or anyone a forward ever again. You may even feel the need to send a letter much like this one to the people who send forwards to you.

But,.. If you send me one more forward, regardless of how cute the puppy is or how many starving children will be saved by the simple act of forwarding the message, I will remove you from my address book, block you from my email address and cease to communicate with you, forever.

Oh, and great hearing from you, how’s the family?

Warmest regards,

John Mixon

(more…)

 

ABC News is reporting that Al Qaeda has posted a propaganda web video online that asks the question “What is the Big Surprise” in Arabic alongside doctored photos of George Bush amidst a burning White House. 

To view the video from ABC news click here.

We often forget, as we go along with our daily lives here on Delmarva, combing the details of the Ocean City Baby story… or the potential collapse of the Indian River Bridge, or that we’ll be paying $0.60 more for tobacco, that there are real threats to our way of life. Threats that, although we are ignoring them, they aren’t ignoring us. Al Qaeda tells it’s online community to “Wait for THE BIG SURPRISE.” Who knows if these are just scare tactics, or whether they really have something planned for our future. Reports come out almost daily that they are and have been planning something. Some threats have been thwarted, but who knows what evil lies in men’s hearts.

I don’t know if sharing the video is good or bad. If you should just go on with your life and ignore it or allow your voice to be heard… Or if we should “wait for THE BIG SURPRISE.”