Don's PC Tips
February 22, 2012
Don Ray Edrington with Mary Janese Hanson    Home Page
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Saving Email on Your Computer

One of the things I liked about Outlook Express was that a copy of every message (incoming and outgoing) was kept on my computer. Also, AOL used to let members save messages on their computers by creating a PFC (personal file cabinet). (Maybe they still do, but I can't find a way of doing it with my AIM account.)

Nowadays, however, the most popular email services (such a Gmail and Yahoo, among others) keep all messages on their servers and don't offer an easy way for subscribers to copy messages onto their own computers.

Yahoo Mail does have an advanced option for forwarding messages to a place from which they can be copied to your computer — for $19.99/year. (Click on Options>Forwarding.)

Gmail lets you forward all your mail to multiple email addresses at no charge. I have mine forwarded to my Windows Live Mail account, which allows me to drag messages onto my Desktop and save them as .EML messages (just like in Outlook Express). In Gmail click on the gear icon and then click on Settings>Forwarding and POP/IMAP.

Email Privacy?

In any case, nowadays these services are more interested in storing copies of your mail on their computers than in letting you do the same. Why? Because they mine the messages for information that is helpful in selling space to advertisers.

They don't actually "read" your messages in the usual sense. They scan for key words and phrases that might say something about your preferences. If you tell a friend, for instance, that you like a certain make of car or brand of shampoo they can sell the information to car manufacturers and soap companies (without using your actual name or address — just the statistics).

Beyond this, however, if you have an online presence at all these days, you can pretty much say goodbye to privacy. Yes, Facebook, Twitter and others have "Privacy Options" you can click on, but I don't really depend on any of them to protect my privacy.

For myself it matters not, since (lame as it sounds) I lead a simple life with nothing to hide (except, of course, my personal ID info). But I can appreciate that others have certain things they would prefer to keep to themselves. Well, they need to be very, very careful about what they post on Facebook or in a blog or even in an email. You may think your best friend won't disclose what you said privately in an email — but you can never be sure that someone else didn't see the email and is anxious to tell the world.

For job seekers, nowadays, a potential employer is more likely to check out your Facebook activity than he/she is to study your résumé. Also, employees have been fired for bad-mouthing their bosses on Facebook or Twitter.

For those of us who grew up in the 20th Century, it's a completely different world we live in now.

Cash Back Email

Regarding a message I recently passed along about an alleged "cash back" scam, several people responded by saying the message seemed very dubious.

Well, I get dozens of emails every week from well-intentioned people who pass along "important information" that has been forwarded to them. Normally, I just dismiss these messages and would have done so with this one, had it not been for an electrician who was working here and who overheard us talking about it. He said the "cash back" thing had happened to him a few weeks earlier, but that he assumed it was just an honest mistake. That's when I decided to send out the message.

Regarding the questionability of the story, Edward Brode sent the most literate observation:
    "The cash back scam can only be perpetrated with debit cards, as credit card sales don't allow for cash back. Also, it is very rare these days for the cashier to be involved in determining the amount of the transaction, as the debit card is scanned by the customer and the machine asks if he wants cash back and provides it only if authorized. Even when the cashier is involved in determining the amount, the customer has to authorize the total amount including the cash back. What a cashier can do is 'forget' to give the customer the cash and see if he notices."
Thank you, Edward.

A few others chastised me for sending out such a spurious story and referred me to "Scopes.com" where the story is said to be an urban myth that's been around for a long time. They also suggested that I apologize for sending it out.

Well, let's see. What's the worst thing that might happen to people who read the story — that they might become a little more diligent about checking their sales receipts in the future?
Please accept my apologies.

    A couple of responses...

    Don and Mary,
          No need to apologize for that email warning! We all make mistakes and all you were doing was trying to help people. I happen to appreciate your taking the time to pass along what you believed to be a legitimate warning. To those who chastised you I say go find something important to complain about because that was no big deal!
          I thank you for your kind consideration and appreciate all you do us!
          With appreciation, Deb Jeppesen

    Dear Don:
          Please continue to inform your readers of scams and circumstances that could be harmful to the public, especially to faithful readers such as my husband and myself. The people that chastised you should really get a life so they could stay out of yours. Please keep up the good work!
          Sincerely, Jayne Thobois

    Comments and/or questions can be sent to: InputPCDon@gmail.com.

    Warmest regards, Don & Mary

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