Junk Mail

- please do not spam me any more !

and pass this on to a thousand of your friends.

Today was the last straw. I got another copy of the "Disney is going to give 13,000 people a free vacation if this message annoys at least 10% of the Internet population" spam. I don't know how these things get started, but I've decided to start my own, and I'm counting on all of you to help pass it on. You won't get a free copy of Windows98 for doing so, but if enough copies of the message get out, I will consider NOT killing the last person who sent me the Disney spam.

Here are the Email Facts Of Life

The Chain Letter
Big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. You can relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true".

Furthermore, just because someone said in the message, four generations back, that "we checked it out and it's legit", does not actually make it true.

Kidney Theft
There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. If you are hellbent on believing the kidney-theft ring stories, please see:

http://urbanlegends.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm
And I quote: "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None have." That's "none" as in "zero". Not even your friend's cousin.

Cookie Recipe
Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, see:

http://www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html
Then, if you make the recipe, decide the cookies are that awesome, feel free to pass the recipe on - sans the Neiman Marcus story.

30 ways to...
We all know all 500 ways to drive your roommates crazy.

The lightbulb saga
We all know how many usenet posters it takes to change a lightbulb.

Public Disasters
Even if the latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium that went particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain-letter?

Goodtimes Virus
There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with virii. Try:

http://www.norton.com/
Multiple Copies
If your CC: list is regularly longer than the actual content of your message, you're probably going to Hell.

HTML encoding
If you're using Outlook, IE, or Netscape to write email, turn off the "HTML encoding." Those of us on unix shells can't read it, and don't care enough to save the attachment and then view it vwith a web browser, since you're probably forwarding us a copy of the Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe anyway.

Redundant Headers
If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months.

Pass it on....

Originally from Erynn LeRoyfrom Florida thessaly@evcom.net

Note: If you are really troubled by receiving junkmail then you should forward a copy of the offending message with your complaint, by Email to Webmaster@(the site where it originally came from). Many ISPs have enforced no-spam rules and these are sometimes effective. Do not attempt to reply direct to advertising as this only encourages them.

http://www.spamcop.net can help you track down the correct address of the webmaster to contact.