E-mail, long a mainstay of the Internet (after all, it substantially predates the World Wide Web) is under assault from a variety of sources.  Some of these assaults are internal (viruses and spam, for example), some are systemic-- a suggestion was made recently to scrap the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) upon which most e-mail transfers are based-- and some are competitive.  This series of articles will discuss e-mail itself as well as some of the alternatives and how they may be used to enhance communications.

These alternatives (to be discussed later) include Instant Messaging (IM), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Usenet newsgroups, Yahoo! Groups & MSN Groups, Wiki, text messaging, and forums.

A little knowledge about the history of the Internet is useful here, since it substantially predates the World Wide Web. It all started as the ARPANET in the early 1960's-- the Advanced Research Projects Agency itself was started as a response to Sputnik in 1957.  At a time when punched cards, magnetic tape, and paper tape were the norm for computer programming and storage, some visionaries saw the need to connect individual computers in networks to ease the flow of information and speed research.  It wasn't long before the need for personal-message transfer over the network became clear-- the @ symbol was one of the first things to come out of this.  The backbone originally built as ARPANET grew and evolved into today's  Internet.  The definition of the Internet is basically "a world-wide network of networks."  It's also useful to note that no one government or organization "owns" or "controls" the Internet.  Of course this has consequences, both good and bad.

Now on to the discussion about e-mail itself.  There are several ways of dealing with regular e-mail.  America Online software, for example, has its own built-in e-mail client-- but it also provides a browser-based means to read mail if you are away from your home machine; this is known as web mail.  Yahoo! and Netscape use similar web mail interfaces.   If you have a service like Earthlink, Comcast, or WideOpenWest (or get e-mail at work), you are probably familiar with a mail client such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.  POP stands for Post Office Protocol, a common standard that works with SMTP-- the current version is POP3.  One important thing that new e-mail users ought to be aware of is Internet ettiquette, also known as netiquette (also here).  Perhaps the most important of these for new users is the following: typing e-mail messages in ALL-UPPER-CASE is considered SHOUTING-- and rude.

Web mail
When a user signs up for a free e-mail account on the web, the user interface to that account is almost always handled through the browser.   This is known as web mail.  Yahoo!, Netscape, and Hotmail all use this type of interface.   This interface is also sometimes used by providers to allow a user to access their mail from a foreign computer-- AOL Anywhere, for example, allows this; an AOL subscriber can log in from a library computer and read and manage their mail in a browser window.  One of the advantages of this method is that viruses are unlikely to infect a computer through this means.  One of the drawbacks is that it's more difficult to manage multiple mail accounts with a single provider in this fashion.  Note that all the mail that users don't delete remains stored on the remote system (this is not a problem with multi-gigabyte and unlimited-storage systems).  With some providers, the storage limit may be as little as two megabytes, which fills up fast (though most providers now have much more storage available).  Also, nearly all free e-mail providers attach some form of advertising to messages sent from such an account.  Another limitation is that as little as 30 days of inactivity (90 days for Yahoo!) may lead to suspension or deletion of your free account, with the loss of your stored e-mail.

In spite of these minor drawbacks, I recommend that all users get and maintain at least one free web mail account.  One reason to do this is that it provides an address that can be used in situations where the threat of spam exists-- this deflects it from your main account by acting as a spam trap.  Another reason is that it gives users access to the instant messagingsystem and other services associated with that provider.  Yet a third reason is increased privacy; the use of a free e-mail address hides your Internet service provider's identity from casual contacts.  Last but not least, if you change your ISP your free e-mail does not need to change.

My primary recommendation is Yahoo! because of services such as Yahoo! Groups and Yahoo! Instant Messenger, not to mention the Yahoo! portal itself.  Their browser-based e-mail client is also among the best (a new version is beta-testing), and though the HTML mail feature is only directly implemented under Windows (there are workarounds for Linux), everything else works fine in nearly any environment.  The mail-search tools have recently been improved, mail can be filtered in a variety of ways, and it is easy to sort mail by sender name, subject, date, or size-- and the Bulk Mail folder effectively sorts out most spam, with a few missed and false positives.  A brief advertising tag is appended to each outgoing message.  A free Yahoo! Mail account now has an unlimited mailbox capacity with a 10 MB total attachment limit per message.  A Yahoo! Mail Plus or co-branded account (example: AT&T Yahoo!) has extra features including 20 MB total attachment limit per message, POP mail access, less advertising, and no ad tag-lines.  As of the time of this writing, the linked Yahoo! Mail Plus page does not reflect the new unlimited storage for all accounts.

A relatively-new entrant in this arena is Google, which offers a near-3GB mailbox, free POP access, and message threading, known in Gmail as "conversations"-- the grouping together of related messages (which the other web mail clients lack).  With a little programming, the service can even be used as a network hard drive for storage.  Another nice feature is that, unlike the other free services listed here, no advertising is attached to outgoing messages.

Signing up for Netscape Mail or other free AOL e-mail accounts gets a user access to AOL Instant Messenger (if you are not already subscribed to AOL).  Netscape.com is part of Time Warner and is a decent portal because of the availability of CNN and other services.  For those users that are subscribed to AOL, their screen name can be used for the Netscape account, providing a second free account.  AOL is now providing an AOL-branded free e-email service-- though I have not tried it (I just discovered that I can access a new AOL home page with my Netscape ID).   Netscape's free service is not as flexible as Yahoo's offering (no mail sorting or bulk mail filtering, for example).  Netscape Mail now has a 250 megabyte mailbox, but no way to sort your mail or easily forward HTML mail (forwarding is an option, but does not seem to work well for HTML messages).  A brief advertising tag is appended to each outgoing message.  AOL now offers a dial-up Internet service (ISP) under the Netscape brand for $9.95 a month, by the way, with the first month free; a paid account has mail sorting, etc. and the ability to use an IMAP mail reader.  The main reason I got a Netscape account in the first place was for free access to the AOL Instant Messenger network.

Hotmail, provided by Microsoft, is at the absolute bottom of my list.  This is primarily because a user must sign up for Microsoft .NET Passport (now called Live ID), which many feel may have privacy/security issues-- but a general distrust of Microsoft on my part is also an important factor.  The mailbox capacity is now 250 MB after a provisional 25 MB trial period.  Like Yahoo!, the mailbox provides sorting.  Hotmail does have useful on-line spell checker/dictionary/thesaurus tools.  A brief advertising tag is appended to each outgoing message.  Attachments are likely to be filtered out.  One useful reason to join Hotmail: a free account allows access to the MSN Messenger IM network, just like an MSN account would.

There are also another group of free e-mail providers that should be mentioned: those that can be referred to as affinity group providers (to borrow a credit card term).  An example of this is http://www.beethoven.com, which provides beethoven.com e-mail addresses for classical-music lovers.  There are many other examples.

It should also be pointed out that, like Yahoo!, Hotmail offers POP mail access for an extra $20 per year.  This also buys extra storage capacity and squelches attached ads, as well.  In the case of Yahoo!, it also provides access to disposable e-mail accounts.   Co-branded services, such as SBC Yahoo! have this feature standard.

POP / IMAP mail
Your e-mail at work is probably handled as POP mail, and the e-mail client is probably Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.  This type of mail is also commonly used for a cable or DSL Internet account, as well.  POP mail offers more power and greater flexibility than web mail (mail is stored locally, so can be easily read while offline, for example) but at the expense of somewhat more difficult configuration and possible security problems in the Outlook clients.  IMAP is a slightly different standard that is also used for mail transfer, but leaves the messages on the server instead of downloading them to the client and deleting it from the server.  It should be noted that AOL now offers an IMAP connection as a more-flexible alternative to the built-in AOL mail client, as well as a POP mail interface for the Netscape ISP.

One way to avoid the security loopholes opened up by the Outlook clients is to use something else altogether.  That's one of the reasons why I use the Mozilla Mail client instead.  The SeaMonkey suite comes with a free POP mail client that has built-in junk-mail filtering.  It also has a built-in newsgroup reader.  Mozilla.org is moving toward an unbundled suite; the mail reader is also available in a stand-alone version called Thunderbird (the stand-alone browser is called Firefox).  These are quite functional, and are smaller downloads than the full SeaMonkey package.

Of course, Mozilla Mail and Thunderbird are not the only stand-alone mail clients-- but they are enough better than the rest that I have no other recommendations at this time.  The new version of Eudora, for example, will be based on Thunderbird.

Multiple recipients
One rather annoying thing people do with e-mails is improperly sending or forwarding them to a group list.  This is an annoyance for at least two reasons: it's not always wise for everyone on a list to see everyone else's e-mail address for security reasons (think of a mailing to bank customers as an example, exposure to spammers is another) and it is additional clutter to wade through to get to the body of the message.

Attachments and security
Attachments are a rather controversial subject.  With so many viruses coming through masquerading as legitimate attachments from our friends or from organizations we belong to, what's a user to do?  Start by making sure that your system is properly configured.

One of the reasons that e-mail is susceptible to viruses is because the Microsoft e-mail clients Outlook and Outlook Express are inherently insecure in a variety of ways, and attachments are a weak point.  One way to substantially close this gap is as follows-- and this is very important (it's the first thing I do to any Windows machine that I work with, regardless of the version of Windows involved):

Make extensions for known file types visible.  These extensions are hidden by default.

The technique for this differs between Windows 9x (Win 95/98/ME) and Windows NT (Win 2000/XP) due to the different locations of the Folder Options item-- under Win9x, it's under the View menu, with Win NT/2000/XP it's under the Tools menu.  Open any folder and find the appropriate drop-down menu along the menu bar, open Folder Options, go to the View tab, then make the change.  Here is an article on this subject with more details.

This is important because hiding an extension can cause a user to mistakenly think that a file called Love.txt.exe is actually Love.txt because the true file extension is hidden.  Files with the extensions EXE, PIF, and VBS (for example) are executable and can deliver a virus payload without further user intervention.  By being aware of this, a user can view the revealed extension and keep from making this mistake.  You must also ensure that Internet Explorer and the Outlook clients, if you use them, are kept up-to-date with the current Microsoft-supplied patches.

There are some that say, "Don't open any attachments!"-- and in a very limited sense, they are right.  A user should never open an attachment as an attachment.  The correct procedure is to right-click on the icon, select Save As... and save it to the Desktop.  Once there, look closely at it.  Does the file have a VBS or PIF extension?  If so, trash it-- there's no reason for anyone to send you that type of file, it's a virus.  Does the file have an EXE or ZIP extension?  If so, it's automatically suspect, pending verification.  Contact the sender and say, "Did you really send me this?  If so, what is it?"

Once you determine that it's some other type of file than the ones listed above, scan it for viruses.  All modern anti-virus programs can do this.  Only after it is passed as clean should you open it with a program.

Another way to prevent problems with attachments is don't send them.  There are several ways to transfer files without attaching them to an e-mail.  One is to simply link to the original; for example, rather than download a picture from a site and send it as an attachment, send a link to the picture on the original website (if possible).  Many interesting e-mails with embedded pictures ("mouse caught in toner cartridge" for example) can be linked to on the Snopes or Urban Legends web sites. Another is to get a free service such as your own GeoCities or Angelfire website and/or something like Yahoo! Briefcase or a Flickr account-- upload the file(s) or picture(s) there and link to them.  Yet another means of ensuring an improved level of security is to tell your friends that if they are going to send an attachment, send two e-mails-- the first saying, "I'm sending you an attachment, here's the description." and the second e-mail with the attachment and referring to the first mail.

Personally, the way that I deal with the inherent problems in the Microsoft e-mail clients is to simply not use them.  Unless you are in a business environment using Microsoft Exchange, use the Mail client in Mozilla or the stand-alone Mozilla Thunderbird instead-- they are much more secure

Spam
In spite of the new CAN-SPAM Act (some say because of it, and the evidence agrees), the tide of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) continues to rise.  More commonly known as "spam," after a Monty Python skit, this stuff consists of everything from come-ons to increase the size of body parts that you may not even have, to prescription drugs that you don't need, or to share in millions of dollars that you will never see-- to name just a few.  In some ways, this is a war between the spammers and those who would try to keep unwanted mail out of our inboxes.  In fact, several of the recent virus attacks have been for the sole purpose of providing a means to hijack users' machines en masse (botnets) to hide the source of some spam, especially from senders that would otherwise be blocked with the help of anti-spam support services such as Spamhaus and CAUCE (who, in fact, have been attacked themselves by virus writers).  This situation has gotten so bad that Comcast, in a recent move, cut off some of its own customers whose machines were being used to send out spam-- and they did not even know it!  Once again, this points out the importance of making sure that all your Windows patches are up-to-date and that you are running good, current anti-virus software (or don't run Windows at all), and also running decent firewall software and/or hardware.

You may wonder why some spam subject lines or content contains random words or gibberish.  This is to get around certain types of spam filters, which give "weight" to certain words and score mail accordingly; the higher the score, the more likely the suspect message is to be spam.  If the word "Viagra" in the subject marks a message as spam (as well it should), "v1.agra" may bypass that filter-- but still be readable to human eyes.  If a twenty-word message contains words that would raise the score, a spammer might add a hundred neutral-but-random words in an attempt to knock it back down again.  This sort of thing can easily backfire, though, because it is so easily recognized by human eyes (some spammers attempt to hide this text by making the lettering white on a white background).  This is also the type of spam that is most likely to come from a hijacked machine;  I would estimate that at least 40-50% of the spam I receive at my free-web mail spamtrap address is from hijacked machines-- for example, a recent spate of "you have an e-greeting card!" spam links back to hijacked machines which redirect to a Trojan download.

There are two things to be especially aware of when dealing with spam (there are others, see Spamhaus and CAUCE for more).  One is never click on the "remove me" link; all that does is confirm not only that yours is a live address, but that you read spam!  The other warning is that in order to send graphics in an HTML e-mail, the server that to know where it sends it, so the spammer not only knows that you are reading the message, but that your address is "live."  Even some e-mail that does not appear to be HTML can contain a hidden web bug or "web beacon" graphic (a one-pixel-size picture, for example) that does the same thing.  Even some legitimate sites, such as Yahoo!, use this technique.

My POP mail spam is handled quite nicely by Mozilla.  If it's not filtered to my Junk folder, a single click sends it there-- the filter is "trained" over time, so the longer it's in use, the better it works.

*** The next installment will cover instant messaging (IM). ***