October 14th, 2009

E-mail Etiquette

For many of us, e-mail has become a regular part of our daily lives. Most people send multiple e-mail messages to co-workers and friends every day. Therefore, I find it surprising that so many users are unaware of basic e-mail etiquette. In case you are unsure if you know all the "netiquette" rules related to e-mail, here is a list of guidelines that you may find helpful:

1. Include a relevant subject
   Most of us receive several e-mails per day. Having a relevant subject for each message makes it much easier to browse through the messages and reply accordingly. Plus, if you don't include a subject, it increases the odds that your message will get caught in a spam filter.
2. Add your name to your e-mail account
   When you include your name in your mail account configuration, it makes your name appear in the "From:" field rather than just an e-mail address. This is helpful for other users and will also decrease the chance of your message ending up in a junk mailbox.
3. Use good grammar
   Composing an e-mail message is different than text messaging or chatting online. Therefore, maintaining good grammar and punctuation is important, especially in work-related e-mails.
4. Include paragraphs
   Separate different thoughts or topics with a paragraph and an extra line break. This makes lengthy e-mails much easier to read.
5. Don't spam
   Spamming users with unsolicited e-mail is a cardinal online offense. We all know how annoying it is to receive unwanted messages. Therefore, please don't contribute to the problem.
6. Don't forward messages
   Nobody likes a frequent forwarder. Forwarding e-mail is typically more enjoyable for those forwarding messages than for those receiving them. You can occasionally forward important e-mails, but make sure to delete any other e-mail addresses included in the body of the message. This way you won't unnecessarily share other users' e-mail addresses.
7. Use Bcc for mass e-mails
   If you need to send an e-mail to a large group of people, be sure to enter the addresses in the the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) field. This means each recipient will only see your e-mail address, rather than the e-mail addresses of everyone you sent the message to.
8. Include a signature
   Appending a signature at the end of an e-mail is a clear way to end your message and provide your contact information to the recipient. A personal signature may simply include your name and e-mail address. A work-related signature may also include your title, business name, and phone number. Many e-mail programs allow you to create multiple signatures for different purposes.

Summer Break?

It has been nearly three months since my last Editor's Update. Have I been slacking in the aftermath of Sharpened.net's tenth anniversary? Or have I just been on summer vacation? It may surprise you that neither is the case. I have actually been adding busy new content at a frantic pace during the past few months. I've added hundreds of new database entries, including glossary definitions, acronyms, emoticons, and file extensions. I just haven't published any Editor's Updates for awhile.

So why the undue update delay? Well, I am not one for excessive excuses, but I did fall a bit behind in my e-mail correspondence when I recently moved to a new location. And, as some might remember, I once made a particular point to stay current with my e-mail and to avoid e-mail bankruptcy at all costs. Therefore, I have focused my time on responding to your messages rather than writing more blithering blogs. After all, I imagine you would feel naturally neglected if I posted updates while ignoring your mail.

I have said it before, and it is worth saying again – your feedback is the foundation of Sharpened.net. When you submit ideas and suggestions, I take them seriously. Most of the time, your suggestions end up as part of the website content in one way or another. Therefore, I always appreciate your feedback and am glad to have received an abundance of suggestions during the past few months.

Fortunately, I am now current with my e-mail correspondence and have time to compose my updates as usual. So send me your feedback and you may be able to delay my rants for awhile longer.

10 Year Anniversary

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Sharpened.net. What began as a small computer glossary back in 1999 has slowly grown into the full computer and Internet resource you see today. Besides a Glossary, Sharpened.net now includes a Help Center, a collection of Resources, and a Reviews section. You can learn more about how Sharpened.net has evolved over the past ten years by viewing the History of Sharpened.net.

I originally developed the website using GoLive Cyberstudio, which later became Adobe GoLive. Each page was developed using standard HTML, which I soon found would not be sufficient for the rapidly growing site. Therefore, after about two years, I rebuilt the Glossary section using PHP and a MySQL database. This allowed me to add definitions without creating new pages for each one, which was a huge timesaver. In the following years, I also migrated the Help Center, File Extensions, Acronyms, and Emoticons sections to the database.

For the first couple of years, the Sharpened.net database only included a few hundred entries. But as the site grew, so did the traffic. Therefore, I began updating the site much more frequently, adding new content almost every day. Now, after ten years, the database contains over 7,000 records, including computer definitions, acronyms, emoticons, file extensions, updates, and other information. While it has been a lot of work, the Sharpened.net visitors also deserve credit, since most of the entries have been from your suggestions!

Since day one, my goal has been to create a useful, easy-to-use computer and Internet resource. That means I have strived to design the site for visitors, not for search engines or advertisers. Though Sharpened.net has gone through many changes during the past decade, I have done my best to stay true to that commitment. After all, without visitors, there would be no point in building the website, let alone maintaining it everyday. =)

So thank you for ten great years. I look forward to many more decades of sharpening your knowledge of computers and the Internet.

The Internet Files for Bankruptcy

The economic downturn claimed another victim today as the Internet announced it is filing for bankruptcy. The global organization stated it has run out of bandwidth reserves and cannot continue to operate.

According to inside sources, the primary factor that led to the Internet's downfall was the purchase of too many sub-prime domain names. The U.S. government recently denied the DNS's request for a bailout, saying the organization had already been given billions of IPs, many of which are still not accounted for. The Internet's restructuring plan has also been criticized as simply virtual reality and nothing more than cyberspace. The last glimmer of hope faded when merger talks between the Internet and the intranet broke down last week after a combined subnet mask could not be finalized.

Several e-commerce companies that rely heavily on the Internet had lobbied tirelessly to save the global network, saying it was too big too fail. They emphasized the fact that the Internet is deeply linked to millions of websites across the world. Lobbyists also pointed out that if the Internet were to fail, it would negatively affect the pharming and phishing industries. However, many analysts have questioned the viability of the Internet, saying the organization's site map is far too complex and outdated to be successful. Some politicians supported the idea of breaking up the Internet into smaller entities, including the Web and E-mail. However, these and other anonymous requests were blocked by a firewall.

While the collapse of the Internet will change the world as we know it, some see a silver lining. There will be far less jargon too keep up with, and words like spam and cookie will go back to being food items. Social networking can once again be done in person and blogs can be written using a pen and paper. While the transition may be difficult for some, many are looking forward to taking some much needed time offline.

Read previous April Fools stories.

Twitter Me This

I recently added a definition for Twitter, the latest vogue in social networking. If you don't know about Twitter, it's an online service that allows you to stay connected with others through frequent blog posts that answer the question, "What are you doing?" You can post your own updates (a.k.a. "tweets") and follow the updates of others.

Basically, Twitter allows you to stalk others while they stalk you. And the crazy thing is, it's completely voluntary. In an age where people are so concerned about their privacy, I find it rather surprising, if not ironic, that Twitter has been so successful. For whatever reason, people seem to enjoy broadcasting the most trivial details of their day for the world to see. Whether it's doing the laundry or taking out the trash, it's important enough to twitter about.

While I don't fully understand the appeal of Twitter, I'm concerned that some users may not fully understand the effects of their twittering. I worry that some people, especially the younger generation, may twitter details about their lives they may later regret. While Twitter allows you to block your "Followers," or those who can read your updates, you never know who might see what you write. Furthermore, anything you post online is stored digitally, meaning its as good as permanent.

So whether you are twittering about your thoughts, feelings, plans, or past experiences, remember to use discretion. You'll be glad you did.