Module Two Tasks-Email

Email


1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

In Microsoft outlook, if you right click on an email, and choose "message options" you can see relavant data, such as the sender's email address, their web hosting provider or server name, the time and date of transfer,
the path the email has taken, via various servers, and the MIME encoding used.

ie this is an email I received, (with user's email address removed for their privacy)

Return-path:
Envelope-to: jayne@alternativebaby.net
Delivery-date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:50:49 -0400
Received: from mi0.bluebottle.com ([206.188.25.15])
by lithium.webserversystems.com with esmtps (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256)
(Exim 4.68)
(envelope-from )
id 1JlEmO-0003yC-T3
for jayne@alternativebaby.net; Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:50:49 -0400
Received: from fe0.bluebottle.com (internal.bluebottle.com [206.188.24.43])
by mi0.bluebottle.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id m3E2okv4007428
(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO)
for ; Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:50:46 -0700
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; s=mail; d=bluebottle.com; c=nofws; q=dns;
h=received:to:message-id:date:from:subject:mime-version:
content-type:content-transfer-encoding:user-agent:x-trusted-delivery;
b=0tuLZ6zQ7lMNtvje6vuQeyTPaoJIEgjzEEI0iM9CdKp5rRA2bH+tuudE/Cb8MrMSV
xDxnrxvR+FuJlwlU4ENn4y9G7Tu7e2eABZNtWJnvu3InpRa6F3BlVayT+3quvpZ
Received: from localhost (internal.bluebottle.com [206.188.24.43])
(authenticated bits=0)
by fe0.bluebottle.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id m3E2okSY027460
for ; Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:50:46 -0700
Received: from d58-108-78-244.dsl.nsw.optusnet.com.au (d58-108-78-244.dsl.nsw.optusnet.com.au [58.108.78.244])
by mail.bluebottle.com (IMP) with HTTP
for ; Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:50:46 -0700
To: jayne@alternativebaby.net
Message-ID: <1208141446.4802c6861e996@mail.bluebottle.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:50:46 -0700
From: User's Display Name
Subject: Catalogue :)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) 3.2.2
X-Trusted-Delivery: <3e570d8e7e2453cbaa3cca9410d8b3b7>

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?

"cc" -stands for "Carbon Copy
"bcc"-Blind Carbon Copy

This seems to be taken from the old pre-computer days of carbon paper placed in a typewriter to copy a letter or printed document. You would use both the above functions to send the same email to multiple recipients. Applications for the feature include memos sent around workplaces, invitations for parties/events, advertising (sometimes spam!), newsletters, or 3+ way email conversations between friends or work colleagues.
The "bcc" function is very useful to ensure recipient privacy. ie the recipient cannot see who else was sent email other than themselves. This is especially important in the case of business related mail outs, where recipients may not want their email addresses to appear visible to other recipients, thus exposing them to the danger of unwanted email solicitation (spam).

The "reply all" function is useful for group email discussions, either work related, or social (ie "where should we meet on Friday night?") However, care should be taken in it's use-it's bad "netiquette" to respond to a CC'd/bcc'd email with the "reply to all" function when your response is only of interest to the actual sender.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

1. Check to see if the recipient has the program in which the document was created. Most PC and mac users these days have Microsoft Word, which is cross compatible across Mac and PC platforms. If you have the latest version, it does sometimes pay to backward save, to ensure users of older versions can open the document.

2. If users do not have the software, it can be a good idea to ensure the attachment is in a form readable by anyone-such as pdf format which is readable by anyone who's downloaded the free Adobe pdf reader software.

3. Saving the email file as a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) file.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

Through the Cpanel on my website's web server, I have enabled "Spam Assassin" which labels any suspected incoming spam, thus sending it to the spam folder of my email program, which is set to high. I have included some screenshots below.


In addition my virus scanner is set to scan incoming email, and there is an additional virus scanner on the server.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
I have organised mail from yahoo groups and various other forums and organisations into their own folders using the "email rules and alerts" function in Outlook (see below)



The purpose of this for me is twofold; 1-it helps organise emails into the right place so I know to what it relates and I don't lose emails in the general clutter of my inbox, and 2-it means they are neatly sorted for referral to at a later time.