The Office Girl: Blocking Junk Email Based On Content: A Note

Tuesday, September 16

Blocking Junk Email Based On Content: A Note

Before you start blocking emails based on the words that are used in the offending emails, bear this in mind:

The biggest disadvantage to blocking emails based on content is that words are not always spelt the way you expect in spam/junk emails. For example, a popular spam email will try and sell you Viagra. The computer will not see the difference between the following spellings, however:
Viagra V1agra vigara v1agr4 vi4gra and so on …
(The computer sees no difference between upper- and lower-case text in this instance).
The reason words are increasingly spelt in this obscure manner is to get around the email blocks I am about to describe. Blocking emails based on the content of the email is not always the exact science we would like it to be. However, it is certainly another layer of protection you can add to MS Outlook.

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Glossary

Application - AKA Program this refers to any piece of software on your computer.
Browser - the program used to access the internet. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the most commonly used, although Mozilla's Firefox is also popular.
Cell reference - literally a reference to a cell. This is usually first encountered in Excel. A cell reference usually is phrased as the letter of the column and the number of the row being referred to e.g. A1
Character - Any symbol (letter, number, punctuation etc) that you type in.
Default tab stops - how far your insertion point moves when you press the Tab key
Document - A file created by using keyboard input. Basically it usually is something like a letter or resume. It might end in .doc, .rtf, or .txt.
Font - the "handwriting" used for text. Usually is either a serif or sans serif typeface.
Footer - Area at the bottom of a Word document devoted to text which is repeated in the same position for every page of the document.
Format - Changes the way your (usually) text appears.
Formula - a calculation mostly used in Excel which uses operators and cell references to express itself
Hard drive - the hard drive is your main storage device in your computer. It is also known as the "C drive", which in nerd-speak is written like C:
Header - Area at the top of a Word document devoted to text which is repeated in the same position for every page of the document.
Indentation - a way to determine how much space shows between the margins and the edge of the paragraph
Input - Input is where you put information INTO the computer. You can do this with an input device such as the keyboard or mouse.
Install - to take the contents of a disk (CD, DVD etc) and place them permanently on the computer.
Malware - anything which infiltrates or damages a computer system without the owner's informed consent.
Margins - the white spaces around the edge of your document
Operating System - a very complex piece of software, but without it you wouldn't be able to use your computer! Windows is the best known operating system available.
Operator - a symbol used to calculate, compare and otherwise express what you want to do
Paragraph - Created in Word everytime you press Enter.
Program - AKA Application this refers to any piece of software on your computer.
Software - A program (usually purchased at a store) which can be installed onto your computer. AKA Application, Program
Spyware - installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.
Tab - a clever way of aligning your text differently within a paragraph
Uninstall - to remove an installed program from the computer.
Web based email - an email account which is accessed through a browser rather than a dedicated program. Yahoo and Hotmail are examples of this.