The Non-Savey computer users

[cs]

So most of us here appear to be internet savy, right? We have all seen the same jokes, the same photos and the same tricks that have been circulating the web for quite awhile.

But how many of you have co-workers who are not so savey? You know the ones that forward you every e-mail warning or every urban myth photo and everything else in between. These are the same ones that believe that the US Postal service will start charging for every e-mail you send.

Well I got a whole office full of them. I mean how are you supposed to act when the show you that "neat" web site that you've seen a thousand times or when they send you this dire warning about the virus that will wipe out the worlds computers. I usually just kinda say "Yeah thats neat" or just shrug my shoulders. Of course I always get told I'm boring and no fun because I don't jump up and down or roll in the floor laughing cause I've only read that joke a million times.

How many of you out there have to deal with this?

Chad

[oldriverat]

I know what you mean Chad. We have a friend who spams us with countless forwards at a time. It's really annoying but don't want to hurt her feelings by blocking her. We just delete, delete, delete.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I have the same problem with my relatives I REPLY TO ALL with a link to the proof of the Hoax . Then I get annoying emails back from them telling me they were just trying to HELP ME. I reply, help yourself bookmark the hoax debunk site I sent you and take 1/10 of a second to research it before you forward to all those on your address book :rolleyes: :mad: :rolleyes:

Edited to add: I feel very offended to hear about the ones claiming a child has leukemia and wants so many names emailed before he dies. Some people think these are harmless. But think about the poor parent that just lost a child from leukemia getting that e-mail ? :( Sometimes there so blatantly false that they don't event take the time to spell check leukemia :mad:

[ 11-05-2003, 09:30 AM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

I delete about 50 mass e-mails a day. Some people seem think I want to read everything they do. I don't. :D

[Bruce Taylor]

I guess I'm out of the loop. I get the usual heaps of spam (usually about enlarging things or shrinking them: body parts, income, personal debt...whatever it is, it always seems to be the wrong size) but almost never get those chain-letters and forwarded emails. I was the last guy in the western hemisphere to see that terrifying footage of Tony the Tiger pouncing on Roy, and the hoaxes always get to Snopes before they reach me.

[ 11-05-2003, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Bruce Taylor ]

[Jack Heinlen]

Re mass mailings from friends. I finally had to tell one old friend to take me off her list. I didn't block, and I was polite, but lord!

I remember when I first had e-mail I found that especially offensive. Her's were usually some political or pop-psychology diatribe, and even though she occasionally wrote a personal note too I was taken aback how often I got the same thing as forty other people.

It's almost like getting a letter from a politician; or the same thing in different clothing: those form Christmas letters, for which she is also notorious. I hate those too. They end up in the trash, at best skimmed.

They all feel insulting to closeness, somehow.

[Bruce Hooke]

I've run into this a certain amount in the past...less so since I started working at an IT consulting company where most people are pretty tech-savvy. I do sometimes get this sort of thing in my home email but that is also dropping off as my relatives get more experienced with computers and email. What I think has helped in the latter area is that I and other tech-savvy relatives have tried to educate our less tech-savvy friends and relatives about how to filter this sort of thing.

If your company has someone in charge of the network and email they should really put out the message that:

1. If anyone receives a virus warning or something similar via email it should be sent to the IT person and ONLY to that person so that they can check it out before company time is wasted on false warnings.

2. Chain letters that try to get a certain number of responses or similar setups are another form of computer VIRUS that can clog the companies network and waste employees time. Forwarding of such letters on company email is not permitted.

Of course that still leaves the joke emails that you've already seen 100 times. In those cases I just try to laugh and maybe slide in after a few seconds the comment that the joke in question has been around the block (or the globe) a few times. Some companies try to ban this sort of email but I figure a little humor in the workplace is a good thing and ultimately helps productivity.

[ 11-05-2003, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: Bruce Hooke ]

[Tar Devil]

I just started sending this to everyone that sends me a "send this to 100 people" email...

This letter has been sent to you to stop you from sending out chain letters.
The original was written in the 3rd century A.D. by a deranged member of
the Most Holy Post. That version vanished during the Spanish Inquisition
(Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition !!!!!!!!!). More recently, it was
communicated telepathically to Shirley MacLaine by monks on the planet
Mongo in the eighth dimension. Now it has been sent to you. Good things
will soon be happening to you if you follow the instructions given in this letter.
This is no joke! If you do what this letter says to do, every person who owes
you money will repay you. The IRS will never audit you again. Hugh Hefner
will invite you to house-sit at the playboy mansion while he and the missus
go on a six month vacation. Finally, you will be spotted by a head hunter
and whisked off into the fast paced life of an insurance salesman in Kansas.

To get all of this good fortune, you must keep this letter for the next five years.
If at any time during that time you receive a chain letter, don't send out any
copies of it. Instead, you must send this anti-chain letter back to the person
who sent you the chain letter (If you don't know who sent it, send a copy of
this letter to a random person). At the end of five years, do the following
'de-briefing' ceremony, and you will be done:

Throw salt over your shoulder.
Throw salt over Zha Zha Gabor's shoulder.
Throw Zha Zha over your shoulder.
Walk under a ladder.
Do the rhumba under a ladder.
Pray the rosary.
Pray the zippity-doo-dah, zippity-ay.
Drink Vitameatavegimin (3 tablespoons at a time)
Mix 2 frogs, 3 locks of Michael Jackson's hair, 2 turtledoves, and the remains of this
letter in a cauldron and boil at 375 degrees for 2 hours and 3 minutes.
Place the whole mixture in the microwave on saute for 6:53 and place in serving bowls, then chill.
Gargle, then spit.

DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER. If you do, nuclear war is a definite possibility.
You will develop psoriasis, gout, hemmhoroids, herpes, and/or a common cold.
Some day you will definitely die if you ignore this letter!!!!! Furthermore, your
next-door neighbor will start a manure farm in his backyard and begin playing
the bagpipe (late at night usually). You may even be forced to spend an evening
with an accountant and an insurance salesman discussing their work.

A police officer from Temecula won the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes.
A girl in Chicago got the letter and continued sending out chain letters anyway.
She died a month later when a ream of paper fell off a truck and crushed the
Fahrvervgnugen out of her Volkswagen Bug. Madonna obeyed the letter and
discovered the razor. A lot of women didn't follow the letter's instructions and
became mothers of Wilt Chamberlain's illegitimate children.

Don't send out those chain letters and see what happens. You will be shocked
to find that none of their curses come true. The person you send this anti-chain
letter to will be heartily amused, and besides, its much easier to send out one
copy of this than 5 or 20 copies of some dreary chain letter.

Do note the following: All of the passengers of the Titanic received this letter.
When someone on the boat started a chain letter going, they all ignored this
letter and passed it along, and the result is history. Dick Grayson carried out
the letter's instructions and became Robin, Batman's Boy Wonder. Both Mike
Tyson and Robin Givens received this letter and threw it away. Then they got
married. Clarence Thomas followed the letter's instructions. Charles Keating didn't.

In 1987, the letter was received by a young woman in California. It was very
faded and barely readable. She promised herself that she would not send
out any chain letters. A year later she forgot, and when she received a chain
letter, she faithfully typed out the ten copies of the letter and placed them in
envelopes. She developed breast cancer, and the doctors told her she would
lose both breasts. While rummaging through her desk looking for a bottle of
sleeping pills, she found this letter. She immediately threw away all of the copies
of the chain letter she had prepared. The next day, the doctors told her they had
mistaken someone else's X-ray for hers, and that she was perfectly healthy.
Now she's a showgirl in Las Vegas.

Remember, send no chain letters. Do not ignore this letter.

Later,

Phil

[cs]

Copied and saved. :D

Chad

[Bruce Hooke]

:D :D :D