Don’t Be a Bozo: Change Filter Rules If Computer Trashes Mail
Q: I have an e-mail subscription to the New York Times. It had been arriving as expected until a few weeks ago. It wasn’t there several days, and when I went looking for it, I found it in the Delete box. I checked the next day and every day since and found that the silly thing arrives directly into the Delete box. Is there some reason e-mail would arrive only to be deleted? This is the only mail that arrives that way.
A: It sounds as though you’ve somehow activated what’s known as a Bozo filter on your e-mail. Several of the major e-mail packages on the market allow users to set up “rules.” Rules can place incoming or existing e-mail into whatever mail box is desired. The rule looks for something special about the mail--such as the return address or subject line--and then moves it according to whatever criteria you’ve set up.
In your case, you’ve apparently triggered a rule that plops mail from the Times directly into the garbage. This particular type of rule is where the term Bozo filter comes from. If one is being constantly bombarded with e-mail from somebody who has nothing interesting to say--a spouse, for example--one can set up a Bozo filter that deletes such items automatically, thus saving your virgin eyes from further sullying.
The solution is to find the rules section in your e-mail software and delete the one for the Times, or set up a special mailbox for mail from the Times so that the mail is placed there instead of the garbage.
Q: I am using Windows 98 and recently upgraded to a broadband Internet connection. Is it still necessary to delete temporary Internet files and perform Scandisk and Defrag?
A: You betcha. The procedures you mentioned are all about keeping your hard drive clean and tidy. A high-speed Internet connection doesn’t mean you can forget about routine computer maintenance. And in fact, there’s a whole new chore for you: Get yourself a firewall.
Your new box with the big pipe is a primo target for what security specialists delicately refer to as the intruder community. Crackers--malevolent computer hackers-- are always looking for unsecured boxes to break into, not because you yourself have any especially interesting data on your hard drive but because they don’t want to launch an attack from their own box and therefore elicit a visit from the constabulary.
A fellow the friendly geeks at Q&A; labs knows who works at a federal research facility estimates that three out of four attacks on his computer systems are launched from computers owned by perfectly innocent citizens, who must then jump through hoops to demonstrate that it wasn’t them doing the breaking and entering.
Firewalls--usually software--keep crackers out of your box. Most antiviral packages now come with a firewall. If you don’t have one, get one.
Q: Can you please tell me how to clean out my Recycle Bin?
A: There are several ways to do this. You can start by double-clicking on the Recycle Bin icon. Open the File menu and choose Empty Recycle Bin. Note that once this is done, you won’t be able to recover deleted files without some specialized software tools and a lot of patience. Or, you can right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Empty Recycle Bin.
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Dave Wilson is The Times’ personal technology columnist. Submit questions to Tech Q&A; at techtimes@latimes.com.
