BleepingComputer.com: What personal e-mail practices drive you crazy?

I don't have a germ phobia in real life, but fear I might be approaching that point about the internet, in spite of the fact that my infections so far seem to be minor. (But what do I know?)

I have one sister who repeatedly forwards group mailings that have many names on it that I don't know. These mailings frequently contain 6-20 attachments. Sometimes they only contain one. After I received one entitled, "The Grump Test", which looked like it would be fun but had many attachments, I simply e-mailed her back and asked her if she knew how most viruses were spread on the internet. She next sent me an e-mail entitled, "Best positions in bed." Not about pornography, yoga or backaches, but a very popular e-mail involving pictures of puppies, kittens, and infants in various poses and some sleeping in unusual objects or places. The jpegs had all been laid out and were visible, so there was nothing to open. Very cute, possibly still dangerous.

I had suggested she consult her husband, an electronics board designer, or her two teenage children on the issue. No luck.

I also have received e-mails from at least 2 people who I thought knew my political philosophy, etc., which I thought were nutsy and had nothing to do with anything I could believe in. Not thoughtful articles, opinionated articles. One was a bizarre petition against Obama that was being mailed out during the primaries. Again, only one name I knew on the list, and that friend admitted to e-mailing the petition.

I'm sure I drive people nuts with my e-mail practices, but they don't ever mention it. When I send an article or picture from a reputable site, I will send a separate e-mail warning the one or two recipients that they will get it, and usually from a separate e-mail account. That way they will know it's legitimate.

The worst thing about e-mail with attachments: when important personal issues are interspersed with commentary and many attachments are added. I usually remove the attachments, but still. . .

What are your pet peeves about e-mailing practices?

The ones that ask you to add your name to the list and forward to some number of people.--Delete..

I've got pretty much the same issues as the OP. To the point where I tell people not to bother sending funnies or 'news' or anything pretty much, unless it's important. Not only have you got the virus/attack risk, you spend half your day wading through them to find something you like. If somebody sends something that's got FWD: on it I'll generally e-mail them with 'Is it a funny?' if the answers yes I just trash it. Harsh, but it saves a lot of time and guesswork.

This post has been edited by webrat: 03 February 2009 - 09:23 PM

Those stupid little surveys they send! You know the ones, "What did you have for breakfast?" When was the last time you cried?" What is your favorite plant?" Who thinks up these things and should we hunt them down and punish them?

Wildabeest, I love your icon; that is exactly how I feel about communications with my sisters: banging my head against the wall repeatedly.

I think that e-mails can be used for important personal communications at times; expressions of sentiment, what plans are for visits, what the kids are studying in college. But some people compulsively surf the net for all kinds of tidbits and entertainment and substitute that for real communication. If they're going to do that, I'd rather have referrals to a health website, news article or recipe. At least, if it looks interesting, I can type that in to my browser. And I know that they've been listening to my interests and my concerns. Please send e-mails to me as an individual unless it is the year's end newsletter to all and sundry among your acquaintance.

spam

My Sister annoyed me so much with Pyramid Emails,I put a block on her Emails.
As if, I want to send this crap, to 10 of my friends.

Stationery, FWD: FWD: FWD...etc.,

If it's a sibling or close friend it's easy to say 'stop', but I frequently get these pyramid or fwd emails from distant family members and just delete them. Some request that I send them back. My dilemma is how to get them to quit without causing offense.

[quote name='tylerisdabest' post='1129062' date='Feb 9 2009, 07:10 PM']spam[/quote]
[quote name='fuzzywuzzy6' post='1120105' date='Feb 3 2009, 01:09 PM']I'm talking about folks you know, not spammers![/quote]

One of your contacts gets an email, warning of some really vicious virus. Contact panics, says "oh no, I have to warn everyone in my address book RIGHT NOW." Next thing you know, it lands in your inbox. Your reaction is to reply to all, saying something like "ok you fools, this is a HOAX. You have the internet. Ever heard of Google??!!! CHECK IT OUT BEFORE FORWARDING THE MAIL TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST!!!!!! It's really easy to do, doesn't take long.
Get the facts BEFORE you panic. And next time, PLEASE don't send it to me. I'll delete it without reading it. And if by some chance you do send it anyway, use the BCC field for my address. In the past I've gotten stuff from people I don't know all because you sent the mail to 50 people and did not hide my address. And some of those 50 will forward the mail, leaving all the addresses from previous forwards, thus contributing to the amount of useless mail I receive". (I've never actually sent that out, but I am sooo tempted to do it).

Anyway, here are links to snopes.com and the mail I detest.

http://snopes.com/computer/virus/jesus.asp

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/virtualcard.asp

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/invitation.asp

PS-to anyone who has my email address, don't send me the email about a missing child named Penny Brown. It's also a hoax. I'm still getting this one every once in a while. This is another type of mail to check first. If it's real, send it to me, using BCC and I'll look at the mail. And then I will verify for myself it is real or a hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/missing/penny.asp

This post has been edited by Queen-Evie: 17 February 2009 - 12:59 AM

I don't like receiving the W32.Torch mails (This virus will burn your hard drive's zero boot sector, blah, blah, blah) and the you-will-regret-it-if-you-do-not-forward-this-mail mails.

All those are annoying. My personal peeves are actually work sign-offs.

Kind regards

Happy To Discuss

YuK!

None - if they irritate me, they get blocked!

I don't really get spam that much. The only e-mails I get normally are ones from Best Buy, Nintendo, and other little random ones that are more relevent to what I know on one e-mail account. The other e-mail account (my school one) gets only stuff relevant around the school. So......the last time I got spam was...I don't remember when....

If I ever do get spam, I block.