Images D/L on desktop

[barry]

> Is there any way to keep images from downloading on my desktop from junk
> email? They are tiny little gifs, seem to be parts of animation that might
> play in html mail (which I never bothered with). They're annoying - I might
> get 15 of these pesky things, labeled "Picture 1.pdf" "Picture 2.pdf" and so
> on.

1.  open your mail online at http: or https://www.mail2web.com .  that's
where i open my mail from my email accounts which get the most spam.  i
delete from my ISP's server the spam via mail2web.  then i go back to my
email software and download my new email, free of spam.  mail2web allows you
not only to read and delete email, but reply. forward and compose email.
it's free, no pop-ups, and the 1 or 2 banner ads are usually just
mail2web's.  it's also a great way to check your email when traveling and
away from your home or office computer.

mail2web opens your email as TEXT.  if the mail was sent as HTML you can
click on a link to have the HTML version displayed.  if the mail is spam, DO
NOT CLICK ON THE HTML LINK!!!  if it is not spam, you can click on HTML if
you want to view any images.  clicking on spam HTML will result in those
images and gifs you don't want.

you can also view the email source with full headers, which is where you'll
copy the email when you report it as spam to outfits like
http://www.spamcop.net .

some inline images and attachments won't display, either as TEXT or HTML.
if that's the case i go online to my ISP's website mail reader and see if i
can see the images that way.  downloading the email to your hard drive will
show the images if you read email as HTML in your email software.

2.  set your email software to open all email as TEXT, rather than as HTML.
not only will that prevent those annoying gifs (which may be sending back to
the spammer the fact that you've not only received their spam but are
reading it--very valuable info to a spammer, who can sell your address as a
'good' address to other spammers), but your mail will load faster.  the
downside is that you won't get a lot of the cutesy HTML features and images.
those non-spammers who send mail as HTML also will have their images
blocked.

3.  change your email subscriptions option to TEXT from HTML with those
newsletters who allow you to choose.  that way your email will always arrive
as TEXT and you won't have to worry about missing any HTML stuff or images,
as none will have been sent.

4.  send only TEXT email yourself.  tell your friends to email you in TEXT.
TEXT email is smaller than HTML, so it travels thru cyberspace faster, gets
downloaded faster (especially important to dialup connections), and takes up
less space on your hard drive.

5.  TEXT mail can be edited by your recipient, so they can delete unneeded
*portions* of an email [such as all those themacintoshguy.com footers people
do not delete when replying to a list message here ;) ], allowing you to
save only what you need from an email.  HTML emails cannot be edited, so you
have to save all or none.

6.  the following was posted in a public forum reply to a column at
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2914363,00.html
by David Berlind on July 25, 2003, "Why do-not-spam lists are a bad idea".

http://forums.zdnet.com/group/zd.Tech.Update/it/itupdatetb.tpt/@thread@18031
@forward at 1@D-,D at ALL/@article at 18031?EXP=ALL&VWM=hr&ROS=1

"Re: Why do-not-spam lists are a bad idea
Name: Andreas Schaefer
Posted At: 16:33 GMT 07/25/2003

Just to remind, that not only clicking on a link in a spam message can
verify that address (or the one that spam has been rerouted to), but if the
mail client has the ability of displaying HTML mail the simple act of
OPENING AND READING the mail can verify a recipient's email address.

A simple pice of standard HTML like [img
src="http://www.badass_spam.example.com/XYZmailing/1234567890/logo.gif"
alt="Company logo"] ( to stop code being shown as HTML pointy brackets
replaced with square ones ) can, with very little configuration of an Apache
server, start a program that takes the number given in that URL, matches it
against a database to see in which INDIVIDUAL mail that number was included,
and return an image. Such a program in Perl, PHP or any other
server-supported language would take anything following a keyword (here
'mailing') in the URL and would interpret any part after that as parameter
(here '1234567890' and 'logo.gif') and act on these parameters.

Setting a server to act in this way and writing such a program would take
less than half an hour.

The conclusion is: if it is spam don't even open it before deleting, and if
your mailclient has a preview function switch it off. If a look into the
message is needed to determine if it is spam:  DON'T open it with HTML
enabled."

7.  you are probably well aware of 'pop-up' and 'pop-under' ads when you
visit a web site.  you may know about websites setting a 'cookie' on your
hard drive to track your use of their website.  but are you aware of 'clear
gifs'?  'Clear gifs' are tiny graphics [usually just one pixel square] with
a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and may be used to
track the online movements of Web users or to let an email sender
(legitimate or spammer) know if you have opened an email that was sent you!
clear gifs are under handed and more devious than cookies, and you do not
have the option to remove clear gifs before they are set like you do
cookies.  clear gifs won't be opened if an email is set to open as TEXT.
only if set to open as HTML.  if you ever visit a web site, and see a new
window open that is very small and is blank, usually off in a corner of your
screen, immediately close that extra window.

--barry
http://www.NationwideCashFlowSolutions.com
alternative financing options for U.S.
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