E-mail has revolutionized the way our world communicates. Long distance phone calls and postage stamps have one thing in common: both keep going up in cost. E-mail is the new wave in communication.
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E-mail Addresses
E-mail works like regular mail (some people will make a joke by caling regular mail "snail mail" because it takes so much longer than e-mail). You have an address from which you send a message and you send your message to someone else's address. In fact, a hard part of e-mailing is picking out an address for yourself.
If your internet service is provided by companies like AOL, MSN, your cable company, your phone company or your place of employment, you were probably assigned a name that identifies you to that company. That name may serve as your e-mail address. Someone who has service through AOL and is a Texas A&M sports fan may have an username of gigemaggies. Therefore, his or her e-mail address might be gigemaggies@aol.com.
When choosing an username, you may wish to have something that is relatively bland, such as "gigemaggies." However, in many instances, friends, family and others to whom you send a message might be wary of reading your message since it does not identify who you are or what information might be in it. Conversely, you may not want to establish an account where your username is your full name. Think carefully about your username as it will essentially be "public" once it becomes your e-mail address.
E-mail Services
There are companies that offer FREE e-mail addresses that may be accessed through the internet. Some options include, but are not limited to, Gmail, Windows Live and Yahoo. When you finish this learning lesson, you can come back to this section and create an e-mail account for yourself if you would like. Remember, whatever you choose as your user name will end up being the username in your e-mail address - if you happen to create an account with Yahoo, your address might look like username@yahoo.com.
I Thought SPAM Was Luncheon Meat
It is. It is also a term for unwanted e-mail. Sometimes you receive SPAM at random. Sometimes you get SPAM because the company with which you have your e-mail account has given your e-mail address to another company (just like when you order from a catalog and start getting more catalogs than you care to receive). There are programs called called SPAM Blockers to help reduce SPAM but be hesitant to give out your e-mail address. You should also be on guard against unsolicited e-mails. There is much fraud that happens via e-mail. However, with a little common sense and a delete button, you can rid yourself of unwanted or fraudulent e-mails.
Can I Send And Receive Pictures Via E-mail?
Digital pictures and other electronic files may be sent via e-mail as attachments - you are simply attaching a file to the e-mail. There are a few things to think about when sending and receiving files.
- How big is the file? Larger files take longer to send and receive. Persons with dial-up connections may take hours to send and receive large files. Most software that comes with scanners and digital cameras have an option to "re-size" the image. This will help speed up the time it takes to send and receive a file. Be considerate and ask the person on the other end first if he or she wants you to send the file.
- Do I have a virus? Believe it or not, your computer can get sick. This sickness, or virus, can travel through files you send to someone else's computer. They can, in turn, send it along and suddenly there is an epidemic. If you are using a commercial e-mail program such as Hotmail or Yahoo, there are virus scanners built-in. If you are using other services, you will have to call the company to ask. There are also programs available for purchase that will scan your files for viruses.
Each e-mail program will work a little differently. Generally, there should be an "Attach" option or some similar feature in your e-mail program.
