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WEB REVIEW: TECHNOLOGY How does it work? MailWasher allows you to check messages on your e-mail server, without actually opening your e-mail program. Instead of downloading the entire e-mail, MailWasher just recovers its subject header and opening lines. (Although even this can take a while, depending on how many messages you have in your mailbox and how fast a connection speed you possess.) The program’s sorting features then allows you to organize messages by date, subject, size, and sender, much as do such common e-mail programs as Outlook and Eudora. It also has a couple of added features that set it apart. The “status” column identifies potential spam, labeling messages as normal, possible spam, probable spam, or virus. MailWasher allows you to delete these messages before you ever download them onto your computer. This not only keeps you from wasting time receiving messages you don’t want, but decreases your chances of accidentally unleashing a virus. The program’s most useful tool is its “bounce” feature, which sends an unwanted message back to the sender—via your Internet service provider’s postmaster—stating that your e-mail address couldn’t be found. To the initial sender, this response is indistinguishable from the reply it would receive for an invalid e-mail address. Click the boxes for the “delete” or “bounce” fields, then chose “process mail” to remove unwanted messages from the server before opening your regular e-mail program. The program also has additional filtering features to spot junk e-mail. The site automatically checks your messages against a spam blacklist, which identifies providers that have previously hosted companies that send spam. You can also input your own additions to your personal blacklist, screening out individual users (i.e. spam@spammer.com) or all addresses from a particular source (i.e. any @ spammer.com address). In addition, you can enter a “friends” list that tells the program to trust mail from a certain users. To download MailWasher, visit the site’s homepage MailWasher.net. (You will need Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP and XP Pro to run this program.) Click the “download” link, then select “save to disk.” The1.5 megabytes file should take approximately 5 seconds or 4 minutes to download, with DSL connection or 56k modem, respectively. Spam is an unfortunate side effect of today’s e-culture. But you no longer have to waste time sorting through junk e-mail messages. Instead, let MailWasher help you block spammers so that you don’t have to cringe every time your computer chirps “You’ve got mail.” __________________________ |
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