I feel this so much! I must too much too! Especially as I stare at my email that has 300+ unread emails and they only go back about 4 days! Yikes! Of course that is just one of my email inboxes. I’m too scared to look at my gmail inbox. 😬🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ On the other hand being the introvert that I am I would much rather use email or text as opposed to an actual phone call! Oh the horror of having to talk on the phone! 😂
I think email would still be a good thing if 99% of it wasn't junk. Every time you buy something you have to attach your email and before you even pay, you receive like 3+ emails from the company! If it were used personally, I think it would still be okay although most people just text now a days anyway -- technology is always moving and shaking, leaving things in the dust.
So true, there's so much junk. Although I'm also on a lot of lists and subscribed to various Substacks that reliably deliver interesting articles to my inbox, and I can't keep up even though I want to!
You forgot to mention the excitement we used to feel when we connected the modem, waited while we heard that familiar dial-up sound, and then heard "You've Got Mail"! and the sadness when there was no mail that day. And then there's the movie.... :)
Aug 24, 2023·edited Aug 28, 2023Liked by Rosana Francescato
I now move almost every bad email straight to my deleted mailbox. Periodically I select 20 spams, "Create Filter", and then run the filter to cleanse my inbox. I then go to edit the filter and remove the users and sometimes sub-domains to ban entire domains! Unsubscribe is worthless as they will just resubscribe you after buying another spammer's 10M user spamming list ..
Once a week I take a look at my deleted mailbox to see if I am over-deleting anything, and re-adjust my filters as needed. Using this technique I delete 200+ emails per day, and my spam rate is down below 5%.
I have 3 email addresses, so I string them together into a chain of forwarding, ending at my gmail account. I give out the first email publicly (my UBC account). It forwards to yahoo and undergoes spam filtering. It then forwards to gmail and undergoes a 2nd round of spam filtering! Periodically if I'm getting just too much crap I turn off the UBC account so that emails are blocked / fail and I hopefully get removed from some spammer's lists.
That used to work better than it does today. I never give out an email OTHER than the very first one - the 2nd and 3rd emails are family only! Still, there are programs that will pirate your contacts list and send them to spammers and so my family members might end up leaking my private no-spam email address(es) !!
“but back then we were using more paper than ever” — how I remember that! Now? Not a thing. My hand written minutes for a meeting that I eventually type up and store in a Sharepoint are all that I’ve “filed” in my office. They’re just piled up in a drawer! But dang! How easy it is to “misplace” digital documents! No more “it’s somewhere in that filing cabinet on the left in one of the lower drawers” — totally lose that kinesthetic (is that the word?) memory of where stuff is!
The only thing I hand write anymore is postcards to voters — and I hope people can read them, as my handwriting has deteriorated! I appreciate the search function when it comes to documents, but I do miss that kinesthetic (yes, that's a word!) memory when reading books. I mean, I do read some actual books but also use Kindle and Audible, and I miss flipping around and remembering what part of a page something was on. We gain some things and lose others.
When I was an email administrator at the teachers’ union, there were managers who had many thousands of emails in their inboxes. It gives me hives just thinking about it.
Thank you, Adam! To be honest I enjoy a lot of the emails that come in, like yours and other Substacks. It can be challenging to keep up with them. But thousands — no way! I'm a bit OCD, so I can't stand to have little red dots on my phone or bold emails on my laptop. And if I get even 1,000 emails in there, even if they're marked as read, it makes me nervous!
I also remember that email addresses had to comply with 8.3 file names, a DOS/Windows limitation. So your email name was reduced to 8 characters. My first email address, vgenove@visix.com. I still use vgenove for my gmail address.
Aug 28, 2023·edited Aug 28, 2023Liked by Rosana Francescato
Actually 8 characters was the limit on UNIX account names for a long time (I know I had an interview in 1995 where the one question was, "telnet into this machine and modify and recompile the UNIX kernel to allow accounts longer than 8 characters!") Since UNIX was used to launch uunet (source-routed emails like kolstad@mit-comet!mit-multics!ihnp4!uiucdcs) in the late 1970s, before DOS, I guess that convention got ingrained ...
I used to build email systems in the 1980s (PC-based, and XNS Email Standard)...
Ah, I never knew the limitation on file names came from UNIX architecture. Wikipedia (Search on "8.3 filename) suggests it came from DOS, but was probably adapted from UNIX conventions.
i think that’s a good problem to have when it comes to substacks!! but man, the retail emails 🤪 maybe i just shop too much!
It is crazy how the minute you sign up for something you're on a list! I just unsubscribe as fast as I can. It's like whack-a-mole!
whack a mole is a great way to describe it 🤣
I feel this so much! I must too much too! Especially as I stare at my email that has 300+ unread emails and they only go back about 4 days! Yikes! Of course that is just one of my email inboxes. I’m too scared to look at my gmail inbox. 😬🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ On the other hand being the introvert that I am I would much rather use email or text as opposed to an actual phone call! Oh the horror of having to talk on the phone! 😂
Yes! I almost included something about the introvert advantage. Most of the time I'd much rather send an email than make a phone call!!
I think email would still be a good thing if 99% of it wasn't junk. Every time you buy something you have to attach your email and before you even pay, you receive like 3+ emails from the company! If it were used personally, I think it would still be okay although most people just text now a days anyway -- technology is always moving and shaking, leaving things in the dust.
So true, there's so much junk. Although I'm also on a lot of lists and subscribed to various Substacks that reliably deliver interesting articles to my inbox, and I can't keep up even though I want to!
You forgot to mention the excitement we used to feel when we connected the modem, waited while we heard that familiar dial-up sound, and then heard "You've Got Mail"! and the sadness when there was no mail that day. And then there's the movie.... :)
I never had a service that told me I had mail! Guess I missed out. ;-)
Can you imagine a day without mail now? It wouldn't feel sad, but I'd worry that all our systems were down or something.
What? I thought everyone started out with AOL! :D But you did see the movie, didn't you?
Yes, saw the movie — but I never had AOL!
I now move almost every bad email straight to my deleted mailbox. Periodically I select 20 spams, "Create Filter", and then run the filter to cleanse my inbox. I then go to edit the filter and remove the users and sometimes sub-domains to ban entire domains! Unsubscribe is worthless as they will just resubscribe you after buying another spammer's 10M user spamming list ..
Once a week I take a look at my deleted mailbox to see if I am over-deleting anything, and re-adjust my filters as needed. Using this technique I delete 200+ emails per day, and my spam rate is down below 5%.
I have 3 email addresses, so I string them together into a chain of forwarding, ending at my gmail account. I give out the first email publicly (my UBC account). It forwards to yahoo and undergoes spam filtering. It then forwards to gmail and undergoes a 2nd round of spam filtering! Periodically if I'm getting just too much crap I turn off the UBC account so that emails are blocked / fail and I hopefully get removed from some spammer's lists.
That used to work better than it does today. I never give out an email OTHER than the very first one - the 2nd and 3rd emails are family only! Still, there are programs that will pirate your contacts list and send them to spammers and so my family members might end up leaking my private no-spam email address(es) !!
Good tips, thanks! I'll have to try these — when I find a moment to get around to it. ;-)
“but back then we were using more paper than ever” — how I remember that! Now? Not a thing. My hand written minutes for a meeting that I eventually type up and store in a Sharepoint are all that I’ve “filed” in my office. They’re just piled up in a drawer! But dang! How easy it is to “misplace” digital documents! No more “it’s somewhere in that filing cabinet on the left in one of the lower drawers” — totally lose that kinesthetic (is that the word?) memory of where stuff is!
"back then we were using more paper than ever” - who remembers getting 10 papermail spams per day at a real house address on a real street? I do.
The only thing I hand write anymore is postcards to voters — and I hope people can read them, as my handwriting has deteriorated! I appreciate the search function when it comes to documents, but I do miss that kinesthetic (yes, that's a word!) memory when reading books. I mean, I do read some actual books but also use Kindle and Audible, and I miss flipping around and remembering what part of a page something was on. We gain some things and lose others.
Well I enjoy getting emails from you, Rosana.
When I was an email administrator at the teachers’ union, there were managers who had many thousands of emails in their inboxes. It gives me hives just thinking about it.
Thank you, Adam! To be honest I enjoy a lot of the emails that come in, like yours and other Substacks. It can be challenging to keep up with them. But thousands — no way! I'm a bit OCD, so I can't stand to have little red dots on my phone or bold emails on my laptop. And if I get even 1,000 emails in there, even if they're marked as read, it makes me nervous!
I was going to email my asynchronous response, but this little comment field will have to do.
Yes, I remember the dial-up modem sound.
I also remember that email addresses had to comply with 8.3 file names, a DOS/Windows limitation. So your email name was reduced to 8 characters. My first email address, vgenove@visix.com. I still use vgenove for my gmail address.
Actually 8 characters was the limit on UNIX account names for a long time (I know I had an interview in 1995 where the one question was, "telnet into this machine and modify and recompile the UNIX kernel to allow accounts longer than 8 characters!") Since UNIX was used to launch uunet (source-routed emails like kolstad@mit-comet!mit-multics!ihnp4!uiucdcs) in the late 1970s, before DOS, I guess that convention got ingrained ...
I used to build email systems in the 1980s (PC-based, and XNS Email Standard)...
Ah, I never knew the limitation on file names came from UNIX architecture. Wikipedia (Search on "8.3 filename) suggests it came from DOS, but was probably adapted from UNIX conventions.
Right! I had some work email addresses that started with "rfrances" — that must have been why.