Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECTs:Searching Tips - Spam Legislation The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter This issue is for Friday, May 10, 2002 Table of Contents 01. Searching Tips 02. Spam Legislation 03. Tip Of The Week-Launch Windows Explorer *01 Searching Tips Welcome to The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter. This Sunday is Mother’s Day. My best wishes to Mothers everywhere on their special day. If you would like some Mother’s Day history visit: http://www.holidays.net/mother/story.htm Several years back, George and I used to play scavenger hunt on the Internet. The concept of the game was simple. Create an extremely difficult trivia question and then race to find the answer using the Internet. Learning how to search and what search engines to use became critical in playing the game. Here are a couple of basic tips that can help you find what you are looking for when using a search engine. -1. Make sure the search engine that you are using includes the information you are looking for. Some search pages are topic specific and could be of no use to you. Today, in my opinion, the best general search engine is Google, but if you want a toll free number, you should use the Internet 800 Directory (a topic specific search engine). -2. Choose your search words with care. If you need a new needle for your jukebox, searching for just needle or jukebox will provide too many returns to be useful. However if you combine the words it narrows down the return and if you add the manufacturer to the search (Rockola jukebox needle) you find just what you need. I find it better to start with long search strings and remove words if needed. -3. If you know the exact wording of what you are looking for, use quotation marks. So if I were looking for the Gettysburg Address, the search string would look like this, “four score and seven”. This will only return pages that have these exact words in this exact order. -4. If you have completed a general search and want to remove pages that contain a certain word, you can use the minus sign to remove those pages. Example, you have searched for (dog) and now want to remove the pages dealing with Seeing Eye dogs, you would search for (dog -seeing). Note the space between the first word and minus sign. If you have any thought or ideas you would like to share with me, please send them to Chuck Arning at chuck@inter800.com We’re Talkin’ Serious” Bone Suckin’ Sauce ! Winner: “Battle Of The Sauces.” Created in true western North Carolina style. Tomato based all-natural, sweetened with honey and molasses. Order your Box of six today for $39.99 +s/h. Toll-Free 1-800-446-0947 or online http://www.BoneSuckin.com *02 Spam Legislation Two pieces of legislation regarding the Internet are currently working their way through Congress. The first (HR 718) is an anti-spamming bill. Of note, the bill itself won't place any restrictions on the sending of commercial email. Instead, it will strengthen the enforcement authority of the FTC and State Attorney Generals, allowing them to impose fines of up to $30 per e-mail. Specifically, spammers who use fraudulent identities or do not respond to consumer requests to be taken off their contact lists are candidates for FTC action: "The bill would amend the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for intentionally transmitting ten or more unsolicited commercial email messages to one or more protected computers in the United States, with the knowledge that such messages are accompanied by or contain materially false or misleading information as to the identity of the initiator." Further, the bill, as reported by the Commerce Committee, contains a provision making it unlawful for a person to send unsolicited commercial e-mail to any recipient within the United States using the equipment of an ISP that has a policy against sending spam to its customers. H.R. 718 also directs the Attorney General to prescribe labels to be included in e-mail that contains a sexually oriented advertisement in order to inform the recipient of such fact. The Senate version of the bill is similar, but with the additional requirements that all unsolicited commercial e-mail include a clear label identifying the message as an advertisement or solicitation; notice of the opportunity to opt-out of receiving further messages from the sender; and a valid physical postal address of the sender. If you define spam simply as "unsolicited commercial email", you should understand that none of this legislation actually outlaws spamming. These bills are designed to make the spammers accountable for their actions by punishing those that hide behind fabricated or usurped identities. It is clear that spammers would be less enthusiastic about their profession if they had to deal directly with the negative fall-out. By providing a means of punishing those that mask their identity or usurp someone else's, the hope is that only those spammers willing to deal with the potential backlash will remain. If this and the rules regarding opt-out can be enforced, spam would not be the problem it is now. My questions regard enforcement. Spamming has become so sophisticated now, about the only way I know to actually track a spammer is to buy from him/her. I'm not sure if that's the way the FTC will go about it or if they have something else in mind. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the bill passes first. Second, legislation proposed by Reps. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) will make it a crime to "knowingly and with intent to defraud" submit false information to an Internet domain name registrar. Cybersquatters and other miscreants often submit false names and contact numbers when registering Internet addresses. The bill allows for fines and jail sentences up to five years for violators. George Paul (http://gotollfree.com) The Internet 800 Directory 800-299-1879, george@gotollfree.com Vegas Vacation has the best rates on Las Vegas Hotel Rooms. Don't make a reservation without calling us first! Call 800-637-6442 or visit our ad in the Internet 800 Directory: http://inter800.com/02281174.htm Tip of the Week Quick Launch Of Windows Explorer On a 104-key Windows keyboard, hold down the Window key and press E. This launches Windows Explorer, focused on "My Computer". If you have any tips or shortcuts that you think the readers of this Newsletter will find useful, send them to chuck@inter800.com Banners? Pay-per-click? Why not target your market with links or information placed in relevant content? The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter offers direct access to business people who are interested buyers. Advertising: Information on how to sponsor this publication: Call 800-299-1879 Thanks for taking to time to review our newsletter for this week. If you know of anyone that might benefit from receiving this newsletter, send them to (http://www.inter800.com/news800/ ) where they can subscribe. All Contents Copyright ©1995-2002 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |