email

Who Sent the Email?

Here's a tip that might be helpful occasionally. If you receive an email that, for some reason, looks a bit suspicious, or has an attachment (a possible source of a virus) you can find out who it's really from by clicking "show original" per the instructions in the following link: http://www.isipp.com/resources/email-headers/

The instructions vary, depending on which email client you use. I checked this out in Gmail, and it works. This could save you from getting a virus from opening an attachment in a suspicious email.

Jim Hamm

Email Trackers

Of course there have been many articles written about robocalls and how they are becoming a pain. These primarily are from marketers wanting to sell you something. Well, here is an article about a somewhat similar situation of what marketers are up to in emails: embedding trackers in their email so they'll know when you open one from them. 

Here's how it might work: say I've ordered wine from a winery in the past, and they send me an email with a pricing incentive to order more wine. I open the email and read their offer. Suddenly my phone rings. I answer and I hear a nice voice saying, "This is the ABC Winery, and how do you like our new pricing offer?" What? How did they know I just opened their email? By an email tracker. The article explains more about how this works.

Now, so far I've not been bothered by an email tracker -- and you probably haven't been either --  but this is just something for all of us to be aware of. I use Gmail, and perhaps Google is doing some screening of emails to prevent trackers. Maybe/maybe not.

Jim Hamm 

Deleting Mail Messages and Emptying the Trash


I have several email accounts. I have a Gmail account, an iCloud account, and a Yahoo account, and each one has a Trash folder. At the top of my mailbox list there is another Trash mailbox right along with Inbox, Sent, Draft and Junk (if you don’t see a Draft or Junk mailbox, don’t worry about it; they get created by Mail when needed). When I delete a message from one account, the thought is that it should go directly into the Trash mailbox at the top. It might do that, and it might also wind up in the Trash mailbox that is directly associated with the account. If you delete messages on your iPhone or iPad, this is usually where the deleted message goes.

You do have to manually delete the messages from the Trash mailbox that you have in each of your email accounts. Simply highlight the message(s) and click on the trash can icon in the toolbar - just like any other message that you want to delete. When you delete a message from one of those Trash mailboxes, they go immediately into the top level Trash mailbox. Uh, oh! So now you have to empty the top level mailbox.

To empty the top level Trash mailbox requires a different method. If you right-click on ANY mailbox, then a pop-up menu appears, and in that menu you will find, “Erase Deleted Items…”. If you click on that menu item, then another pop-up dialog box asks, "Are you sure you want to erase deleted items in the selected mailboxes and in the Trash mailbox?” Of course you are, so click on the Erase button and it will be emptied. If you attempt to delete any message from this Trash mailbox using any other method, sometimes nothing happens. That’s because the message is flagged as deleted and shows right back up in this Trash mailbox.

If you have thousands of messages that you want to delete, it might take a while. What happens here is that Mail sends a message to your server (the one that is handling your email account) to delete those messages from the server. The server sends back a confirmation - or an error message. If it is a confirmation, nothing happens. If it is an error message, which I sometimes get on my iPhone, it usually says something like the server was unable to move the message. Don’t worry about that error message; somehow things get straightened out eventually.

On your iPhone in the Mailboxes screen (top level) you will see an “All Trash” mailbox. Tapping on that mailbox shows you ALL the messages that have deleted while using Mail on your iPhone. Tap on the Edit option in the top right and you will then see at the bottom right “Delete All”. Tapping on that option will show another pop-up to choose either “Delete All” in red or “Cancel” in blue. Emptying your deleted messages in this way will delete them from each of the other email account Trash mailboxes on your iPhone. I have not yet seen this “All Trash” option on my iPad.

On my iPad, to empty the trash I have to go to each email account, find the Trash mailbox there, tap on the Edit option, then tap on “Delete All”, and finally tap on “Delete All” again. There is no option at that point to Cancel.

Now the confusing part for some is that you will find two Trash mailboxes associated with each of your email accounts. One is up with Inbox, Sent, etc., and it has a normal trashcan icon, and another is found in alphabetical order looking like any ordinary mailbox with a folder icon. For my iCloud account, that second trash mailbox is labelled “Deleted Items.” Do not worry about those secondary Trash mailboxes. Their contents get emptied when you empty the top level Trash mailbox.

One would think that if you empty the trash on the Mac that it would also empty the trash on the iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Even after diligently emptying the Trash mailboxes on my Mac, I still find contents in the Trash mailboxes on both my iPhone and iPad.

I may have missed some detail or gotten something wrong, and if so, please let me know. I hope this helps.

John Carter

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Warning About Fake Amazon Email

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        David Passell alerts us about this fake Amazon email.  If you get something similar DO NOT click on any links on it.  

Instead either attach the email or forward it to spoofing@amazon.com  
        David comments, "For some reason Amazon does not provide a quick and easy link to report taking their name in vain.  However, after I sent a message to them it seemed like a convoluted process which I don't even remember.  I received a message back from Amazon the next day which identifies the email address to send messages to." 
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Prediction About Gmail

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        "I like Gmail and have used it for years. But here is an article that was written a few months ago, and which I just now read, that predicts Google will drop Gmail down the road. The author explains why he thinks this is so, and his premise sounds very realistic to me. It seems Gmail doesn't directly generate income for Google, and I hadn't really thought about this, but I'm sure Google has."  And here Jim Hamm grins.         "Recently Google offered another email client called 'Inbox.' I took a look at it, and didn't like what I saw. I hope the author is wrong in his prognostication, as I'd sure be disappointed if Gmail disappears."
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Trying Out the VPNs

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        "In a recent posting (3/16/15) Jim Hamm gave us a lot of useful information on using VPNs," says Jim Hays.  You'll remember VPN is Virtual Private Networking. 
        He goes on to say,  "Intrigued, I decided to set one up, both to protect my privacy when using public wireless networks and to allow me to access my email accounts in the Prescott Library using an email client (as opposed to a web-based client). Since I will be using the VPN only while traveling or while using public hotspots I opted for Private Tunnel (https://www.privatetunnel.com/) a metered Virtual Private Networking service that provides an extremely easy to use and hassle-free experience. 
        "Pricing: the first 100 megabytes is free; 50 gigabytes costs $12.00; 100 gigabytes costs $20.00; 500 gigabytes costs $50.00. There is no usage time limit for the bandwidth you purchase. Private Tunnel offers clients for Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
        Jim concludes with,  "However you can use any OpenVPN client that will run on your setup. (I used Tunnelblick (http://code.google.com/p/tunnelblick/) on my MacBook.)"

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How Would Apple Streaming TV Work?

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        OK, bright and knowledgeable PMUG members and friends:  how would this work?    David Passell writes, "On the recent evening news there was the statement that Apple's proposed streaming TV that included local channels (except NBC) would let you 'cut the cable' and free you from those expenses (by implication that exploit you). 
        He explains, "I have Cable One that brings in my internet and has my email server. I also maintain my 'northlink' email addresses via a nominal monthly charge. I also have a magic jack that provides me with unlimited national phone service. Here I could 'cut the cable' to my landline phone number, or I could let the landline bring in my internet via DSL and eliminate Cable One.  
        "BUT: How would I 'cut the cable' and use the touted Apple Streaming without the above internet interface that my router provides (from cable or DSL) in my home environment? In a big city where there are WiFi hot spots, that might work. (e.g. if i lived near the library or downtown).
        "Besides, Apple would also have a monthly fee not quite as high."
        So, here's the biggie:  "Can somebody explain the magic?"

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YouTube Malware

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        Alert and aware! Keep reading . . . 
        "I occasionally will watch a video on YouTube, as you probably do too," says Jim Hamm.   "One thing to be aware of when watching YouTube (or visiting any website, for that matter) is the possibility of getting malware on your computer. Here is an article that gives some tips on avoiding malware on YouTube and websites in general.

        "One item of particular interest, and one which I hadn't heard of previously, is a program called 'Tubrosa.' Take a read on what this program does. The hackers are quite creative, it seems. To my way of thinking, 'Tubrosa' is malware."
        And there's more to know.  Jim Hamm goes on, "Here is another link with 7 common sense tips on avoiding malware. 
        "Also, if I get an email from someone I know and trust, and it has a link in it with no words of description of why my friend is sending this to me, I don't open it. Why? Occasionally an email address will get hijacked and the hacker will start sending out links for people to click and get a virus or other malware -- and they never offer any comments on why the email was sent out."  So, thanks again to Jim for notifying us.  
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The Future of Gmail

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        Jim Hamm takes a look at Gmail. "I like and have used Google's web-based Gmail for my email client for several years. Here is an article that postulates that Google will drop Gmail within five years, and explains why the author thinks so.

        "Although I don't like this thought, the author does mention some good reasons why Google might drop Gmail. In a word or so: no revenue for Google in Gmail." 
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How to Designate Someone as VIP in Mail

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        Lately, Jim Hamm's emails have come with a star beside his name.  Jim has been designated as a VIP.  Wonder how he does it. . . 
         With emails from my six siblings it would be nice to have the mail list show them with the star and VIP to find them from all the other email.  Turns out it's easy to do. 
        Click to open a message from a sender you want to designate as VIP. Put your cursor beside the sender’s name and click. Up comes a little box with choices:  Copy Address,  Add to VIPs, New Email, Show Contact Card.  Click on Add to VIP and a little star comes to the left of that person’s name on that email.  In the list of emails you’ve just received there’s a star also by their name.  You can designate someone -- or yourself! -- as VIP by clicking same place in an outgoing mail.  
        A long article about Mail is  here. 

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Add Comments to an Email and Send It Back

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        David Passell had ideas to send to me after reading my email to him the other day.  I got his email with his comments added in red so they were easy to find.

       I hadn’t noticed this feature before, but it’s so easy I will be using it myself.  
  1. Open Mac's Mail program.  
  2. Highlight the Subject of one of the emails you've received.  
  3. On the top menu bar click on Message.  
  4. On that drop down menu go to Move to Drafts, but if you want to preserve the inbox message intact choose Copy to Drafts.   
  5. Double click on the Message in Drafts and it will come up as a draft to be edited, addressed, etc.  
Here’s where you can click on the little black box by the name of the font and the font size and choose another color so your writing stands out from the color that the email came to you. (Click on this screen shot to enlarge it, then click again to come back to this article.)
6. Make any desired changes, address it, and then Send.
       David put his comments in red, but you can choose the color.  This makes it easy to critique, suggest, or improve what the other person has written.  
        Practice by sending yourself an email message and trying out the steps above.  
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Some Specific Malware Emails

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        "Of course you already know not to click suspicious emails so you don't end up with a virus or some other malware. Following are some examples that Greg, a blogger I follow, wrote and shows some of the suspicious emails he and his wife have been recently receiving. As he says, just be careful."  And thanks to Jim Hamm for this new alert. 

        Just a warning . . .I’ve been getting a lot of dangerous emails and I wanted to be sure that everyone was on the lookout for them.  They masquerade as Wal-Mart Gift Cards, Chili’s Coupons, or Red Lobster, etc. or even Free iPhones.  Because the fact that there’s usually something funny about the wording or phrasing of the message, the biggest giveaway is the email address shown at the upper left.   In this case, it’s ‘info@pigduke.com’.     Do you really think that Wal-Mart is going to have an email address with ‘pigduke’ in it?  (Click to enlarge these screen shots, then click the PMUG newsletter tab to revert back.) 
Walmart Trojan
Here’s the exact same email, but from ‘info@nesssos.com.'
Walmart Trojan2
And here’s what looks like a Delivery Notice from the US Post Office. Do you really thing the US Postal Service would be using a United Kingdom email address?
USPS Trojan
What do you think is going to happen if you try to print that shipping label? And why would you need to print a shipping label to PICK UP a package, anyway?   And note that apparently you can go to ANY Post Office to pick up your package.   So check those email addresses, and Let’s Be Careful Out There.
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Practical Ideas for PMUG

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Keeping in Touch:    If you’re on the PMUG mailing list you’ve received some attractive, attention-getting emails from Bobbie Pastor, our secretary.  My curiosity inquired, “Oh, busy gal.  What email writing program are you using these days for those attractive emails you sent out to PMUG?”
And so quickly came her reply, “I use Stationery Pack from Equinux.  I think they are in the Netherlands.  http://www.equinux.com/us/products/stationery/index.html   I bought the family pack so I can use them for PMUG as well.  I don't have all the different programs in their line.  But, I want to.  I just love  them.”
So a quick click and Mac found the site and brought it up.  WOW.  This site offers a lot of very professional-looking stationery:  Here’s the list from the home page: 
Birthday Cards 2 has 38 designs
Team & Business Communication has more than 40 templates.
Stationery Pack Business Edition offers over 200 templates for Apple Mail.
Stationery Pack 1 brings 111 templates in Mail OS X.
Stationery Pack 2 features 122 stationery templates for 660 designs
Birthday Cards give you 32 “humorous and heartfelt” designs. 
Summer Spirit Cards let you share your vacation pics and stories about them.
Love & Romance has 7 email templates.
Season’s Greetings offers more than 100 greeting cards. 
New is Holiday Motion Cards with more than 20 animated greetings. 
At the side you’ll find the notice: “Works with OS X Mavericks.” 
  What is this?  Grillmeister announces you can turn your iPhone into the hottest gadget as you show your friends how you grill and serve, via twitter, facebook and of course, email. It provides lifelike sound effects, graphics, and effects. 

Time to check out How It Works to the right-hand side of home page. 
Right away you notice that most-appreciated word FREE.  Click “Try for Free.” 

Farther down the page it tells some of the possibilities.  How to insert your own photos, make any picture fit. 

You’ll need to enable Cookies to go to the prices page. Now you can go to Buy Now and see the full list with prices.  A “Family Version is for 5 Macs.”  Pay by Visa, Master Card, American Express, PayPal, your check, or Amazon Payments which is labeled New. 

So, now we know where Bobbie gets her email templates! 
You already heard that postage is going up, and you’ve socked in a supply of Forever stamps at today’s prices?  

Here’s some info: 
https://www.usps.com       Prices as of January 26.  

  • Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents
  • Letters additional ounces —  1-cent increase to 21 cents for each ounce
  • Letters to all international destinations (1 oz.) — $1.15
  • Postcards — 1-cent increase to 34 cents
  • http://www.stamps.com/usps/postage-rate-increase/  priority mail small flat rate box is still 5.80. Medium flat rate box is still 12.35.  Large flat rate box increases to 17.45

Fascinating!  What’s Happening Now: 
   How the MacPro is built and assembled.  Video 2 minutes http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/video/#assembly 

   iMac   What features does it have http://www.apple.com/imac/performance/ 

   iPad Air  http://www.apple.com/ipad-air/videos/#video-air   3 min. Video 

   Events from the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2014 in Las Vegas. http://ces.cnet.com 

   What’s inside the “hottest new gadgets”  http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown
   Multimedia at Macworld.com  http://www.macworld.com/column/mwvodcast/  There are 30 entries for 2013 from illustrated articles, videos, comments. 
    Here’s about Mac Apps:   http://www.macworld.com/category/mac-apps/  


January is the month to get organized.  I told about Jacquielawson and their 271 animated greeting cards in my last January’s handout, but let’s take another look today. Click to open it here http://www.jacquielawson.com/  I open Firefox, open Preferences. I need to unclick Block Pop-up windows in Firefox Content, and then click Accept Third-party Cookies from sites visited.  As soon as I’m finished with jacquielawson site I go back and undo both.  
Note: price for one year is $12.00 and for two years it’s $18.00.  Membership allows me to send any cards to anyone, as many times as I like for the duration of membership.  
I went through the collection of cards and have ordered 79 cards for my extended family for the coming year. I can open the Cards Pending and see Date to Be Sent, Date Ordered, Recipient, Card Name, and Options.  Here in Options I can view the card, cancel or edit it. Under Address Book I can save names and email addresses, so it’s quick to order again for each person.  You can have a maximum of 500 names on this Address List!  

So have yourself a Happy Apple New Year.  May your computer and printer be good to you.  May your iThis and iThat all bring you a big smile and be totally dependable! 
See you at the next PMUG meeting.  Check out our newsblog and keep up with the www.pmug.us site.      This was the handout at today's PMUG meeting,  from Elaine Hardt

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Has Your Password Been Stolen?

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          David Passell informs us, "I tried the program referenced. It didn't detect any problems via any of my e-mail addresses." Look here:  http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-find-out-if-your-password-has-been-stolen-7000023990/?s_cid=e589&ttag=e589   And read down to see the 49 comments of people adding their own experiences and opinions on this subject. 

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Gmail in Mavericks

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        Here's a warning from Jim Hamm about Mavericks,  "If you use a Gmail  account for your emails, and use the Mac Mail app to download your emails, according to this article you may have a problem. Trying to read and understand the article almost gave me a headache, so I hope you do better.

        "I use Gmail, but on the web server. I haven't downloaded emails into Mac Mail or any other program, such as Thunderbird, for years. I just prefer to use Gmail's web server program. It simplifies my email life.
        Jim closes with, "If you've installed Mavericks, and download your email into Mac Mail, you may want to take a peak at this article. Good luck...(grin)" 
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Let's Look at Safari

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What's new in Safari : 

Describes SmartSearch Field, Tab View, iCloud Tabs, Sharing, More New Features such as better privacy, offline reading list, developer features and improvements for Chinese Users.  What is Safari : http://www.apple.com/safari/what-is.html 
Describes HTML5 and CSS3 for integrated audio and video tags, animations, special effects, filters.  Scroll half-way down the page to View demos that illustrate the capabilities of HTML5 and web standards.  
Describes the “worry-free web.”  Privacy pane, protection against cross-site scripting, phishing, and malware attacks.  Gives EV (Extended Validation) Certificate support.  
Features : http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html  describes 250+ innovative features available.  It’s a 17 page long list that explains these features.  
The Safari Extensions Gallery :  https://extensions.apple.com    
Safari Extensions are a great way for you to add new features to Safari. Built by developers, Safari Extensions use the latest HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript web technologies. And they’re digitally signed for improved security. You can install extensions with one click — no need to restart Safari.
  1. Categories
  2. Most Popular
  3. Most Recent
  4. Bookmarking
  5. Developer
  6. Email
  7. Entertainment
  8. News
  9. Photos
  10. Productivity
  11. RSS Tools
  12. Search Tools
  13. Security
  14. Shopping
  15. Social Networking
  16. Translation
  17. Twitter Tools
  18. URL Shorteners
  19. Other
Take a look at some of these possibilities:  
AdBlock, Social Fixer for Facebook fixes,  Exposer, Facebook Photo Zoom, 1-click weather for Safari from the Weather Channel,  Gmail Counter, Awesome Screenshot, clea.nr Videos for YouTube, Facebook Cleaner, ClickToFlash, Turn off the Lights, Translate, My eBay Manager, New York Times Updates, YouTube Wide, Duplicate Tab Button, Reload Button, WIT (know which websites you can trust with the Web of Trust WOT),  Ultimate Status Bar “which embiggens shortened URLs,”  SafariRestore,  Add to Amazon Wish List, Firebug Lite for Safari, Cloudy.
Interesting:  under Most Recent you can click to install Coupons at Checkout which you click the code to apply to your favorite retail websites from e-commerce websites across US, UK, Canada, and Australia 
Under Email:  Enlocked gives mail encryption on all your devices and works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and Microsoft Live
Under Mail you can get toolbar extension The Moscow Times and get recent and top English-language news from Russia.  Others:  breaking news from New York Times, Fox News Ticker. 
Under Other:  you can choose to install HelveticaTheWorld which allows you to make Helvetica the primary font on every web page.  
Want to develop your own extensions?  Click to join Safari Developer Program. 
Here’s the official notification to consider before adding Extensions: 
Extensions can modify the appearance and behavior of Safari, and access your private information at websites. Apple is providing links to these extensions as a courtesy, and makes no representations regarding the extensions or any information related thereto. When you download and install an extension, the file is delivered by the developer, not by Apple. Some of the extensions listed here may require payment to the developer for use of the extension; this transaction is between the user and the developer. Any questions, complaints, claims, or support requests regarding an extension must be directed to the appropriate software developer.  

        On the Safari menu bar go to File > Share.  You can choose to email this page, message, Twitter, or Facebook.  Go to Safari Help and note the categories there for additional ways to use Safari.          In Help note some useful tips:  have you used Reader?  You can print an article without all the ads in the sidebars.  Do you bookmark and then organize those bookmarks.  Read about this under Help, too.  

        Have you used any of the Safari features and extensions? Improvements can be both challenging and rewarding.  Want to share ideas with PMUG?  Write me at editor@pmug.us  
         Learning with Mac is fun!  And productive!    
This was today's handout at PMUG,  9-21-13 by Elaine Hardt