NET 11: Module 2 - Lists

Lists... meh lets just get it over with....my head hurts >.<

Moar Quesies

1. What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

The biggest advantage to an email list (aka e-list) is its reach, you can reach a very large amount of people just by sending an email. They also allow you to pose a question (for example) to a large group of people, but then continue it privately with one or two people, since it's essentially an email. For people that host, an e-list is far less resource consumptive than a forum for both the server and the hoster's bandwidth.

Forums are usually a more closed society requiring a more stringent sign up. A forums reach isn't as great as an e-list not only because of it's limited access but also you can easily bypass the majority of posts. With e-lists all posts are delivered directly to your email.

The e-list does have major flaws however. Its administration capabilities are limited, with the only option being to remove people from the e-list and ban their email. E-lists also lack anonymity, every post is through your personal email. The only way to have anonymity on an e-list is to create a separate email account that is exclusively for e-lists. Another e-list flaw is that all emails are directly sent to your email be they legit or malicious.

Forums on the other hand have far better administration capabilities and are able to offer greater security for its members. Forums have administrators and moderators that have the option of deleting posts, banning members from certain areas of the forums and as a last resort removing a persons membership completely. All posts are logged on the host server and members login to view, which removes the danger of having an email box full of malicious emails. Forums also offer anonymity to members by allowing screen names and the ability to hide their email address.

2. Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

When you need to display static information an e-list just isn't practical. Forums can display static information infinitely, an example being a thread that's only purpose is to state the rules of conduct. The administrator can set this thread up so it can't be responded to but it is always visible no matter how many years the forum is active for. 

When you want to reach out to a large audience for opinions or to ask a question then you really can't beat e-lists. Your one post can automatically reach every email that is signed up, whereas on a forum only people that have remembered to login and check through threads will see your post. 

A good example of e-lists being used is the many open source development lists, where reaching a large audience is important for bug issues, updates to the API/Software, or problems people are having. E-lists are also good for general archiving, as emails are typically very small in size.

NET 11: Module 2 - Email Tasks

Been a long time between posts with Christmas, birthdays and the ongoing aftermath of mum's car crash (she's fine btw, going through physio atm) but so long as I get it done no worries eh? Of course I can't say the same thing about the participation mark (will definitely fail that one), but that's not up for discussion here >.>

Onwards I say! Onwaaaarrrrds!

Quesie time :D

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

Information about the users email can be found at the top of the email in the header before the actual message, i.e date and time it was sent, to, from, subject etc. 

Origin of the message is simple enough since it clearly states the senders email address at the top of the email in the header. 

If you define the path as the email server from which the message originated then that's easy as well, as the header of the email also includes "mailed by: such and such". However using the word path you could take it as the route in which the email took to reach you i.e senders computer, senders mail server, whoop whoop, over there, space the final frontier, your mail server, your computer. If that's the case at the very top of the email and is usually hidden by email software and you have to find the option to view it. Gmail, for example, has the option in the top right of the message window to "show original" which shows this extra data.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?

Cc

Used to send a copy of your email to secondary recipients. The list of emails in the CC field is shown in the header of the email. Useful for sending a backup copy of your email to another email address.

Bcc

Bcc is 'blind carbon copy'. Great for safely sending emails to a large group of people. If you send an email to 10 people normally by entering their emails into either the 'To' or 'Cc' area then everyone that recieves that email can see the email address of the 10 people you sent it to, not just your own. With Bcc the only address they see is yours, which reduces the risk of your friends email address turning up on a spammers hit list.

Reply all

For those times when your to butt lazy to protect the recipients of the email through Bcc. Just one click and you've instatly replied to as many people as have sent you the email you're responding to. This option is quick and dirty and the main reason so many people get 'spam'. The main culprit are 'chain emails' that get sent around and require you to send it on to people or respond to them. Unfortunately when people do, they usually just hit the 'reply all' button instead of taking the time to do a little copy and pasting and send it through Bcc.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

If your sending a text based attachment then the best format to send it in is plain text (ASCII), this is a format that can be read by any software. If your attachment is an image then one of the most compatable formats is JPEG.

A general rule of thumb should be: Use an attachment in an open format, where there are free tools to open and edit it. If you must use a 'closed' format, make sure you use one that is in common use in the environment you plan to send the email to/through. For example, sending lolMicrosoft formats in an office environment would be acceptable if you don't use OpenOffice.org by default. (Shame on you.)

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

I don't get chain emails so I don't get spam, so I don't have any filters for that. I don't have a lot of contacts so I don't have any reason to send a lot of emails, so no reason to set up any automation. Otherwise everything is just on default settings, except for the themes (love Gmail). Sad but meh w/e.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

I started using folders... then I forgot about them. Now my emails are filling the inbox. The folders I do have are basically one for each of my family, one for all Uni related emails, one for job seeking and whatnot and then one called Misc that's almost as full as my inbox. >.>