Well, firstly Archana, what is spam? Bubbles initially would get very excited over the word, since he confused it for 'spiced ham' (a special luncheon meat), until I had to inform the poor bird that it stands for unsolicted mail, or mail you didn't ask for and don't want cluttering your inbox.

Bubbles got an email last week which claimed he had won two tickets for an exotic cruise and was making escape plans with his current girlfriend Pickles, when I had to rudely interrupt him by revealing that it was probably a ruse to get him to register for some scheme...

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WEB RESOURCES:

When does email become abuse and what is unsolicited email? Get a few answers from this email FAQ list. This is another Net abuse FAQs that should help.

This is the India site of The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), and you will get more details about what you can do if you have been spammed and also find out whether your servers are secure against this menace.

As an enraged user, you can choose to boycott Internet spam. Here's how you can join the cause and fight the battle against unwanted email. Removing your name from junk lists is very difficult, so it is advised to try and stay off these email lists.

If you do have to fill up detailed forms on Web sites for subscription or shopping, then make sure that you take all possible steps to protect your privacy from commerical invasion by taking these steps.

Everything Email has not been updated for a while, but Bubbles got some useful links from here.

Here are some more tips to keep spam at bay. Also, for your reference, here is a list of blacklisted advertisers.

A word of warning, however. As long as you use email and indulge in heavy surfing activity, you are in the danger of receiving a lot of unwanted mail. Most email services offer you the option of creating a bulk folder where you can direct all unwanted mail. All you need to do is empty or delete your bulk folder at frequent intervals.

Bubbles has created two email Ids and uses one to shop (for his favourite seeds) and the other for personal use. Now he's drooling over an email he received saying he's won a free computer. What is it that they say about bird brains?