AOL Users -
Get Off Your Duff and Download 9.0

by Joan R. Simon

(Updated May 27, 2004) At long last, AOL 9.0 has a system that removes virtually ALL of that annoying spam from your inbox. Gazette subscribers, however, may have to take measures to keep their email updates from disappearing (see below on what to do).

Here’s how it works. They’ve devised a “custom word list” where you can put in every one of those telltale words that are sure to be spam. You all know them: viagra, penis, enlarged, mortgage, refinance, prescription, drugs, lose, pounds, etc. Whenever a “custom word” appears on the subject line, the email is shunted to your “spam folder,” which can be accessed by a link at the bottom of your email list. You can quickly glance through the garbled addresses that are the hallmark of spam emails.

If occasionally you see something legit, you can indicate that it’s not spam and it will go directly to your inbox. Everything else can be removed instantly by a “Delete All” button.

It couldn’t be simpler. Not only is your inbox no longer cluttered with spam email, but you also have a safeguard against losing any genuine emails.

It really works. And if by chance you do find a pesky spam amongst your emails, you can get rid of it with one (instead of the three required by 8.0) click of “report spam.” And don’t worry if your friends – the ones in your address book – use the “forbidden” words in their emails to you. They will always get through. So, go for it – download 9.0 today!

Other new features in AOL 9.0

Quick Find: lets you find email from someone within new, old, or sent tabs by typing in their email address -- or usually just beginning the address.

Save Email Online: allows you to permanently save 20MB of mail on AOL's servers, rather than on your local hard drive. This gives you the advantage of being able to read, forward or reply to these saved e-mail.

Search Mail: allows you to find e-mail messages located in any file. They say you have to have already saved the older mail, but try it anyway. It seems to work for everything, regardless of whether it’s been saved or not. A great new feature!

And you can customize your toolbar, do more things with IMs, download faster from the Internet (they say, regardless of what kind of connection you have) and you’ll have better virus protection.

Word of Caution

AOL seems to be increasingly zealous about filtering spam and it is likely that some of your legitimate communication will end up in your spam folder, so it’s a good idea to quickly check the folder whenever you read your email. The easy way to ensure that specific names get through is to add them to your address book.

Extra Tip: Add names to your address book on the second (“Other E-mail”) line -- the first is sometimes too short for the full address.

Gazette Subscribers: AOL’s spam filtering might even include the Gazette address, so 9.0 users should add:

judy_and_paula@larchmontgazette.com to their address book!

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