e-mail

iCloud hacked, or is it simply spam?

Apple Insider is reporting on a few Apple discussion postings in which users have claimed their iCloud accounts were compromised. Some have complained they have found spam being sent to secondary e-mail addresses from their personal iCloud accounts, which have included links to spam services claiming to make money online, and also containing random text strings -- classic components to automatically generated spam messages.

Others have echoed that in recent hours they have experienced similar spam messages being sent from their iCloud accounts to alternative e-mail accounts and other entries in their contacts lists that were stored with iCloud.

These … Read more

How to unsubscribe from the weekly Twitter digest e-mail

Earlier this week Twitter started sending users an e-mail rounding up the prior week's hot topics and tweets. A weekly reminder or update is great for Twitter users who aren't always on the social network. But, for those of us who are on Twitter more than we should be, and already know what happened over the last week, the e-mail is simply more spam.

Luckily, unsubscribing from the e-mail is a simple process.

If you have one of the e-mails sitting in your Inbox right now, scroll to the bottom and click on the unsubscribe link. Your browser … Read more

Iran curtails use of foreign e-mail providers

Iran is cracking down on the use of foreign e-mail addresses.

The country's telecommunications ministry is now barring local banks, insurance companies, and phone operators from communicating with their clients using foreign e-mail providers, according to the AFP news service.

Based on information from Iranian news service Asr Ertebatat, the new order requires such industries to use addresses ending in the Iranian domain .ir, effectively preventing them from using such foreign providers as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or MSN.

Customers of such companies are also included in the ban, requiring them to use local e-mail addresses in order to do … Read more

Why an 'e-mail vacation' might be good for your health

Workers cut off from office e-mail for five days exhibited more natural, variable heart rates and toggled between screens less frequently than those with e-mail access, according to new research out of the University of California, Irvine, and the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center near Boston.

The "A pace not dictated by electrons" study of 13 civilian employees at the Army center is undoubtedly small, and the results, presented this week at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery in Austin, Texas, are only preliminary. Still, researchers say the findings were surprisingly consistent in favor of … Read more

OS X Mail checking for new messages even when set to manual

Like many other e-mail clients, Apple's Mail program can be set to only check for messages when you request it manually. This can be convenient if you would prefer to avoid constant new-message alerts, or are not connected to the Internet and do not wish to get warnings about network problems. But sometimes even when set to manual the program will continue to check for messages automatically.

Apple's Mail e-mail client can be used for a variety of Mail services, including the classic POP and IMAP services, Exchange, and iCloud mail. The program's default setting is to … Read more

How to analyze e-mail headers the easy way

E-mail messages weren't always as reliable as they are today, but problems can still occur during delivery. Reading message headers can help pinpoint delivery issues, like delays. But if you've ever tried looking at a full message header, you know that it can be a bit confusing to read.

Fortunately, there's a Web-based message header analysis tool that reads the header data for you and outputs it into a format that's much easier to analyze.

To use Message Header Analyzer, first copy the full message header from an e-mail message. If you need help figuring out … Read more

Automatically send Gmail attachments to Google Drive

Google Drive launched with one feature missing -- the ability to save Gmail attachments directly to your Google Drive account. Well, thanks to Amit Agarwal, after doing a bit of work, your attachments will automatically be saved to your Google Drive.

The process requires you to copy a document from Amit's Google Drive account to yours, and grant it permission to monitor your Gmail account. You'll then have to create a Gmail filter that applies the label of GoogleDrive to any e-mail with an attachment that comes into your Inbox. If you prefer not to have every attachment … Read more

Whoops: Firm's e-mail slipup fires 1,300 employees

"Hey, I've just been fired."

"What a coincidence! So have I. Let's go and have a beer."

Such conversations must have abounded yesterday when British insurance company Aviva sent this charming e-mail to 1,300 employees in its investment unit: "We're not investing in you anymore. You're fired."

No, wait. That wasn't the e-mail. This was the e-mail, according to the Telegraph: "I am required to remind you of your contractual obligations to the company you are leaving. You have an obligation to retain any confidential information pertaining … Read more

Facebook makes user addresses, e-mail identical

Facebook has made it easier for users to connect with, and e-mail, others.

The company announced yesterday that over the next few weeks, it will be "updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site." In order words, a person's username address on the site will match their e-mail address username.

Although the update is minor, it might go a long way in improving use of Facebook's e-mail services. With a person's username address and e-mail address matching up, it should make it simpler for users to determine what a person's e-mail … Read more

Court orders push e-mail ban on iCloud, MobileMe to continue

An earlier German court ruling banning iCloud and MobileMe push e-mail service in that country has been upheld.

The Mannheim Regional Court today ordered the ban to continue, claiming that the push e-mail service found in Apple's iCloud and MobileMe violates patents Motorola Mobility holds. In addition, Dow Jones, which first reported on the story, says the court ordered Apple to pay Motorola damages, but did not specify how much.

A German court back in February sided with Motorola Mobility in the case, arguing that Apple's push e-mail services in iCloud and MobileMe should be banned from use … Read more