Accessing E-Mail

After you have access to the Internet, you need access to e-mail. If you have
your own computer and an ISP, you probably have e-mail access automatically.
But if you’re logging on to the Internet away from home, you might
want to look into setting up a free e-mail provider.

Most ISPs will allow you to check your e-mail from their Web sites, but
commonly, you’ll be using Microsoft’s Outlook Express to check your mail
on your home computer.

Google’s Gmail, Yahoo!, and Hotmail are the most popular Web-based, free
e-mail providers. They are free and secure, and signing up is a snap. I like
them because all have a Mail Alert feature, which allows you to instruct Gmail,
Yahoo!, or MSN Mobile to contact you through your Web-enabled cell phone
when you have new e-mail. You can join Gmail at www.gmail.com, Yahoo!
e-mail at www.yahoo.com, and Hotmail by going to www.hotmail.com.

Some commonsense rules can help you protect your account:

✦ Select a password that’s difficult to guess. Use letter-and-number
combinations or nonsensical words that nobody else knows. Don’t use
common names or words relating to you (such as the name of your
street).

✦ Keep passwords secret. If someone asks for your password online, you
can bet it’s a scam. Never give out your password.

✦ Don’t open an e-mail with an attachment from an unknown person.
The attachment (another file attached to your e-mail message) could
contain a virus.

✦ Don’t respond to spam e-mail. Spam is online slang for harassing,
offensive, or useless-but-widely-distributed messages or advertisements.
If you ignore and delete such junk without even opening it, the senders
will probably just go look for somebody else to bother.