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Technology April 2013

Ask Mr. Modem

What Causes >>> Marks in Email?

One >, for example, indicates it's the first reply or forward;  >> indicates it's the second round of replies or forwards, etc. That's why when you receive a joke or hoax message that's been forwarded a bazillion times, you will often see >>>>>>>>>>> in front of each line.

Q. I probably should not even bother you with this silly questions, but I’m curious: What causes all those >> marks that appear in the body of email? They can be very irritating and sometimes they even overshadow the text.

A. Those angle brackets are there by design, and depending on the email program involved, you may see >> marks or vertical lines, both of which designate replies or forwards. The number of marks or lines allows you to track the "depth" of a reply or forward. One >, for example, indicates it's the first reply or forward; >> indicates it's the second round of replies or forwards, etc. That's why when you receive a joke or hoax message that's been forwarded a bazillion times, you will often see >>>>>>>>>>> in front of each line.

People deal with these marks in a variety of ways: Most simply ignore them; others delete them using their software's Find and Replace feature (CTRL + F in some applications). There are also programs that can be installed, such as PaperCut’s eMail Stripper at www.papercut.com/emailStripper.htm or easy-to-use Web-based applications such as the similarly named Mr. Ed's Email Stripper at www.mistered.us/stripper/index.shtml.

 

Q. When I want to go back and look at old email I received in Gmail, only the first 50 emails will come up and I cannot figure out how to access the next 50. While I'm at it, I can't seem to locate Gmail's Help, either. Can you help me with these issues, Mr. M?

A. When viewing the Sent Mail folder, if you look in the top right of your Gmail screen, you will see numbers such as 1-50 of 214 with < and > arrows. That refers to messages 1 through 50. If you click the > arrow, you can view the next 50, messages 51 through 100, etc.

To access Gmail's excellent Help, click the little gear icon to the far right, then select Help from the drop-down menu that appears. Gmail's Help is one of the best there is, so any time you need to learn how to do something with Gmail, be sure to search its Help section.

 

Q. Please help me stop the very annoying Yahoo! Messenger from popping up when I boot the computer or receive email. It's driving me crazy!

A. Open Yahoo! Messenger when it appears, then click Messenger > Preferences or press CTRL + SHIFT + P. Under Category, click Alerts and Sounds. In the "Alert me when" box, click "I receive email in Yahoo! Mail.”

Next, uncheck the boxes next to “Display a dialog box," "Show an icon in the system tray," and "Show a message in the bottom right corner of my screen.” Just to clarify these three options, "Display a dialog box" refers to the dialog box that pops up to notify you of new mail. "Show an icon in the system tray" references the little envelope that appears when new mail arrives. "Show a message in the bottom right corner of my screen," is the box that displays the subject of the message or how many messages are present.

If you prefer not hearing the “Pow!” audible alert -- and heaven knows why anybody wouldn’t want that jolting the bejeepers out of them -- uncheck "Play a sound." Lastly, click OK and you’re done.

 

Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em) Sites of the Month

Behind the Name

Learn the history behind more than 18,000 first names. Search the diverse database of English, German, Spanish, Arabic, Mythological, Biblical, and African names. By gender, there are 9600 male names, 8000 female names, and 750 that could be either. Also included is a list of the most popular names in the world. The most popular name in the Netherlands? Daan. Good to know.

www.behindthename.com

 

Google Flights

Google has entered the flight-planning business (what aren't they into?) with Google Flights, which you can use in two ways: Using the Google.com search engine, type search parameters such as "flights from Phoenix to Dallas" and flight information will appear at the top of the search results. If you really want to dive into flight information, go directly to Google Flights and get precise results by using the filtering options, such as your preferred airline, desired number of stops, maximum number of screaming babies, etc.

www.google.com/flights

 

Rentometer

If you’re a renter or if you have rental property, use this site to comparison shop and find the price of other rental properties in your area. Type in the address of the rental property, the amount you pay or charge for rent and how many bedrooms. When you’re finished, click the Analyze My Property button. Results are displayed in two ways: A graph that shows rent on a scale with other area rents and segregated into Low, Medium and High categories. There is also a Google map that is bulleted to display other rentals in your immediate area. You can zoom in and out with the slider + and – navigation in the top right corner of the map.

www.rentometer.com

 

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