This is fairly long but is very informative and well worth reading. My guess is 95 percent of my email is spam. I just live with that fact and delete it. It is tiring and tedious but I believe the only real solution as I don't want to miss one single email that might help me find some new data on my family. My spamblocker puts the spam in a spam file and I check everyone to make certain it is not something important. <<<<<<< 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Spamblocker: Solution May Be the Problem Lucy Lister is probably a lot like you. She started doing her family history research a few years ago when her grandma passed away and she was going through the attic at the old family house. She located some ancient unlabeled family photos and the Bible with all the family vital records listed in it. Lucy had many questions -- who were these people -- in the photos and in the family Bible? She decided to learn as much as she could about her family history, so she booted up her computer and away she surfed. Lucy discovered the RootsWeb mailing lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ and used the index to subscribe to several lists for surnames, locations, and topics she found in the items in her grandma's attic. She had some questions about fraternal organizations mentioned in old family records, organizations her grandpa had apparently belonged to. She wondered about the original owner of the Civil War era boot she found in a cobwebbed corner of the attic and the old sword with the initials R.H.M. engraved on the handle she located tucked away up in the rafter. She had numerous questions, but found many knowledgeable people willing to help her find the answers. Lucy also posted queries on the RootsWeb message boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ to reach a wider audience. She was even able to include a photo of the old boot and the sword plus a scan of the family Bible record with her post on the boards. Lucy learned more and more details, names and dates, and eventually posted her surnames on RootsWeb Surname List: http://rsl.rootsweb.com/ And when she had enough information compiled from what she learned on the lists and boards, she uploaded a GEDCOM (Genealogical Data COMmunication) file, created by her computer genealogy program, to RootsWeb's WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Time went by and Lucy received many valuable replies with additional information from new-found cousins and also from unrelated individuals who knew about the fraternal organizations to which her granddad had belonged. A sword collector was able to date the era during which the sword was made and even identify the manufacturer. It was literally amazing how much Lucy Lister learned from her involvement in online sources and in such a short time. She still had plenty she wanted to learn. However, a new foe stood in Lucy's path--causing her problems as she tried to sort her incoming e- mails each day. This intruder -- SPAM -- was entering her mailbox with increasing frequency. Lucy realized that RootsWeb was not responsible for this spam and she also knew she had plastered her e-mail address all over the Net in her attempts to learn about her family. Alas, spam seem to be an inevitable offshoot of doing genealogical research online. If you want to learn anything and get responses from others--you need to supply a means by which they can reach you. With this confounded spam becoming more and more of an intrusion into Lucy's daily e-mail existence, she sought a way to cut down on the unwanted mail. She expressed her unhappiness with the spammers to her friend, who wasn't doing genealogy on the Net and she suggested Lucy try out a new superduper spamblocker that she found that had rid her inbox of spam. Lucy was so eager to try out the new "E-mail Jail" spamblocker that she downloaded it and installed it that very day. She didn't give a thought as to how this wonderful new program might impact her genealogical e- mail usage as one who frequently heard from individuals not included in her address book and, therefore, were not on the required "E-mail Jail" approved sender list. At first, it seemed as if Lucy had found the solution--no more spam! However, she soon noticed that she had stopped receiving mail from those who had information for her and from those who had found her listing on the RSL, or via WorldConnect, mailing lists, and message boards. Oh yes, and that was another problem: Mail from her mailing lists just stopped. What on earth could be the problem? Lucy assumed there must be a problem at RootsWeb as she thought she had set up "E-mail Jail" to permit mail through from her lists. So, off she trotted to the RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help.cgi to post a message about her "problem" and, guess what? The HelpDesk did not even bother to reply. Was the HelpDesk just ignoring her -- after all she had contributed? What nerve! Lucy figured she'd get some action by dropping a note to the editor of the RootsWeb Review. Surely the editor could whip those ingrates on the HelpDesk into shape and make them reply to her. But, no replies came. Eventually Lucy determined that the wonderful spamblocker that served so well for her friend was completely unworkable when trying to use e-mail to communicate with others in doing genealogical research. This spam- blocker was too restrictive and didn't work with mailing lists, wouldn't allow replies from the HelpDesk personnel or the RootsWeb Review editor to get through to her. The replies were being held hostage or were being trashed awaiting confirmation that the sender wasn't a spammer. Neither the editor nor the HelpDesk had time to respond to such "challenge" messages from spamblockers. This type of spamblocker, when used by those subscribed to mailing lists won't work either as the list messages are coming from the actual poster--who might be any other list member and not necessarily someone in your address book and not from the list itself by name. Lucy finally ditched "E-mail Jail" and tried out another spam-blocking program. This one, "E-mail Kleaner" was supposed to "wash away all your spam" by returning mail from unknown senders as "User Unknown" so the spammers would think your e-mail address had gone dead. Again, Lucy stopped receiving her list mail. When she checked Password Central to obtain a list of all her subscribed lists: http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ she discovered she had been unsubbed from many of her busier lists. Uh oh...she soon came to the realization that "E-mail Kleaner" was bouncing back all her list mail to RootsWeb. Plus once again, no one, not even a list administrator, was able to get through to her to explain the problem. In the end, Lucy Lister emerged a bit battered, but wiser, with the realization that spamblockers or filters that are overly restrictive or set to the highest security levels, do not work well for genealogists who are researching on the Net. Selectivity is the keyword when choosing and setting up e-mail filters, and consideration must be given as to how they will work with RootsWeb's resources. If people sending you e-mail are going to be sent a "challenge" response, have their mail imprisoned, trashed or bounced -- then the filters won't work for you if you are using mailing lists and other Internet resources. And, if you find you are not receiving the e-mail you are expecting, including that of list mail and replies from the HelpDesk and/or the editor, consider the possibility that your spamblocker might need tweaking and it might even be the culprit. "REPRINTS. Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 15 September 2004, Vol. 7, No. 37."