Here’s another popular Internet activity: you can send electronic mail (email, which is pronounced “ee mail” and was formerly written as “e-mail”). An email message imitates a regular letter or postcard but is transmitted electronically so you don’t have to lick a stamp, don’t have to walk to the mailbox to send it, and don’t have to wait for the letter to be processed by your country’s postal system.
Email zips through the Internet at lightning speed, so a letter sent from Japan to the United States takes just minutes (sometimes even seconds) to reach its destination. Unlike regular mail, which the Post Office usually delivers just once a day, email can arrive anytime, day or night. If your friends try to send you email messages while your computer is turned off, your Internet service provider will hold their messages for you until you turn your computer back on and reconnect to the Internet.
Since sending email is so much faster than using the Post Office (which is about as slow as a snail), the Post Office’s mail is nicknamed snail mail. Yes, email travels fast, takes just a few minutes to reach its destination, and is free; snail mail travels slowly, typically takes several days to reach its destination, and costs over 50¢ (for a stamp, an envelope, and paper to write on). So if your friend promises to send you a letter “soon”, ask “Are you going to send it by email or snail mail?”
An “email message” is sometimes called just “an email”. Instead of saying “I sent 3 email messages”, an expert says “I sent 3 emails”.
To use email, you need an email program.
The email program is called an email client if it’s on your computer’s hard disk. Here are the most popular email clients:
Windows 10 Mail is part of Windows 10
Windows Live Mail is a free add-on to Windows XP&Vista&7
Outlook is by Microsoft and part of Microsoft Office
Safari is by Apple and part of Mac OS X
Thunderbird is by Mozilla.org, for use with Firefox
The email program is called webmail service if it’s on a Website instead of your computer’s hard disk. Here are the most popular webmail services for the general public:
Yahoo Mail is at mail.yahoo.com, which is owned by Yahoo
Gmail is at www.gmail.com, which is owned by Google
Hotmail is at www.hotmail.com, which is owned by Microsoft
Some ISPs (such as AOL and Comcast) have invented special webmail services for use by just their own customers.
Which is better to use: an email client or a webmail service? An email client has 3 advantages over a webmail service:
An email client runs faster than webmail.
An email client understands more commands than webmail.
A webmail service puts ads on your screen and in your outgoing messages; an email client doesn’t force you to look at ads.
But an email client has 2 disadvantages:
Before you use an email client the first time, you must install it.
If you’ve switch to a different computer (because you bought a new computer, or your building has several computers, or you’re visiting a friend), you can’t easily read your old messages: your messages and email privileges are restricted to one computer (unless you fiddle a lot).
This chapter explains how to use these popular email programs:
Windows 10 Mail (an email tile, for Windows 10)
Windows Live Mail (an email client, for Windows 7)
Yahoo Mail (a webmail service)
Gmail (a newer webmail service)
Simple email
Email can be simple!
Start
Here’s how to start using email.
Windows 10 Mail Make sure you’ve created an email account, using Gmail or Yahoo Mail or another popular webmail service. I recommend Gmail, so I’ll assume you’ve created a Gmail account (by following my previous instructions for “Gmail”).
Once you’ve created a Gmail account, do the following.
Tap the Mail tile (which is normally the Start menu’s 2nd tile).
If the computer says “Welcome”, do this:
Tap “Get started” then “Add account” then “Google” then “Enter your email”. Type your email address (such as TrickyLiving@gmail.com) then press the Enter key.
Tap “Password”. Type your Gmail password then press the Enter key.
Put your finger on “Windows would like to” and swipe up, so you see the blue Accept button. Tap that button then the gray “Done” button then “Ready to go”.
You see the Mail window. Maximize it (by tapping its maximize button if not maximized yet).
Windows Live Mail Windows Live Mail is part of Windows Live Essentials.
If your computer doesn’t have Windows Live Essentials yet, you can get it & install it by one of these methods:
IE method Using your Web browser (such as Internet Explorer), go to explore.live.com. Click the biggest “Windows Live Essentials” then “Download now”. Then follow the screen’s instructions.
Update method Click the Start button then “All Programs” then “Windows Update”. Then follow the screen’s instructions.
Getting-started method Click the Start button then “Getting Started” then “Get Windows Live Essentials” then “Download now”. Then follow the screen’s instructions.
To start using Windows Live Mail (after it’s been installed), click Start then “All Programs” then “Windows Live Mail”.
You’ll see the Windows Live Mail window. If it doesn’t consume the whole screen yet, maximize it (by clicking its maximize button, which is next to the X button).
If the computer says “Sign in to Windows Live Mail”, do the following.…
If you have a Windows Live ID already, do this:
Type your Windows Live ID password. Check the box marked “Remember me and sign me in automatically”. Click the “Sign in” button.
If you don’t have a Windows Live ID yet, do this instead:
Click “Sign up”. Click in the “Use your email address” box. Type the email address that your ISP agreed to assign you (such as SecretGuide@comcast.net). Press the Tab key.
The computer asks for a Windows Live ID password. You can invent a password; but to avoid confusion, I recommend you use the password your ISP assigned you. Type it, press Tab, type it again, press Tab again.
Type your first name (or nickname) as you’d like it to appear in all email messages you send (such as “Russ”). Press Tab, type your last name, press Tab again.
Fill in the rest of the form. Click the “I accept” button (which you see when you scroll down).
Close all windows, so you can start fresh (and avoid Microsoft’s ads about Hotmail).
Go back to the paragraph that begins, “To start using Windows Live Mail…”.
If the computer asks “Set Windows Live Mail as your default email program?”, click “Yes”.
If your ISP is Comcast, do this (if you haven’t done so already):
Click “Accounts” (which is at the screen’s top) then “Properties” then “Advanced”. Type 587. Remove the check mark from “Leave a copy of messages on server” (by clicking). Press Enter. Click “Home”.
If the computer says “Verify the email address”, do this (if you haven’t done so already):
Click “Verify the email address”. Then click the line below “Use this link to verify your account”. Then follow the instructions. Then close the Web browser window, so you see the Windows Live Mail window again.
Yahoo Mail To use Yahoo Mail (which is a webmail service), use your Web browser (such as Internet Explorer) to go to mail.yahoo.com. The computer will say “Yahoo Mail”.
If you have a Yahoo ID already, do this:
Type your Yahoo address (such as SecretGuide@yahoo.com) or just the part that comes before “@” (such as SecretGuide). Press the Tab key. Type your Yahoo password. Click the yellow “Sign In” button.
If you don’t have a Yahoo ID yet, do this instead:
Click “Create New Account”. Type your first name. Press the Tab key. Type your last name. Press the Tab key.
Invent your Yahoo ID. It must begin with a letter. It must have at least 3 more characters, which can include letters, digits, underlines, at most one period, no spaces, no special symbols. (For example, I invented SecretGuide.) Type what you invented. Press the Tab key twice. (If the computer says “This ID is not available”, click the Yahoo ID you typed, edit it, and try again.)
Invent a Yahoo password that’s at least 6 characters long. Type it (in the “Pick a password” box), press Tab, then type it again.
Click the “Select month” down-arrow. Click the month you were born. Press Tab. Type the 2-digit date you were born. Press Tab. Type the 4-digit year you were born. Click the “My gender” down-arrow. Click your gender. Press Tab, 3 times. Type your ZIP code. Press Tab twice. Type your cell-phone number (just digits, without dashes or spaces). Press Tab. If you have another email address, type it.
Click “Create my account” (which you’ll see when you scroll down).
You see another page of questions, for security. Answer them. At the end of that page, click “Done”.
If you did all that successfully, the computer will say “Thank you”. Click “Get Started” then press Enter.
Gmail To use Gmail (which is a webmail service), use your Web browser (such as Internet Explorer) to go to www.gmail.com. The computer will say “Gmail”.
If you have a Gmail username already and the computer says “Sign in”, do this:
Type your Gmail address (such as TrickyLiving@gmail.com) or just the part that comes before “@” (such as TrickyLiving). Press the Tab key, type your Gmail password, and press Enter.
If you don’t have a Gmail username yet, do this instead:
Click “Create an account”. Click in the “First” box. Type your first name, press the Tab key, type your last name, and press the Tab key.
Invent your Gmail username. It must have at least 6 characters, which can include letters, digits, periods, no spaces, no special characters. (For example, I invented TrickyLiving.) Type what you invented. Press the Tab key. (If the computer says “Someone already has that username, click the username you typed, edit it, and try again to press the Tab key.)
Invent a Gmail password that’s at least 8 characters long. Type it, press Tab, then type it again.
Finish filling the form. Click “Next step” (which you see when you scroll down).
The computer says “Your profile”. Click “Next step”.
The computer says “Welcome”. Click “Continue to Gmail”.
The computer says “Welcome!” For now, just click the X to the right of “Welcome”.
Incoming mail
At the screen’s left edge, you see “Inbox”. To handle incoming mail, click the “Inbox” that’s at the screen’s left edge.
Now most of the screen is divided into 3 big windowpanes, which I’ll call “left”, “list”, and “message”.
Windows 10 Mail The left windowpane is black. The message windowpane is white and at the right. The list windowpane is white and in the middle.
Windows Live Mail All 3 windowpanes are white. The message windowpane is at the right. The list windowpane is in the middle.
Yahoo Mail & Gmail All 3 windowpanes are white. The list windowpane is at the top-right. The message windowpane is at the bottom-right
In addition to those big panes, you might see extras:
Yahoo Mail shows ads at the screen’s right edge.
Gmail shows a one-line ad at the screen’s top.
The list pane shows a list of all email messages that other people have sent you. (If Windows Mail 10 says “To get messages older than two weeks, go to Settings”, tap that notice then “The last 2 weeks” at the screen’s right side then “Any time” then the left-arrow at the screen’s top). For each message, the list shows whom the message is from (the sender’s name), the message’s subject (what the message is about), and the time when the message was received.
The first time Windows Live Mail is used on your computer, the list pane shows you’ve received a message from the Windows Live Team. That message asks you to “Verify the email address”.
The first time Yahoo Mail is used with your Yahoo ID, the list pane shows you’ve received a message from Yahoo.
The first time Gmail is used with your Gmail account, the list pane shows you’ve received 3 messages from the Gmail team and 1 message from the Google+ team.
After you’ve used the email program awhile, you’ll probably receive additional messages, from your friends! If there are too many messages to fit in the pane, view the rest of the messages by pressing that pane’s scroll-down arrow (the symbol 6 or Ú at the pane’s bottom right corner).
Looking at a message makes it change:
Windows 10 Mail Each message is initially listed with a blue vertical line before it. The blue line disappears when you’ve finished looking at the message (and switched to looking at a different message).
Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Mail, and Gmail Each message is initially listed in bold type (and Windows Live Mail show a picture of a sealed envelope). If you look at a message’s details awhile (at least 1 second in Windows Live Mail, 2 seconds in Yahoo Mail), that message becomes unbolded.
In what order do the messages appear?
Windows 10 Mail, Windows Live Mail, Gmail The computer puts similar messages together, to form a conversation thread of back-and-forth replies.
Yahoo Mail Normally, the newest message is listed first; older messages are listed afterwards. That’s called “sort by date”. If want to see the messages in a different order, click “SORT BY DATE” then click what you want instead, such as “Sender”, which makes the messages be listed by the sender’s name (in alphabetical order). To return to “sort by date”, click “SORT BY” then “Date”. The triangle next to “Date” normally points down, which means the newest message is listed first. (If you want to reverse the order, so the oldest message is listed first, click “SORT BY” then “Date”, so the triangle next to date points up.)
If you’re using Yahoo Mail, do this:
Click “Actions”. Make sure there’s a check mark before “Enable Preview Pane”. (If no check mark is there yet, create one by clicking there, then click “OK”.) That check mark makes the bottom pane work. (Ignore “Choose your favorite way to communicate.”)
In the list pane, you see the list of messages you received. Decide which message you want to read, and click (or tap) the sender’s name. Then you start seeing the complete message.
Windows 10 Mail, Windows Live Mail The message appears in the so-called “bottom” pane (which is actually to the right of the top pane instead of below).
Yahoo Mail The message appears in the bottom pane.
Gmail The top-right pane temporarily shows the message, and its right edge shows ads relating to the message’s words. When you finish reading the message & ads, click the “:” button to make the top-right pane return to normal.
If the message is too long to fit in its pane, you can see the rest of the message by doing this:
Windows 10 Mail If you have a touch screen, put your finger in that pane’s middle and flick your finger up. If you don’t have a touch screen, move the mouse pointer to the screen’s right edge, then press the pane’s scroll-down arrow (the symbol Ú at the screen’s bottom-right corner).
Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Mail, Gmail Press that pane’s scroll-down arrow (the symbol 6 or Ú at the pane’s bottom right corner).
Junk If a message seems to be junk, here’s what happens:
Windows 10 Mail puts the message in the Spam folder instead of the Inbox. To see what’s in the Spam folder, tap “More” (which is in the left pane) then “Spam” (or “Junk”). To see what’s in the Inbox again, tap “Inbox”.
Windows Live Mail puts the message in the Junk email folder instead of the Inbox. To see what’s in the Junk Email folder, click “Junk email”. To see what’s in the Inbox again, click Inbox.
Yahoo Mail puts the message in the Spam folder instead of the Inbox. To see what’s in the Spam folder, click “Spam”. To see what’s in the Inbox again, click Inbox. Once a month, the computer erases the Spam folder’s messages.
Gmail puts the message in the Spam folder instead of the Inbox. To see what’s in the Spam folder, click the word “Spam” at the screen’s left edge. (If you don’t see the word “Spam” yet, make it appear by clicking “More”.) To see what’s in the Inbox again, click Inbox. If a message has been in the Spam folder for more than 30 days, the computer erases it.
How to send mail
To write an email message, perform 5 steps.
Step 1: get the window Do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap “New Mail” (which is near the screen’s top-left corner). The message pane will say “To”.
Windows Live Mail Click “Email message” (which is near the screen’s top-left corner). You’ll see the New Message window.
Yahoo Mail Click “Compose” (which is near the screen’s top-left corner). The top-right pane will temporarily say “To”.
Gmail Click “Compose” (which is near the screen’s top-left corner). You’ll see the New Message window.
Step 2:
choose a recipient To whom do you want to send the message? To
send an email message to a person, you must find out that person’s email
address. For example, if you want to send an email message to me, you need to
know that
my email address is “Russ@SecretFun.com”.
For the Internet, each email address contains the symbol “@”, which is pronounced “at”. For example, my Internet address, “Russ@SecretFun.com”, is pronounced “russ at secret fun dot com”.
To find out the email addresses of your friends and other people, ask them (by chatting with them in person or by phoning them or by sending them snail-mail postcards).
If you send email to the following celebrities and nuts, they’ll probably read what you wrote. (But they might not have enough time to write back, and they prefer you use the feedback forms on their Websites instead.)
Comment Email address
Actors
Tom Hanks plays nice guy in trouble NY122@aol.com
Brad Pitt heartthrob CiaoBox@msn.com
Adam Sandler childish adult Sandler@cris.com
Politicians
Obama or Trump President of USA comments@WhiteHouse.gov
Biden or Pence Vice-President of USA Vice_President@WhiteHouse.gov
Reporters & commentators
Dave Barry syndicated columnist NoLowFlow@DaveBarry.com
Bill Nye PBS’s “Science Guy” BillNye@nyelabs.com
Fictions
Santa Claus delivers presents Santa@NorthPole.com
Scott Adams draws Dilbert cartoons ScottAdams@aol.com
Computerists
Bill Gates Microsoft’s chairman BillG@microsoft.com
Russ Walter nut, wrote this book Russ@SecretFun.com
Pop singers
Britney Spears young Britney@BritneySpears.com
Madonna sexual Madonna@wbr.com
When you type an email address, you don’t have to capitalize. The computer ignores capitalization.
Never put a blank space in the middle of an email address.
Warning: people often change their email addresses, so don’t be surprised if your message comes back, marked undeliverable.
Type the email address of the person to whom you want to send your message. If you’re a shy beginner who’s nervous about bothering people, try sending an email message to a close friend or me or yourself. Sending an email message to yourself is called “doing a Fats Waller”, since he was the first singer to popularize these lyrics:
Gonna sit right down and write myself a letter,
And make believe it came from you!
If you send an email message to me, I’ll read it and try to send a reply, but be patient (since I check my email just a few times per day) and avoid asking for advice (since I give extensive advice just by regular phone calls to 603-666-6644, not email).
At the end of the email address, do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap “Subject”.
Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Mail Press the Tab key, so you’re at the line marked “Subject”.
Gmail Press the Tab key twice, so you’re at the line that was marked “Subject”.
Step 3: choose a subject Type a phrase summarizing the subject (such as “let’s lunch” or “I’m testing”). At the end of that typing, press the Tab key again.
Step 4: type the message Go ahead: type the message, such as “Let’s have lunch together in Antarctica tomorrow!” or “I’m testing my email system, so please tell me whether you received this test message.” Your message can be as long as you wish — many paragraphs! Type the message as if you were using a word processor. For example, press the Enter key just when you reach the end of a paragraph. (If you’re using Windows Live Mail, you can maximize the window you’re typing in by clicking the window’s maximize button, which is next to the X button.)
Step 5: send the message When you finish typing the message, click the Send button.
Windows 10 Mail The Send button is near the screen’s top-right corner. It shows a flying envelope.
Windows Live Mail The Send button is left of where you typed the email address. It shows an envelope with a right-arrow.
Yahoo Mail The Send button is above where you typed the email address.
Gmail The Send button is at the screen’s bottom, below your typing.
The window (or pane) you typed in will close automatically.
When do messages transmit?
When you try to send or receive a message, when does the transmission actually occur?
Receiving a message from a friend When a friend tries to send you a message, the message goes from your friend’s computer to your friend’s email server (such as Yahoo or your friend’s Internet Service Provider), which passes the message on to your email server. The message is stored on your email server’s hard disk.
Since your email server is always turned on (day and night, 24 hours), it’s always ready to receive messages your friends try to send you, even while your own computer is turned off.
When you try to examine your Inbox, your computer ought to contact your email server and tell the email server to transmit any new messages to your computer; but if your computer is lazy, it might not contact your email server immediately to get the newest messages. Instead, your computer might decide to wait awhile before bothering your email server. For example, your computer might contact your email server just once every 30 minutes to check whether there are any new messages for you; or your computer might not contact your email server until the next time you start running the email program — which might be the next day.
Here’s how to make your computer communicate with your email server now, so all the messages you’re trying to receive get transmitted to your Inbox now:
Windows 10 Mail Tap the circling arrows, which are at the list box’s top.
Windows Live Mail Click envelopes above “Send/Receive” (or press F5 key).
Yahoo Mail Click “Inbox”.
Gmail Click the Refresh button (an arrow circling to the right).
If you want Windows Live Mail to check for messages more frequently (such as every 5 minutes), do this:
Click the Windows Live Mail button (which is left of “Home” and has a down-arrow) then “Options” then “Mail”. Put a small number (such as 5) in the minutes box (by clicking the box’s down-arrow). Press Enter.
Sending a message to a friend When you tell the computer to send a message to a friend, the computer typically transmits the message immediately to your email server (which passes it on to your friend’s email server).
Printing
To copy a message onto paper, get the message onto the screen then do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap the “…” (which is at the screen’s top-right corner) then “Print” then the Print button.
Windows Live Mail Click the Windows Live Mail button (which is left of “Home” and has a down-arrow) then “Print”. Press Enter.
Gmail Click the “Print all” button (which looks like a printer and is far to the right of the message’s subject). Press Enter. After the computer prints, close that window (by clicking the “X” on the “Gmail” tab).
Yahoo Mail Press the keyboard’s P key (or click “Actions” then “Print Message”). If the computer says “Print Error”, click “Try Again”. You see the Print window. Click the “Print” above “Subject”. Press Enter. After the message has printed, close the Print window (by clicking its X).
Acronyms
People often use these expressions and abbreviations when writing email messages (and text messages on phones):
Expression Abbreviation
I’m GRINNING! <g>
I have a BIG GRIN! <bg>
I have a VERY BIG GRIN! <vbg>
Laughing out loud! LOL
Lots of laughing out loud! LOLOL
Lots & lots of laughing out loud! LOLOLOL
Laughing my ass off! LMAO
Laughing my ass off, on the floor! LMAOOTF
Rolling on the floor, laughing! ROTFL
Just kidding! JK
Ha ha, only joking! HHOJ
Tongue in cheek! TIC
Shaking my head SMH
Shaking my damn head SMDH
Shaking my fucking head SMFH
Shaking my head in despair SMHID
Too much info TMI
No problem! NP
Way to go! WTG
Too good to be true! 2GTBT
Good game! GG
Great minds think alike. GMTA
I love you. ILY
Love you, miss you! LYMY
Wish you were here! WYWH
Hugs and kisses! XOXO
Best friend forever! BFF
Thinking about you! TAU
Long time, no see! LTNS
Oh my God! OMG
before B4
later L8R
real soon now RSN
See you later! CUL8R
Talk to you later! TTYL
Ta-ta for now! TTFN
Parent over shoulder! POS
People are watching! PRW
Be back later! BBL
Be right back! BRB
Be back in a flash! BBIAF
Just a minute! JAM
Back at keyboard! BAK
Welcome back! WB
Thanks in advance. TIA
No reply necessary. NRN
in my opinion IMO
in my humble opinion IMHO
in my not-so-humble opinion IMNSHO
off the top of my head OTTOMH
I am not a lawyer. IANAL
Trust me on this. TMOT
Don’t quote me on this. DQMOT
for your information FYI
in case you missed it ICYMI
frequently asked question FAQ
Do it yourself. DIY
Read the manual. RTM
Read the f***ing manual. RTFM
Oh, I see. OIC
Still in the dark! SITD
Are you OK? RUOK
Okay! K
in real life IRL
Been there, done that! BTDT
Good luck! GL
Good luck, have fun! GL/HF
Shit out of luck! SOL
by the way BTW
as a matter of fact AAMOF
for what it’s worth FWIW
before I forget BIF
in any event IAE
in other words IOW
on the other hand OTOH
Don’t hold your breath. DHYB
Laughing at your mamma! L@YM
what the hell WTH
what the fuck WTF
Are you serious? AYS
Oh, really? O RLY
Yeah, really! YARLY
No way! NOWAI
You only live once. YOLO
What do you think? WDYT
Got to see you! GTSY
On my way! OMW
Those abbreviations are called acronyms.
Acronyms can be ambiguous. For example, “LOL” can mean “laughing out loud” or “lots of love”. If you receive an email saying “LOL”, you must guess whether the sender is laughing at you or laughing with you or loves you. Don’t write an acronym unless you’re sure the recipient will understand it.
Smiley’s pals
Here’s a picture of a smiling face:
 |
It’s called a smiley. If you rotate that face 90°, it looks like this:
:-)
People writing email messages often type that symbol to mean “I’m smiling; I’m just kidding”.
For example, suppose you want to tell the President that you disagree with his speech. If you communicate the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper, you’ll probably begin like this:
Dear Mr. President,
I’m somewhat distressed at your recent policy announcement.
But people who communicate by email tend to be more blunt:
Hey, Prez!
You really blew that speech. Jeez! Your policy stinks. You should be boiled in oil, or at least paddled with a floppy disk. :-)
The symbol “:-)” means “I’m just kidding”. That symbol’s important. Forgot to include it? Then the poor Prez, worried about getting boiled in oil, might have the Secret Service arrest you for plotting an assassination.
The smiley, “:-)”, has many variations:
Symbol Meaning
:-) I’m smiling.
:-( I’m frowning.
:-< I’m real sad.
:-c I’m bummed out.
:-C I’m really bummed out!
:-I I’m grim.
:-/ I’m skeptical.
:-7 I’m smirking at my own wry comment.
:-> I have a devilish grin.
:-D I’m laughing.
:-o I’m shouting.
:-O I’m shouting really loud.
:-@ I’m screaming.
:-8 I talk from both sides of my mouth.
:-p I’m sticking my tongue out at you.
:-P I’m being tongue-in-cheek.
:-& I’m tongue-tied.
:-9 I’m licking my lips.
:-* My lips pucker — for a kiss or pickle.
:-x My lips are sealed.
:-# I wear braces.
:-? I smoke a pipe.
:-} I have a beard.
:-[ I’m a vampire.
:-{} I wear lipstick.
:-{) I have a mustache.
:-~) My nose runs.
:-)~ I’m drooling.
:-)-8 I have big breasts.
:*) I’m drunk.
:~I I’m smoking.
:~j I’m smoking and smiling.
:'-( I’m crying.
:'-) I’m so happy, I’m crying.
;-) I’m winking.
%-) Dizzy from staring at screen too long!
8-) I wear glasses.
B-) I wear cool shades, man.
|-O I’m yawning.
X-( I just died.
O:-) I’m an angel.
+:-) I’m a priest.
[:-) I’m wearing a Walkman.
&:-) I have curly hair.
@:-) I have wavy hair.
8:-) I have a bow in my hair.
B:-) My sunglasses are on my forehead.
-:-) I’m a punk rocker,
-:-( but real punk rockers don’t smile.
[:] I’m a robot.
3:] I’m your pet,
3:[ but I growl.
}:-> I’m being devilish,
>;-> and lewdly winking.
C=:-) I’m a chef.
The symbol for “love” is —
<3
because if you rotate it 90° in the opposite direction, it looks like a heart. So to say “I love you” just write:
I <3 U
To say “Lots of love!” just write:
<333
Since those symbolic pictures (icons) help you emote, they’re called emoticons (pronounced “ee MOTE ee cons”). Technically, just the first one in that list is called a smiley, but some folks call all emoticons “smileys.”
To understand those American smileys easily, you must turn your head 90°.
Japanese versions The Japanese have invented these straight-on smileys, which don’t require you to turn your head — you can look at them straight-on:
Symbol Meaning
(^_^) I’m smiling.
(@_@) I’m dizzy and giddy.
(*^_^*) I’m smiling and blushing.
(^.^) Smiling with my cute little-girl mouth!
(-_-) I’m angry but trying to force a smile.
(T_T) I’m crying. Tears run down my cheeks.
QQ I have tears in my eyes. I’m upset.
(>_<) Ouch! That was a painful failure!
(>_<)(>_<) I deny it strongly, shake my head!
(-_-)zzz I’m going to sleep. Good-night!
The Japanese call their straight-on smileys “facemarks”, since they’re marks that represent faces simply, without rotation.
Other body parts Analysts of American culture invented these assicons to illustrate slang:
Symbol Meaning
(_!_) regular ass
(!) tight ass
(__!__) fat ass
[_!_] hard ass
(_) half-assed
(_o_) ass that’s been around
(_O_) ass that’s been around even more
(_*_) sore-ass loser
(_o^^o_) wise ass
(_E=mc2_) smart ass
(_?_) dumb ass
(_zzz_) tired ass
(_13_) unlucky ass
(_jack_) jackass
(_Y_) ass that can’t say no
(_x_) kiss my ass
(_X_) get off my ass
(_$_) money coming out of his ass
(_#_) take an ass pounding
(_~_) Latin ass
(_/_) Asian ass
Analysts of the female form have invented these titicons (which are also called boobiecons):
Symbol Meaning
(o)(o) regular tits
(O)(O) big tits
(@)(@) big, hairy tits
(.)(.) tiny tits
(,)(,) droopy tits
(')(') perky tits
(.Y.) curvy tits
($)($) silicone tits
Leet
Youngsters sometimes write emails in a secret slang code called Leet (which stands for “élite”), so their parents won’t understand — and neither will out-of-touch school administrators, employers, censors, and email filters.
To translate English to Leet, change the letters to similar-looking digits (or other symbols):
English Leet
the letter o or O the digit 0
the letter i or I the digit 1 or the symbol !
the letter s or S the digit 5 or the symbol $
the letter z or Z the digit 2
the letter b or B the digit 8
the letter l or L the digit 1 or 7
the letter t or T the digit 7 or the symbol +
the letter a or A the digit 4 or the symbol @
the letter g or G the digit 6
the letter e or E the digit 3
the letter h or H the symbol #
the letter x or X the symbol % or ><
the letter v or V the symbols \/
the letter w or W the symbols \/\/
the letter y or Y the letter j
Examples:
English Leet
boobs 80085
Leet 1337
shit $#!+
ass @$
Change to things that sound similar:
English Leet
the letter f or F the letters ph
the sound “ate” the digit 8
the sound “are” the letter R
the sound “you” the letter U
the sound “and” the symbol &
the sound “ant” the symbol &
To avoid too much confusion, make just some of those changes — just enough to confuse your parents without confusing your friends. For example, keep the b and t:
English Leet
banned b&
newbie (beginner) n00b
Hooray! We won! w00t (we own other team)
To further confuse parents and be cool, some kids purposely type letters in the wrong order —
English Cool Leet
the word “crap” carp
laughing out loud OLO (instead of LOL)
the word “porn” pr0n or n0rp
the word “the” t3h (instead of th3)
newbie (beginner) b00n (instead of n00b)
or type a nearby letter on the keyboard:
English Cool Leet
the letter “o” p (which is next to o)
the word “own” pwn
capital “O” ZP (since Z is near Shift)
Oh, my God! ZPMG
What did you send?
To check which messages you sent, do this:
Windows 10 Mail In the left pane, tap “Sent” (or “Sent Mail” or “Sent Items”).
Windows Live Mail In the left pane,
click
“Sent items”.
Yahoo Mail In the left pane, click “Sent”.
Gmail In the left pane, click “Sent Mail”.
You’ll see a list of messages you sent. For each message, the list shows the address you sent it to, the message’s subject, and when you sent it.
When you finish admiring that list, make the screen become normal again by clicking “Inbox” (which is in the left pane).
Reply
While you’re reading a message that somebody’s sent you, here’s how to reply.
Windows 10 Mail, Windows Live Mail, Gmail Click “Reply”.
Yahoo Mail Press the keyboard’s R key (or click Reply to sender button, which is above “SORT BY DATE” and shows a single arrow curving back toward the left).
Then type your reply.
While you type, the computer shows a copy of the message you’re replying to.
If you want to abridge that copy (so it doesn’t clutter your screen), use your mouse (except in Gmail): drag across the part you want to delete, then press the Delete key.
When you finish typing your reply, click (or tap) the Send button. (If Yahoo Mail says “Verification”, type the characters you see then click “Continue”.) The computer will send your reply, along with your abridged copy of the message you’re replying to.
Delete old messages
The list of received messages — and the list of sent messages — can become long and hard to manage. To reduce the clutter, delete any messages that no longer interest you.
To delete a message you received (or a copy of a message you sent), make the message’s name appear in the list pane, then do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap the name (so it turns blue) then “Delete” (at the screen’s top-right corner).
Windows Live Mail Click the name so it turns blue. Then press the Delete key.
Yahoo Mail Click the name so it turns blue. Then press the Delete key.
Gmail Click the box that’s left of the name, so you see a check mark. Then click the trash can.
That tells the computer you want to delete the message. The
computer moves the message into a Trash folder
(which Windows Live Mail calls the Deleted items folder). It resembles the
Windows Recycle Bin.
To find out what’s in that folder, do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap “More” (which is in the left pane) then “Trash”.
Windows Live Mail Click “Deleted items”.
Yahoo Mail Click “Trash”.
Gmail If you don’t see “Trash” yet, make it appear by clicking “More”. Click “Trash”.
You’ll see what’s in that folder: a list of the messages you said to delete.
Are you sure you want to delete all those messages?
If you change your mind, here’s how to keep one of those messages:
Windows 10 Mail In the list pane, right-click the message’s name. Tap “Move”. Tap where you want the message moved (“Inbox” or “Sent Mail”).
Windows Live Mail In the list pane, click the message’s name then “Move to”. You see the Move window. In that window, double-click where you want the message moved (“Inbox” or “Sent items”).
Yahoo Mail Find the message’s name (in the list pane) and drag that name to where you want the message moved (the left pane’s Inbox or “Sent”).
Gmail In the list pane, click the message’s name then the “Move to” button (which looks like a black file folder). You see a menu under the “Move to” button. In that menu, click “Inbox”.
When you’re sure you want to eliminate all messages in the Trash folder, do this:
Windows Mail 10 While you’re looking at the list of messages in the Trash, tap the first message’s name. Hold down the keyboard’s Delete key, until all the Trash messages disappear.
Windows Live Mail Right-click “Deleted items” (using the mouse’s right-hand button). Click “Empty ‘Deleted items’ folder” then “Yes”.
Yahoo Mail Click the trash can that’s next to “Trash”. Click “OK”.
Gmail While you’re looking at the list of messages in the Trash, click “Empty Trash now”. Click “OK”.
Handle the Junk Email folder (or Spam folder) the same way as the Trash Items folder.
Signature
While you’re writing an email message, you can add a few lines at the bottom, to identify who you are. Those lines are called your signature (or sig).
For example, your sig can include your full name, address, and phone number. You can mention your office’s address & phone number, but be cautious about revealing your home address & phone number, since email messages are often viewed by strangers.
If you’re employed, you might also wish to give your company’s name, your title, and a disclaimer, such as “The opinions I expressed aren’t necessarily my employer’s.” You might also wish to reveal your personality, by including your favorite saying (such as “Be creative” or “May the Lord bless you” or “Turned on by Twinkies”). But keep your sig short: any sig containing more than 7 lines of text is considered an impolite waste of your reader’s time.
Don’t bother putting your email address in your sig, since your email address appears automatically at the top of your message.
Here’s how to put the same sig on all your email messages easily. For Windows 10 Mail, do this:
Tap the gear (which is at the left pane’s bottom).
Look at the screen’s right edge. If you see “Signature”, tap it; otherwise, tap “Options”.
Below “Use an email signature” you see “On” or “Off”. If you want a signature, make sure that says “On”. (If it says “Off”, tap the “Off” to make it become “On”.)
Windows 10 Mail normally makes the signature be “Sent from Mail for Windows 10”. That signature is in the big white box below that “On”. To change that signature, tap it then edit it.
When you finish editing, make the screen return to normal by tapping the gear again.
For Windows Live Mail, do this:
Click the Windows Live Mail button (which is left of “Home” and has a down-arrow) then “Options” then “Mail” then “Signatures” then “New”.
Press Enter (so your sig’s top line will be blank). Then type whatever words and numbers you want to be in your sig; press the Enter key at the end of each line.
Click “Add signatures to all outgoing messages”. Click “OK”. Then the computer will automatically put that sig at the bottom of each new message you write.
For Yahoo Mail, do this:
Click the Yahoo Options button, which is a gear (bumpy circle) next to your name (near the screen’s top-right corner). Click “Mail Options” then “Signature” (which is at the screen’s left edge) then the down-arrow then “Show a rich text signature”. Click in the white box below “Sans Serif 1”.
Then type whatever words and numbers and numbers you want to be in your sig. Press Enter at the end of each line.
Click “Save”. Then the computer will automatically put that sig at the bottom of each new message you write.
Click “INBOX” (which is at the screen’s left edge).
For Gmail, do this:
At the screen’s left edge, find the word “Gmail”. To the far right of “Gmail”, at the screen’s right edge, find Gmail’s Settings button, which is a gear (bumpy circle). Click it then click the word “Settings”.
Scroll down until you see “Signature”. Click in the white box under “No signature”.
Then type whatever words and numbers and numbers you want to be in your sig. Press Enter at the end of each line.
Click the “Save Changes” button (which you’ll see when you scroll down). Then the computer will automatically put that sig at the bottom of each new message you write.
While you edit a message, edit its sig! Customize its sig to match the rest of the message.
Finish
When you finish using email, do this:
Windows 10 Mail, Windows Live Mail Close the window (by clicking the X at the screen’s top-right corner).
Yahoo Mail Click your name (near the screen’s top-right corner) then “Sign Out”.
Gmail Click your name (near the screen’s top-right corner) then “Sign out”.
Attachments
An email message can have a file attached to it.
Send a file attachment
While you’re writing a message, here’s how to insert a file (such as a picture you drew in Paint, or a document composed in WordPad or Microsoft Word).
Click the Attach button, by doing this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap “Insert” (which is at the message pane’s top) then “Attach”.
Windows Live Mail Click the button that says “Attach file” and looks like a paper clip.
Yahoo Mail, Gmail Click the button that looks like a paper clip.
Which file do you want to insert? Make its icon appear on the screen. If its icon is not on the screen because the computer is showing a different folder, do this:
Windows 10 Mail Tap the folder that the file is in.
Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail At the screen’s left edge, you see a list of folders. (To see the whole list, scroll it up or down). Click or double-click the folder that the file is in.
When the file’s icon is finally on the screen, double-click the file’s icon.
Near the message you were writing, you can see your file’s name.
Windows 10 Mail The file’s name is below the word “Attachments” (which is below the Subject box).
Windows Live Mail The file’s name is next to the paper clip, below the Subject box.
Yahoo Mail Click the “„” below the paper clip. Then you see the file’s name.
Gmail The file’s name is below the message.
Make sure the message and the file’s name are correct.
Then click (or tap) the Send button. That makes the computer send the message and attached file.
Receive a file attachment
If a friend sends you a message that includes an attached file, here’s what happens:
Windows 10 Mail While you’re reading the message (in the message pane), tap the attachment’s name (which is in a gray box).
Windows Live Mail While you’re reading the message (in the message pane), click the attachment’s name. (The name is near the pane’s top-left corner, below the paper clip.)
Yahoo Mail While you’re reading the message (in the message pane), click the attachment’s name. (The name is at the pane’s top, next to a paper clip. The name is blue.) Click “Download Attachment”.
Gmail While you’re reading the message, click “Download” (which is below the message).
If the computer asks “Do you want to open or save this file?”, click “Open”. (If the computer instead asks “What would you like to do with this file?”, click “Open it” then “OK”.)
If the computer says “A website wants to open web content”, click “Allow”.
The computer will try to show you the pictures and words that are in the attached file, by running the program that created the file. For example, if the file is a picture created by Paint, the computer will try to run Paint; if the file is a document created by Microsoft Word, the computer will try to run Microsoft Word. (If the file was created by software that your computer doesn’t own and your computer doesn’t know how to handle the file, your computer will gripe by saying “Open With”.)
When you finish looking at the pictures and words that are in the attached file, close whatever program showed it (such as Paint or Windows Photo Gallery or Microsoft Word), such as by clicking that program’s X button. You’ll return to seeing your email program’s screen.
Multiple people
An email message can be sent to many people. Here’s how.…
Multiple addresses
If you want to send a message to several people, do this:
Windows 10 Mail Press the Enter key between their addresses.
Windows Live Mail Put semicolons between their addresses. For example, if you want to send a message to the President of the United States (whose address is President@WhiteHouse.gov) and also to me (Russ@SecretFun.com), address the mail to:
President@WhiteHouse.gov; Russ@SecretFun.com
The space after the semicolon is optional. If you accidentally type a comma instead of a semicolon, the computer will eventually turn the comma into a semicolon for you.
Yahoo Mail & Gmail Put spaces between their addresses. For example, if you want to send a message to the President of the United States (whose address is President@WhiteHouse.gov) and also to me (Russ@SecretFun.com), address the mail to:
President@WhiteHouse.gov Russ@SecretFun.com
That little list of addresses is called the mailing list.
Carbon copies
Here’s how to send a message mainly to the President of the United States but also send me a copy:
In the main address box (called “To”), type the address of the main person you want to send the letter to (which is President@WhiteHouse.gov).
In a box marked “Cc” (which stands for “Carbon copy”), type the address of the person you want to send a secret copy to (which is Russ@SecretFun.com). Here’s how to make that box appear:
Windows 10 Mail Tap “Cc & Bcc”.
Windows Live Mail Click “Show Cc & Bcc”.
Yahoo Mail Click the “CC” button.
Gmail Click “Cc”.
Here’s how to send a message mainly to the President of the United States but also send me a copy, and make the copy be secret, so the President of the United States doesn’t know the copy was sent to me:
In the main address box (called “To”), type the address of the main person you want to send the letter to (which is President@WhiteHouse.gov).
Make sure you see a Bcc box. (“Bcc” stands for “Blind carbon copy”.) If you don’t see a Bcc box yet, create it by doing this
Windows 10 Mail Tap “Cc & Bcc”.
Windows Live Mail Click “Show Cc & Bcc”.
Yahoo Mail Click the “BCC” button.
Gmail Click “Bcc”.
In the Bcc box, write the address of the person you want to send a secret copy to (which is Russ@SecretFun.com).
Replies
While you’re reading a message you received, here’s how to send a reply: click either “Reply” or “Reply All”.
If you click “Reply”, your reply will be sent to just the person who sent you the message. (Yahoo Mail permits this shortcut: instead of clicking “Reply”, you can just tap the keyboard’s R key.)
If instead you say “Reply All”, your reply will be sent to the person who sent you the message and also to everybody else on that person’s mailing list. Here’s how to say “Reply All”:
Windows 10 Mail, Windows Live Mail Click “Reply all”.
Yahoo Mail Press the keyboard’s A key (or click the Reply to all button, which shows a pair of arrows curving back toward the left).
Gmail Click “Reply to all”.
For example, if Bob sends a message addressed to a list of three people (you, Sue, and Jill) and you want to reply, click either “Reply” (which will send your reply just to Bob) or “Reply All” (which will send your reply to Bob and also to the other people on Bob’s mailing list: Sue and Jill).
Type your reply, such as “Thanks for your email; you made me
laugh” or “I love what you wrote and want to marry you” or
“I think you’re nuts and should be locked up”.
While you type, the computer shows a copy of the message you’re replying to. If you want to abridge that copy (so it doesn’t clutter your screen), use your mouse (except in Gmail): drag across the part you want to delete, then press the Delete key.
Click the Send button. The computer will send what you typed, along with a copy of the undeleted part of the message you’re replying to.
Forward
While you’re reading a message you received, here’s how to send a copy of it to a friend.
Windows 10 Mail, Live Mail, Gmail Click “Forward”.
Yahoo Mail Press the keyboard’s F key (or click the Forward button, which shows an arrow pointing to the right).
Type your friend’s email address.
Press the Tab key several times, until you’re in the big white box where you can type a message. Type a comment to your friend, such as “Here’s a joke Mary sent me.” Below your typing, the computer automatically shows a copy of the message you’re forwarding.
Click (or tap) the Send button.