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WHAT'S THE MAGIC WORD?

by Hazed

Your mother may have told you the magic word was "please", and in polite conversation that is probably true. But in the world of email, the magic word is "Fed2".

That's because it is the search term used by my mail filters to separate genuine emails from all the crud I get sent by spammers. I get around one thousand emails a day - yes, one thousand! - and to save me having to examine each one to figure out if it is spam or not, I instruct my mail program to make some attempt to sort it out for me.

First, it uses spam filters to identify the obvious spam: the emails touting pills or treatments, fake degrees, sure-fire stocks, perfect jobs or gorgeous girls.

Then it uses filters I have set up to identify emails that I definitely want to read - things from named email addresses or about specific subjects. And the most important of those filters is the one that looks for "Fed2" in the subject line. If it finds it, it puts the mail into the folder where I will read it.

So, when you send email to feedback or to me directly, please remember to put "Fed2" in the subject line, otherwise there is no guarantee I will see it.

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