Spring Cleaning #29 - Spam, Phish and Cookies...Yum

How often do you defrag? No, this is not a Cosmo question. Defragmentation, in computer lingo, is a process that eliminates fragmentation in a file system, which occurs when there's not enough space for the system to store the entire file in one space so the pieces are stored separately. Defragmenting helps by physically moving (compacting) the pieces closer, thereby freeing more space. I think. Anyway, I do know that if you "defrag" your hard drive on a regular schedule of maintenance, things run smoother and more efficiently...and faster. At home, I defrag regularly, but don't pass that around. I also run a weekly Virus Scan and use a little program called CC Cleaner (Crap Cleaner...I kid you not) which is like getting a colon cleansing for your computer. Gets rid of old temporary files, cookies, empties my recycle bin and history urls. THEN, I run an anti-spyware progam called Ad-Aware to catch companies attempting to "phish" or illegally gain info about me by pretending to be someone I know. All three programs are free, not shareware although you can upgrade to a fancier model, which I'm sure provides more in-depth protection. All of this is to keep my e-mail clean and free of junk and to keep others from spying on me...and sending me junk.

At work, it's common sense to keep e-mail, what is essentially a common workspace, clean and clutter-free. I don't always delete as often as I should (but to be fair, if you read my profile I do admit to being a packrat) but I will endeavor to streamline in the future. I don't have a personal workstation so e-mail is about the only area I can claim responsibility for. I know that "personal e-mail" really applies to your work persona and not to your private home entity who receives tacky jokes and pictures of LOLcats or your friend's daughter's prom pictures. Makes sense to me. Although when I worked for the school system (won't say which, but whose name sounds a lot like the library branch where I work) we regularly received pictures of the superintendent's grandchildren through our school mail. Hmmm. I guess the lines are still blurry to even those who should be in the know.