email

E-mailed malware disguised as group coupon offers on the rise

Be sure to double check that Groupon you received in your e-mail -- spammers are using the popularity of e-mailed advertisements for group discount deals to send more malware.

The rise of malware through fake e-mail advertisements and notifications are on the rise, according to a study released today by security firm Kaspersky Lab.

"They are primarily doing so by sending out malicious e-mails designed to look like official notifications. Kaspersky Lab is seeing more and more malicious spam designed to look like coupon service notifications," the report said.

The firm said it also noted these coupon spam … Read more

Petraeus reportedly used draft e-mails to converse with mistress

In an effort to cover a trail of messages between him and his mistress, former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus reportedly used a tactic favored by terrorists and teenagers -- communicating via draft e-mail.

Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, the co-author of Petraeus' biography and the woman he was having an affair with, set up private Gmail accounts in order to communicate, the Associated Press reported today. In addition to creating the e-mails under false identities, Petraeus and Broadwell decided to exchange some messages using the draft function, as an added precaution.

Instead of actually e-mailing each other, they would compose … Read more

Create and uncompress several archive file types

StuffIt Expander is a file compression and expansion utility that can handle a number of different file archive formats. It's a free app available from the App Store and several other Web sites, and it installs quickly.

StuffIt Expander supports a number of file formats, including ZIP, ZIPX, 7ZX, RAR, and TAR. The StuffIt Expander interface is clean, allowing you to create archives by the usual drag-and-drop method or by menu actions. Clicking on an archive file can unpack that archive. You can add password protection to your ZIP files. There is a registration nag that appears with StuffIt … Read more

Gmail rolls out new pop-out window for composing emails

Google is previewing new Gmail features, including a pop-out email-composition box rolling out today.

The new pop out box works like a chat box -- you can write more than one email at a time and minimize a message box if you want to finish the email later, according to a blog post by product manager Phil Sharp.

"How many times have you been writing an email and had to reference something in another message? Saving a draft, opening the old email, and then reopening your draft wastes valuable minutes. The new compose pops up in a window, just … Read more

AOL's twist on e-mail: You've got stacks

Thursday's CNET Update is checking your away message:

Just when you've given up all hope of having an organized inbox, along comes AOL with a new e-mail client called Alto. Today's tech news roundup looks at how Alto manages multiple accounts and sorts messages into stacks. The service is in beta test now (so you have to sign up for an invite to try it), but it could be open to everyone by February.

In other news, Yelp is cracking down on companies that pay for reviews. If Yelp sees that a business is trying to inflate … Read more

Pigs fly: AOL's new e-mail client makes inboxes a happy place

It's probably the last company you'd expect to make using e-mail a better experience, but with its all-new e-mail client Alto, AOL is setting out to make your inbox a more organized and happier place than it's ever been.

Alto, which launches into a private beta this morning, is a client that works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, and .Mac mail accounts. It's designed with the idea that since 95 percent of the general population doesn't use folders, many people are suffering from "inbox fatigue" as hundreds or thousands of messages flood … Read more

Pinterest rolls out user blocking, flagging, and reporting

Despite Pinterest's clean image, some smut does work its way onto the site -- and now the company is doing something about it.

The social network announced today that it's rolling out a new feature that lets users report and block questionable activity. People will be able to block other users, flag certain pins, or report an entire user profile for review.

Here's more from a blog post by Pinterest software engineer Dannie Chu:

Blocking prevents both of you from being able to follow each other's boards as well as like, repin, and comment on each … Read more

India is world leader in spam output

India has surpassed the U.S. and taken the lead as the greatest spam-sending country in the world. One out of every six junk messages that litter users' e-mail inboxes are coming from India, according to a new report from SophosLabs.

The security vendor's third-quarter "Dirty Dozen" report of spam-relaying countries found that India upped its percentage of global spam for the third quarter in a row and now accounts for more than 16 percent of all junk e-mails.

What is important to note, however, is that this spam doesn't necessarily come directly from India's … Read more

How to set multiple e-mail signatures on iOS 6

Multiple e-mail signatures, a feature that should have been in iOS from day one, has finally been added to the operating system with the iOS 6 update.

Before iOS 6, users would have to set one generic signature and then add any extra information as they were sending the e-mail. Not anymore.

To set up your e-mail signatures, launch the Settings app and then select Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Scroll down until you find the Signature option and tap on it. You'll be presented with the option to set one e-mail address for all accounts, or to set a signature … Read more