BarTalk October 2003
Volume 15, Number 5

Online Moderators

by Patricia Jordan

Your Section Message Board needs you
We need Moderators! In the August web column we announced that Message Boards are available online for all CBABC Sections and in the Lawyer Lounge. CBABC seeks a member from each Section to act as a Message Board moderator. As a moderator you will add or change topics of discussion, oversee and organize content, and ensure the virtual meeting space is useful and welcoming to all members. To volunteer as a moderator for your Section, please contact Patricia Jordan at 604-646-7861 or e-mail webmaster@bccba.org.

New Services Online

• Child Care Information Project: the Child Care Committee has identified various child care resources that may be of assistance to lawyers with (or planning) families. Resources include information about and links to various kinds of child care, adoption information, parenting resources, and work/life balance. The committee intends to incorporate a parenting bulletin board. For more information visit the Member Products & Services area and select Child Care Information Project. The committee welcomes your comments and suggestions. If you have a question or would like to contribute in ormation or resources, e-mail worklifebalance@bccba.org.
• CBABC Member Services e-mail list. Look in the “Member Products & Services” area for more information.

CBABC Web Facts

• Since July 2003, public visitors to the Web site downloaded the brochure Lawyers & Clients: When you see a lawyer about separation & divorce more than 1,200 times.
• Since last January public visitors to www.cba.org/bc have downloaded Dial-A-Law documents more than 24,000 times, a 200 per cent increase over 2002.

Documents in the Library

• Media Relations Tips and Tricks
  
• Maps for B.C. Land Title Districts, Court Bailiff Areas and Court Locations

Ask the Webmaster
How can I stop spam?
That is a difficult question to answer; spammers are becoming more inventive in how they distribute spam. As most filtering/blocking software checks for valid domain names, spammers must conceal their identity to avoid those filters. The easiest way for spammers to avoid filters is to use valid e-mail addresses contained in a spam list. These forgeries use the visible address and server of origin address. Spamnix for Eudora, SpamAssassin Pro, McAfee SpamKiller 4.0 and Qurb are popular filtering/blocking software. For more information visit www.cnet.com, keyword search “spam.”

Tips To Avoid Spam

• Use spam filtering/blocking software;
• Simply delete spam e-mails. Do not click “unsubscribe” as that confirms your e-mail address to spammers;
• Do not submit personal information to non-secure Web sites;
• Do not send e-mail addresses through chat rooms, instant message services or Internet bulletin boards and newsgroups;
• Use a free e-mail address instead of your primary e-mail address for online registration on e-commerce Web sites; and
• Delete chain e-mail: it is considered spam because it is unsolicited, intrusive and clogs e-mail servers.

Did you know?
An estimated 14.5 billion spam e-mail messages are sent daily. By the year 2007, daily spam will increase to 57.6 billion messages. (Source: Radicati Group)

Patricia Jordan is the CBABC Manager, Interactive Media. She welcomes your comments, questions, and suggestions. If you have a question about site content, or would like something added to the site, contact her at pjordan@bccba.org or call 604-646-7861.

This article was published in the October 2003 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.