For God's sake! It's nearly 2003 and the Internet has been relatively mainstream for almost a decade. And yet people are still forwarding around bogus virus warnings and CC'ing e-mails to hundreds of people.

I don't always follow proper e-mail ettiquette, but I try. And I'd like to add a few of my own to this list.

Don't forward chain letters or virus warnings. All virus warnings are hoaxes. Chain letters and virus warnings and your itchy "Reply All" finger are one of the reasons why you and I receive spam. All of those e-mail addresses appear in the header, and once that header gets in the wrong hands (and it happens easier than you might think), all of our e-mail addresses are added to a list that starts receiving adds for "Hot Young Teenage Sluts". And as much as I loved hot young teenage sluts in high school, I'm not as interested in them now.

Don't fill up the CC: line with every e-mail address you have. If the only way you can afford to promote your shitty band, your shitty play, or your shitty garage sale is to mass e-mail everyone in your address book, please use the BCC: line instead. I've started receiving such e-mails from people I don't even know, and they probably got it from the last time you mass e-mailed. You wouldn't want me to publish your phone number to hundreds of people; why would you let me do the same with your e-mail address?

Honor opt-out requests. If you send me a promotional e-mail, and I tell you that I'm not interested in receiving such e-mails, I had better not receive another one, lest you get a response from me IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. You can lose your e-mail address this way, and I have ratted people out to their ISPs before.

Use descriptive subject lines. It's one thing if you are forwarding a cool link, but if you are sending an e-mail that is important and needs to be followed up on, don't neglect to include a subject or just enter "Hi!" or "What's up?" Most people get tons of e-mail every day now, and if it's something your recipient will need to come back to, he or she needs to find it readily.

If I never receive another virus hoax, I'll be happy. The rest is gravy.

I'm working on a point-by-point response to Bush's speech last night. I may not have it done until tomorrow.