What is FTP and how do I use it?

If you've ever uploaded photos from your computer to a company that prints them, you have most likely used File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is a way to transfer files from one computer to another across a network. More specifically by today's standards, that network is the Internet.

This protocol typically defines these two computers as "client" and "host" or "server." Regardless of the type of computer you may be running, the computer that you occupy is the client. The computer to which you connect is the server. Not all servers support FTP. Without the proper software running on the server, you would not be able to connect to it. So, assume that the appropriate FTP server software is running if your support staff has given you the information to connect. If you have trouble connecting, contact the people supporting the server.

There are three pieces of information that are required to connect to the FTP server. They are:

· Server URL or IP address
· Username
· Password

Some FTP sites will allow you to connect anonymously. That is, without a username and password registered on that server. To connect to a server with anonymous privileges, it is proper etiquette to use your email address in the username field and no password, although any information in these fields is permissible.

There are several different FTP clients, or software applications, available for personal use. These applications often provide a free trial period via download. After the trial period has expired (typically 30 days), the software will be disabled until you purchase a valid license. You should consider purchasing an FTP client if you will be using FTP on a routine basis - it will make the process of uploading and downloading significantly smoother. Here are a few recommended applications:

· CuteFTP (www.cuteftp.com)
· WS_FTP (www.ipswitch.com)
· SmartFTP (www.smartftp.com)

If, however, you do not plan on using FTP on a routine basis, then Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer, is a sufficient substitute. To activate IE's FTP capabilities, please perform the following actions:

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
3. Click on the Advanced tab.
4. Under Browsing, check Enable folder view for FTP sites.
5. Click the OK button.

Now that Internet Explorer is properly setup, enter the provided URL (or IP address) for the FTP server in the IE's address bar in the following format: ftp:// followed by the URL or IP address. So, if the server's URL is ftp.testsite.com (or, the IP address is 127.0.0.1) then enter as follows:

ftp://ftp.testsite.com
or
ftp://127.0.0.1

Upon a connection being established with the FTP server, you will be prompted for your username and password. Enter them here and press the Log On button. You are now logged on to the FTP server! From here, simply use this window, in conjunction with Windows Explorer (open in another window), to drag and drop files (moving files to and from each computer), make folders, delete files, etc.

Happy file sharing!

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What can I do about all of this spam?!?! (Part II)

In Part I of this series on spam, we talked about how to decide which type of spam filter best suits your needs. In this installment, we're going to identify some of the filters that are at your disposal. For the purposes of this writing, we shall limit the discussion of spam filters to products developed for individual use and not server solutions.

Remember:

The only filter that is 100% effective is to not have email. Some spam will find its way to your inbox regardless of the filter software you choose. Overall effectiveness is defined by the percentage of successful "catches" versus the total number of spam messages received.

The most effective solutions are those that are backed by companies spending millions of dollars specifically on the fight against spam.

Eliminate It! The best solution for eliminating spam before it arrives in your mailbox is to have an account with an ISP that has a proactive filtering regime. AOL, Yahoo!, Earthlink and others boast about their spam filtering software. I tend to believe them. Since it is their primary selling point, there would be a mass uproar of disapproval if it were false. DSL and Cable-based ISPs (this includes RoadRunner, Comcast, Verizon, SBC, etc.) are typically a big step down in the fight against spam. Therefore, and I really hate to say this, if you dislike spam so much that you want to see as little of it as possible, then get an email account with one of the really big ISPs – they seem to be the only companies spending the millions and millions of dollars and aggressively fighting this enemy. Again, please remember these points:

The filters are very aggressive. Some messages will be falsely identified and deleted before you ever see them.

You will spend more money. These accounts hover around $20+ per month for dialup. If you want a broadband, you will pay significantly more.

Show Me the Spam! If you're like me, you can't risk losing a message before seeing it. So, while filters are necessary, it must be one that places messages identified as spam into a specified location for review. All of the products identified below follow this rule.

Cloudmark Desktop (www.cloudmark.com, $39.95 per year) is the award winning spam filtering product that stands apart from all of the others because of the method used to identify spam. Instead of utilizing a mathematical algorithm to identify spam-like properties, each individual email is compared to a central database to see if other users have reported that specific message as spam. If so, the message is placed in your spam folder. Cloudmark is the most successful spam filtering application (for my purposes) that I've ever used. Pros: Very low false positive rate - individual emails have an extremely low chance of being marked as spam because no one else can claim that they've received it! Cons: No Mac support – only Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express; bulk-type emails, like newsletters, may be blocked by other users, so be sure to "unblock" them, as necessary.

Trend Micro's PC-cillin (www.trendmicro.com, $49.95 per year) stands apart from others because it incorporates other products (e.g., anti-spyware, firewall, parental controls, and intrusion detection) into it instead of being a small product incorporated into another. Pros: Like Cloudmark's software, Trend Micro is award-winning and comes highly recommended by "the big boys"; works with lots of email products and services. Cons: Windows-based computers only.

McAfee's SpamKiller and Symantec's Norton AntiSpam (www.mcafee.com, $24.99 per year and www.symantec.com, $35.94 per year) can be purchased as a standalone product or, more intelligently, as part of a suite of products that normally include anti-virus, popup blockers, etc. These applications use the typical Bayesian (does it really matter what this means?) algorithm to rate messages on their spam qualities. A message that returns a higher quotient is identified as spam and is placed in your spam folder. Pros: As good as the others; integrated nicely with other products; automatic updates. Cons: does nothing to make it stand above or apart from other products; requires you to "train" the filter in order to increase its efficiency.

0Spam.com (free online service) can be incorporated into any POP3-based email. The big difference with 0Spam.com is that it intercepts all emails bound for your inbox – unless validated. Upon receiving a message from a *new* user, 0Spam sends an email to the sender (while keeping your identity concealed). Upon acceptance of the 0Spam terms, that user is added to your own "whitelist." Of course, you can add users or domains to the whitelist, too. Pros: Spam is drastically reduced and is held for your review. Cons: In order to review spam messages, you must login to 0Spam.com; often confusing to the recipients of 0Spam's automated response; may not appropriate for business users.

What about Mac-based products? The number of products offered is minimal. Both OS X's Mail and Microsoft Entourage offer built-in spam filtering, but I'm not that happy with the service they provide. Here are two that have similar specs to their Windows-counterparts: C-Command's SpamSieve (www.c-command.com, $25) and Bains Software's SpamSweep (www.bainsware.com, $25).

So, what's your move? Whatever it is, get used to spam. It's not going to change until the nature of email is overhauled or replaced. Need more? Visit www.mprimesystems.com/spam.

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