In box

By DON McALLISTER

Welcome to InBox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.

Q. Robin is frustrated that Trade Me's clock isn't as accurate as the one in his machine. Several last-minute bids failed to get in before the auction ended.


A. It's termed sniping, Robin. It's your bid level, not the Trade Me clock that is at fault. Sure, it's great to get an item at well below its value, but you run the risk of being out-sniped if you don't bid high or early enough. You can fail when you haven't bid the top price that you are prepared to go to. Snipe bids are normally low and can be easily beaten with a realistic bid using Autobid (a bid screen checkbox that holds your bid to the minimum winning level, only raising it when a higher bid is submitted). Decide your maximum and Autobid to that level. If someone bids higher, the item is theirs. In an auction battle someone has to miss out.

Q. Bruce is annoyed that TelstraClear and Telecom are removing POP (post office protocol) mail retrieval services for non-paying mail users.


A.This has almost always been the policy of most internet providers because of the high running cost of mail servers, Bruce. The POP server will be their most-used machine and it's always the first to show strain in heavy use periods. Non-paying box holders contribute to the need for system upgrades, forcing internet providers to generate more income to cover costly components.

Q. Eric's Outlook 2000 seems to delete mail from a wanted source and he cannot find any filter that could be affecting it.


A. Place the sender in your rules exception list, Eric. Open Outlook/Tools/Rules Wizard. Highlight Exception List, then in the bottom box hit the blue letters Exception List. Click Add and type in the affected email address, then OK/OK. This should eliminate that address from the offending filter.



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