Mmmm…meat.  But meat on a vegetarian blog…what’s going on?  No Hunni did not take over the kitchen.  The SPAM and bacn I’m talking about are far from breakfast fare, or even food.  They aren’t on your table…they are invading your inbox.

SPAM is junk.  I hated SPAM as food but I hate it more in my inbox.  The emails I didn’t ask for and most certainly don’t want.  Deals on “special” pill, the 1,000,000 pound inheritance if I just give my personal info, and pictures that burn into your eyes forever.

Most email providers have a good spam filter to prevent the obvious junk from sneaking through.  And many adjust what is marked as spam based on your settings and actions.

Be careful because some poor emails are trapped as spam and you may miss something important.  I skim the contents of my spam folder twice a month and dump the junk…same for blog comments.

For those pesky buggers that sneak through the “Mark as Spam” is your new friend.  Ear marking these emails as spam tells the service provider the sender or their ISP is bogus.  It’s no guarantee you won’t see similar spam but it cuts down on the junk.

But what is Bacn?

…not No More Bacon, or bacon birthday cake or a gateway meat.

Bacn is the new techy term for spammy-style emails you invite into your email.  I’m sure the term will be added to Webster’s any day now…they added mouse potato, for Pete’s sake.

Bacn refers to emails your receive from companies, newsletters, etc. you opt into knowingly or not.  Bought something online…most likely you also signed you up for deals and newsletter.  Liked a Facebook page for a band or even clicked like on the brands website…you signed up.  Commented on a blog or news article…you invited them to email you.  Some people think you can never have too much bacon but BAC’N is annoying.

Take a few steps to lower your email cholesterol.

1. When making a purchase online, only check the boxes you need to complete the transaction.  Why agree to future deals if you probably don’t want them.  And give a quick glance to see if you need to uncheck the boxes for such deals. [I uncheck everything and only recheck what I need.]  Can’t fault the company…They are just trying to be helpful.
2. If you are liking a product, Facebook page, or registering for something to get a good deal or enter a blog giveaway, USE A SEPARATE EMAIL ADDRESS!  Yes that needs all caps.  We all want deals but unsubscribing from things later is a pain.
3. Electronic receipts invite spam. Apple and Old Navy are notorious for this phenomenon.  Email receipts are very green but automatically sign you up for their newsletters and deals.  If you don’t need a receipt for returns decline one, if you do  ask for a paper copy or be prepared to unsubscribe.
4. Unsubscribe periodically.  Some bacn appears despite your best efforts and you have to do something about it.  Take 5 or 10 minutes to click the unsubscribe button on emails you don’t want instead of just deleting.  They’ll just come back.  SPAM regenerates. It is annoying at first but receiving the same emails over and over is more annoying.
5. Re-evaluate what is bacn.  At one point you enjoyed the deals from your favorite retailer or the subscription to a blog.  But now you delete without opening or barely skim the contents.  It the email is wasting your time and space in the inbox, unsubscribe. You can always re-subscribe if you change your mind.

How about checking out :

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