Modern computers allow you to set preferences for your incoming E-mail so that you are not overwhelmed with junk mail. Nevertheless, you probably do get a number of offers for various products and services that are of no interest to you.

Many internet providers also offer a service that isolates junk or spam so that it does not come into your everyday inbox. Spammers typically send out thousands of advertising emails without regard to who might be a potential customer. They hope that sheer volume will find them several customers. How do you know if your screening functions are working as they should?

Here is one test: If you regularly get images like this in your email, you know you are getting spam.

Sometimes the language in these spam E-mails can be embarrassingly salty.

If so, you want to make sure that you only open messages that display the low-sodium designation on the label. Set your preferences to low-sodium, and low-fat. Don't be suckered by the idea that low sodium is all OK, it is not necessarily also low fat. Even with both disclaimers it may not be high nutrition. Carefully read the nutrition label on each spam message you receive. Some even have preservatives and stabilizers.

Some of the spam you get will be from dating services offering hook-ups. They especially like to target singles. They assume you are young, needy and looking for quick and easy satisfaction.

If you are single, you may not want to indicate the fact on any of your personal profiles. If you do, you are likely to get spam that is specifically aimed at singles. The word "lite" which isn't even a real word, is particularly misleading.

This can be particularly blatant, and even foil-packaged.

On the other hand, If you get insulting spam, there should be something you can do about it. It is never recommended to answer directly to spam emails even if they call you insulting names. If you get epithets that refer to you as a birdbrain, don't take it personally. These messages are going to thousands of people as well as a few birds.

Remember, they are only trying to incite responses which may contain viruses, or at least bad nutrition.

Sometimes the things that are caught in your junk filter are not really spam, although they may ALMOST sound like spam.

Filters are impersonal, they key in on certain words and don't care if the message is really from a personal friend who wants to give you something yummy.

Check over your spam mail before deleting it. You may feel a little greasy after going through all of it, but if you don't check, you can easily miss things like clams, lamb or even jam. These may be things you DO want.

Never turn down free clams. . . or homemade jam.

If you have your settings and preferences properly adjusted you shouldbsee this image whenever spam attempts to come through the barriers you have set up.

This image, or the circle/slash symbol, assures that the spam has been blocked and will not harm your computer or your nutritional plan.

When I was a little girl, Spam was an occasional main dish. My mom would slide it out of the can ,cover it with yellow mustard, stick a few cloves into it and pretend it was a teeny little ham that was baked in the oven.

We actually thought it was pretty good-- except that she usually served it with canned green lima beans , which was my least favorite thing in the whole world. Of course this was long before anyone had computers. We didn't know it was undesirable and avoidable and would eventually clog up our E-mail or our arteries.