I thought I'd better post this before I forget... I got an odd little email a few minutes ago.

Seems that my old friend "Karo" (and I'm omitting the last name that was provided) wanted to get back in touch with me via a network called "Where Are You Now?". I would have to join their network in order to read the message.

There are a couple of things wrong with this picture. First, I don't know anyone whose first name is Karo, nor whose last name is the name in this little email.

Second, if this old friend actually was able to provide my email address to the network, why didn't the person just EMAIL ME in order to reconnect? You know, cut out the middleman and all that sort of thing.

My mental "Something is amiss here" alarm was ringing. I decided to google the name of this "where are you now" network. Sure enough, I found a bunch of discussion forums where people complained about this network. It seems that if you join them, they magically email everyone in your address book telling them you have invited them to join up. This, of course, is something that you'll only discover if/when/after your friends start asking you what's up with the invite you sent them.

I didn't join the network, and therefore no one on my mailing list will be getting spammed by them. Or, at least, they won't be getting a spam because of their presence on my mailing list.

But if you do get an unexpected note, remember what I said. Be careful of what you join from unsolicited invitations.

And Karo, if you're out there... if that's an online pseudonym and I'm not recognizing it, sorry for having a brain-lock moment. I'm lucky I remember my own name some days. But apparently, this network got my email addy from your address list, so feel free to email me directly if you actually did want to get in touch. :o)