DATA BASES OF E-MAIL ADDRESSES There are several sites on the Internet World Wide Web that contain searchable databases of e-mail addresses. Basically, you type in the name you are looking for (or partial name) and it spits back a list of matches and their addresses. How do these sites get the names for their databases? I'm not too sure, but I think they get many of them by reading messages left in news groups. Perhaps they get some from Listserv mailing lists, too. Also, users can register their names with the particular site. Naturally, the first thing you do when you find these address sites is to look up own name, (Are we egotistical or what?) Four 11 was the first one I ever found my name in. I wasn't a registered name, so I can only assume they scan news groups for addresses, Adding to this belief, not only did they have my Internet address, but they had my very old (and no longer usable) FidoNet address! This is a company that does homework. Once you become a registered Four 11 user, more search options are available to you. Registration is free and you can flesh out your address with more information. Four 11 gives you space to list several attributes besides your name, such as past high school, past college, organization, hobbies and interests, plus old e-mail addresses, etc. As a registered user, you can search their database using these fields to narrow your search or find other people with similar background or interests. Leery About Leaving Your Address? At first I was leery about giving away my e-mail address. Would my mailbox become filled with unsolicited junk mail? Do I want to give away so much information about myself to unknown persons? Then I thought about it; I am not harmed by the junk mail. I can choose to ignore or throw out unwanted mail. I'm usually happy to find other people with similar interests. And maybe there really is someone out there who's been trying to find me! Security and Privacy If security and privacy are a real issue, Four 11 has a nice feature, though. They will allow you to register your address with them as an unlisted number. If someone finds your name in the database, they can leave you mail and Four 11 will forward it to you. The writer never sees your address. Calling itself the Internet White Pages Directory, Four 11 is a fast and efficient way to find someone's e-mail address. The pages aren't full of unnecessary graphics so they load quickly. The data searches are very fast--I've done searches that returned over 100 matches that took only seconds to appear. With its keyword searches, wildcard matching, and "intelligent" names (matching Bob with Robert, etc.), Four 11 is a great addition to your Web Browser bookmark list. Four11 - http://www.four11.com (Editor's note: This now takes you to the Yahoo people search page, so we can only assume a takeover has occurred. Out of three other Email databases listed in this 1997 article, the only one that worked in November 2000 was WhoWhere - http://www.whowhere.com). (From Random Bits, April 1996, via Lane Count CUG newsletter, March 1997, via the Commodore Information Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html)