Tech Talk: E-mail Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Tech Talk: E-mail Quiz
Image: Paul Fleet, iStockphoto

About This Quiz

Whether you keep it short and sweet or you're a spam champion, you've no doubt used e-mail. But how much do you really know about it? Take our quiz to find out!
When was the first e-mail message sent?
1971
1984
1990
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An engineer named Ray Tomlinson sent the first e-mail message in 1971. The message had nothing to do with Nigerian banks or home equity loans.

What's the name for the program or service that lets you view e-mail messages?
Web browser
the Tardis
E-mail clients
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

E-mail clients are applications that let you send, receive and view e-mails. Some are desktop applications like Microsoft Outlook. Others, like Gmail, are Web-based services.

What is a port?
It's what you take in a storm.
It's the protocol e-mail messages have to follow to travel over the Internet.
It's a data connection that allows information transfer to and from a specific server process.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Ports are data connections designated by a specific number. In order to access a specific process on a server, you have to contact the correct port on that server.

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What does the SMTP in an SMTP server stand for?
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Server Message Test Phase
Short Messaging Text Process
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A Simple Mail Transfer Protocol server handles outgoing e-mail messages.

What two kinds of servers handle incoming e-mail messages?
Web and FTP servers
POP3 and IMAP servers
SQL and AVG servers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A POP3 or an IMAP server handles all incoming e-mail messages.

To which port does the SMTP server listen in order to accept incoming messages?
Port 15
Port 25
Port 110
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An SMTP server monitors port 25 for outgoing e-mail messages.

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What is the name of the program that allowed early e-mail users to convert attachments into strings of text?
Uuencode
Codex
Compiler
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Because e-mail messages can only include text information, attachments must be converted into text. Before automation, e-mail users had to do this by hand with the uuencode program.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, what percentage of U.S. Internet users have used e-mail?
75
89
91
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A 2007 study said that 91 percent of all U.S. Internet users had logged onto the Internet to send or read e-mail.

What does IMAP stand for?
International Messaging Acceptance Protocol
Internet Mail Access Protocol
Internet Message Activity Plan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) allows you to read your e-mail even though the messages themselves remain on the mail server.

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Which of the following is considered to be poor e-mail etiquette?
Keeping the message personal
Responding to messages as soon as possible
Using lots of capital letters to emphasize certain words
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Using LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERS IS A BAD IDEA. That's because it seems like you're shouting at the message's recipient, and very few people enjoy being yelled at.

You Got:
/10
Paul Fleet, iStockphoto