Challenged in Chattanooga

Dear Challenged, Oh my, yes. Let's suppose that you sent this question to me via e-mail. I take the time to compose a thoughtful response, send it, and almost immediately receive an automated reply demanding that I verify my identity by visiting a Web page and entering a password before my message is delivered to your inbox. Even the most forbearing person could be forgiven for doing nothing more than tossing that automated demand into the trash. This, I suspect, is what's happening to you.

C-Command's $30 () is an immensely capable spam utility that lets you take responsibility for your own spam issues rather than foisting that responsibility on people you hope to correspond with. But if you'd rather keep your challenge-response system, at least have the courtesy to add the e-mail addresses of known correspondents to your whitelist (a list of accepted recipients who won't be subjected to a challenge) before sending a message to one of them. Ask your ISP how to do this.

Dear Mac Manners,

My e-mail client allows me to flag messages by importance (High, Normal, and Low). I've been reluctant to use this feature as, at one extreme, I don't want to alarm people and, on the other, don't want to dissuade them from reading my message. What's the proper use of these flags?