E Mail Address

Drug maker Eli Lilly last week inadvertently divulged the e-mail addresses of some patients with depression, bulimia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, the Washington Post reported, quoting company executives. A June 27 e-mail message listed the addresses of more than 600 people who had signed up for an Internet service provided by Lilly to send them reminders about taking the company's Prozac medicine or attending to other matters.

At the touch of a button last Friday, the Clinton campaign accidentally sent out the personal e-mail addresses of hundreds of reporters and members of the campaign's inner circle. The addresses appeared at the top of a message intended to offer an update on a visit the first lady was planning to Manhattan. The list was then forwarded to Internet gossip Matt Drudge, who posted a report about it on his Web site Sunday.

Q: I use the e-mail program Netscape Messenger. I want to send an e-mail to everyone in one of my address books, but I don't want everyone to be listed on the e-mail. The list is extremely long, and I don't want it to seem too impersonal. Is there a way to do this, other than to send individual e-mails? A: Well, the friendly geeks here at Q&A labs are always eager to provide service that seems quite personalized.

One of the most frustrating things about life in cyberspace is the lack of a comprehensive "telephone directory" that enables you to look up somebody's e-mail address. The good news is that there are several simple techniques you can use to find somebody's address. None of them are foolproof, unfortunately, and none of them are comprehensive. But there are some things you can try.

A flaw in Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail program is inadvertently sending subscribers' e-mail addresses to online advertisers, the company confirmed Wednesday. The admission highlights a widespread Internet security problem known as "data spill." Security experts said similar problems have plagued Internet companies that make personal information available in URLs, or Web addresses.

If Americans have come to rely on the Internet to search for houses -- and last year, the National Assn. of Realtors says, 84% of all buyers did -- where should one start? The Web is awash in sites that promise to help focus a home search, with an extraordinary range of tools. We asked three firms that measure Internet traffic to list the most-visited real estate websites in the country, excluded a few that weren't relevant to our search and came up with a top 10 list of "for-sale" sites.

No More Neon: Monty's Steakhouse, the Westwood fixture set atop the Westwood Center building at 1100 Glendon Ave., has closed. Arden Realty Inc. purchased the building in early '98 with plans to renovate it completely from the outside in. Monty's had been entrenched in the penthouse since 1969 (the structure dates from '65). During its reign, its neon sign became a landmark and its dark interior saw lots of interesting events, including Snoop Doggy Dogg's acquittal party.

Welcome! You've got spam. An America Online employee accused of stealing at least 92 million e-mail addresses and selling them to a spammer for more than $100,000 was arrested Wednesday at his home in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Jason Smathers, 24, was charged with violating federal computer fraud and anti-spam laws. AOL said after his arrest that it had fired the computer engineer. Smathers' alleged accomplice, 21-year-old e-mail marketer Sean Dunaway, was arrested in Las Vegas on the same charges.

The governor of South Dakota has one. So do the governors of New York, Hawaii and Mississippi. The mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bakersfield and Hemet all have them. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has toyed with the notion of a possible run for governor in 2002, has one. But forget about putting your two cents' worth into an electronic message to Gray Davis, governor of California, cradle of the Cyber Age. He has no official e-mail address. "He wants one.

Gabriela Villegas scrolled through the online profiles, searching for a photo and description that appealed to her. She wasn't surfing for a date or networking for new friends. She was on the Kiva website, reading through stories of impoverished entrepreneurs in developing countries, trying to decide to which venture she would extend a $25 business loan. "Twenty-five dollars -- that's probably how much I spend on just one meal," said Villegas, 25, of Manchester, Conn.