"Is it too cold to ski home?" "I don't wanna scrape my car off again! That'd be the fourth time today." I recently heard these quotes from two different people within one minute of each other.

Back in the 1980s, I remember an epic snowstorm that blanketed our house. "Blanketed", while embarrassingly overused to describe snowfall, is still appropriate: I have vague memories of watching my dad dig us to freedom. I also remember being overjoyed that school was closed, and praying for more of these convenient storms.

Since it looks like my prayers were answered, I'd like to take responsibility and apologize for January 21st. I didn't realize what a mistake I made in praying for returning snowstorms: In West Michigan, the snowfall was beyond blanketed: We had a wool comforter.

Like my snowstorm fiasco, people make mistakes. Some of those mistakes affect others. Sometimes the effect "snowballs" (pun fully intended), and small decisions have huge results.

Take the case of spam mail. Spam isn't relegated only to viagra ads or "You've WON our JACKPOT!" notices. Spam is defined as unsolicited email, anything you didn't ask for.

From promises of free prizes from Generic Company Inc. to religious or monetary blessings, the chain letter is an old concept. Today's difference? Sending an email is so easy, it’s hard to foresee potentially bad results.

Requests for money

These can something heart-wrenching, like "please send money to this cancer-stricken child for a life-saving operation". Be wary. Verify the source with a quick Google search. The nature of the Internet makes it perfect for scam artists, and they're not below doing morally ugly things to make a buck. In addition, most of the "make money fast" emails are illegal.

"Pass this on for good luck."

Computer bits flying over the Internet arguably have zero affect on your personal well-being or universal karma. Or can they? Imagine you send off a letter to five friends. Say your friends send the message to five of their friends. Let's assume this chain continues a total of ten times. Sounds reasonable. Well, take a sip of water, because now is a perfect time for a spit-take: You've just triggered about 10 million emails. Any karma you get from sending the email is quickly demolished. This translates into higher costs for your Internet service, not to mention one person’s feel-good letter is 10 million others' spam.

If you want to be politically active, we can even fight back. Forward any spam you get to uce@ftc.gov - while spam legislation is embarrassingly absent, the FTC does what it can to combat the illegal schemes. In addition to Google, use these sites that search and catalog known hoaxes and schemes: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org, http://www.scambusters.org

At the very least, be polite: It's a good idea to get the facts before you send a potential hoax or illegal letter out to 10 million friends. And if you really want to do something about your karma, I've heard that some of the old standards work well: Be nice to others, and don't complain too much about the weather. The people responsible for the snow are very sorry.