Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 16, 2010
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Scam Alert: Spring Swindles
Tips & Tricks: Windows 7 Desktop Magnifier
Featured Computer Term: The Top 30 Internet Terms for Beginners: 6. HTML and XML
This Week's Topic: Minimizing Spam – Registering Online
Question: Fixing a Frozen Computer
Websites of Interest: Chocolate; National Wildlife Federation Nature Find; My Optum Health; Cost of Living Calculator
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Special Feature: Scam Alert: Spring Swindles
The following article is by Sid Kirchheimer of AARP
The new buds in your flowerbeds are Mother Nature’s sign that spring has arrived. And it’s also time for scammers to give new life to cons that go into full swing this time of year:
Door-to-door deception
When the weather turns warmer, fundraising scams by door-knocking young swindlers get hot. Often you’re told that buying a magazine subscription will help a worthy cause. Not only can these subscriptions be expensive—sometimes 300 percent more than the regular price—but the magazines may never arrive. Paying with a check or credit card can give the visiting hustler account numbers to commit more fraud on your dime.
Your defense: Unless you recognize the solicitor, be very careful about opening your door.
The tax refund ruse
Bogus e-mails purporting to be from the IRS are common during tax season. But after April 15, they often contain especially enticing bait, the promise of a fat refund if you’ll just provide your Social Security number to prove you’re you. The e-mail is usually just an attempt to get personal information for identity theft.
Or it may contain an attachment that supposedly has details of your refund. Opening the attachment unleashes dangerous malware on your computer, including keystroke loggers that can give the spammers your account numbers and passwords.
Your defense: Delete—without opening—any unsolicited e-mail from the IRS and wait for your real refund to come the authentic way, via the U.S. Postal Service or a direct deposit.
Home repair hoaxes
The scammers cruise your neighborhood’s streets, offering cut-rate deals on asphalt paving, roof work or other needed repairs that they claim to have spotted from their pickups. While the price may sound good, they often ask for upfront payment, only to vanish after claiming they are going off to buy materials. Or they suddenly jack up the cost after starting the work. If they arrive in teams, one “contractor” may divert you while another burglarizes your home.
Your defense: Keep in mind that legitimate contractors rarely go door-to-door looking for business and any requirement of upfront payment is a red flag. Beware of an out-of-state license plate, which suggests a fly-by-night scammer.
If you need work done, get recommendations from friends, neighbors or your local building inspector. Check the Better Business Bureau and your local courthouse to see if any lawsuits were filed against a contractor you are considering.
You won, now pay us. Sweepstakes swindles tend to proliferate in the spring and early summer, with an onslaught of letters and e-mail notifications that you have won some nationally known prize or even some European lottery you’ve never heard of. Problem is, you are asked to pay processing fees or expenses to receive your jackpot.
Your defense: Do not respond. In reality, you never have to pay to collect winnings from an authentic prize.
Sid Kirchheimer is the author of Scam-Proof Your Life (AARP Books/Sterling).
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Tips & Tricks: Windows 7 Desktop Magnifier
Press the Windows Key (the key with the Windows logo; usually found towards the bottom left of the keyboard) and the Plus Key to zoom in or Windows Key and the Minus Key to zoom out.
To close Magnifier, click the magnifying glass. The Magnifier window will display; click the X button.
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Featured Computer Term: The Top 30 Internet Terms for Beginners: 6. HTML and XML
Whether you are brand new to using the Internet, or you've been using it for years, there are thirty important terms that are absolutely worth learning. Join us for our ongoing series on Internet terminology, where, with the help of Paul Gil from about.com, we provide definitions and information on the Top Internet Terms for Beginners.
This Week: 6. HTML and XML
HTML and XML are the programming languages used to create webpages. Hypertext Markup Language commands your web browser to display text and graphics in orderly fashion. HTML uses commands called 'HTML tags' that look like the following:
<body></body>
<a href="www.about.com"></a>
<title></title>
XML is eXtensible Markup Language, a cousin to HTML. XML focuses on cataloging and databasing the text content of a web page. XML commands look like the following:
<entry>
<address>
<city>
Read more about HTML here
http://webdesign.about.com/od/html5/qt/what_is_html5.htm
Read more about XML here
http://webdesign.about.com/od/xml/a/xml_content.htm
In our next edition: Email
Please visit our Newsletter Archives to review the terms we’ve already covered:
http://computerkindergarten.com/30internetterms.html
Is there a computer term or phrase that you'd like to see an explanation of? Email it to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll put the term and its definition in an upcoming newsletter.
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Today's Topic: Minimizing Spam – Registering Online
In many cases, you are signing yourself up for junk mail. When you shop online, when you register at websites, anywhere you input your email address, you may be signing up for spam if the recipient or anyone who can view your address sells email addresses to spammers. You have to provide an email address when you shop though. How else can they send you the confirmation email? And there are some sites with information that you want and they demand an email address.
What can you do? Create a freebie email address just for those things. Go to yahoo.com for example, and click on mail. Follow the steps and create an account. Use this address for shopping, registering and anywhere else.
Keep your main address and give it to no one except your friends and family.
In the next edition of this newsletter: Minimizing Spam – Stop the Forwarding Fiend
Visit our Newsletter Archives for previous articles on Minimizing Spam:
Minimizing Spam - Create a New Address
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/110908.html
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Question: Fixing a Frozen Computer
My computer has frozen a couple of times. Am I doing something wrong that causes this to happen? And what should I do to fix it?
Answer:
Even if you do everything right, computers will occasionally misbehave. The most common problem is that the computer will not respond to the keyboard or mouse. Here are some steps to try to resolve the trouble:
Give the computer a couple of minutes to respond. It is possible that it may be busy doing something else in the background. If it doesn’t come back in about two or three minutes, then check for problems.
If the screen is dark, check the power. Is the electric on in your house? If yes, check that the computer is still plugged into the outlet. Also check all the other cables.
Many newer computers have suspend or stand by – this is a feature that blanks out the screen and puts the computer in a sleep mode to save electricity when it is not used for a period of time. To wake the computer up, press a key or move the mouse. On some computers, you may have to press the on button once.
If the monitor is not dark, check the cables that connect the keyboard and the mouse to the computer. Make sure that nothing is loose. If all cables are ok, and the computer still isn’t responding, read on!
Press the Escape (Esc) key a few times. In many situations that will take you back one step at a time, and you may get out of trouble that way.
If all else fails, try Alt Ctrl Del. With your left hand, press and hold down the Alt and Ctrl keys, with the right hand press and release the Del key once. If you are using Windows 98 or any later version, you will see the Close Program dialog box, which lists all the programs that are currently running. Some of these may look unfamiliar, because this list includes the ones that are running in the background.
The problem program will usually be listed on the top of the list; to the right of it, you will see a note telling you that the program is not responding. Click on it, and then click on the End Task button. The program will be closed. Unfortunately, you will usually lose any unsaved work, but there aren’t any other options.
It’s a good idea to close all other open programs and restart the computer at this point.
Sometime, although infrequently, even the Close Program dialog box will freeze. In that case the only option is to restart the computer. This is not a great thing to do and should only be done in an emergency.
If you have a restart button on your computer, use it. If you don't have a restart button, use the on button. On some computers, it may be necessary to hold down the on button for five seconds or more.
After turning the computer off, wait several minutes, and then turn the power button back on. You will probably see a message telling you about the improper shutdown, and the ScanDisk program will startup. It is a good idea to allow ScanDisk to run, so that your hard drive will be checked for possible errors.
Reminder: Save your work frequently! If you experience any of the problems above, more than likely you will lose any unsaved work in progress.
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Websites of Interest:
Chocolate
If you love chocolate, visit this site to learn about its history, how it’s grown, cooking with it, and much more.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/about.html
National Wildlife Federation Nature Find
This site makes it easy to locate nearby places for family outdoor activities.
http://www.nwf.org/naturefind/
My Optum Health
This site has a very large database of medical information, tips and guides.
http://www.myoptumhealth.com
Cost of Living Calculator
Thinking about moving? This site helps you to compare the cost of living between US cities.
http://www.bestplaces.net/COL/