Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 23, 2010
To observe the unofficial Beginning of Summer, we will not be publishing this newsletter next week. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Spam Text Messages; Did I Win Money?; Work at Home Scams
Tips & Tricks: Temporary Email Address
Featured Computer Term: The Top 30 Internet Terms for Beginners: 7. Email
This Week's Topic: Minimizing Spam – Stop the Forwarding Fiend
Tips & Tricks: Windows 7
Tips & Tricks: Windows Vista Flip
Websites of Interest: Memorial Day; Professor Kite and the Secret of Kites; Anatomy Videos; Food Essentials
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Special Feature: Spam Text Messages; Did I Win Money?; Work at Home Scams
Audri Lanford of scambusters.org answers our readers’ questions
http://www.scambusters.org/
Spam Text Messages
Question: I get junk text messages on my cell phone, which I have to pay for because I do not have a text plan. Can I do anything about this?
Answer:
Yes, fortunately, there are some things you can do. Phone spam is easier to deal with than email spam.
Now, although it is illegal to send solicitations to cell phones, with an estimated 200 million cell phones in the United States alone, that is a victim pool too rich for scammers to avoid. So, you do need to protect yourself.
First, do not respond to texts you receive on your cell phone based on the belief that they are coming from someone you know. They often do come from scammers. So, simply do not reply.
In fact, sometimes by responding, you are agreeing for a product or service that you do not want -- and you may be inadvertently agreeing to a relationship with the spammer, which means they can then continue to spam you.
That is because the CAN-SPAM act does not cover "transactional or relationship" messages -- basically notices that you've already agreed to receive. And if you've previously responded to a text message, sometimes you've created this relationship so that CAN-SPAM no longer applies.
Second, guard your cell phone number. Never give it out, especially on websites offering freebies, like supposedly "free" ringtone downloads. These sites often harvest cell phone numbers for spamming.
Third, if you get what you believe is a spam text message, save it and notify your service provider. Most providers are aware this is a problem and will work with you to remove the charge.
Finally, you can ask your provider to completely disable ALL text messaging services on your cell phone so you do not get any text messages. This will not work for everyone, but if you do not use text messaging, it may be a good option for you.
Did I Win Money?
Question: I have gotten several emails recently telling me that I have won money in a foreign lottery. Can this be true?
Answer:
We get dozens of people asking this every week!
No. You did not win the Swiss, French, British or any other lottery. It is a scam.
Two things to note:
(1) If you did not buy a ticket, you cannot win. This is a general rule to remember.
(2) It is illegal for a US citizen to participate in a foreign lottery.
During tough economic times, people are more susceptible to these types of scams. Do not fall for them.
Work at Home Scams
Question: Are these work at home offers legitimate?
Answer:
Sadly, the Internet is full of these work from home and make a gazillion dollars schemes. They all pretty much fall into the same category -- TGTBT (Too Good To Be True).
You have to use your own good judgment here and know that if they are making claims that you will make ridiculous amounts of money per week (for doing next to no work) it's almost certainly a scam.
And always remember the #1 Scambuster Rule for work at home jobs: NEVER pay for the chance to get a job.
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Tips & Tricks: Temporary Email Address
Have you ever wanted some information from a Web site that requires your e-mail address? And once you put your address in, you get email from them everyday.
Take a look a Guerrilla Mail. At this site, you can either request a random address or set up one yourself that is good for 60 minutes (Click Get Temporary Address or type in the address you want and click Set Address).
Use this email address to sign up at a website you only plan to use once. When you are finished and ready to check your email, go back to Guerrilla Mail, and check your mail.
After 60 minutes, your temporary email address will expire.
http://www.guerrillamail.com/
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Featured Computer Term: The Top 30 Internet Terms for Beginners: 7. Email
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: 7. Email
Email (formerly spelled e-mail with a hyphen) is electronic mail. It is the sending and receiving of typewritten messages from one screen to another. Email is usually handled by a webmail service (e.g. Gmail or Yahoomail), or an installed software package (e.g. Microsoft Outlook).
Email has many cousins: text messaging, instant messaging, live chat, videomail (v-mail), Google Waving.
In our next edition: Blogging
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 – Stop the Forwarding Fiend
Create an email address just for shopping online, registering at websites and any other places that might sell your email address to a spammer. Give your main address to no one except your friends and family.
But there is a problem with that, too. Do you know someone who forwards absolutely everything that comes through their inbox? That can be the source of the spam you get. Look at a forwarded email; see all those email addresses in it? Spammers are now finding forwarded emails, harvesting all of the addresses throughout the email and putting them on their address lists.
That means that you as well as all the other people who are getting these forwarded emails will probably soon be receiving a whole lot of junk! It might be hard to ask your friend to stop forwarding everything to you, but you can suggest that they use BCC. That means that your email address will be hidden from all the other addresses. Here is how you do that (and you might want to send this article to any forwarders you know):
Click Forward in the email like you usually do. Some email programs will have a BCC box. If yours does, input all the emails address you want to send to in the BCC box. If your email program does not have a BCC box, click in the CC or Copy to box, type an Open Parenthesis (Shift 9) input all the email addresses and then type a Close Parenthesis (Shift 0). Input your own email address in the To box. Send the email as usual.
Each recipient will receive the email but no other email addresses will display. If the recipient decides to send it on, none of the other email addresses will go out with the email.
In the next edition of this newsletter: Minimizing Spam – Never Respond to Spam
Visit our Newsletter Archives for previous articles on Minimizing Spam:
Minimizing Spam - Create a New Address
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/110908.html
Minimizing Spam – Registering Online
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/111608.html
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Tips & Tricks: Windows 7
Dock the Current Windows to the Left Side of the Screen
This new feature is useful when you are working with two windows and would like to display them next to each other.
Click anywhere in the window that you want on the left side of your screen. Press and hold down the Windows key (the key with the Windows logo; usually found on the bottom row of the keyboard towards the left). Now press and release the left arrow key. The window will move to the left side of your screen and use about half of the screen.
To dock the other window to the right side of the screen, click anywhere in that window, hold down the Windows key and press and release the right arrow key.
Now your two windows will be displayed next to each other, each taking half of the screen.
To change either back to full screen, click the Maximize button in the top, right corner, next to the X.
Make the Taskbar Smaller
If the taskbar is using too much of screen space, you can make the icons smaller, which will make the taskbar smaller, too.
Right click on a blank area of the taskbar and then left click on Properties. Click the Taskbar tab at the top and then click Use small icons. Click the OK button.
Clear the Desktop
If you have too many windows on your desktop, you can minimize all but the active one by shaking the window.
To do so, point to the Title bar of the window you want to work in. Hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse back and forth very quickly (like you are shaking the window). All the other windows will minimize.
To restore the other windows, shake the active one again.
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Tips & Tricks: Windows Vista Flip
In previous versions of Windows, holding down the Alt key on the keyboard and then pressing and releasing the Tab key would open a window that listed each currently open program. You could click on the program you wanted, bringing it to the front of all the other open windows.
In Windows Vista, the same keystrokes will display thumbnails (small pictures) of the currently open windows and the Desktop. To select the program you want, either click on the thumbnail with the mouse, or hold down the Alt key and keep pressing the Tab key until the program you want is highlighted. Select the Desktop and all windows will be minimized.
Windows Flip 3D is a similar feature and possibly more useful, since it displays a much larger picture of each open window. To use it, hold down the Windows Logo key (this has the Windows flag on it; usually located on the bottom left of the keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys). Press and release the Tab key. This displays all the open windows in a 3-dimensional stack. To select the program you want, either click on the window with the mouse, or, with the Windows Logo key held down, press the Tab key until the window you want is at the front of the stack.
Windows Flip and Flip 3D are very helpful features of Windows Vista, useful for anyone who works with many open windows, or even just to quickly view the Desktop.
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Websites of Interest:
Memorial Day
Next Monday, May 31, is Memorial Day. Visit our website for information, ways to celebrate the observations, graphics, recipes, ecards and much more.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/memday.html
Professor Kite and the Secret of Kites
Kite Flying is fun and easy, if you know how.
http://www.gombergkites.com/howgen.html
Anatomy Videos
This very interesting and informative site, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, shows the anatomy of body parts and organ systems and how diseases and conditions affect them.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/anatomyvideos.html
Food Essentials
Do you know all the additives and ingredients in what you eat?
http://foodessentials.com/home