SEARCHING THE WEB ?

Rather than limiting your web search to Google, Yahoo, Ask.com or whatever search site you are currently using, try www.metacrawler.com

This site uses all of the above and gives results from all of them. They also seem to have a way to rank them very effectively. One of our members recommends this site for all but the most simple searches. Give it a try.

On-line Shopper Alert

Net surfers tread treacherous water
Cyber crooks target online shoppers with new scams
By Byron Acohido
USA TODAY

SEATTLE - A confluence of commerce and criminal activity may turn the next four weeks into the most dangerous period ever to surf the Internet.

"Given the kickoff to the holidays the increasing sophistication of cyber thieves, these may be the risk­iest days for Internet consumers we've ever seen," says Bill Morrow chairman of security firm CSldentity.

Consumers' high comfort level ordering gifts at their keyboards is translating into record traffic to websites that review, advertise and sell popular products. Re­tailers aren't the only ones trying to capitalize. Tech se­curity authorities warn online shoppers about these snares set in place by organized cybercrime rings:

Spam scams. Be wary of e-mail luring you Co buy drugs, invest in small companies or click to a greeting card or news story. Many of these are scams. Delete any e-mail directing you to type in a credit card num­ber, or other sensitive data, to make a charitable dona­tion. "E-mail is never a safe way to transmit informa­tion," Morrow says.

Fake ads. Do not click on ads using scare tactics to get you to buy Spy-Shredder, AntiVirGear, MalwareA-larm or some 40 other products with similar names. Online ads pitching fake anti-spyware increased 1,000% in October, says Don Jackson, virus researcher at SecureWorks.

In the past, such ads popped up mostly on porn sites or other obscure sites. But they've begun to appear on websites for CNN, The Economist, the Huffington Post. Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Monster.com.

If communications on online forums where cyber crooks hang out are any indication, there's more to come. "We've seen a big increase in that type of chat­ter on forums in the last 30 days," Jackson says.

Tainted Web 2.0. Sites that use nifty Web 2.0 fea­tures are under siege. Case in point; The personalized log-off page at lndiaiimes.com earlier this month was corrupted so that anyone who used that service got in­undated with commands to automatically click to hundreds of Web ads. This was part of an elaborate scam to earn fraudulent "click-through" ad revenue.

Web 2.0 features at a British jewelry website, an au­to-information site and a major job-finding site were identically compromised, says Mary Landesman, sen­ior security researcher at ScanSafe. Hundreds of other Web 2.0 sites are being similarly corrupted, she says."These sorts of attacks impact people who are very careful about where they surf and only go to the most reputable sites," Landesman says. "That's why the at­tackers focus so much energy on doing this, because it's a bonanza for them."

ScanSafe offers a free tool that rates the safety of websites, available at scandoo.com.

SOURCE: This article appeared in USA TODAY Monday Nov 26, 2007

THANKSGIVING TURKEY DAY

HOPE YOU'RE ALL ENJOYING THIS DAY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY

SCREEN SAVER DOESN'T ACTIVATE

The following question was posed at today’s meeting. Though I set the screen saver it never activates? Why?

To rule out procedural errors please follow the steps below in an attempt to activate the screen saver. Note that the last step requires clicking the APPLY button first and then the OK button. If this does not resolve the problem please submit a comment so we can be driven crazy attempting to communally resolve this conundrum.

1. To change/set up a screen saver right click in a plain area of the windows desktop and then select PROPERTIES at the bottom of the menu that opens up.
2. Select the SCREEN SAVER tab.
3. UNDER THE HEADING Screen Saver click on the drop down arrow head and select one of the basic patterns such as Blank or Windows.
4. Select the SETTINGS button for additional options and the PREVIEW button to see the results.
5. In the WAIT box enter a time for the computer to be idle before the screen saver activates, perhaps 10-15 min. Do not check the ON resume display Welcome screen.
6. Select the APPLY button before selecting the OK button.

Screen savers can use up a lot of the computers resources (energy, memory and processor) particularly the three-dimensionally ones such as 3D FlowerBox and 3D Pipes (the processor runs at 99 to 100%) because these designs are very complex and require constant computations to maintain and update the image. If you are determined to use one of the exotic screen savers reduce the values for speed and complexity to minimize the burden on the processor.

There at it again!

I always thought the threat of a tax for use of the Internet and/or e-mail was a hoax, however the following appeared in yesterday’s news paper


10/30/2007 11:33:07 EST
Internet Tax Moratorium Goes to Bush By JOHN DUNBAR Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A bill to extend a moratorium on Internet access taxes for seven years was approved 402-0 by the House Tuesday, less than two days before it was set to expire.
The House initially approved a four-year ban, but last week the Senate passed a seven-year prohibition, despite considerable support for a permanent ban.
"Seven years is better than nothing, and that's what we're doing today," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich, during remarks on the House floor.
A House bill that would make the moratorium permanent has 238 House co-sponsors, more than a majority.
The tax ban, first approved in 1998 and twice renewed, is set to expire Nov. 1.
Support for a permanent ban was strong in both the House and Senate, but concerns over the potential long-term impact on state and local governments forced a compromise.
The provision amounts to a moratorium on state and local taxes, said David Quam, director of federal relations with the National Governors Association. And with the Internet changing rapidly, the issue should be revisited periodically, he said.
"The implications could be pretty severe down the road if they got that wrong," he said. "It's actually a decent compromise that state and local governments and industry helped craft."
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif. called the bill "bipartisan legislation at its best" and noted it was supported by businesses, state and local government organizations and labor unions.
In addition to lengthening the ban from four years to seven years, the legislation also contains a provision aimed at preventing state and local governments from assessing taxes beyond those levied on simple Internet access.
At the urging of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the legislation specifically prohibits taxation on e-mail and instant messaging services "that are provided independently or not packaged with Internet access."
The extension also exempts some states that approved taxes prior to the original enactment.
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., supported a permanent ban, but helped craft the seven-year compromise. "Seven years is better than we've ever done before," he told The Associated Press. "I think that's an important place to start."
The bill now goes to the White House for President Bush's signature.

Oh those energy bills are a comm'n

Tis the week before daylight savings and my thoughts turn to my upcoming heating bills.

Here’s what I’m doing over the next few weeks to reduce this winters energy bills.

I’m planning to re-caulk and install weather-stripping around windows and doors, around outdoor faucets, dryer vents, and vents for bathroom and kitchen fans etc.

Install plastic shields around basement windows to seal and reduce air infiltration. Cut and install foam panels inside the basement against the basement windows.

I’ve replaced most bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, which they say uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb. Supposedly they last up to 10 times longer (providing you’re not always turning them on and off as you might do in a hallway.) I’m told that once I put them on I should allow them to burn for at least 15 minutes before shutting them off. They do not work with certain timer devices.

I’ve already replaced my round thermostat with a programmable one that automatically sets the temperature to suit our living schedule. Why heat the house when no one is in it? They say that an Energy Star programmable thermostat will save me about $150 in the first year of operation. I paid less than $100 for mine so I’ll recover the cost before this winter is over. It’s easy to use. Installation was easy. All I had to do was reconnecting four wires from my old thermostat to the new one (I had to reread the instructions four times before I understood just how easy the installation really was.)

Though we do not have to replace our clothes washing machine they say that you should consider replacing one’s made before 2004 as new one’s with the Energy Star rating may save you more than $100 a year on utilities. Certain washers use 40 percent less energy than standard washers and about half as much water. Interestingly enough they say that you can hang on to the old dryer until it expires -- most dryers use similar amounts of energy, and none has earned the Energy Star rating.

I’m hoping that the utility company will once again offer an energy inspection service. Previously they were helpful in pointing out energy wasters in my home and suggested some inexpensive improvements and they installed an insulation blankets on our hot water heater.
* * *
Tax breaks for installing and replacing energy-efficient doors, windows, water heaters and heating and cooling systems are set to expire at the end of the year.

To encourage homeowners to buy energy-efficient components for their homes, the federal government is offering tax credits that reduce the cost of certain upgrades. But there is a time limit: The breaks expire at the end of this year.

Here are a few of the things covered.
• Windows, skylights and storm doors. Recoup 10 percent of the cost of materials, up to $200 for all qualifying windows, skylights and storm windows.
• Roofing. Install an Energy Star-certified metal roof and get back 10 percent of the cost, up to $500.
• Insulation. Material must meet the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code. If it does, you can get back 10 percent of the cost, up to $500.
• Water heaters. Certain high-efficiency models qualify for a $300 credit.
• Solar power. Install a photovoltaic system to power your home and get 30 percent of the cost back, up to $2,000.
• Heating and cooling systems. Qualified air-conditioning and heating units provide up to a $300 credit.

ICONS in the NOTIFICATION AREA

Bill Comis said...
Question??
How do I get rid of the unwanted little icons that come up at the lower right corner? I am told that the slow down start up my computer?


Though the time required for the computer to initialize on startup is affected by the number of programs starting other factors such as procedures scheduled to commence at startup (i.e. virus scans, hard drive utilities, hardware utilities, software utilities, etc.) have a far greater impact on boot up time. The time required to initialize a few software programs should not be that noticeable whereas the time necessary to scan your computer can be considerable. If your computer is taking a long time to boot up investigate the role of any and all utility programs.

Programs stealthily running will have an effect on the computers response time once you are up and running. Some of the programs (shown in the Notification Area) are insignificant users of CPU resources or are necessary. It is recommended that you first experiment by deactivate those unwanted programs for a session or two so as to evaluate the affect and/or importance on your usage. Most programs shown in the “Notification Area” can be temporarily shut down by right clicking directly on the icon and then selecting the appropriate action from the menu. On rebooting the computer these programs will reactivate and the icon will appear.

Certain programs were authorized to start on boot up (and run in the background) when they were originally installed and a shortcut to that program was placed in the STARTUP folder. To remove the shortcut from the STARTUP folder (and from appearing in the Notification Area);
1. Right click on START
2. Select EXPLORE. This brings you to the START MENU in Windows Explorer with the START MENU folder already selected in the left hand panel.
3. In the left panel, left click on PROGRAM (directly below START MENU).
4. In the left panel scroll down and left click on STARTUP.
5. In the right panel, Right click on any program you wish to delete from startup and select DELETE shortcut.
6. Exit from Windows Explorer in the usual manner.

Note that when you complete step 2 above you are in the DOCUMENTS & SETTING. In the left panel (either above or below the highlighted START MENU folder) it will indicate which computer user is being evaluated (All Users, Default User or a common name). After completing all the steps above you may wish to repeat the process for each user in case a STARTUP program is authorized therein. After step 2, click on the user (i.e. All Users), scroll down to and left click on START MENU and proceed with step 3.

To have a program automatically start on boot up, create a shortcut to that program and place it in the STARTUP file of the START MENU.