Sunday, February 20, 2011

Email Etiquette


Computer Care: Forward e-mail with courtesy, with the caps lock off, please


By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com



POSTED: February 19, 2011 1:00 a.m.


E-mails reach my inbox asking me for advice, sharing humor and selling both Viagra and breast implants. But that's OK; I can deal with it. What annoy me are those who inform me of impending doom, should I not forward their e-mail to 16 people. Worse, are the ones that have me watching for a surprise after all 16 are forwarded.

Call me a skeptic, but I don't want to bother 16 friends to chance seeing a butterfly or kaleidoscope.

Let's not forward chain letters. Most are hoaxes anyway. Bill Gates will not give you $250 for passing on his e-mail. Check out snopes.com should you have doubts about a letter you got.

There are unwritten rules of etiquette when it comes to e-mail. Not sending forwards like I mentioned is one of those rules.

Grammar counts; so does spelling. I am not ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) or anxious to talk about it IRL (in real life). What are we, 12 years old? So let's stop with the silly acronyms. And omit the smileys, too. OK?

NOT ONLY IS THIS DIFFICULT TO READ, but it is considered shouting to type in caps in the online world. Check to see if your Caps Lock is engaged before typing a message.

Most e-mail clients have spell-checkers, even thesauruses. If you use Firefox or Chrome to check your web mail, each has add-ons to assist. All I have to do is highlight a word and right-click on it to learn more about it. There are no excuses for spelling errors anymore.

Punctuation is part of writing, like it or not. Look at the following sentence to realize how misplaced or omitted punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence. At worst, it makes it hard to read:

Woman without her man is nothing.

A man might place commas to have it read: Woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman may have it say: Woman! Without her, man is nothing.

The same words with different punctuation yield a different meaning.

Word choices require careful thought as well. Affect (a verb) differs from effect (a noun). "It's" is a contraction, while "its" is possessive.

If you must forward an e-mail, for whatever reason, follow these simple rules. Delete the "FWD" from the subject line, all of them. Some ISPs may not send it with that prefix, considering it as spam.

Also delete the header with all of the addresses of the ones to get that e-mail before you. I get some with an entire page of headers on it.

If your e-mail program has a BCC field (Blind Carbon Copy), use it. This helps keeps recipients' addresses private.

Also delete those >>>>>> you often see in a forwarded e-mail. Does anyone know what they are called? There are some good, free programs that will take care of those as well as ill-formatted e-mails, getting rid of extraneous spaces and line breaks.

Do a Google search for e-mailStripper, eCleaner or StripMail. They are all easy to use.

Many viruses and malware get spread via e-mail. Check to see if your anti-virus and anti-malware programs scan both incoming and outgoing e-mail. This will protect you and your recipients. Look in the settings area of the utilities to make changes.

If you send photos as attachments to e-mails, consider their size. Know that megapixel images are only necessary if you are going to print the picture. Otherwise, as attachments they show up as huge photos taking longer to send and receive (maybe even being blocked) and fill up your recipient's entire page.

Use free utilities like the online ResizR or see if your photo imaging software can reduce the size of an image. Remember to do a "Save as" if you choose the latter method. You don't want to over-write an original image. You may want to print it one day.

Whether sending photos, videos or audio, if you have a large file to share (again, there is the possibility of the ISP blocking it), consider a file-sharing utility online. There are many you can use for free.

Some will let you try it with no charge; others remain free, but only allow one file at a time. Some have a limit to the size of the files you can share.

Check out MailBigFile, a free service for only one recipient.

There is also Pando, but watch the installer for extra add-ons you may not want.

They work by you sending your friends a link instead of a file — quick and easy for both of you.

The bottom line is consideration. Keep e-mails neat, clean and avoid large attachments. They will be easier to read, especially with proper spelling and punctuation.

Texting while mobile is dangerous and illegal. So is sending e-mail.

Remember, love may not be forever, but e-mails are. Your ISP has copies of everything you send- just so you know.

Now, I want you to send this column to 16 of your friends.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Beware Malware on Facebook


Computer Care: Beware of malware, other threats hiding in Facebook


By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
POSTED: January 22, 2011 12:30 a.m.


Facebook may be a nice place to keep up with your friends online, but lately I've been wary of a couple of things concerning its security.

Have you noticed its availability to connect to other websites? All of a sudden I find the ubiquitous blue "F" icon wherever I go on the Internet.

Other web sites, forums and blogs are offering for you to use your Facebook credentials to log on to their sites. Sure, it's easier. You don't have to type in your e-mail address or make up yet another password, but is it safe? The short answer would be no.

They have since reversed the ruling, but Facebook officials recently said they were going to sell our names, addresses and phone numbers to their vendors. That would have meant whoever advertises on the site would be privy to your private information. Sure, under pressure, they quickly reversed it. But who knows what they will do next week or next month? I don't trust them.

Supposedly we would have ability to opt out, but it was up to us to find the link to disable that option.

I have since gone to my Facebook settings page and changed everything to make sure that only those I want to see my information will be able to. Go to yours by clicking on the "Account" link on the top right of the page and then click "Privacy Settings," then "Customize."

Also check your "Account Settings " at the same spot while you're there. Scrutinize the way your account is set up. Your privacy may depend on it.

Facebook is a business, bottom line and our information is a gold mine to them.

Not only is Facebook not to be trusted with our information, but it is also a huge source of malware.

The Internet security firm BitDefender, claims that social media sites are the largest source of malware online, especially on mobile devices. With Facebook being the most traveled social site, and more users logging on via cell phone, malware is spreading rapidly.

As a technician, most of my jobs in the past few months have been malware-related. As computer users and Internet traversers, you need to tread cautiously if you don't want to get infected.

Facebook is inundated with links and pop-ups to fake wallpapers and phony applications for the site. Some claim to allow you to see who has viewed your profile or who has "unfriended" you. Others offer nonexistent "dislike" buttons. These are nothing other than sources of malware.

Also beware of bogus surveys and links to FB apps such as Farmville giving away free add-ons to the games. By clicking on them, not only will you not get what you expect, but you may be giving away access to your sensitive information.

If apps such as those were available, Facebook would offer them to us.

Cybercriminals are financially motivated. They are there not only to send spam and spread malware, but also to steal your identities.

Sophos, another maker of online security products, says cybercriminals will be more prevalent in 2011 and that more threats should be expected on Windows 7 and iPad platforms.

They claim that over 50,000 Web pages hosting various forms of malware are discovered daily — every day!

The most common ones and the one I see most often are fake anti-virus or anti-malware programs. What they are in reality is nothing other than sources of malware. Click on them and you open up your computer for them to access or just spread the infection throughout your system and to those in your address book.

Beware of pop-ups from programs not installed that warn you of infections. If you didn't run a scan with an app, it can't advise you, plain and simple.

Sophos offers a free social media toolkit for your social security, but you do need to register with them to get it. Find it here. There is some helpful information in it.

Be careful what you click on and think twice before you do. Even an e-mail saying someone has commented on a photo of yours or tagged you in one of theirs may be bogus. Also beware of e-mails claiming that someone has posted something on your wall. Find them on FB instead of going there from that e-mail. They may not be legitimate.

Even on the Facebook site, remain vigilant. Once you click that "Allow" button you could be opening up the floodgates. Any requests for permission should be denied.

Be aware of links that take you to pages where you see an "Allow" button to access your profile. If you have apps installed that you don't trust, hit the "Remove" button next to them, to be sure.

Facebook is a virtual street in the virtual city of Internet. It can be a dark alley if you allow it.

As far as allowing it to be your universal Internet log-on, I wouldn't.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Free Apps for your computer


Computer Care: Free apps are nice, but download them with care

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
POSTED: January 8, 2011 12:30 a.m.


It came to me the other day. The holidays are over, and I didn't get anything for you. So let's make up for it and start the new year with some good free applications for your computer. It's January and you don't have any money left anyway.

Some of these you may have heard of and may have installed, while others are nice, hard-to-find or didn't know-they-existed free applications. I will let you Google the apps for location, since many URLs can be quite lengthy.

If you don't feel like Googling each one, try PCWorld.com, cnet.com or download.com for these and lots of others. Just be sure to check to see if the app you want is indeed freeware and not shareware or a pay version.

The main difference between free and paid versions is no support and no schedulers.

Most will work in XP, Vista and Windows 7 but it's always a good idea to check prior to installation.

Advanced System Care, the free version is one of my favorites so let's start with it. It is a Swiss Army Knife utility in that it cleans, optimizes and fixes. One of its tools fixes the Windows registry. There is also a Pro version with more bells and whistles.

Use caution with many of the other registry utilities on the Internet. Some are overly aggressive and you can get yourself into trouble messing with the registry. There is no "undo" button. Once you delete a value, it is gone, so be certain you don't need it.

IObit Security 360 checks your system for all types of malware and stays resident while you work.

Ccleaner and the new CC Enhancer work with your Recycle Bin to reduce clutter.

Chrome and Firefox are browsers, like Internet Explorer, but faster. You can have multiple browsers on your computer. If one stops working you have a backup. It's like having two cars in your garage. They will both get to the interstate.

Well, Internet Explorer and Chrome or Firefox are like a Ford and a Chevy or a Honda — they will each get you to the Internet. Only issue is one wants to be in charge. You need to choose a default browser, but it doesn't mean you have to only use it. Use them all. You can change defaults at any time.

AVG, Avast and Avira are anti-virus applications and all offer solid free versions. Pick one. Unlike other programs, you can only have one AV program on a system.

OpenOffice is a great free alternative to Office. It is a suite of similar-type programs.

Download of the Day is a website, not a program. You sign up for a daily e-mail and they send a link to a different free program, utility, game or screensaver each day.

Phrase Express is perhaps my favorite utility. It saves a phrase, sentence or paragraph that you type with one keystroke. Very cool.

RoboForm is the best password manager on the market. Find the free version that works with a smaller list. DriveImage XML is a free Ghost-like app that images your disk or partition.

BootSafe gets you quickly into Safe Mode. Eusing Free Internet Window Washer does just that. SuperAntiSpyware, the free version, is also just what it says.

IMG Burn and Image Burn for ISO and similar file writing to CD/DVD. Belarc Advisor tells you all that is installed on your system, with keys. Malwarebytes is a superb free anti-malware utility.

I need to add a caution about installing these. Often they sneak in other apps. Look at every checked box before you click "Next" or "OK." Many will add a toolbar to your browser; change your search engine or home page or add a whole new program.

Know what you are getting. Some apps have partial functionality. Others are full-blown programs but will limit use by time. Some fix only certain issues. Some look like Windows with the Microsoft-like logos to make you believe it is legit, but they are not.

A pop-up advising you of errors before you scanned for any is bogus.

Never click on a blind link. I've repaired countless computers with severe malware infections from clients attempting to download free programs. The so-called programs are in fact infectious malware. They are disguised as utilities and spread infection once you click on them, so beware.

Just because a website or e-mail says a download is free, doesn't necessarily mean it is a free program. (Most downloads are free.) They make you pay once you try to use it. As always, caveat emptor, although which technically is buyer beware, but you get the idea.

Once you download and install what you want, save it to an outside source. You may need it again if your system crashes or you change computers. Put those downloads on an external hard drive, flash drive or burn them to CD or DVD.

Remember what they are, where you put them — and who gave them to you.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.