Tips for Safe Online Shopping
9:28pm - Dec 9, 2009

Shopping online is a great way to save time and money, but those efficiencies quickly vanish for people who lack basic online shopping smarts. Take a few minutes to review these safe shopping tips: They may just save you a world of headache and financial pain.

Keep track of your receipts. Some experts advise online shoppers to print out all receipts. That's fine, but a simpler and more "green" alternative to this important tip is to simply take a screen shot of your order details, or save the page itself as an HTML file.

If you have more than one computer in the home, avoid shopping on the household's communal computer.

Look for the SSL sign/padlock in the browser's address bar. If you don't see this conspicuously on the page asking you to enter your personal and financial details, run away. This is the hallmark of one of thousands of fly-by-night consumer electronics shops on the Web. These phantom storefronts often rip off entire display pages from legitimate stores and are here today, gone tomorrow.

Avoid bargain-basement shopping online. There's nothing wrong with wanting the best price, but be aware that last year there was reported plenty of phantom stores popping up around the holidays, advertising prices way below name-brand stores. If you're the type of shopper who buys from the cheapest online store regardless of whether you've ever bought anything from the site before, consider using comparison-shopping sites such as pricegrabber.com and bizrate.com.

Double-check those shipping policies. Make sure you understand the shipping and return policies before you click that "buy" button. Look for stores that offer a shipping date guarantee, and make sure the items you want are actually in stock.

Read the fine print. CNET's Dennis O'Reilly has a good tip in his safe online shopping summary: "Just as you can find your browser sporting a new toolbar if you rush through an update of your media player or PDF reader, being in a hurry when you make a Web purchase can cause you to 'sign up' for unwanted offers."

Shopping online at work could be hazardous to your career. The Monday after Thanksgiving is often referred to as "Cyber Monday" because many shoppers use the day to buy stuff online that they poked at and played with in stores over the previous weekend. But you might want to think twice about online shopping while at work.

Terms and Tips for September 9, 2009
8:57pm - Sep 9, 2009
Beware of Free Programs

Before you download a free program, make certain you know what is being bundled with it. Many free software programs are bundled with other programs and sometimes adware or even other malicious software. You can do a Google search to see whether the program you want is bundled with something else.

Piggybacking

It is very common - but yes, it is called piggybacking; when installing a program, you are installing another. I have seen this with iTunes, Adobe and many others. Before you install the program, you have the ability to say yes or no when it comes to adding other features or programs or even default search engines. Don't just casually let the application decide; decide for yourself.  Watch each screen before you click .

Links

Before you click on a link, especially from an email, make sure you are going where you want to go. Sometimes a link will say one thing and do another, like taking you to an infected web site. Just be curious and cautious, 'hover' the cursor over the link itself and you will be able to see and double check the destination in your status bar (bottom of browser or email application).

Attachments & Files

It is just not a good idea to open an attachment without knowing who is sending it. And by all means do NOT accept a file from someone you don't know via an instant message.
Diskeeper 2009 - Revelutionary!
10:40am - Sep 2, 2009
Is this the End of Fragmentation as We Know It? Burbank, CA, August 11, 2009---- Diskeeper Corporation announced today one of the most significant technological breakthroughs in Windows files system performance ever. They have developed a ground breaking new technology that prevents up to 85% of all fragmentation from ever occurring, dramatically improving system performance. Not only does this eliminate any performance slow down caused by writing fragmented files but it means little to no system resources or power is later required to remove fragmentation.  More...
Sep 1st 2009 Launch
11:01pm - Sep 1, 2009
If you have come across this blog this month - great!  I am glad you're here.  New topics and discussion will be posted to address today's ever increasing world of 'coping' with all the troubles, and benefits, of the Internet.  And, thinking about the wireless age we live in  - my comment is that should determine what impact it may have on us after years of exposure.  Have you ever thought of the consequences of using cordless and cell phones and being around wireless devices (ie: router, laptops, water metres, etc)?
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