Webaholics

Tired of wading through spam every time you check your mail? You’re not alone. Every day, millions of people receive large volumes of unwanted and even fraudulent emails. Here are a few things you can do about it.

Create and use a temporary email address.

Yahoo and Hotmail provide this feature in order to keep your private email address strictly for your friends and family members and only. The secondary address, you can use for your subscriptions and other purposes. If your secondary address is abused from spammers and your inbox is filled with spam messages, then you can delete it and create another secondary email address.

Dont Reple to Spam Mails.

Don’t reply to spam emails. Some spam emails contain a link for you to click on if you want to opt out. Some spammers simply use this link to determine whether or not they have a live address. .

Use your e-mail’s filters.

Almost all email applications have this feature. You can create filters blocking spam words like “make money, opportunities, Viagra, sex, e.t.c” .Doing that, you will block many of your spam messages but not all of them.

NEVER post your email.

Don’t post your email on forums, websites, message boards, guest books and other online places. You should also avoid posting your contact email address on your website. Spammers use software robots and extract email addresses from thousands of websites. If you want to display your email at your website change it to jpeg photo with Photoshop or other image design software.

The use of email blocking tools.

Yahoo for instance has this excellent tool which can block up to 500 email addresses (the Free option, the paid one provide more) and this amount of spam emails will never reach your mailbox. Other web mail services provide similar features too. The preinstalled filter in your email application.

If you use outlook express you can click “message” (from windows 98 versions and later) and then click “Block sender”. Just doing that you will block many of your unsolicited emails.

Do Not respond to spam at all costs.

When you receive a spam message which asks you to click a link for whatever reason (fake unsubscribe and other) do not click it. If you do that, the spammers will now instantly that they deal with a real email address. Do Not Ever open unknown messages with attachments.

This is critical. Most of the times the attachment will be a virus (especially if it’s exe or zip format) If you open it you will activate the virus it contains and harm your computer. Accept email attachments ONLY from well known resources such as friends, business colleagues e.t.c. You should also have installed an antivirus which scans your emails before they are saved into your hard drive.

Spam can be more than a nuisance. With these tips, you can cut down on the amount of spam you receive.

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By now, many people have heard about companies that will buy your used laptop for cash. These companies buy your laptop and refurbish them to sell as used. It’s essentially laptop-recycling, and can be a great option for people who may have an extra laptop that isn’t being used or a laptop that doesn’t work (as many companies will buy it from you whether it’s working or not).

Selling your used laptop is also a great way to get some extra cash if you are trying to save up for a newer laptop. Technology is always changing, and eventually you will want to upgrade to a newer, faster computer that is more compatible with ever-changing software. Why not get rid of your old laptop while at the same time making some cash to put towards a new one?

No matter what the reason, once you decide to sell your laptop, there are a few things that you should know. There are many companies that will buy your laptop and some are better than others to do business with. The following paragraphs will help guide you through some of the important things to know when starting the process of selling your laptop.

The most important thing that you need to consider when selling your laptop is the protection of your personal information. It is vital to your security and identity that you choose a company that will remove all information from your hard drive before refurbishing it. This is especially important if your laptop isn’t working and you can’t access the information on it yourself. Make sure that the company that you sell your laptop to will erase all the information off your laptop as soon as it is received.

The next thing you’ll want to look for is a company that will get you the best used laptop value. Some companies will give you an instant quote for your laptop. If you can get an instant quote online this is the best way to find out right away of you are getting the best value for your laptop. Check this out and find out how much you may receive for selling your laptop before you send it in. And remember – you should never have to pay to ship your laptop. Sell your used laptop to a company that will pay for shipping and ensure that you pay absolutely nothing in the process.

Once you find a good value with a good company and decide to sell your laptop, another thing to look into is when you will be paid for the laptop. You should be able to find out from the company approximately how long it will take for them to receive your laptop and send you your check. It might take a couple of weeks from the time you get your estimate, but if you know when to expect it, you shouldn’t have to worry. If you want to receive your check as soon as possible, you may even be able to get your check over-nighted for a fee.

You can use the cash to save up for a new laptop, or just make some money from a laptop that isn’t used or doesn’t work. No matter what your reasons, selling your laptop can be financially beneficial, environmentally-friendly, and a smart move for people who like to upgrade.

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By following the practices suggested below, you can improve the overall security of your computer system. These recommendations apply both to individual users and to personnel responsible for managing groups of computers.

Set good passwords
Make sure all accounts on your computer, including the computer administrator’s account, have strong passwords. Follow this link to check, how strong or secure your passwords are. Change your password immediately if you suspect someone else may have guessed it.

Keep your software up-to-date
New versions of software are released on a regular basis to counter threats; without the current software, your computer is likely to be infected or compromised. Your operating system and Web browser are the two components most frequently attacked, and therefore it is most important to keep them up-to-date. A good way for Windows users to stay current is to allow your operating system to be updated automatically using Windows Update.

Run anti-virus software
Set antivirus software to automatically check for updates at least once a week. When informed that a new virus has been detected, update your virus definition files immediately by clicking on your Antivirus and running updates.

Be careful opening e-mail attachments
Many viruses are transmitted through e-mail, often as attachments. Never open an attachment unless you are sure who sent it and what it contains. Always use your antivirus software to scan attachments for viruses before opening them by clicking on your Antivirus icon and selecting Scan.

Control access to your machine
Never set up your system for anonymous or guest access. Make sure your system is configured to require a unique userid and password for any kind of access.

Routinely back up files on your system
Backing up your system not only allows you to recover files and data if your hard drive or computer fails, but also ensures that you can determine what data was stored on your system, should it be stolen or accessed without authorization. Because California law requires that individuals be notified if their personal information is stolen or inadvertently made available, it is especially important to be able to verify the existence of such information on a computer.

Turn your computer off when you leave for the day
Your computer cannot be infected or invaded when it is not connected to the network. Turn it off when you are done for the day. This is particularly important if you will be away from your system longer than a few days. If you haven’t turned on your computer in a few days, be sure to check for updates for software and antivirus files (see above) before you do anything else.

Install screen-saver passwords on your system
In addition to logging into your Windows system with your system userid and password, you should utilize a screen saver and enable its password feature. That way, if you leave your computer without turning it off, the screen saver will activate (after a pre-determined period of time) and you’ll need to enter a password to resume your Windows session.

Clean your hard drive before disposing of it
Before disposing of your current computer, make sure to remove all sensitive and confidential data from the hard drive. While deleting unwanted files using a delete or erase command might appear to remove files and data, in fact, the DOS and Windows delete commands simply remove pointers to the data but leave the actual data and files available for recovery. To make sure that data and files are not recoverable from a computer’s hard drive, it is important to over-write the space these files and data occupied with other, seemingly random, input. A number of utilities for doing this are available as freeware or shareware.

Take extra precautions with your laptop or other portable devices
By design, laptop computers (and other portable computing devices, PDAs, for example) are carried from place to place and thus are exposed to risks less prevalent in stationary environments where desktops are protected by firewalls, automated scheduled virus scanners, and automated critical updates and patch installations. To protect the UCOP network and the devices connected to it, all laptops must be updated with the latest Microsoft critical updates and patches and scanned using the latest virus definition files before they are brought into a UCOP facility and connected to the UCOP network. Also, invest in a laptop or PDA lockdown cable to deter easy theft of your portable device, and lock your office (where applicable) when you leave it.

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