Which Internet Browser To Use??

TRY ALL OF THEM...

Today almost all public & work environment computers have all 4 of the major browsers installed on them.  This gives the individual users the choice of which browser they want to use...  Why?? Think of it as having multiple salad dressing choices in your fridge... No particular reason, they all do the same thing, it's just a matter of taste..

You will also find that certain websites you visit "work better" if and when you use the browser that they've built their platform on... so for example if you are visiting any website from Google - Gmail, blogger, YouTube, Google drive, Google maps etc. then you might consider opening your CHROME browser to access those websites.

Computers and other devices with Windows Operating Systems come with Internet Explorer pre-installed, those with Android Operating Systems have Google Chrome installed, and Apple Operating Systems have Safari pre-installed, but you can use any of these browsers on your devices - simply download them: 

• Google Chrome ~ go to www.google.com
• Firefox by Mozilla ~ go to www.mozilla.com
• Safari  by Apple ~ go to http://support.apple.com/downloads/#internet

Your next Computer Class Series Begins the week of August 19th

On behalf of our entire team we hope you have enjoyed a healthy, fun filled summer break and are now ready to get back to playing with your computers and learning about all this changing technology.....

We have a wonderful new ten (10) week series planned based on topics you and fellow classmates have asked us to cover.  If you haven't registered to attend a class or two, be sure to contact the Southern Artery Office as soon as possible...

Our goal is to help everyone get comfortable with your computers and other portable devices – For some students, who are just getting comfortable with the computers and technology our morning program may be just what you are looking for - we offer three levels:

• Beginners: We will help you understand computer basics, laptops, etc & begin using the Internet
• Intermediate 1: Spend the entire series playing with the Internet & email
• Intermediate 2: Learn the basics of using Word for word processing and Excel for creating spreadsheets

For those students, who have been taking classes for a while and are comfortable with the basics, then our afternoon series is what you might be interested in.  Our goal for our afternoon students this series, is to help increase your understanding of the computer filing system using Windows Explorer, Flash Drives & Memory Cards and using Cloud Computing with SkyDrive, Google Drive, Syncing your emails, calendar and contact list to all your devices; We will spend lots of time on the ever changing world of the Internet – terminology, shopping safely, video websites and the last few weeks our goal is to get everyone comfortable with music on your computer and other devices...

WEEK 1 & 2...WINDOWS EXPLORER –ORGANIZe YOUR COMPUTER

Understanding your computers filing system

Copying & Pasting vs. click ‘n drag

Copying to & from flash drives & memory cards

Please bring a flash drive- we will:

Create folders, sub-folders & rename photos & documents & more

WEEK 3 & 4 CLOUD COMPUTING, SKYDRIVE, GOOGLEDRIVE & SYNCING

What is cloud computing all about & how it makes your life easier’

Learn to safely store photos & documents in the clouds

Using your cloud’s address book & calendar for easy access

Syncing between your PC & Phone, Tablet

How to use your calendar – new & repeat events (daily-weekly-yearly) & more

WEEKS 5, 6, 7 & 8 INTERNET – EVERYTHING YOU NEED/WANT TO KNOW...

 How’s & why’s of using the popular browsers??

Customize your browser with your Favorites/Bookmarks, tabs & lists

Meaning of: Virus, worms, Trojans, Spyware, malware, cookies & more

Shopping safely –Searching, how to pay safely

YouTube & HuLu – downloading & streaming??

Setting up accounts so you can save & upload video’s

WEEK 9 & 10 – WORKING WITH MUSIC ON YOUR DEVICES...

How to play & save CD’s on your computer

Using the “clouds for music”

Find & listen to your favorite radio station, Jango & Pandora

Understanding iTunes & others, purchasing & burning music to cd’s

How to Change the Size of Print on the Screen

On your home computers, Go to Start Menu, then choose "Control Panel," then "Appearance and Personalization" and finally, select "Display."… which allows you to change sizes based on the DPI*

Select a screen text size that works best for you:

• "Smaller -- 100% (default)" text size
•  "Medium -- 125%." is therefore 125% larger than the default size.
• "Larger -- 150%" is therefore 150% larger than the default size for items on your screen
•  “Select Custom Text Size (DPI*)" in the left hand pane of the window (the last selection) to customize the size you want.

*Remember, DPI stands for "dots per inch." If you select more "dots per inch," the text on your screen will be larger and if you select less “dots per inch” he text will be smaller.

Click on the down arrow in the box next to "Scale to This Percentage of Normal Size." A drop-down menu appears, displaying more options.  Choose a size you like and if the sizes still aren’t what you’d like, position your mouse pointer on the ruler visible below the text "Scale to This Percentage of Normal Size." The mouse pointer will turn into a hand symbol. Left-click on your mouse or mouse pad and drag the mouse pointer to the right to increase the size until it suits you. When you release the mouse button, the actual print size will display below the ruler, giving you an instant preview of the size you have selected.

Remember, if you are only changing the size temporarily when you are on the internet or in many other software application programs, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, use the size scroll bar on the bottom right of the status bar or try he CTRL +/- KEYS  to magnify or de-magnify what is you are seeing on the monitor. 

Enjoy Memorial Day

No classes today as we all enjoy the Memorial Holiday and remember those who have served - if that's you, or members of your family - thank you.

We also thought you'd enjoy checking out a favorite Memorial Day website with lots of helpful information about the holiday and the way it is celebrated.. enjoy

www.usmemorialday.org

When I want to know which websites are “Hot” – we can always check out

www.allmyfaves.com – which we refer to in classes quite often..

Another favorite website to visit that lists their opinion of the top “100 websites” is:

www.100bestwebsites.org

Want to travel from the comfort of home, then check out web cams all over the world, including spring tulip farms in Holland, cape cod or local beaches, the Eiffel Tower and many many more:

www.earthcam.com

or closer to home, check out this webcam to look at Nantasket Beach in Hull..

http://northeastsurfing.com/nantasket-beach-hull-cam

So check them out, and if you have a favorite website you'd like us to share with everyone - just send it to me and remember to save websites you visit to your favorite or bookmark list so they are easy to visit again in the future..

Enjoy the Internet - where we can learn & explore anytime - anywhere…

Registration is this Tuesday, August 7th - 9am

Don't forget - Registration for the next series of computer classes at Southern Artery, Series #55, is this coming Tuesday morning, 9am – August 7th at the Southern Artery North Building..

The series itself, begins the week of Monday, August 20^th and continues thru November 1^st…No classes will be held on Monday, September 3 for the Labor Day Holiday or on Monday, October 8^th for the Columbus Day Holiday

Special note – we have combined our Intro to Word & Excel classes held in the morning as requested by many students… so you will spend half the series working with Word Basics and the second half learning Excel basics… - This has also allowed us to add another Beginner or Internet class as needed…

Times & Topics for our Morning Beginner/Intermediate Classes:

·         Monday 9am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

·         Monday, 10:30am: Intermediate 1/Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

·         Tuesday, 9am: Intermediate 1/Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

·         Tuesday, 10:30am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

·         Wednesday, 9am: – Intermediate 2/Word & Excel Basics (Word Processing basics and then intro to basics of spreadsheets to manage lists and numbers)

·         Wednesday, 10:30am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

Times & Topics for our Afternoon Advanced Classes:

• Monday & Tuesday: 1pm-2:30pm
• Wednesday & Thursday: 1pm-2:30pm and 2:30pm-4pm.

During this new series, Afternoon students, will continue to focus on Word Skills in Word Email & Power Point: We will spend the first few weeks with Word Tables creating create a medial information form; we will then review some of the new features offered by email services, then work with organizing photos on our computers and flash drives; learning more about new features offered by Picasa for photo editing – including easily uploading Picasa photos to Walgreen’s & Facebook; and finish out the series spending several weeks creating slide show presentations with Power Point…

Remember, all afternoon students, who have completed the morning Beginner & Internet classes, are welcome to sign up (and pay) for a 2nd class, in the morning such as the combined Word/Excel class, or to refresh their skills on computer and internet basics... Requests for the 2nd class will be granted/honored on a first come first serve basis and students coming up from the Morning Internet Class have priority on the Word/Excel Class openings..

As always, consider registering with a friend so that you have someone to motivate you to use your new skills and if you have ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like to see us teaching – be sure to let us know… 

These are your classes and we want to be sure you are learning the skills important to you…And as always we welcome your comments and suggestions about what it is you want to learn during these classes, not only about application software – such as Word, Excel, Picasa and others, but all of this technology that is changing continually… 

Have you used your "Windows" Magnifier?

MAGNIFYING GLASS - Did you know that the Windows Operating System includes a built-in magnifying glass?  Microsoft Windows has included a magnifying glass with every version of its operating system since Windows 98 and it is called MAGNIFIER.  Each new version of windows has improved the ease of using the MAGNIFIER – so check it out… 

FOR WINDOWS XP USERS

To turn on Magnifier using your mouse Click the Start button

·         Click on All Programs, then click on Accessories, and then click Accessibility.

·         Click Magnifier to open the Magnifier Settings dialog box.

·         Adjust the level of magnification by typing a number from 1 to 9, or by selecting the arrow button to open the list of options from the drop-down menu

You can change “Magnifier size & position” by doing either of the following:

·         To change the size, make sure Magnifier is turned on. Move your mouse pointer over an edge of the Magnifier window. When the pointer becomes a two–headed arrow, hold down the mouse button and drag the Magnifier window to resize it.

·         To change the position, make sure Magnifier is turned on. Move the mouse pointer over the Magnifier window. Hold down the mouse button and drag the Magnifier window to reposition it. 

FOR WINDOWS VISTA USERS

To make items on the screen appear bigger (Magnifier)

The intention of Magnifier is to enlarge parts of the screen, which is really helpful when you are looking at objects that are difficult to see and can be helpful to anyone with vision challenges.

·         Open Magnifier by clicking the Start button ,

·         Now click All Programs, click Accessories, click Ease of Access, and click Magnifier.

·         Move the pointer to the part of the screen that you want to magnify. 

FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS

You can open it quickly by clicking Start, and then type Magnifier.

You can also change the screen resolution, which adjusts the clarity, size, and amount of things that fit on your computer monitor which is found in the Display section of your control panel.

Notes

To exit Magnifier, press the Windows Flag/Logo Key + Esc key.

In Windows 7, there are three Magnifier modes:

·         Full-screen mode. In full-screen mode, your entire screen is magnified. Depending on the size of your screen and the zoom level you choose, you might not be able to see all of the screen at the same time.

·         Lens mode. In lens mode, the area around the mouse pointer is magnified. When you move the mouse pointer, the area of the screen that's magnified moves along with it.

·         Docked mode. In docked mode, only a portion of the screen is magnified, leaving the rest of your desktop unchanged. You can then control which area of the screen is magnified. 

WHEN YOU ARE ON THE INTERNET - Another quick way to enlarge the text and what you are viewing on your monitor is to use the CTRL and + key to enlarge and CTRL key and – to reduce what is on the monitor…   This doesn’t work however when you are in various application programs such as word, excel, power point etc - then you will have to simply ZOOM the page.

How to Disable Background Printing in Word and on the Internet..

If you have applied background to your Word document but you do not want to show that in the printed copy of document – then disable the commands before you print.  And remember background printing uses additional system memory so to speed up printing, clear the Background printing check box.

To Disable background print in Word 97-2003

·         Go to Menu Bar, Tools, then click Options

·         Now click the Print Tab

·         Under printing options, select or clear the Background printing check box

·         When Background printing is on, you can continue to work in Word while you print,

To Disable background print in Word 2007

·         Click “Office” button > “Word Options”

·         Select “Advanced” tab

·         Then in right panel deselect check box for the option “Print in background” under Print section

·         Now click “OK”

To Disable background print in Word 2010

·         Click the File Tab, then choose options

·         Click on “Advanced” from left panel

·         Then in right panel deselect the check box followed by “Print in background” option under Print section and click “OK”

  

When you are on the Internet many websites have background colors or images that you might not want to print.  So, as with word, you may want  to disable the background printing..

To Disable background print when printing from a website on the Internet:

How to print from the Internet without backgrounds or images

·         Open a website that you to want to print out

·         In the Menu Bar go to Tools, then choose Internet Option

·         The Internet Options Dialog Box will now open

·         Click the advanced tab

·         Scroll Down and Find Printing section

·         Uncheck “Print background colors and images box

·         Hit OK or Apply button

Go to File, Print, Click Print (or simply use the Print icon on the toolbar)

What is "Silverlight"?

"Silverlight" a free Microsoft software Plug-In, similar to the Adobe Flash Plug-In.  These plug-ins are used by our Internet Browsers including Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Safari.  This means that anyone with Windows XP. Windows Vista or Windows 7 0 Operating Systems most likely are also using “Silverlight” along with Flash.

Silverlight can also work on Intel Based Apple computers and it even works on Windows based smartphones.  In December 2011, Microsoft introduced the 5^th version of Silverlight.

Both Silverlight and Flash are used to create “online presentations” such as videos and other animated graphic presentations.  They basically run in the background and usually we have no idea that is what our computer is using to help us view what we are watching online.  Most computer have both Silverlight and Flash on them and when we visit a website, it uses whichever “plug in is best”

What’s a plug-in: according to Wikipedia a Plug-In is just a software component that adds specific abilities to a larger software application… Plug ins are most commonly used in web browsers to play video, scan for virus and display new file types – plug ins you are familiar with are Adobe Flash Player, Quick Time and Microsoft Silverlight..

Registration for next Series is Tuesday, 9am-October 25th

Don't forget - Registration for the next series of computer classes at Southern Artery, Series #52, will be held this Tuesday morning, 9am - October 25th at the Southern Artery North Building in Classroom #1.

The series itself, begins the week of Monday, October 31st and continues thru January… For those of you heading to Florida after the holidays, don't miss this series - You will have time to attend most of it and then we will continue to send you the handouts via email when you are away to be sure you don't miss anything!!

Times & Topics for our Morning Beginner/Intermediate Classes:
Monday 9am – Beginner 1 - Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)
Monday, 10:30am – Intermediate 1 - Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

Tuesday, 9am – Intermediate 2 - Word Basics (Word Processing basics – a great class for everyone)
Tuesday, 10:30am – Intermediate 3 - Excel Basics (basics of spreadsheet software to manage lists & numbers)

Wednesday, 9am – Intermediate 1 - Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)
Wednesday, 10:30am - Beginner 1 - Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

Times & Topics for our Afternoon Advanced Classes:
Monday & Tuesday: 1pm-2:30pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 12:30pm-2pm and 2pm-3:30pm (these are our winter hours for both classes, so that anyone driving to/from class, can be home before it get’s dark)

Afternoon students will focus on a variety of subjects including Updates on Internet/Email, using our class and other blogs; Word Processing – review, creating labels and tables & more; using Flash Drives & organizing what’s on your computer; Social Networking including Facebook and in January, always a favorite topic: tips on using your new holiday toys..

Afternoon students, who have completed the morning Beginner & Internet classes, are welcome to sign up (and pay) for a 2nd class, in the morning such as Word and/or Excel, or to refresh their skills on computer and internet basics... Requests for the 2nd class will be granted/honored on a first come first serve basis and students coming up from the Morning Internet Class have priority on the Word Class openings..

As always, consider registering with a friend so that you have someone to motivate you to use your new skills and if you have ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like to see us teaching – be sure to let us know…

These are your classes and we want to be sure you are learning the skills important to you…

Which is faster – cable, telephone or wireless internet??

This is a question that comes up all the time. The following two links are to articles on ehow.com, that we thought might help you better understand this ever changing technology:

www.ehow.com/info_8260618_fios-vs-cable-internet.html#ixzz1ahQZA7JP

www.ehow.com/about_4587185_dsl-cable-wireless-faster.html

According to “ehow.com” FIOS might be the fastest, but FIOS (“fiber optic service”) a product from Verizon, is not available everywhere. Here are some of the differences according to “ehow.com” FiOS potentially offers a lot more bandwidth than cable modems do, and both FIOS and cable offer more download speed than a typical DSL connection.

All Internet providers rate their Internet speeds with two numbers -- download speed and upload speed, where the upload speed is lower – here are the major 3:

• Verizon advertises its top FIOS bandwidth as 20/5 -- 20 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed, and 5 Mbps upload speed
• Comcast digital broadband typically runs at 5 to 7 Mbps download speed and 2 Mbps (or less) upload speeds
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) are typically 1.5 Mbps download speed and 0.7 Mbps upload speeds

Each has advantages and disadvantages:

• Verizon’s FiOS service is offered in a limited set of areas and the fiber optic cable has to be run to your home once it is available in your area
• Cable Internet, such as Comcast’s digital broadband, typically has the widest general reach and is available anywhere there's a coaxial cable connection, over the same wires
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) have somewhat wider coverage, but your home has to be within a certain distance of the telephone switching station

So although Cable Internet may offer higher maximum speeds than DSL or wireless connections, remember that DSL lines belongs only to the person paying for it – whereas, cable connections are usually shared with others in our area, which is why cable users often have fluctuations in the download speeds. So again, according to some, DSL – although slower – might offer more consistent speed..

No matter what – you have to do your homework and be sure you are comparing apples & apples and with technology changing as rapidly as it is, it’s another reason it’s never a good idea to sign a long term contract for any type of service…

Your personal budget should also be a major consideration before making any choice – are the extra few seconds worth hundreds of $$$$ every year??

Facebook - Update your privacy settings

Despite all the bad press Facebook gets about their site and the privacy issue, one of the basic reasons there is a problem is that we, the users, don’t pay close enough attention to our privacy settings, which we should carefully and often..

As technology changes, Facebook has also changed and continually is adding more privacy options for us to use to help protect ourselves –but we have to use them…

Not sure how and what to do – then see what’s news:

Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.

Understand, that anything that is not set to FRIENDS ONLY or FRIENDS OF FRIENDS can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Some good tips for most of us…

• Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as Google


• Under Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.

Surf the Internet and use some favorite shortcuts

Just a few reminders to use some of the "basic" keystrokes & keyboard shortcuts so that when you are surfing the Internet - it will be easier and more enjoyable.....

• "F5" REFRESH KEY – using this function key will “reconnect" you to a website to update all the information


• "F11” FUNCTION KEY – (or Menu Bar, View, FULL SCREEN)- This is a “toggle button/key” so you can go back and forth for Full Screen which CONDENSES your toolbar at the top OR Normal Screen with All Toolbars at top and Task Bar at bottom…


• CTRL AND + OR – KEYS – Allow you to quickly and easily enlarge the screen when you are on the Internet OR use the Zoom Icon/drop down menu on the status bar at the bottom of your screen or go to your Command Bar, Page and Zoom-and change the size there - remember this doesn't change text size, it simply magnifies whats on your monitor when you are on the Internet so that it is easier to read..


• CTRL PLUS LEFT CLICKING THE “HYPERLINK” YOU WANT TO OPEN – this allows you to leave the page you are on open and it forces open another new tab so you toggle between both websites


• TABBING & FAVORITES/BOOKMARKS – these features allow you to easily multi-task and toggle from one website to another without having to “sign in” repeatedly and to visit websites you visit often

Website for Internet Safety Tips (FBI)

One of the most common questions and/or concerns we hear from our students is that of protecting themselves online from privacy theft or internet fraud..
The FBI has a great website that is updated continually about the latest scams – but the following link is to their section specifically designed for all of us “older adults” to help ensure that we can surf the web safely and enjoy the internet.. Check it out and add it to your favorites… Goal is to give you recommendation to protect yourself, your identity and your money!!!

www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors/seniors#target

Some basic tips:

• Never respond directly to an internet ad via their “Link”


• Do not respond to unsolicited advertisements


• Be suspicious of anyone claiming that you can own a home with no down payment


• Do not sign anything that you do not fully understand


• Do not accept payment from individuals for a home you did not purchase


• Seek out your own reverse mortgage counselor


• Trust your gut - if it feels too good to be true, it probably is!!!


• Talk to family & friends first - ask for their recommendations

Router or Modem – What’s the difference?

Routers and modems are “hardware” – They are individual devices with very distinct and separate functions.

A ROUTER is not really essential for internet communication. It is still possible to connect to the internet without routers just like in the old days with internal PCI modems. But you should remember that the main job of the router is to protect you from possible threats and malware, and this shouldn’t be taken very lightly

A MODEM, is the device (or piece of hardware) that allows us to connect our computers – either wired or wirelessly – to the internet. Typically, the modem you use will be provided by your internet provider – you can purchase your own, but be sure that the model you choose will work with the connection from your internet provider (telecommunication company, cable company or satellite provider) before making the purchase. Without a modem, you cannot connect to the internet.

More and more often today, you can purchase combined router/modems so that you don’t have to have 2 separate devices in your work area, such as wi-fi modems that are equipped with routing capabilities which can be wireless or wired or both. There’s no question that in the future, there will be no practical need for cables anymore and all wi-fi modems will also have wi-fi router functions.

What does Download & Upload mean?

When we “download” something – we are bringing “it” from the source we are connected to on the Internet to our computer. Such as, we might "download" music, videos or photos from a website we are visiting to our computer so that we can save it for future use. It is very common today to purchase software from an online store or source and then “download” the software to our computer. In all cases – when you download something – the original remains at the source you are copying it from. You are downloading a copy - never the original.

When we “upload” something we are sending a copy of “it” from our computer to the source we are connected to on the Internet…- such as when we want to order or share photos, we will “upload them” or send a copy of them to Walgreens, CVS or Picasa web albums so that we can then access them from anywhere in the world; when you add an "attachment" to an email, a copy of the original is being "uploaded" and attached it your email.. In all cases – when you upload something – the original remains on your computer – it is simply a copy of that original that is uploaded and sent to the source

What is an IP address?

We hear the expression all the time - but maybe you aren't quite sure what it is.

The IP address is your computer “internet protocol” address. The IP address is a 4-part electronic Serial number, such as: 201.2.312.66 – and you notice that each of the four parts or sections are separated with “.” a period...

Every computer, cell phone, ipad, smartphone etc. are assigned at least one IP address and no two devices in the world have the same IP address. These IP addresses are assigned for tracking and accountability/identification purposes.

Whenever we are on the internet or using cell services and make a connection, the IP address acts very much like the tags on our cars, to enforce accountability and traceability.

What is a URL?

A URL, like so many computer related terms, is a commonly used computer acronym which means:

Uniform resource locators

URL’s are your web browsers addresses of the Internet pages and files. The URL works with your IP addresses to help locate specific pages and files for your web browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera)..

URL’s have 3 sections to address a web page or file:

• 
  
  The protocol, which is the section ending in //:
  


• 
  
  The host computer, which ends in the domain tag .com, .net, .org
  


• 
  
  And of course the web page address itself:
  
  Such as: http://www.patriotledger.com/homepage

Internet - Online quizzes and surveys

Quizzes and surveys you find online, including those on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and others are usually entertaining and may seem like a harmless pastime.

But remember quiz and survey companies are for-profit businesses. So consumer information about you and I are a definite commodity, and I think we should always assume that information that we enter when we are taking these quizzes and surveys, is going to be sold – and also assume you have no idea, and therefore no control, over who the information will be sold to..

Some websites allow users to create their own quizzes and surveys but in most cases they are still making money from the answers.

Just by reviewing the types of surveys or quizzes you take, a criminal may learn a great deal. Answering if you’re Hot or Not, a Fashion Disaster or Diva provides not only businesses in the fashion or teen magazine industries with information, it also provides information to a potential predator about topics that interest you. Some quizzes and your answers get displayed on your social networking sites, which is something to consider carefully if your site is publicly viewable as your answers may expose personal information to a criminal.

Quizzes and surveys on senior social networking sites are typically more financially or medically invasive. For example, the information from a medical quiz may be passed directly to pharmaceutical companies, online drugstores, or insurance companies. After answering a quiz you may find you receive spam targeted to your medical conditions or financial interests.
Make sure you understand the reputation, privacy policies, and terms of use of the site creating or hosting the quizzes.

Before taking any quiz or survey consider the answers to the following questions:

• Why did the company create this quiz?
  


• What will they do with the information?
  


• Who will see my answers?

Personally I never participate in any online quizzes and surveys – it’s hard enough to control my personal information and privacy online, and it’s also quite easy to be “tricked”, so I don’t feel it’s worth taking the chance… but it’s a personal choice..

Internet myths & safety Part 2 of 2

Many of us shop and bank online daily – but we all have to be careful and pay attention to how and when we share information online… a few basics to remember to keep yourself and your information safe when using this wonderful technology…

Never trust a link sent to you by someone you don’t know. By clicking the link you may be taken to a site that may look like your bank or credit card company, but isn’t. One thing a criminal can’t fake is the actual Web site address of a company or bank. Never click a link sent to you in an e-mail, search for the Web address using a search engine to find the real one. Use that to ask the company about the message you received, or call using the number listed on your statements. Mark the real site as a favorite in your browser so that one click brings you there safely every time.

Never (never never never) trust an e-mail that asks for your personal or account information (called a phishing scam). These usually seem convincing (the shabby ones have spelling errors, but the high quality scams look impeccable). No bank or reputable company is going to send you an e-mail asking you to correct your information, validate your identity, re-enter your password, and so on.

Beware of emails that send you "warnings against fraud" - The smarter scams often contain text warning you against fraud. They do this because many people believe that an e-mail that warns them to be careful must be legitimate. That is not always true. This also extends to sites that claim they have protections in place for your privacy and security. Anybody can make these claims, but only certain sites protect you.

Never respond – or even open an e-mail with a deal that is too good to be true unless it is from a company that you know well and expect to get these kinds of offers from them. Scammers want you to react without taking time to think things through, so their e-mails frequently sound urgent, such as:

• "if we don’t hear by tomorrow your account will be closed” (and you’ll notice that the date of “tomorrow” never is listed).


• "this offer won’t last, order now to ensure”

Never believe that someone you don’t know is going to give you money. Do not believe a person from another country who just needs you to “help transfer funds” and they need your bank account number to do so. Such scammers promise to give you a huge amount of money for helping them out. The result is an empty bank account.

If you never entered a lottery, you did not win the lottery. Such scams ask you to provide your information and bank account number so they can transfer your prize money. Don’t. The result is an empty bank account.

Don’t believe a really rich, famous person just wants to help you out… and that the celebrity also mysteriously needs your address, phone number, bank account information to do so. The result is an empty bank account.

Guard your information well. It is better to be rude than to be ripped off, so demand validation, verification, and authentication before giving your information to anyone. If you still feel uneasy, say no or check further.

Be careful when you are online and remember to trust your instincts…

Internet myths & safety Part 1 of 2

Many of us generally buy into a few myths about information exposure online, but for older adults this is especially true….

Myth 1: if you don’t use a computer you aren’t exposed online. In reality, just because YOU didn’t put information online doesn’t mean it isn’t there – virtually everyone has information online that has been placed there by several sources. Some examples:

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  Publicly available government records will show if you own a home, vote, have a criminal record (or speeding ticket), and much more.


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  Your home is listed online and its image is available through any Internet mapping service.


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  Unless you have been very careful to make sure your phone number isn’t in a phone book, it’s online. Even if you have been careful, type it into any browser window and see if it brings back your information – chances are that it will.


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  If you donate to a charity without doing so anonymously the charity’s Web site probably lists you among all their donors as a thank you.


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  If you volunteer with an organization, belong to a church group, sports group, action committee, and so on, chances are they list you on their Web site.


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  If a relative enjoys genealogy, your name and your relative’s names may be online.

Myth 2: if you haven’t fallen for an Internet scam you won’t be the victim of an Internet crime. The truth is that you may never know what the Internet connection is (or even if there was one) in most crimes. For example, information found online may give a criminal the incentive and means to rob your home or steal your identity.

Myth 3: is that the information you post online will only be looked at by people who you know. Actually everything on the Internet is being copied and referenced – constantly. Even if you take your information off the Internet, a copy of it may still be there.

Always reduce exposure by removing personally identifiable information from anything you or family members post online