Google Spies On Me

Well by now almost everyone who keeps up with what's happening on the Internet, knows that Google has updated it's privacy policy and Google is tracking you everywhere.

We shouldn't be surprised.  I decided to fight back.  I use Firefox as my default web browser and I installed a free add-on called 'Do Not Track Plus'.

It worked great, for awhile.

The first symptom of a problem was difficulty logging in to some sites like Barnes and Noble. After I eventually got logged in, then when I clicked the Buy now button for a product, nothing would happen.  Nothing! Even if I changed to another browser!

Today I have been checking my website for valid links. I use a Firefox extension called LinkExtend to check for valid links as I have so many links throughout the site. LinkExtend kept hanging and I had to stop the process.  I then noticed that every time the link checking stopped, it was for a Google site!

So I disabled the 'Do Not Track Plus' and everything is working just fine.  It could be just a problem with the add-in causing the proble and it probably is, but this seems pretty odd to me and just maybe Google is fighting back in some way.  Google is pretty sneaky, they even managed to do some nefarious bit with Safari.

So I will get even, Google! I just won't use your products much any more and those I do use will be while not signed in as I have been told this is when they track folks.

I know other services track me, but Google is just going too far! I guess they are trying to be like Facebook!

Martha

 

Toenails

I have given some thought about toenails (I need a life).

Why do we even have those hard keratin things on our fingers and toes?  Apparently a lot of other folks want to know as there are a lot of pages on the web devoted to nails, both finger and toe, but mostly fingernails.

Just do a web search to see what I mean.

Fingernails I get.  Without them, how would we scratch an itch? How would we be able to pick up that eensy thread or sliver when no tweezers are handy?

But toenails, what good are they?  If someone steps on my toe it still hurts.  If I stub my toes, I can't see that the toenail helped me even a little bit. And even worse, have you ever had an ingrown toenail or a toenail with a hangnail?

After long and careful thought, I think I have figured it out.

When my toenails get hung on threads when putting on socks, that's how I know I need new socks!

Martha  Told you I need a life!

"How to grow our economy: Tell me what you think" (Really?)

Email from Kay Granger, "How to grow our economy:  Tell me what you think'

In all honesty, I doubt Ms Granger has anything to do with the way this plays out, but I just had to post this.

I received an email from her or so it led me to believe.  Included in the email is a survey indicating what I think is needed to grow the economy. There were a number of things listed.  In order to check the ones I felt were most important, it was necessary to reply.  So I pressed reply, checked the boxes by the things I thought were needed and then I sent it.

Please note, there was an UN-CLICKABLE  line  'Submit and join'.

So then I got this message:
"This email address is no longer active. If you wish to send Congresswoman Granger an email, please visit http://kaygranger.house.gov and click on Email Kay Granger. For immediate assistance, please call Congresswoman Granger's office at 817-338-0909 or 202-225-5071. "

Excuse me?

So now, if I want to let Ms Granger know what I think is needed, I have to go to the site mentioned, click email Kay Granger, copy everything from the email she sent to me and paste it into a form! After SHE sent me asking me to tell her what I think!

(In all honesty, there WAS a link to take the survey on the web, but paranoid soul that I am, I hardly ever click a link in email. Since I have never contacted Ms Granger or her office, this email seemed a bit 'spammy',  and how did they get my brand spanking new email address to which this email was sent?)

I don't think so.  What would you do?

Just another example of our incompetent Congress, or at least that is how it seems to me. At the very least there should be competent web/email handlers! But perhaps they feel the burden (once again) is on the tax payers to make our thoughts known.  In that case they are right.

But don't do it this way!

Martha

Been Waiting

At last the two Americans kidnapped by Iranian thugs and held for ransom are free.

I didn't want to say anything before just in case.

And the chief thug is trying to make himself look like a humanitarian.  What a joke!

I just hope that one day the people of Iran will one day be free of the tyrants.

Martha

A Hoax Gets Started

A hoax can get started with maybe a grain of truth.

I recently received an email about a dog leading so many folks to safety during the attack of 9/11. It was very well done, with a picture of the heroic dog included. The Hoax.

It was a stirring story, except it wasn't true. I usually check to see if stories are really true, but since this wasn't of the murdering madmen variety or any one of the type I usually get, I didn't check it out.  When someone brought my attention to the fact that it was a hoax, it burned me up.  There were clues in the original email that if I had checked, I would have known something was not kosher.

The email said the dog led some of those folks from the 112nd floor.  But how many people actually know that each tower had 110 floors? I didn't!

I should have known that if this story was really true, it would surely have been televised at least once!

Now I wonder if this hoax was based on another story (which may or may not be true) about a guide dog on 9/11. Guide Dog Led Owner Down Stairs on 9/11

The reference to this story (Excerpted from Ventura County Star, April 25, 2003) does not seem to be availble.  At least I didn't find it.

So maybe, since this article is to 'persuade people to raise guide puppies', the elaborate hoax about Daisy may have been done in order to get more people to raise guide puppies.  Unfortunately in this cas the untruth may have had the effect of making folks mad instead of getting the attention the hoaxer wanted.

Of course there is always the possiblility that someone just wants to 'be funny' and see how far the hoax will spread.

Martha

Letter to Advertisers on CNN

Have you noticed that some advertisers change up their commercials once in a while?  Like Geico does. Those commercials are clever and folks will watch and listen to them.

Not so for most of those commercials on CNN.

The EXTREMELY annoying one is for some firm showing all the people screaming out their windows, 'It's my money and I need it now'.

That one is the worst and I can't get to the mute button fast enough when that one is showing.

AARP Insurance is another one.  Same old, same old. Over and over again. Another one is the 'Do you owe the IRS more than $10,000? '. There are more, too numerous to name.

I have come to the conclusion these advertisers on CNN seem to be saying:

I need money (don't we all?), I owe the IRS huge sums of money (I don't!), I need one of those scammy reverse mortgages, (So I can pay the IRS?) I need a supplement insurance from AARP (it will cost a lot).

I guess they are saving  money by not making new commercials makes sense to them, but not to me! I wouldn't buy anything from them due to the annoyance factor!

I think I will just quit watching CNN!

Martha

Lost in Cyberspace

Somewhere between Gmail and Outlook, an email vanished. I looked everywhere, but to no avail. Since I always check Gmail in the AM before I open Outlook, I did see the email so I know it was there. It came yesterday into Gmail but it never came into my Outlook which stays open all day once I open it.

So where did it go? All of the other messages received in Gmail downloaded into Outlook, but not this one. It's not in the Inbox or the folder where it should have filtered. Not in the junk mail folder, the deleted folder or anywhere else. It just didn't download.

So now I am wondering. Did all of the extra stuff Google has added to Gmail 'break' something? Or is Outlook having hiccups?

So now I start to think; I have seen some replies to emails that I don't recall seeing. Hmm, I will check my Yahoo mail online. (I have two email accounts that download mail into Outlook.) I know I turned the SPAM filter off, but just in case I looked. There were 41 legitimate emails in the SPAM filter! Is Yahoo playing a 'gotcha' on me?

I reset the settings, so now I will check to see if more legitimate email goes to the SPAM filter. I think too much is happening with Google and Yahoo, each wanting to be a 'Social Network', and stuff may be getting broken along the way.

Power Tripping

The mess in Congress is not doing the American people any good. One way or another, they need to quit the power tripping and get the job done.  The people don't seem to matter any more, it's all 'my way or the highway'.

Especially with this guy!

Guess what, members of Congress.  We voted you in and we can vote you out.  Then where will your power trips be?

I just hope the current batch of 'do nothings' don't destroy America before we can oust them!

Martha

Why did you give that website my email address?

When you joined that social network, probably Facebook, did you give them my email address?  Why?  I didn't tell you that it was OK.

"Oh no", you say "I would never do that!"

Well, if you gave them the password for your email account, you just gave them 'my' email address, along with everyone else's email address in your address book.  Now the social network is spamming everyone in your address book.  While the spam is an invitation to join you on your social network, it is still spam.  And that spam goes to everyone more than once if the original spam is not accepted.

If you did give them your email password, (which has compromised your email account!) I highly recommend you get busy right away and change the email account password to something very secure so any hackers on the social network will not be able to steal your email account.

Sony's Got the Blues

I am wondering if Sony has managed to really tick off someone.  Either that or maybe they need to shell out some $$$ for really good security.

Just read the log of Sony's problems on this site, Sony's hacking woes mount after PSN breach.

Maybe North Korean students are practicing?  North Korea’s Overseas Cyber Warrior Training.

Wouldn't want to be a Sony IT person right now.

Martha

I Didn't Post That!

Several times I have seen posts on Facebook from folks who say "I Didn't Post That, please ignore it".

'That' is something malicious and I am wondering how 'that' managed to get posted from the user's account!

One thing could be the user has a weak password for Facebook.  But the users that posted "I didn't post that" are fairly computer savvy and should have used good passwords.

Now we are finding out that third party apps (like Farmville) are probably the culprits although they are probably not aware of the security issue.

Net-Security explains.

Egads, what next Facebook?

Martha

Stealing my email address!

There is a blog that was stealing posts from one of my Yahoo Groups.  In addition to private messages being exposed, so were email addresses.

Before this blog was set up I NEVER got SPAM for this email address.  Now I am getting SPAM, more than likely due to some web scrapping for email addresses.

Numerous requests have failed to remove this thieving blog.  We did stop the thief from posting more messages and email addresses, but the offending blog is still there.

Why Blogger?  Why won't you remove this scummy blog?  Do you want the spammers to have our email addresses?  Is it because it is a Yahoo group?

Martha

Can't Find Google

Some time back I wrote a post about 'Firefox cannot find the server'.

I had to go back to Firefox as it just has too much going for it the other browsers don't.  But I do use Opera and Chrome, rarely Internet Explorer (that ActiveX thing is still there) and rarely still, Safari.

Imagine my surprise when Google Chrome couldn't find Google!



Martha

 

 

SEO Sellers, Don't Bother!

I have a contact form on my website.

I was getting responses from so many folks trying to sell me SEO services I decided to add this line to the page:

"If you are trying to sell me an SEO service, don't bother, I won't reply!"

Since I am still getting requests to sell me SEO, I guess there is a bot looking for contact forms.

Since the form is completely filled out, is this an automated response? (How do they do that?) Or do these SEO folks just don't or can't read?

Martha

The Super Bowl is NOT in Dallas!

In spite of all the uninformed news media telling you the Super Bowl is being played in Dallas, it isn't true!

The Super Bowl is being played at the Cowboy's home stadium located in Arlington, Texas!  Arlington is NOT in Dallas!

Arlington is 20 miles west of downtown Dallas and is the 49th largest city in the United States.  It is also the home of the Texas Rangers, the International Bowling Campus (which houses the United States Bowling Congress, International Bowling Museum and the International Bowling Hall of Fame), the headquarters for American Mensa, and the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas (the original Six Flags) and Hurricane Harbor.  More...

Martha

Where's the Quality?

Remember that Wendy's commercial with the old lady wanting to know "Where's the Beef"?

Well, this old lady wants to know 'Where's the Quality?'

I purchased some Hanes pajamas for gifts in December.  This month (January) I have been patching and mending seams that were not sewn properly in said pajamas. Every pair. They fit loosely so it isn't a 'busting out' problem. They are always advertising on TV for Hanes underwear, but I suspect I have purchased Hanes pajamas for the last time. I think they need to spend less on advertising and more on quality control.

Appliances should last for more than five years without expensive repairs. However, the new dryer quit alerting me when the clothes were dry when it was less than two years old. The sensor that tells when the clothes are dry quit working when it was less than five years old. Now it is taking twice as long to dry clothes than it did when it was new five years ago.

The new washer sprang a leak, less than five years old.

The new refrigerator had to have a repair when it was three years old.

The new dishwasher had to be repaired less than five years old.

Oh yes, these appliances are all made by GE, which brand won't ever be purchased by me again. I just hope some company out there does make good appliances.

They don't make stuff like they used to when it was all made in the USA.

Martha

Nosy? Or Sneaky!

Much has been said about Facebook's privacy or lack thereof, but Facebook isn't the only place that wants all of your personal details.

I subscribe to a number of RSS feed and some of them are about security.

One of the these feeds is offering a free 'unofficial guide to Facebook privacy'.

To get the guide all you have to do is fill out a form.

Facebook only requires your name, age and a valid email address.

Although your birth date is not required, looks like they want a lot of information just to get a Facebook privacy guide!

What a sneaky way to get your employment details! And what will they do with all that information if a user provides it?

Martha

Things 'As Seen on TV' That I Don't Want

There are a lot of these things I don't want.

I don't want a Snuggie.  It might be OK, but the way it looks, it's long.  Since it is long I suspect I would sooner or later trip over that long part and fall.  If I used it, which I probably wouldn't.

I don't want a Chia pet, ever! I don't care what it is, I don't want one!

I certainly don't want a Clapper. 'Nuff said about that.

In fact, it is easier to say what I do want from things advertised on TV.

The list:

1.

That's it!

Martha

Gmail Blip?

Today I discovered something in Gmail that surely has me worried.

I use two Gmail accounts, one for personal stuff and the other for business related stuff. This has really worked just fine for the most part (except when I signed up for Coke Rewards and the spam gate opened!)

Generally Gmail handles the spam just fine.  I do look in the spam folder as occasionally a legitimate email goes to the spam filter, but not often.

But today something odd happened.  I have been having a problem with other websites hot-linking to my images so I have decided to 'watermark' all my images.  I am not really graphics inclined and all of the watermark files I have made are ok for some, but not for others.  So I have searched for a program that will do the trick for me and I found one reasonably priced so I bought it.

I of course had to provide an email address and I used the Gmail address I use for business.

I kept waiting for the confirmation email from the site, but it didn't show up.  Don't know why I decided to look in the Trash folder, but I did and there was the email I waited for.  In the Trash! I did NOT delete it!  In fact there were three emails from the vendor.  I could understand if I had found them in the Spam folder, but the Trash?

So now I am getting concerned about Gmail and I guess I will have to search the trash from now on. Hopefully this was a temporary blip, but now I feel I can't trust Gmail.

Martha

Can Someone Please Tell Me Why?

Lee Harvey Oswald's used wooden coffin auctioned and sells for more than $87,000.

Is it just me or is this sick?

Martha

How About Some Imagination?

I'm talking Microsoft here!

They can't seem to come up with original names for their email clients and talk about confusion!

We have Outlook in Microsoft Office and Outlook Express in Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows.  OK, that's not too bad, but still confuses lots of folks.

Messenger and Messenger Service was also confusing to a lot of us.(Not exactly email but still...)

In Vista we got Windows Mail.  That was a bit buggy so they came up with Windows Live Mail. (That was certainly buggy for me!) Then to top it all off we get Windows Live Mail 2011!

Please, Microsoft, name the next email version something new!

Martha

Is the TSA Going Too Far?

Oh yes, they are.  I am talking about the 'search' of passengers who fly.  The initial 'pat downs' were bad enough.  Now they are assaulting passengers in a way that would be considered a sexual assault and illegal anywhere else.  Passenger Security Checkpoints

They are 'feeling up' people in a totally unacceptable way! It is absolutely outrageous!  If the people don't protest to the powers that be it will surely continue.

I know the flying public wants to be safe when traveling.  But I seriously doubt they want to be felt up.

Here is one would-be passenger's experience. TSA encounter at SAN

For what it's worth, I will never ever fly again until the TSA stops treating passengers this way!  I predict air travel will diminish, trains, buses and auto travel will get an uptick.

Martha

I really hate this stuff!

Robo calls.  These are even worse when the robo caller doesn't recognize the answer machine or voice mail.  (Do you hear me, Secure Horizons?)  And the robo caller keeps calling and filling up my voice mail.  Ugh!

It's bad enough when you call a customer service center (especially the phone company) and have to listen to some automated robot before you can get through to a real person.  Now the robot is calling us!

The supermarket keeps re-arranging where stuff is located. Pressed for time I have to search all over the store for stuff I need.

All of a sudden stuff I am used to buying is no longer sold where I shop. I really hate this!

The product I want says '0 trans fat', but the ingredients (in teeny tiny letters) list 'partially hydrogenated oi'.  Hey dummies, that's trans fat!

Those drug company commercials that want us to 'Ask your doctor'.

Those awful commercials that end up with folks in bathtubs in the middle of nowhere.  For shame!

Victoria Secrets commercials.  Just because. (I have never ever known or seen in person anyone with a figure like those models!)

There are more things that really bug me, but for now this is all I want to say.

Martha

Is the Internet making us gullible?

I keep getting an email from various friends and family about October having 5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. (This is true.) Then the email goes on to say "This happens once every 823 years."  (Definitely NOT true!)

How can folks be so gullible!

Well if enough people say something, then folks start to believe it however ridiculous it may be. This is true of a lot of the junk emails getting sent around in cyberspace.

There are a number of sites that have taken the time to debunk (explain) the truth about this hoax. One is the Hoax Slayer and another is Snopes.

If people would just stop to think they might realize that some things just aren't realistic, common sense should tell us it wouldn't happen only every 823 years!

Martha

Free (But only for your private information)

Some 'free' things are not free.  If you have to provide your personal detail in order to receive information, it isn't free.  Companies pay big bucks for user details, so many sites try to collect them.  That's why there are so many social networking sites.  They don't charge you a fee, but you pay with your details.

I am a fanatic about Facebook privacy.  So when I saw this 'free' offer for "The (Very) Unoficial Guide to Facebook Privacy Free Guide", I bit.

But it isn't free.  In order to get this guide I have to provide a LOT of personal information.
"Complete and verifiable information is required in order to receive this Guide."

I suspect the guide would tell me not to provide this kind of information to Facebook, but I think I'll just pass on this 'Free Guide'.

Can you say 'Hypocrite'?

Martha

The Faster My Internet Connection, The Slower It Gets

So why is that?  It's because of all those external ad servers!  More all the time.  Sometimes there are so many ads on a site it's hard to find any content.

I know folks need to pay the bills, but give me a break, enough already! First there is intelli-text with those irritating boxes that jump up and obscure what you want to see. It's not just personal sites either. Even CNN uses intelli-text!

I read a lot of stuff online, but sometimes it gets frustrating when I have to wait for all those ad servers to finish loading.

Just a few that I have waited for today:
Downloading data from apimg.video.ap.org
Downloading data from core.videoegg.com
Downloading data from cdn.eyewonder.com
Downloading data from s0.2mdn.net
Downloading data from puma.vizu.com
Downloading data from ads.yldmgrimg.net

There were more, but they loaded so fast I couldn't read them all.

Today I am waiting and waiting.........Trying to view Environmental Graffiti! The bar at the bottom of my browser says 'Waiting for dig.com'.  Why? I have no idea!
Now it says Transferring data from scribol.com...' Waiting for zulu.tweetmeme.com... I just don't have time for all this 'Waiting for', so I will pass on this today and just mark those feeds as read. maybe I will try again later, but probably not.

Martha

A Mattress Myth

Does a mattress double its weight due to dust mites and their debris?  Folks that sell mattresses tell us it will. They go on to say it will double the weight in 8 years (or 10 depending on the ad).

I don't think so! And I am not the only one not buying into this myth, either.

The Straight Dope sets us straight.

I didn't really need someone to tell me it wasn't true, but it's nice someone did!

Marketing folks will latch onto any myth if they think it will help them sell something. Buyers beware!

Martha

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

Another example of why our schools are so far behind other countries.  The people running the show have no common sense as evidenced by this incident, Toy gun leads to Florida boy's expulsion.

Read more of the idiotic 'zero policies' enacted by the idiots running the schools.

Rules need to be enforced, but circumstances must always be considered. Is it any wonder our kids are not competing with the world?  They think and rightly so, the powers that govern their lives make no sense, so why should they care?

I read about this stuff in total amazement that we trust our children's education and futures to such total stupidity.

Martha

Dumb Things People Do

This list could be really long, but I will try not to get too wordy. I have to admit, sometimes I do dumb things as well. But then doesn't everyone?

One really dumb thing people to is park their expensive cars on the driveway because the garage is full of junk worth maybe a few hundred dollars. Dumb!

If a person drives 20 miles to save 3 cents on a gallon of gas, that's dumb!

Another really dumb thing people do is buy stuff from spam emails.  If no one bought anything from spam, before long there wouldn't be much spam. Of course there would still be some unwanted emails from Grouply and so-called social sites, but that is a drop in the bucket compared to the spam we get now.

A really dumb thing people do is sign up for those so-called social sites without knowing or understanding what those sites will do. The part I have a problem with is importing all those users' contacts from their email programs. Yikes, what a spam collectors dream!

The latest dumb thing I did was delete the wrong file from my Documents.  It held all my email for Windows Live Mail. I am consoling myself with the fact that that I think Windows Live Mail is buggy anyway, and most of the emails were really not worth hanging onto. I was planning on uninstalling it anyway.

I think I will take it easy today so I won't do anything dumb.

Martha

Something to Think About (Social Networks)

Never give your email password to one of these sites!  While you are signing up, read everything very carefully! Do NOT get in a hurry and just keep clicking 'Next' without reading! This can cause you to send 'invitations' to everyone in your address book and make a lot of folks really mad at you!

If you belong to a Yahoo Group and you give one of these sites the login and password to your email account,  this social network (including Facebook) will spam the Yahoo Group and maybe most of the members.  This kind of stuff will, of course, get you banned as most folks don't like being spammed, especially the group owner/moderators.

You can join one of these groups without offering up your email security (password).  Most if not all have a 'skip this' option.

If you think about it, how do you know what those sites will do with your email password?  I know, most of them say they won't store it.  That, my friends, may be a big fat lie!  If they don't store it, then why do I keep getting reminders in my email that someone has invited me to join them on Facebook! They at least still have all those email addresses so they can spam everyone over and over again all the folks who don't join them on Facebook!

Another thought; who's to say someone who has access to that spammer's delight of a humongous email database might decide to 'cash in' and sell that list?

So if you have foolishly given that social network the login and password so they can access  your address book, at least undo the damage and change the password to your email account. And while you are at it, make that password really hard to guess to prevent a scumbag from hacking your email account!

Martha

All Those Blog Posts I Didn't Write

I resisted the urge to post a lot of stuff. Those times I wanted to berate folks for all of the terrible emails they send about politicians.  Most of them are very vitriolic and have little truth to them.

I resisted the urge to post what I think about sites like 'Why Mommy is a Democrat' or other such nonsense. (Damaging young children's minds, well never mind.)

I wanted to write what I thought about politicians in general. (You probably feel the same way.) But I resisted the urge because I couldn't say what I thought without using some too colorful words.

I resisted the urge to write my opinions of Obama, Palin and the current governor of Texas.

I wrote about what the media does for things in general, but I didn't post it. Most folks probably don't care anyway.

I didn't post how I feel about emails with religious stuff.

Since I didn't post all that stuff, I think by now folks may figure out, politics and religion are taboo subjects for me to post ON THIS BLOG.  I may make another blog so I can really vent!

Martha

Lost in Cyberspace

Somewhere between Gmail and Outlook, an email vanished. I looked everywhere, but to no avail. Since I always check Gmail in the AM before I open Outlook, I did see the email so I know it was there.  It came yesterday into Gmail but it never came into my Outlook which stays open all day once I open it.

So where did it go?  All of the other messages received in Gmail downloaded into Outlook, but not this one. It's not in the Inbox or the folder where it should have filtered. Not in the junk maik folder, the deleted folder or anywhere else. It just didn't download.

So now I am wondering.  Did all of the extra stuff Google has added to Gmail 'break' something? Or is Outlook having hiccups?

So now I start to think, I have seen some replies to emails that I don't recall seeing.  Hmm, I will check my Yahoo mail online.  (I have two email accounts that download mail into Outlook.) I know I turned the spam filter off, but just in case I looked. There were 41 legitimate emails in the Spam filter! Is Yahoo playing a 'gotcha' on me?  (I think Yahoo is broken.)

I reset the settings, so now I will check to see if more legitimate email goes to the spam filter.  I think too much is happening with Google and Yahoo, each wanting to be a 'Social Network', and stuff may be getting broken along the way.

Martha

Guess I am an 'Old Fogey'

All of this Social Networking stuff is totally beyond me.

OK, I guess it has it's uses, like keeping up with family and friends that don't have time (or the inclination) to communicate with everyone, but I don't understand why I need to know about all of the strange creatures someone has found playing a game, or all of the other peculiar things that folks do with these games.  I certainly don't need to know one of my friends is now friends with someone I never heard of.  I don't need to know that one of my family members made a comment about one of those folks I never heard of. But I confess, I have a Facebook account.

And for the life of me I don't understand why I should 'follow' some web site on Twitter or why I should want to be a 'fan' of some other website. I don't 'follow' anyone and I certainly don't want anyone 'following' me.  I think that used to be called stalking! I had a twitter account, but I cancelled it.

I keep getting invitations from some people I have never heard of, wanting me to be their 'friend' and join them on some weird website for some specific purpose like 'studying' or whatever. I left school along time ago, so what do I need to 'study' now?

My Gmail account wants me to 'Buzz'.  What on earth for? My email is supposed to be private, so why does Gmail want me to share it with everyone? I don't know everyone! (And I don't want to, either!)  I still use Gmail, but I turned Buzz off.

Facebook wants me to let everyone in the world know what I post. Why? Does Facebook think I am so wonderful that everyone in the world is eagerly waiting for me to say something marvelous?  I am afraid they are all going to be very disappointed. Marvelous and me are not something that goes together.

There is a lot of other stuff that makes me think I may be an old fogey.  I don't like cell phones!  I have one, but I don't use it much.

I see folks everywhere with cell phones in hand. What are they always taking about?  What they had for breakfast?  Who knows, but when I am out in public I don't care to be overheard taking to anyone.  I don't want to hear them talking either, but there they are yakking away, oblivious to their surroundings and who might be listening.

The Old Fogey

Misbehaving Programs

You probably have had some of these programs.  Some but not all are free and everyone likes free.  Some free programs aren't really free.  In order for them to install, you have to agree to some stuff you don't want.  There may be an option to un-check it if you don't want it, but some of them will install it anyway. I always look to see if it did install and a lot of times I have to uninstall the unwanted junk.

Foxit is bad about this.  I love the reader and I know the folks at Foxit need to make some money so I guess this is how they do it. Because it is so much better than Adobe I just have to watch and uninstall the stuff I don't want.

I recently had an email program update. Incredimail is a good email program for folks that love the eye candy in email.  I use it just for testing an a test computer as a lot of folks sometimes have questions about it. When the update downloaded and before it installed, it wanted me to change my home page. I have no reason to make Incredimail's site my home page so I ticked no and guess what, it changed it anyway. Naughty Incredimail!

I use Snagit, a wonderful screen capture program that is so much more than just a screen capture. Snagit isn't free. But Snagit wants me to use Internet Explorer.  If there is an update, it takes me to their site always using IE.  I don't use IE. I use Firefox. It really ticks me off when a browser opens that is not my default browser unless I choose to open it.

I don't want every program on my computer to run at Startup.  But most times I don't get to choose.  After the program installs I have to first check to see if there is a way to disable that by looking at 'Options' (if there are any) and usually there is no option to stop it loading at startup.  So I have to go to msconfig and disable the program from loading at start up there. Why every program writer seems to think I want my computer to be bogged down by programs running in the background, I don't know.

There a lot more of these misbehaving programs out there, I am sure.

I'm not the only one who feels this way!  'Legal Software More Annoying then Most Viruses'

Martha

Do NOT open my browser full screen!

Never, ever! This makes me want to jump through the screen and slap the perpetrator silly!

If I want my browser full screen, I, not anyone else, will make it full screen.

Extremely annoyed,

Martha

I read the Consumerist

The Consumerist

Some stuff I have learned while reading what has happened to other people.

Be careful who you bank with, as the big banks are trying to find ways to gouge you big time. Check out a small local bank and move your accounts to them. (This is not new)

Don't get a credit card with the same bank where you keep your money.  Keep your savings account, if you have one, at a different bank than your checking account. Diversify!

Get a prepaid cell phone and forget about the telcos.  They just find ways to over charge you.

If you have Comcast, find alternatives.  Comcast does not want to help you, they just want your money.  This is true of most companies that provide TV, phone service and broadband Internet, so good luck finding a good one!

Read the fine print before you sign the dotted line.  Everywhere. For Everything. You can't believe everything a customer service representative tells you.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  Folks who write to the consumerist are telling one side of the storey. (I am inclined to believe them though.)

One thing stands out. Big banks, big corporations, big companies will lie to you to get your business.  Don't trust any of them. Once they have your money and if things aren't as promised, too bad for you.

I truly thank 'The Consumerist'  for keeping me informed.

Martha

Get your Own Email Account (Email Account Oddities)

Every now and then I see an email account that seems to belong to more than one individual.
An example is 'johnandmaryjones@some isp.com'.

You've probably seen an account like this as well.  Causing even more confusion, the email address might be johnsmith@some isp.com, but the sender signs the email with a totally different name, like 'Charles Smith'.

I suspect at least one of the reasons for email account oddities is because the owner may not be aware he/she should have a separate private email address. Or perhaps the owner of the account does not want anyone else to have a separate email account so he/she can read emails intended for the other party. (Possessive?) At any rate, this practice seems odd.

Almost all ISPs (Internet Service Providers) allow several email addresses for the account. So John Jones can have a separate account and Mary Jones can have her own account. Even if the ISP allows only one account, why don't folks make use of Yahoo or Gmail to get their own account?

I have no idea why an email account that includes someone's name would belong to another person that signs a totally different name.  I imagine there is a reason, but what it could be escapes me.

Sometimes I wonder too much about stuff, this may be one of those times.

Martha

Uninstalling AVG Link Scanner

LinkScanner supposedly stops those drive-by rogues from installing on your computer.

I installed this program because I am paranoid about security. However, it never let me know if it stopped anything and to be truthful, I suspect my ESET Smart Security was doing the same job.

Since it seemed like my web browsing was slower I decided to uninstall LinkScanner.

The uninstaller kept hanging. The only way to get out of it was through Task Manager.

What a challenge this was! Every thing I found in searches on how to remove this program indicated first I would need to install AVG's virus scanner and then uninstall it. Since I have ESET, I knew that wasn't an option for me. I would have had to uninstall ESET first and then install AVG!  No way was I going to uninstall ESET!

AVG's website was no help, or at least it was well hidden.

So I just kept trying to uninstall the LinkScanner. The uninstaller would get to a certain point and just hang. The dreaded 'not responding' message would pop up every time.

Then I tried to uninstall LinkScanner by using Advanced Uninstaller.  It finally managed to uninstall it after I performed some other steps first.

I stopped it from running by disabling it in Task manager and rebooted. Then it finally uninstalled, but there were 'leftovers'  that had to be deleted manually. When trying to delete these files I kept getting a message 'The action can't be completed' because the file is open in AVG LinkScanner©9Watchdog'.

So what is this? I did a search for this on my computer  and all it did was take me back to the files I couldn't delete.

Finally it occurred to me it must be a running service. So I went to Administrative Tools/Services and sure enough there were two entries for this stubborn program, 'AVG LinkScanner©9WatchDog and AVG Security Toolbar Service.  Once I disabled these two services I was able to finally delete the 'leftover files in Program Files.

CCleaner removed the leftover Registry entries and now the LinkScanner is finally gone.  And browsing is much faster!

Martha

Astonished!

Today I called WalMart.  I know, but I wanted to know if they carried a particular item.

I almost fell out of my chair.  It rang once and a real live person answered!  No horrible automated phone menu! I almost forgot why I called I was so astonished.

Later I called AT&T to add a service to my account. Too bad, I got that horrible automated phone menu that makes me want to jump through the phone line and strangle the jerk that came up with it, if only I knew who it was.

Oh well, can't have everything, but still I wish 'customer service' really meant something. Now it's all 'the bottom line'. Customer Service seems to be lip service and not much else any more.  I will say when I finally got a real live person, that person was helpful even though I could tell a lot of the time it was scripted.

Martha

Rooting for the Giant Asteroid

There are countless movies, TV shows, books, etc. warning us about the danger of the killer asteroid that will someday hit the earth and destroy every living thing including us. Some depict horrendous scenes of fire engulfing the planet, boiling away the oceans and turning the surface of the earth into a molten bubbling mass.

Not all of these scary scripts are the same, but nearly all indicate gloom and doom for the human race.

There are times when I wonder, 'maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing'.

One of the things that make me wonder are terrorist attrocities. How can they justify killing of innocents? They claim it is because their supreme being tells them to kill, but I don't believe that. The terrorists are destroying the airline industry in bits and bites at a time.

Another thing that makes me wonder is how greed has nearly destroyed our country's financial well being and ruined so many lives. People are still losing their jobs, their homes and their health care due to pure greed.

Corporations send jobs to other countries due to greed. Never mind more people here are unemployed when those jobs leave. It's the bottom line. Greed.

Big pharma is a major player in greed.  Paying big bucks to convince people to 'Ask your doctor' and paying kickbacks to the doctors so they can sell higher and higher priced drugs that have side effects that can and probably will kill countless folks over the years. (I think I may start rooting for that asteroid!)

It is pretty obvious the Lobbyists own most of Congress. (Look at the good things for consumers that get voted down because the Lobbyists tell the congressional members if they want support come election day, they better vote no.)

False statements like "Health care for every one will cost too much money and ration it for everyone."  Guess what, health care is already rationed. If you can't pay, you get no care and you die. It seems to me like it's a case of "I got mine, to hell with you."  Some of the more vicious of the statements about health care for everyone were saying when you get old, you get put to sleep. Maybe not in just those terms, but that is what came across to a lot of folks.

Yep, those are just a few of the things that make me think maybe the asteroid will be all for the best.

Rant over for now,

Martha

Social Networks and Some Other Services Are Getting Too Social For Me

There is Google's Gmail and Buzz.

Google made this 'Buzz' automatic. They didn't ask me, they just turned it on. As a result I decided to turn it off, but before that I deleted all of the email addresses in my Gmail accounts. (I have more than one)  Now I download the emails to my computer. I am seriously thinking of deleting my Gmail accounts and just using my ISP or my domains for email.

Facebook keeps adding changes. Facebook keeps making changes.

I looked at my privacy settings.  They had to be changed again! I am seriously thinking about deleting my Facebook account.  Who knows what they will do next?

Now it's Microsoft and Hotmail.

Years ago I got a Microsoft Passport as it is needed sometimes to get content from Microsoft.  Fortunately, there is nothing in my profile and I intend to keep it that way. I left Hotmail about 6 years ago, so hopefully that is now defunct.

Nothing concerning privacy really seems to matter to the 'big boys' (Microsoft, Google and Facebook).  Usually they make changes available to users, but it is 'after the deed is done', so in the meantime private information is exposed to the world.

I think I may have to forget the Internet and go back to socializing face to face.

Martha

Free Speech? A Sad Day!

The Supreme Court is now saying it is OK to torture animals.
The Court says "banning the videos is an unconstitutional violation of free speech".

Well they said it is OK to show videos of animals being tortured. In my book it's the same thing.

The only member of the Court to vote against this despicable practice was Justice Samuel Alito.  Too bad the rest of the members of the Court don't seem to think it's wrong. I hope they don't decide to ban the child porn laws.

A sad day for animals and animal lovers every where.

Martha

Is that all there is?

Mary is now friends with...................

John is now friends with........................

Harry became a fan of.........................

Jane became a fan of.........................

Mary and Jane are now friends.

So enough of that! Facebook Lite!!!

Then Facebook Lite won't let me sign in. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Who needs Facebook!

Martha

Facebook Friends

Why is it so important to so many folks to have hundreds of friends on Facebook?

By far the majority of these folks don't have a clue who all of the 'friends' really are and I suspect they don't care. They just say 'OK' and 'befriend' anyone who asks.

Case in point.

I think that pretty much says it all.

Martha

Online Order Deception

With the advent of the Internet, soon came the ability to shop online. Sites like Amazon.com became the darlings of online ordering.  (Amazon is one of my favorites!) Online ordering became a major way to get goods delivered to a customer's home with little effort. (Except maybe when it came time to pay the bill.)

But unfortunately, sometimes unscrupulous merchants try to boost their bottom line by using practices that while maybe are not illegal, but are certainly shady.

One way customers are sucked in to a shady practice is the promise of a rebate for shipping.  Notice this is NOT the same as an order code for free shipping that many reputable sites offer.

Most customers are intent on what they want to order and fail to read all fine print on the site where they will order. Sometimes the fine print is in a much lighter shade and is located below the 'Order Now' button. An example of this is on this site: Plaque Attack

Notice the Free Shipping logo at the top of the page has a small wording, After Rebate. Now scroll to the bottom of the page and in a box with light gray text, read the Offer Details. In order to get the free shipping, the customer is signing up for a 'free trial' of the 'Insider's Club'.   Curious, I went to the site FreeShipping.com mentioned in the order details and nowhere could I find what the price would be after the free trial ends.

So now what happens?  Customers sign up to join to get the free shipping.  What they may not realize and most don't, after the 'free trial' they will be billed a monthly fee and nowhere does it say what that fee will be until it's too late. Then when they get their credit card statement or bank statement they learn the awful truth.  (Never ever use a debit card to order online!) Trying to get this unwanted service canceled and a return on their money can be a very frustrating experience, sometimes almost impossible.

Unfortunately there a lot of sites like this. Just check out the posts on the Complaints Board.

There are so many deceptive practices on the Internet. A lot of them are pure scams, but the sites like the one above cover their you know whats by putting disclaimers or confusing wording on their sites so when the customers dispute the charges they can claim the customer was notified in advance. So while these sites are not actually illegal, they are in cahoots with sites that are certainly out to scam the customer.

Welcome to the world of NO Privacy!

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and who knows how many more social networks are out there.

Very soon we will be able to see just what you post on Twitter! Yahoo! and Twitter give wings to your social world.

OK, that's what Twitter is about, but what about the secure way you set up your Facebook? Facebook Pages Now Part Of Google’s Real-Time Results.

Is it only a matter of time before your Gmail messages show up in searches? It could be if you didn't turn Buzz off!

I hope my ISP doesn't decide to be a social network!

Martha

The Internet and Trust?

What a contradiction! The Internet has taught me not to trust anything!

I learned a long time ago not to trust stuff in email, especially from strangers. Spam loaded my inbox and I quickly learned not to open it but to just delete it unopened. It's a good thing too because it wasn't long before email came bearing unwelcome stuff besides folks just trying to sell me something. Virus was first, then Trojans, worms, phishes, etc., ack! Email became dangerous!

As if that wasn't enough, so called trustworthy sites began to put stuff on our computers to spy on us. My favorite tax program put spyware on our computers! I will never use anything by that company again! Although they apologized, the trust I had in them is now gone.

I found out a music company did more or less the same thing!  They put a dangerous application called a rootkit on computers when a music CD was played on a computer. A rootkit is very hard to detect. That company also makes computers and how can we trust that those computers are not 'infected'?

I suspect those companies learned their lesson and probably won't try such tactics again, but I am suspicious. I tend to remember "fool me once, shame
on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me".

Since companies don't want to lose customers, they generally will not try stuff like that again.  But there are other things that can 'bite' us if we don't beware.

Some 'free' downloads are not free if you don't watch out when you install programs. When I installed my pdf reader (not that piggy Adobe), there
was an option to also install the Ask toolbar. The box was already checked to install it, so if I hadn't learned a long time ago to actually read what's
going to happen during the install I would have ended up with an unwanted toolbar. Other downloads have done the same with the Google toolbar.

Now Gmail has lost my trust with this thing called 'Buzz'.  I like Gmail, for email. Just email and nothing more. I don't want my email to be a social network.

I saw someone on TV talking about Buzz and how she likes it.  She can share so much like links and photos.  The first thing that came to mind was 'wow, a new way for scammers and phishers to suck people in to getting spyware, worms, trojans and the like, as if there isn't enough of this already'.

I turned Buzz off in my Gmail and I am going to go one step further.  I am going to remove all email contacts as well.  Who knows what Gmail may try
next?

Social Networking or is it Social Silliness?

After much soul searching and deliberation, some time back I finally decided to join Facebook. (And no I didn't give up my email password!) At first it seemed to be ok until my cohorts in common decided to join some of the games that Facebook seems to think we need. Everyday someone is planting something, cleaning something or finding something, all while playing in one of these Facebook apps.

One of the most annoying is the notice that someone commented on something someone else posted. Why on earth is that necessary? I really don't need to know about all those comments that are not very informative.

I finally found something I can become a fan of, it's 'I dont care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!!'

I know I am perhaps a party pooper here and if some folks get enjoyment from all of the silliness, I guess that's okay, but I just can't see myself farming online or cleaning fish tanks!

Martha

Change Your Email Password!

When you joined Facebook, (or ANY other social network site) did you give them the password to your email? Why for heaven's sake did you do that? Did you actually want Facebook to send an invitation to your bank? Did you want them to send an invitation to anyone and everyone in your address book? (And remember, some email programs will save every email address for anyone you ever sent an email including replies.)

Oh, you didn't know they would do that?  What exactly did you think would happen when they said 'Find friends using your email account?' Did you think they would know exactly who your friends are and wouldn't send invites to anyone you didn't want to receive an invitation? Really, did you think that?

I suspect you didn't think at all, you just blindly followed and gave them your password. For shame! Don't you know you shouldn't give your email password to anyone?  Even your ISP won't ask you for your email password!  Your bank, your credit card company, Paypal, etc., none of these will ask you for your email password, so why on earth would you give a stranger your password?

Oh, you say, Facebook isn't a stranger.  Really? Do you know who lurks behind the site that is asking for this information? I bet you don't!

If you did fall for that 'Find friends using your email account' and now that everyone in your address book has been spammed at least once, all those
folks that didn't join you on Facebook are going to spammed again to remind them of the 'invitation' to join you. This fact makes me wonder about the
validity of the blurb below the box to enter your password.  You know, the one that says 'we won't store your password'.  Then how do they manage to send out 'reminder' spam?

I would guess it's because your password is still there. I would remove it if I were you.  Then you should go to where ever your email is hosted and change the password for your email account. And for goodness sake, don't ever give away your email password again! Ever!

Martha

Goodbye Firefox For Now

Why Firefox is no longer my default browser. I still use Firefox (I really need some of those extensions) but all of those 'Firefox cannot find the server' messages when going to websites finally just made me decide to make Opera default. Opera finds those sites just fine.

Sometimes I had to press the Retry button 3 times to get to what I know is a valid site.

At first I thought it was just my computer, but then I tried on other computers and it is the same. Then I found I am not the only one with this problem.

I looked on the Moilla forum for answers and all I got was 'you must have spyware',  it's your firewall' or some such nonsense. Sorry, I think it's a bug in Firefox that somehow is overlooked by all of those folks that contribute. Too many people are experiencing this problem. (Some from as far back as 2005) If it is a security thing, why doesn't it happen for all sites?

Even some Linux users have this problem.

You know what? Opera is faster and renders pages much better.

Martha

Updating Word Press

I just hate updating Word Press!

The newer versions of WP are supposed to have this automatic update feature, but it never works for me. Once upon a time there was a plugin for automatic update and that worked pretty well for awhile, but then it stopped working and the fun? began for me.

First I try to get it to automatically backup. It goes as far as downloading the new version and then it just stops. No more, nada. (I keep hoping, but it just won't work)  At least I don't have to update my database version every time!

I backup the site, verify the backup, de-activate the plugins and download the new version. Then I have to hunt for the instructions because I have this memory problem and follow the instructions all the while hoping it will work and I won't have to use that backup. So far I haven't had to use the backup, but you never know.

Then I have to remember to re-activate my plugins, check every thing to make sure all is ok and say a silent prayer.

So if anyone has an idea why that automatic thing doesn't work, please let me know!

Martha

What happened to Global Warning?

In case you are sitting on a sunny beach somewhere and you haven't read any news, just about everywhere in the US is covered by an arctic blast and most of us here in the Texas and other southern states are freezing our you-know-whats off.

I read it's darn cold in Europe as well.

I haven't felt this cold in many a year! It's just downright cold and there are no other words for it. I want this arctic blast to go back to the Arctic.

It's really hard for me to think we have global warning when the weather is like this!

When it's this cold I want to do is stay at home where it is reasonably warm. But then my little dog wants to go for a walk and so my parka that hasn't been used in a long time comes out of the closet and away we go.

Martha

Well, that was fun, NOT!

Word Press has a new version and so I decided to upgrade. Everything seemed to go fine until I reached the last step, upgrading the database. This new version requires MySQL 4.1.2 or greater (old requirement was 4.0) Now a techie I am not. So I hop to my host's control panel and start searching for how to upgrade my WP database.

Greek! It might as well be Greek, 'cause I don't understand this stuff.

I call the help line for my host and get a very helpful person who is trying his best to help me, but he must be in another country, because I just can't understand what he is telling me.  Finally I mange to get most of what he is saying.  I create a new database and start the export from the old database to the new database, but the in the last step I get an error and there I am lost.  So the nice tech tells me he will send me an email with instructions on how to fix the error and now I wait for the email. (I know he knew I would never understand the verbal instructions!)

Sure enough, the email comes through with the instructions. Fortunately for me my programmer son is home and I turn this over to him. He fixes the database and now the export from the old database to the new database goes through with no errors.

So now all I had to do was update the config file and now I have the new version up and running.

I did learn something, but I hope I don't have to do this again for awhile!

Martha

Secunia

I use Secunia to test my computer for insecure applications. I had a question about something so joined their online forum to see if there was an answer there. I went through the usual hoopla when joining a forum and at last got to the Congratulations screen telling me to 'login using the form' below.

Except there was no form below. (In Firefox, my default browser) So I reloaded the screen.  Nope, no form.  On a hunch I opened IE and loaded the same screen.  Yep, there was the form.

Now while this is normal for some websites, the funny thing is, Secunia reports that Internet Explorer (both regular and 64 bit) are insecure and there is no fix!

Now since they know IE is insecure, wouldn't you think their page would work in another browser like Firefox?!!!!  (But it did work in Opera!)

Martha

Upgrading WordPress

It's that time again, upgrade your WordPress blog. I don't know why the automatic upgrade doesn't work for me any more, but it doesn't so I had to do the manual upgrade. Again.

I just panic until the upgrade is completed. What if it doesn't work? What if I have to do everything all over again!!! While I don't post to this blog as often as I should, I still want to keep it!

From one upgrade to the next, I go through the 'try and try again to do the automatic thing' and then after about four tries I give in and do the manual upgrade.

Keeps me on my toes! Literally!

Martha

Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2007

This program is not installed on my computer, yet Windows update showed I needed update KB973709 which is an update for Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2007.

Thinking that it might be related to another MS Office product I selected all the Office updates to install and all of the Office updates failed. I tried several times and the updates always failed. So I downloaded each of the updates and installed them manually.  All installed except the KB973709, the Visio Viewer update. A search for the Visio Viewer confirmed it is not installed on my computer.

While searching for each update I found numerous entries for the failure of updates to install and they were all the same updates as the failures were for me.

Microsoft must have goofed on this update!

Fortunately I never install the Office updates when I install the Windows updates. I always install the Windows updates first. After they have installed and rebooted the system, I then go for the Office updates. The Windows updates installed just fine.

In order for Windows update to keep nagging me to install this update I had to hide it.  In the future I will check out those updates more carefully before installing them.  This 'goof' cost me a lot of frustration and time.

Martha

Scareware!

For safer surfing, better use Firefox with NoScript installed.

I have read numerous emails from folks that get one of these scareware alerts. Most of them are wanting to know how to remove it as their security protect doesn't help.

Today I experienced first hand one of these 'fake alert' scareware/malwares. I like to read the comics online and have a few sites bookmarked. As soon as I clicked on one of them the 'fun' began.

My browser opened full screen (which is an annoyance) and then I got the alert telling me 'your computer is infected!' It appeared to be scanning something, however I know it wasn't scanning my computer.  These malware writers really know how to scare folks. The alert looked real and if I hadn't known about these scammy 'alerts', I might have been hooked into buying thus infecting my computer with more spyware!

Firefox had opened a new tab from a site, isoft-online. (I would not go there if I were you!) The alert was there, all but screaming at me. I could not close the tab and I could not close Firefox. My ESET flashed that a threat had been quarantined, but I still could not close Firefox.

I brought up the Task Manager and closed Firefox. When I reopened Firefox there it was again. Task Manager again closed it. The next time I opened Firefox it asked me if I wanted to restore the previous session and of course I clicked 'no'.

Lesson learned, install NoScript on Firefox.

To test, I went back to the infected site. Something tried to load besides the site, but was unsuccessful. I am still going to update my spyware programs and run indepth scans, just to be sure there are no infections.

I checked the quarantine logs to see what was blocked and it was listed as 'NSIS/TrojanDownloader.FakeAlert.C trojan. You just can't be too careful on the Internet these days.

Martha

Spoofed Calls

We changed our phone number recently to 'unlisted'.  Unfortunately for us, the new number once belonged to some folks who didn't pay their bills. For some of the calls we've manged to convince the callers that the debts don't belong to us and they have stopped calling.

One type of call I really hate are the jerks that give you the option to 'Opt out', but you have to listen to the entire call to get the option to press '2' or another number to opt out. Those calls ensure that I will never under any circumstances use their product/service or whatever they are trying to sell.

But the worst offenders are the 'robo' calls, especially the robo calls using spoofed phone numbers! These perps belong to the same class of email scammers that fill our inboxes with spam!

I keep getting calls from folks trying to get me to lower my interest rate on my credit cards. I just need to 'press 1 now to speak to a representative'.These calls are filling my answer machine so I decided to see if I could 'opt out and answered a call. The robot went through
the spiel and I patiently waited for the call to get to an option for opting out. However I waited in vain! Instead the annoying person repeated three times 'Press 1 now!, each time getting louder and more annoying.

I decided to call the number displayed on the caller ID and was greeted with the message 'your call cannot be completed as dialed'. So what is going on? Is this really a legitimate call for me to lower my interest rate? Nope, it is a scam.  They will try to sucker me into paying for some scammy service that doesn't really exist or they just want my credit card details so they can steal them and rack up a lot of fraudulent charges.

So from now on when the phone rings if I don't recognize the number, the answer machine will just get busy. Or maybe I'll just turn the sucker off!

Martha

Copycat Names

Computers can be confusing even for some of us that have used them a long time and think we know what we are doing. To add to the confusion for a lot of folks is the 'naming' of programs and processes.

Microsoft really confused folks by giving their email programs such similar names, Outlook (part of their Office suite) and Outlook Express which came with Windows 95 up through Windows XP. Tech support long ago learned to ask if their email problems are for OE or MS Outlook in Office.

There is the 'Messenger' as well. There is the regular Messenger, the instant messenger application and then there's the Windows Messenger Service (which the hackers found all too soon and used it to spam users even when not in email).

Microsoft is not the only culprit giving stuff almost the same names. There's Windows Media Player (comes with Windows) and Media Player Classic (not a Microsoft program). Guess the program author couldn't think of something unique.

There are a lot of stuff out there with similar names and the bad guys take advantage of this copycat name thing. They make really bad programs that sound like a good program and get folks to install them on their computers.  Sometimes these programs are touted as being free, but usually there is a charge. These nasties do two things, first they take your money and then they spy on you.

You just can't be too careful out there on the wild and wooly web and never take a name at face value!

Martha

Insects and Scumbags

Remember that old saying 'coming/crawling out of the woodwork'?

Supposedly this pertains to insects coming out of the wooden parts of a house. In time it was used for anything unexpected or hidden, usually something unpleasant.

Today it is a good description for scammers. The scam may come in email, snail mail or the telephone. Even TV ads may just be a scam.  All of those car waranty ads come to mind, as well as ads for 'real health insurance'.

Just recently someone called my siter-in-law and tried to get her banking information by telling her there was a problem with her account.  Fortunately she is no dummy and the scammer got nothing from her and hung up when she tried to get him to tell her what bank he was calling about.

There is just about nothing these evil doers won't try to scam folks out of their money.  I hate to insult the insects, but today it's the scumbags 'coming out of the woodwork'!

Watch out for Automatic Renewals and Those Renewal Notices

Recently someone told me about having a hard time canceling their subscription for a virus scanner. The user had decided not to renew this program and use another scanner.

However the company had charged the user's credit card using an automatic renewal that the user had no idea was in place. Possibly in the fine print of the EULA or somewhere in an obscure place there was a notice to the effect that the automatic renewal would happen, but that is doubtful.

While this may be of benefit for some users who might forget to renew the subscription, it seems to me it is an underhanded way to boost the revenue for the company. My answer for this problem is to buy a program from a local retailer or if that is not an option, use a credit card that offers a 'one time use'. Then if the company tries to charge the credit card, the charge will not go through.

This is not the only place where 'automatic renewals' can happen. Some periodicals will do the same thing.

Prevention magazine tried to use the same tactic with me. Since I was bitterly disapponted with this magazine (more ads than content) I certainly did not intend to renew the subscription.  When I called to complain, I was told I had signed up for the automatic renewal.  I knew better!

I also received an alternative health newsletter that tried the same tactic. When I called to see why, I got the same response. "You signed up for automtic renewal". I immediately canceled that newsletter and made the decision not to get any more snail mail newsletters.

Last year I decided to not renew any of my many magazine subscriptions.  When they all contain more ads than content I just decided I didn't need them any more.  I also got rather peeved when they kept sending me renewal notices a year in advance! I recently read about an elderly gentleman in his 90's that had a subscription paid up for 30 years! He just kept returning that renewal notice.

It seems that the scammers have gone main stream.  How sad is that.

Martha

Don't give that site your password!

Did you join one of the 'social networks'? If you did join one, did you give the site the login and password to your email account?

Why?

Did you give the site that information because it asked for it? If you don't know by now that is not a very good idea, then I will tell you why you need to keep your email private.

You need to know what happens when you give that 'social network' your login and password. They are going to 'spam' everyone in your address book by sending them an 'invitation to join this social network. This invitation will be sent to any business address, your boss (that could be very embarrassing!), every contact you have in your address book. This may include the owner/moderators for Yahoo Groups/other lists and can get you removed from the group/list! Owner/moderators really don't want to join your social network and don't appreciate the spam/invitation.

I suspect you probably didn't know that was going to happen, but in fact it did.

Now comes another question. What will that site do with all those email addresses it just added to their email address database? You do know spammers pay big bucks for email addresses, don't you?

Now just in case you didn't know all this and think you may want your friends to join you on that social site, most of them have an option for you to just add the email addresses manually. You might want to ask them first though, just in case they don't want their email address to be added to a potential spammers' list.

Think about it, giving someone access to your email is just not a good idea. Who knows what could happen if someone in charge of that database turns rogue and decides to 'have some fun' with your email account!

Did You Use An Online Service To Do Your Taxes?

I always buy my tax software and complete the return on my computer. I have always felt that online services of any sort are subject to hacking and who knows how these sites are really secure? (OK, I'm slightly paranoid!)

Several years ago I decided to 'test' the validity of the figures my purchased software produced, so I signed up online to a well known tax software site and input the data for my return.  Being the paranoid person that I am, all I put in for personal data was my name and email address that was required to signup.  No Social Security number, no address, etc. as I used the 'fill out later' option for those requirements. Once I determined my purchased software produced the same figues as the online version, I was finished and never went back to
the online site.

This year my paranoid feelings turned out to be right. I started recieving emails from this tax software company informing me that my electronic returns had been sent.

Now at first I thought this was a clever and well coded phish. It all looked very legitimate except for the fact the name of another person was included in the email. I decided I had better let this company know about the phish.  So I found a contact email and forwarded one of the emails to the company.

I was totally shocked when I received a reply saying the emails were from them! The email wanted me to provide the last four digits of my Social Security number and they would provide more information. Since they didn't have my Social Security number, that was a bit of a problem.

When I got more emails telling me the returns had been rejected due to some sort of errors I decided to see if I could find a phone number and call these folks.

I spoke to a nice man and explained the problem. He seemed to think that the person who filed the returns had used my email address. Now that explanation seemed to be totally lame (and typical!) as I just can't believe someone would use another person's email address for something as important as their tax returns. However he spoke to a supervisor and then he told me I would not receive any more emails from them.

Wrong! I have received at least three emails from them since then and today I got one asking me to 'Tell Us About Your Recent 'removed' Support Experience' and complete a survey!

This experience has just reinforced my belief that some things are better not done online!

Martha

Sneaky Stuff

Be careful when installing some legitmate programs or you may get some stuff you don't want.

When I installed the latest version of Java on my new laptop, I noticed that I was 'offered' Open Office as well. While I have nothing against Open Office, in fact it is a very useful and free office suite, and is installed on another of my computers, if I hadn't been watching I would have got the download for OO as well and it is a big download.

I like Foxit Reader and I like it much better than the piggy Adobe Reader. But the download wants me to take the Ask toolbar as well and insists I do and not just in one place. To me this is just 'shady' practice. I recall another 'offer' that wouldn't take no for an answer and really made me mad! I am not alone, read Bits From Bill.

Now I read that Symantec is doing the same thing! Here comes the Ask Toolbar again!

Are these reputable companies now forcing unwanted apps on us just to pad their bottom line? You bet, that's just what they are doing.

I understand when individuals that really need the money use Google Ads and that irritating Intellitxt to help pay the bill for their websites, but for companies like Symantec? Do they need the money that badly?

A word to the wise, unless you want all this 'value added' stuff, watch out while installing new apps! Getting to be more dangerous on the 'net every day.

Martha

The Disappearing Content

I am going to miss my morning newspaper. I still get a paper every morning, but it is less and less all the time.

There are a lot of full page ads, but I won't miss those. There are some articles that I still enjoy reading, but those are few and far between.  Most of what is in the paper I saw on the local news the day before, or I read it online from USA Today or CNN.

I used to get enough grocery coupons to pay for the cost of the paper. Now the coupons are still there, but not for stuff I want. Besides the store brands are less than the name brands even with a coupon.

I have been debating for some time whether or not to keep the newspaper. There has always been something satisfying about reading the paper with my morning coffee, and that enjoyment kept me from unsubscribing even though the content has been diminishing and some days there doesn't seem to be much of anything besides the comic strips. I need that morning chuckle to start the day.

Today was my decision day to stop paying over $200 a year for the paper. Sunday morning comics have always been a nice respite from all the negative news.  Today they were gone. No comics.  I called the paper to find out why and was told they were to be found in Section F. Why would you put the comics in the 'Homes for Sale section? Perverse humor? Nope they weren't there either.

"Well, look in the Your Life section, That is section F" the customer service rep said. Nope, not there either, and that section is section E not F. I know sometimes I may not 'get it', but I can read the section numbers! The comics are missing. So she sent me out another paper.

Guess what, no comics in this one either, but there were a few more ad circulars. The section numbers are still the same as the first paper. So, the customer service rep didn't know which section was which or else no one told her the comics were gone. Another thing could have been a 'Dilbert' move, they laid off the folks who know how to put the paper together.

Regardless of what happened, my decision has been made. I customized my Google page to include my favorite comics and that's the end of it.

Martha

Internet Explorer 8

Did Microsoft finally get IE right? Time will tell.

I installed IE 8 on my test computer which is using a nearly pristine version of Vista Home Premium. The computer is less than two months old and so far I am only using it to test stuff (no betas yet).

I attempted to import my bookmarks from Firefox (a nice improvement) and then I got the same old thing, 'not responding'. I closed IE and reopened it and found to my surprise that the bookmarks did import.

So I looked to see if the humongeous security hole was gone, but nope, it's still there! (ActiveX)

Until ActiveX is removed from IE, it will never be my default browser.

When I get a new computer with Windows 7, I will get two other browsers, Firefox and Opera and then I will disable Internet Explorer! (I hope they keep this option in the final release!)

Martha

Bonus Definitions

Bonus - Old definition. A reward for a job well done.

Bonus - New definition. Another way to screw the Amercian taxpayers by rewarding people who really should be fired for incompetance.

How terribly sad!

Martha

The Vista Bashers; Will They Bash Windows 7?

I am using the beta for Windows 7 and it is pretty cool.

It still has UAC. There are several levels of UAC, but if you really want protection, it needs to be the top level. (Security. Stops MBR Rootkits from installing as well as untold other crimeware).

Vista bashers like UAC turned off; guess they don't like to rely on Windows to protect their computers. First they fuss about the lack of security, but when they get it, they don't like it. Can't please some folks regardless of what you do.

It still won't support your old printer or scanner, because the printer and scanner manufacturers don't make drivers for them. (Not the fault of Vista or Windows 7, but try and make folks believe that!)

It looks cool and still puts things in different places than Windows XP. (The locations make more sense!)

The Internet connection utility is super cool. Windows 7 found my print server and installed the printer with no problems. I was amazed at how well that went.

So far Windows 7 seems to be fast, lean and working well. I did have to download an email program as no email client is included with Windows 7.

Unfortunately the biggest security hole in Windows is still there. (Internet Explorer) I hear there will be an option to turn IE off; that is great news!

After updating Windows 7 the first thing I did was download and install Firefox. Then I installed Avast for virus protection. For what it is worth, everyone should have a backup browser. Even if you use and like Internet Explorer, you never know when IE will have a 'spasm' and quit working.

I expect some of the Vista bashers will try Windows 7 and really like it.

Martha

The Vista Bashers, Part Two

It's been a while since I posted the first 'HTML Vista Bashers'. I still like Vista and the 'Vista Bashers' are still bashing.

I keep asking folks why they don't like Vista.  The answers I get vary, but most of the time there is only one reason.

A favorite program won't work. When I ask them if they tried the Program Compatibility Mode, they don't know what that is!

They can't find anything because it isn't where Windows XP put stuff. (They don't look!)

The UAC (User Access Control) is too much 'in my face'. They could turn it off, but they don't know that.

Some of the replies indicate they aren't even using Vista, but someone they know has it and that someone doesn't like it.

A common response was 'I read it's no good'.  No real reason, they are just repeating what they have read or heard.

I think the real reason may be Vista isn't Windows XP!

Some of these folks remind me of sheep. They follow someone else and never make a decision for themselves. Sheep sometimes will follow the lead sheep off a cliff, at least that's what I have heard.

Martha

Why Do Some Programmers Think Everyone Uses IE?

I do not use Internet Explorer. I don't like Internet Explorer. Rumor has it I can turn it off in Windows 7 and I hope that's true! I will use it long enough to download Firefox and then it will be turned off.

So if I turn IE 8 off, then what will happen when I want to update programs that open IE when I click Update? IE is NOT my default browser and I deeply resent it when programmers that insist I use it to update a program!

Most programs when updating from within honor my preferences and use my default browser.

I won't mention any names, but I just updated my favorite screen capture program and when I clicked for the update IE opened. Grrrrrrrrr!

Martha

Hope and Change

Our new president promised us 'hope and change'. Did he mean he would surround himself with folks who don't pay their taxes?

I hope that's not what he meant!

It's just my opinion, but I think anyone, regardless of who they are should be disqualified from any position in government if they are guilty of not paying their taxes.

It's NOT ok to say 'I didn't know'! If I had failed to pay taxes, the IRS, which is a government department, probably would have threatened me with jailtime and would have come after me big time as soon as they knew I owed taxes. And why didn't they go after these guys?

It isn't very comforting to me to know the Secretary of the Treasury is a tax cheat. He's in charge of the Treasury! And the sad thing is, he isn't the only tax cheat being offered a high profile position in the United States government.

The 'change' is looking more and more like change to the Clinton era.  All of the folks in charge seem to be from that time.

I hope that things will change and for the better, but so far it doesn't seem likely!

Martha

Microsoft Antivirus NOT!

I normally do not post virus warnings, as they are generally hoaxes.

However since a lot of people will trust stuff labeled 'Microsoft', I deemed it necessary to warn folks about a new or rather updated and renamed, rogue antivirus/antispyware software being offered using Microsoft's name.

For more information, see this site.

The spyware remover being advertised on this site is SpyHunter. The site owner could be affiliated with SpyHunter and I have done some research about SpyHunter. It is a legitimate program but is not among the top ten rated removers. It also has a name that was once connected with a rogue program that is no longer available. (I suspect they should have checked that out and didn't.)

There are a number of sites that rate spyware removers, but without knowing whether or not these sites are affiliated with any of the programs it is difficult to decide which is the best.

If you want to check to see if your favorite remover is among the top scanners, here are a couple of sites to check.

Top Ten Reviews

Safer-networking

Just keep your spyware scanners updated and scan frequently to prevent malware from installing, and if a program has a name you think you can trust, check it out first!

Martha

'Rude' Programs

Some programs are just plain rude. I don't know any other way to describe them.

Did you want that program to startup and run in the background every time you turn your computer on? No? You didn't, but it does and will continue unless you know how to stop it. There it is, running, eating resources and making your computer slow. It would open just fine when you need it without always running. That's just rude!

When you installed a new program did you want it to make your default program for that type of file? No? You didn't, but it did.  Now you have to figure out how to change the default program back to what you want. That's also just plain rude!

When you finally managed to figure out how to stop that program from starting up everytime you start your computer, because it was rude in the first place, now when you run the program it puts itself back in your startup, that is exceptionally rude!

Some rude programs want to install other stuff on your computer. Sometimes the other stuff is spyware, but not always.  If you don't watch out, rude programs will install stuff you don't want.

Some programs are just so 'rude', I won't have them on my computer!

Maybe I should clarify. The programmers are the rude ones!

Martha

Treasures on the Web

Lots of stuff among the flotsam and jetsam on the 'Net. I see tons of sites, most of them are just so so.

Every now and then I find a site that I consider a true 'treasure'. These sites just offer me an 'escape' from the humdrum of daily stuff.

A few of these treasures are listed here and maybe you will consider them treasures as well.

Dark Roasted Blend, Weird & wonderful things
You can spend hours and hours on this site. No matter what you like, you can surely find something to enjoy here. Fantastic collections of photos!

Playa Cofi Jukebox The top 100 songs from the golden years of music.
I guess it's just me (or maybe you), but a lot of the stuff that passes for music these days is just not for me. The music on this site is Music! You can select a year and listen to real music while you work.

I love animal pictures, animal antics, and funny stuff.  Lolcats is just one section on this site. There are over 90 pages of these funny captioned kitties! Loldogs is just as big! A treasure for animal lovers!

I am addicted to little games that don't require a ton of graphics and eat up my computer resources. Several years ago I found a marble game that just is a delight to me. I play it all the time when I need a 'break'. There are some other games on the site, but this is the one I play.

Corn DancerThe author of this site is extremely talented. Even without the great photos he takes, the accompanying prose paints such a picture you could 'see' what he captures on film. A new adventure every week brightens my Monday morning!

I hope you enjoy my 'treasures'!

Martha

Why Do I Have to Opt Out?

I didn't opt in for all the junk email from these so called 'Social Networks' like Grouply that are trying to get members by having new members spam everyone in their address books.

So why do I have to opt out? It is almost like all of the spam we receive that tell you to 'opt out' if you don't want to receive any more spam.  All of those are just trying to find out if your email address is valid.

I keep getting phone calls from various 'service' companies wanting me to have my carpet cleaned, etc. I can opt out of those calls, but I am forced to listen to the entire spiel before I am given the choice to 'opt out' by pressing a number on my phone keypad.

I didn't ask for these calls, so why do I have to 'opt out'?

I still get a lot of snail mail for stuff I don't want.  In order to stop it, I have to go through a long process. I have to write letters and then wait who knows how long before the snail spam will stop coming, if it does stop.

I didn't ask for this waste of resources that keep coming into my mailbox, so why do I have to 'opt out'?

I suppose there are some legitmate reasons for sending all that junk to me, but I don't want that junk. Why do I have to 'opt out'!

I don't want any more mail from American Express wanting me to apply for their card.

I don't want that Grouply spam or any of the other 'Social network' spam that tricks new member into sending 'invitations' to everyone in their address book.

(These uninvited invitations are sent out because most of the wording is such that new members don't realize they are giving these jerks permission to go into their address books. Why they don't realize it I don't know; they gave them their user name and password! What did they think was going to happen? Why would anyone of reasonable intelligence give a strange website their user name and password for their email? I think these are the same folks that reply to  Mrs. Eki Omorodion in Nigeria.)

Martha

Signup for Medicare Part D

It sounded easy.

Go to the Medicare website and find a plan that suits your needs.  Then go to that plan's website and enroll online. What could be easier, a no-brainer NOT!

I went to the plan's site and signed up. Like a good document person, I printed everything.

Three weeks later I got a letter saying everything was approved and what my monthly premium would be.  In the meantime, before I receive the card I can use this letter as proof of coverage. Except......this was not the plan I signed up when I enrolled.

After several phone calls navigating the infamous phone menu hell more than once,  someone answered.  After explaining the problem, I was told I could call another number and re-enroll in the correct plan. Now since the plan I was told I was enrolled was about $30.00 a month higher than the plan I actually enrolled, I had to resolve this and fast!

So I called the last number given to me and waited on hold. And waited. And waited.  All the time I am waiting my eardrums are being blasted by the same music. Over and over and over again, for over an hour.  After about 40 minutes an irritating beeping started. The beeping was intermittent and what it was for I have no idea unless it was to irritate me so much I would hang up.

Finally someone answered and I refrained from snarling.  I explained my problem and was told the same thing had happened to some other folks.  (Bait and Switch?) The operator took my enrollment again after I made sure she was enrolling me into the correct plan. (I only have her word for it.)

So hopefully when I receive the next letter it will be for the right plan. If it isn't, the snarling will surely begin in earnest. This time the snarling will be to the local watchdog, my US Representative, US Senators, Medicare and anyone else I can think of.

I am perhaps a little more patient than a lot of folks. I am also more familiar with using a computer than the majority of seniors. I keep hearing about how frustrated a large number of seniors are about signing up and some don't sign up, and now I know why.

The providers for Medicare Part D have from January to November 15th to make sure their websites work properly for folks who sign up on the web.  If they can't manage to do this, then they shouldn't have the option available to signup on the web.

Surely if I had chosen to call and enroll it would have saved me quite a bit of frustration and agravation.

Rant over,

Martha

Butt Glue

I kid you not, there is such a product. There are websites that sell it. I couldn't figure out why anyone would need it, but the explanation given is so beauty pageant contestants won't have to use staples (Ouch!) to prevent a section of their swimsuits from disappearing into a body crevass.

I guess there are some folks who will do anything, but I absolutely cannot imagine why anyone would have used staples on their behinds.  So I guess butt glue is a real advancement for those folks.

Just in case you are wondering how I found out about this product, it wasn't because I was looking for it.  I found it in Dave Barry's column; 'Why do we give gifts during the holiday season?'

There are more wacky gifts in his column, all of which I can't believe anyone would ever buy. (Except butt glue, I can see why a girl wearing one of those beauty pageant swimsuits might need that. However, I have a better solution.  She could wear a swimsuit that actually covers her fanny, then she won't need any butt glue.)

Happy shopping!

Martha

Spam in My Gmail Account

I have more than one G-mail account and use them all. I really like G-mail's spam filters because for all but one of my G-mail accounts very seldom (read almost never!) does a spam email hit my Inbox. Until about three months ago, this was true for all of my G-mail accounts.

I very foolishly used one account to sign up for something from a corporation I thought could be trusted not to sell my email address. I should have known better! Upon reading the privacy policy in depth, I found the following:

A. Strategic Partners
"From time to time we may enter into a special relationship with another company that is not owned or affiliated with the (edited) Company. These special relationships may include business partners, sponsors and co-branded sites (referred here as "co-branded pages"). Any information, including personal information, that you provide on one of these co-branded pages will be shared with these third party partners. By participating in activities or providing your information on these co-branded pages, you also consent to our providing your personal information to those third parties. Since these third parties will use your information in accordance with their own privacy practices, you should check their web sites for information regarding their privacy policies."

No place does it tell me exactly 'who' these third parties are or how I can find out. So in effect by signing up, I gave them permission to give my email address to anyone they choose who may decide to sell my information and/or actively spam my email address!

So the fact that this account is now literally a spam account it is mostly my own fault for trusting! Folks, on the Internet you can't trust major companies to respect your privacy. I suspect if you read the 'privacy policies' of any major company that offers a free service you will find it is a 'privacy NOT policy'.

But I am wondering why G-mail doesn't seem to be able to determine that all of this junk email is spam when the other accounts don't have this problem!

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