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!

Martha's Web
Martha's Place

Yahoo Spam

Just about everyone with an email account gets spam, some more than others. Most ISPs, or email purveyors like Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. have an address that we are encouraged to use to report the spam perpetrators.

Don't waste your time if it is for Yahoo.  I rather suspect the email address for spam reporting just goes into cyberspace somewhere, never again to be seen by human eyes or if it is actually answered, a canned reply will be delivered back and no other action is taken. The canned reply, if one is actually received, gives a solution that has nothing to do with the complaint. The last time I sent a complaint to Yahoo's 'abuse@ address the message 'bounced' with a mail daemon telling me the address was 'not valid'.

The same thing seems to be true for the option to "Report Abuse" form that Yahoo so nicely offers. It is a waste of time.

There is a spammer with a Yahoo address that is repeatedly spamming Yahoo Groups owners/moderators. Frequent complaints to Yahoo have not stopped the spammer or disabled his Yahoo.com email account. A Yahoo moderator cannot send these spams to a spam filter as this would effectively remove the ability to handle legitimate requests for members.

Yahoo has been telling us they want to improve their service. A good way to start would be to remove spammers using a Yahoo.com email account.

And before you make a comment that the account may be 'spoofed', the headers indicate it is a real account.

Martha

Footnote:

Someone just told me "It's the Yahoo way, get used to it". Yep, they are right!

Microsoft Treats Me Like a Thief!

I am NOT a Thief!

I don't know about you, but I am really fed up being treated like a thief.

I realize that there are a lot of thieves out there, but I am not one of them.  If Microsoft is so clever, they should be able to detect my system is legit without me having to jump through hoops to prove it. But I paid for my version of Windows and I am sick of being treated like I stole it.

Why I have to prove my Windows is legitimate before I can download something from Microsoft is beyond me. Every time I have to prove my trustworthiness. This is just wrong.

Now I have to prove my worthiness just to view a video about Windows 7! (There used to be a link here, but Microsoft moved the video, so the link is gone. Maybe too many folks besides me got tired of trying to prove they are not thieves.)

This is one of the reasons that makes honest people turn to other operating systems like Linux. My next operating system may just be Linux.

Martha

What's Next?

All of us have endured the endless onslaught of Spam for a long time and there doesn't seem to be an end to it in sight.

In the last few months I am getting 'invitations' from people I never heard of to join web sites of dubious value and motives.

First it was the invitation to visit 'my Refriendz page and see my latest photos.' I blogged about this a while back.

But now it's a flood from Refriendz, FriendsClub, Question It, etc and of course Grouply. I expect others will soon follow. It makes no difference, it's all Spam to me.

I am not sure exactly how these 'social' sites work and I really don't care to find out, other than they annoy folks like me who do not want those spammy emails.

But Grouply really worries me. The concept sounds good, get all of your Groups emails on one web page. There is another way to get them all in one place, folks. Download the messages to an email program or to Gmail! That way you don't compromise your Yahoo login and password by giving it to some website!

You say, well if some fool wants to give up his or her logging credentials that's their problem. Guess what, it could be your problem and my problem.  All it would take is for some sneaky soul to scrape his Grouply site to a blog and your email address and mine are exposed to the world.

If you have a Yahoo Group and you don't want your Group posts on Grouply you can stop it. Just use the information here to keep your members from belonging to Grouply if you wish.  Tell Grouply to leave your Group alone

Once you enter your Group's owner email, you get a code to enter and then you can set the controls to allow or prevent Grouply from taking control of your Group.

Now Yahoo is trying to get in on the invitations. They call theirs 'Connections'. In all fairness, they don't attempt to have users send an invite to everyone in their address book, but some of these 'Connections' are a tad dubious.

I just wish these sites would leave those invitations, connections or what ever they want to call them, alone and not keep adding to the Spam in our Inboxes!

Martha

Those Awful Fakes!

(Why you shouldn't use Google to search for security products.)

Everyday a new so-called security program rears it's ugly head. These rogue programs invade a user's computer in several ways and one of the ways is by an unsuspecting user downloading the scumware on purpose.

A few of the fakes.

So many of these ripoff products name their scumware something close to a real and good security product. So if a user sees something that looks familiar they think it's the real deal. Not.

I've been reading a book about security on the Internet and trust me, the ways that crimeware can intrude on a user's computer is almost enough to make me stay offline and keep the computer turned off.

However, most of us will be safe if we only follow a few simple rules. Use a firewall, an updated anti-virus scanner and 'good' spyware removers. Don't click on links in email from unknown senders (better, don't even open those emails) turn off ActiveX in Internet Explorer (better, use Firefox or Opera), disable javascript in all browsers and never, ever, search Google for security products.

One last thing, if you are using a router, change the default password to something harder to guess than 'password' or 'admin'.

Stay safe!

Martha

My Email Address is 'Invalid'

Today I received an email from AARP asking me to take a survey. (Yes, I am a member of AARP.)

I went to the site to take the survey and of course they want me to log in. So I entered my email address and password and then got a message 'enter a valid email address'. So thinking I may have made a typo the first time, I entered it again.  Nope, 'Enter a valid email address' popped up again.

Well this 'invalid email address' has been receiving and sending email a long time,including from AARP so I can only assume AARP is having a problem with their site. Their email server is apparently working though, as I received their email sent to my 'invalid email address' just fine.

If this is happening to a lot of other folks and I suspect it is, I wonder how long it will take them to figure out something is wrong.

Since most of the time the emails I get from them are wanting me to send money for some purpose or other, I think I will just unsubscribe from AARP's email.  That is as soon as I can convince them the email they have been using to send me those emails is 'valid'.

Martha

Writer's Block Due to Being Overwhelmed by Political Pablum

As a general rule, I can think of a lot of stuff to write about, when I am away from the computer. But just let me decide I need to put a new post on my blog and the block looms large.

I think part of my problem right now is the fact that I am so sick and tired of all the political stuff coming at me from every direction. I have this urge to jump on folks and lambast them for such obvious one sided views that I am becoming unreasonable about the whole political thing.

All of the stuff I read is so one sided, regardless of which side. They bash everyone that doesn't think the way they think. Free speech is something I treasure and since I do treasure it, I refrain from replying in snide remarks about their choice of candidates and their derision for others in this crazy political year.

I just wish things could be a bit more positive instead of so much negative remarks. So you don't like Sarah Palin? Then say something positive about Biden. Don't like Obama? Say something positive about McCain. Can't think of anything nice to say about any of them? Keep quiet.

Don't insult my intelligence either. Don't start telling me how bad a candidate is based on what you have read. I don't care if you think someone is not fit for the job. (In my personal opinion, none of them are ready for the awful job that lies ahead for the unfortunates who mange to win this election.)

The problem for me lies in the fact that all of this political stuff just started too soon. I think we should have primaries in every state at the same time. September would be a good time. No more conventions, just let the candidates with the most votes in the primaries get the nominations. (Think of the saved money!) No more 'Super delegates'! Super delegates just totally goes against my idea of democracy. Why should anyone have more say in an election than the average citizen?

I could go on and on. Guess my writer's block lifted on this subject!

Martha

Chrome? Or Not to Chrome?

I don't 'do' betas any more since a disastrous beta several years ago (from Microsoft no less) made me do a complete reinstall of Windows.

Today I have a better system using Acronis True Image and a beta causing havoc could be taken care of in quick order by using my backup restore, but betas can be frustrating.

But that's not the reason I won't install Chrome.  Never mind it has big honkin security holes. I am not going to give Google another way to track everything I do online. In case you didn't know that Chrome will do that, better read this!

Some things are best left to what they do best, like Google has the best search engine and I will continue to use it, even though it supposedly keeps every search I make in a big database the size of the sun somewhere.

There are enough browsers now, although there could be some improvements in all of them.  If Microsoft would remove ActiveX from Internet Explorer, that would solve a bunch of security problems. (Think drive by spyware installs.)

I use Firefox as my default browser, but it too has some bugs. If I didn't use Firefox as the default, my next choice is Opera. I use Firefox because it has such nice addons known as 'extensions'. If Opera would do the same, then Opera might be my default browser.

Anyway, back to Chrome. I have heard that if it is uninstalled the uninstall might take some other stuff with it, but that is unsubstantiated at present. Some folks love it and some folks hate it.

When it comes out of beta I may install it on my secondary computer, just to check how my web sites look in Chrome. Until then, no Chrome for me.

Martha

Why I Don't Have a Newsletter

I really like to receive newsletters; at least some of them.  At one time I did think about doing a newsletter, but decided against it because knowing me, after awhile I would just stop sending them.  If I had folks that had subscribed, I like to think this might have disappointed them.

I subscribe to a number of newsletters that I really like.  If you are at all curious which ones you can read about it on the newsletter page on Martha's Web. I try to keep this page updated as all good things come to an end and so do newsletters.

Another reason I don't write a newsletter is because I don't want to give wrong information about stuff. In a newsletter (not on my newsletter page) I read some stuff about how to fix a problem with Outlook. Now I am no expert by any means, but this was basic stuff and the 'fix' was totally wrong!

I sometimes get really annoyed about folks who continually bad-mouth products I use and really like. I have discontinued two newsletters for that very reason. One insinuated if I use Microsoft Front Page to make my website I have 'bad' code on the site. I would challenge that person to find the 'bad' code on my site! True I remade it using Expression Web, but it didn't have bad code before then. I have seen bad code on sites made with DreamWeaver which is what the newsletter editor was saying everyone should use. Another kept bad-mouthing Microsoft Vista to the point I just unsubbed for that reason alone.  These folks are 'trashees', and so I left their cyber missives.

Most of the time I learn good stuff from my newsletters. But one thing I have noticed; they are all trying to get me to buy stuff. Generally it is software, usually security software. I don't mind that as everyone needs to pay the bills. I just ignore most of it as I have all the software I need. I do notice the fact that some of them are insinuating what I have is not the best available.

Again, they are just trying to make some $$ but what they are pushing may NOT be the best! So while I really enjoy my newsletters I am aware that a really good newsletter takes a lot of time and work to keep up with new trends, new and good software, accurate information about 'fixes' and it needs to go out to subscribers on a regular basis. (There are some exceptions to the regular basis.  If the subscriber knows up front the newsletter will arrive once in awhile and not on a schedule, then forewarned is forearmed.)

Since lately I can't even post on a regular basis to this blog, I suspect my decision to not have a newsletter is the right decision.

Martha

The Biggest Lies We Hear Everyday

I like making lists. This one is about the biggest lies we hear almost every day. Most of us don't believe these lies, but a few really naive folks may believe at least some of them.

"Your call is really important to us".  The truth is they just wish you would hang up.

"We take this issue very seriously". The truth is one of the following; they got caught doing something unethical, there was a
product failure or someone made a big booboo (like putting a lizard in your salad) and they wish no one had found out.

"Get a $xx rebate!"  The truth is you will forget to mail it in the time frame allowed (some as few as 5 days), they will claim they didn't receive it if you did mail it or they will lie and say you didn't send in all the required documents. (Disclaimer,some companies will do the right thing, not all of them are crooks.)

"I promise" The biggest lie of all. Politians promise anything to get elected. Once they are elected, all of the promises turn out to be fairy dust. (Fairy dust doesn't exist.)

"We care". Any statement by politians, companies or large corporations starting with these words is a blatant lie. What they do care about is your vote, either by going to the polls or making a purchase.

"Ask your doctor" The drug manufacturers know you probably don't need this outrageously expensive drug. They have bribed your doctor with food, merchandize and other goodies so when you "ask your doctor" he will prescribe this drug that may not
have been thoroughly tested and probably has some very unpleasant side effects up to and including death.

I know there are more of these big lies, if you know of some more, let me know!

Martha

What's in this stuff I'm about to eat?

Sometimes I wonder about stuff, like why does my pimento cheese spread have egg yolks as one of the ingredients? Cheese and pimentos yes, but egg yolks? But at least I understood 'egg yolks' even if I can't figure out why they put them in my cheese spread. Some of those other ingredients are a complete mystery!

I know most people don't read the list of ingredients that are in the products they buy. I understand why they don't read those lists; most folks don't have a degree in chemistry. I don't have a degree in chemistry either, but I feel compelled to read the ingredient lists anyway.

I am slowly but surely removing products from my 'buy' list. The first list of things I removed have a nasty ingredient, 'partially hydogenated oil'. This stuff is poison! Artery clogging poison! This made my 'don't buy' list get a lot longer as a bunch of food processors seem to think they have to put this artery clogger in just about everything. Bakers put it in cookies, companies like Kraft put it in everything! And just because the ingredients say '0' transfat, don't believe it! Check the ingredients. If partially hydogenated oil is listed, the product contains transfat. (Lies!)

Somewhere I read that if Grandma wouldn't recognize an ingredient, you shouldn't eat it. I don't remember where I read that, but I have decided that's a good thing to remember. The upside of changing my buy list is my grocery bill has gone down. (I don't go down the cookie aisle any more.)The downside is I have to cook almost everything from 'scratch' and I really don't like to cook!

You would think that not buying all that stuff would make me lose weight. Not true, even though I am not fond of cooking, I am fond of eating what I cook! Sigh!

Martha

Circles

By now unless you've been hiding in a cave somewhere with no communication with the outside world, you know the Olympic games are well underway. Since the Olympics are so popular, everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon.

My newspaper is no exception. Today there is an article about decorating with circles due to the fact that the Olympic symbol consists of five entwined circles. This was one subject they should have filed under 'forget it'.

I could maybe have lived with the lamp they chose, and maybe for a little while with some of the other stuff, but when I saw the sofa, I knew right away this was not the kind of stuff for me.

I know that there is always the 'different strokes for different folks', but honestly, could you live with this Marshmallow Sofa?

Martha

No Vista Help on My Website

I really thought by now I would have added pages and pages for Vista help. Not so, because I haven't had to fix any problems with my Vista. Since I haven't had to fix any problems...........well, I have no experience in that area. (I'm not fussing!)

There are a lot of people who do seem to be having problems with Vista and there are a lot of sites with 'fixes' for Vista. One thing I have noticed, is that a lot of the 'fixes' are to make things act more like Windows XP.

Nothing wrong with that I guess, but to me that is going backward instead of forward. I have Vista on this laptop and I want to use it as it was intended.

There are some problems with Vista and I am not denying they exist. The biggest problem for me is what Microsoft did to Outlook Express. They took away the only redeeming feature that led me to use OE in past versions of Windows; the ability to use more than one Identity in the same user account. The rationale was 'users should set up separate user accounts'. That's all well and good, but I have several email accounts and I used a separate Identity for each account. Gmail to the rescue here!

Not only did they 'cripple' the email client Windows Mail, but it was buggy at the start. The deleted folder wouldn't empty and the old fix for this problem in Outlook Express wasn't possible with Windows Mail. So then MS came up with Windows Live Mail. Ugh! Ick! No way, Microsoft, Windows Live Mail just doesn't cut it. Thunderbird works quite well. No separate Identities in Thunderbird, but deleted mail will delete.

I am not sure what they did to Internet Explorer, but a lot of folks have seem to have problems with IE7. I don't use IE unless I have to because it still contains ActiveX, a favorite of drive-by spyware.

Those problems are easily fixed for me; I just don't use them most of the time. There is one little problem though that I have learned to live with, although I would like a 'fix'. Why doesn't Windows Vista remember my folder settings!

Martha

Spam is down?

Could have fooled me!

According to my latest issue of Consumer Reports, "spam, spyware and virus have declined 'significantly in the past few years". They got this information on their new 'State of the Net survey'.

Consumer Reports has in the past been considered by me to be a reliable source of information about just about everything. But this little tad of information has me totally bewildered. What kind of folks were taking this survey? This statement makes me wonder about all of the other reports they publish.

On the contrary, Consumer Reports! Spam, spyware and virus have NOT declined significantly in the past few yeas, but are more and more prolific all the time! Since 2006 the total amount of spam in email has increased from 56% to 80%! Anyone who has used the same email address for any length of time can vouch for that. (Unless they have a really industrial strength spam filter. Even then spam gets through.)
Source: Spam Report

Spyware has changed it's face so maybe some folks think it's down. The 'change' has involved more rootkits, key loggers, Trojans and worms, all designed to steal your money and identity. New virus are being intoduced every day. I suspect the folks who took that survey probably are mostly behind corporate firewalls with an IT department working feverishly to prevent all of the bad suff from ever reaching the work stations of clueless users.

They should have sent the survey to those techs working behind the scenes!

All of the above reinforces the old saying 'Don't believe everything you hear or read'. (And now with PhotoShop you can't believe everything you see either)

Martha

Problem Fixed!

My Expression Web had been working just fine. Then today it kept freezing and would have to be closed.  Sometimes I got the message it encountered a problem and had to close. I used a neat utility, FPCleaner, but that didn't seem to help.

So what's going on? I am in the middle of converting my website using a new new template and DWT. Until today I had no problems What's different today that I'm having this problem with EW?

Then I remembered, I had turned 'Fast Indexing' back on. Big mistake! So I turned it off and now everything is working just fine.

To turn 'Fast Indexing' off is easy, but you must be logged on as an Administrator.

1. Click on Start button, simply type “Services” (don't use the quotes) in Start Search box.
2. When the UAC (User Account Control) asks for permission click Continue.
3. Locate a service named 'Windows Search'. Double click on 'Windows Search' to open the Windows Search properties.
4. Click on Stop button to stop the indexing service immediately.
5. On the Startup Type dropdown box, select Disabled.
6. Click on OK button.

Sometimes a problem solution is just too easy. However, sometimes it isn't. Glad this one was the 'easy' solution!

But I still don't know why Fast Indexing made EW freeze up and crash!

Martha

Poor Little Tree

We have this little mimosa tree in our back yard.

I grew it from a seedling. Fate keeps trying to discourage it from surviving, but it just keeps chugging along. In April this year we had a hail storm. A bad hail storm. In fact, at the time of this writing, the roofers are on top of the house now removing the hail-damaged shingles and replacing them with new un-damaged shingles.

The hail really beat up this little tree. It had big gouges in the bark. Nature being the survivor that is, caused a new tiny bud to sprout in each of the gouges and before long the little tree was really showing new growth in a wonderful way.

Then we had another storm, this time it was wind. Wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour and this ferocious wind lasted all day! It blew and blew and blew the fence almost down. The wind didn't hurt the tree, however the consequences of the wind certainly did!

We share fences with our neighbors in this area. The folks behind us have dogs. Well everybody in this neighborhood has dogs, but the folks behind us have big dogs. One is a curious husky. He managed to get through the half blown down fence and explored our yard.

"A tree! What's this stuff on the tree? Yummy! "This curious pup pulled the bark off one whole side of the tree! I saw him do it from the kitchen window. My neighbors chose this time to be gone of course and the pup being a suspicious canine would not let us get close to him. So we spent the next three hours trying to coax him back to his yard and keeping him from eating the rest of the bark from the tree.

Eventually the neighbors returned home and so did the pup. A temporary fence fix kept him at home until more permanent repairs could be made.  In the meantime we watched our little tree wondering if it would make it. Many of the new branches slowly turned yellow and died. Slowly several brown spots showed on the stark white left after the bark was 'liberated'. Is it a fungus? Or is it new bark? The yellowing leaves are not as many now and the tree even bloomed.

I have heard it is hard to kill a mimosa tree and I believe it. It looks like the tree will make it. Unless something else happens.

Martha

Amazed!

I never cease to be amazed at how stupid some people can be or at least how stupid their remarks can be.

I still take my local newspaper although I am not sure for how much longer. Every Saturday there is a section called 'Cheers and Jeers'. Folks write in to 'cheer' someone for a good deed or a happy thing and some write in to 'jeer' someone for a bad or stupid thing.

Today there were a few 'jeers' that fall into the 'where have you been hiding, under a rock?' category.

One numskull is jeering the airlines for 'price gouging'. I guess this turkey does't have a car or he would know gas is way expensive these days. Then again, maybe he hasn't figured out that airplanes need fuel to fly!

Then there was the guy who wants the car companies to quit running ads and ruining his TV programs. Guess he hasn't figured out those ads are what makes his viewing programs for free! Where has he been hiding? Ads have been on TV for over 50 years, has he just now noticed? (I will admit some of those ads are obnoxious, but most TV remotes do have a mute button!)

Now comes the corker, the guy who wants our elected officials to put a limit on how many babies people can have, just like China does. I wonder if he would like to have a Communist government like China does. We have 'over-population' according to him. I suspect he doesn't like kids.

Some days I just need to blow off some steam; this is one of those days.

Martha

Bottom Posting vs Top Posting in Email

As in many other computer-related stuff there are two sides to this subject.

The so-called 'right way' is bottom posting.  However I suspect this is really more for private emails and not Group lists.
Either way, private or a list, I don't like bottom posts. One reason is because most folks don't bother to trim out all of the unnessary and irelevant junk, including a lot of these >>>>. Sometimes there is so much junk I have to scroll and scroll to get to the sender's respnse. I must confess, I don't always bother. Because I sometimes receive as many as 300 or more  messages a day, I don't have a lot of time to go through a bunch of junk.

On lists like Yahoo Groups there is always a lot of other stuff appended to each message. This includes a number of links pertaining to each group's special interests and of course the group's home page. (There is also the way to unsubscribe which unfortunately some people never read and instead of unsubscribing themselves, they whine for someone else to do it for them.)

Some people do trim out the unnessary junk and while they are trimming, they remove everything. Unless this message comes through immediately after the first post or soon thereafter, often I have no idea what that trimmed post was about. This causes me to have to waste time searching for the relevant message. Again, I don't always bother.

One HUGE aggravation about bottom posting is when someone responds to a post just to say "Thank you" and I have to scroll through everything that went on before just to see "Thank you". I eventually stop reading messages this person posts and I suspect I am not alone.

I try to remain open minded about bottom posting, but sometimes it's hard.  Some people are very responsible about how they trim and those posts are mostly easy for me to read. Other folks just can't seem to grasp the concept of trimming and I soon learn whose to read and whose to ignore.

Some email programs will automatically put replies on the bottom of a message. One such program is Eudora, which is why I don't use Eudora for lists.

There is another method of replying to list posts; this is replying inline. Some of these inline replies work very well and others are such a disaster that I give up trying to read them. Some email programs make this easier to manage, but my email (Outlook) is not one of them. I suspect some people use colored text to reply in line, but if the group/list is plain text, the colors don't come through.

I wonder, do you top post or bottom post?

Martha

Snagit 9 and My Default Browser

Snagit has come up with a winner on this upgrade, no doubt about it.  I have always been a fan of Snagit and have used it for a long time.

But the folks at TechSmith sorta made me unhappy about one thing. I'll explain. When Snagit 9 opened for the first time, a window came up asking me if I was a first time user or a returning user. I clicked the previous user link and.........It opened in Internet Explorer!

My default browser is Firefox and it is my default browser for a good reason. I do not like Internet Explorer 7. Period. Since I am using Vista, that is the version of IE I have. I never use it, because I don't like it. If I didn't need to see how my web pages look in IE, it would be disabled if I could figure out how to do it.

TechSmith folks, listen up.  It is not nice to make IE execute in Snagit. Tacky! Really tacky! I hope you are listening!

Seriously folks, Snagit 9 is a winner. It's great!

Martha

Not as Young as I Used to Be

I did something today I haven't done in years. I mowed some of the lawn and I used a push mower. Not a gas powered push mower either, an old fashioned push mower.

Yep, I now know for sure, I'm not as young as I used to be. That's obvious every time I see myself in the mirror. But for some reason that didn't really make me KNOW.

Notice I said I mowed some of the lawn. I decided I wasn't ready to die, so I quit while I was still breathing, although I was still breathing hard!

But since I don't want to be a quitter, I got a cold wet washrag, washed my face and back to mowing. I decided to take a break and went back in the house. My son decided to finish the job so I wouldn't kick the bucket. (I was almost through, he needn't have worried!) So now the lawn needed trimming and away I go trimming. This wasn't bad at all and I am not as hot as I was mowing.

I finished up and came back in the cool house and looked for my wet washrag to mop my face.  I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Then I remembered where it was. It was on the back of my neck, keeping me cooler.

I told you I am not as young as I used to be and neither is my memory!

Martha

What Kind of Eggs?

I learned something new yesterday. You can buy pasteurized eggs!  When I saw a recipe for silk pie in the newspaper that called for pasteurized eggs, I thought it was a hoax or someone who just didn't know better. Wouldn't a pasteurized egg be boiled? After all I think the definition of 'pasteurize' is to heat something, usually milk, to a temperature high enough to kill bacteria.  Heating an egg to that temperature would surely boil it, right? Maybe not.

Apparently, so goes the theory, you can heat the egg long enough to kill the bacteria and it still won't be cooked. Since a lot of recipes call for 'raw' eggs, this should be a great way to avoid the wicked salmonella that keeps popping up in everything these days.

You can even pasteurize your own eggs yourself! Recipezaar has the method on their site.

There are a lot of entries in Google about pasteurized eggs. Most of them are asking questions about them.  But I did find several interesting articles about milk and shell eggs with extended shelf lives.

This article, ULTRAPASTEURIZED & PASTEURIZED FOOD, on Chemical & Engineering News was really the most informative and makes more sense than most.

I buy ultrapasteurized milk. It is also organic and rather pricey, but since the regular milk goes bad long before I use it all and has to be thrown away, I think it is cost effective. But I have never seen pasteurized eggs for sale in any of my local markets. I think it is a good idea though, and maybe they will eventually sell those 'safer' eggs.

Have you ever bought pasteurized eggs?

Ripoff!

Every time I turn around, I see or hear about another ripoff for the average consumer. There are so many ripoffs it would be impossible to name them all.

This is not the first time I've griped about the drug companies, but today I learned about one more that really has me steamed. This one takes advantage of folks that have a hard time getting to sleep. A very heavily advertised drug that costs about $3.50 a pill (and that alone is outrageous!) on average will give the user 11 to 19 minutes more sleep. The way I figure it, if the pill taker gets 11 more minutes of sleep, those 11 minutes are costing about 32 cents a minute. Pretty pricey sleep! The commercials show folks getting a good nights sleep. Ripoff!

I like catalogs. I get a lot of them as well. I know that if I order something from one catalog, that merchandiser will probably sell my name and address to a bunch of other merchandisers which in turn will sell my information to others. It's an endless proposition.  I ordered some stuff from one of those catalogs that was supposed to remove baked-on crud from cookie sheets. It didn't work at all. Ripoff! I should have known if it sounds too good to be true it usually isn't, but even though I am generally suspicious I still get taken every now and then.

Magazines are purveyors of ads more and more. Readers Digest and Prevention magazines now have as many ads as they have content. (Maybe more ads than content!) Ripoff! I just don't think I want to pay for ads anymore. I would rather pay more for the subscription and get content, not ads. I know they have to pay the bills, but really, half of the pages are ads? Maybe they could have two types of subscriptions; they could have one with fewer ads costing more and one with mostly ads costing very little. Dream on.

Shopping on line has it's share of ripoffs.  Most reputable sites will let you know before you click the 'Place order' button what you shipping and handling will be, but I have encountered some that don't. Since a lot of sites offer free shipping you may think that's what  you are getting, but the 'gottcha' shows up when you get your credit card bill. Oh and there's another ripoff waiting to get you, the little box that offers you a 'discount on your order, just click here.' What can happen and often does, you are signed up for something called 'Rewards', Discounts' or some other misleading scam that will charge you $10, $12 or some other amount each month and bill your credit card. Ripoff!

Most likely the biggest ripoffs of all are the spurious products being advertised to make plump folks lose weight. They promise amazing results, but seldom deliver. Once you buy the product, an insert will tell you to follow the included diet and exercise regularly. Guess what, if you follow the diet and exercise you don't need their product. Ripoff!

Martha