(33)Avoiding Spam, Scams and Computer Viruses.
One of the most popular pages on about-the-web.com is about
avoiding scams, hoaxes and urban legends on the Internet
(http://about-the-web.com/shtml/scams.shtml).
Here are a
few ways to avoid some of the perils associated with being
connected to the rest of the world.
As a general rule of thumb, beware of any offer that sounds
too good to be true. This applies to products being offered
on the Internet and especially to any unsolicited offer or
spam you receive in your email. Many of these are scams.
The term "spam", in case you don't know, refers to any
unsolicited bulk email. If it's not addressed to you, or
you don't recognize the sender, or you're being asked to
buy something or pass along questionable information, then
that's spam. My advise is to "can the spam" by immediately
deleting any email you receive from anyone you don't know.
The best way to avoid spam, is to be very careful about who
you give your email address to. My advise here is to set up
a free email account and to give this email address to
anyone you don't absolutely trust with your personal
information. It almost never does any good to fight back
against spam. Your best course of action is just to delete
any unwanted email.
A trick that has been pretty successful for me is to set up
an email rule (or filter) that automatically sends any mail
not addressed to me to a special folder. Most of this is
spam and can be easily disposed of.
In addition to spams and scams, the other thing to watch
out for on the Internet is hoaxes, urban legends and false
information. There are many of these floating around the
Internet these days. Beware of any email that asks you to
send money for any cause, or to forward the email to all
your friends. Almost all of these are hoaxes. An excellent
resource for information on hoaxes, urban legends and false
information is
http://urbanlegends.about.com/index.htm
Another category of hoaxes involves virus warnings. If you
receive information that indicates you can get a computer
virus from doing anything except opening an email
attachment or running an application, then this is probably
false information.
Most computer viruses are spread by users opening email
attachments that contain the virus. NEVER OPEN AN EMAIL
ATTACHMENT THAT YOU ARE NOT EXPECTING. Even if you know
the sender, make sure the attachment is legitimate before
opening it. It is much safer to delete any questionable
attachments and ask the sender to resend them than to
assume that the sender intended to send that email.
Your best defenses against computer viruses are: 1) caution
in downloading programs from questionable sources,
2) regularly scanning your drive with virus protection
software, and 3) backing up all your important data to a
different drive or media (floppy, Zip or CD-ROM) as soon as
possible. By doing all of these, if your system does get
infected, you can restore it with a minimum of hassle.
Always check out any offer or information you receive
before sending any money or forwarding the information
to someone else. That way you can rest easy knowing you
aren't getting scammed or passing along an urban legend.
About the Author
Garth Catterall-Heart
About-the-web.com is an Internet Guide for new users to the
Internet. Learn about browsers, e-mail programs, search
engines, making money, avoiding scams, creating and
promoting web sites, and some simple tips for a better web
surfing experience at
http://www.about-the-web.com
Written by: Garth Catterall-Heart
(34)Back that Thang UP …… Insure the Data on Your Computer.
Computers are such an integral part of our business
activities. We should pay special attention to how our data is treated.
It does not matter what industry you work in. Chances are you use your
computer in some part of your business. As with everything else in your
business you need to make sure there are safeguards in place to take care
of your valuable information.
If you truly think about it, you may have original content written for
your website, customer communications, emails that you have been saving
with important instructions and probably the most valuable of all, your
database.
Your database is the most important resource for constant customer
contact. The best advice I ever got was to backup the data on my computer
often. You never know when a power outage or a virus might hit your
computer.
Just think how difficult it would be to replace your database that may
have taken years to compile. It could take months to recreate all the lost
data and even then, it may not be reproduced in its entirety. Some data
will be lost forever and can only be found in the great abyss.
Your business insurance, assuming you have a policy will provide some
compensation in the event of a catastrophe. Backing up data is a form of
insurance. Traditional insurance can’t bring precious data back from the
grave after a fire has turned every shred of paper and equipment to ashes.
That is where backups come in.
Backing up your data often is worth its weight in gold. If something
happens to your equipment, the only thing you have to replace is the
programs on your computer. Your data can then be retrieved form its
storage place.
How you store data and the frequency at which you perform backups depends
upon a couple of factors:
How often you enter information on your computer
How valuable the information is
How much information you store
In summary:
Who should perform backups?
Everyone who stores valuable data and documents on their computers should
perform backups.
What does it mean to backup information?
Normally, not every piece of information is backed up. Programs on your
computer can easily be replaced. Programs such as Microsoft Office or
Print Shop can be repurchased, if necessary and reinstalled. Your concern
will be the documents produced and the data that is generated by these
programs.
When should you perform backups?
You should perform backups often. It will depend on the type of data and
the frequency you enter data. Backups in any case should be performed
consistently and often.
Where should you store backups?
You can use a number of mediums:
CD’s
Zip Drives
External Hard Drives
Floppy Drives
Off Site Storage
One thing to remember is not to keep your backed up data in the same place
as the original data. They can both be destroyed at the same time if they
are together. Off-site storage is your best bet. That can be in a sister
office, a safety deposit box or you can take data home with you.
There are now companies that perform what is called E-Vaulting. The
information on your computer is literally moved automatically to an off
site server.
Weigh all your options when choosing how you will back up you valuable
information. There is no time like the present to get started. Insure your
valued data. Back
About the Author
Elizabeth Hall is the editor & publisher of "The Paper Clip" Business
Success Newsleter. "The Paper Clip is Free and provides valuable hints,
tips and tools for small business owners to be more productive and save
money. Sign up at
http://www.SmartOfficeHelp.com
Written by: Elizabeth Hall
(35)Basic Computer Thermodynamics.
That desk in front of you and everything else around you is made up of
atoms. An atom consists of electrons orbiting around a nucleus. An atom is
increadibly tiny. You could line up 10 million of them inside a
millimeter. What if we could scale up an atom so that the nucleus was the
size of a basketball? The orbits of its electrons would then be 15 miles
away.
From this you can understand that atoms are almost all empty space. The
nucleus of the atom is composed of quarks. If you could see a quark or an
electron up close, it might appear as a tiny vibrating glow of energy. It
turns out this world, which is causing us so many problems and so much
stress, is mostly an illusion!
The electrons orbit the nucleus at about the speed of light. If you
could see them, they might appear as a blur. They do not orbit in a plane
like the pictures in books. They create a shell. Sometimes two or more
atoms will share electrons, causing them to link together forming a
molecule.
Looking at that desk in front of you again, it looks pretty solid.
Actually, unless your desk is floating in deep space where the temperature
is close to absolute zero, the molecules of your desk are vibrating like
crazy. Picture the molecules bouncing around and smacking into each other
like balls on a pool table.
If you have ever played pool, you're very familiar with how when a pool
ball hits another pool ball, it transfers it's energy to the second pool
ball. When heat causes molecules to vibrate, they transfer energy between
each other in a similar fashion. This action is called "conduction".
Now picture the CPU of a computer cooking away because the designer
wants to push too much power through a small piece of silicon. If we don't
take away that heat as fast as it's created, that CPU will fry!
The problem is usually solved by mounting a heat sink on the CPU.
Conduction causes the heat to move from the hot CPU to the cooler heat
sink. Because air doesn't conduct heat as well as metal, We apply a thin
layer of heat sink compound between the CPU and the heat sink to fill in
any gaps.
You'll notice that a heat sink has fins on it. The fins allow the heat
sink to conduct the heat to the air adjacent to the fins. The fins provide
more surface area to aid in conduction. Eventually the adjacent air will
get as hot as the heat sink and conduction will cease.
If we move the air away from the heat sink, it will take the heat
energy with it. A fan mounted on the heat sink is used to move the air.
This method of heat transfer is called convection. Eventually all the air
inside the computer case will get hot, so fans are used to blow the air
out of the case of the computer.
The heat has moved from the CPU, to the heat sink, to the air inside
the case, to the air in the room where you're sitting at your computer
desk. The room starts to get hot, and eventually the air conditioner turns
on.
You can view an air conditioner as a "pipe". A fan blows the hot air
from your room through fins that transfer the heat to a liquid. The liquid
is piped to fins outside the house. A fan blows cooler outside air past
the fins to remove the heat from the liquid.
The air conditioner has an evaporator valve that changes the liquid to
a gas after the heat is removed. In a gas, the molecules are further apart
than in a liquid. This causes it to cool down quite a bit more. The gas
goes through the fins inside the house, picking up heat. It is then
compressed into a liquid to concentrate the heat so the outside fins can
remove the heat more efficiently.
Shuttle's I.C.E. (Integrated Cooling Engine) Heat Pipe uses a very
similar method to cool a CPU. The CPU has a heat sink with copper heat
pipes. The heat of the CPU causes liquid coolant inside the heat pipe to
change to a gas. Convection created by the pressure of the gas moves the
coolant to a second heat sink where a fan is used to blow the heat out of
the computer's case. Releasing the heat causes the coolant to change back
to a liquid. Gravity then carries the coolant back to the CPU heat sink.
One last method of heat transfer we haven't discussed yet is radiation.
Some of the heat of the CPU and the heat sink is released as infrared
radiation. Similar to light (although invisible to human eyes), the
radiation strikes the insides of the computer case, causing it to get
warm. Ultimately the computer case itself acts as a heat sink conducting
heat to the outside air.
This article explains the three ways - conduction, convection, and
radiation - that heat is transported from a computer CPU to the air
outside the computer case. You now understand the thermodynamics of a
computers and why it is important to maintain its various components.
Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp.
Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint,
distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or
part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline,
copyright, and the resource box below is included.
To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp.
Written by: Stephen Bucaro
:(36)Be Prepared in the Event Computer Disaster Strikes
Computers
Businesses and individuals alike have all grown to rely on computers. The reliance is never more apparent than when something happens to the horrid little box that makes our lives easier. We expect computers to react a certain way, in certain situations. It nearly always comes as a surprise when the beloved little box, know as a computer, refuses to boot up. Probably even more shocking, is the dawning that we've neglected to backup or prepare for the unforeseen disaster that has just been thrust upon us.
Regardless of the number of times you have experienced the dread of being unable to access the information trapped in the god-awful computerized contraption, we are always invariably unprepared.
The reality of it is that computers, not only contain moving parts, but they like other machines, they are prone to failure at some point in their lives. Not only can hardware failures occur, but viruses can also corrupt data making it impossible to retrieve. Regardless of the litany of words used to bully the box into behaving, the truth is that the only offence is a good defense.
So how do you prepare for a computer tragedy?
Prepare for the Worst
In structuring an offense it's important to realize the power of reinforcements: backups are invaluable and will save countless hours of shameless degradation. Be sure that you backup data and files on a regular basis, there are a number of tools that will automate the process.
It is critical that you check the backup log to ensure that a backup was completed properly. I cannot begin to describe the devastation felt when it is realized that though there was a backup process in place, the backup never actually occurred. Realizing this during a restore is likely to push any computer lover over the edge. It is a good idea to store a weekly back up off site. This is especially helpful, if an unforeseen fire or a natural disaster strikes.
Protection is critical!
Build A Wall
If the computer has Internet access, either a hardware or software firewall (or combination there of) must be used. The firewall creates a barrier between a computer and the world. Without a firewall, Internet worms are capable of exploiting security holes and are able to create what are referred to as 'back doors'. These back doors can then be used to gain access to personal information stored on the computer, including password files, and financial information.
Trust No One
If you are an avid Internet surfer or downloader be sure to scan any downloads prior to opening or installing. Up to date anti-virus software should be used to ensure, that computers do not become infected with malicious viruses that will ruin your life. Scan any email attachments prior to opening regardless of whom they are from. Files that end with .scr, .pif and .exe can contain viruses that will wreak havoc with your data and emotional well being.
Preparedness goes a long way, and a little foresight will ensure that, while a computer might be an inconvenience, you will not be defeated.
Preparation Resources
Anti-virus Software -http://www.military-software.com/anti-virus-software.htm
Firewalls - http://www.monitoring-software.net/intrusion-detection-software.htm
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites and additional articles can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net
Written by: Sharon Housley