Pages

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Email Yourself Blog Updates

Do you read a few web sites that update rarely?  It can be pretty frustrating to visit them often yet only see updates every week or two.  Save yourself time and have the web site's updates emailed directly to you.

This can be done by going to feedmyinbox.com and typing in the website and your email address.  They'll email you a confirmation message.  Click on "Confirm Subscription" in that message and follow the directions.

Feedmyinbox.com is a great way to be notified of a small number of websites that update infrequently.  If you want more than 5 websites sent to you, check out Google Reader instead.  Reader is a simple tool that can consolidate dozens or even hundreds of web sites into a single inbox.  More on that in a future post, though.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Urban Legends

So you've received the latest message about a new form or CPR, rising gas prices, or radioactive cat litter.

Before warning lots of people about it, how do you ask, "Is it true?"  You can actually use Google or Snopes faster than the "Forward" button... and save yourself some embarrassment at the same time.

To use Snopes, go to snopes.com and use the Search line at the top of the page.  Type in a simple phrase, like "gas prices" or "cat litter" for a list of claims about those topics.  Snopes will tell you if its true or not.

To use Google, just copy a relatively unusual line from the message and paste it into Google.  Phrases with numbers or brand names work well.

Personally, I recommend Snopes over Google in this case.  Either one will probably work, but with Google you will have to read through several unrelated items and may even run into more copies of the claim without any real verification.  Snopes, on the other hand, does the research and clearly states if its true, false, or some mix of the two.

Which ever way you go, its worth checking your facts before forwarding a claim.  You can help stop false or even dangerous claims.  It may even save you from identity theft.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Google Sites Sidebar

Use Google Sites to build a website?  Google has some advise on how to improve your sidebar.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Passwords

Worried about your password?  Think you have a good one?  Either way, I recommend spending two minutes checking out the advise from security company ZoneAlarm.  It could save your bank account some day.

Friday, March 4, 2011

21 Google Docs Tips

PC World Magazine offers up 21 great tips for Google Docs.

Warning: FaceBook Scams

Thanks to spam filters and common sense, most of us don't fall for scams, phishing, and worms in our email any more.  As a result, spammers and identity thieves have moved on to a new format:  FaceBook.  Actually, they're not picky.  They like Twitter, MySpace, and other social networking services, too.

If you see a post on any of those services, remember to review it like any email.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  For example, if a friend or even a famous person is telling you about a free offer for laptops, iPhones, or iPads, chances are good that someone broke into their account.


If you use FaceBook, I recommend taking a look at this article:  How To Prevent & Remove Facebook Malware or Virus.  They offer a lot of good advise about protecting yourself from becoming the victim of one of these scams.