Fun Websites

My last few articles have warned you of some of the dangers when using email, the internet and your computer. I don’t want you to think that the internet is all trouble, though, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite websites with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Wikipedia (www.YouTube.com): YouTube is a free online library of video clips. These clips can range from a few seconds to a few hours. YouTube allows you to view, but not download, these clips. Some clips are commercials, most are “home made,” but there is a huge variety of content, including sports, comedy, art, science and travel. Warning: addictive and time consuming!

Snopes (www.snopes.com): Snopes is a great Urban Legend debunker. Whether it’s that chain letter email you received yesterday, a phone call urging you to enter a code into your cell phone, or if you swallowed some chewing gum and want to know if it really will take seven years to digest, Snopes has the answer. Some claims are true, some false, some undetermined, but if you ever ask yourself, I wonder if that’s really true, go to snopes.com for an answer.

Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). Headed to the movies? The video store? Rotten Tomatoes is your online movie critic. Well, it’s not just one critic, it’s a collection of movie critics’ opinions from across the nation. Watch a trailer, post your own opinion, or learn the inside scoop on upcoming movies.

The Smoking Gun (www.thesmokinggun.com) The Smoking Gun received a lot of attention last winter when it uncovered holes in Oprah’s book of the month, A Million Little Pieces. The Smoking Gun aims to bring you unusual news from legitimate sources: court documents, police reports and other “confidential” sources.

Smarter Travel (www.smartertravel.com). Ever been lured by an email or website promising a rock bottom airfare price, only to find out later, the quote price was one way, with lots of blackout dates? Smarter Travel allows you to search many travel sites from one location, almost always posts /round trip/ fares and offers exclusive discounts to members (signup is free!). Smarter Travel also has travel advice, package deals, hotel reservations and car rentals, all from one convenient location.

There are lots more fun websites out there. There are even websites that let you share your favorite websites with others. Next time you get on the internet, why not spend a little time finding some of the hidden gems?

Phishing & Pharming

As if there were not enough dangers and annoyances with Viruses and Spam, there are new variations on this theme that are coming out every day. Two new variations are called “phishing” and “pharming,” and both are attempts to steal some private information via email. Email is a great tool, but you need to know a little about protecting yourself so you can have a safe experience.

Phishing is when you receive a bogus email often claiming to be from a financial institution, such as Visa, ebay or PayPal. When you click on the link in the email, it takes you to a fake website. While it may look like eBay or PayPal, the websites are copies that are hoping that you will enter your personal information, namely login, passwords and credit card numbers.

A simple dose of suspicion is a good preventative measure. If any email is asking you to enter or verify you financial information, don't click on the link listed in the email. Instead, if you feel the email may have merit, open your web browser, and type in the appropriate web address. For example, if you received an email from “eBay” asking you to verify your account information, don't click on the link in the email. Type in ebay.com directly into your browser and access your account information that way. If you do indeed have to update your account information, there will most likely be a notification upon logging in. Or you call always fall back on the telephone: call your bank or credit card institution to see if the account is truly in jeopardy.

Pharming takes this concept one step further. You may open an unsolicited email attachment that contains a small program. This program then copies itself to your computer and waits for you to visit a financial website. Then, for example, the next time you type in PayPal.com, you are not taken to that website. Instead, that small program springs into action and redirects you to a fake PayPal.com, again, hoping to steal your personal information. This too can be prevented with a little common sense. Don't open an email attachment if you are at all suspicious. Keeping up to date on your virus definitions and turning off “preview” in your messages (in Outlook the “View” Menu and Click on “Preview Pane”), will go a long way to keep you out of harm's way. And, as mentioned above, you can always use the telephone.

Email is a great thing. It's fast, convenient and virtually free. But you can’t take everything you get via email at straight value. Be suspicious of any “call to action” emails, and use the tips mentioned above and you should not have any trouble at all.