Now, depending on your plan, it may not be feasible to have texting capabilities, because of costs or you just don't want it.

But, just because you don't have texting capabilities, many people do not realize, you can send a text message to someone cell phone as SMS (Short Message Service) using email.

Just about everybody has an eamil account somewhere. And sending a text message to a cell phone via email is simple and can be done to most major cellular providers.

All you need is the person 10-digit cell phone number and the carrier they use.

For example, if your friends carrier is AT&T, and you know their cell phone number, to send them an SMS text message, you would address the email as:

AreaCode+MobileNumber@txt.att.net (use full 10 digit cell number with no spaces or plus sign)

3085551212@@txt.att.net

Or if the carrier is Verizon, you would address the email as:

AreaCode+MobileNumber@vtext.com

Any email provider can be used (GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail, your ISP or company email). The reason why you can use email, is because, many cell phone providers (especially in the USA) have an email SMS gateway that allows anyone to send an email that will, in turn send a text message.

So, how do you know if a provider has an email gateway. Since carriers change often (merge, shutdown, etc..) your best bet is to do a Google search for the carrier which will likely return the domain suffix to use (such as vtext.com for Verizon), or you can check with the cell carrier's web site (obivously you can also check with the person you want to text for the information).

Below are some of the popular providers for sending text messages:

Alltel      @message.alltel.com
AT&T         @txt.att.net
Sprint         @messaging.sprintpcs.com (or @messaging.nextel.com for Nextell)
T-mobile     @tmomail.net
Verizon     @vtext.com

In addition to sending text messages (SMS), some carriers allow sending MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages that include multimedia content, such as photos, videos, etc.

To send MMS using email, you will need to use the carrier domain address which may be different than the SMS address. Below are some of the popular carriers (again, do a Google search to fond carriers not listed below):

Alltel
AT&T         @mms.att.net
Sprint         @pm.sprint.com
T-mobile     @mms.uscc.net
Verizon     @vzwpix.com

Now that you know how to text someone cell phone using email, their are a couple of things to keep in mind.

• Make sure the message does not exceed 160 charaters, otherwise it may get cut off.

• Just because your email account is free (meaning you are not charged per message), doesn't mean the person you are sending the text message to (receiving) won't be charged per text message. Check with them first, otherwise they may not be your friend anymore.

• Be patient. Some carrier gateways may delay message delivery, so don't use it for emergencies or when an immediate response is expected.

• Use simple text. Don't bother with fancy fonts or formatting.

• Don't spam anybody cell phone. Do so, and you will end up in a world of trouble (it's not worth it).

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If you have not heard, Microsoft awesome Sysinternals site has released the beta version of Sysinternals Live. What this service offers is the capability to connect directly to the Sysinternals site and run their tools without the need to download.

If you are not familiar with Sysinternals, they produce some of the best tools, such as Process Explorer, Autoruns and Process Monitor for Windows systems. Microsoft bought the company in 2006 and continued to offer it's extensive library of diagnostic, troubleshooting, and management utilities for free.

Why is this very cool? Because Sysinternals Live allows to you connect and run all their tools with out needing a web browser.

For example, Vista owners can connect from the Start menu Search bar by entering \\live.sysinternals.com\tools.

Windows Explorer will open, displaying the connection to the share listing of all the tools available.

You can click on any available tool and run it immediately (Sysinternals tools require no installation) without needing to download and unzip.

Or if you know the name of the tool, you can just reference it's name to have it launch and run with the following command syntax:

\\live.sysinternals.com\tools\<toolname>

For example, to run Autoruns, you would use:

\\live.sysinternals.com\tools\autoruns.exe

If you're a command line user, this means you can also run the tools directly at the prompt by entering the same command as above (be patient and give it a few seconds to launch).

But I find mapping a drive to be the best method, since it's convenient to have all their tools available using a drive letter.

You can easily map a drive from the Run dialog windows, by pressing Windows Key+R or click on Start \ Run… and entering the following command:

net use * \\live.sysinternals.com\tools

Of course you can use any browser and connect using http://live.sysinternals.com/tools/.

The Sysinternals Live tools should work in all x86 and x64 versions of Vista and Server 2008 as well as previous version of Windows.

No matter what method you use to connect, having access to these tools with out the need to download, is a big bonus, especially for those times when family or friends bug you to fix their computer and you don't have your handy USB stick around!

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In other words, the accounts have easy to hack passwords. Passwords like a pet's name, a friend's name spelled backwards, a favorite movie catch phrase, a significant other's name (or "iheart" followed by that name), and so on.

Hackers are extremely resourceful at guessing and ferreting out those all-too-common password schemes. And sometimes it's not even the hackers that end up with your passwords.

Here are seven key steps to keeping an account from being hacked due to simple and common password theft.

1 – Pick A Good Password. "iHeartSue" is bad. "qicITcl}" is great! The problem's pretty obvious, though – if it's easy to remember, then it's probably a bad password. Instead, use a blended approach: never use full words or names; mix upper and lower case letters, use numbers. Use at least 8 characters. A password like "ILoveWindows" is bad, but a variation – "1luvwind00s" could be very good. "CorgiDog", not so good, but "Igroc7Pup" might be ok. Get creative, using a technique you can remember that no one else could possibly guess.

2 – Keep Your Password Safe. Tell no one. Even in a close and presumably trusting relationship – if anything ever happens consider the damage that the person could do knowing your password. Too many account theft scenarios begin with trusting someone just a little too much, and then having the relationship go bad. Your friends are your friends until one day they're not. Especially if someone is pressuring you or if there's the least little bit of doubt, don't share your password.

3 – Use a "Secret Answer." Most systems use the answer to a "secret question" as a way to recover or reset a password. Unfortunately many people choose answers that anyone can guess, or easily research on the internet. Answers like where you were born or your pet's name are frequently easy to find out with a little searching. The good news is that your secret answer doesn't actually have to make sense. Pick something unrelated or bizarre instead; choose answers like "Pickle" as your city of birth, "Confusion" as your mother's maiden name, or perhaps "Flat Tire" as your favorite pet. As long as you can remember, it doesn't matter.

4 – Maintain That Alternate Email Address. An "alternate email address" is used by many mail accounts as a place to send you a password reminder or reset. Be sure to set up an account on a different email system for your alternate email address (any other free email system will do), and then use that address as your alternate everywhere else. Of course, keep the alternate account active so as not to lose it, since without it you may be out of luck.

5 – Remember. Remembering sounds easy, but like we said earlier: if it's easy to remember, then it's probably a bad password. And yet remembering and being difficult to guess are both critical. You must remember your password, failing that your secret answer, and failing that your alternate email account. Forget or lose them all, and you're severely out of luck. If written down, be sure to keep it all in a secure place – not something like the almost cliche scenario of finding poorly hidden sticky notes containing passwords near your computer. It might be safe to keep something in your wallet, since you already treat that as secure. An encrypted file or password container on your computer might be another option.

6 – Don't Get Taken. There are shady services that will claim to be able to retrieve your passwords and account access. Many are simply scams to take advantage of you when you are vulnerable and only take your money or login information for another account that they can then breech. The only place trustworthy enough for password and account recovery help is the service you've lost access to itself. If they can't help, then neither can a reputable third party.

7 – Learn From Your Mistakes. Finally, if you now know that you have a weak password, if you've told it to someone you shouldn't have, or if you've not set up that secret question or alternate account, fix it. Now. Change your password to something stronger, set up the alternate recovery methods, and keep your information private. If you've been hacked and you don't have any of that set up, you're very likely out of luck. Make sure to take more secure care of your account password and information with your next one.

Get more free tech help and advice from Leo Notenboom by visiting http://ask-leo.com With over 30 years of industry experience, including an 18 year career as a software engineer with Microsoft, Leo gives real answers to real questions from ordinary computer users at Ask Leo! Subscribe to Leo's weekly newsletter now and receive a free ebook: "Internet Safety – Keeping Your Computer Safe on the Internet", a collection of steps, tools and concepts you need to know to keep your computer and your information safe.

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Digital photo printing is just like regular photo processing, but the added advantage is that you can change your photos anyway that you would like, and see how they will look, before you actually get them printed.

Here's what you need to know about optimizing your pictures ahead of time.

Step One - Scan in your photo if necessary. If you don't have your picture already on disc or on a digital camera, you'll need to scan in the original. A flatbed scanner will work best for this, to reduce any warping of the picture. Most scanners come with image software that will allow you to easily import the photo on to your computer.

Step Two – Open the picture in a photo editor. It is a good idea to take a look at your photos before you send them in for digital photo printing. This will give you a chance to see if there is anything wrong with the picture before you send it in. Typically, you may need to:

Rotate the Picture – Some cameras and scanners will produce images that are upside down. You can easily fix this by using a rotate tool in photo editing software. Just click the rotate button until the picture is right side up.

Remove Red Eye – This is a common problem, even in digital pictures. If you don't want the red eye effect to appear on photos, you'll need to do some correction. Today's editing software for photos usually comes with a feature that makes this very easy. When you're done removing the effect, you can save the image and it will be ready for digital photo printing.

Correcting Colors/Hue/Saturation – Sometimes, a photo may not be perfect. Before you send it for digital photo printing, you may need to adjust the color, hue or saturation. This can easily be done in photo editing software. Open the image, and look for the tool that will adjust these settings. Typically, there will be a slider bar that will let you play around with the settings until you are happy with the finished results.

Setting the Quality of the Image – In order to get great results with digital photo printing, you'll need to have a high quality file. When you're ready to save your photo, make sure that you use a .jpg or .gif extension. Your software should ask you how high you want the quality to be. Select the highest value and finish saving the image.

Once you've completed these steps, you'll be assured that your images will be perfect when you upload them to your free online photo album service for digital photo printing. The results are typically much better than traditional photo processing and it's always nice to be able to fix problems before you have the photo printed.

Author – MJ Johnston writes for a variety of websites, including Hoorray, a photo sharing site that offers the quickest and easiest way to create a free online photo album.

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Are You Invisible Online?

It's true that your IP address is no secret. It's a basic part of internet communication protocols to send your IP address whenever you connect to another site, request a web page, chat, play an online game, etc. Without your IP address, the computer on the other end wouldn't know where to send the reply.

But that doesn't mean that Evildoers can find your house if they know your IP address. Each time you go online (if you have dialup) or each time you start your computer (if you have cable or dsl) you will be assigned an IP address, randomly selected from a pool of IP's assigned to your Internet service provider (ISP).

WHOIS Your ISP

So a person MIGHT be able to get a general idea of your geographic location, based on your IP address, by doing a lookup on the WHOIS database, but that will only tell them the physical location of your ISP — not YOUR home address.

And if you use a large regional or nationwide ISP, the IP lookup probably reveals nothing of interest. For example, if you are an AOL subscriber, your IP address lookup will show the location as Dulles, Virginia — regardless of where you live.
When The Law Comes A Knockin'

Of course there is an exception to every rule. If Joe or Jane User calls your ISP and wants to know who was using a certain IP address last Tuesday, the ISP will tell them to go away. But if an officer of the law hands your ISP a court order to reveal that information, they must do so. Your ISP's logs will enable them to determine which customer was using a certain IP address on a certain date & time, and they must reveal that information if a court has found probable cause that a crime was committed by that person.

But for the truly paranoid (or the criminally inclined) there are ways to surf the web anonymously. The Anonymizer service will act as a proxy between you and your ISP, and they claim that your information cannot be subpoenaed because they do not store it.
What About Email Addresses?

The same concepts apply to your email address. The part that follows the "@" sign is your ISP's domain name. And given the domain name, one can determine the ISP's physical location, but nothing personally identifying about the email user without a court order.

Web-based email accounts are not truly anonymous, either. Even if you don't provide your real name when signing up, they can capture your IP address and track you through your ISP if necessary.
Other Considerations

It's much more likely that you or your children will reveal your physical location the old fashioned way — by just blurting it out. Kids who chat or play online games should be reminded often that they should never reveal any personal information, including their last name, phone number or home address.

Oh, and if you have any spyware or viruses on your system, all bets are off. These things are designed to violate your privacy. If you need help with scanning your system for spyware, adware and other unwanted pests, see my articles How can I avoid computer viruses? and Spy, Counter-Spy (http://www.askbobrankin.com/spy_counter-spy.html) for details on how to protect yourself from those risks.

Author – Bob Rankin is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin's website for more helpful articles and free tech support.

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But the key to doing the venting is to make it effective. In other words, just picking any site to vent probably won't get your message noticed. You need to carefully think out your strategy.

Take this Craiglist post as an example – "To The A$$hole On The Newtown ByPass This Afternoon near I95"

Not bad. In fact it's pretty good (and amazes me how creative people can be). But it needs wings to make it fly around the Internet to be seen. Here's some tips to make venting more effective with out being foul, rude, stupid or ignorant.

• Use Important Keywords In Your Post Title – As any website owner knows, getting your site content noticed on the Internet and searchable by Google, starts with keywords in the title of your post or page with an attention grabbing headline. In the Craigslist example above, the poster did a nice job and made sure to include known roads as keywords in the title. Make sure you also sprinkle those same keywords through out the body of the post (don't go overboard with them).

• Use A Highly Popular Site To Post – According to Hitwise, Craigslist is listed in the top 20 for most popular websites in terms of traffic. In the eyes of Google, this is a good thing. Posting on a site like Craiglist will help get your message get indexed by Google quickly.

• Give it Wings And Bookmark Your Post – No I don't mean in Firefox or IE. Bookmark it at known social bookmarking sites (where you have an account) such as StumbleUpon, delicious, Digg, etc. With a good attention grabbing title, you will be surprised how quickly things can become popular on these sites.

• Kick It Into Overdrive -  What's the equalvant of spreading gossip on the Internet? Voting up bookmarks. Ever wonder how all those article stories and posts reached the top of Digg, delicious, and other social sites? By people voting in favor of the story which eventually makes it popular. Remember, the title needs to invoke emotions and grab your attention. Don't forget to tell your friends

• Don't Be Stupid – It's one thing to vent your anger, but nobody likes someone who is foul mouth, loud, obnoxious or just wants attention. Make sure you follow the rules, keep it clean, and DON'T stretch the truth. If you do, you'll quickly find yourself on the other end of your objective. Also if you don't want to get sued, consider not adding any identifying characteristics of the car (you know what I mean).

Now anybody who drives on the Newtown ByPass near I95 who wants to be a bone-head, will probably think twice the next time

Drive safely and keep your hands on the wheel (and not out the moon roof).

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Help! Every time I open my Hotmail mailbox, the annoying Hotmail Today page is displayed instead of my inbox. I have Internet Explorer 7 set up (under home page settings) to automatically open two tabs…one to CNN and the other to my hotmail account. I don't need another page displaying more news information. How can I force Hotmail to just display my inbox after log on? 

Actually, this is pretty easy to change in the Hotmail Option settings, so your inbox and it's messages are display instead of the Today page (as long as Microsoft stops changing the interface layout every so often!).

• Log on to your Hotmail mailbox using your Windows Live account. Once you have access to your mailbox, click on the pull down arrow next to Options (right hand side under Sign Out link)

• Then select More options… link at bottom of list.

• In the Options menu, scroll down to the Customize your mail section, and click on the Today page settings link…

• …and click on the radio button next to Skip the Today page and take me straight to my inbox . Then click the Save button to save the setting.

To go back to your Inbox, click on the Go to inbox link in the upper right corner of the screen.

Now the next time you log on to your Hotmail mailbox, you will auotmatically skip the Today page and be taken directly to your inbox. If you do want to see the Today page, just click on the Today button on the left navigation menu (under Inbox and your folders).

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If you made the leap to Firefox 3 and find yourself searching your Windows Live Hotmail settings to enable the preview pane, you can stop looking. The bad news is that Hotmail's Full Version is Incompatible With Firefox 3.

After logging on to your Hotmail mailbox the following message is displayed:

"You are temporarily on the classic version of Windows Live Hotmail due to an error encountered during login. Before trying again, please clear your cache and cookies".

Unfortunately clearing your browser's cache and cookies does not resolve the problem. Neither does switching to the full version.

According to a post on Slashdot, the fault apparently lies with Hotmail, not the new version of Firefox (since the preview pane still functions with Firefox 2).

So for now, Firefox 3 fans are out of luck until it is fixed. In the meantime, you still can access your Hotmail mailbox, just with out the preview pane.

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Identity theft is one of the most serious problems facing Internet users. Identity Theft is exactly as the name states — someone steals your Identity and commits fraud in your name.

It can result in untold financial and legal problems that may literally ruin your peace of mind and/or your life. Someone gaining control of your most personal details can wreck havoc and result in dire consequences for you and your family.

You must do everything in your power to prevent Identity Theft. Actually, if you follow some simple 'common sense' procedures –you can reduce your risk significantly. Follow these simple steps and you
may prevent yourself from becoming a victim of Identity Theft.

Please keep in mind, any computer connected to the Internet can be hacked! The only way to be 100% safe from Identity Theft is to not use a computer or the Internet. Even then, many banking institutions and government agencies may have your vital information in their hands and possibly online — so no one is really safe!

Despite this grime prospect, there are many things you can personally do to protect yourself from Identity Theft. Stop would-be thieves in their tracks and make it really hard for anyone to misuse your well earned good name and reputation.

Try these relatively simple steps:

1. If you do a lot of surfing on the web — set your own security standards!

Most browsers will let you set the security level of your connections. If you're using Internet Explorer, click on Tools in the task bar, go to Internet Options and set your level of security. Try to set this to as high a standard as you can.

2. Place a firewall on your computer or network. A firewall is a system or gateway that prevents unauthorized access to your computer or private network. It is usually the first line of defense in protecting your private information or data. A good firewall will help protect you from malicious attacks of spyware, adware, malware, worms, trojans, and hackers. There is no reason not to have a firewall in place, you can download a free firewall from www.zonealarm.com for personal use.

3. Get a good anti-virus software program that will help protect your computer against spyware, adware, malware and so on. Purchasing such a program that is updated regularly will save you money in the long run and will add an extra layer of protection for your PC.

4. Don't store your vital information (credit card numbers, family information, passwords, etc.) on your personal computer, instead store it on CDs or floppy disks or on a computer that is not connected to the Internet.

5. If you use passwords, make sure they are hard-to-guess passwords. You should have passwords that are at least eight characters long — consisting of a mixture of numbers, upper case and lower case letters. Many security experts suggest changing your passwords regularly.

6. Never open emails from people you don't know. Especially, don't open any attachments until they are properly scanned for viruses and spyware.

7. Be aware of phishing — this is where you get an official looking (though fake) email from companies that you may be doing business with — never use a link in these emails to provide personal information. Always open a new browser window and type in your 'own' links you have for these companies or sites. Most secure connections will start with "https://"

8. Regularly check your operating system and download any updates that may contain security patches and fixes for your PC.

9. Use an encryption service if you can. This will help in protecting your vital data from prying eyes.

10. Always shut down your computer when its not in use — especially if you have a cable Internet connection. And make sure you know who is using your computer. Keep track of family members or friends who have access to your computer.

No doubt there are many more ways to protect yourself against Identity Theft but following and implementing the above steps will give you added protection and peace of mind.

In the same light, don't let your guard down — always be aware of your surfing habits and the information or programs on your computer. Keep a close eye on your PC; any slow down or unorthodox operations should be checked out immediately. Scan your machine regularly, check out any unauthorized attempts to access your computer and keep your machine safe.

Believe it or not, a little common sense will go a long way in stopping Identity Theft and keeping your good name safe!

To learn more about Spyware and Adware Click Here: Spyware Removal Guide

Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins of http://www.bizwaremagic.com

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Just yesterday I received what looks like one of those phishing email from someone claiming to be Paypal. For that matter I know it's a fake (I didn't purchase the item). Ever since I switched over to the new Windows Live Hotmail (from their classic version) I cannot find a way to view the header source information so I can really verify that this email is a fake.

Did Microsoft get rid of that option, or is it buried some where and I'm just not looking in the right spot?

Not surprising that you ALSO received a spoofed email from a lame spammer, phishing for unsuspected victims. When will they ever learn?

I'm also not surprised that you are having trouble finding a way to view email header information of a message in Hotmail. I even had to hunt for it, and turns out it's very simple to do.

Just follow these steps:

• Log on to your Windows Live Hotmail mailbox
• In the folder list (left pane), click Inbox.

• Then right click on the message in the message list, and select View source.

You should now see the header information for that message, similar to the below screen shot:

If you are unfamiliar with header information of a message, it provides a good way to view source and destination path information, the message traveled, as well as time stamps, IP Addresses, Addresses, and body information.

Although it's easy for spammers to forge parts of the information listed in the header, it can be useful when determining if a message is fake or real.

Overall, no matter what you find in the header information, the bottom line is never trust any email messages that ask for personal information or requires verification of bank and credit card accounts, login account of any kind or seeking information about yourself.

Unless you know the sender, your best bet is to use the phone and call the company to verify is the message is valid.

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Anyone who has an email address knows that being spammed is a fact of life. All it takes is handing out your email address one time for it to be an open invitation with ruthless spammers.

Even family and friends can be more of a spam annoyance than the spammers themselves.

While spam filter technology has progressed to the point of making life with email more tolerable, in some cases it may be too good when your trying to have your email messages successfully delivered.

So how do you prevent your message from being nuked by a spam filter?

The criteria for what is considered spam, is based on the type of filter being used.

One common type is a content filter that make filtering decisions based on several criterias that match regular expressions within email messages such as phrases, keywords or patterns. Once the filter has completed it's evaluation it will assign a score, usually 1 to 5 (with 1 being a low tolerance for spam and 5 having a higher tolerance).

If the total "score" of the email message you sent, exceeds a certain threshold, your message is sent to the junk folder. You're probably going to ask "what's the threshold I need to stay under?" Unfortuanatly a threshold can be different depending on the the person who is configuring the spam filter software. If the person is really annoyed with spam, they'll set the threshold extremely low so just about anything will get filtered and declared as spam.

Other types of filters will check the header of the message to see if it was forged by verifying the server (Domain and or IP Address) that sent the message as well as the email address of sender.

Another type of filter is when your put on (listed) a black list where spam filters can refer to a database and see if your address or domain is listed. If there is a match, the message will be automatically delete or moved to the junk folder.

Methods to Reduce Chances From Being Flagged As A Spammer

As spam filter settings become more strict due to the increase of spam emails, you need to make sure your email messages are not classified as being spammy. In some cases that's easier said than not.

To help out, below is a guide line of the common features of email messages that are blocked by most spam filters. Taking pre-cautions when composing messaging will increase the chances of getting your message delivered.

Avoid these common mistakes:

• Using spammy phrases, like "Click here!" or "Once in a lifetime opportunity!"

• Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!

• USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE YELLING IN EMAIL.

• Excessive font coloring such as bright red, or green.

• Subject starts with Free, GUARANTEED, Buy, dollar sign ($) or (money) amount, etc.

• Sending nothing but one big image (with little or no text) in the message.

• Designing HTML email in Microsoft Word, and exporting the code to HTML (that code is sloppy, and spam filters hate it).

• If the email has three or more CAPITALIZED words in the Subject line or has no text within the subject line.

• The email contains blank lines that make up a percentage of more than 70%.

• Repeated, unnecessary double-quotation marks.

• The body of the email message mentions Viagra, no prescription, online Pharmacy etc.

• There are attempts to disguise words within the email.

• From field and reply to are empty.

• Subject (or other fields) contains G.a.p.p.y-T.e.x.t with lots of spaces or underscores.

• Address contains "free".

• Email contains an attached in the following formats: EXE BAT PIF etc (or DAT file Email sent from Apple Mac to PC issue).

• Message is a saved web page.

• Font colour is the same as the background (invisible text).

Tools For Checking Spam

If all this spam nonsense sounds confusing, you can actually test your message via a spam check tool available on the Internet.

Sitesell Spam Check – Spam Check is a free tool that will check you message for common spam characteristics. First compose you message normally. Before hitting the send button, copy the entire message body and paste it into the form (step 2a). Also add the from address and subject of message, then click on the Submit button.

Once your message has been evaluated, a report will be generated similar to the below screen shot:

As you can see the score is 5.1. The tool considers anything under 4.5 as good. So it would look like I need to clean up the message if I want to increase the chances of my email to get delivered.

Real Time Blacklist – This tool will check to see if your email server is listed on a database that many spam engines use to verify if the server sending an email message (to your email server) is a known spammer. You don't need to worry about this is you a free email service such as GMail, Yahoo, or Windows Live Hotmail.

If you are a business or company this can be useful to determine if you are listed.

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Do you hate spam? I’m not talking about the food, but the seemingly endless stream of annoying commercial emails that flood most people’s inboxes.

The content of the messages range from mortgage rates to enlarging various body parts, to pornography, and their numbers grow every day — up to 500 percent in the eighteen months prior to March, 2003. As of April, 2004, over eighty percent of all email was spam.

It fell dramatically since then, but in 2006, especially in the second half of the year, the amounts of spam has skyrocketed. Some experts estimate that spam accounts for over 90% of all emails!

Spam is named after an old Monty Python skit which took place in a diner where everything on the menu had spam in it. A chorus keeps chanting a song about spam, drowning out conversations. Years later, this reminded someone of how email in your inbox can get lost in all of the junk mail, so they called it spam and the name stuck.

It can be hard to avoid getting your email address on somebody’s list. It’s not uncommon for many people to receive 50 to 100 pieces of spam in a single day – I know some people who get over 300 a day! And the problem is growing worse.

Fortunately there are ways for people to reduce the amount of spam they get. Here are a few tips:

* Never try to unsubscribe or ask to be removed. Those emails may include a link or a reply address to unsubscribe, but 95% either simply don’t work, or you're just telling the spammers that they have a live one.

* Never order anything advertised in spam, visit the website, or in any way respond to the ad. Spammers send out millions of emails at a time, and it costs them almost nothing. Every order or click through to their website just encourages the spammers to send more and more.

* Try to avoid entering your email address on websites as much as possible, and if you do, consider getting a second email account with Yahoo mail or a similar service. That way, you can enter that address instead of your main email. Most websites offering contests, joke lists, free greeting cards, etc. harvest and sell your email address.

* Never sign an online guestbook. As an experiment I recently created a new email address and entered it on about five guestbooks I found with a Google search. Within 24 hours I was getting spam, and it grew to dozens a day within a week.

* Just opening an unsolicited ad while connected to the internet can alert spammers that they have a live address, so if your email application has a “work offline” option, often found in the file menu, select it before opening suspect emails, or disconnect from the internet completely.

If you use a web-based email service like Yahoo Mail, check your mail options for a setting to turn off graphics in emails, or to display mail in plain text only. This helps keep the spammers from knowing you've opened the message.

* Avoid forwarding emails to large numbers of people. Not everyone realizes that when you forward a message, the email addresses of everyone who receives the message is visible to every person who reads it. If any of the recipients is a spammer, or if one of a friend's computer is infected by certain viruses, they can harvest all of those addresses, including yours.

If you do send an email to multiple people, you can avoid revealing email addresses by entering addresses in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) area instead of To or CC — this will hide the list of addresses from everyone else.

If you're sending a message from somebody on to others, you should copy and paste just the message into a new email window rather than hitting the forward button — this trims the message down and protects the privacy of others.

* To deal with the spam you already receive, most email programs allow you to create “filters” or “rules” that move incoming email into a specified folder or even right into the trash.

Setting filters up can be complicated, but the newer versions of many email programs, including Mozilla Thunderbird and Mac OS X Mail make it much easier.

The programs recognize patterns in spam, and use your address book as a white list of legit senders. Any spam that shows up in your inbox can be marked (and automatically deleted) with a click, and the more spam you mark, the better the program gets at automatically taking care of them so you end up seeing a lot less junk than you used to. Many internet providers also provide a spam filter which blocks email before it gets to your computer. The problem with this is that they often block legitimate mail and you may never know about it. Because of this, I recommend using filtering software on your own computer, such as the two programs I just mentioned.

Ultimately, spam is a fact of modern life, and it's next to impossible to avoid all of it, mostly because of what other people are doing with your email. If your current email address is about to collapse from the amount of spam you get, you might be forced to get a new one.

After that, if you follow the tips above, you'll have a good chance of keeping it under control.

Author – Worth Godwin is a computer coach with a dozen years' experience helping computer users of all levels, and has also worked for many years "in the trenches" as a hardware and software tech, solving real-world computer problems.

Worth has also been studying the human mind, and how people learn, since the early 1990s. He draws upon all of this experience, as well as his English and writing degrees, to teach people in a unique way with explanations that really make sense.

In 2006, Worth began putting his easy lessons together as video lessons on CD, carefully designed to make it easy to learn at your own pace, for an affordable price. These lessons let you see each click of the mouse and every step of the lesson, while you hear Worth's clear explanations.

Individual CDs as well as entire courses are available for both Windows and Macs, and everything comes with a full 1-year no-hassle money back guarantee.

More information, and testimonials from happy clients, are available at http://www.WorthGodwin.com

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Many readers have emailed me or left comments on several Hotmail how-to articles I have written, frustrated with how the heck do you reverse marking an email as unsafe and preventing it from disappearing into Windows Live Hotmail black hole forever.

To help, I searched Hotmail un-helpfull Help and Knowledge base with out finding any hint or explanation on how to stop an email address from falling into Hotmail's "email shredder" known as the spam filter.

Sure, you can easily find out how to mark messages as unsafe, while there is nothing about how to unmark them. But, to my surprise, Microsoft has an easy procedure to submit a request to have them remove an address from their spam filter…finding it was the hard part.

Here's what you need to do. Log on to Hotmail or your Windows Live account, then click on the following link:

https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlmail&ct=eformts

What you should see is the following form:

Now, don't fill it out just yet. You need to make sure the follow items are NOT the cause of an email address being blocked.

– Confirm that you have not created a custom e-mail filtering rule, which is causing the message to be deleted.

– Confirm that either :
Your Junk E-Mail Filter is not set to Exclusive OR If your Junk E-Mail Filter is set to Exclusive, make sure that the sender and/or their domain is listed as one of your Contacts or is listed in your Safe List.

For more information, check out the following link on Blocking or allowing messages from specific senders and domains.

If all is OK, go ahead with filling out the form. Make sure you select "Wanted mail not arriving" in the drop down list for What type of problem do you have? and make sure you include the exact full email address when describing your problem.

Now, I can't guarantee, your experience will be the same as mine. You may end up getting another email from Microsoft seeking more information, or maybe you will need to fill out another form (who knows how the machine works).

But..with a little patience, you may reach the top and get the problem fixed just like I did.

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How many times have you comes across a file name on your Computer and either had no clue to what it is or just completely zoned out and had a brain freeze?

For all you know the unknown file could be a virus, spyware or a trojan just waiting to cause destruction on your Computer. Then again, it could be a normal Operating System file.

Before you take any chances, you can run a check against whatisthatfile.com database and see if the file is actually safe or just trouble waiting to happen.

Whatisthatfile has a simple interface and is easy to use. Just type the unknown file name in the search field and results will be displayed immediately as you type.

For example, I typed the file name hpqtra08.exe, which I know what the file is, but want to see if it would return an accurate description.

Sure enough, Whatisthatfile identified the source of the file as an Hewlett Packard driver.

Although the description is brief, (it did give me a clue to what the file was, which allowed me to visit HP's website and search their site for more information) other searches for file types did produce more information:

Whatisthatfile also gives you the option to update or correct information on a file by clicking the Edit This button on the right (which needs approval by the site before changes are made), or add a new file to their database if nothing if found.

While whatisthatfile.com has been around for a couple of years, it should only be used as one part of your search when trying to identify unknown files.

Remember, when identifing files that you do not recognize, your research should always lead you to the vendor web site if it is a valid file. If it does not, that's a good sign it may be a virus or spyware on your Computer.

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Like many of us, you probably have a box somewhere stashed away in a corner full of old electronic devices such as cell phones, mini mp3 players, televisions or computer equipment, with intentions of one day cashing in by selling them on eBay or Craigslist.

Those days have have probably turned to months or years, and that box of gold is now a pile of old electronic junk that you need to get rid of somehow.

Instead of throwing them in the trash, a new program, started by the EPA, called "eCycling" will take that pile of e-junk off your hands.

The program "Plug-In To eCycling with US EPA" is a partnership between the EPA and consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers, and service providers such as Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Sprint, Motorola and many others, that offers you opportunities to donate or recycle – to "eCycle" – your used electronics.

Many partners offer easy drop offs at their store for specific electronic items or will come to your house and pick up larger appliances or televisions for no cost. Others charge a small fee, with all money received donated to charity, while some of the more greedy companies, who still don't have a clue, charge just for the service. Those companies should be avoided.

The goal of the program is to refurbish many of the old electronic equipment or recover valuable materials that can be used to make new products.

For me this is a great program since my town will not allow just throwing away appliances or some electronic items. We usually have to find places or pay someone to take it off our hands. Now, I can just go to Best Buy and eCycle away.

More information can be found at the EPA's Plug-In To eCycling web site along with a list of companies that are involved in the program.

For those of us with little time, but want more information, the EPA has provided podcasts to help push the information out to the mainstream. Now that's smart marketing!

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3