"Can someone track a user (name, home address, etc.) simply by having their email or IP address? The reason I ask is my kids play some games online, and these sites sometimes have a chat area, where the players can talk to each other while playing. Can my kids be tracked down in any way?"
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).
Filed under Internet Technologies by 
If you have experienced problems using Windows Live Hotmail, such as sorting email into folders or notice some features missing, the most common cause is that you have hit the maximum number of messages allowed or you have exceeded the mailbox size limit.
What ever the case may be, knowing each folder size and the total number of messages in each folder can be a big help in resolving problems as well as cleaning up your Hotmail mailbox.
This means you will also need to know the sizes of not only the folders you have created, but the default folders such as Sent, Deleted, Draft, Junk and inbox.
Here's how to view this information.
read more: How To View Number Of Messages And Sizes Of Folders In Windows Live Hotmail
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Over time, your computer will accumulate numerous items, such as files, folders, applications or programs. While you can easily identify when a folder or file was accessed or modified simply by using Windows Explorers, identifying when applications or programs where last accessed, isn't as easy to find.
Unless you know where to look…
Windows provide an easy way to vew this information, with out needing to install anything by using Add or Remove Programs in XP or with Programs and Features in Vista.
read more: Find Out When You Last Accessed Windows Programs Or Aplications
Filed under Windows Tips, Windows Vista Tips by
I'm sure by now, you noticed Microsoft has again changed the interface for Hotmail (A.K.A. Windows Live Hotmail). Along with the new look, some minor functionality changes have occurred including one annoying change.
That annoying change involves the first unread message in your inbox when the Reading pane is on (also known as preview pane).
When you receive a new message, by default, the first email message is automatically displayed in the Reading pane (if you have the Reading pane on) and it is also marked read, as soon as you open and view your Inbox.
For many people, including myself, I'm normally looking for a specific message from somebody and will scroll through my Inbox for that message. Later, I will go back and check for new, un-read messages and will probably miss the first message, since it's been marked as read.
Fortunately there is a quick setting that you can make to stop the first message from automatically being marked as read.
read more: How To Stop Windows Live Hotmail From Marking First Message In Inbox As Read
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If your computer is running slower these days, or freezes up when you have too many programs running, you might need to reorganize your hard drive.
Even if your computer runs smoothly right now, it is still beneficial to know all of the space saving techniques that you can use to make sure your computer is clean, easy to navigate and in the best possible condition.
Before you begin, let's take a look at the current disk space you are utilizing and how much free disk space you have available.
Open My Computer (XP) or Computer (Vista), then right click on “C Drive ” and select Properties .
In the General tab, it should give you pie chart and information regarding the amount of free space currently available on your hard drive similar to the following screen shot:
If your free space is less than your used space, it is important to make sure you are maximizing your computer’s performance by cleaning up your disk. To help, here are ten ways to clean up, organize and save space on your computer’s hard drive.
read more: 10 Ways to Clean Up, Organize And Save Space On Your Hard Drive
Filed under Windows Tips by
More and more, it seems like many web sites (such as social networks) are displaying URL links as a shorten-masked links. The reason for this is to either hide a link or shorten it to keep the link from breaking when sending emails or posting in forums.
Free services such as TinyURL, is one example of how you can create a tiny (short) URL when posting on web sites that tend to cut off long URL's.
The problem for the visitor who visit web sites that display short URL's, is that they have no clue to where the link will take them once they click on it.
Now there are solutions available, such as TinyURL, that offer a preview feature or plugins for Firefox that will translate the URL to the real address of the link. And while all these solutions work fine, either they require installing a plugin (which don't work if you use Internet Explorer) or are time consuming.
Instead there is a better solution that works with any browser that you are using and requires no installation.
read more: How To Convert Short Unknown URL To Real Web Site Address Before Clicking On Link
Filed under Computer How-To, Firefox and Internet Explorer Tips by
Who hasn't experienced frustration trying to organizing their inbox!? I receive close to 400 e-mail each day due to the variety of activities and contacts I have online. Some I am truly interested in their content – most I am not.
A big part of keeping your inbox and your e-mail organized is discipline. Yep, good ole' fashioned discipline! You need to have a system that you consistently put into practice! Upon checking your e-mail there are several tasks you can put into place to keep ahead of the increased traffic of bits and bytes finding their way to your inbox.
What are we to do? Let's get organized!
read more: 10 Tips For Organizing Your Email And Taking Control Of Your Inbox
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Setting up a wired or wireless home network has many benefits than just having Internet access for multiple computers in your home. Today, it's almost a necessity to be able to plug in or connect via wireless to your network from any room in your house.
With many people who set up a home network, they end up under utilizing their home network and only use it for Internet access, attached to one computer.
Today, that kind of network setup is old school. Adding a router to your network, turns a home network into a LAN (Local Area Network) opening up many possibilities of what you can do on your network. Even if you have just have one Computer, many devices exist (other than computers) that are network capable, allowing interaction with other.
So what can you do with all this technology? Here are ten uses for what you can do on your home network.
read more: 10 Uses For Setting Up A Wired Or Wireless Home Network
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