Tell-Tail Signs of a Scam

Tell-tail signs that you are about to be scammed with an email or internet offer:

• The organization making the “offer” has no website and cannot be located with an online search
• The email or site has no “contact” information
• The email or site asks for bank account information, credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, social security, mother’s maiden name or other personal information.
• The return email address is a gmail, yahoo, hotmail, ymail, excite.com or another free email accounts. Legitimate companies can afford to buy a company domain name which creates their brand, legitimacy and trust.
• The offer asks you to follow a link to another site and log on to or create an account.
• You are advised that you have won a prize but you don’t recall entering any contest affiliated with the prize promoters.
• The email claims you won a lottery.  The catch here is that legal lotteries don’t notify winners by email.
• Although the email is addressed to your email address, it winds up in your junk mail.  It is usually a bulk mailer that many people worldwide probably also received.
• The email or site asks for “upfront” money to cover processing and administrative fees.
• Bait prizes are offered.  However, if these are real prizes, they are often inferior in quality or falsely represented.
• You are required to travel at your own cost to receive your prize.
• The offer seems to be filled with hype and exaggerations but offers few details about how the offer works.
• The offer promises you money, jobs, prizes, lucrative business deals.
• If the offer seems too good to be true – it is!

Good resources to check out the legitimacy of your “offer” or where to report fraud:

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm

Internet Crime Complaint Center (http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx)

Complaints against foreign companies http://www.econsumer.gov/english/

FBI http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud/internet_fraud

scam.com

whois.com (whois lookup)

fraud.org

If It Is On the Internet It Must Be True

If it is on the Internet, it must be true — Because:

You Can Trust History…

It is a Great Haven for the Terminally Naive…

Where the Early Bird Gets Caught by the Worm…

And Blind Dates turn out to be French Models…

Bon Jour, Everyone!

Microsoft Tuesday, Exploit Wednesday and Why You Need to Do Updates

Microsoft Tuesday?

Oh you savvy dog, you! You already know that it is the first Tuesday of every month when Microsoft (MS) releases all those security patches and other fixes… Microsoft wants to make your operating system and other MS products more secure and more functional.  Monthly and Free? More secure and more functional? Yep. That sounds pretty good of Microsoft, don’t you think?

What’s that you ask? All those fixes every month? Uh – Why can’t Microsoft make their products strong and secure right from the start? Hmmm. You weren’t supposed to go in that direction. But you know, those are really good questions! So, let’s see what we can dig up on them. Let me caution you though, to not get your hopes up too high for satisfying answers. Remember, this is the company that made you go to their Start Button to Shut Down your computer… Oh, and speaking about satisfying, wait till you hear about Exploit Wednesday…

OK – why are there so many patches that last the lifetime of the software product? Why can’t software be created correctly before it is sold? Let’s oversimplify this answer just to keep it under 100 pages – and blame it on business rules and competition.

Consider the old Vista Operating System as an example. It is estimated Vista has around 50 million lines of code! That’s a bunch of code. Ideally it would be sold with no errors in those 50,000,000 lines of code. Now let’s pretend that quality control parameters allow only .5% margin of error in the code. That seems like a very tight margin of error – until you do the math. At even that small margin, a still very usable Vista Operating System could go to market with some glitches – theoretically, a possible 250,000 lines of code with error, according to that business rule!  Whoa, that’s a lot of fleas left on the dog!

And consider the notion that Microsoft, with a penchant for being the first to get to market with all their products, allows the post-beta testing phase of their products to be done by us, the consumer public. In other words, the company allows the product’s users to find those “possible” errors. The public then reports the errors back to Microsoft so that MS can, in turn, release patches and fixes to correct those errors.   Actually, pretttty clever… Think of the savings in time and costs for the company by letting the using public discover those errors/glitches that reached the post-beta testing phase.

Another “Hmmmm” you muse… “Could some of those users actually be cyber bad guys?” you ask.   Bingo again, you savvy dog, you.  It is usually the exploit from the cyber bad guys rather than the software errors reported by the using public that generate the required patches and fixes.

“But that kind of turns around my concept of releasing patches” you muse again. “I mean, the patches seem more reactive than pro-active”, you pant out loud! “That’s a really scary thought to think through. My computer is vulnerable all the time, it seems! I have to hope the next exploit won’t hit my computer while I have to wait for the patch/fix to be released so I can be safe from the last exploit but not the next one. And looking at the fact that the releases are monthly for the last 10 years…” Yeah, Browsing Bowser.  Makes the hair on my neck stand up, too…

 But are you starting to understand why immediately applying patches and fixes is essential not only to your security but also to slowing down the damage done by exploiters?  

Which takes me to Exploit Wednesdays…

I’ll bet you already have a notion about this day, too! You are right if you think it is the Wednesday following Microsoft Tuesday! Cyber bad guys have talented code developers, too, who wait for the MS patches to be released on Microsoft Tuesday so that they can analyze the newly released patches and find ways to create new exploits. So the next day, Wednesday, or soon thereafter more exploits show up in the cyber world. And not to waste any opportunity, these exploiters use the monthly release schedule to their advantage – they know it will be at least a month before any patch will be released against them if they release their exploit on or near Exploit Wednesday…

Software Exploits.

Exploited Users.

Microsoft Tuesday.

Exploit Wednesday.

Patch as Fast as Possible Thursday.

DogGoneComputers Rule Friday!

PS. All software manufacturers release patches and fixes as well, including Apple. So let’s be fair to Microsoft and include them all in this scenario…

Please Don’t Ignore These Updates

As your computer and personal identity security are a major concern for DogGoneComputers, we are highlighting this month’s Microsoft Updates.  Microsoft released several CRITICAL and IMPORTANT patches Tuesday, October 8, 2013, that should be applied as soon as possible.  The most important ones that you, as a responsible cyber citizen should understand are listed below.   Whether you want to read and “understand” the patches or not, please apply them ASAP!

Internet Explorer – Critical – Zero Day Patch

One of the patches is a Critical patch to correct a “zero day” vulnerability in Internet Explorer.   A “vulnerability” or bug, is called “zero day” because the software maker (in this case, Microsoft) has “zero days” notice to address/fix the bug that is exploited as soon as it is discovered by hackers/exploiters.  The Microsoft Website provides the following description for this Critical patch.  This patch will require a restart of your computer.

• Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (2879017)

  This security update resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability and nine privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited the most severe of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

 Microsoft Office-Important – Remote Code Execution

Microsoft Office patches are included in this month’s updates.    Microsoft Word and Excel are the targeted products.  These updates should be applied as soon as possible.  The Microsoft Website provides the following description for these Important patches:

• Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel, Word, Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2885080, 2885084)

  This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file with an affected version of Microsoft Excel, Word or other affected Microsoft Office software. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Microsoft Silverlight – Important – Information Disclosure

Silverlight, as defined by Microsoft, is “a powerful development tool for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web and mobile applications. Silverlight is a free plug-in, powered by the .NET framework and compatible with multiple browsers, devices and operating systems, bringing a new level of interactivity wherever the Web works.”  It is a competitor to Adobe Flash Player.  The Microsoft Website provides the following description for this Important patch:

• Vulnerability in Silverlight Could Allow Information Disclosure (2890788)

  This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Silverlight. The vulnerability could allow information disclosure if an attacker hosts a website that contains a specially crafted Silverlight application that could exploit this vulnerability and then convinces a user to view the website. The attacker could also take advantage of compromised websites and websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements. Such websites could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit a website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit a website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or in an Instant Messenger message that takes them to the attacker’s website. It could also be possible to display specially crafted web content by using banner advertisements or by using other methods to deliver web content to affected systems.

Make NO BONES about it… These updates are critical for you to apply as soon as possible.  If your computer is set to “Automatic Updates”, then you just have to apply/install the updates.  One of the updates requires a restart of your computer.  Please note that after the restart, you will probably have to install the remaining updates.   An Update Reminder will not let you forget…

If your Windows computer is not set for “Automatic Updates” or you’re not sure if it is, or you want to know how to setup it up, this Microsoft support site provides directions for the various Windows Operating Systems on setting up Automatic Updates:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525

If you have questions about Automatic Updates for your Apple Computer, please visit this site:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1338

 

 

 

 

 

Why Your Lap is Dangerous to Your Laptop…And Vice Versa…

Browsing Bowser here:   Dangerous? Really?  OK.  I’ll bite… How can my lap be dangerous to my laptop?  I mean, isn’t my laptop named so just because it is so lap friendly?

Well Browsing Bowser, you would be right about laptops that were first introduced before the turn of the century (that’s the 21st century…).  Laptops were designed to provide mobile computing capabilities to mobile business people by putting “computering” right in their lap – literally. The laptop computer allowed the busy computer user the ability to keep on working with a computer anywhere, anytime – right on her/his lap.

As the popularity of and demand for laptop computing increased, so did its ability to do all the things the big boy computers were doing – providing high computing power and high storage capacity just like those big, ugly, stationary boxes were providing – and looking better and more stylish at the same time.

But there is a “cost” for packing high computing power into smaller spaces and lighter form factors (geek speak for computer shape).   That “cost” is called HEAT.   HEAT – like in HOT; like in OverHEATing; like in cooking delicate computer components as well as motherboards.  (Motherboards are the communication centers for the computer.  No motherboard – no computer).

HEAT, Browsing Bowser, is a big problem for the mobile computer and the mobile computer user! And therein lies the danger…

Newer laptops have components and systems to manage the large amount of heat generated by their increasing processing power. These include fans, vents and various other controllers.  If you take look at the bottom and sides of your laptop, you’ll find several venting systems. Obviously, all the vents must be kept unblocked to properly dispel heat.

However, if the vents become obstructed, heat cannot be dispelled and the laptop will go into self-preservation modes to counteract overheating.  Some signs of laptop overheating are constant running of the fan, sluggish performance, error messages, freezing up or unexpected shut downs.  And especially, don’t overlook actually feeling the heat….

Continued overheating however, can result in destroying the motherboard on your computer! If that misfortune happens – unless your device is under warranty – it might be cheaper to buy a new device than replace the motherboard… That’s a whole lot of dog food…

So what blocks the vents, you ask?   Laps, beds, pillows, blankets, towels, – all are common items that block laptop vents. Actually, anything that creates an uneven surface under the laptop can block vents and cause overheating and subsequent damage. Even laptop “cooling pads” can be damaging. Although the pad provides a necessary flat surface, it can “trap” heat at the same time. If you do decide to buy a “cooling pad” for your laptop, be sure to select one that has a fan. The fan types are usually the same price so the choice is easy…

Browsing Bowser here:   OK!   “That’s a cool laptop” takes on a whole new meaning!   I get it.  My lap can block the vents that cool my laptop that keep it healthy.   But you also said “Vice Versa”.   Does that mean a laptop can be dangerous to my lap as well??

Bingo, Browsing Bowser!   An overheated laptop potentially creates “burn hazards to the consumer”.   In 2010, Sony recalled 233,000 Vaio model laptops for just that possibility!     See Source 1 below.

Not only that, there is a potential hazard to your dog house, Browsing Bowser.   It is reported that Fire Chiefs in the United Kingdom issued warnings that laptops left on beds overheated and caused damaging house fires.   And yes, I checked that out so I’m not passing along those irritating hoaxes…    See Source 2 below.

Browsing Bowser here:    Well, you got my attention and I can see you weren’t just being cute with words.   I see that laptops have changed so much that they really aren’t lap devices…that there really is a proper way to treat my laptop and proper care and cooling will help keep it a DogGoneGood laptop.

Come to think of it, I think I understand why I see them referred to now as “notebooks” rather than laptops.

But I have one more ear-scratcher about the origins of laptops…  Why in the world did anyone let a 20+ pound device sit on his/her lap in the first place?!   Everyone knows a Great Dane isn’t a lap dog!!

 

Source 1:  http://mobileoffice.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=mobileoffice&cdn=gadgets&tm=53&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=13&bt=2&bts=2&zu=http%3A//www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10284.html

Source 2:  http://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2012/02/24/fire-chiefs-issue-warning-that-overheating-laptops-can-cause-fires/

 

RIP Windows XP

Are you still using Windows XP Operating System on your computer?  You are?  Really?  Oh, Wow!

On the positive side, this shows you know a good thing when you own one and you are loyal to a fault.

On the negative side, you are about to lose a valued friend; and, if you don’t prepare now for that event, you are setting yourself up for pretty much guaranteed doses of hacks, attacks and cyber crimes.

Windows XP was one of Microsoft’s most successful operating systems. It was introduced in August, 2001; it will be put to rest on April 14, 2014. When Microsoft lays an operating system to rest, it means, in Microsoft’s own words, that “there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.”  Zilch, nada, nic, nicht ein, zéro updates, security patches or support.

“So what?” you say.  “I will still use XP because it is still usable.  It works just fine for me and for what I do. Who cares about updates and patches!”

If you have this attitude and plan to continue to use XP after next April 14th, then there is one step you MUST  take – pull the plug on your internet connection!   Wired or wireless – after April 14th, 2014, don’t ever use that computer to connect to the internet again!!!  Not Ever! Never!

Here’s why: Hackers, cyber criminals, malicious code writers all have the Windows XP end date on their calendars! Anticipating that there will remain many, many XP operating systems online, the bad guys have a big incentive to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of those many, many unpatched systems with the exploit codes they are ready to unleash at that time. They realize there will be no protections against their exploits – no patches, not even anti-virus and/or malware protection programs (which cannot protect against unpatched operating system exploits).

Stolen identities, emptied bank accounts, credit card fraud, commandeered computers into bot nets – these are some of the anticipated worldwide impacts of huge consequence. By not upgrading your computer to a current operating system now or at least planning to pull your XP system offline by April 14, 2014, you are actually abetting cyber crime. Please consider the consequences as very serious before you choose to ignore the XP support end date.

Edmund Burke famously said – “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”   Please do not do nothing…

PS   If you don’t know what a bot net is and why it is seriously dangerous to you, your community and the world, please see my post – Botnets? Zombie Armies? What the Hack are They and Why Should I Care?

Windows 8.1 – Silver Bullet or Shot in the Foot?

 

From the blogs.windows.com blog spot comes this announcement from Microsoft:

“I know a lot of folks are eager to find out when they will be able to get Windows 8.1. I am excited to share that starting at 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand (that’s 4:00am October 17th in Redmond), Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 will begin rolling out worldwide as a free update for consumers with Windows 8 or Windows RT devices through the Windows Store.  Windows 8.1 will also be available at retail and on new devices starting on October 18th by market. So mark your calendars!”

You might, however, ask why did Microsoft choose New Zealand time to introduce the update?   I’m not really sure why… But I can say that the release date and place is no more mysterious to me than the operating system itself is!  If you have never used Windows 8 then you will have little appreciation for why there would be an eagerness to update this operating system.  If you are a Windows 8 user, I have to believe that the update was hoped for, no begged for, as soon as the first user saw Windows 8 come up on their display screen and shrieked in disbelief!

So, if you are running Windows 8, then this upgrade is probably good news for you. From what I’ve read, the upgrade – Windows 8.1 – is stable and corrects a lot of the controversial changes that Microsoft unleashed with Windows 8. If you’ve been holding off buying a new Windows device, then waiting till the rollout begins in October is probably a good strategy.

Without going into detail about the many changes, the ones that are probably the most asked for are the option to start with the familiar “desktop” screen and a return of the “Start” button, denatured as it is. For a more complete list of changes made by Windows 8.1 see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/dn140266.aspx.

But are the changes enough to get Microsoft out of the doghouse for this most controversial operating system? I like the way David Cardinal from extremetech.com puts it: “If you’re running Windows 8 or need to, then Windows 8.1 is a slam-dunk improvement over Windows 8… If you’ve held off on moving to Windows 8, waiting for a silver bullet that will make all its problems disappear, this isn’t it. If you are a Windows 8 hater, nothing in the new release will change your mind.”

There must be some reasons why Dell and HP sales took a dive since last fall (all ship with Windows 8 installed) and Apple sales have soared. I can remember when people didn’t want to go to Apple devices because they didn’t want to learn a new way of working.  Microsoft fixed that argument with Windows 8…

 

 

On-Line Privacy and Other Myths

From Previous Post –

Browsing Bowser Sighed…   I sure hope this blogger writes soon about how to protect against cookies and leaving pawprints on the internet…

Response to Browsing Bowser’s Sigh —

Sigh from the Blogger… Protecting against cookies and not leaving pawprints on the internet? Now that’s a really big bone to chew! 

What you’re really asking is how to protect your privacy and security while browsing the internet. And that’s not easy to answer, Browsing Bowser.  Trying to just grasp on-line privacy and simplify an answer for you makes me feel like a Chihuahua trying to get hold of T-Rex’s ankle…  It is that BIG of a subject. And it is also that unsavory to tackle…  However, since on-line privacy is soooo important to everyone, I’m going to do what history’s greatest chewers do and try to take this one little bite at a time…

What is On-line Privacy All About?

It is all about keeping our personal information protected, secure and anonymous.  In our physical world, we keep important papers and treasures, for instance, in fireproof containers or lock boxes in some “safe” place.  We are careful to hide, to keep private the keys and the locations of our treasures.  If we have a famous or beautiful persona, we wear disguises to protect it while in public; we hide from photographers or take great precautions to keep our whereabouts private and secret.

So why do people invade our privacy?  Because we have something that is valuable or profitable to “them” and the way to exploit us is to violate our privacy.   Protecting privacy in the physical world can be a difficult if not deadly endeavor.

In the online world, protecting our privacy is equally critical and difficult.  We have a lot to lose as we become more dependent on the internet for just about everything we do.  There is so much personal information in cyberspace about each of us and exploiters are vacuuming up this information for both benign and nefarious purposes.  First-party cookies; third-party cookies; flash cookies; fingerprinting; householding – these are tracking methods used to gather information about us and our browsing habits without our knowledge or permission.

There are technologies and best practices available to attempt to block these tracking methods and guard our cyber anonymity.  However, the ones currently available are meager and/or ineffective at best.  Besides lacking consistency, effectiveness, robustness or even legal clout, these “protections” are often way too complex for the average cyber citizen to use anyway.    This is On-line Privacy Doggie Downer # 1

Then there’s the bottom line factor.  It seems that invading our privacy and harvesting data about us is hugely more profitable than protecting our privacy.  So this might explain the slow progress toward securing on-line privacy.  After all, where do the Big Dogs go? After the Big Bones, of course… On-line Privacy Doggie Downer # 2…

Oh, wow, it’s Browsing Bowser speaking here! – Right now I have my tail between my legs!  Give me some hope, please!!  Those technologies and practices that you say are available – tell me about some of them!  Knowledge is power and I desperately need to be empowered…

OK, Bowser.  Let’s explore a few protective practices.  But I warn you… We’re still looking at T-Rex’s big ankle…

Do Not Track Features

This is the most discussed browser privacy protection feature.  It sounds hopeful doesn’t it?  You have the option to tell marketers that you don’t want to be tracked! This feature is available in the four top browsers at present, but Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 10 is the only one that enables this feature by default.  Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox have settings that can manually be set.  Make note that Google Chrome was the last browser to offer the feature.  And also be aware that it is not easy to enable this feature on any of the browsers.

But here’s the kicker…  Right now there is NO legislation to enforce the Do Not Track feature.  When this feature is enabled, all it does is “articulate” to a marketer that you don’t want to be tracked. It doesn’t compel them to comply with your request. At present the marketer can choose to respect your request or ignore it. So this feature is technically ineffective until legislation puts some meat on this bone… On-line Privacy Doggie Downer # 3…

InPrivate Browsing

InPrivate Browsing is a feature Microsoft introduced with Internet Explorer 8.  All later versions of this browser have this feature as well. The InPrivate Browsing feature allows you to “privately” surf the internet, meaning you won’t leave pawprints like which websites you visited. This feature is helpful to keep your web activities personal and private if you are using a shared or public computer.

Firefox and Safari call this feature “Private Browsing”.   Google Chrome calls it “Incognito Mode”.  When an InPrivate Browsing session is begun, there is an identifying indicator on the address line.  As long as the browser is open, InPrivate Browsing is in effect.  Once that browser is closed, the InPrivate session is no longer in effect and all data including form data, passwords and history will be discarded from the computer.

In essence this feature erases tracks; but be aware that this feature does not protect a user from being tracked.  Marketers still can use tracking practices within that session.  Also be aware that if you are doing InPrivate Browsing on a corporate network, your browsing sessions can still be tracked by a network administrator.  Home users using routers should also be aware that a router log can keep a record of the sessions as well.   So this is an On-line Privacy Doggie Upper # 1 and Downer # 4

What is the Safest Browser to use for Privacy?

NSS, a highly regarded security research and testing group reported this past July that, of the four top browsers, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 10 has the best “out‐of‐the-box privacy configuration”.  Apple’s Safari browser was a close second regarding privacy.  The report continues – “Firefox has indicated that it intends to block third-party cookies and enable Do Not Track by default but, since it has yet to implement these changes, the browser currently trails IE and Safari. Google’s Chrome places a distant fourth, not only because of its default configuration and its obscure placement of privacy options, but also because Google’s history of evading privacy protections in other browsers.”  Source:  https://www.nsslabs.com/reports/2013-browser-security-comparative-analysis-privacy-0

Please note that this information is about privacy, not performance of these top browsers.  But this is a bit of good news and is On-line Privacy Doggie Upper # 2

Can Browser Add-ons provide additional protection?

In the same July report, NSS has this to say about Add-Ons:

“There are multiple third‐party add-ons for browsers that can increase user privacy significantly.  Proponents of a variety of browsers will point out that their browser offers just as much, or more privacy than another browser when a specific add-on, or set of add-ons, is used. It is important to note that while add-ons to browsers add features, it is at a cost; in addition to increasing browser load-time, add-ons also increase the attack surface of the browsers. There is a trade-off between add-ons and security that should not be dismissed when comparing browsers with add-ons to browsers without add-ons.”   Consider this On-line Privacy Doggie Upper # 3

Browsing Bowser here again.  Enough for now.  You were right…  There is a lot to chew on.  I’m encouraged by the Uppers, but I’m bone tired right now of all these Downers…  I’ve lost my taste for cookies…  I’m afraid to ask about fingerprinting…  and I don’t think I’ll howl at the moon tonight because I’m not really sure it isn’t a Google tracking device…

Take heart, dear friend.  You were wise to understand that knowledge is power.  Keep on learning.  And be cautious always on the internet. Guard your security and privacy always.   Benjamin Franklin was right — “Distrust and caution are the parents of security. ” 

Mouse Traps and Keyboard Shortcuts

I don’t like mice.  I don’t like real live mice and I don’t like computer mice (or is it mouses as in more than one mouse?)

Since this is a blog about all things digital, I will ignore how I deal with the real version and focus on the digital kind.

Why don’t I like the digital mouse?  Because it gets in my way…. I know — the digital mouse is a proven useful computer navigation device.  But it is also a slow and cumbersome device — and I prefer things fast or at least faster…

I am not a speedy typist on the keyboard.  I couldn’t earn a living with my “typing” speed.   So it is for that very reason that I don’t like the mouse — it slows me down even more.

Think about it… You’re typing along; suddenly you have to make some move with the mouse in order to continue doing what you’re doing. You take your hands off the keyboard, grab the mouse, fidget around to position it where you need it to be on the computer screen. Then you have to decide whether you need a left mouse click or a right mouse click. And, oh, do you need to single click or double click it? Wow! I don’t know about you but that kind of time interruption puts me over the moon!

So I prefer to use keyboard shortcuts whenever I can!   Keyboard shortcuts allow me to leave my hands on the keyboard as much as possible while I’m “computering”.   Shortcuts speed up my already slow typing speed.   Shortcuts help keep me from going over the moon, and they enhance my memory capabilities.   What could be better?

So, what’s a keyboard shortcut?   It is a combination of keyboard key strokes, that when pressed at the same time, perform an intended operation.

For instance, consider the common functions of copy, paste, cut, print.  If I’m on a Windows operating system computer and I want to quickly COPY a selection and PASTE it into another location, I highlight the selection I want to copy, press the “Ctrl” key and the “C” key at the same time to copy it; to paste the copied selection, I position the cursor at the insertion point, then press the “Ctrl” key and the “V” key. Voila! My copied selection is now pasted in the selected location.

If I want to PRINT something, I just press the “Ctrl” key and the “P” key at the same time, and my PRINT menu appears.

If I want to CUT some selection, I highlight that selection, then press “Ctrl” and the “X” key at the same time and my highlighted selection disappears. If I want to PASTE the “CUT” selection, I position the cursor at the insertion point and use my PASTE shortcut (Ctrl + V) and my selection appears (is “pasted”) at the insertion point.

Ctrl + C to Copy
Ctrl + V to Paste
Ctrl + X to Cut   
Ctrl + P to Print
Ctrl + A to Select All
Quick and easy to do and to remember!

Better yet, when I perform these shortcuts enough times, I don’t have to think about them. They become muscle memory for my fingers… Less mouse, more speed. I like that…

There are so many keyboard shortcuts that it would take a few pages to list them on this blog. You’d lose interest and not finish reading the post. But there are a lot of places to find lists of shortcuts for both Windows and Mac operating systems.

One place is on drop down menu lists. These menus display a function and its corresponding keyboard shortcut (if one exists). Open a drop down menu and see for yourself… Probably never even noticed it did you?

There are also many good websites that provide information about keyboard shortcuts.  Two good sites with printable lists for Windows keyboard shortcuts are:
•    http://shortcutmania.com/Windows-7-Keyboard-Shortcuts-printable-cheatsheet.htm
•    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449

A great site for Mac keyboard shortcuts and other tips is:
•    http://www.danrodney.com/mac/index.html

And a great table of keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Macs and other operating systems, believe it or not, is provided by Wikipedia.  Check out their comprehensive list:
•    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts

Think of keyboard shortcuts as a passing gear to get around those slow turtles on the cyber highway. There will always be turtles, but you don’t have to always drive in the slow lane…

 

I Was Browsing For…. And Now I’m Getting Ads For…. How Do They Know?

I was taking my owner out for a walk in the rain the other day when I saw the coolest dog in our neighborhood sporting a new, bright yellow rain jacket.  And, whoa, rain booties to match!  Wow, what a canine fashionista that pooch was!  I decided right then and there that I had to find myself some new doggie duds, so I went online to start my quest to update my pooch persona.

I am dogmatic about quality so I went to throwmeabone.com, my online shopping site of choice.   Oooooh, the selections were to sit up and beg for!  But, you know, it wasn’t long after I was mousing around for my doggie desires that I started getting pop-up ads for things like giant droolicious dog bones; and 40 pound bags of grass-fed beef jerky treats; and real goose down doggie beds and…

“Wait a minute”, I thought to myself!  DogGoneIt!  How did they know those are things that I slobber for?  Who told them? I didn’t…   Or did I?

Actually, browsing bowser, you did tell “them”.   “Them” is the website that you visited and here’s how you left your pawprints there …

When you visited your favorite doggie website, throwmeabone.com, that site placed a cookie on your computer.  No, don’t think treats here.  A cookie is a small file, a tiny piece of text.  “Its job is to record bits of information such as the pages you have visited, items you put into an online shopping cart, your user name and password.” (information from http://www.techrepublic.com)

Without getting really technical, when you browsed to throwmeabone.com, that cookie allowed their web servers to store information about you and your browsing preferences on your computer.  That cookie also allowed those web servers to retrieve your info when you browsed to their site again in order to identify you.

But it gets a bit more complicated.  Besides their own product offerings, throwmeabone.com may use website content that they don’t have, like maps, ads, web analysis tools.  Instead of going to the expense of providing all that content on their site, they partner to get this “other” content from sites called “content providers” or “third-party providers”.  Content providers make their money by providing “content” to a large number of websites.  So, when you visited throwmeabone.com, information about you and your searching was gathered up, then sent to a content provider, who in turn, created a profile about your browsing preferences, which in turn was shared with other sites that also use the content provider’s “content”. And your shared browsing preferences became the source of pop-up ads and even future emails telling you about other doggie desires that might create an itch that you can scratch…

If none of this makes sense, don’t worry about it.  Just keep in mind that cookies, from this dog’s point of view, are an internet marketing ploy to make us slobber while emptying our doggie banks.

Sigh…   I sure hope this blogger writes soon about how to protect against cookies and leaving pawprints on the internet…

And come to think about it, wasn’t it a dog and his man that trained marketers to understand the slobber effect?

Blame it all on Pavlov…