Posts Tagged: Yahoo

Email Tips / Internet Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 2 Comments
14
May 08

Use Disposable Email Addresss to thwart spam

In our monthly computer user group today, the discussion some how made its way to disposable email addresses. Many web sites offer free, disposable email addresses you can create for one time use to sign up for a temporary web services, or make an inquiry to a web site that you don’t want to have your real email address. Beyond anonymity, using a disposable email address will reduce the amount of spam that comes into your real email inbox.

My first line of defense in fighting spam is maintaining more than one email address. I have email addresses for family and friends, one for shopping, one for newsletters, and one strictly for junk. I recommend opening multiple accounts via any of the online web mail systems like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Hot Mail (now known as Windows Live Hotmail). These accounts are free and easy to manage.

If you prefer not to have mulitple email addresses, try one of these services to create temporary, disposable addresses instead:

 

 

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 6 Comments
30
Apr 08

Gmail update

I started using Gmail exclusively as my email program of choice almost eight weeks ago and haven’t opened Microsoft Outlook since. I wrote about it three weeks into the process, and decided to give another update today.

As I mentioned in my first installment, I do have a Gmail address, but don’t use it hardly at all. Instead, I utilize a wonderful feature built into Gmail that allows folks with their own domain email (email through a web site you own like helpmerick.com, myflowershop.com, etc) to retrieve that email directly into Gmail. This allows me to benefit from Gmail’s great features while maintaining my own email addresses. I haven’t missed a beat not having Outlook (which I used for almost 10 years) because I have more mobility, searching power, and flexibility with Gmail than I ever did with Outlook. And I mention Outlook because that’s what I used, but no other email application can match the features and simplicity of Gmail. Yahoo Mail might run a good race, but it is mired in the traditional email paradigm.

Gmail broke out of that system of folders and single email addresses and introduced a catch-all system for all your email with powerful searching abilities, easy to use filtering, incredibly accurate spam filtering, and the introduction of labels (replaces folders), and threaded messages. Read my previous article that talks about some of these features to learn more. I wrote today’s short blurb about Gmail because many people have been curious if I stayed with it. The answer is a resounding yes, and I plan to continue using Gmail until an even better, simpler, faster, and more innovative solution presents itself.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
29
Apr 08

The $399 Power Computer

Last week, I was charged with finding a computer for a customer who only wanted it for Internet, email, and word processing. He didn’t want to add any games, extra programs, or anything else to it. My first thought, as I was listening to his needs, was Ubuntu. One other request was not to break the bank on cost. Lastly, he told me that he would be hooked up to a high speed cable Internet service.

Upon talking a little more, I explained my idea bout an Ubuntu Linux machine. He asked, “Does it do Internet? Email?” I said, “Yes.” He agreed that it sounded fine to him.

This weekend I perused the big box store ads in the paper as I do every Sunday morning and found the deal I was looking for at Best Buy. For $399, the package included an AMD dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 19″ flat panel monitor, AND a printer! It came with Windows Vista Basic, but I wasn’t planning on leaving it on there anyway.

I called the customer, and they agreed to meet me there and purchase the system. They also decided that it would be fun to Skype their family from time-to-time, so we added an inexpensive web cam to the mix.

When I fired up the computer to make some restore CD’s (just in case), I left everything as is and timed the boot process with Vista; 4 minutes 45 seconds. And of course, trying to do anything, I got the obligatory “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Ubuntu 8.04 came out this week, and I inserted one of my freshly minted Ubuntu installation CD’s into the computer and restarted. Less than 45 minutes later (90% of it hands off time), I started working with the new Ubuntu system. Boot up time: 54 seconds! The printer was installed, the web cam was installed, I downloaded, installed and configured Skype, and setup his Yahoo email account for easy access.

To do all of this on the machine I bought, had I left Windows on it, would have taken twice the amount of time, and he would have had less features.

Moral of the story:

  • Ubuntu is a real compelling option for many computer users. In fact, for computer user similar to the customer I described in this article, I think Ubuntu should be the first option to consider.
  • Ubuntu improved performance and function over a Windows machine is impressive. Buying an inexpensive new computer, less than $600, and replacing Windows with Ubuntu will give you a faster, safer, and more functional computer. In fact, its performance and function will rival a Windows system of twice that cost and be much safer on the Internet.
  • Ubuntu allows you to play games, surf the Internet, send and receive email, download your digital photos and work with them, play and burn CD’s, play DVD’s, and much more. 
Riding Shotgun with Adam — 2 Comments
19
Mar 08

Where to buy a book manual for your computer

“Why didn’t my computer come with a manual?”

One of the most common complaints we hear is about how new computers don’t come with manuals. I am here to explain why this is the case.

The sad answer is that if the computer company came with a manual, it would weigh more than the computer.

“But my old computers used to come with manuals…,” Is the next comment.

Back in the old days of computers there weren’t many uses. You would use computers for word processing, finances, Internet and email. In each case there were only a handful of options.

Putting together a manual meant covering how to do email in AOL or Outlook Express. Word Processing was done in Word or WordPerfect. Finances were done with Quicken. Internet was AOL or Internet Explorer.

Today the options are endless. The method of attaching a file to email is different depending on whether you use AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Yahoo, Juno, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Gmail, etc. Just covering how to read an email could take up 10 pages of a book because the book would have to explain how too do it on each system.

In every case the book would be more confusing than having no book and you would pay a premium for it because of the size.

Add to that the fact that we now use computers for phone calls, digital photography, movie editing, calenders, games, and holographic teleportation. Covering all of these processes in depth would mean including a manual that covered Picasa, Word, WordPerfect, Photoshop Elements, every email system, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Skype, iTunes, Windows Media Player, MusicMatch, Google…

In other words, once you turn on your computer, you actually never use your computer. You use the software.

If you want to learn how to use the computer, you need to learn the program that you are using. If you want to learn Quicken, buy a book on Quicken. If you want to learn email, buy a book on your specific email system.

If you don’t want to buy a bunch of books, simply buy one book on Google and that will take you into the world of free answers on the Internet.

Oh, and make sure to always check HelpMeRick.com first and we will point you in the right direction.

 

Computer User Group / Internet Tips — 4 Comments
11
Mar 08

Create Your OWN Personalized Newspaper Online – Video Tip

In this month’s group, we talked about and demonstrated how to set up a web page that can be personalized. I like to use a customized web page (portal) as my home page (first page that shows up when I start my browser). We looked at the Yahoo portal (My Yahoo) and the newer Google customized home page.

Both services require that you register and setup a user name and password. Once you register, you can customize your page to include weather information, stock portfolios, sports news and scores, news from industries or topics that you choose, comics, and even content from other web pages. Both services are free and give you the flexibility to add, subtract and edit any type of data that you choose.

  • After you sign in, first look for the "X" in the upper right hand corner of each content box. This "X" lets you close (remove) that section from your page.
  • Once you close all the sections you don’t want, look for the "edit" button on the sections you left to add, change or customize content for that area (add or subtract headlines or information for that topic area).
  • Next, click on the Add Content option to add additional topics to your customized page.
  • Use that Change Layout to customize colors, number of columns and more.
  • Last, both services let you drag and drop sections to arrange the order and position of your custom content.

One other way you can really add a personal touch to your custom home page (online newspaper) is by adding your own favorite content. The best way to do this is add RSS feeds to your page. Read our RSS tips for more information about this great service offered by many web sites: RSS – Part I, RSS – Part II.

Once you put all this work in to create a custom web page of information, make sure you change your browser’s home page to your new custom page (these steps will work in both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer):

1. Bring up your new custom page

2. Click Tools –> Options from the menus

3. Click "Use Current" under the home page box.

4. Click Apply and OK at the bottom of the page

To see how all this is done visually, please watch our video below:

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
25
Dec 07

5 Web 2.0 Sites to Watch

I have been blathering on about Web 2.0 sites for some time. Web 2.0 means many things, but can be boiled down to web sites that allow you to be productive within your web browser. Pre-2004ish, the Web was mostly an information gathering tool. Around 2004 and especially from 2005 forward, many web sites started to mature and sprout up that allowed us to perform actual work on the web that was previously only accomplished through programs we purchased for our computers. Now, with Web 2.0 applications, we can perform many computing functions through our web browsers from any computer in the world, regardless of the operating system.

Zoho, Google Documents, and  Blogger are a few of the applications that I’ve introduced in the past. Today, I wanted to bring five newer Web 2.0 sites to your attention. Let me know if you decide to try any of these or if you currently use them and how you like them:

  • Expnsr.com and Wesabe.com are actually two different sites that offer online financial management.
  • Jumpcut - an online video editing web site (now part of the Yahoo! group of sites)
  • Picnik and Splashup stand out as two of the better online photo editing systems…a quickly growing segment of Web 2.0 applications.

These are just five of the many new Web 2.0 applications that are changing the way we get things done today, and will get things done tomorrow. Again, let me know what you think of these sites or any others you may have tried by leaving a comment below.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 4 Comments
13
Nov 07

The Top 10 Free Porn and Poker Web Sites

Let’s all face it. We don’t have to agree with it or even like it, but the porn and gaming (poker) industry push the boundaries of the Internet and sometimes that translates to a better Internet experience for all of us.

From experience with my business, I can tell you that computer users who frequent free online gambling sites, porn sites, and free music downloading sites have the worst running computers. This is for two reasons, again in my experience:

  1. This type of computer user is usually not smart enough to use sites like HelpMeRick.com to properly secure their computers.
  2. Because of reason #1, proprietors of these types of sites count on computers like these and therefore dump large amounts of spyware and adware into them.

How does this make the Internet a better place for those of us who don’t frequent porn, gambling, and free music download sites? I can think of two ways:

  1. The technologies that these types of sites use really can be bleeding edge (pushing the limits of what is possible). And in developing these new or bleeding edge technologies, the spill over into legit sites like news, blogs, video sharing sites like YouTube, etc. do make our Internet experience richer.
  2. Watching others make mistakes solidifies in our minds why we are better off not doing those types of activities.

OK, I piled on the gambling and porn users quite a bit. Now, just in case any of them kept reading, here are 10 things you can do to actually keep your computer running at least at 50% of the power the rest of us have:

  1. Keep all  your Windows updates up-to-date
  2. Search this site for the word “security” to get our advice on the best comptuer security software (Hint:  AVG Anti-virus, AVG Anti-spyware or Super Anti-spyware are among them)
  3. Stop using Internet Explorer and use Mozilla Firefox or Opera instead
  4. Gamble with your friends using real cards.
  5. If you must play cards online, don’t try and be tough and use the sites that are guaranteed to give you trouble (usually the ones that advertise on radio, late night TV and the back of men’s magazines).
  6. Play cards on sites like Yahoo or MSN games…you will not be subjected to spyware with those sites.
  7. If you must look at porn online,  stick with the bigger sites that have been around for years and that you have to pay for:  Playboy.com, for example
  8. If all this seems to hard and laborious, you can buy a new computer every three months or,
  9. Use Ubuntu Linux, which isn’t near as hard to upkeep because viruses and spyware aren’t designed to attack it.
  10. Or, use an Apple computer, which also isn’t attacked like a Windows machine.

I ended up trying to write a semi-serious article, but actually I’m testing to see whether the title of this story gets more hits than some of my most recent ones. A little social engineering at work here at HelpMeRick.com.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
31
Oct 07

Yahoo vs. Google – There’s something to say for simplicity

Yahoo and Google are the Ford and GM of the digital age. Google rules by most accounts, but Yahoo offers more mainstream services and features. This site shows screenshots demonstrating the changes that Yahoo has made over the years in contrast to the changes that Google has not made.

Email Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
17
Sep 07

Delete your email twice

No, I’m not so obsessive-compulsive that I do things twice. What I’m referring to in the title of today’s Shotgun/Email Tip is that almost all email programs require you to delete your email twice. Whether you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, or any of the myriad of other email services, when you delete your email, the email isn’t gone. Deleted email ends up in the “Deleted Items” folder or “Trash” folder of your email.

To get rid of your email for good, go to your deleted items folder and use its “empty all” option or delete the individual emails you want to get rid of permanently.

Also, don’t forget that your Sent mail folder also needs cleaned from time-to-time.

Computer User Group — No Comments
11
Jul 07

All Q&A Session – July 2007

I don’t do it too often, but this month I decided to hold an all Q&A (2 hours) user group meeting. It truly is amazing how many questions 30 or 40 ravenous computer users can generate. Sometimes one question leads to another, and an entire “topic” can take up a half hour. You have to be at one of the meetings to truly experience the type of knowledge and information that gets shared and explored. Some of today’s topics included:

  1. Creating a “Life Poster” from digital photos with Shutterfly’s software (hint to Adam for future topic)
  2. Installing and using Ubuntu (the embers are smoking)
  3. Why Picasa DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY PHOTOS and where to find a photo’s true location
  4. Sorting your email address book
  5. Creating, modifying, and deleting Microsoft Word templates
  6. Printing problems
  7. Keyboard shortcuts for closing windows or programs (Alt + F4)
  8. Web 2.0 questions (carry over from last month’s topic)
  9. Setting download speed preferences for watching videos in Real Player, QuickTime or Windows Media Player
  10. What is Active X and why you might need it or use it.
  11. Transferring and viewing photos on the road without a laptop
  12. Showing the “address bar” in Windows Explorer windows
  13. MSCONFIG – deciphering what to uncheck and what not to check
  14. Defrag – Does it cure all computer woes? (Hint:  NO) I revealed that with my last computer (which I used for more than four years), I can only remember defragmenting my computer twice…and that computer is still running strong for a neighbor who also never defrag’s on my advice.
  15. Installing Windows XP on a new computer that came with Vista
  16. FREE Internet phone calls – Skype, Skype phones at Radio Shack
  17. Are Uninterubtable Power Systems (UPS) a good idea
  18. Securing a wi-fi network
  19. Using an older computer on a wi-fi network
  20. Is AVG better than AdAware (hint: they fight different bad guys)
  21. Drawing lines on a graph made on graph paper with horizontal, vertical and 45 degree grid lines
  22. Backup questions
  23. How to clear the address bar in the browser window
  24. Downloading pictures to Picasa
  25. Creating Picasa web albums
  26. Emailing photos from Picasa
  27. Breakdown of pricing of Ubuntu systems sold at Dell
  28. Instant messaging programs – Trillian (communicates with all systems), AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk
  29. Creating a CD in Picasa
  30. Woot!

These are just the main questions that I could think of, but aren’t you kicking yourself now for not coming to the meeting?!

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