Newsletter
| July 2010 | Issue 338 |
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, ST. AUGUSTINE, ROOM 310
MEETING STARTS - 09:30 -- JULY 10th
UPCOMING MEETING
NOTE: Meeting in Room 310
MAIN MEETING TOPIC: REBUILD YOUR WINDOWS OS
If you are needing to rebuild a computer by reinstalling Windows (XP or Vista and possibly Windows 7) from scratch, here's a meeting where we will discuss a pre-installation checklist + some time saving tips. Your existing data on your Windows PC will not be affected even if you do a clean install instead of a repair or upgrade.
At the core of this presentation we will answer your questions related to where to find YOUR DATA on your hard drive so that you can be sure to migrate it to your newly installed OS. We will focus on where data resides on your computer's hard drive.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS
1) Club membership entitles you to receive a hard copy of the newsletter and access to our email list server, which is run for the benefit of our members. Please do not hesitate to post club and computer related notices and problems to it. If we can't solve your problem remotely, we can be alerted to it ahead of the monthly meeting where more hands-on may help resolve your problem.
2) A few of the regular attendees usually partake of lunch at the Country Squire Diner in Broomall near the intersection of Routes 3 and 320, and recently at the Campus Corner Restaurant near the intersection of Routes 30 and 320 just off the Villanova University campus. So, after the meeting, why not join us? It's an opportunity to get more help and to discuss our common interests.
3) Help MLCUG go ``Green''. We issue this newsletter by both electronic means through our email list server and in hardcopy format. If you find yourself not reading the hardcopy, PLEASE inform John D, the editor, so that you will only receive the electronic version.
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Attendance:
12 people in all attended the meeting on Saturday, June 12th.
Main Meeting Round Table Q&A:
We began last month's meeting with our normal round of questions and announcements. Among the questions and announcements:
Main Meeting Program:
Our main meeting topic was a short roundtable discussion about controlling spam and phishing email. The discussion was short for two reasons. The foremost reason was that our roundtable discussion lasted over 2 hours. The second reason was that most members receive very little spam and phishing emails. For the few who do, I said I would post some links and suggestions in this newsletter for potentially mitigating and controlling the amount of annoyance and mal-intended email they receive.
So, here are some suggestions and web links related to controlling spam and phishing email attacks:
* To minimize mixing spam email with legitimate email, set up 2 separate email accounts. Only give one email address to totally and completely trusted senders, and give the second email address to questionable and potentially untrusted senders.
* Never open email from an unrecognized sender. Opening an HTML formatted email could contain a hidden script that "calls home" or worse.
* Be wary of email that has been forwarded by friends as they could be forwarding email from a sender that is unrecognized to them.
* When forwarding email received from others, always delete email addresses from the body of the email if not needed for reference by the recipient.
* When forwarding email to multiple recipients, use the BCC field rather than the TO or CC field if recipients don't really need to know who else is receiving the email.
For more guidance on dealing with email spam and phishing issues, check out these links:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/phishing.asp
Phishing e-mails will contain some of these common elements:
1. The "From Field" appears to be from the legitimate company mentioned in the e-mail. It is important to note, however, that it is very simple to change the "from" information in any e-mail client. While we're not going to tell you how, rest assured it can be done in a matter of seconds!
2. The e-mail will usually contain logos or images that have been taken from the Web site of the company mentioned in the scam e-mail.
3. The e-mail will contain a clickable link with text suggesting you use the inserted link to validate your information.
The golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately.
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http://help.yahoo.com/verizon/tutorials/cg/cg_otherspam1.html
Avoiding Spam
Spam is any message or posting, regardless of its content, that is sent to multiple recipients who have not specifically requested the message.
Web sites that are not reputable, or ones that have received your permission unknowingly through their privacy policies, may sell your email address to spammers. Just as some merchants send junk mail to your house, spammers send unsolicited email with the hope that you will buy their products or services. Since sending an email message is very inexpensive, spammers can afford to send millions of them--even if only a small number of people respond by purchasing their products. They send their messages from numerous different--and often falsified--addresses, which makes them hard to track.
To help reduce the amount of spam that comes to your Verizon Yahoo! Mail account:
* Never respond to unsolicited email. One response or "hit" from thousands of emails is enough for spammers to justify the practice. In addition, a response lets the spammer know that your email address is active, which makes it more valuable and opens the door to more spam.
* Never send your personal information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) in an email. Spammers can fake the format of Verizon or Yahoo! and other trusted sites. Verizon and Yahoo! will never ask you to send your password or credit card information by email.
* Never follow a spam email's instructions to reply with the word "remove" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line or body of the message unless you trust the source. This is often a ploy to get you to react to the email, which lets the spammer know that your email address is valid.
* Never click on a URL or web address listed within a spam email, even if the message tells you that's how you unsubscribe. This also alerts the sender that your email address is active and can result in more spam.
* Never sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites may be legitimate, most are actually address collectors. If collectors record your address, they will value it more highly because it is active.
* Never open an unsolicited email unless you have blocked HTML graphics. Blocking graphics prevents spammers from being alerted when you open the message.
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I thought I would include a section on web links related to some of the subjects we discussed during our round table discussions and presentations. Hopefully, readers will find these links of value and interest.
http://twit.tv/
Netcasts you love from people you trust
http://kylo.tv/
The browser built for the BIG screen.
http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-80/
Oppo BDP-80 Blu-Ray player
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/HomeEntertainment/AV-Receivers/PioneerReceivers/ci.VSX-1020-K.Kuro
Pioneer VSX-1020-K Audio Visual receiver
http://www.patriotmemory.com/products/detailp.jsp?prodline=6&catid=69&prodgroupid=159&id=895&type=20
Patriot Memory PCMPBO25 Box Office Media player
http://www.argosy.com.tw/product-detial.php?prod_id=154
Argosy HV335T media player
http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_10051_229151_-1
PowerShot SX20 IS Digital Camera
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