Some websites want your email address before you can download free content. (Why?) I can see why if you buy something from the site, but just to download or view free stuff?
I know the answer. Just about everything on the web is no longer free. Even if you don’t pay $$, you are paying with your personal information and that includes your email address. That site may not spam you, but they might give or sell your email address to another ‘Partner’ and the ‘Partner’ may spam you or may sell your email address to a spammer.
To avoid getting on a a spammer’s list you have two options. You can setup a junk mail account for all of these websites that want your email address or just leave the site and forgo anything the site may offer.
But what happens when you buy a product and you have to give them your email address? Most of the time the only thing that will happen is you will receive an email telling you how to activate a program, game, etc. if it is for some software. If it is for another sort of product that will be shipped to you, it will probably be the transaction details and if you are lucky, how to track the package.
Be diligent folks! On any site when purchasing something, be sure to uncheck any box by an offer to receive email for new products the site may offer. Even then it is no guarantee you will not get spammed by the site. If you do get emails from the site, most of them will have a way to unsubscribe. It will usually be in very tiny print at the bottom of the email and will contain a statement ‘to unsubscribe from this list click here. And if you are lucky you won’t get any more emails. Notice I said ‘If you are lucky’.
So how can you avoid getting spammed by a retailer or by a vendor of any kind? You have two options. Don’t buy anything online or setup another email account just for making purchases. I wish I had made a ‘buy something’ email account a long time ago. I am still getting emails from WinZip even though I have repeatedly requested removal from their lists.
Trust me, I have learned this the hard way. And don’t think just because it is a trusted brand name you won’t get spammed. You very well may get spammed! (It’s that phrase located in their privacy statement ‘We may share your information with our Partners’.)
The problem is no one reads those privacy statements. Some of them are so long and so full of legal terms even if folks do try to read them they just give up. (I truly believe this is why those privacy statements are so long, so folks will give up)
So now I have a special email address just for making purchases online and another one just for viewing web content. I usually just leave those sites but once in a while I really want to view that content.
Another Please Remove me is for Newsletters. I wrote about that a long time ago. (RSS rules!)
We get enough Spam without trying, now we have to view all websites, retailers and others with distrust. We have to get multiple email accounts in addition to security products. Or of course, we can just log off the Internet and forget about it.
Rant over.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Add an Equivalent Domain To LastPass
I had a problem with accessing my credit union on my Windows 7 notebook after I accessed it on Windows 8.1. LastPass kept giving me a Security Warning:
Apparently I used one domain name to access the site from Windows 8.1, but not the same domain name stored in LastPass. So now I kept getting a security warning from LastPass
This was caused by my credit union using two domain names. Actually this is not as uncommon as you might think. While trying to solve my problem of security warnings, I encountered the term ‘equivalent domains’. This seemed to be what I was looking for so I solved the problem by opening LastPass and going to Settings and clicking ‘Equivalent Domains’.
There was a long list of these equivalent domains! I scrolled to the bottom of the list and added the two domains used by my credit union, separated by a comma. and then clicked the 'Add Domains' button.
Now I am not receiving that security warning over and over and LastPass no longer bugs me with the duplicate password warning.
LastPass does have a Help section, but to find it you must go to the very bottom of the Site page (I used the Features page). Look at the Support section and click Help Center.
Now you can search the FAQs or just ask your question.
LastPass is the best password keeper I have used and I have tried a lot of them. I did use RoboForm, but it isn’t free and is paid for on an annual basis.
LastPass is free! There is a Premium version for your smartphones and tablets.I haven’t tried that yet as right now I don’t need it.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Goodbye XP
The last Windows XP I own has now been put to rest. Not the computer, just Windows XP.
Way back when Microsoft offered a family pack for Windows 7 Home Premium, I bought one and installed the third and last upgrade on my Fujitsu Lifebook.
I wasn’t sure how it would work as this computer was new in 2005 and had only 1 gig of memory. But the Windows Advisor said it would run and most everything would work, so I made the plunge and now my favorite old computer is working just fine.
The install went very smooth and didn’t take very long. But all those updates, now that is a different story. I downloaded and install a lot of them. Rebooted and downloaded and installed another slew of them, over and over again. Finally, it seemed all of them were completed.
Now I had to find some drivers! Windows said I had no audio on the computer. So I dug out the drivers CD that came with the computer (remember when companies provided recovery CDs?) and Windows found the driver and installed it, so now the Fujitsu has sound.
The display on this computer is fantastic. Much better than any later computer or monitor. I love this notebook. It is very heavy, but it still runs great. I won’t be using it to do much real work as most of the applications I use for that require some heavier duty processing. They would probably work, but would be oh so slow compared to what I use on my newest computer.
So if you have a Windows XP computer and fear it can no longer be used safely, download the Advisor and just see if your computer can run Windows 7 or Windows 8.
If you don’t have an install disk for Windows 7 upgrade, there are a lot of places online that sell them and they sell for much less than a new computer. But you probably need to make sure they are for a 32 bit rather than 64 bit due to hardware constraints.
Oh dear, I just realized, today is patch Tuesday, so my newly installed OS will have to do more updates!
Way back when Microsoft offered a family pack for Windows 7 Home Premium, I bought one and installed the third and last upgrade on my Fujitsu Lifebook.
I wasn’t sure how it would work as this computer was new in 2005 and had only 1 gig of memory. But the Windows Advisor said it would run and most everything would work, so I made the plunge and now my favorite old computer is working just fine.
The install went very smooth and didn’t take very long. But all those updates, now that is a different story. I downloaded and install a lot of them. Rebooted and downloaded and installed another slew of them, over and over again. Finally, it seemed all of them were completed.
Now I had to find some drivers! Windows said I had no audio on the computer. So I dug out the drivers CD that came with the computer (remember when companies provided recovery CDs?) and Windows found the driver and installed it, so now the Fujitsu has sound.
The display on this computer is fantastic. Much better than any later computer or monitor. I love this notebook. It is very heavy, but it still runs great. I won’t be using it to do much real work as most of the applications I use for that require some heavier duty processing. They would probably work, but would be oh so slow compared to what I use on my newest computer.
So if you have a Windows XP computer and fear it can no longer be used safely, download the Advisor and just see if your computer can run Windows 7 or Windows 8.
If you don’t have an install disk for Windows 7 upgrade, there are a lot of places online that sell them and they sell for much less than a new computer. But you probably need to make sure they are for a 32 bit rather than 64 bit due to hardware constraints.
Oh dear, I just realized, today is patch Tuesday, so my newly installed OS will have to do more updates!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
eM Client
I have been a user of Microsoft’s Outlook since 1998. I have upgraded Outlook every time MS put out a new version and felt it was worth every penny. (It isn’t cheap.)
However I have found an email program that does just about everything that Outlook does and it is free! This little jewel is eM Client.
It comes in a Pro version as well if you need to have more than two email accounts. (Only $49.95 for the pro versus over $100 for Outlook.)
I have been using it on Windows 8.1 and it performs as advertised. It imported my Outlook .pst with no problems and even imported the account settings without me telling it! Of course if you don’t want the account, you can remove it and add whatever account you want. The free version is limited to two accounts.
If you are looking for a really great (and free!) email program comparable to MS Outlook, I suggest you try eM Client. You will more than likely never go back to what you are using now.
However I have found an email program that does just about everything that Outlook does and it is free! This little jewel is eM Client.
It comes in a Pro version as well if you need to have more than two email accounts. (Only $49.95 for the pro versus over $100 for Outlook.)
I have been using it on Windows 8.1 and it performs as advertised. It imported my Outlook .pst with no problems and even imported the account settings without me telling it! Of course if you don’t want the account, you can remove it and add whatever account you want. The free version is limited to two accounts.
If you are looking for a really great (and free!) email program comparable to MS Outlook, I suggest you try eM Client. You will more than likely never go back to what you are using now.
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