Playing It Safe On eBay And Other Auctions!

It's fun, it's exciting, and it's rife with fraud. Knowing how to buy and sell carefully can save you money and aggravation.

For buyers, check the seller's feedback and location. Do they have any negative feedback? This isn't always bad, since things happen, but see what they were selling at the time, and where. A vendor could have 1,000 positive feedback points for selling $2 knick knacks, but a couple $250 PC’s they sold never arrived. Be wary of a new seller. Everyone has to start somewhere, but someone with 0 feedback points selling just about anything for half its value may not be the most reliable source.

Never send cash, or wire money with Western Union, as they are basically untraceable. Many sellers ask for Money orders only, which are difficult to trace or get refunds. If your seller is reputable, there is no problem. Be very careful dealing with international sales and escrow services. An escrow service is supposedly a middleman for a transaction. You sent them the money, they tell the seller the money's there, and to ship the item. You then tell the escrow service you got the item, and they release the money to seller. Simple, safe? Not necessarily. A current scam is where the seller sets up a bogus escrow service and asks you wire the money using Western Union, or another service. They then take the money and skip. By the time you realize there's a problem, they're long gone. The scams are usually on big-ticket items that would commonly be escrowed.

Gary Chambers

Setting Up A New Computer The Safe Way!

Using it on the Internet without proper precaution could quickly lead to a bad situation.

Along with all the web pages and e-mail out on the Internet are a variety of attacks searching for any computer to victimize, and new computers are often the most vulnerable. Before you connect it to the Internet you should make sure that it is protected by a firewall and patched to the greatest extent possible.

The best situation is to have a network with a real firewall. This will ensure that any devices are protected against the vast majority of attacks. If not, you'll need to get a personal firewall for the computer. Windows XP comes with a personal firewall; prior to Windows XP Service Pack 2 it is called the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) and it's not a great firewall, but it's worth having enabled on your computer until such time as you can get a better one.

The firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (called the Windows Firewall) is much better than the first one and much less likely to interfere with applications. If the computer does not come with SP2 pre-installed then you should install it pronto. If you have a second, protected computer you can download a complete (272,391 KB) copy of SP2 from this page on Microsoft's web site,

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en

burn it to a CD, and have to ready to install on your new computer without having to put that one online. If you have enabled the ICF, you can feel safe enough to go to the Windows Update site and install SP2 on the new computer that way, but it will take a long time.

If you are using a version of Windows prior to Windows XP and you don't have a network-based firewall, it is essential that you find some software firewall, such as the Norton Personal Firewall 2005, to install on the computer before you connect it to the Internet. Even if the first thing you do when you go online is to download and install a firewall, it's probably too late. With Windows XP, after you have installed SP2 is a good time to install a 3rd party firewall, Still, the important point is not to expose the computer to the Internet without having an effective firewall running.

Once you have a firewall running and you are all patched up from Windows Update, you may still be vulnerable to many attacks, such as those you get from infected e-mails with the latest viruses or by visiting web pages that exploit browser-based vulnerabilities, or even adware you could install unwittingly off the web. This is why you need to complete the security configuration before using the computer for pedestrian purposes.

Install an antivirus program and update it before surfing the web casually or setting up e-mail. Set up the antivirus program and Windows to automatically retrieve security updates and to install them.

Finally, it's possible, especially with lesser-known system vendors, that a new computer comes with adware on it, so you may even want to install a good anti-spyware product such as Webroot Spy Sweeper and scan the system.

More users than you might think start out on the wrong foot with their new computers, stepping right into the world of malware unknowingly when they connect to the Internet. By getting your defenses ready in advance, you can keep your new computer running smoothly from the start.

Gary Chambers

To Use HTML Formatting In Outlook Express 6.0

When you create messages using HTML formatting, only e-mail programs that support HTML can read the formatting. If the recipient's e-mail or news reading program cannot read HTML, the message is displayed as plain text with an HTML file attached.
To format all outgoing messages using HTML:

1. In the main window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Send tab.
2. In the Mail Sending Format or News Sending Format sections, click HTML.

To format an individual message using HTML:

- In the e-mail message window, make sure HTML formatting is turned on by clicking the Format menu. If HTML formatting is turned on, a black dot appears beside the item called Rich Text (HTML).
Side Notes:
- To edit the HTML source tags, on the View menu, make sure a check mark appears next to Source Edit. Then, select the Source tab and start editing.
- To set up Outlook Express so that your message replies are sent in a format that the originator's e-mail or news reading program can read, in the main window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Send tab. Select the Reply to messages using the format in which they were sent check box. TOP

To change the font, style, and size of text in Outlook Express 6.0 (Tip Within A Tip)

You can change the way the text looks for all your messages or you can make changes to selected text within a message.
To change the text style for all messages:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Compose tab, click Font Settings.

To format text within individual messages:

1. Select the text you want to format.
(To change the font for an entire message, on the Edit menu, click Select All.)
2. On the formatting toolbar, click the buttons for the options you want.

Side Notes:
- If you have trouble formatting, make sure HTML formatting is turned on by clicking the Format menu in a new message window and then clicking Rich Text (HTML). A black dot appears by the command when it is selected.
- When you use HTML formatting and the recipient's e-mail or news program does not read HTML, the message appears as plain text with an HTML file attached. The recipient can view the attached file by opening it in any Web browser.

Gary Chambers