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 We hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We took advantage of some delicious food right here in Palm Creek RV park - Casa Grande, Arizona. Then we joined the hiking club on Friday for a 5 mile desert hike in hopes of working off that pumpkin pie. See photos on our Blog at www.geeksontour.blogspot.com.
In this newsletter
- Article #1 discusses how to avoid being a 'sucker' to scams in fake emails and fake websites.
- Article #2 is about websites specifically for RVers.
- Article #3 is about adding captions to your photos.
- Last, there is a quick tip on avoiding popup blockers.
If you know someone you think would be interested in this newsletter, please forward it to them. If you have any requests for future articles, please send us an email.
Fishing is where you hold the hook, and the fish are the prey. Phishing is where Internet Scam artists hold the hook and *you* are the prey. I think the 'ph' comes from the origins of the scam via phone.
It's your job to not take the bait! A scam can't work if you don't fall for it. Sometimes the bait is obvious, like an email that says someone from Nigeria needs to use your bank account in the US to deposit millions of dollars ... just give them your account info and they'll cut you in for half! Instead, of course, they'll empty your bank account.
But many of them are not so obvious. Many of them are very good at the con game, so you have to be good too - at recognizing and avoiding them. There are 2 primary ways that con artists work.
- By making fake websites
- By sending fake emails
Some fakes are easy to spot, some aren't. Things to know:
- The 'From' line on an email can be faked. Just because it says it's from your uncle Harold, or from your bank, doesn't mean it is. I could send you an email and make it look like it's from the IRS asking you to send me your bank account information.
- Links can be taking you somewhere other than what they say. For example, a link may say, "www.bankamerica.com" but if you hover your mouse over it and look below, in your status bar, you'll see the real address. In this case I've made the link go to www.bankamerica.dontfallforthis.com. In this example, 'dontfallforthis.com' is the main website with 'bankamerica' as a page on that site.
- It's easy to make an exact duplicate of a website (heard of copy and paste?). So, just because it looks like your bank's site doesn't mean it is.
When in doubt don't click. With a suspect email, just delete it. Replying in any way, even to 'unsubscribe', just let's the scammers know they have a 'live one' - a real email address. All you have to do is not fall for it, and the scam can't work.
If it sounds like it *might* be a legitimate email from your bank or other financial institution - call them on the phone. Make sure to use a number that you know to be theirs, not one provided in the email. Or, you can visit their website directly by typing the address in your browser - just don't use the link in the email.
To learn more about how to spot fake websites, try a fun online game: Anti-Phishing Phil. The most intelligent and in-depth information on fighting phishing that we've found is on Paypal's website at: https://www.paypal.com/fightphishing. An excellent site for researching scams and hoaxes of all types is Snopes.com.
Keeping your computer's software up-to-date can protect you from the majority of viruses, spyware and scams. Sometimes no one else can protect you, sometimes you just have to be smart. Arm yourself with knowledge, and you won't fall victim to scams.
Websites for RVers
I just googled for 'RV Resources' and got a listing of 2,173,000 web pages! That's a little overwhelming, don't you think? How about I tell you of 4 websites that I look at all the time?
RV.net Forums: This is the largest group of RVers I have found. You can ask questions, or join conversations about destinations, RVs of different make and models, RV repair and maintenance, and, of course Computer issues! There are thousands of active members in these forums. I am still astounded when I post a message and, within minutes, there are a half-dozen responses! RV.net is a small part of that huge organization called the Affinity Group. You may know Affinity by some of their brand names, for example: Good Sam, Trailer Life, Highways Magazine, Woodalls, and Coast to Coast, to name just a few.
RV-Dreams Community Forum: RV-Dreams is a much smaller group. You can post and read messages on their forums and actually get to know the people! Then, you could go to their rally (except it's already booked to it's 100 capacity!) and really get to know them. We'll be there; in Branson, MO, June 2008.
Hitch Itch: This site is best known as a collector of links to RV Travelers blogs and websites. You'll find links to hundreds of the most wonderful stories by RVers. *Warning* this site will create addictions!
Gypsy Journal: The "Gypsy Journal" is primarily a paper and ink newspaper publication. The website includes lots of excerpts and supporting information. Nick and Terry, the owners, are fulltime RVers and have been for many years. We met them at Life on Wheels in 2004, and really enjoyed them. I am hooked on Nick's blog, included on the website. We'll be at their rally, right here in Casa Grande - February 2008.
All the above websites also contain links to others. I hope you have a comfortable chair in front of your computer!
If your idea of a great personal website is a place to put all your photos, and include captions for each photo, then Picasa and Picasa Web Albums is all you need! It's just so easy!
Using Picasa on your computer, double-click on any photo to open it full-screen. You should see some gray words underneath it that say "Make a Caption!" Just click on those words - they disappear and you can type whatever you want. I have not seen a limit to the length of captions - you can type a paragraph if you want - but that will get a little cumbersome to your viewers.
When you upload photos to a Web Album, the caption goes along for the ride. It makes for a self-documented photo album. You may not even need a Blog! I will always want a Blog because sometimes I really want to write. But, if you just want to post photos with a caption on each, Picasa Web Albums is all you need. Check out this web album of mine to see what it looks like. And, watch the 'show-me' video to see exactly how it's done.
Quick Tips
Ctrl to bypass popup blockers : Sometimes the cure is as bad as the disease! A popup is simply a window that pops up when you click on something. It started out as a useful technique for website designers to make little sub-windows for tidbits of useful information that they didn't want to take up space on the main window. But then the advertisers got hold of the technique and created hundreds of annoying popups, to the point where web browsers have built-in popup blockers. But, now the legitimate popups don't work anymore, and that's pretty annoying too. There are ways you can adjust settings to allow popups on certain websites, but there's also a simple method to avoid the popup blocker right when you click on something. Just hold down the Ctrl key as you click on the link. For most popup blockers, this will simply bypass the block and let you continue. If it doesn't work, you'll have to find the message that appears and gives you more instructions on how to allow the popup. Ctrl-Z for Undo: Undo is my favorite command ... I call it the 'oops' command. Just deleted a paragraph rather than the word you intended? Undo with the Edit menu, Undo and it's all back! Instead of using the Edit menu and clicking on Undo, you can use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl-Z. That means to hold down on the Ctrl key as you press Z, then let go.
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