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Services > Computer Training > Newsletters

Here are the best of the newsletters which I have sent out to clients. I have edited them for brevity and to bring them up to date. Also take a look at the Newsletter I have written about Thoughts on the Internet. If any of the terms below confuse you, go back to our guide or call me for a brush-up lesson.

Dear Friends and Clients (April 2002)
   To update my May 2001 email on junk email, the spammers have gotten more sophisticated. Now they send you an email from a legitimate-sounding name like AmericanHealthAssociation@funfreefastmail.com. Note the "domain name" is the give-away. Anybody can create any "username" which could be GeorgeBush or Government, but when the domain isn't legitimate, it's junk, and delete it immediately. After some experience recognizing junk, you can delete the stuff without ever opening it, and save yourself lots of time.

Dear Friends and Clients (June 2000, updated February 2002)
   I have thought about recommending or not recommending DSL or other high speed access such as cable for years, but I think I have come to the conclusion that the headaches of getting it set up are worth it, for the sheer enjoyment brought by high speed access. There are two real advantages: First is the speed of the connection to your ISP. It now takes me about FOUR SECONDS to sign on, no waiting for the phone to dial / connect. Second is the speed of downloading web pages and files. It takes, on average, about FIVE SECONDS for even the most complicated web page to completely load. Megabyte files take about a minute to download, unlike the 10 minutes for the average 56k modem. DSL can run at around 400k.
   Now the disadvantages. First, PacBell (NEW INFORMATION) is doing much better with its installations and technical support than they were a year ago, but it still is somewhat complicated, less so if your computer already has a network card installed, as I have been recommending for several years.
So you decide. I am available to do the installation, as I did for a client last week. Any questions, call me. :-)

Dear Friends and Clients (May 2001)
   NEVER respond to any email offering you anything free, get rich quick schemes, or any products for sale. Trust me, you will never win a free vacation. ONLY purchase items from a reputable website with which you are familiar, or you know the "brick and mortar" store (such as Williams-Sonoma or Office Depot). My advice is simply delete the email. If you "unsubscribe," there is a chance that you are just confirming to the spam list that it is a good email address. If an email has a link in it, DO NOT CLICK on the link. At best its useless, at worst, the website contains a virus.

Dear Friends and Clients (May 2000)
   I now have anti-virus software on my computer, although I find it tends to slow down the system. If you do have anti-virus software on your system, I do recommend that you keep it operating, as it may save your hard disk some day. Whether you pay to upgrade it after a year, that's a tossup. Most viruses are of the older types and will be caught by any program two or three years old.

   The most effective way of avoiding a virus, however, is quite simple:

  • NEVER download any attachment from someone you don't know.

  • NEVER download any attachment from anyone, even friends or relatives, unless you already know what it is. You may simply phone them and ask them what it is. A *.jpg file is ok to download, as it is a graphic picture without coding.

  • NEVER download any attachment with the suffix *.exe or *.vbs, unless you asked for it.