Top Five Live Webcam Sites

1. Earthcam: Want to get out of town, but don’t have the time?  Take a mini vacation on Earthcam, and you can visit Times Square, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and more with the click of a mouse.  http://www.earthcam.com/
2. Monterey Bay Aquarium: You’ll be mesmerized by the underwater beauty at Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This great site not only has a live webcam, but has podcasts, a video library, and live webcasts of otters at feeding time. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org
3. Sportsman’s Paradise Online: If you’ve ever wanted to observe a bald eagle in its natural habitat, you won’t want to miss Sportsman’s Paradise online.  If you go online now, you’ll get a treat–there are two new hatchlings..  http://sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Decorah_Bald_Eagle_Nest.html
4. Miami and Beaches: This is the cheapest way to see Miami, by far.  You can visit Coconut Grove, take a stroll down Ocean Drive, then hop over to Lincoln Road–all from your computer screen. http://www.miamiandbeaches.com/visitors/beachcam.asp
5. Africam:  Enjoy a mini safari with Africam, where you can watch elephants and other wildlife from a safe distance.    http://www.africam.com/wildlife/index.php

Hacked, Hijacked, Spoofed, and Spammed: What to do if your email account has been compromised.

You check your e-mail one morning and realize that there are dozens of bounced messages and e-mails from contacts asking you if the link that you sent them is legitimate.  You didn’t send a link to anyone, so what happened and how do you fix it?

What is spamming? Spamming is the distribution of unsolicited bulk e-mail.  Intentional spam is delivered by individuals who are soliciting a product or business, while unintentional spam is bulk e-mail distribution from within an infected or compromised computer. This can be generated from a virus or worm that activates e-mail distribution, or from someone actually hacking into your account, effectively hijacking your e-mail account.

What is spoofing?  E-mail spoofing is the forgery of an e-mail  header so that the message appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source.  To find out if the e-mail in question originated from your account, check your Sent Mail folder.

What to do if your email account has been compromised:

1. Change the password to your email account and any accounts linked to it, such as Facebook or Paypal.  It’s best to use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols, and don’t keep a universal password for all of your accounts.
2. Create a sign-in seal.  This is linked to your computer, not your email account, so someone attempting to access your email account through a different computer will need to answer security questions.
3. Change your security settings.  Log in to your account settings, and change your password hints, reset information, and linked accounts.
4.  Make sure that your virus scan program is up-to-date.  AVG is my personal favorite.  Not only should you run a virus scan on a regular basis, you should also have a malware program, such as Malwarebytes to scan for malicious adware.
5. Create a second email account and use it for online registration and ordering.  Don’t use your personal e-mail account for online registrations or purchases, forms, or mailing lists.  Keep a spam account solely for this purpose.

 

Ten Cool Google Tricks

Ten Cool Google Tricks.

Ten Cool Google Tricks

Ten Cool Google Tricks

1. Want to search for people who look like you?  Go to Google Images, then click the camera to upload a photo of yourself and find what Google considers to be visually similar images.
2. Have you ever done a barrel roll?  You can with this neat Google trick. Type “Do a Barrel Roll”  in the Google search bar.  You might want to take some Dramamine before you do this–the page spins around.
3. Have you ever Googled underwater?  You can if you  follow this link: http://elgoog.im/underwater/.  Type your search words and watch what happens.
4. Is Google afraid of Chuck Norris?  Type Google Chuck Norris into the search bar and you’ll get this:  “Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
5. Is “one” really the loneliest number?  Do a Google search for the loneliest number and you’ll find out.
6. Need a quick ego boost?  Do a search for who is the cutest?
7. If you ever want to find out the definition of recursion, Google has a clever surprise for you.  Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way, like mirrors facing each other, and when you search for this word, you’ll get this:Did you mean: recursion . Click the link, and you’ll get stuck in a never-ending loop.
8. Too lazy to look at your watch?  Ask Google What time is it and you’ll get your answer.
9. Have you ever Googled things in a mirror image?  Go to http://elgoog.im/ and you’ll see things from a new perspective.
10. Want  to Google things from a different perspective?  Type tilt or askew in the search bar, and see what happens.

Five Tips for Hiring a Web Designer

1. Hire a professional.  We’ve all heard the old adage, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.”  Hiring a reputable web design company is important.   Your cousin’s boyfriend’s neighbor might design websites on the weekends, but that doesn’t make him qualified to design your website.
2. Get a contract.  Not only should your contract specify the scope of the work, you should also have a tentative completion date on the contract.
3. Ask about company policy for transferring domain names.  Reputable companies have policies for transferring domain names.  If your website company doesn’t have such a policy in place, then register your domain yourself or find another web designer.
4. Find out if your plan includes updates and maintenance.  Don’t assume that your web designer will continue to make unlimited changes to your website without charging you.  Find out in advance what your maintenance plan includes.
5. Ask for local referrals.  Talk to other local business owners and get recommendations from them.  You can also contact your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of web design companies in your area.