Updating My Albums

Paper Shredder as a Pasta Machine ?

How to Use a Paper Shredder as a Pasta Machine - wikiHow: "How to Use a Paper Shredder as a Pasta Machine
While you shouldn't try this to make a meal you will eat, it is entertaining to use your paper shredder as a pasta machine. Believe it or not, the first manufactured paper shredder design was inspired by a hand-crank pasta maker. Even though shredders have come a long way, they can still be used to perform the same function as their pasta-making cousin. If you've got an old shredder lying around or you've got top-secret, incriminating information printed on a pasta sheet, it might be useful (and fun) to explore the multi-functionality of your shredder and get some linguine out of it at the same time. "

Some people have more time on their hands than me.

10 Tips to Avoid Phishing Scams

Whenever you're about to interact with a financial Web site or a site that asks for personal information, use the following tips to steer clear of phishers:

1. Always type the address of the site you want to visit directly into your browser. Phishing e-mails use addresses that look legitimate but send you to the fake site when you click.
   
2. When you visit the site, be alert to spelling and grammatical errors, bad formatting and spacing and strange or inconsistent use of company logos. Phishing sites often make these kinds of mistakes.
   
3. Don't be fooled by the presence of genuine links and telephone numbers. Fake sites often include some accurate information to help trick people.
   
4. Security certificates (the lock icon representing "SSL") can be spoofed. If something doesn't feel right about the site, don't let your guard down just because you see the certificate.
   
5. Be especially suspicious of e-mail containing urgent warnings about account problems. These are designed to panic people and make them ignore their common sense.
   
6. Don't assume that an e-mail is legitimate even if the sender's name appears to be the name of a legitimate institution. The "From" field in an e-mail can be faked to look legitimate.
   
7. Scammers use the address or URL to trick you by hiding their true nature at the end of a long address (e.g. http://login.realfinancialinstutionname.actualphishingsite.com). When in doubt, call the institution for assistance before providing any personal information online.
   
8. Be cautious about using your main e-mail address to sign up for Web offers. Some sites allow addresses to be picked up by phishing gangs. McAfee's free SiteAdvisor tool warns you about sites that resulted in unwanted e-mail.
   
9. Use a stand-alone spam filter or a security suite with a built-in spam filter from a well-known vendor like McAfee to reduce the number of phishing e-mails that make it to your inbox.
   
10. Use a browser with built-in phishing protection like Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2, and add additional anti-phishing by using the free McAfee SiteAdvisor plug-in.

Phishing Quiz: Can You Score a Perfect 10?

Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:00AM EDT
Time to sharpen your number 2 pencils and put on your thinking caps. I've got a quiz for you. McAfee, creator of SiteAdvisor, is testing your knowledge of phishing sites—sites that attempt to steal your personal information by impersonating bona fide web sites. I consider myself pretty good at spotting a fraud or scam, and I scored 8 out 10. Not bad, but it only takes one phishing site to leave you feeling violated.
The 10-question quiz presents two side-by-side views of pages from MySpace, PayPal, Amazon, AOL, and others. One is real, the other is a fraud. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to spot the fake.
I'll get you started. Here are two screenshots of MySpace. Which one is real? (Hint: The non-authentic site tries to trick users by giving them an authentic looking, but not quite right domain name.)

Clueless? Check out the answer at SiteAdvisor. Some of the other phishing sites in the test use incomplete words, poor grammar, and inconsistent capitalization. In other words, the better you are at copyediting, the better you are at spotting the fake.
According to the Gartner Group, an industry analyst, the number of U.S. adults who received a phishing email almost doubled in just two years (from 57 million in 2004 to 109 million in 2006). The per-victim loss during that period spiked almost five-fold, from $257 to $1,244. Whether you're being scammed through ignorance or arrogance, the results are the same, according to McAfee.
Let me know how well you fare on the test. Share the test with your kids, your parents, your relatives, and friends—it's a logic/puzzle solving way to learn the difference between a phishing site and the real McCoy.

Online tool for PC health and safety

Windows Live OneCare safety scanner: Free online tool for PC health and safety: "Get a free PC safety scan
Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.
Check for and remove viruses
Get rid of junk on your hard disk
Improve your PC's performance
New: Windows Vista users, try the beta edition of the scanner, just for Windows Vista. "

[Flickr] Wendy has invited you to join!

Hi Computer Students,

Wendy would like to share some photos with you!

I want to share my photos with you on a cool site called
Flickr. If you're bored with my photos you can explore
photos from around the world too!

Signing up for Flickr is free, and takes less than a
minute. Just click here:

http://www.flickr.com/welcome/3948075/426415/

See you there!

Wendy

p.s. If you are not interested, just ignore this email.
Flickr won't bug you again and there's nothing special you
have to do.