Tech Tutor Video: Computer Basics for Beginners

We’re happy to announce the Vista version of our Introduction to Computers and the Internet Volume 1. The vista version is packed with the same great content from our XP version, but also includes more exercises. (You asked, so we’re delivering). We’re also thrilled with the excellent video and sound quality you will notice in the Vista version.

Volume 2 of our Vista version is in production now and we hope to have it ready by mid November. With up to date content and everyone’s favorite “Best of the Web”, Volume 2 will be a super addition for Vista users.

The New York Times article Video Games Conquer Retirees is not a surprise to us here. Ever since MS Solitare, Games have been a great way to get people interested in using computers. While not only sparking interest, games help keep our minds agile and young.

“Anxious about the mental cost of aging, older people are turning to games that rely on quick thinking to stimulate brain activity. A step slower than in their youth, they are using digital recreations of bowling, tennis and golf.”

In our Introduction to Computers Volume 2 we show you how to use the games that come with your computer (like solitare) as well as popular online game sites from yahoo and MSN.    We even show you how to play my current game addiction, Scrabble Rack Attack.

So check out some of these game sites and find your favorite - you’ll be exercising more than your click-finger, you’ll be exercising your brain!

I took a quick look in my junk mail folder (which I do every couple weeks) just to see what’s in there. Not to my surprise, I see more and more phishing attempts. As you know from our Introduction to Compters Volume 1 video, phishing is a malicious attempt to steal your personal information especially accounts that lead to money. In my junk mail I saw attempts for E*Trade and Bank of America.

Now I know the first rule of phishing safety, and that is never click on email links asking you to fill out forms. I always type in the website address of sites I use. Bank of America has more email fraud guidance.

Their advice is to delete these types of emails however good they may appear, and always access their site by typing the address into the browser.

Other things to enchance your security.

1. Use a browser with an anti-phishing filter (we talked more about this in our september IE7 anti-phishing post). IE 7 and Firefox have anti-phishing tools that help warn you if you are about to go to a site that has been reported as a potential phishing site. Make sure these tools are on.

2. Use an email with Junk Mail filter (We talk about this in our Volume 2 video). While not fool-proof (so don’t think if its in your inbox the mail is valid), many good junk mail filters will help keep these attempts out of your inbox and send them directly into your junk mail.

3. Be a skeptic. Don’t believe what you read in email and call the person if you have a doubt!

Yes I’m happy to say that our Introduction to Computers and the Internet Volume 2 is finally released and is available for purchase. In volume 2, we take a next step in developing a users skills with their computer, email and the Internet. Similar to Volume 1, we try to keep a good variety of topics to explore.

One important topic we cover is how to customize windows including your display resolution, mouse settings, and control panel basics. Many users we’ve found don’t even know these features exist. Understanding these configuration settings make your computer much more enjoyable to use.

We also cover some computer maintenance basics that help show users how to clean up “disk clutter” and improve your systems performance.

We don’t forget to have a bit of fun and spend a good deal of time focusing on entertainment with your computer including playing and recording music, finding web radio stations, playing games, and favorite web sites. There’s a lot going on in Volume 2, you can see the full contents here (just scroll down to Volume 2 Contents).

And we’ve even kept the great low price of $19.95. Straight forward price and great computer basics - that’s what we’re about.

I’ve read up on phishing, had friends caught by phishing scams, and have warned our watchers about phishing and other security threats in our Introduction to Computers and Internet Vol 1. However, I haven’t been directly sent a phishing attempt until just recently. Here’s the story and some pictures to help you identify phishing attempts and be safer on the internet.

My phishing attempt story starts with the following email. This was sent to my work email account- not my email address associated with my amazon login. So my spider-sense was tingling.

My other thought was “Why would Amazon want to terminate a customer account?” That just doesn’t make good business sense. I also assumed they would have a policy against sending such emails, so I went to their site to check it out. Obviously I’m not the only one getting such emails as they have a page helping people identify phishing threats.

The big thing to note here is that Amazon will never ask you personal information or request to verify or confirm your account information. So I knew my email was a phishing attempt trying to get my credit card.

At this point, you should just delete such an email and forget about it. (I went forward, so I can help you with this story, but even clicking unfamiliar links in emails such as this can pose threats to the unprotected computer, so don’t do it.)

Knowing this was trouble, I clicked the link in the email and this is what I saw.

Looks a lot like Amazon doesn’t it? Thieves do a good job in building these phishing websites, so it’s almost impossible to tell from just the page alone. One thing that was strange was the URL. It didn’t have amazon.com at the root of the URL only an IP address. But if you’re not looking at the URL, you could easily fooled. (And even my tech savvy friends have fell victim to these scams).

Is there help out there? Yes, thankfully. The first line of defense is still you, but some anti-phishing tools are also coming out to help. In this case, I was using the beta version of Internet Explorer 7 (so I can tell you guys about it). But in this instance, I wasn’t even thinking about what browser I was using. After being on this page, Internet Explorer 7 gave me the following warning.

Pretty cool huh? I was happy to see this warning and a bit relieved to finally have somone looking out for me on the web. So am I a convert to anti-phishing tools? At this point yes. I know the are not foolproof, but they sure can help. Anti-phishing tools are available in Intenet Explorer 7 which will be released soon. It also appears that firefox 2 will have anti-phishing tools as well. If you don’t want to wait there is an add in to the current release of firefox from Google that provides phishing protection help.

It’s a fact, phishing is out there - but with a bit of knowledge, and some help with anti-phishing tools, we’ll all be browsing safer.

Best wishes and happy browsing,

Brett

Google has made an important step forward for the visually impaired by providing a specific search tool to assist the blind and visually impaired to search and find internet content built with accessibility in mind. They call it Google Accessible Search. The following is from their FAQ.

“What is Google Accessible Search?”

Accessible Search is an early Google Labs product designed to identify and prioritize search results that are more easily usable by blind and visually impaired users. Regular Google search helps you find a set of documents that is most relevant to your tasks. Accessible Search goes one step further by helping you find the most accessible pages in that result set.

“Why is Google offering this?”

… In the past, visually impaired Google users have often waded through a lot of inaccessible websites and pages to find the required information. Our goal is to provide a more useful and accessible web search experience for the blind and visually impaired.

This feature will make it easier for visually impaired to find sites that are already built with accessibility in mind, but the opportunity for better search page results will also encourage web site producers to change their sites to make them more accessible. Sites built with accessibility in mind are typically better for all users.

As part of writing the content for our Introduction to Computers and the Internet Volume 2, I’ve been searching for some of the best web sites to share. I won’t give them all away now, but I will introduce you to Pandora. This site allows you to discover new music by creating “stations” based on your favorite artist or song. Pandora will then play songs by that artist, but will also select new music based on the original artist or song your created your station with. You can also create multiple “stations” and easily switch between them. At this point, Pandora is free, but they do ask you to create a login in order for them to manage your stations. If you enjoy music like I do, you’ll love this site.

Tech Tutor Video celebrates its first year in business this month! Its been great fun so far. Thanks must go to those who have been sending us their positive stories and feedback. We’re here because of you!

A quick news bite for those waiting for our follow up instructional video- just wanted to let you know it is currently in production and we’re expecting a July release. We’ll keep you posted.