Here are all of the options for connecting to the internet along with our recommendations.

• Dial-up
  Generally not recommended except for basic e-mail.
  Very slow. Can’t be shared. 
  Recommended Provider: isp.com
  
• Satellite
  Use only if one of the options below is not available.
  Unreliable and expensive.
  Recommended provider: wildblue.com
  
• DSL
  Use when cable is not available.
  Compared to cable, not as easy to set up, not as reliable and not as fast. Same price. 
  Recommended provider: AT&T
  
• Cable
  Recommended for homes and small businesses where fiber is not available.
  Fast, reliable, and reasonably priced. 
  You don’t have a choice when it comes to cable. Use which ever one serves your area.
  Austin and many of the surrounding communities are mostly covered by Time Warner Cable.
  Some suburban areas are covered by other providers like Suddenlink or Grande.
  
• Mobile Broadband
  Recommended for mobile users. Recommended for home users where cable or DSL not available. Recommended over dial-up and satellite. Expensive, but prices are coming down. Difficult to share this connection, but that is getting better as mobile broadband routers are starting to come available. 
  Which provider you go with varies by area. Choose one that has good coverage in your area. it’s a good idea to stick with the same company you use for your cell phone.
  
• Fiber
  Recommended for homes and businesses.
  Fast, reliable, and reasonably priced. Limited availability at this time.
  Most common providers: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-Verse
  
• T1/T3
  Cable and fibre internet connections are as fast or faster than T1 lines these days. T1 lines are more reliable, however. The only real option for medium to large businesses is T3 or multiple T1 lines. 

Share on Facebook

If you have ever watched any episodes of the old Monty Python TV series, you may recognize the title of this article. It’s from a Monty Python skit. If you have never seen the skit, click here to watch it.Using the term “Spam” as a refernce to junk e-mail comes from this skit. The word spam is repeated over and over many times in the skit, just like the repetitious junk e-mail you get.

The first thing you should do is sign up for a free e-mail address from Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc. Once you have that, use that e-mail address whenever you register on a website whether you are buying something or just setting up an account. That way, most of the spam will go to the free account instead of your main e-mail address. Friends and business contact will send to your main e-mail address while the other stuff will go to this free account. You’ll still have to deal with the spam in the free account, but not as often. When I purchase something over the internet, I go and blow away all of the e-mail and junk e-mail on my free e-mail address so I can more easily see the order and shipping notifications.

If you use an e-mail client like Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc., then set it up so that there is no preview of the e-mail. In Outlook Express, click on "View" and then click on "Layout". Then remove the checkmark next to "Show Preview Pane". For Outlook, it varys slightly by version, but for the more resent versions, click on "View" and then on "Reading Pane" and the on "Off". Once you have it turned off, you will just get a list of e-mail. you can safely look at the list and delete unwanted messages. When you want to view a message, double-click on it.

Share on Facebook

Here is a list of things you should remember when writing and sending e-mail.

• When you send e-mail, make sure you put a descriptive subject that describes the purpose of the e-mail. Never send an e-mail with no subject.
• Don’t write your e-mail in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. It’s harder to read. All capital letters is the internet equilivent of shouting.
• When you forward an e-mail, remove all of the headers of all of the previous forwardings. 
• When  you forward an e-mail as an attachment, make sure the actual e-mail with the content you are trying to forward isn’t buried several attachments deep. Take the lowest level attachment and attach that to your e-mail instead.
• When forwarding an e-mail, don’t blindly forward it to everyone in your address book. Think about which people would truely be insterested in reading the e-mail.
• Don’t forward a lot of e-mail to your friends. Only forward the really good ones and avoid forwarding more than one a day.
• Don’t use graphics in your e-mail signature. Keep your e-mail signature short.

Share on Facebook

Be careful which e-mail’s you open! Spammers have a new angle and it’s easy to be tricked by it. Be on the lookout for e-mails with a subject line that says you have an e-card or a postcard. These will often say you have an e-card from a classmate or from a neighbor or they might even say a person’s first name, like Sam or Lisa. Don’t open these e-mails! Only open a notification about an e-card or postcard if the subject line of the message lists the first and last name of someone you know. Some e-card companies fix it so that the e-card notification comes from the e-mail address of the person who sent it. That’s another indication that it’s a valid notification. And by the same token, anytime you send an e-card, make sure you use your first and last name.

Also be on the lookout for e-mail with a PDF file attached. The attachment would have a file name that end with .pdf. This is a new way spammers try and slip past spam filters. The Adobe Reader which is used to display PDF files can be used for malicious purposes as well. Do not open a PDF file unless it is from someone you know and trust.

And as always, make sure your computer is proected by good security software.

Share on Facebook