What a week
History has shown that California has had the worst wild fires in history. It is a tragedy that so many structures were lost. As one put it “The house was lost but the home will never be destroyed”. For every challenge that people have endured others have come forth with an outpouring of generosity and help. It is very expensive to live in California. Moderate three bedroom housing, outrageous. State taxes and car registration, ridiculous The state budget, out of control. The generosity, compassion pride and coming together as a community- priceless.

How secure is your computer?
Let’s face facts. The computer is an information device that has come into our lives and is the best thing that could have come along. It will bring you what people seek most – Information. One common thread is how to find out what you do not know. Almost any problem can be solved with information. Information promotes knowledge and knowledge is power. That is why the Internet is so powerful. They have classes and tutorials on virtually any subject imaginable. One way to seek out information is to type it directly into a search engine such as Yahoo or Google. Type in the Search text box “Why is the sky blue” and see what you get. There are a million questions and there twice as many answers. Try it.

Who are your kids I-M ing?
Instant Messaging is an Internet communication tool, such as email, that millions of people are using which is growing exponentially. When someone wants to say “hi” to another person on a computer, they start the Instant Messaging program. This will bring up a list of people that are on the Internet who are already talking. A name is selected and a message is typed. The other person will receive a sound or a flag that lets them know they have a message . It is a wonderful tool and it promotes typing and communication skills. One thing that many concerned parents is asking, “How do I know who my child is talking to”? There is no sure fire way to find out. However there is a way to record keystrokes that are being typed and what is being received. There are many adolescents that spend a couple of hours on Instant Messenger. Many clients of mine ask if there is a way to record or monitor what is being type. There is a program that will do just that. It is called Iopus Starr. With Iopus Star both sides of the conversation is recorded for later viewing. It will record other items such as web sites visited and host of other items. It is a great program.

Inkjet printing basics
There is one thing that sends a pit to my stomach every time it happens. The inkjet cartridge runs out of ink. It is an expensive trip to the store to purchase new $40.00 or $50.00 cartridges. A couple of years ago they were giving printers out with a new computer in hopes of recouping money from the ink that you have to purchase after your first 20 or 30 pages of use. Remanufactured ink cartridges are the answer. They are around 1/3 the cost of the original and easy to order. If you are printing out photos the new cartridges may be better, however if you are printing school reports and normal everyday items this is a great way to go. The best place to order them is online. It is fast and convenient and it saves you lots of money.

On the Spam front.
There are two programs that are gaining in popularity with people who are fed up with Spam. I Hate Spam and Spam Washer both work with outlook. Spam Killer works with Outlook Express. Email is scanned for words and other criteria that have a possibility of being Spam. Those emails will be routed to a special folder. Take a quick look in the folder and then delete them. It is not perfect and some Spam does get through. However most of the Spam gets routed away from your inbox where you do not see it. Many times there are emails that are flagged as spam and is blocked. There are areas in the program can be customized for the individual user just for this situation. I highly recommend it.