Leo's Answers #17 – March 17, 2006

Leo's Answers
A Weekly Newsletter From
Ask Leo!
Leo Notenboom

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*** Contents

• New Articles of Note on Ask Leo!
• Popular Articles from the Archives.
• Thoughts and Comments
• Newsletter Administration

*** New Articles of Note on Ask Leo!

How do I put a picture in a comment on myspace.com?

I get this question a lot, so I opened my own myspace account, and enlisted the help of a buddy to try it out. It's actually not that hard.

Caveat: I'm not a myspace guru, so there might be easier ways. That being said, this wasn't too bad, and it most importantly, it worked.

Continue reading: "How do I put a picture in a comment on myspace.com?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_put_a_picture_in_a_comment_on_myspacecom.html

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What's so special about myspace?

Folks are concerned about myspace.com. Should they be?

Continue reading: "What's so special about myspace?"
http://ask-leo.com/whats_so_special_about_myspace.html

* * *

How do I remove my email address from a malicious blog post?

Sadly, this kind of harassment isn't all that uncommon on the internet, basically because it's so easy to do. Normally I see it among teenagers or kids with nothing better to do.

It's also one of the reasons I firmly believe that the days of having a single email address are over. As part of maintaining our privacy for both this, and things like spam, I advocate a multiple-email address strategy that would allow you to discard the email address being used in this harassment. More on that in my article over on TamingEmail.com: How many email addresses do you need?.

Your options on what to do next are limited.

Continue reading: "How do I remove my email address from a malicious blog post?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_remove_my_email_address_from_a_malicious_blog_post.html

* * *

What Windows Services can I turn off?

I get this question a lot. People are concerned about how much software is running on their machines, and when they look at the list of services, there's a long list of things they don't understand.

The problem with this question is that there's not a single, or simple answer. Like so many things about Windows and your computer... it depends.

Continue reading: "What Windows Services can I turn off?"
http://ask-leo.com/what_windows_services_can_i_turn_off.html

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Tech Site: BigBlueBall.com

http://www.bigblueball.com

Instant messaging is a popular topic of Ask Leo! questions, second only to email related issues, I would guess. Big Blue Ball is a resource for both the latest news and support for all popular IM clients and technologies. From their site:

BigBlueBall provides news, tips, tricks and support for all major instant messengers including AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, Trillian, and many more.

BigBlueBall has an extensive support forum including help for many, if not most, of the common problems people experience with various IM clients. The MSN Messenger FAQ alone is worth a visit.

Continue reading: "BigBlueBall.com"
http://ask-leo.com/bigblueballcom.html

* * *

How do I hack into someone's account?

This is actually an over simplification of many variations:

You get the idea. People want to hack into other people's accounts for various reasons. Some, like that last one, sound perfectly legitimate. Others, not so much. And others are just blatant attempts at theft or harassment.

And do you want to know what's really scary?

I get several of these requests every day.

Every day.

Continue reading: "How do I hack into someone's account?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_hack_into_someones_account.html

*** Popular Articles from the Archives

Last week I highlighted a previous article on email security, and just how secure it is, or is not. This week, we'll continue the "paranoia" theme with what I consider to be a commonly overlooked and serious risk: what happens if you're traveling and you lose your laptop? My recommended solution includes some encryption software that I've come to really appreciate ...

How can I keep data on my laptop secure?

I travel a lot, and have sensitive data on the laptop I take with me that I need as part of my job. But I'm in fear of losing the laptop and that this data will fall into the wrong hands. What do you suggest?

I know how you feel. I, too, have sensitive information on my laptop that I would prefer not to fall into the wrong hands. I can handle losing the laptop, but the thinking about the data in the wrong hands ... well, it just gives me the willies.

So, yes, I do have a solution, and it turns out to be fairly easy, secure, and free.

Continue reading...
http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_keep_data_on_my_laptop_secure.html

*** Thoughts and Comments

OK, prepare for a shock.

I'm seriously considering switching from Outlook, which I've used for years, to Thunderbird.

Naturally, having worked at Microsoft for so many years, I've used Outlook, as well as its predecessors, since shortly after Microsoft even began offering an email program. I know how to "drive" Outlook well, and it's one of the programs that I regularly answer questions on, both here in Ask Leo!, and for friends who also use it.

Thunderbird appeals to me not only because it's smaller/faster, but because many of its fundamental concepts are just simpler. My biggest example is that Thunderbird, unlike both Outlook and Outlook Express, does not rely on some proprietary file format like ".dbx" or ".pst". Mail, in Thunderbird, is stored as a plain text file, with a companion index that's simply rebuilt if corrupt or missing. Simple. I like that.

What Thunderbird lacks in functionality, it's starting to make up for with extensions. One deal breaker for me was a calendar, for example, which is now an extension under development.

If you have experience with Thunderbird, good or bad, I'd love to hear from you. Email your comments to leo <at> ask-leo.com - please put "Thunderbird" in the subject line. I'll report back here with interesting comments, and my final decision, next week.

* * *

This made the rounds earlier this week, but if you haven't checked it out already, Google Earth - http://earth.google.com - is pretty cool. Not content with that, a while back they followed up with Google Moon - http://moon.google.com. Sure enough this week the trend continued with Google Mars - http://mars.google.com.

As my friend Chris White at http://topfive.com quipped ... "I can see my house!"

I hope they continue the trend. It's pretty cool.

* * *

The latest essay at Taming Email: Choosing an Email Program
http://www.tamingemail.com

The latest entry out at Forwarded Funnies: "And the Mother of the Year award goes to..." (R-Rated)
http://www.forwardedfunnies.com

*** Newsletter Administration

Do you have a question? A comment, perhaps? Newsletter subscribers can drop me a line at leo <at> ask-leo.com. (I only give that email address to newsletter subscribers, so I'll know it's from one of my loyal readers.) If you like, you can make sure you get past any spam filters by simply posting your question or comment using the Ask Leo! question form: http://ask-leo.com/askleo.html.

I'll be honest: I'll try to respond, but I get a lot of questions every day - I'm currently quite backlogged. I simply cannot answer absolutely every one. Rest assured, though, that even if you don't hear from me directly, I read every email I get.

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Till next week!

Leo Notenboom

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