10 good tips about how to use the internet safely

10 good tips about how to use the internet safely - Part 1

In this article I want to go over the first of 10 good tips for how to use the Internet safely -- there's a lot to cover, so I'm going to break it up into multiple articles.

Before I go on, let me just clarify that the Internet includes *both* web pages, and email, as well as other things such as instant messaging (chat programs like iChat, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, etc.) and so on.

Many people think the Internet just means web pages, so I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page (excuse the pun) before I went on and gave you these 10 good tips about how to use the Internet safely.

These tips are not meant to cover every possible Internet safety & security tip, but they cover a lot of the most important things.

You'll find that if you have my special report audio CD "5 Common & Costly Computer Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them Yourself" that there is some overlap between this article and the important information on that CD, but I've found that not only is it helpful to repeat important information, but you always get more out of it the more ways you learn it: i.e. reading it, vs. hearing it, vs. watching it.

So here are the first few of 10 good tips about how to use the Internet safely:

Tip #1) Use the right web browser.

This is a huge blunder that unfortunately most people are still making! A web browser is, of course, the program you use to view web pages. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple's Safari.

The vast majority of people out there are using Internet Explorer (the blue 'E' icon) to go to web sites. This is a very bad idea!

Microsoft is the same company that makes Windows, and they include Internet Explorer with every copy of Windows -- this is the reason most people use Internet Explorer, NOT because it's the best option.

One of the single best things you can do to increase your Internet security if you use Windows is to stop using Internet Explorer -- go to Mozilla.com and download their free web browser Firefox.

No program is perfect, and it doesn't guarantee your Internet safety, but it is a big help. Internet Explorer is full of bugs and security holes that can make it possible to get your computer infected just by visiting a website!

Mac users should also stop using Internet Explorer if they're still using it, but this is more to do with the fact that IE hasn't been updated for the Mac for several years, and so it just doesn't work with a lot of modern web pages anymore.

If you have an Apple Mac, then either use Safari (which comes on all Macs made in the last few years) or if you have an older Mac and can't get Safari, you should download Mozilla Firefox for Mac from Mozilla.com (it's free).


Tip #2) Install security patches & updates

This is a very important one which, fortunately, happens pretty automatically on most computers made in the last few years.

If you use Windows, the security updates or "patches" (think patching a hole in a program like patching a tire to fix it) come as "Windows Updates" which on most PCs running Windows XP or Windows Vista, get downloaded and installed automatically these days.

You may see a little "word bubble" like a word bubble in a cartoon or comic book pop up from the system tray (the group of icons to the left of the clock on the bottom of your computer screen) from time to time on your computer that says updates are available to install.

You should make sure to install these right away when they come out. These updates (at least the security ones) are being released because there is a specific threat to your computer which needs to be taken care of.

Click the bubble and follow the prompts to install the updates, then restart the computer when it asks you to.

If you have an Apple Mac, then these security updates are called "Software Updates". Most Macs are set up to automatically check for new updates every week or so, and then it prompts you to install them if they're available.

Unfortunately, many people don't bother, or they have their computer set up so it doesn't check for them. Don't do this!

When there's an update, you should install them to better protect your computer. Just click through the prompts, and enter your computer's password when it asks, then restart when it says to.

If you don't see a window appear every so often that's called Software Update, then you can check for them manually by going to the Apple menu and clicking "Software Update..."

This is getting kind of long, so I'll continue with more of the 10 tips about how to use the Internet safely in separate articles I'll post later.

And by the way, I realize that reading something is not as easy as seeing it done, which is one of the ideas behind my easy video computer training CDs.

If you'd like to *see* step-by-step how to protect yourself by doing the things I talk about in this article, plus get dozens and dozens of more quick, easy lessons that make your computer safer and easier to use, then you might want to click one of the links below to find out more...

All you have to do is click one of the following links, depending on whether you use a Apple Mac or a Windows PC.

Windows PC users (Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) click this link to get easy Windows computer lessons

and Apple Mac users (owners of an iMac, iBook, MacBook, etc.) click this link to get easy Apple Mac computer lessons

until next time, enjoy,
Worth Godwin

P.S. Those links again are:

Windows PC users (Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) click this link to get easy Windows computer lessons

and Apple Mac users (owners of an iMac, iBook, MacBook, etc.) click this link to get easy Apple Mac computer lessons

Why you should avoid Windows Vista like the plague (at least for now) Part 3

In this three-part article I will talk about three big reasons you should avoid "upgrading" to Windows Vista, at least for now. This is part three of three.


I've been talking in the first two parts of this series of three article about reasons you want to avoid getting the new Windows Vista. I called it a real turkey, and gave you two good reasons you shouldn't use it.

In this last in this series of articles, I'm going to give you a third reason that I don't think you should bother getting Vista, at least for a while.

Reason #3:

All the new features are old features stolen from Mac OS X, and not very well.

Microsoft has a history of stealing ideas and presenting them as their own -- all of the basic ideas behind Windows (having information displayed in one or more windows, having a desktop, having a recycle bin or trash can, using a mouse, etc.) were directly taken from the Mac after Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (the co-founders of Apple) invited Bill Gates over to show off their new type of computer.

Bill took notes and ran back to Microsoft to copy it, and he's been doing it ever since.

The new version of Windows -- Windows Vista -- was supposed to come out years ago, but it got delayed and delayed, and finally was released around the beginning of 2007.

Back in 2004, Apple announced the then-new version of Mac OS X, OS 10.4 or "Tiger" (the "X" in Mac OS X is a Roman numeral 10, not a letter X by the way) at their developers conference.

Early in 2007, some internal emails were leaked from inside Microsoft that revealed that when one high-up employee from Microsoft was at the 2004 Apple Developers Conference, he was taking notes (just like Bill did all those years ago) and he confessed Microsoft had to take a lot of features of OS X from Apple to put into Vista.

He was also worried they wouldn't be able to do those features as well.

When Vista finally came out (two and a half years later) I remember watching the promotional video that showed off all of the supposedly new features of Vista.

Every single one was clearly a knock-off of features in the 2004 version of Mac OS X, and in my opinion, not very good knock-offs.

In fact, the Microsoft employee who wrote those leaked emails is on record saying that he'd use a Mac himself if he didn't work for Microsoft.

So why pay for recycled "new features" when they won't really do that much to improve your computer (and as I mentioned in an earlier email, are likely to slow it down) -- it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I won't deny that I like Macs better than PCs too -- and unlike a lot of people who are big supporters of one and bash the other, I am very familiar with both types of computer, and realize that neither type is perfect -- and I honestly think that 99% of the time, you're better off using a Mac than a Windows PC.

So if you're going to get a new computer, which you're better off doing if you're getting Vista, why not get the real deal instead of the pale imitation?

Just my opinion.

Why you should avoid Windows Vista like the plague (at least for now) Part 1

In this three-part article I will talk about three big reasons you should avoid "upgrading" to Windows Vista, at least for now. This is part one of three.


"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

You may recognize the quote above from the old TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. The episode it was from involved the not-too-bright head of the radio station deciding it was a good idea to do a Thanksgiving promotion by giving away free turkeys -- how did he give them away? By throwing them out of a helicopter flying over the city!

Since domesticated turkeys can't fly, you can imagine it didn't go very well.

Out here in Hawaii, we have wild turkeys, which actually can fly. There was one in a tree outside my window earlier that made me think of this.

You may have heard of the new version of Windows, Windows Vista, that Microsoft started selling around the beginning of 2007.

Well, in my opinion, Vista is a real turkey, and it's flying about as well as the poor turkeys from that classic episode of WKRP.

In fact, the big irony is that I read recently that releasing Vista actually *increased* the sales of Windows XP! That's pretty sad.

There's three basic reasons I don't think you should get Vista. I could think of more, but let's keep it simple and stick to three big reasons. To keep the article fairly short, I'm going to cover the first one in this article, then the other two in separate articles.

Reason #1:

If you upgrade, you'll either need to get a brand new computer that's a lot more powerful than your old one, or you'll have to sink a lot of money into your old one to try to get it "up to speed".

You see, Vista is what we in the computer business like to call a "resource hog", which means it needs a lot of memory, a big hard drive, and a fast processor (computer brain) for it to work well. Especially if you want to use any of the newer features.

If you don't have at least a fairly high-end computer (and a new one, not a high-end PC from a few years ago) you either won't see most of the new features, or you'll be screaming at the computer in frustration at how slow it is.

So the only time to go to Vista would be if you're already planning to buy a new PC, otherwise you might spend a few hundred dollars getting up to speed, which is money that might be better spent towards a new computer.

And even then, I'd really suggest sticking with XP (or going with a Mac, but that's something to talk about in a different article).

In the next section of this article, which I'll send in a separate email, I'll talk about the second reason you don't want to get Vista, and how getting it could cause you big headaches, especially if you keep your old computer, or any older equipment.