FBI E-Scam

        Jim Hamm passes along a warning,  "There have been reports of a recent email scam, presumably from the FBI, that threatens to lock up your computer unless you pay a 'ransom.' You can read more about this scam here. The malware comes from a website to your browser via Javascript, and can infect both a Mac and a PC (ie., OS X and Windows).

        "If you're using Safari, you can get rid of this scam by quitting Safari, and hold the shift key down when reopening Safari — this will prevent previous windows or tabs from reopening." 

        Jim winds up this warning to us with this:  "On the FBI website you'll note there is a link wherein one can report email spam: spam@uce.gov. This goes to the Federal trade Commission. Wonder what they will do with it? You don't suppose they enjoy reading spam, do you?...(grin)."

About IMAP and POP

        "If you'd like to understand better what the email protocol 'IMAP' is all about, here is an article that gives a good description of it," begins Jim Hamm with his trademark grin.  He acknowledges, "Understandably, you may not care. If the client you use for email works for you, and you're not inclined to change, then just bypass this article.

        "As an ancillary note, I use IMAP— and like it — but no longer use an email client, like Apple's Mail, on any of my computers or iOS devices. I use the web-based Gmail as my email client. That is, I log into Gmail on their server and do all my email reading, etc., there — not on my computer. I find this to be much simpler: all my emails are always coordinated and in-sync between all my devices, all of the emails I've ever received are permanently stored there (mighty handy to look up an old email from a long time ago), and I never have to worry or fuss with doing an update to my email program -- Google takes care of that for me — and I never have to tell anyone to 'hold sending any email to me while I travel'  — I've got plenty of storage space in Gmail." 

You Can Send to Kindle

       " Here is a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome that enables one to send web articles, emails, etc., to any Kindle device for reading later. The article states an extension for Safari is coming soon," Jim Hamm informs us.  

Deadline for Password Change

         Commspeed emailed a notice yesterday that on March 1 you’ll lose access to your email account if you have not changed your password by then.  It specified the tougher rules for an acceptable password. 
(So, how’s YOUR password?  Still easy to type in, easy to guess?  Time to toughen it up!  Before you face a deadline from your email provider you might consider a longer, trickier password and fiddle with it now. )
OK, try not to panic.  Phone and ask the tech if it is a genuine email from them.  OK, now dream up a new password, and try and try and try to get it set up online. It won’t go through.  Maybe they’re too busy over there?  Do I have to allow cookies?  What else? 
Three phone calls later, and looking for success soon, it finally worked.  
Look at Mail Preferences and see your account info, mailbox behaviors, and advance settings.  

        Mail  > Window > Connection Doctor shows the connection status.  Why does the drawer show notations in that impossible-to-read  Party Let font?   So, that's it for now. 

January is the Time to Get Organized

         Getting organized is a chore, but it’s so logical that you feel like you’ve accomplished something good.  January brought the end of the month of December, the end of the fourth quarter of 2012 and the end of the year.  Lots of practical things to do.  No doubt, you’re well on your way to achieving that goal.  

Do you have all of the 2013 birthday and anniversary greetings figured out for your extended family?  I do, and I’ve ordered them up already for the whole year. I’d like to tell you a good website to check out.  

Last fall I discovered jacquielawson.com  and for a mere $12.00 I’m paid up for the year of unlimited e-cards from her collection.  They’re amusing, entertaining, musical, and even serious.  

You can choose, designate the dates and the emails for a year!  They notify you when an e-card is sent, and another notification when the person has opened that email.  Your Cards History lists the last 30 cards they’ve sent for you.  Under Cards Pending you can view a card again, edit, or cancel it. 

There is a real Jacquie Lawson, an English artist in Southern England who started this in 2000.  She and her friends have created a total of 235 e-cards, ready for your preview.  Birthday cards, Congratulations, Get Well, Christmas cards, Thank you cards, Invitations, Valentine, etc. You can choose such features as dogs, cats, birds, teddy bears, flowers and many other subjects.  

When you click to preview a card you view the animation, and hear the music. The listings tell you about the orchestration.  One I’m looking at here has “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” from “Children’s Corner” by Claude Debussy, orchestrated by Mike Hughes-Chamberlain. You can choose from 15 different headings for your greetings.

        “An Eloquent Arrangement” is a floral bouquet e-card, and you can rollover to show the meanings of the flowers.  Someone of any age would enjoy these clever cards. 

After going through my list of 62 nearest relatives now I’ve covered the whole year in advance.  I sign in with my password and can look at my account.  It lists the name of the e-cards I’ve chosen, the names and emails of the recipients, and the dates I want it sent.  How simple is that!

        But wait, you say, I want to add a personal greeting.  Yes!  You can choose a Write Your Own Message or a Note Card.  I’ve sent personalized poems this way, and signed it whichever way suits the occasion.  

More than 50 of the most popular e-cards have been made into screensavers for you to download from this site.  Directions tell you how for PC or for Mac. 

After looking through their site I had a few questions and emailed Help@jacquielawson.com  Gary’s reply: “As long as the sender does not delete the card you should be able to save it on your computer.  

“Note: We do not permit the commercial sending of our cards to large lists.  If it’s a small group of recipients that the sender knows it is permitted.  If you’d like to post on a forum that has thousands of members that you do not know personally, feel free to link to our site, using instructions found on http://www.jacquielawson.com/linkpage.asp  

“Please note that since our cards are animated and most of the time the entire message will not show up at the end of a card without having to scroll down, printing them usually doesn’t work out.  Unfortunately, there is no way around this. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.”

        Speaking of writing, a poem can convey a thoughtful message without all the bother of regular sentence structure and punctuation.  It doesn’t have to rhyme, it doesn’t need to follow any pattern at all.  

I just wrote a page-long birthday poem for Granddaughter Joy.  I wanted to mention some highlights of her life and compliment her on her travels, her volunteering, and her service now as an R.N.  Navy nurse. 

The first draft is just a quickie, then let the writing rest.  Go back the next day and start to add more and polish it up. What you write to that person will be treasured more than a simple card from the store with only your name on the card.  You can convey encouragement, appreciation, happy memories,  plans for the future, and other personal notions that come to mind. 

        Now you can see what a help Mac is.  Pages shows you words that may be misspelled,  you can view your writing larger on your screen if you want to (mine is set for 150% viewing on my 27” Thunderbolt Display), you save it as you go, and then you can save the finished writing in a folder with that person’s name in your family file.  

You may want to make a printed copy for posterity.  Pretty stationery paper is waiting for you at Staples and Office Max.  (You do know that postage goes up to 46 cents for the first ounce on January 27, but the second ounce stays the same at 20 cents.) 

        You could send a pretty email to the birthday person, or the person you want to treat to a nice card.  You know where to find the panel to bring up Stationery on Mail.  But you can also subscribe to other colorful backgrounds for an email.  

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mail-stationery/id402665633?mt=12     by Jumsoft  $19.99 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stationery-for-mail/id512477627?mt=12  UAB Macmanus  $6.99

http://www.equinux.com/us/products/stationery/index.html   13 packs to choose from $39.98

        Creative Thinkers: this is fun to do.  I’ve created some family “holidays” for my relatives.  Pick a day, make a nice name for it, send out clever emails or e-cards, or even print something up on certificate-looking paper.  Be sure your printer will print on metallic-decorated paper before using that kind.

Mac has some “official-looking” fonts that make your homemade certificates look really nice. 

                  Here’s a few celebrations I’ve established in the family.  

The Brain Award =  sent to any relative graduating from high school or college.  

The Admirable Brother Award (I only have one brother and he’s a really great guy).  

Happy HARDT-Day = to my sons, their wives, and our grandchildren.  

Darlings-in-law Day =  for my daughters-in-law.  

Happy Everyday = an all purpose, any day of the year greeting to my relatives.  

Happy Sons’ Day = a poem for our sons telling how proud of them we are  

A Certificate of Near Perfection = in recognition of some kind of superior achievement.                             
A more original document was the “Congratulations on Your Medical Achievements” which noted the new title of “Lambpa” for our son Peter who assisted his ewe at the birth of her lamb.

    “Winner of the A to Z Award” was personalized by listing alphabetical characteristics of my brother.  

    For our 52^nd wedding anniversary back in 2006 I wrote a poem to Don, and I calculated we’d had 18,980 days, or 455,520 hours, or 27,331,200 minutes of marriage.

    For Don’s birthday one year I wrote, “Have yourself a duct tape birthday.  It’s flexible, useful, strong, practical, helpful: just like you.”

Another birthday, I described other characteristics that the letter “P” of Don’s middle name could stand for, instead of “Paul.” -- persistent, practical,  prudent, providing, pleasant, positive. 

        Of course, a PowerPoint slide show takes the cake.  Our son Peter used beautiful photos taken by his wife Carlene and put in nice words to wish Don a happy birthday one year.  

You can experiment with making slideshows with iPhoto, too.  Do a Google search for “Mac: how to make slideshow DVD” and then under Search Tools designate any date within the last year so that the results will match the latest OS you’re running on your Mac.  

         So start that list of “To Do” and be thankful Mac will be your helper.  Of course, check your Calendar, subscribe to PMUG listings for the meetings for 2013.  Then subscribe to be notified of new postings to www.pmug.us and www.pmugnews.blogspot.com/       

         Plan on having a great 2013, and congratulate yourself on keeping up with the latest and the best.   

       

This was today's handout by Elaine Hardt at PMUG. 

POP or IMAP: Which is Best for Email?

        POP or IMAP: which is best for your email? "This is a very nice article," John Carter goes on to elaborate, "with a few not-so-obvious exceptions but also not very important.  What is interesting is one of the related articles mentioned at the end:   6 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Desktop Email Clients In Favour Of Web-Based Options.
       Hold on!  Another email from John to add more info:  "Here's another related article that explains a bit more about the differences between POP & IMAP and also talks about the differences between an email app and webmail. There's a lot to take in with both of those articles." 

Watch Those Emails!

        Jim Hamm sends this latest:  "You probably are already cognizant about this subject, but here's an article about protecting your computer against Java malware. I had disabled Java on my Mac some time ago but hadn't done so on my PC till now, when I read this article. However Java is used on a computer, I haven't noticed missing it once it was disabled.
       "In an unrelated malware incident involving attempted "phishing", I received an email a couple of days ago that looked like it was from Amazon thanking me for my order of Bose speakers for $120. Well, I hadn't ordered any speakers and there was different links in the message that one could click -- but I didn't click any of them. What was interesting was a message to the side that said this might be a "phishing" attempt. Have no idea how/why this was in the email. Anyway, I just deleted the email and checked to insure a charge hadn't got on our credit card for this amount. It hadn't. However, the document from Amazon sure looked real.
       "What with the proliferation of purchases online, think about all the places/websites where you have used your credit card — or at least I have. The bad guys are constantly on the prowl looking for ways to penetrate these websites — and your computer — to steal your credit card number. A life-long battle between them and us it seems," Jim comments. 

How to Keep Your Email Address

        If you currently have a .mac or .me email address here's helpful info from Jim Hamm.  He says, "MobileMe is ending shortly.  Here's an article with some instructions. . . Although I've got a .me email address, I don't use it (because Gmail seems to work so well) — but I think I've got it set up to continue in case I might want to start using it in the future."

Gmail Increases Your Storage

Jim Hamm says, "Here's some good news: If you have a Gmail email address, your storage has been increased to 10 GB to celebrate the release of Google Drive. Here's the announcement. I checked my account and, sure enough, I've got 10241 MB of email storage available to me. This is one of the reasons I use Gmail — I don't have to alert people to stop sending emails when I won't have access to the internet for awhile — I've got plenty of storage available. Another reason is Gmail's filters are excellent — I almost never get a spam email."As a side note: if you've thought about using Google Drive for storage of documents, it's not available for everyone yet — it's a rolling release. If you're interested, you can sign up to be notified when it will be available for you." New info:  MailTab for Gmail, "the best Gmail app for free" is v7.5, dated 6-12-2015, is available.  Read about it at iTunes.apple.com.

More on POP and IMAP

       John Carter passes on more info on the POP and IMAP question.  "The reason you are able to see your mail on the server after seeing them using Mac Mail is that the preferences set in Mac Mail are to NOT remove the message from the server after retrieving them.
        "In the snapshot below, I have my POP account preferences set to "remove copy from server after retrieving message” because in this case I have no interest to ever use webmail to access email for that account, and this option keeps the messages in that account on the server cleaned out.

        "In this case, once I retrieve a message using Mac Mail (or any other mail app with the preferences set as above) and then subsequently either delete it from the inbox in Mail or move it to another folder in Mail, the message is deleted from the inbox on the server. Because it is not a POP account, when moving a message from the inbox to another folder in Mail the message on the server is just deleted. All folders in Mail for a POP account are local to the computer. And that’s another reason I prefer not to use a POP account if I can help it.
        "(Note: the option to include - meaning to retrieve - when automatically checking for new messages is not checked because I have a filter for that account on that server to forward all incoming messages to another account on another server, after which they are automatically removed from the originating server. This may seem complicated, but it means I don’t have to check messages from multiple accounts.) For IMAP preferences, it’s also possible to keep messages on the server or not:

       "The only need to keep messages on the server is if you would ever need to get to your email using webmail. I notice that one option is to keep only those messages that I’ve read, which seems backwards to me. I would think the option should be to remove the messages I’ve read and keep the ones I haven’t read (retrieved but not read). That’s the only confusing part that I can see here."
        John concludes with, "The advantage of IMAP is that if you have two or more computers at home that you are using (like a laptop and a desktop) then both computers will always show exactly the same messages. Deleting a message on one computer deletes it from the other - unless the message you deleted was in a local folder. I never use local folders and I will use IMAP over POP (when possible) because I want my email on all my computers to be in perfect sync. That’s my personal choice. If you only have one computer then it doesn’t matter which protocol you use - although as mentioned in the previous note IMAP is more reliable and I think that eventually POP will go away."

Email: POP or IMAP

        What's better to use, POP or IMAP for email?  John Carter starts us off with this, "Google offers this explanation.
        "If you’re trying to decide between using POP and IMAP, we encourage you to use IMAP.
        "Unlike POP, IMAP offers two-way communication between your web Gmail and your email client. This means when you log in to Gmail using a web browser, actions you perform on email clients and mobile devices (ex: putting mail in a 'work' folder) will instantly and automatically appear in Gmail (ex: it will already have a 'work' label on that email the next time you sign in).
        "IMAP also provides a better method to access your mail from multiple devices. If you check your email at work, on your mobile phone, and again at home, IMAP ensures that new mail is accessible from any device at any given time.
        "Finally, IMAP offers a more stable experience overall. Whereas POP is prone to losing messages or downloading the same messages multiple times, IMAP avoids this through two-way syncing capabilities between your mail clients and your web Gmail."
        Still puzzling over the POP or IMAP I found that we are signed up for POP with Commspeed and that arrangement does keep email saved on their site, up to 95.37 MB.  Mail can be viewed and downloaded on either of our computers and still be viewed when we sign on to their website.
        An article at www.upperhost.com/pop3imap.htm explains some of the differences.  POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and works simply, sending the entire message to you. It works faster.  IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, and it sends a copy to you while keeping a copy. It can sync messages, is slower but more redundant, and takes up more space.
        Any other pertinent information that you've discovered, PMUG members?

IMAP or POP?

       "You may not have ever wondered, or even cared, what is the difference between IMAP and POP protocols for your email system. But, if you really want to know, here is a lengthy article explaining the nuances of both systems," Jim Hamm informs us.
       "I'm now using IMAP in my email programs and, overall, like it, after I got used to it. It seems Apple now automatically uses IMAP for any mobile devices, or a Mac, you purchase from them when setting up an email program. That's why/how I switched from POP to IMAP some time ago after purchasing an iPad 2. After switching, I noticed on my Mac that it takes a longer time to shut down the Mail program than it does other programs, and I wondered why. Here is a quote from the article that explains why: 'It's not uncommon for Mail to take a long time to quit. It looks like nothing is happening, but in fact it's trying (clearly, not hard enough) to log out of certain accounts, finish syncing mailboxes, or do other last-minute cleanup tasks such as deleting old messages.'
       "If, like me, your eyes tend to glaze over towards the end of the article, I'll understand why. But, you'll be so much better informed," grins Jim.

Email Warning

        Jim Hamm sends this link from MacWorld, and says, "Here's an article about a new 'phishing' attack on Apple customers. The moral of the story here is never click on a link in an email to update anything where a password is required. Always go directly to the website from an address you enter into the browser."

This Looks Phishy

Always alert for scams, this comes from David Passell who writes, "This is an E-mail I received that I wouldn't think of answering. What do our other readers think??? Here is my copy/paste of the message with some [additions].

From: "test" [I'm lazy or I will look up what country .tw is from]
Date: August 14, 2011 12:12:31 AM MST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: IMPORTANT EMAIL UPGRADE
Reply-To: techupgradearfarf@#% bitscn.net [I have deliberately messed up the address; no, I am not going to Reply-To]

Dear Email Subscriber,
This is to inform all Subscribers that our server upgrade/maintenance is scheduled for September 1st 2011. [Who dat? I have five different E-mail accounts]
You may experience login problems during this period. We are having congestion due to various anonymous account registrations and on this note, we are deactivating some accounts that are no longer active and your account may be deactivated if no action is taken. To confirm and keep your account active during and after the upgrade and maintenance, you are advised to provide the below details to confirm your account.
     Email Address:
     Confirm Email Address:
     Password:
     Confirm Password:
     Date of Birth:
Your E-mail account will remain active after we have successfully upgraded our server. This is to help us serve you better. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your  swift response to this notification.
Technical Support Team
Copyright ©MPI 2011 All Rights Reserved

A Look at Google+ . . . Updated

Here's a Computerworld look at the many features of the new Google+ which declares it will replace email, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, blogging, RSS, Gmail and email newsletters.  The writer says that spammers can't copy, retain and sell your email address.  He says the term "social networking" is not an adequate term for Google+.  Jim Hamm sent us this info. Just now (7-12)  this PCWorld article tells about security risk issues involving an app that allows Firefox and Chrome users to view Facebook data within Google+.

What's That Little Thing?

Ever observant, David Passell inquires about this symbol which shows up at the end of each posting made to the PMUG newsblog.  Click it to send an email of the post to a friend.  You put in your name and email address and your friend's email address.  You can include a message of up to 300 characters.  (Double click to enlarge the screen shot.)

Who ARE These Mac People?

Are you a typical Mac person?  Allen Laudenslager sends this survey report which is good for a chuckle, at least.  He also sends a "thanks!" to John Carter for his earlier tip on how to add a link to your email.  You'll find that entry back on April 1 with the title, "Mac Email Tip."

Warning About Email Swindles

        Alert for security breaches, the latest breaking news about Epsilon grabs our attention.  We heard from Jim Hamm who has been notified by Chase Bank.
        Jim sends us this article from ComputerWorld which lists 32 companies who are involved.  The writer advises, “Keep your security software updated. If you feel like you really must open an email from one of these companies, then mouse over the link to see if the domain name matches the company. Check for HTTPS. Don't give out sensitive personal information unless you are 100% sure you are dealing directly with the company as these emails can open the way to identity theft."
      

Mac Email Tip

        Want to make your emails look neater, more professional for your recipient?  John Carter explains a quick, nifty procedure which works for Snow Leopard, not Tiger or Leopard:
       "If you find a website that you want to share with someone, the best way to send the URL is to embed the URL as a link in some part of the body of the message. For instance, let’s say you just looked at the YouTube video Two Dogs Dining. Great for a laugh! What follows are instructions for embedding a link in an e-mail message using Apple Mail to create a really clean looking message.
        1. Copy the link of the website from the address bar in the browser.
        2. Open a new message in Apple Mail (the postage stamp in the Dock).
        3. In your own words in the body of the new message, tell your friend what it is you want them to look at. Something like this: “Hi. I just saw a great YouTube video called Two Dogs Dining. What a great laugh I had. Click here to see it for yourself.”
        4. Now, double click the word “here” to highlight it.
        5. Press Command-K on your keyboard. A window will pop up.

        6. Paste (Command-V) the link you copied from the browser address bar:

      
        7. In this case, the link wasn’t all that long, but it could have wrapped around that window three times.
        8. Now click OK. The word “here” will now have the link embedded in it and it will look like this:
Click here to see it for yourself.
        And if you click on the word “here” in the line above, it will take you to the YouTube video Two Dogs Dining.
        If you attempt to embed a link in a plain text message, you will get a prompt asking if you want to convert the message to RTF or leave it as plain text. You cannot embed a link in a plain text message."

Fixing Those Forwards

        Do you get email forwards with a long stripe down the left side?  Do you send on those forwards looking like that?   John Carter can help you fix the forwards.  Here's his advice:
        "This is just a portion of email netiquette concerning forwarding email. The following tip works for Mac Mail.
        "When you forward email, the outgoing mail will have a vertical line on the left margin. Like this:

It's okay to have a vertical line if you intend to let the reader know you didn't create that text (you're quoting the other person). In that case, you should precede that text with a note identifying the originator or just to add a personal note of your own so the reader gets a clear impression you are alive and that the email isn't just automated.
        "If you want to get rid of the vertical line, do the following:
1. Highlight all the text with the vertical line on the left margin.
2. Press Cmd ] (hold down the Command key and tap the right square bracket). This forces a shift to the right of all the highlighted text.
3. Now press Cmd [ (Command and left square bracket) twice. The first time you do it makes the vertical line disappear. The second time forces a shift to the left of all the highlighted text goes back to the left margin.
        "If you have multiple vertical lines in the margin, you have to press Cmd [ for each vertical line.
        "Now, if you want a vertical line in the margin, highlight the text and press Cmd ' (Command and single-quote). This is also known as quoting the text.
        "If you just want to indent something, highlight the text and press Cmd ].
        "When you forward a forwarded email, you're adding one to the number of vertical lines already in the message, and it starts to get ugly to read. In that case, you would be doing the reader a favor by eliminating all the vertical lines before sending it off."
        John's closing admonition:  "For a full course on email netiquette, Google 'email netiquette.'"