Leo's Answers
A Weekly Newsletter From
Ask Leo!
Leo Notenboom
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It's great! Clear and simple.
-Rabiu
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*** Contents
*** This Week's New Articles on Ask Leo!
What can a website I visit tell about me?
When I visit a web site that collects visitor statistics - I
understand they can see my IP which will tell them I am a Verizon
customer with a Mac/Intel operating system, the area where I may live,
what browser I use, if I'm new to the site, and click information on
the site- but can the site collect the following information:
- My computer name (the name I assigned to my computer)?
- Profile information???
- My browsing history (any/all sites I've visited and when) or can
they just tell the number of items in my history?
- Email addresses associated with my computer?
I've reviewed similar questions but I'm not sure I truly understand
what information a web-server can collect from my
connection/browser.
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This turns into a fairly complex answer pretty quickly. It's both
more, and a lot less, than you might think.
This article will start by covering what every website sees.
Continue reading: "What
can a website I visit tell about me?"
http://ask-leo.com/what_can_a_website_i_visit_tell_about_me.html
* * *
Where's the Recycle Bin on my USB Drive?
I had a file on a USB pen drive I accidentally deleted. I went to
the Recycle Bin folder to recover it. But the file was not there.
Luckily the file was not very important. I have experimented with
deleting files on the USB pen drive and it appears the deleted files do
not go to the Recycle Bin. Where do the files go? Is it possible to
undo a delete from a USB pen drive?
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As you've found out, there's not always a recycle bin. In fact, in
my experience, occasionally there is, but it's not used.
It's quite confusing, and somewhat surprising, but the recycle bin
seems to be used inconsistently across versions of Windows, at least
when it comes to what Windows considers to be a "removable" device.
Continue reading: "Where's
the Recycle Bin on my USB Drive?"
http://ask-leo.com/wheres_the_recycle_bin_on_my_usb_drive.html
* * *
Why am I getting spam on this email address I use only for
one newsletter?
I'm confident you won't spam me Leo, however the fact is that I
still get spam addressed to this disposable email address that I set up
solely for your newsletter. What I don't understand is, since you are
the only one I've told the address, and you don't pass it on, how come
I'm getting spam?
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In all honesty, this is a legitimate newsletter publisher's worst
nightmare. You go through all the effort of playing by all the rules,
not selling or sharing your subscribers' email addresses with anyone,
anywhere, any time, and by making sure to use only industry leading and
trusted service providers ...
Only to find out a subscriber of yours is getting spam on an email
address they use only to subscribe to your newsletter, and nowhere
else.
I know, because as you can see it's happened to me.
Continue reading:
"Why am I getting spam on this email address I use only for one
newsletter?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_am_i_getting_spam_on_this_email_address_i_use_only_for_one_newsletter.html
* * *
How do I protect myself from my children?
We're a family where the adults use the Internet for serious reasons
but we can't take a chance on having our children screw things up -
intentionally or by accident. How should we set up our home
network?
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Normally, we think of threats as being "out there" on the internet.
The problem is that not all of them are. As much as we might know and
do to protect ourselves, sometimes the threat is nearby, right in our
own home.
In the children's bedroom.
The good news is that you can protect yourself from the kids. You
just have to look at your network a tad differently.
Continue reading: "How
do I protect myself from my children?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_protect_myself_from_my_children.html
* * *
How do I know if I have WPA or WEP I can use when
traveling?
I've read all of your various articles on wireless security, WEP,
WPA, etc., but can find no definitive guidance on exactly how to
determine if my wireless network card in my Dell Inspiron Laptop
supports any secure connection methods. I'm certain it does, but how
can I tell? Also, some of the Microsoft articles I've read today and
earlier about setting up a WPA-secure machine are not entirely
intuitive (or understandable, for that matter).
Without WPA engaged, I shall simply continue avoiding hotels with
wireless-only service and rely on MS Firewall and Zone Alarm when
dealing with hotel wired access. But, if I could learn to trust WiFi,
my traveling Internet vistas would be expanded greatly.
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The question is very simple: how do I know if my computer supports
WEP or WPA?
The problem is that the follow-on paragraph shows some common
misconceptions about using WEP or WPA when traveling.
I'll put it this way: your hardware support is the least of your
issues.
Continue reading:
"How do I know if I have WPA or WEP I can use when
traveling?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_know_if_i_have_wpa_or_wep_i_can_use_when_traveling.html
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*** Featured Comments
A sampling of some of the comments that have been posted recently on
Ask Leo!
* * *
Do icons on my desktop mean programs are running or will they otherwise
slow down my system?
Sandy writes:
Thanks for your answer, Leo. It makes perfect sense to me and I'm
glad to have been proven right at 58 and the Mom of 3 grown children
who were SURE they knew better! Your suggestion to access shortcuts
from the quick-launch area is a great idea. Can you enlighten this less
than savvy Mom on how to clean my desktop by moving shortcuts from the
desktop to quick-launch? Thanks a million!
Make sure that the taskbar is unlocked (right click on an empty area
on it to see in the popup menu), and then just drag-and-drop shortcuts
into the quick launch area.
-Leo
Stu writes:
Because I'm fairly competent regarding computer software -- OK, I'm
a geek -- I am often asked by friends to help them with some problem or
other on their computer. It has been my experience over these many
years that the organization of the icons on the desktop is a pretty
good predictor of how much work I will be doing. A messy, disorganized
desktop usually indicates a messy, disorganized approach to using the
computer. Those folks tend to download every program they see, and they
download them to the desktop. They don't run AV, backup, or any other
utilities. And they just tend to view the computer as some "magic box"
that will take care of itself (possibly too many Star Trek episodes).
Most of them are very intelligent, but have unrealistic expectations
regarding their silicon friends. On the other hand, people who take the
time to organize their icons in some way, any way, tend to have fewer
problems. When they do have problems, they tend to be less severe.
Whether their organization consists of grouping icons on the screen, or
using folders, or by using the Quick Launch tool bar, they just seem to
understand the need for some care and maintenance when it comes to
their computer. I do believe there is a lot of that right brain/left
brain concept in this. The folks who are more creative and artistic
seem to have a less-organized computer than those logical, objective
types. I know it's dangerous to generalize, but when I see a monitor
that is covered from top to bottom with dozens (hundreds?) of icons, I
just know I'm in for a long session.
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How do I know if I have WPA or WEP I can use when traveling?
Rahul writes:
One question - if the hot-spot turns on the encryption but openly
announce the password would it still protect my computer from snooping
by others connected to the same hot-spot?
Interestingly enough, the answer appears to be no - anyone sharing
that hotspot by virtue of having the encryption password would be able
to sniff your traffic.
I have heard that there are potential improvements in the works, but
that's a ways off.
-Leo
*** This Week's Most Popular
The ten most popular articles in the last 7 days on Ask Leo!
- How
do I make a new MSN Hotmail account?
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How do I delete history items from my Google tool bar?
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How do I put a picture in a comment on myspace.com?
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My desktop Recycle Bin has disappeared - why, and how do I get it
back?
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Why is my Task Manager disabled, and how do I fix it?
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Can I send text messages between a computer and a cell phone?
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What are the POP3 and SMTP settings for Hotmail?
- How
do I change my MSN Hotmail password?
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What are MSN HotMail's POP3 and SMTP settings for Outlook
Express?
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I accidentally deleted my Recycle Bin in Vista - how do I get it
back?
*** Leo Recommends
WebDrive
Make FTP connections appear as virtual drives.
If you do anything on the web, particularly things like web
development or other types of website maintenance, you're probably
aware of "FTP" or File Transfer Protocol. The FTP protocol, and its
sibling SFTP (Secure FTP), are two of the quiet workhorses of pushing
bits around the internet.
The current traditional approach to dealing with file transfers via
FTP is to use a graphical utility such as FileZilla, CuteFTP, WinSCP or
others, and then drag-and-drop files to and from the remote site. The
previous approach was to use the "ftp" program to perform the same
operations at the command line.
I've become addicted to WebDrive which allows you to do both and much, much
more, by simply making a FTP connection appear as a virtual disk drive
on your machine.
That's an incredibly simple approach that enables a world of
flexibility.
Continue reading:
"WebDrive - Make FTP connections appear as virtual drives."
http://ask-leo.com/webdrive_make_ftp_connections_appear_as_virtual_drives.html
I recommend it.
•
Each week I recommend a specific product or resource that
I've found valuable and that I think you may as well.
What does my recommendation mean?
*** Popular Articles from the Archives
Passwords are hard to steal ... but all
too often easy to guess.
Is it really that easy to get someone's
password?
It appears that someone has figured out the password to my myspace
account and has logged in and sent e-mails from the account as well. I
have two questions, first is there any possible way to track down the
person who is doing this (mind you they did not change my password). Is
it really that easy to obtain someone's password on a site like this? I
do not use a public computer and change my password regularly.
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There are a couple of things going on here. Yes, it's possible that
you got hacked, but it's also possible that you didn't.
Continue reading...
Is it really that easy to get someone's password?
http://ask-leo.com/is_it_really_that_easy_to_get_someones_password.html
*** Thoughts and Comments
Sticker News!
Once again thanks to everyone who made suggestions - it was all very
helpful, and absolutely helped me to come up with some options that
might not have happened otherwise.
Yep, options, as in more than one. Here's the
deal:
- You can now buy 'em direct from Sticker
Giant.
- I'll send you some if you happen to buy me a latte (or
a beer) and have
an address associated with your Paypal or Amazon account.
- You can download and print your own.
Rather than get into all the details, you'll find all the details on
the Ask Leo!
Stickers page.
Get Stick'in!
•
Once again much of last week's Ask Leo! articles were published on
auto-pilot. 
OK, technically the last half of last week, and the first
half of this week.
I was at my semi-annual internet entrepreneurs conference, this time
in Denver, CO. Great trip, great friends and a lot of stimulating ideas
and discussion.
My normal approach is to actually write and publish a new article
every day. In order to prepare for a trip like this, though, I end up
"doubling up" - writing two, publishing one and scheduling the other to
automatically post the next week while I'm out and about. The only
thing I actually "published" in real time while I traveled last week is
the newsletter itself.
I expect there may be more of that in the future, as I'm hopeful my
wife and I will be doing a little more traveling next year.
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If you notice any hiccups on the site this week, it might be because
of a fairly massive upgrade that happened over the weekend. You may or
may not know that Ask Leo! is published using the MovableType
blogging/content management system. On Saturday night I upgraded from
version 3.2 to 4.21. Everything went relatively smoothly, though I do
have a punch list of some relatively minor issues - even encountering
one as I assembled this newsletter.
The latest version of MT is pretty cool, and hopefully I'll be able
to use it in some ways to make Ask Leo! even more useful.
•
As always, thanks for subscribing, for reading, and for your
feedback. If you appreciate this newsletter or the site, one of the
best ways you can say "Thank You!" is to link to Ask Leo! or
simply to tell a friend or colleague. Just send folks to askleo.net.
'till next time...
Leo A. Notenboom
* * *
A selection of Leo's articles are available for free re-use at
http://articlesbyleo.com.
You can also subscribe to Ask Leo! on your Kindle.
Perhaps you'd like some Ask Leo! Stickers?
Some of Leo's other sites: The Ask Leo! Store, Leo's Online Business Card, Forwarded
Funnies, Taming Email,
MovableType Tips, Leo's Blog, Buy Leo a Latte (or a Beer), A Letter To Myself, Dolls and Friends, Corgwn.com
*** Newsletter Administration
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questions.
I'll be honest: I'll try to respond, but I get a
lot of questions every day - I just can't answer everyone.
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every email gets read.
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Newsletter contents
Copyright © 2008, Leo A. Notenboom & Puget Sound Software,
LLC.
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Leo's Answers #145 - September 23, 2008
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Source: Leo's Answers #145 - September 23, 2008
