|
(Some previous months still online.) This month's PC Tips: 1 Summer Safeguards
Modem update For the past few months, Installations Plus+ has been advising you not to purchase a 56.6 kbs modem until its clear whether the 3COM/US Robotics X2 technology or the competing K56Flex technology from Rockwell would dominate the market. The signs continue to point to a win by the X2 camp. At the end of June, AOL and 3COM announced system-wide plans to implement the X2net which has been in field trials for several months. If you need a new modem, our advice now is to go with an X2-compatible 56.6 kb modem. The primary manufacturer for these is, of course, 3COM/US Robotics. A super secondary source -- with about a 30% share of the modem market -- is GVC/Maxtech. We've seen their 56.6 data/fax/voice modem at street prices under $150. Free Speech and the Internet
The Supreme Court last week reviewed the Communications Decency Act that became law last year and decided that the First Amendment does in fact apply to online communications. In the majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote: "The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship." The practical consequences of this opinion for everyday folks are twofold:
Parental Control. Let's start with the obvious. There is no substitute for direct supervision. You need to know and control what your children are doing if you expect to keep them out of trouble. And more importantly you need to inculcate your set of values. There is no magic elixir, no panacea. What can help are the Parental Controls furnished by the major online content providers -- AOL and CompuServe, for example. These controls are not available from Internet Service Providers, like AT&T or Netcom, and they are not built into WWW browsers (e.g., Netscape Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer). The Parental Control functions offered by the major content providers allow you to decide what areas and what features to make available to your child. Parental Controls allow you to block or enable chat rooms, newsgroups, adult game areas, and Internet access. It is important to note: parental controls only work if you use the content provider's proprietary software exclusively! If you log on to AOL or CompuServe and then fire up an external browser over that connection, all controls are off. Remember, parental controls are like locks on doors. They're a good deterrent, but the truly determined will learn to pick the lock or climb in a window. When it comes to parental control, nothing succeeds like being there. Junk email. The junk emailers of the world have long contended that junk email (spam) is no different than the junk mail that fills your postal service mail box. They claim they have as much right to spam you as they do to send you junk mail. The recent Supreme Court ruling seems to lend some credence to their position. However, there is in fact a clear difference between spammers and junk mailers. Spammers don't pay a tarriff for each piece they email -- actually you do by maintaining an email address -- so they don't have the same "rights" as junk mailers. Specifically, in separate rulings handed down in suits filed by AOL and CompuServe, the courts have upheld your right and the right of service providers to deny service to known spammers. So if you want to do something about your spam, complain to your service provider. Reputable providers can and do turn away email coming from domain names used by spammers; and they won't permit a spammer to send email from their service. That said, the truth is it's very difficult to deny service to a spammer because, like chameleons, they change domains with each mailing -- or simply provide false information! Our best advice? Don't waste your time with spam: don't read it, don't complain about, just delete it. A final word on spam. Do not, under any circumstances, reply to it. Spam is sucker mail. In a recent, informal survey conducted by Installations Plus+ less than 10% of spam was found to come from reputable sources. (If you register a legitimate piece of software, furnish your email address as requested, and get a promotional piece of email from the software manufacturer, that's spam in our book, but it's reputable.) Most spam touts "get rich quick", multi-level marketing, and just plain dishonest schemes sent at very nearly no cost to literally hundreds of thousands of email addresses in the knowledge that there is at least one sucker in every 10,000 or so. Even if you don't want to have anything to do with the spammer, don't reply. Each reply -- including ones to "delete me" addresses -- serve just one function. It tells the spammer that your email address is real and working and that you read your mail. (If I were putting a mailing list together, I'd pay a premium for verified addresses of people who read their mail. Wouldn't you?) Your reply to a spammer enhances the value of his mailing list. Don't reply! 1. PC Tips is a monthly column produced by Installations Plus+ for those of its clients who don't pretend to power user status.
Also available online:
|
If you haven't already done so, please read last month's column on