How to Shop Online Safely

Many of my clients are still reluctant to shop on the internet for fear of having their financial and identity information stolen. These are valid concerns, and something we all need to pay attention to. However, shopping online is much safer than many may think. There's also a lot of protection built in for buyers.

So how do you know that the site you're on is safe? There's a couple of things to consider before making a purchase online.

The first is the site itself. Is it a reputable company or an unknown site? If the site is a well-known reputable company like Amazon.com, Target.com, Sears.com. etc. then you don't have to worry. You can rest assured that these sites have the highest level of security in place.

If the site is an unknown one, it may still be safe to shop on. Look for the quality of the site. Does it look professional or kind of sleezy? Is there a valid phone number and contact information? Feel free to call the phone number to check things out before you buy. Check the return policy also. If the site looks legit, the next thing to check out is the purchase page.

BEFORE you enter your credit card information (or social security number) on a web page, you want to make sure it's a secure page (i.e. encrypted). To do this, look at the URL (i.e., web address). If the page is encrypted, the web address will begin with "https". The "s" is the key here. If you look at most web pages, you'll notice the "s" is missing (that is, most web pages start, "http://www....."

If you don't see the "s" after "http", then don't enter your social security or credit card number.
Don't worry about other pages on the site that don't have the "s" (this is normal since there's no reason to encrypt product information). But any pages asking you to enter sensitive information (like credit cards and social security) should have the "s" assuring you the information you give out will be encrypted and protected from cyberears. By the way, the same is tru for your online banking sites too.

If you're still concerned about identity theft and the dangers of online shopping, you might consider signing up for LifeLock. LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee! Click here to get a 10% discount.

For more information on identity theft, click here.

Frustrated by Politics - Check Out the 912 Project!

Americans everywhere are frustrated by the political environment and madness of excessive tax and spend policies of the current administration. If this is you, you're not alone!

Check out "the 912 Project". Glen Beck started this project as a way to bring Americans together so that they don't become isolated in the hopelessness of current American affairs.
In case you missed today's special airing of the Glen Beck show, it will be re-aired on Fox News on Saturday at 6pm AZ time (I think).

Chuck Norris (one of my favorite Americans) was an active participant on Glen's show today. He and his wife are ready to lead the storm on Washington! Chuck has recently written and outstanding book, called "Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America".

I don't care what political party you belong to, it's time to wake up and see what's happening in America. Did you know George Washington spoke of the dangers of the party system in his farewell address? We can blame politicians all we want ... but the simple truth is that we voted for them. Very few people take the time to research candidates any more. But if we truly want to fix Washington, then we need to.

The first step is getting the facts - the truthful facts. With the exception of Fox News, you'll have a hard time finding the truth on TV news channels. I used to be a big fan of CNN (after all they were the first all day news channel), but after watching them and Fox simultaneously for a while, I noticed that CNN was quick to report false facts (which they ended up pulling later). That was enough to end my loyalty to CNN. My time is too valuable to waste it on erroneous news.

Lucky for us, we now have the internet and talk radio to get the facts and stories you won't hear any where else. I listen to talk radio all the time on the computer now while I'm working. You can too - and best of all, it's easier to catch radio shows on the internet than it is on the actual radio.

Check out the 912 Project! It really is an inspiration. Be patient if you go there and the site is down. The server was so flooded with visitors today it temporarily crashed.

How to Fix FTP problem in Dreamweaver 8

Dreamweaver 8 has problems saving FTP login information (username and password). This problem is believed to be caused by Internet Explorer 7. The good news is that Adobe has provided a software patch (8.0.2) to correct the problem.

Here's some things you need to know BEFORE installing the patch. The first things is that you will need your installation CD, so make sure it's in the CD-Drive before installing the 8.0.2 patch. The other thing you need to know is that if you cancel the installation (for whatever reason), it won't work the next time you try and run it. If this happens, you'll have to first uninstall Dreamweaver, then reinstall it, then install the patch again.

To get the 8.0.2 software patch to correct the FTP problem, click here.

Again, before installing this patch, make sure your Dreamweaver installation CD is in the drive ... and don't cancel the installation during the process.

If the patch doesn't install the first time (which is also a common problem), the uninstall Dreamweaver, reinstall it, and then install the patch again.

When the patch has successfully installed, you should see the version 8.0.2 when you open Dreamweaver.

By the way, Dreamweaver CS4 is now out if you're looking to upgrade your software.