First thumb rule is to keep your mouse away or tie your fingers from accidentally clicking on the links within the message or downloading the attachment.

Second thumb rule for any kind of spam (apart from cheesy forwards, I guess) is: DO NOT REPLY. Not even if they ask you to click “Unsubscribe” or reply back with that keyword in the subject.

Third thumb rule is to click “Report Spam” or some equivalent button provided by the mail service provider. This enables the service provider to take automated actions in identifying future spam from the same source, curbing it or at least sending it to the Spam folder instead of your inbox.

If you come across what seems to be a particularly malicious spam mail, you can help further by forwarding it to spam@uce.gov. The Federal Trade Commission uses the spam stored in their database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive email.
Here is a little more unsolicited advice for tackling specific kinds of spam mail:

Forwards: Sharing interesting things that we’ve come across online is being increasingly done using social bookmarking tools. However, forwarding some messages or for that matter even addressing a large group is inevitable. Cleaning the previous headers containing scores of lines of unknown email addresses and headers, and using the BCC column while forwarding to your own contacts are two invaluable pieces of the same cake.

Phishing: If you’re really tempted by a mail from what claims to be your bank, open the official bank website directly and try navigating from the home page to this page. If the website doesn’t contain the link you’re looking for, it is not worth it.

For News, Offers and Porn, trust Google to provide the latest information.

For Personals, get offline.

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Milo recently summarized a Sandra Gittlen series called “Mac Vs Vista” quoting her excerpts. The series covering Manageability, Reliability, Security, Price and Others is going to surprise every reader in more than one way. Be sure to glance through them if you don’t have enough time to go over the actual series itself.

You’ve all heard about Microsoft and Yahoo! talking. Again. But have you heard of the new M$ phone or whatever? Jason uncovers the news apart from a video of a best man delivering the ring in a wedding. You must see it; you will get a better idea about whom not to choose as a best man.

Speaking of Yahoo!, Jayvee has some gossip about its disastrous tryst with Netdisaster. On a serious note, he has a strong point about PR firms hurting bloggers’ journalistc streak indirectly by taking their guest lists very seriously. With the blogosphere growing exponentially, they shouldn’t disallow bloggers just because they aren’t Michael Arrington.

Colleen has an excellent post introducing Google Gears. It is a must read for those who aren’t aware of the powerful tool. And yes, a trick to monitor out-of-office messages using Outlook is an overkill. Actually, that is an understatement.

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Gmail With Google Gadgets: To run the official Gmail Google Gadget, you will need Google Desktop 5 or above installed on your computer. The gadget is tiny (79KB) and offers all the basic features of Gmail including reading, sending, searching and starring messages; keyboard shortcuts; and contact auto-complete. But it doesn’t yet have the sound notification for new messages received. The gadget has been released only yesterday and is bound to have bugs though I hope they are fewer than in iGoogle.

Gmail With Mozilla Prism: Mozilla has been working on a project called Prism (add-on) which can be used to convert any website into a stand-alone desktop application outside the browser. Prism is available as a Firefox add-on, and is easy to use. You can read my opinion on Prism in greater detail here and let me know if you need any help with creating your own desktop app of your favorite website. I’ve tried this five months ago, so there is a good chance that the technology has gotten better.

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I had been opinionated about using push buttons and organizing program files, worried about the rising types of blog fraud and spam mail, conscious about the precautions to be taken in a cyber cafe and disposing e-waste responsibly, sad about the layoffs and the Mumbai attacks, and excited about the Ancient Rome 3D and the LIFE photo archive projects. I also began an ongoing series on Cygwin: pre-introduction, introduction, installation. For all the things in between, refer the November archives.

I thank the readers for stopping by here, the fellow bloggers for link love, the spammers for spam that couldn’t be caught by Akismet, and the fraud bloggers for blog clones. Or not.

Looking forward to a better blogging experience this December.

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While I went through the customizations of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, I was amused to find “External Monitor” listed among “Accessories”. This may be a singular case specific to netbooks because watching a movie on a 8.5″ screen is far less convenient than watching it on a 19″ external monitor, though it is better than watching it on a cell phone screen. Anyway, I already use an external monitor at home; I connect my Lenovo T60 to a 21″ LG LCD Wide screen to watch any video. I am not the first one to do so.

I must confess that I don’t really need an external monitor for any other purpose because my workspace is usually clean with very few open applications. It is just that there is a significant experience gradient in between the two while watching videos. If you have a cluttered workspace, consider a second monitor. And if you’re selling your desktop and going for a laptop, don’t be too hasty in getting rid of the monitor.

Setting your PC to use dual monitors: After connecting the second monitor to your PC — display cable to the CPU and power cable to the power supply — open Control Panel -> Display -> Settings. In the settings tab, click on the drop-down to select the second option and tick beside “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor”. You might have to also tune the “Screen resolution” and the “Color quality”. Apply these settings, and you will be able to drag applications from one screen to the other. I think the secondary monitor logically is to the right of the primary monitor regardless of the side on which it is physically located.

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The best thing about Dell is the customizations available during purchase, and the upgradability and extensibility options later. The following are the initial features I went for: Ubuntu OS, 1GB DDR2, 16GB solid state drive, 1.1M pixel webcam, Obsidian black. Of course, the most important default feature is the Intel Atom Processor which is 100% lead free and is the lowest power-consuming CPU of Intel’s. The processor is also only slightly faster than the old Intel Pentium III processor.

If any of you are going for it, here is a tip. Don’t start building yours through the left-most column. You’ll miss the $40 instant saving that may otherwise be possible. e.g. If I built an Inspiron Mini 9 from “Build Yours” at the left-most column to suit my requirements it would’ve costed me $474, instead of the $434 that it did when I went through the “Build Yours With Ubuntu for $409″.

The product is rated 4.3/5 as of now on the Dell website. I shall post my review once I get to lay my hands on the baby. In the mean time, I should think of a good name. Any suggestions?

Image Source: Dell

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Before you jump on to the buying binge, Lance Ulanoff, the Editor-in-Chief of PCMag Digital Network, warns of what not to buy, what to buy, and things in between. That is one wonderfully timed useful article, eh? Lance also announced today that the PC Magazine will be completely digital (no more printed editions) from the Feb 2009 issue. Whether it is because of the current recession that hit the publishing industry like Hurricane Katrina or because of any other reason, I welcome the change. Is there anybody else in line?

Those of you who feel plain lucky should also make it a point to give a shot at the HP Magic Giveaway. Who knows? You could win several PCs.

You must agree with me that free deals beat everything else. So here is a useful list of ten favorite free Windows programs that I discovered on Reich Consulting. Instead of Brian’s suggestions in 2, 3, 4 and 5, I use Notepad++, KeePass, Free Download Manager, and simply don’t dig Firefox as much as the fans do. Still, there are a few programs like Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 and Quicken Online (which isn’t exactly a PC software) that I should start using.

I wish you all a very happy thanksgiving.

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The program is still sketchy and the contest rules are still awaited from wherever. The bloggers are expected to coordinate, judge and ship prizes by 21st Dec, 2008, with HP and Microsoft only playing the roles of prize providers.

Check out any of the 50 blogs for contest updates. Wish you good luck.

Thank you, Jason Bean, for the tip.

Image source: The HP Magic Giveaway.

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The Ancient Rome 3D project includes more than 6,700 buildings of Ancient Rome (1,688 years ago) rebuilt in 3D. You will need Google Earth to view these 3D models. A virtual camera allows you to go inside and observe the architectural details of varoius monuments including the Colosseum, the Ludus Magnus, the Forum Caesar, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Rostra and the Basilica Julia. You may want to watch the feature video tour first.

The LIFE photo archive is a collection of digitized images dating all the way back to the 1750’s, but only 20% of the images are available as of now. More are being added. You can also find these by appending “source:life” to any Google image search.

I wish I had found these during the weekend itself.

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Microsoft has finally lowered its gear. It has “decided to phase out Windows Live OneCare and will discontinue retail sales of Windows Live OneCare subscription service beginning June 30, 2009.” What they intend to do is lure more n00bs by offering a toned-down version of a security solution for free of cost by the second half of 2009.

We haven’t seen it yet, but I don’t have high hopes about the new offering working either. Security is an important issue for every PC connected to the Internet, and you are better off buying it from elsewhere than expecting it from Microsoft for no cost.

Read the official press release, “Microsoft Announces Plans for No-Cost Consumer Security Offering: New anti-malware solution will broaden PC protection and help improve Windows experience.” Isn’t it a beautiful title? Not the post’s but the press release’s.

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