The New Homemaker Newsletter for June 29, 2007
Dear Readers,
It's thundering as I write to you! We don't get a lot of thunderstorms in Portland, but this year we've had some doozies. I'm so silly, I jump with every flash. I'm glad of the rain. It's been so hot, and this will at least clean the air and give the ground a little moisture. The temperature is dropping quickly and perhaps tonight we'll all be able to sleep.
Oh! And last night we had a little earthquake! It was only a 3.3 and it was about 18 miles south of us but I still felt it clear as a bell (you can take the girl out of Southern California...). The house swayed and then gave a sharp little shake. No one else in the house felt it!
Today I met with my professional organizer, discussed what I really wanted to have happen in my life, figured out the first few bottlenecks to work on, and set some goals. We'll see what happens. Check the forum for progress reports. I'm also using the forum to track my treadmill walks--I need to be acccountable to someone and guess what! You're it! This week I haven't done much walking. I'm not doing anything strenuous in 101 degree heat, thanks. ;)
This week I have some spam tips, five new recipes, and a 20% off everything coupon for the store for you. I sure hope you're enjoying your summer!
From the Hacker Housewife: Online Shopping Safety
Fighting Spam Did you know that "junk" email accounts for roughly half of all e-mail messages received? In my case, since I've been online so long and my email addresses are commonly known, I'd say up to 75% of the 500 or more emails I get a day are junk, aka spam. Spam has increased to the point where many users have begun to question whether the e-mail system can work, especially as so many viruses are spread via junk email.In 2003, President Bush signed the "Can Spam" bill, which is the first national standards around bulk unsolicited commercial e-mail. The bill, approved by the Senate by a vote of 97 to 0, prohibits senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from using false return addresses to disguise their identity (spoofing) and the use of dictionaries to generate such mailers. In addition, it prohibits the use of misleading subject lines and requires that emails include an opt-out mechanism. The legislation also prohibits senders from harvesting addresses off Web sites. Violations constitute a misdemeanor crime subject to up to one year in jail.
But that doesn't help now that spam is coming from other countries in ever-greater numbers. These emails are harder to fight.
So what do you do about this? Here are the top 5 rules to protect yourself from spam.
- Avoid having your email address published on the net. There are products called "spam spiders" that search the Internet for email addresses to send email to. If you are interested, do a search on "spam spider" and you will be amazed at what you get back. The site SpamPoison.com is a project geared to fight Internet "spambots" and "spam spiders", by giving them bogus lists of email addresses. (TNH uses this technique.)
- Get spam blocking software. There are many programs out there for this. Many email programs these days come equipped with anti-spam protection, but they do require some manual input from you to get going. One method I use is to ban many foreign top-level domains (TLDs). Those are the letters that appear after the "dot"--dot-com, dot-org and so on. Countries have their own TLDs. I don't correspond with anyone in Russia, for instance. So I have my email program set to throw out all email with the dot-ru TLD sight unseen. I cannot tell you how much spam that one rule gets rid of.
- Use the multiple email address approach. There are a lot of free email addresses to be had. If you must subscribe to newsletters, then have a "back-up" email address. It's like giving your cell phone number to your best friends and your business number to everyone else.
- Attachments from people you don't know are BAD, BAD, BAD. Spam often has attachments, and attachments can have viruses. Corporations often have filters that don't let such things pass to you, but personal email usually doesn't. General rule of thumb: if you do not know who is sending you something, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT. Secondly, look for services that offer filtering. Firewall vendors offer this type of service as well.
- Use your provider's spam protection services. Many Internet service providers now have systems that let only addresses known to you send email to you. The concept is simple. If you know someone, they can send you emails. If you don't know them, the service puts them in the bulk email pile and then you "choose" to allow those addresses into your circle--or not. Spam blocking software has this concept as well, but having extra layers seems critical these days, so it is worth looking into. We just have to keep chipping away at it!
- Learn How to Make Gift Baskets at Home
- Help Your Child Cope with ADHD
- Discover How to Use Your Crockpot to Make Tasty, Nutritious Meals While You Work, Play--Or Sleep!
- Turn Your Craft into Cash
- Help Your Teenager Lose Weight
- Clean and Organized
- Family, including Parenting, Relationships and Elder Care
- Hands at Home, including Home Decor, Crafts and Gardening
- Healthy Living
- Home Cooking
- Making Connections
- Managing Money
- TNH by the Seasons--Current season: Summer
This Week's Coupon: 20% off EVERYTHING IN THE STORE!
From now until the end of July, you can:Use coupon code "julysale" to get 20% off all the great ebooks and software at the TNH Shop.
This coupon is good till 7/31/07.
The Regular Roundup:
Latest Article
Beat Insomnia Now
leep can be an elusive thing. Experience a couple nights of tossing and turning in bed, and it's all too tempting to reach for a sleep aid. But before you do, consider that several recent studies conducted at major institutions all over the country show that, despite their ordinary nature, simple behavioral strategies--like going to bed at the same time every night and avoiding afternoon naps--really do work. What's more, over-the-counter sleep medications can leave you feeling sluggish the next day, and "there’s very little evidence that these sleep aids actually result in significant sleep," says Mark Mahowald, M.D., director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis.
What about prescription sleep drugs? For acute, short-term insomnia--such as that brought on by a stressful event, like a death in the family--experts say these medications can help. "In fact, by treating acute short-term insomnia [with prescription sleep aids] when it first occurs, we can actually prevent the development of long-term insomnia," says Dr. Mahowald. But for the occasional sleepless night, consider the following 10 tips. You may find they help you get to sleep just as well as popping a pill!
continued...
Recent Articles
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If you've read TNH for any length of time, you know I advocate using natural cleaners. Did you know that hydrogen peroxide is a safe and natural way to get rid of most toxic molds and mildews? That's just one of the things I learned from 101 Home Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide, a greak ebook that will teach you how to use plain old supermarket hydrogen peroxide to do everything from remove laundry stains to take skunk odor off your dog! Check it out today.
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All the best,
Lynn
The New Homemaker
http://www.thenewhomemaker.com
( categories: The New Homemaker newsletter )
