ATP Informatique

Email Etiquette - 4 Must Follow Tips

2010-06-08T16:03:00.002-03:00

Email Etiquette - 4 Must Follow Tips

By: John Newcomb
In the fast chaging age of the internet, email feels centuries old. But is was only a decade back when having an email address was the "in thing" and sending an email was a novelty. Nowadays, with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, etc. emails have lost the pride of place as the most important communications platform. Still, emails continue to be the workhorse through which we exchange some of the most sensitive and personal information.
However, few people follow proper etiquette when emailing. Many don't even bother with punctuation, while others don't disregard the need for a salutation. Email might be a more informal way of communicating, but it doesn't mean that you can ignore all rules and propriety.

1. Always include a salutation

I personally dislike mails that jump straight into the body without so much as a "Hello". Always include a salutation, even something as simple as a first name or a 'Hi' when emailing.

2. There are still people out there who have never emailed before

This may be hard to believe, but even today, thousands of people log onto the internet for the first time. Therefore, when exhchanging mails with anyone, don't assume that they know about the latest fad in online communications or the intricacies of the Windows operating system. There are still people out there who wouldn't know what 'bcc' is. Always phrase your mails in such a manner as to be readable even by such people.

3. Don't delay responding to emails

The longer you hold off on responding to an email, the greater the chances of you not replying to it at all. Therefore, always respond to a mail as soon as you can. Remember that email is supposed to be a quick means of communication. If you are going to take 10 days to reply, you might as well use postal mail.

4. Be polite

Browse through the comments section on a popular YouTube video and you will realize how scarce a resource politeness is on the internet. Whenever I receive a mail that is charmingly polite, it immediately grabs my attention and the sender gains respect, even if I don't know him. Therefore, whenever emailing anyone, take the time to be polite and kind. Terse, matter of fact emails can just come across as rude. Be polite, and you will put a smile on the recepient's face.
About the Author
Read more of my articles at my website: ipod accessories

(ArticlesBase SC #2577775)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Email Etiquette - 4 Must Follow Tips

Common Computer Virus Symptoms - What to Look For

2010-06-01T12:41:00.002-03:00

Do you think you may have a computer virus?

If so, it may begin to show a series of Computer Virus symptoms that indicate that a virus is present.

Occurrence of strange messages, symbols or images appear on your screen. Strange things happen when you are doing routine work such as word processing or checking emails. Files you know you saved are missing or files that have weird names. The operating system acts slow, doesn't come on or just isn't working as normal. Files of executable extension such as .BAT, .EXE, .COM, .HLP, .DLL should never be accepted from others as they have the most potential to cause problems or be infected so it is highly advised to not open them.
Computer viruses can be very harmful and damaging to your computer system, root files, and various program files. A computer virus can also increase the risk of hacker threats and attacks, and open the door to even more unauthorized downloads and software installations that can be used to steal information such as bank account codes if you save them in a text file, gaming websites that require username and passwords.

Once you diagnose the computer virus symptoms, then computer viruses can be counterattacked with the appropriate anti-virus software and suite packages such as ESET Smart Security, CNET Editors’ Choice, but this needs to be installed well before the virus has infected the system.

Many computer viruses are designed to self-replicate and self-install over a very short period of time. They come encoded with specific instructions to destroy and advance through its host computer, and can affect a multitude of programs and applications very quickly. Recognizing the symptoms of a computer virus can help to successfully remove it from the infected computer as quickly as possible; the sooner this is completed, the easier it will be to recover any documents or programs that may be damaged, and prevent the virus from further spreading.

Backing up computer files on a regular basis is just one preventative measure in protecting the data on your computer. Installing a powerful antivirus program is the next step, as this can indicate the presence of a malicious computer virus before it has a chance to spread. Still, recognizing the symptoms of a virus is fairly simple when you know what to look for.

A computer virus may have installed itself on your computer through a Trojan, a security breach, unauthorized access on your computer, or an e-mail attachment that also included malicious code. After a virus begins to spread, many program files can become unstable and display warnings. The operating system may not launch properly, and the computer user may need to reboot and restart the computer frequently to ensure all programs are starting and working fine. Critical files may get deleted automatically, and this can happen periodically or all at once. Error messages will become prevalent; it may become difficult to save documents, and the computer may be running slower than usual. If a system or network is infected severely, it may even black out or not even launch the startup process.

Some other symptoms of a computer virus involve the computer hardware itself. CD-ROM drive trays may open and close by themselves, without the user directing the function. Programs may launch at their own, and unusual sounds may play randomly. Some e-mail messages may not be sent or received properly, and e-mail attachments may disappear. If the computer is freezing consistently, or files and folders seem to disappear or will not open, these are clear signs that an area of the hard drive is malfunctioning or a virus has ran malicious code.

The computer may also display a series of pop-up ads and strange messages upon startup; this is a clear indicator that adware programs have been installed, and these are very difficult to remove manually and with the use of software such as STOPzilla Spyware Removal. must be used.

In addition, disk space can become overloaded and cause frequent computer crashes. Viruses can duplicate large-sized programs to the point that the computer cannot handle the files. This will reduce the chances of even installing an anti-virus program successfully, so early detection is key to detecting and removing the dangerous virus.

Lately, computer viruses have been created so they can change some of the core system files (Microsoft Windows) so that web sites of most of anti-virus software companies become inaccessible. What is happening is that you are being prevented from finding a way of getting anti-virus software cleaning your system by using Google or other search engines, which makes you have no choice but to call a computer repair technician. ATP Informatique on most occasions can repair these by remote control of your computer.

Finally, the best way of recognizing computer virus symptoms and preventing computer viruses and other Internet based threats to invade your computer is to have the latest, up to date windows patches and virus definitions.

3 Tips for Fast Google Indexing

2010-05-23T13:24:00.000-03:00

3 Tips for Fast Google Indexing

By: Jackson Bleu
If you have a new website then it takes some time until Google visits your web pages. Even if you submit your website to Google via their regular submission form, it usually takes weeks until Google visits your site.

There are some things you can do so that Google indexes your web page within 48 hours and not within weeks.

Tip 1: Get a link from an existing site

Links are very important for high rankings on Google. The more (quality) links you have, the higher Google will rank your pages.

An easy way to get a link to your website is to join a forum that is related to your website. Participate in the discussions and sign your posts with your name and a link to your website.

Make sure that you do not spam the forums. Only participate in an online discussion if you really have something to say about the topic. If you post in a well known forum then Google will quickly pickup the link to your site.

Tip 2: Create an external blog

Google likes blogs and many blogs are indexed very quickly. Use Google's Blogger.com service to create a blog that is related to your business.

Write a few posts and add a link to your website in your blog posts. Google will quickly index your Blogger blog and find the link to your site.

Tip 3: Get as many links as you can

The more other websites link to your website, the sooner Google will find your site. Use IBP's link building tool ARELIS and IBP's directory submitter to get as many links as possible.

If you use all of these methods, it's very likely that Google will index your website within 48 hours.

Links on the other pages make sure that Google finds your website more quickly. The more links point to your website, the more likely it is that Google will find your site. In addition, you will get higher rankings if many other pages link to your site. Further information on how to get high quality links can be found in our free link building eBook.

About the Author
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest and most effective web marketing tools and articles try: Seldom Rest, Do You? . This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

(ArticlesBase SC #254505)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - 3 Tips for Fast Google Indexing

New Search Engine... Mahalo

2010-05-19T12:23:00.002-03:00

New Search Engine... Mahalo

By: Chris Holgate
I came across an interesting search engine the other day which appears to be heading in a completely different direction to practically anything else available at present. As you probably know, search engines function by using crawlers that search the Internet endlessly picking up new and revised content and then cataloguing the whole lot neatly in a central database. When a user types in a phrase, the search engine refers to this database and, by using a number of algorithms, returns the sites that it feels most appropriate.

The relatively new search engine Mahalo (Hawaiian for 'Thank-You') puts a spin on proceedings by pitching itself as a human powered search engine. Of course this doesn't mean that whenever you perform a search that humans immediately start searching the net for relevant material, but rather that contributors create their own results pages which are then returned when a specific search is performed. The idea verges on the ridiculous but does certainly hold some merit.

The obvious downside is that humans simply can't keep up with the speed of the crawlers that the likes of Google use; the computers running these crawlers are online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can sift through entire websites in seconds, noting every last detail as they go. A human based search engine is always going to be comparatively out of date and limited in terms the amount of material that can be catalogued.

There are however advantages to a human based search engine but these can only be truly appreciated by using it. Head to www.mahalo.com and type in a phrase that is of interest to you - I remained topical and typed in 'Gordon Brown' since he appears to be hitting the headlines a fair bit at the moment. Mahalo immediately returned to me a quick overview on the man, a photo, twelve fast facts and a large number of vetted websites with useful information which have been split in to a number of useful categories such as 'recent news', 'Brown Blair Changeover' and 'Controversies'. In contrast, if you type the same in to Google it immediately returns 13,000,000 results for pages which mention the words Gordon or Brown; of course the most relevant sites are at the top but it still is a little more cumbersome to navigate.

It is also fairly safe to say that humans are better equipped to work out what other humans will find interesting and as such you won't find links to any pages that contain adult content, hate speech, spam, intrusive advertising, malicious material and even sites written with a poor grasp of the English language.
The amount of content is incredibly underwhelming; a search for Paignton yielded nothing and then more worrying even the entire county, Devon, came back with no results. In its defence, the site is only a year old and there is a lot of information to be catalogued so it will certainly take some time however even at this early stage such lack of scope is worrying. I fear that unless there is a serious amount of manpower that any existing results could also soon become stale and irrelevant.

Mahalo will never be able to compete with the likes of Google in terms of the sheer scope and depth of results but to compare the two against each other would be missing the point. Mahalo isn't trying to be Google; it is a humanly edited search engine which is being built to provide relevant, human picked material for popular subjects. Google on the other hand is a vast machine driven database of over 100,000,000 websites which is added to every second of every day. They both have their purpose, and as such would hope that there is room for them both to peacefully co-exist.

About the Author
Chris Holgate writes a weekly article of all things tech related. He is a director and copyrighter of the online computer consumables business Refresh Cartridges who sell cheap ink cartridges ,toner cartridges, computer hardware and other computer consumables online. An archive of his work can be found at www.computerarticles.co.uk.

(ArticlesBase SC #2407047)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - New Search Engine... Mahalo

Is Online Banking Secure? : Internet Banking Security tips

2010-05-14T17:05:00.001-03:00

Is Online Banking Secure? : Internet Banking Security tips

By: melanie4d00
Nowadays online banking service became a very popular. It allows people to undertake traditional banking activities, like account transfers, payment of bills and requests for stopping payments, via the Internet. In this day and age, online banking has become an essential facility for people who are hard pressed for time and find it difficult, if not impossible, to reschedule their busy lives for the sake of making a few withdrawals and deposits. The most important part for ensuring security while online banking, is to keep your password and pin number a secret.
Is online banking secure? Have you any ideas about this? Online banking or banking via the Internet banking is safe and secure. Here you can get the safety tips for internet banking. Internet banking allows the user to execute bank related transactions through Internet. The main benefit of internet baking is that people can use the service at home to transact business. When small transactions like balance inquiry, record of recent transaction, etc. are to be processed, the Internet banking facility proves to be very handy.

Safety tip about Internet Banking Security

The security of your personal computer is very important for safe internet banking.
Never login to internet bank account on public computer.
Never login to Internet Bank via an email link.
Never reply to email that asks for your personal credit card/debit card or any account number and password.
Check that the padlock at the bottom of the page shows that you are safe and secure websites.
Always use your Bank Account by typing Bank sites directly. If you don't know the bank site, go and contact your bank personally they provide you all the details.
If someone call you as introduce them as Bank Employee and ask your bank account details, never expose them and report this to your bank personally.
Choose your user ID and password carefully – it shouldn't be easy for others to guess (like your name!) and make sure you change them on a regular basis.
Once you are done with your Internet banking, make sure you log out and close the browser window.
Never give you password on the Internet (through emails) or over the phone to anyone
About the Author

(ArticlesBase SC #2293145)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Is Online Banking Secure? : Internet Banking Security tips

Internet Banking is the Future

2010-05-13T11:55:00.004-03:00

Video Description: Tips and advice for personal finance from the Dolans. This video focus' s on how banks are slowly going to be just virtual banks on the internet. There will be less branches for us to personally complain to when we have a problem with our finances.

We all know the problems of having to speak to someone in a call center, and they happen to be in a country that we can barely understand what they are saying to us. That just aggravates us even more and makes us want to hang up. Maybe that is what they want?

But as we all know, in the end it is always the mighty dollar that runs our lives, and again we will be forced to obey by their rules. In my opinion less human contact is a bad thing. What are your thoughts?

Article Source

Facebook Connect

2010-05-11T10:37:00.003-03:00

Here is the description directly from Facebook. Some points are really debatable since most people have no clue what is really happening in behind the scenes after we a user click on "accept" when we want a application on facebook.
Facebook Connect is the next iteration of Facebook Platform that allows users to "connect" their Facebook identity, friends and privacy to any site. This will now enable third party websites to implement and offer even more features of Facebook Platform off of Facebook – similar to features available to third party applications today on Facebook.
Here are just a few of the coming features of Facebook Connect:

Trusted Authentication
Users will be able to connect their Facebook account with any partner website using a trusted authentication method. Whether at login, or anywhere else a developer would like to add social context, the user will be able to authenticate and connect their account in a trusted environment. The user will have total control of the permissions granted.

The main problem here is that the average user does not know exactly what permissions they are allowing, and think that by default facebook is providing adequate protection. They are providing protection but how much?

Real Identity
Facebook users represent themselves with their real names and real identities. With Facebook Connect, users can bring their real identity information with them wherever they go on the Web, including: basic profile information, profile picture, name, friends, photos, events, groups, and more.

This is where it opens up a whole can of worms. More and more people are being victims of identity theft, and when people accept these connects, who really knows what our information is being used for. Do you know what they are doing with your information?

Friends Access
Users count on Facebook to stay connected to their friends and family. With Facebook Connect, users can take their friends with them wherever they go on the Web. Developers will be able to add rich social context to their websites. Developers will even be able to dynamically show which of their Facebook friends already have accounts on their sites.

I have seen many users with friends in their list they do not even know. Would you want these people having access to your information? For all you know they are in your list to gather as much information on you and your friends; such as email addresses phone numbers etc to then sell it. The question is sell it to who?

Dynamic Privacy
As a user moves around the open Web, their privacy settings will follow, ensuring that users' information and privacy rules are always up-to-date. For example, if a user changes their profile picture, or removes a friend connection, this will be automatically updated in the external website.
These are just a few steps Facebook is taking to make the vision of data portability a reality for users worldwide. We believe the next evolution of data portability is about much more than data. It's about giving users the ability to take their identity and friends with them around the Web, while being able to trust that their information is always up to date and always protected by their privacy settings.

Again most people have no idea these settings exist nor even understand how to change them.

Facebook connect has been used for some time now, yes there are some interesting connections to be made, but just keep in mind that you are allowing 3rd party access to your information and most times you do not even know what information that is. Get familiar with your "account - privacy settings section as this is where your life on facebook can be seen.
ATP Informatique Team

Blogging 101

2010-05-06T14:33:00.005-03:00

The ongoing trend on the internet is Blogging, Twitter Tweets and Affiliate marketing campaigns such as Amazon, Doteasy Domain Hosting, and Overstock. These right now are the top 3 but this article will be about blogging 101
There are other ways of making online quick cash such as domain name parking, domain selling, and of course E-commerce in which in future blogs we will discuss more in detail.
Okay, so what is blogging, or a blog and where can I go to start blogging?

Blogging is a way of collecting links to web pages and sharing thoughts and ideas with people online.

Blogs are basically online journals or diaries of information about everything that you can possible think of, that can be used by students, teachers, children, parents, grandparents so on and so forth.
To start blogging you can create a account here at WordPress.com or Google’s Blogspot. There are more out there you just have to do a search, but these are the ones we know of.

People and companies are always trying to find new was to cash in and take part in the continuing growth of making money on the internet. Blogging happens to be a great way to make income if you have the right tools to do so and are persistent in keeping up to date and interesting topics that make people come back for more.
There are programs out there that gives you access to advertisers willing to pay “you” to spread the word of their products, either through writing a blog about it with links to them. Some examples are PayPerPost, and SocialSpark.
Give it a try, you just might make some money blogging or meet new people with similar interests or dreams.
ATP Informatique Team

False – Hacker in door in our friends list

2010-05-04T22:49:00.002-03:00

Today while reading my news feed in Facebook, I came across a posting that said:

To all of my friends: COPY & PASTE: New problem found…. Hacker in door in our friends list!….We are now listed as friends of ourselves! You need to delete yourself from your friends list to close the door to hackers. To do this … Go to Account, go to edit friends, there search for your name on the list and click the X to get your name removed.

Sometimes you wonder, are these listings from people in your friends lists accurate and worth even getting scared about. To the average user, this will make them panic whether it be due to a bad experience they had in the past or stories that have heard or read on the internet.

Well this happens to be just that, a story you heard on facebook that just is not true. It appears to be a facebook bug or programming thing that is related to their own systems.

Just another hoax to get everyone stirred up.

Some other sites stating the same thing.

http://www.facebookapplicationdevelopment.org/news/alert-there-is-not-a-hacker-door-in-your-facebook-friends-list/

http://www.thatsnonsense.com/index.php?location=view&id=830

SPAM - What Happened?

2010-05-03T10:53:00.001-03:00

Have you asked yourself "Why Do I Get Spam"?

More than likely the main reason why you are getting all this spam email is because

- You replied to a chain email and your email was appended to the huge list of people who replied. These chain emails are used to gather valid email addresses.
- You signed up to a website who in turn sends you spam for marketing/advertising purposes
- Your personal website has your email address listed as the contact person
- Added yourself to a forum that lists your email address when you create a post or question
- You or your friends computer was infected with a virus/Trojan horse to capture yours or their email contacts list. Imagine some of these contact lists can be very big. Especially when it is a big company or corporation.
- Spammers used a program to send emails via a online dictionary. For example if your name is johndoe you could have a email address of johndoe @ yourisp.com So the program sends out massive emails to johndoe1, johndoe2,3 so on a so forth. There are millions and millions of combination's that can be used for just peoples names.

No matter what, we will always get spam and there is always money to be made in regards to spamming people with unsolicited emails.
Anti-spam software did not exist before spammers flooded the internet with it, and in turn it created jobs. Companies such as Symantec Anti-Virus make products like Norton Internet Security 2010

I can only suggest that if you do not want to receive spam to your email address, the only way for that to happen to is to not use email at all and revert back to writing letters and sending it via snail mail with your local post office. Not the likely choice for many of us.

What I do is create multiple email addresses for each specific activity that I have on the internet.
As the video stated, we all have options but we must remember these simple steps in order to have a spamfree inbox.

ATP Informatique
www.atpinformatique.ca

Facebook and Youtube Phishing Beware

2010-04-25T21:03:00.021-03:00

A YouTube link in a false Facebook e-mail is a virus that cannot be removed and is causing a massive outburst in viral activity.
A highly potent virus, camouflaged as a link in a genuine Facebook e-mail from a friend which lures the user into following the link and running the download that it asks the user.

According to the reports, several anti-virus programs are unable to detect, prevent or remove the virus, requiring a re-installation of Windows and the loss of all data on the infected computer.

The e-mail typically contains a link to a video or site – for example YouTube – you receive a email that a Facebook friend wants you to see. The current version has YouTube in the subject field.

The link appears to be a genuine Facebook link, Facebook appears as the sender and the purported ‘friend’ is someone who exists on your Facebook friend list.

While the e-mail itself can be read without adverse effects as it is plain text. Invoking the link by clicking on it, downloads the virus and if you run the program that is when your computer gets infected with this virus.

The main problem today is a huge majority of users base their trust in companies such as Microsoft, Youtube, Facebook, and Google. When we get emails that look very safe, we get loured into clicking in a link and voila its a downward hill after that. People need to be made aware that even though it looks safe and is from a friend or trusted user, it does not mean it is in fact safe.

The rule of thumb is to never log into a “Facebook” page unless the URL is www.facebook.com in the address bar.

Twitter - Does porn have control over it?

2010-04-24T13:48:00.001-03:00

I received a request from a friend at Lucas Fava Designs to sign up to Twitter a few days ago and figured I would try it out.

So I signed up and created my account about ATP Informatique for computer and software technology related topics.

Within 30 seconds I had a follower and was quite surprised. I noticed it was someone I did not know so I clicked on their profile. Low and behold it was a person trying to advertise their porn site and pictures.

I started to laugh, and said to myself what has the internet become?

I can just imagine all the teenagers signing up to twitter and having many followers advertising their porn. I feel for those parents who think the internet is a safe place to educate their children but honestly it just is not. In fact it is the opposite, and as a society you can see how the children of today are being manipulated left right and center.

It is all about $$$. Greed has taken over 10 folds, and the internet is the medium that is being used.

Twitter is another medium being used by porn and like facebook and myspace it will just continue to get worst and porn will take over it.

Remote Computer Repair - No More Stores (sometimes)

2010-04-09T18:52:00.001-03:00

We are seeing more and more online computer repair companies offering to fix computer problems over the internet. The only downside is that you need to have a active internet connection in order to have someone take over your computer and repair the problem.

Advantages of having your computer repaired online:

#1: Environment friendly as it eliminates having to get in your car to drive to a computer store, and then having to pick it up.
#2: You do not have to unplug all those cables and replug them when you return back with your computer
#3: You actually get to see what the person is fixing and doing right in front of your own eyes. No more having to leave the computer at the store and wonder what the technician actually did. A lot of times you arrive home to notice that you are still having the same problem!

The services that most companies provide.

* Virus and Spyware/Malware Removal
* Microsoft Office Repair and configuration
* Outlook Repair and Setup (Unable to send and receive emails)
* Networking/Wireless Setup for Secure Communications for Laptops
* Windows Repair such as blue screens and system errors, or no sound.
* Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird Installation and Configuration
* Windows Critical Updates and Security Patches
* Free Anti-Virus Solutions offered on the Internet (Avast, Comodo, and AVG)
* Slow Computer Tune-ups

Feel free to comment on good and bad experiences from this if you have ever tried a online computer repair company.

To click or not to click?

2010-04-09T11:18:00.001-03:00

Have you ever asked yourself, should I click this link or not?

We all get emails from friends with links, pictures, e-cards, facebook emails etc.

Shortly after clicking on the link, you started to get windows popping up and saying you are infected with viruses, Trojan horses, and many other words and explanations that get you to think paranoid.

When this happens, we tend to start to wonder if we are secure on the internet, and the answer to that questions is "No". No we are not secure, and everyday, minute, hour, second, that we spend on and off our computers makes us vulnerable to things such as identity theft, bank fraud, hijackers controlling our computers without even knowing someone has taken control over them.

While we are searching the internet and roaming around, a program that is running in the background tracking everything we type, everywhere we go and what we search for. Then this program relays all this information to the perpetrator who then either uses this information for their own personal gain or sells this information to underground groups.

The question we should be asking to the companies that we trust is what is being done to stop this from happening to us?

Are anti-virus companies letting these vulnerabilities get to our computers so we are lured into buying software to keep these companies afloat?

Are the companies doing everything in it's power to help the average user who just wants to make their lives easier and save time and helping the environment by not driving to the bank and paying their bills.
I think the virus companies and programmers that make these viruses are working with each other and getting kickbacks. A underground business that scams the average user and business into forcing them to purchase these anti-virus programs and scanners and if they do not their networks and computer systems get taken over and used as pawns in illegal activities.

What are your thoughts? Please fell free to comment and share your experiences.