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St. Luke's Seniors
Notes from July 20th Technology Speech
by Tyson Schmick
Protecting Yourself
Email
- Spam: How do you know if it's good or bad email? Look at the sender. Is it someone you know or from a company you do business with?
- If an email has an attachment that is a picture it should end with .jpg and you should know the sender.
- Never click on a hyperlink in an email, rather type the hyperlink yourself into your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari)
Antivirus Software
- Be sure to keep your antivirus software updated - if your subscription has expired, you'll have to pay for another subsciption - it's like a magazine in that you keep paying for its services.
- Antivirus Software companies: McAfee.com Symantic.com
Windows/Mac OS Updates
- Install updates when your computer tells you they are available.
- These updates are always free
- Be sure to have a password on your computer - you keep your doors to your house locked, you need to do the same with your computer.
Secure Websites
- Look at the address bar for secure websites: address bar should have https:// instead of http://
- The s stands for secure; 128 bit security - very strong
- All of your banking/financial sites should be secure - otherwise don't use them!
Secure your computer like it's your house. Your firewall will protect you from intruders, password won't let people break in, and updates keep the material strong and safe.
Things you can do on the Internet
Travel Sites
- Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com to search for flights, hotels, cruises, rental cars
- Some airlines like Southwest and JetBlue aren't on Travelocity or Orbitz, you'll have to go to their sites individually to view prices.
- If you search for a flight only, after you find the cheapest flight, go to the airline's website and select the same flight and actually buy it from the airline and you'll save $5 per person.
- After you buy your flight, you can select your seats, use SeatGuru.com to find the best seats on the plane!
Driving Directions
- Use MapQuest.com to get step by step driving directions including miles per step and total driving time.
Search Sites
- Searching for anything on the Internet? Use Google.com
- Searching for minor medical questions and ailments? Use webMD.com
- Want to know house values of any home in the United States? Use zellow.com
- Need help spelling or looking up definitions? Try dictionary.com
- Interested in learning more about your family tree and history? Try ancestory.com - the mormon ancestor database (fees may apply)
- Have some time to spare and want to see a childhood neighborhood or take a virtual tour of somewhere? Try out Google Earth. You can zoom in to just 100 feet above ground level.
Email
- If you'd like to use a web-based email system try GMail from Google, it allows over 2 GB of storage space compared to the typical 10 - 25 MB (a GB or gigabyte is one thousand MB or megabytes)
- GMail also has a good spam filter and allows you to send large picture files
Community Resources
Online Banking
- Allows you to check your balance anytime
- Send eBills for any bills you receive for free! No more stamps!
- Lets you know in realtime what you've spent and where your money is going
- Check with your financial institution to sign up, it shouldn't cost you anything!
Please note that St. Luke's does not endorse any of the websites listed on this page. They are for reference purpose only and St. Luke's is not responsible for the information that might be placed on the linked webpages.
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