(ARA) – Scam artists are always changing their schemes in an effort to trick consumers into handing over money or personal information. One of the latest scams involves hacking into social networking sites and then targeting specific friends in the victim’s account.

For example, a scam artist will gain access to “Susan’s” Facebook account. The scammer will send an e-mail message to all of her friends pretending to be Susan and claiming to have been mugged, injured or arrested in a foreign country, and in need of some cash immediately. But in reality, Susan is completely unaware that this message was sent out because she did not send it.

Believing that this message is from Susan, her friends want to help and immediately follow her instructions to wire money through a money transfer service like Western Union. Later they discover that they sent money to a scam artist.

The following are some tips from Western Union to help you avoid becoming a victim of these “emergency” scams through which fraudsters prey on people’s emotions:

* If you receive an e-mail or phone call claiming a friend or family member needs cash, take a step back and attempt to independently verify the need. Call the person on their phone, or call a mutual friend and find out if they are aware of the situation.

* Let your friend or family member know that you have received a call or e-mail from them claiming they need help. If it turns out there isn’t an emergency situation happening, they will need to report the case to local police and the administrators of their social networking site. Also advise them to change their passwords and install or update an anti-virus and anti-spyware program to help protect their computer from hackers.

* If you did send a money transfer through Western Union, and realize that it was a scam, immediately contact the company at (800) 448-1492. If the transaction has not been picked up, it will be refunded to you. Contact the police if the money has been picked up and file a report about the scam.

* Be aware of questionable situations. Scam scenarios can evolve quickly and the way scammers contact victims changes daily. Another scam similar to the social networking scheme that targets victims’ emotional reactions involves phone calls from people pretending to be family members or authority figures who claim to be in need of money for medical assistance or even bail.

Regardless of whether you are contacted online or through some other means, be suspicious of requests to send money to “help a friend or family member out” unless you can absolutely verify the information you’ve been given.

For more information on other scams or for more tips on how to protect yourself from scams, visit www.WesternUnion.com/fraud.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Related posts:

1. Beware of the eBay Scam
2. Social Networking Giant MySpace- A Major Player for Web Visitors
3. Networking Opportunities Abound on MySpace.com

MSI's X-Slim X340 Notebook

A new ultra-light laptop, weighing a mere 1.3 kilograms, has made its debut in Canada, and will likely be crowned as the “one to have” as students head back to the classroom this September.

MSI’s light X-Slim X340 Notebook, according to its exclusive Canadian retailer, Staples Canada, is touted as “the world’s first slender, sleek laptop, weighing a mere 1.3 kilograms and featuring Intel’s CULV platform and a 13.4” screen. Students don’t have to sacrifice technology for convenience, as this computer is slender and light, with lots of battery power and memory,” says Pete Gibel, vice president of merchandising for Staples Canada.

The X-Slim is available exclusively at Staples with models starting at $799.96. The X340 features a super-long-life battery, MSI exclusive ECO engine, HDMI and Blu-Ray playback, and wireless Internet connection.

- News Canada

Related posts:

1. Listing On And Using eBay Canada

Facebook is now the hottest social networking site worldwide. Today, it has more than 175,000,000 active members. Other than adding friends and playing games in Facebook, you can also use it to market your business. Facebook is a very effective marketing channel and if you are willing to spend a little bit of time and effort, you can definitely see results from it.

There are a few ways to market on Facebook, some common methods are: fan page creation, group creation, social ads, and banner ads. Social and banner ads will cost you some money. If your budget is tight, you may want to create a fan page for your business. A business fan page functions just like a member’s profile page. As the admin or owner of the business, you can upload photos, add links, post videos, write a description of your business, etc. If you want more targeted visits to your fan page, you can actually use social ads to advertise your fan page.

One benefit of the fan page is that it encourages user-generated content. Fans can participate in discussions, share videos & links, post on walls, leave comments, etc. This creates a buzz around your business fan page and promotes your brand worldwide.

Another benefit of a fan page is that people can share it easily. When your friends become a fan of your business, they can click on the button and suggest the page to their friends. This will create a viral effect and spread your brand name to more people. If you connect with enough people, your fan page will viral itself.

If you have a blog, you can import it easily to the fan page. This will ensure that there will always be fresh content on the page and get more people to become fans. Also, you can import other widgets like Flickr photos or Picasa album onto the page too.

Facebook is the fastest growing website online. With so many active members, you cannot afford to miss this marketing channel out. If you want more exposure, there is still Facebook social ad. With social ads, you can target people based on demographics. This is especially useful if you run a business-to-customer (B2C) business.

So if you have not leverage on Facebook to market your business, you should do it now. It only takes you a few minutes to create a fan page. So stop procrastinating and start tapping on the vast network of Facebook.

Related posts:

1. The Marketing Potential that MySpace Can Bring
2. How to Get Your Own eBay Business
3. MySpace Knock-offs Trying to Spark Competition

According to a recent survey conducted by Microsoft, 60 percent of those polled say their online lives sometimes feel more disorganized than their physical lives.

Crystal Hornsby, a construction project engineer from Vancouver, Wash., is feeling the need to get digitally organized this year. “I have two mobile phones, two e-mail accounts, hundreds of digital pictures, separate online calendars for work and home, and I’m an active Twitter, MySpace and Facebook user,” she says.

Hornsby’s experience is far from unique. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study from Dec. 2008, the share of adult Internet users who have a profile on at least one social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years from 8 percent to 35 percent.

Lorie Marrero, certified professional organizer, author and founder of ClutterDiet.com, thinks there’s still hope for people like Crystal who feel overwhelmed by their online lives and the idea of organizing it all.

“Our kids, jobs and shrinking budgets give us plenty to juggle in our offline lives. Now, with so many people using various online services, it’s no wonder that many are overwhelmed at the prospect of getting digitally organized too,” she says. “Although it can be daunting, it’s a necessary step toward gaining the extra free time we crave, and finally feeling in control of our lives — both on and offline.”

To get even the most scattered computer user started on the road to freedom from digital clutter, Marrero recommends five easy tips that can help make your digital life seem more manageable:

1. Organize Your Online Activities
Have too many social networking and online accounts to keep track of? Consolidate online activities in one place with Windows Live. Partnerships with popular sites — including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr — allow you to aggregate activities from these third-party sites — such as digital photos, tweets and status updates — into your Windows Live ‘What’s New’ feed, so you can easily share content with the people in your network from one site.

2. Unclutter Your Desktop
Treat your desktop as you would the top of your actual desk and keep only active files and shortcuts there for convenience. Use your My Documents folders for more lasting storage. Clean off unnecessary shortcuts that clutter the screen.

3. Get Your Files in Order
After you get your desktop sparkling clean, take a look through your folders. Can you consolidate? Are there old files you can remove, or drafts that are no longer relevant? Remember, your time is valuable and storage space is plentiful, so archiving to a folder or external storage space is usually a better use of time than wading through lots of old documents.

4. Time for Your Inbox to Drop a Few Pounds
Do you really need those attachments in an e-mail? Save your large files to an online storage drive like Windows Live SkyDrive, which offers 25 GB of free storage. Easily upload videos, photos and files, and share them with whomever you’d like — without overloading their inboxes.

5. Optimize Your Computer’s Performance
For greater efficiency and to avoid the heartache of technical problems, remember to update and run important utilities like spyware and virus scans and defragment your hard drive periodically.

“After a week or two of following these five simple tips, you may find that you have a bit more time to finally go for that run, or play outside with the kids,” says Marrero. “I tell my clients that the key is to ensure that your computer and online services work for you as productivity tools, instead of creating more clutter and hassle in your life.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Related posts:

1. How your Profile on MySpace Could Affect your Professional Life or Job Hunt
2. Get Your Computer Back in the Fast Lane

This doesn’t mean that you can’t surf safely online. Quite the contrary, you just need to follow a few simple guidelines to protect yourself and your family and create a safe and enjoyable experience. And given that June marks Internet Safety Month, it’s a good time to think about how best to educate yourself and your loved ones on both the risks out there, and the simple ways to prevent them.

“Consumers really need to be proactive in the fight against cyber crime. Staying safe online is a combination of using the latest and greatest security software tools and exercising good judgment and common sense,” says Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance.

In honor of Internet Safety Month, here are eight tips to help keep you, your family and your personal information safe online:

1. Manage your e-mail inbox. Delete unwanted and unsolicited email and don’t open e-mails from people you don’t know. Be cautious about unusual e-mail from people you do know. Some cyber criminals use software to make an e-mail look like it comes from an official organization (like your bank) or someone you know.

2. Always think before you click and treat links and attachments in e-mail and instant messaging with caution. Download files only from sites you know and trust and never open an attachment from someone you don’t know. These can contain viruses and malware that can cause your computer to break down or is an attempt to steal personal information. If in doubt, delete it.

3. Use extreme caution when working on a public computer; Do not save your log in information, always log out of Web sites by clicking “log out” on the site (even if you are just stepping away for a few minutes), and never enter sensitive or personal information on a public computer.

4. Be sure your firewall is turned on. A firewall is an electronic fence that helps protect your PC from hackers that may try to steal sensitive information. To turn on your firewall, simply click the start button and open the control panel. Follow the security link and then click ‘Turn Windows Firewall on or off.’

5. Protect personal information by using strong passwords. Make sure they are lengthy and incorporate letters, numbers and symbols.

6. When shopping online, be a savvy consumer. Conduct online research to find out what others have to say about their customer satisfaction. Be wary of companies that don’t provide any contact information, including a physical mailing address and telephone number.

7. The best way to protect yourself is to keep your security software, operating system and browser up-to-date with automatic updates and practice safe online behavior.

8. New security, privacy and reliability features tools in Internet Explorer 8 can provide you with a more secure Internet experience. It’s worth considering downloading it for free. Internet Explorer 8 puts you in control of your safety and privacy online and helps protect you from new threats online.

For more information, please visit www.microsoft.com/ie8 or the National Cyber Security Alliance at www.StaySafeOnline.org.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Related posts:

1. Passwords No Longer Work to Protect Privacy
2. MySpace – Beefing Up Security to Protect Teens
3. How NOT to Get Hooked During a Phishing Trip on MySpace.com

Get Your Computer Back in the Fast Lane

Does your computer take forever to load programs or change pages when you’re surfing the Internet? Have you ever been in the middle of writing an e-mail only to have the screen freeze and force you to reboot and lose all your work? There are few things more frustrating than a slow computer, but it doesn’t need to be that way.

Having a professional look at your system can be costly and buying a new computer is often unnecessary. There are some steps that you can follow to keep your system running at its best.

1) Limit open programs and windows.
If you have too many Internet windows open or are working with a variety of computer programs at once, your computer might run slowly. Limit open programs and windows to maximize your computer speed.

2) When in doubt, reboot.
Sometimes there are things we just can’t explain with computers. If yours is running slow, try rebooting. Often this is all the system needs to begin functioning at a normal pace again. Although many programs have automatic retrieval of work, it’s a smart idea to always save what you are working on before shutting down.

3) Use a registry cleaner.
Even if you’re extremely careful about how you use your computer and never download questionable material, over time it is inevitable that your system will accumulate unwanted registry entries, errors, clutter and debris.

The most common causes of problems are the installation and removal of software, online games, application crashes and upgrades of software programs. While many errors will go unnoticed, the more errors your computer has, the greater the chance that you’ll experience trouble. But there is something proactive you can do to protect your system: install a one-click tool called Advanced Registry Optimizer 5 (ARO 5) that will safely and efficiently scan, identify and repair errors.

Advanced Registry Optimizer 5 was awarded four stars in May 2007 from CNET’s Download.com editorial staff which said, “Advanced Registry Optimizer will clean your computer’s clock and keep it ticking.” To take advantage of a free trial offer, log on to www.sammsoft.com and click on the link that says “Show Me the Product Now.”

Once you have downloaded ARO 5, just click the “Run” button to install the software to your PC. The program will then do a complete scan and diagnosis of your computer’s registry and tell you how many errors are present. It will then fix the first 20 problems completely FREE of charge.

There’s no catch. The company is confident you’ll love the personal version of ARO 5 so much you’ll consider purchasing the unlimited commercial system which retails for $29.95. To purchase ARO 5, go to www.sammsoft.com and click on the “Products” tab. You’ll find ARO 5 in the Product Gallery. Simply click on the “Buy Now” button to continue with your purchase.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Related posts:

1. Computer Crime is Here to Stay; So Are Jobs to Combat It
2. The Benefits of Fast Web Hosting

Long-distance caregivers should plan time for listening to problems and use resources to handle some of them.

John is 82 and lives in Manhattan. Since the death of his brother, he regularly checks on his 87-year-old sister-in-law who lives about 90 minutes away. She has dementia and needs help with daily needs. An aide lives with her, but John is concerned the help is getting burned out. The last time John visited he noticed his sister-in-law’s condition was worsening, and he wonders what he can do to help.

John is a long-distance caregiver, one of an estimated 6.9 million Americans who care for someone living at least an hour away, according to a study by MetLife and AARP. Americans age 85 and older numbered 4.2 million in 2000, the fastest growing segment of the population according to the National Institute on Aging. By mid-century, as baby boomers transition from being the caregiver to needing care, that segment is estimated to swell to 21 million.

“This is a national problem with local solutions,” says Nora Jean Levin, executive director of Caring From a Distance (CFAD), a non-profit organization for distance caregivers. CFAD’s Web site, www.cfad.org, extends resources and advice to caregivers like John who e-mail their questions and concerns or search the site’s many resources and links. Help from CFAD is also available by telephone at (202) 895-9465. CFAD helped John consider other solutions such as assisted living, finding adult day care facilities and calling a home care agency to arrange to give the live-in help a break.

Levin understands that despite the obstacles of time and miles, distance caregivers are in a unique position to help.

“Long distance caregivers can offer perspective because they aren’t on the scene every day to really observe small changes, and that perspective is very valuable,” she says. “Sometimes if you’re in a care situation day after day, you feel overwhelmed and hopeless and you can’t see out of that box. But a person who comes in from the outside can help pinpoint a problem and recommend ways to help improve the situation.”

Levin offers these tips to buoy long-distance caregivers:

1. Offer help.
Lend a hand solving problems that daily caregivers may not have time to think about. Shop for gadgets that help with daily needs, like telephones with large buttons or “grabber” devices that help seniors reach items they need. Make arrangements for a handicapped permit. If appropriate, help manage finances and pay bills.

2. Don’t be a “swooper.”
It’s really hard when you’re the daily caregiver and the long distance caregiver swoops in and tries to change everything. Instead, plan time for listening to problems and perhaps for handling a few, and spend quality time with your loved one.

3. Make observations, but be careful how you share them.
“Retain respect for the individual who needs care, and be mindful of preserving personal dignity when every step towards dependence may be viewed as loss of control,” Levin suggests.

4. Visit and look for changes that indicate a need for more care.
Is your loved one eating regularly? Is personal hygiene slipping? Are prescriptions unfilled or forgotten? A helpful checklist, “Ten Warning Signs: Your Older Family Member May Need Help” can be found at http://www.cfad.org/library/HolidayFactSheetFinal.pdf.

5. Use the Internet to ease a transition.
“Transitions can be rough or smooth, depending on the nature of the situation, whether it’s a crisis or something that’s been coming gradually, and the nature of the person being cared for,” Levin says. Transitions to senior housing are smoothest when approached proactively, before a crisis arises.

For example, long-distance caregivers can screen more than 60,000 housing options online by visiting www.snapforseniors.com. The SNAPforSeniors online search tool is like the Multiple Listing Service for senior housing. Long-distance caregivers can narrow the search by geographic location, care needs, type of facility and personal amenities.

A new tool from SNAPforSeniors and the Alzheimer’s Association, the Caregiver Conversation Checklist, helps families discussing housing options. The checklist, which can be found on alz.org, offers tips for determining if long-term care is appropriate and explains how to broach the conversation.

“The possibilities offered by the Internet to help long distance caregivers are fabulous, and we’ve made our Web site a portal for people looking for solutions,” Levin says. “SNAPforSeniors is a site designed to help families deal with the housing part of the picture. Long-distance caregivers can also get help from CFAD when investigating other local personal and community-based resources like home care, daily money managers, eldercare lawyers, or geriatric care managers to coordinate activities or even where you can donate a wheelchair.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

No related posts.

MySpace.com is a site that is specifically geared towards social networking on the Internet. If you sign up for a free MySpace account, it won’t be long until you start noticing that people from all over are seeing your profile and wanting to be your friend. This is a haven for people to meet while on the Internet and in the privacy of your own home. MySpace is mostly geared and used by teenagers and college students. In fact, in the United States, the MySpace website is the third most popular website on the Internet. It is gaining popularity in non-English speaking countries, too. It won’t be long before anyone can sign up for a MySpace account and start networking all over the world.

Why is MySpace such a popular place for networking? It is true that over 180,000 people sign up for a MySpace account on a daily basis. It could be the fact that accounts are free. It could also be the fact that MySpace accounts are easy to use. But the truth of the matter is that MySpace is probably such a phenomenon because it puts people in touch with each other. It networks people, who are very unlikely to every meet in the “real world” together. It helps people meet others like them and helps strangers find a common thread that pulls them together. It used to be that keeping and maintaining friendship took work and a lot of long distance calls and stamps. Now with the Internet and MySpace accounts, this is made easier than ever.

Here is a brief look at how this online social networking site works. First, you log on to MySpace.com and choose to sign up for a free account. When you sign up with an account, you create your unique profile. This is the same as a webpage. You choose what you want to go on it and what you want others to see. It can be very simple or it can be very elaborate with photos, music and video.

After you have completed your MySpace Profile, you start inviting your friends and family to join. They will need a MySpace profile in order to post on your site, but chances are your friends probably already have an account. You can also use the search option on MySpace to located friends that might already have MySpace profiles. After you do this, these people will then be added to your “Friend Space”. They are now in your network! Once you have done that, you can visit other profile and pages of people you may not know, but have a common interest with. You invite those people to join your site and before long, you have more online networking opportunities than you ever though possible.

MySpace networking is certainly fun and useful. However, any user must remember that there are some drawbacks. You must be careful when you network on MySpace. There are many stories on the news about sexual predators posing as teens on MySpace. This site is very public and you must remember to be extremely careful about the information you give out over the Internet. Most of all, if you every plan to come in contact with anyone you have networked with over the Internet, take safety precautions before doing so.

Related posts:

1. Social Networking Giant MySpace- A Major Player for Web Visitors
2. Ways to Make your MySpace Page Work for You
3. Top Draws to MySpace.com that Keeps People Coming

In some instances, MySpace users post comments that they, three weeks later, upon seeing the comment after a long lapse of time, don’t like to think of as their own personal post.  Another possibility is that, as soon as you’ve posted the submit button and your comment is flying through cyberspace to every computer in the land, the gravity of the contents of your comment hits you.  For some people, the desire to delete a comment comes immediately, whereas for others the desire to delete old comments only comes with 20/20 hindsight.  Either way, fortunately, on MySpace, users have the option of deleted comments on their own profiles and they also have the option of deleting comments that they have made on other people’s profiles.  This last feature is not possible on all websites that allow commenting; in this way, MySpace is well-designed for its audience.

Of course, you can delete comments that other users have left on your own profile simply by clicking on the ‘delete comment’ button; however, there’s a common myth that it is not possible for users to delete comments that they have made on other user’s profiles.  This myth is a dangerous one because all human beings say things that they don’t mean and the opportunity to make it right is a good website feature.  Additionally, on the technical side of things, it frequently occurs that a user gets a MySpace error message while posting a comment.  In this event, one usually hits the back button and then hits post again, this time receiving a success message.  While only one successful post message was received, a closer look at the user’s profile will show that the comment was posted, not once but twice, even though it didn’t appear that way.

If this happens to you, don’t despair!  The fix is very simple although not widely known.  Rest assured, it involves no html encoding!  Simply go to the user’s profile and go to the comments section.  You’ll see your comment there, and look for the link that says display all comments.  Once you press this button, all of the comments to that user’s profile will pop up on a new screen.  You will no longer be on the profile of that friend, but on a page with all of the comments posted for that friend.  As long as you are properly logged in to MySpace, you should see an icon for deleting your comment(s).  Of course, there is no such icon on the comments left by others; only the person who is logged in can delete their own comments, not the comments left by others.  All you have to do is press delete and your duplicate comment or your comment that you regretted will disappear.  The helpfulness of this feature is obvious, although it leaves friends powerless to delete hurtful comments about their friends.  The only way to delete a comment is to be the maker, or the receiver of the comment.

Related posts:

1. MySpace – The Perfect Avenue to Keep in Touch with Friends
2. All about Blogging on MySpace
3. Pump Up your Profile with Different Tweaks

Whether you are a musician looking to share your songs or a music lover looking for music or music videos, MySpace has your ticket—and the ticket of millions of people across the globe.  With over 100 million members, MySpace has become the fourth most popular English-language website and the third most popular website in the United States, surpassing even Google and ebay.  Nearly 250,000 new members join the social networking site every day.

The MySpace Music Page features a number of music links for both musicians and music lovers.  You need not be a member of MySpace to view the comedy content.  There is a Featured Artist section, which lists the hot artists based on genre.  Links to the featured musicians’ personal profile pages allows you to listen to their music and learn about the bands.  The MySpace Exclusives section keys users in to upcoming music events, tours, or releases.  A Featured Video section links to a new music video and artist profile page.  MySpace On Tour highlights upcoming tours, dates, and venues of featured artists.  The Pick of the Week, sponsored by Filter Magazine, reviews new releases and offers recommendations for music listeners.  MySpace also allows your to search and listen to top bands by searching via music genre.

MySpace has been a critical tool in the progression of many amateur bands.  Membership to MySpace is necessary if you are a musician wanted to post your music for others to listen to on your MySpace personal profile.  With its wide viewership, MySpace can offer musicians a significant amount of publicity.  A number of artists, like the English band Arctic Monkeys and pop artist Lily Allen, owe some of their success to the publicity generated by MySpace.

A number of other musicians, however, have found issue with MySpace’s terms of agreement.  Up until June 2006, the fine print within the MySpace’s user agreement states: “You hereby grant to MySpace.com a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, and distribute such Content on and through the Services”.  As this agreement is essentially made between the artist and Rupert Murdoch’s media giant News Corporation, many musicians, including songwriter Billy Bragg, were rightly concerned.  Bragg actually pulled his songs from the website in protest.  In repsonse to the concern raised by musicians, MySpace changed their user agreement to assure artists that the company does not claim any ownership of the text, files, photos, video, sounds, musical works, or any other materials posted to MySpace.  Hopefully, this amendment will reassure artists as to the safety of their material on MySpace so that thousands of users can continue to enjoy it.

If you are a musician looking to share your music with others, connect with other musicians, or be discovered by an audience that could top 100 million people, MySpace Music is the place for you.  If you are a music lover looking to discover up and coming artists, find upcoming music events in your neighborhood, or connect with the musicians who make some of your favorite tunes, MySpace music is also the place for you.

Related posts:

1. Easy to Learn Ways of Adding Music to your MySpace Page
2. Keep in Touch with Cinema Events with the Films Section of MySpace
3. Be a Star in your Own Mind with the Video Section of MySpace