New Gmail Features: Remote Logout and Account Activity

Email has become an essential form of communication, and there is no doubt that keeping our email accounts secure is of high importance. Web-based email accounts like Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail, are excellent tools because they allow you to check your email from anywhere at any time. This also creates a security issue, because anyone who somehow gets your password will be able to log into your account from another computer. For you Gmail users, however, this just became MUCH less of a problem.

Gmail just released a new feature that allows you to see how many computers are logged into your account, when they logged in, and what the IP addresses of those computers are. At the bottom of your email inbox, there is now a line that looks like this:



Why is this helpful? Well, if someone is logging into your account from somewhere else, you will see that more than one computer is logged in, and you will know that something is wrong. This morning I opened my gmail to find that someone from another computer had accessed my account. I looked up the IP address and noticed that it was coming from the online contact management website called Plaxo. It's possible that Plaxo is accessing my account to import my contacts, but I was completely unaware of the situation. I am now investigating why this is happening, and have sent Plaxo a request for an explanation.

Another extremely useful feature is that you can now "remotely logout" of your gmail account. Have you ever left your gmail account open on another computer? Now, you can click into the "details" link on the account activity line, and then click "Sign Out All Other Sessions." This will log you out from the other computers so that no one can mess with your account. Superb!

Choose Good Passwords

I recently came across an article discussing the importance of creating and maintaining good passwords to keep your website accounts secure. Password security is very important, and protecting your accounts will save you a catastrophe. Don't ever use your real name or site username for your password!

Read this article about password security.

OpenDNS

Are you a parent that is concerned about your kids accessing certain content on the Internet? Maybe you would like to have more control over your family's connection to the web? If you're interested in setting up an excellent filtering/monitoring system, this is for you.

OpenDNS is a free Internet service that allows you to do the following:

• Automatically filter pornographic sites from your internet connection.
• Manually block certain sites that you specify.
• Monitor your web traffic statistics. See what sites are being accessed most and what time of day.
• Prevent "phishing" sites that try to steal your information.
• See a complete list of features here.

OpenDNS is great because it doesn't require that you run any software on your own computer. This prevents you having to keep a program running in the background, which frees up your resources and prevents you from screwing something up. Here's how to get started:

1. Sign up for a free account here.
2. Choose which method you want to use here. You can either use OpenDNS with your router so that all computers in your house are monitored, or you can just do it to one computer.
3. Follow the instructions provided for the method you choose.
   
4. Read up on all the great features.

You're all set. OpenDNS is really a great service and one that can be extremely helpful in a variety of situations. If you're a parent, keep in mind that you still need address the issue of web content directly with your kids. It's not OpenDNS's job to make sure your kids learn what they need to stay out of trouble on their own. That said, it can be a great way to keep tabs on things. Yes, that's right, Double Stamp is now providing parenting advice for free.

The rest of this article is optional for those of you who want to know how OpenDNS works.

OpenDNS works by taking advantage of the way a URL is retrieved from the web. When you type in a website like "http://doublestamp.blogspot.com" your computer first connects to what is called a "DNS Server." Basically, it's a big phone directory. You tell it the name of the website you want to go to, and it returns an IP address behind the scenes. Your computer then connects to the IP address to get to the website of interest.

Now, if you tell your computer to use OpenDNS as the directory, you give them control to filter what your computer is requesting. For example, if someone attempts to visit a pornographic site, OpenDNS recognizes it as such, and does not return the IP address. It's kind of like having a phone book that won't give out the phone numbers to certain people.

Gmail Features Everyone Should Know

Google's Gmail is by far the best web-based email system to date. In fact, I prefer it to any other email client that is on the market, including programs such as Microsoft's Outlook or Mozilla's Thunderbird. It's quiet design is refreshing, and the threaded conversations keep your inbox nice and tidy. On top of the great design, there are some powerful tools that allow Gmail users to organize and track their email very efficiently. Let's face it, most of you use your email multiple times every day. Isn't it worth a little time learning how to get your Gmail running like a well oiled machine? If you don't have Gmail, you can sign up for a free account if you'd like to try it.

Trick #1: Tracking Your Email with a "+"

When you add a "+sometexthere" to your email address in Gmail, it will still arrive in your inbox. For example, let's say that your email address is bob@gmail.com. Sending an email to bob+doublestamp@gmail.com, or bob+anything@gmail.com will still send the email to bob@gmail.com. Why is this useful? Because you can track where people are getting your email address from.

Next time you go to sign up for something on the internet, add a "+website" to your email address. For example, if you are signing up for ebay, you could sign up using the email bob+ebay@gmail.com. Now, if you start receiving tons of spam, all of which are addressed to "bob+ebay@gmail.com," you will know that ebay shared your information with other companies!

Note: Sometimes websites won't allow you to place a "+" character in your email. If this is the case, use trick #2.

Trick #2: Dots don't matter

Dots in Gmail addresses are ignored. That means that if you send an email to double.stamp@gmail.com, it's the same as sending it to doublestamp@gmail.com or d.oubl.e.st.am.p@gmail.com. This can be handy if the "+" is not allowed by a website to which you are signing up. Instead, you can add dots in certain places, then write down where you put them for a given website. For example, if you sign up for ebay, you could use b.o.b@gmail.com instead of bob@gmail.com. If you start getting spam addressed to b.o.b, then you know that ebay spilled the beans on you.

This trick can be useful to sign up for multiple accounts on the same website, since most will not allow you to use an email address that is already registered in their system.

Trick #3 (not really a trick): Using filters and labels

One of the best things about gmail is the ability to easily create custom filters to organize your incoming email. You can filter your email in almost any way that you can think of. For example, let's say that you would like to redirect any email that has the word "AOL" directly to your trash folder (I hate AOL). You would just go to Settings->Filters->Create New Filter and fill out the form appropriately. On the next page, you just check the box that says "delete it," and your done.

A "label" is exactly that, a label or tag on your emails. You can set up a "label" based on your filter criteria. For example, you could apply the label "family" to any email that arrives from someone in your family. Labels can help you quickly find past emails, and they keep your inbox tidy.

An example: Slammin' that Spam

Time for a real world example of how to use all these gmail features. These instructions will help you set up a spam bustin' system.

1. Set up a "junk email" gmail account. Something like yourname.junk@gmail.com.
2. Set the new junk account to forward all your email to your real account. To do this, go to Settings -> Forwarding and Pop and fill out the box.
3. Set up a FILTER in your real gmail account. In the filter criteria, place your junk email address in the "FROM:" box so that the filter will be applied to any emails forwarded from your junk mail account.
   
4. Next, choose to "Apply a label" and select "New label..."
   
5. Name the label something like "Junk account" or "Bulk mail"
6. Click "Create filter."

Da-duh! You're done. Now, when you sign up for that next website, put in your JUNK email address, and use the "+" or "." trick (as discussed above) to tag the site. If that website sends you an email, you will still receive it in your real email because it will automatically forward. You will see who is responsible for the email by looking at the "+tag" part of the email. If you start getting too much spam in your real email address, all you have to do is either stop the forwarding, or create a filter in the junk mail account! Spaminora!

Avoid a Meltdown: Back up Your Data!

Here's a true story.

On April 26, 1999, I went to turn on my computer as I had done hundreds of times before. Instead of getting the boot-up screen, all I heard was a short beep. The computer was on, but nothing was appearing on the screen. I turned it off and tried again, but the same thing happened. This wasn't the first time that something wrong had happened on my computer, so I went to work trying to fix the problem. Many hours later, I was completely stumped, but I was sure something really bad had happened.

The next day I heard about a breaking news story from one of my computer geek friends: A computer virus called "Chernobyl" had erupted in a huge number of computers across the world. It remained dormant on a user's system until a special date (April 26, 1999, an anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Russia), upon which the virus severely damaged the data of the system's hard disk. After reading the news reports, there was no doubt in my mind that I had been a victim of this vandalism. My data was long gone. All my school work, all my personal files, all my programming projects... it was all wiped clean, and I didn't have a backup.

You probably have thousands of irreplaceable photos and documents that could be lost in an instant. How would you feel if tomorrow they were erased completely from your computer? You can lose your data in countless ways, even if you're on a Mac and don't worry so much about viruses. Do you have an adequate backup? Don't be as stupid as I was. If you do not have a backup system, you need to get one immediately.

Ok, so now your scared (as you should be), and want to get your act together by setting up a backup system. How do you do it? I suggest that you invest $65 to $100 on what is called an "external hard drive." This is a hard drive that remains outside of your computer case, and connects to your computer via a USB cable. Once you set it up following the manufacturer's instructions, you can easily copy your sensitive files to the drive. Most drives will come with a backup utility that may allow you to schedule backups of certain files or directories at a particular time.

Another option is to pay for an online storage service such as Mozy, which allows you to upload your data to their company computers. This is nice because your data is safer when stored in two different locations ( If you're house burns down, your computer AND external drive would most likely be burned.) The downside is that it takes a long time to transfer a lot of data across the internet.

It doesn't really matter how you do it, just do it! And do it often.

It's not important for you to backup your entire system. Things like programs can be easily replaced by reinstalling them from a CD or download. The data that is essential to backup are the things that are irreplaceable: photos, personal documents, and anything else that can't be recovered for a price. Data storage nowadays is very cheap, so if you're in doubt about what to backup, play it safe.

Now, don't think that a data disaster won't happen to you. Make sure that you are ready for a catastrophe by creating a backup plan right now. For less than $100 bucks and just a little bit of setup time, you'll be much safer. Is your data worth $100 bucks?

Keep Private Data Safe From Web Snoops

The internet is vast web of connections which link personal computers, corporate networks, government servers and foreign organizations. When you connect to a particular website, the data that you enter and receive passes through a number of computers outside of your control. So, what prevents a user on one of those computers from intercepting your data and reading it? Nothing usually, but private data CAN be protected if you use something called "Secure Socket Layers" (SSL). This article isn't intended to explain the details of SSL. It is intended to make sure that you, a user of the internet, know how to determine if your data is safe. You don't have to know how a watch works to read the time.

First, you should never consider your information secure when using a computer that isn't your own. When you load your email, visit a banking site, or load any information that is considered sensitive, that information gets stored into the memory of the computer that you are using. If you're not the owner of that computer, you can't be sure that no one will obtain your sensitive info. It doesn't matter how secure your connection to the web is, your data is still stored locally. If you do not trust the owners of the computer you are using, don't load or enter any sensitive material. Buying something online with your credit card while using a foreign internet cafe computer is a bad idea, as the owners may be recording every keystroke you make.

Now, on to SSL. The concept is really simple: SSL protects your data from potential snoopers by encrypting it before sending. Your browser encodes your sensitive information using encryption, the coded data is sent, and the computer that you are connecting to decodes it. If someone in the middle intercepts your data, they will just see a bunch of gibberish codes. When you connect to a website using the "https://" instead of "http://" prefix, you are telling the browser to protect your data using SSL. The pictures here show a secure connection being made to gmail, so no one can read my email even if they intercept it! If you have a gmail account, just go to https://www.gmail.com instead of http://www.gmail.com if you want to try it yourself. Many other online mail systems carry this feature as well.

If a proper secure connection has been made, you should see a little picture of a lock in the lower right hand corner of your page. Hovering your mouse over the lock will show you the third party organization that has verified the website in question. Companies like IdenTrust and Verisign are common examples of companies that make this verification.

Bottom line... if you don't see https:// in your address bar, and there is no lock in the bottom right hand corner of your screen, don't enter or try to retrieve any sensitive information! Don't pay your bills online, don't do any bank transactions, and don't read sensitive material. However, if you do see the https://, the lock, and you're using a computer you trust, your data is secure.

Now, go practice. Check your bank's account and the sites you use to pay your bills online to make sure they are doing things right. If there's no https and lock, send a complaint. There is no reason that any website dealing with sensitive information should not be using this technology.

I'll trade you 4 IEs for 1 Firefox

If you run Windows it is very possible that you are viewing this page in Internet Explorer, Microsoft's pre-packaged web browser that comes with Windows (often called IE). To be sure, look in the upper left corner of the page. If you see a blue "e" icon, then you're using IE, and this article is intended to help you understand why you should try a different browser: Firefox. Maybe you're just fine with IE, or maybe it seems like too big of a hassle to change. Read on before you blow this off..

First, IE does a terrible job of interpreting web pages. An organization known as the World Wide Web Consortium creates standards on how browsers should display the files that are loaded when you visit a website. When the browsers are made to be compliant with the specifications of this organization, web designers can be assured that their pages will display correctly, no matter which browser is being used. Microsoft has ignored huge portions of these standards in developing IE, thus limiting many of the tools that would be available to web designers. It's kind of like trying to use a Phillips screwdriver on a proprietary screw that doesn't fit. As a web designer myself, I have pulled out my hair (which is why I am somewhat bald) trying to get my web pages to look the way that I intended them in IE. Web designers waste time figuring out how to "hack" their websites into working with IE. As a user, you get a less functional, less efficient browser using IE. Lame...

Secondly, IE is a lot less secure than Firefox. IE is closely built around the foundations Windows, making it much easier for a hacker or malicious user to use web pages to mess with your computer. Firefox, on the other hand, was built as a separate block, making security exploits much more difficult. I can guarantee you that your "spyware" scanner will find much fewer problems if you switch to Firefox.

Now, forget about the problems with IE, what's so great about Firefox itself? Firefox is very efficient; It uses less memory and displays pages very quickly. It has many user options which will allow you to navigate the way that YOU want to navigate. For example, don't you hate it when you click on a link and it opens a whole new window? You can set Firefox to disallow that, or have it open in another "tab" instead of a whole new window. There are all kinds of simple yet powerful options that you can set up in Firefox.



Firefox also has a great architecture for add-ons. Add-ons are little modules that you can install into your browser to make it do new things. For example, you can install an add-on called WeatherFox which will show you your local weather forcast in the corner of your broswer. Want to listen to music right inside your browser? Try FoxyTunes. Maybe you want a tool that will allow you to load photos and web content quickly to your family blog... Firefox has extentions for that too. Here's a page with tons of firefox add-ons that you can explore.

Firefox has a whole slew of security features that you can learn about if you search the web. It's built to last, very slick, and well designed. There is no doubt in my mind that it is the best web browser available today, and I know you'll love it if you try it out. On top of that, it is entirely FREE and always will be. Get it now for free here.