Genealogy Forum NEWS
February, 1999
Tips and Tricks
WEB SECURITY
Submitted by GFS CO2@AOL.com
Due to the increase in email containing hyperlinks leading to sites that contain Trojan Horses, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the following precautions you can take to protect your account:
Instructions on Setting Browser Security:
(1) Go to "My AOL" on the toolbar
(2) Select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu
(3) Click on the "WWW" icon. A window will open up on the top left of your screen entitled "AOL Internet Properties". It has 4 tabs that run across the top, called "General", "Security", "Content", "Web Graphics".
(4) Select the second tab across the top, "Security"
(5) In the lower half of the window, under "Set the security level for this zone", chose "High" by clicking on the little round white button to the left of "High" -- Exclude content that could damage your computer.
(6) At the bottom right, click on "Apply"
(7) Click "OK" to exit the window.
Taking the above steps will ensure that you are protected as much as possible from hyperlinks containing malicious downloads.
How to Turn Off the Instant Message™ Feature
-AOL's Tip of the Day
A D V A N C E D
Instant Message conversations are a quick and easy way to communicate with other America Online members. They're are fun and useful, but there are times when you don't want to get into a conversation. Sometimes you'll be in the middle of something and not need to know about Aunt Mildred's knee-troubles. In these instances, you can turn them off. Now, the Instant Message box doesn't have an obvious "off" button -- there’s a little trick to it (but then, that’s what I'm here for).
To refuse incoming Instant Message sessions, bring up an Instant Message box by using Control-i if you're on a PC or Command-i if you're on a Mac.
Type $im_off in the To: field of the Instant Message form (where you would usually type a member's name), and then type at least one character in the Message field. Then click on the Send button.
You will receive the confirmation "You are now ignoring Instant Messages." That lasts for your current online session. Members attempting to send Instant Message greetings to you will also receive a message that you cannot receive Instant Message windows.
When you want to receive the Instant Message feature again, send an Instant Message greeting to $im_on, and don't forget to type at least one character in the Message field.
Cause, you know, you may be the only person Aunt Mildred has to talk to. Heck, come to think of it...lether send you her Instant Message rants... just don't tell her you're gonna go wander off and get some lunch while she talks at your computer.
Meg signing off...
Enjoy AOL
I thought I'd do something different for this tip, so I went to some of my co-workers and said "If you could give just one tip that would help our members enjoy AOL more, what would it be?" My co-workers, all swell human beings, just the sort of folks you'd want to take a long cross-country car ride with, obliged with some great ideas. Here's some of them . . .
1) Clear your Web Cache -- "All Web browsers cache graphics that they come into contact with on the Web. This means it keeps a copy of them in a directory on your hard drive. This speeds up return trips to a specific Web site, but if the cache is too big, it can actually slow things down -- the browser has so many images to sort through. Clear your cache in your Web Preferences."
2) Explore Something New -- "AOL has lots to offer. There are hundreds of online areas on AOL, and that doesn't include the Web links you'll find throughout AOL. Don't let yourself fall into a rut. Follow a link from the Welcome screen or browse the channel screen to find an area. Or try Interest Profilesto find something new!"
3) Create a Member Profile -- "AOL is a community, and the best way to fully take part in that community is by creating a Member Profile. It's easy, just go to the Profile area at Keyword: Profileand enter in the appropriate information. Now, if a long-lost friend joins AOL and looks for you (it happens more often than you might think!) in the Member Directory, they'll be able to find you."
4) Keep Your E-Mail -- "In AOL 3.0 and 4.0 for Windows you can have your AOL Personal Filing Cabinet automatically save all the e-mail you send or receive. Just go to Mail Preferences and select 'Retain all mail I send' and 'Retain all mail I read.'"
5) Clear Out Your PFC -- "If you already save mail in your Personal Filing Cabinet, now is a good time to go through it and delete any old messages you no longer need. This keeps your PFC tidy, and helps AOL load faster when you start it up."
More ways to Enjoy AOL coming up soon!
Megsigning off...
Sending E-mail to Other Online Systems
-AOL's Tip of the Day
A D V A N C E D
With millions of people using America Online as their connection to the Internet, it sometimes seems as if everybody is on AOL. Which, if you must know, is just fine with me. However, there are still people who choose other ways to go online. Some may use another national Internet provider, some may use small regional providers, and some may even use school-based accounts. Regardless of the route your friends take to the Net, you can still send e-mail to them -- no matter where they are.
It's just like sending e-mail to AOL folks -- you type their e-mail addresses into the To: box on the screen where you compose e-mail, type a subject and message, and then send it on its way. But there is one small but important difference: with Internet e-mail you need not only the person's screenname, but also the "domain" of their service provider. This is the information following the "@" sign in an Internet e-mail address.
So, if your friend who is in college is writing to you, his address might look like this: joe1234@mycollege.edu. Someone using a small regional Internet provider would have an address that looks like this: (login_name)@localisp.com. If they're using one of those other online services, the address will look sort of like the following:
CompuServe -- 12345.123@compuserve.com
The Microsoft Network -- BillGates@msn.com
Prodigy Internet -- Joe@prodigy.net
Prodigy Classic -- abcd01a@prodigy.com
E-mail, like regular mail, must have a correct address to reach its intended recipient (though you won't have wasted a stamp if it comes back). If you don't know the e-mail address of a friend, the best way to get it is to ask him or her for it (funny about that).
Don't try to guess the address or assume the address will be something easy, like "bob@wherever.com" -- some folks have complicated addresses. If you can't get hold of your friend, you may also be able to look up the address here: AOL NetFind: Find a Person.
Now, remember that some of your cool AOL e-mail features only work when you send mail to other AOL members: all that nifty text formatting (colors and text styles) and the Check Status and Unsend features are for AOL e-mail only. Now, aren't those more good reasons to get your friends, family and coworkers to use AOL? ;)
Meg signing off...
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