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|   Oct. 18, 2008—Vol. 12, No. 42 Support this free newsletter—please visit our advertisers
Want to know more about making money online? Have a question about something digital? I'm here for you. After all, they call it "talk radio" for a reason. You can join in the fun.
 INTERESTING GEMS THAT CROSSED MY DESK So, in that light, here are a few items from the 20 percent that you might find useful. • Research has shown that some 75 percent of banking sites have at least one security problem. Make sure when you are doing your banking online the address starts with "https://". The "s" means it is a secure connection. Knowledge is power. Here's a great tip on what you need to do to bank online safely. • Companies are downsizing. This means you might need a new résumé. You don't have to start from scratch. Microsoft offers free fill-in-the-blank templates. You can access them through this link at my site. • Watch your health. There's been an increase in heart problems since Wall Street's woes became the lead story on the nightly news. WebMD offers both a symptom checker and physican directory. • Check your neighborhoods for registered sex offenders. I was pulling together a handout for our Boy Scout troop this week about Halloween safety. I checked the maps and found that a child molester lives within 400 feet of a friend's house! I let her know right away! Learn how to check your neighborhood online with this informative tip on my site. • I own two Nikon Digital SLRs. The more I see and read about the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, the more it looks sweet! "Along with the ability to capture full HD video clips at 1920 x 1080 resolution, Canon's EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera features a 21.1-megapixel full frame 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 imaging processor and significantly lower noise, with an expanded sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600." Too bad it's $2,500! Here's a link to the official press release and kit about it. • Finally, I've been better at updating my blog. Read and see what I've been up to lately by clicking here. PAY IT FORWARD: Forward this newsletter to friends and family. Encourage them to sign up for our newsletters! There's always something new to learn about this digital world! SAVE MONEY--GET YOUR SOFTWARE FOR FREE Each day, I feature one program as a Download of the Day. It could be a security program. Or, maybe it's a fun new game. You never know! Have you been keeping up with my Download of the Day? If not, check out these great freebies from the past week. Just click on the links below to learn more about the programs. I'll be here waiting with more great freebies—and plenty of advice! • Tired of searching through your Start menu to find the programs? Try this free program. If offers an easy-to-use search box to find and launch programs on your computer. • For some people, punctuality is a challenge. They're 15 minutes late to, well, pretty much everything. If you are one of those people, this free program might help. • How would you like to mix some of your own music? Or change audio files you already have? This program makes it easy to cut and paste audio. Even add blending and fading effects to your audio. DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY DAILY! Enter Today: Do you get lost a lot? Not anymore! Enter my Giveaway of the Day Sweepstakes today for your chance to win the NAVIGON 2100 max GPS unit. This $299 GPS device is ultra-thin and stylish with a 4.3" touch screen display and advanced features. Get peace of mind and save gas by making sure you are always heading in the right direction! Keep organized and in touch this year. The Palm Centro smartphone gives you voice, text, IM, e-mail and the Web. All of this is in a sleek phone that fits into your pocket! Enter tomorrow to win a Palm Centro smartphone ($299-$349 without contract, $99 with contract) during the Komando.com Giveaway of the Day. 10/11 – Lisa Nazzaro of Little Rock, AR (KARN 102.9 FM / 920 AM) – We hope Lisa likes movies! She'll now be able to watch them at home in HD clarity with her new Sony Blu-Ray Disc Player ($399 VALUE). This player also outputs a Full 1080/24p True Cinema picture, plus upscales your existing DVD collection to 1080p when using the HDMI connection. 10/12 - Sharon Dent of Redding, CA (KQMS 1400 AM) – No one better try to break into Sharon's computer. She'll be protected by a new portable, USB hard-drive with hardware encryption and a fingerprint access. This Biometric Prize Bundle is valued at $229! 10/13 - Siggy Tetteh of Macon, GA (WMAC 940 AM) – Siggy just won an exciting prize package from Microsoft. It includes a Wireless Laser Desktop 7000, LifeCam VX-7000 and Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000. This prize package is valued at $260. 10/14 - Arthur Baker of Lake Jackson (Houston), TX (KTRH 740 AM) – Arthur will now be able to hold meetings from his office, conference room, or home office with his Citrix GoToMeeting software. Best of all, participants can be in any location! This prize is valued at $468. 10/15 – David Lintz of Bellingham, WA (KGMI 790 AM) - David can now convert notes and drawings to his computer with Livescribe's Pulse smartpen! This $149 value prize records and syncs audio with whatever you write, so you never miss a word! 10/16 - Tina Michel of Candler, NC (WPEK 880 AM) - Would you like a quality camcorder that fits in your pocket? Well, that's what Tina will get! She won Pure Digital's Flip Ultra Camcorder. This camcorder shoots DVD-quality video and offers advanced editing features. It's valued at $150. Just remember--To win daily, you have to enter daily. Here's a secret: Not all people who visit my site, get these newsletters, listen to the show, etc. enter our contests. I don't know what the odds are of winning. But I bet they're a lot better than your state lottery's! WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING ONLINE? You don't need to worry about that with my Video of the day. I feature a new, family-friendly video each day of the week. If you're not watching, you don't know what you're missing! Are you a car buff? If so, you're in for a treat. I've collected some great car videos. Here are some of my favorites from my Video of the Day archive:
SHARE MY VIDEOS: Share my videos with your friends or family! Simply click the ShareThis button below the video you like. Click the Send/Email tab to e-mail the video with a personal message. Or click on the Social Web tab. From there you can share the video online. It works with services like Facebook, MySpace, StumbleUpon and more. NOTE: Are you having trouble seeing my daily video picks? Do you get a message that the video is not available? Sorry to say, it's probably not the video. It's your computer, my friend. Get help on my troubleshooting page. These problems are pretty easy to fix.
STILL TO COME: Useful tips, important news and a few laughs!
• The Web can save you big bucks on holiday travel • Important security tips; and some awesome freebies! Back to the top   USING AN ITUNES GIFT CARD WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD I like to keep my credit card number closely guarded, too. This isn't to say that your grandson would use it without your permission. However, the computer could fall into someone else's hands. It's also fairly easy to make purchases inadvertently in iTunes. iTunes will request your credit card number, even if you're using a gift card. Apple wants to make it easy to buy music, videos and applications. After all, its goal is to make money! But you can avoid that credit card snag. Here's how: In iTunes, click Store>>Create Account. Click Redeem Code. Enter the 16-digit code from the back of the gift card. Click Redeem. On the next screen, you'll be prompted to create a store account. You have the option of entering credit card information. Since you don't want to do this, click None on the Payment screen. Now you can start making purchases! iPods are great gadgets. But, you need to know how to get the most of them. Check out these handy tips for more help:
• Transfer your CDs to your iPod the easy way • Secrets to prolonging your iPod's battery • Freebies for iTunes PUMP UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR PRESENTATIONS I'm sure many people have encountered similar problems. Laptop speakers just aren't loud or clear enough for presentations. Fortunately, you don't need to settle for lackluster sound . There are several ways to crank up the sound. What works best will vary. It depends on audience size. The size and shape of the room also matter, as does the room's acoustics. Your laptop should have a headphone jack. You can use this to connect your laptop to external speakers. The projector you use probably has built-in speakers. You can run an audio cord from your laptop to the projector. It may not be much better than the laptop speakers. But it should be good enough for an audience of 10-15 people. A better solution is to buy a pair of powered speakers like those used by desktops. These provide a much bigger sound than laptop speakers. Powered, or active, speakers have a built-in amplifier. The amplifier increases the sound output. Don't settle for less than 20 watts per speaker. This should be versatile enough to work for audiences of 100 people. Expect to pay about $100. If this doesn't work, pull out the big guns. First, speak with someone who works for the venue. It should have some type of speaker system. You should be able to run a cord from your laptop to the speaker system. Ask what type of cord you will need. The venue's speaker system will likely consist of an amplifier and speakers. The speakers connect to the amplifier. The amplifier connects to your laptop. You can create a similar setup yourself, if needed. Just make sure the speakers are strong enough for the amplifier. Otherwise, you could blow out the speakers. I've got plenty of help for those doing presentations. Here are just a few from my site:
• Use a PowerPoint presentation as a screen saver • A free alternative to PowerPoint • Put your office on a thumb drive GETTING TV ON THE GO--LITERALLY Unfortunately, getting a good television signal in your van won't be easy. That's because the van's movement presents problems to television reception. The best way to pick up a signal is by line of sight. In other words, nothing should be obstructing the path from the transmitter to the antenna. Often, signals are bounced off buildings or obstructed by trees. When you're driving, this problem is more pronounced. You'll encounter many objects that obstruct the signal. So, fall outs and bad reception are more likely. You can find antennas that are optimized for vehicles. An example is the Boomerang antenna, which you sometimes see on limousines. You can pick one up for $100 or less. You might also consider a diversity antenna system. These use at least two antennas. You'll find both switched and combined systems. With switched, a chip determines which antenna is receiving the best signal and uses it. Combined uses input from all of the antennas. The signal is filtered to eliminate interference. If you go with a diversity antenna system, the TV tuner must support it. The tuner needs to have the connections for the antennas. It also needs the chip that makes use of them. I've seen the antennas online for about $25. With a compatible tuner, the price jumps to the $200 range. I don't get too many questions about watching TV in a vehicle. But I do get a lot of questions about TV in general. These tips will help you get the most out of your TV setup:
• What you need to know about the DTV transition • Catch your favorite show online, on your time • Find the best HDTV programming options KEEP YOUR PC RUNNING LIKE NEW TELL THE WORLD TO GO KOMANDO
• Keep reading! I have more money-saving tips! Back to the top
 SAVE BIG ON HOLIDAY TRAVEL USING THE WEB The Web makes it easy for anyone to plan and book travel. It also makes it easy for you to reduce travel costs. Here are some handy tips for getting the best deal. Flight rates fluctuate with demand. The holiday season is one of the busiest travel times. So, book your flights well in advance. Last-minute deals will be scarce or nonexistent. If you want to save on holiday travel, better act fast! Read the rest of my column on my site. You'll learn plenty of money-saving travel tips. Of course, my column is free! A LITTLE ABOUT ME: HOW TO CALL ME DURING THE SHOW WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
• Should you install XP Service Pack 3? Back to the top 
Attaching pictures, documents and other files to e-mail messages isn't too difficult. Yet, it trips up a lot of people. The process for attaching files to e-mail will vary. It just depends on the software you are using. It also varies among Webmail providers. But most programs and sites have one thing in common. They use a picture of a paperclip to denote attachments. So, all you need to do is look for the paperclip button. Click it, specify your attachments and then click to confirm the attachments. In Outlook, click the paperclip on the toolbar or ribbon in the message window. In the window that opens, navigate to the photo you would like to attach. Select your photo by clicking on it. If you want to add multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting them. Click Insert. The file name(s) will appear in the Attached line of your message. You can continue working on the message as you normally would. To remove an attachment, highlight it and press Delete. The steps are quite similar in Yahoo! Mail. In the message window, click the paperclip on the toolbar. Navigate to the attachment location. Click to select your photo. Click Open. Yahoo! won't let you select multiple files at once. So, you'll need to specify each individually. Simply repeat the process. Your attachments will be listed below the subject line. To remove one, click Remove beside the file name. You can continue to edit your e-mail as you normally would. Now, it is important that you attach the correct file. Otherwise, it can lead to a very embarrassing situation. Don't miss my other great tips on using e-mail efficiently:
• Rescue my newsletters from the junk pile • Get your Webmail in Outlook • Use a separate e-mail account for shopping NEW AND IMPROVED BUYING GUIDE A MESSAGE FROM THE KOMANDO.COM POSTMASTER SEE SOMETHING UNDERLINED? CLICK & LEARN
STILL TO COME IN THIS WEEKEND'S EDITION:
• Find out what you should know about XP SP3 Back to the top
THANKS FOR JOINING THE TEAM! Time change: Asheville, NC (WPEK 880 AM), Sundays 5 p.m.; Digital Minutes in the 8 a.m. hour weekdays SUGAR, SPICE AND STATIONS "THE OTHER FLORIDA"
FIND ME NEAR YOU USING OUR HI-TECH MAP LISTEN WHEN YOU WANT IN CRYSTAL CLEAR DIGITAL AUDIO STILL TO COME IN THIS WEEKEND'S EDITION:
• What's new in XP Service Pack 3?
CONTEST SITE: Pump up the savings FREEBIE OF THE WEEK: Experience a fresh fragrance FREEBIE FROM KOMANDO.COM: Name that tune GET A COOL SITE EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK In case you missed any this past week, here's a list of some of our favorites: Let's keep it going; there's plenty more to cover:
GOT A MAC? GOT A PC? GET YOUR UPDATES NOW! Microsoft released its monthly security fixes on Tuesday. There were seven updates in all, four rated critical. Internet Explorer and Office are among the programs affected, along with Windows. On a related note, Microsoft has issued a warning about malicious e-mail messages. Scammers are sending messages purportedly containing a critical security patch. The attachment is really a keylogger. The messages say that the alerts are part of an "experimental private" update program. Rest assured that computer companies don't send updates via e-mail.GET YOUR FREE SECURITY SOFTWARE HERE SHARE IT: Spread the word. Share the link to my security center with your family, friends, baseball team—everyone! They will thank you for it! Back to the top
 Service packs often cause problems to a small set of computers. In this case, it was a problem with Hewlett-Packard machines using AMD chips. Service Pack 3 only adds a few security features. Otherwise, it includes all the updates previously supplied for XP. So if you have not been diligent, SP3 will catch you up. Otherwise, its use is optional. (If you haven't been so diligent, you should be in the future. My tip will explain why these monthly updates are crucial for your security.) Of course, there are a few new features in SP3. These could potentially create problems for your machine. Fortunately, though, SP3 has been out for quite a while. That means most of the kinks should be worked out. It also went through an extensive testing stage. Should you encounter problems with SP3, you can probably find help online. Many other users have already installed it. Take advantage of their knowledge by reading forums and other online postings. Before you install SP3, I recommend that you visit Microsoft's site. You can learn more about what the update includes. You'll also find tips for installing the service pack. Microsoft will also provide free installation and compatibility support for those installing SP3. This is available until April 14, 2009. You can find out how to get help on its site. I do have a couple of recommendations for you. First, you should back up all of the data on your machine. You could lose your data at any time. Installing a service pack only increases your risk. Need some help backing up your data? Then read my tip. It makes backups a snap! You also need at least one gigabyte of free space. Some users tried to install SP3 without adequate free space. The service pack wouldn't install correctly. This sent the users' machines into an endless reboot cycle. Finally, write down Microsoft's support number. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find if you can't boot your computer. The number is 866-234-6020.IF I HELPED YOU, CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME? 1. Tell your co-workers, employees, team members, fantasy sports buddies, family members and friends to check us out. I have a form that makes it easy. 2. Link your blog, online profile or site to my site. Instructions and cool artwork await you. Have a great weekend. Thank you for your support of my show and newsletters! I appreciate it! Kim :)
 A GENETIC EXPERIMENT GOES AWRY For many years, the dog was happy. But over time, he became lethargic and morose. The vet tried everything to cure the dog's depression. Eventually, he decided to take the dog to a pet psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told the veterinarian not to worry. The dog was just a little melon collie. Have a great day and I'll see you on the radio! SPECIAL SHOW THIS WEEKEND Kim :) GET MORE TIPS FROM ME TO YOU
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I'm running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed. Windows Update has begun asking if I want to install Service Pack 3. I remember hearing that Service Pack 3 can cause problems. Have the problems been solved? Is it safe for me to install Service Pack 3 if all my data is backed up?
I can understand why you'd be nervous about installing Service Pack 3. Some computers had problems with it. But that was last spring. As far as I know, the problems have been overcome. 
Copyright © 2008, The Kim Komando Show. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of The Kim Komando Show is prohibited and strictly enforced. Newsletters may contain links to sites on the Internet owned and operated by third parties. The Kim Komando Show is not responsible for the availability of, or the content located on or through, any such third-party site. Information in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and freedom from infringement. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. We will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this information, including, but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages. You may also unsubscribe by sending a request via postal mail. Please include your name, e-mail address and a printed copy of your Newsletter e-mail. Send to: |
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