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Updated
9/19/04
Our
store is hosted on a secure server.
We
encourage you to ask for our products in your local quilt shop.
SHOP ONLINE
If
you cannot find our products in your area, please visit our Web
store. This
link will take you to the first page of
our store, where you can browse and shop online.
Request
a catalog
via
snail mail
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New
to the Internet?
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Best
advice? Don't believe everything you read. The Internet
is a billion-page encyclopedia written by millions - so you still
want to be sure the publisher has good credentials. For general
information about using the Internet,
click
here. For an explanation on everything
from how e-mail works to dealing with e-mail attachments,
click
here. (From Marti Michell is not affiliated
with any of the sites mentioned on our Web site.)
Update
your virus program often, as new virus definitions are added regularly.
If you think your computer may have a virus, these sites may be
helpful:
Symantec's
Security
Response
McAfee
Security Virus Information
Protect
yourself from Internet fraud. We recently received an e-mail
from our Internet Service Provider (ISP) warning of fraudulent
e-mails sent in their name requesting personal information from
users. Called "phishing," the same thing is happening
to banks and other legitimate businesses and the sender's address
often looks like the legitimate address. If you receive an e-mail
that appears to be from your ISP or bank requesting confirmation
of your password, PIN, credit card number, etc., don't reply to
the e-mail. Criminals may use links that actually redirect you
to a different Web page from the address that appears in the e-mail.
Always type the correct Web address directly into the address
bar of your Web browser before visiting a site that asks you to
submit personal information. Don't buy anything promoted in
an unsolicited e-mail; it could be a scam.
If you wish to report a phishing experience, you can forward the
e-mail (with headers, see #8 below) to the legitimate website
(address your letter to abuse@..., spam@... or webmaster@... )
and also to
spam@uce.gov
(the Federal Trade Commission's data collection address); and
reportphishing@antiphishing.org
Do
not open any attachments that you are not sure of - even if
they appear to be from a friend about something the gov't is doing
that looks like you'd want to know about it - or warns you that
an e-mail virus has been detected on your machine and you must
read the attached document to learn how to get rid of it- it's
a fake! If your friends ask why you send them an odd attachment,
or if it appears that you sent a junk e-mail to yourself, it is
probably because your e-mail program is "spoofing."
Unfortunately, it happens to everyone.
To
reduce spam: Learn
how to use all the options in your mail program and visit your
ISP's home page to learn about any spam-blocking tools they offer.
In the meantime, scroll down to read 10 ideas that can help right
now, or skip to a specific tip using the links below.
-
Use
your mail program's mail filters or rules. You can set
up filters to key on specific words in the subject, who a
letter is from, who it is going to (if you use mail aliases
like many of us do), and you can assign where to file filtered
e-mails, like make a new mailbox so friends' letters will
go into their own box. Spammers use loads of addresses and
subjects, so each piece of unwanted mail may have its own
unique sender and subject; in that case, make filters based
on specific words and filter them directly to the trash. Set
your mail program to empty trash each time you quit.
If you think you're receiving e-mails because of a wild e-mail
virus, see
paragraph 2 above for help in dealing with viruses.
If your machine is not infected, make filters based on keywords
in various nuisance e-mails and have them transfer
directly to the trash.
If you feel like it's getting out of control, you can sign
up for a screening service that will send an e-mail to anyone
who sends you an e-mail, requesting that they confirm that
they are, in fact, a human being and not a machine that is
generating bulk mail. After that, they're in your "accept"
file.
As a last resort, contact your ISP about getting a new e-mail
address and start over with a fresh e-mail address - and read
everything below before venturing out again.
- Remember
the old shampoo commercial, where she told 2 friends and they
told 2 friends, etc.? Ever received a 2-line joke at the bottom
of a 2-foot list of e-mail addresses? Who
knows how many times those addresses are being distributed or
where they end up. When forwarding e-mails, highlight and delete
all the addresses in the body of the letter. This is a courtesy
to your readers, too. When sending mail, list recipients addresses
in the "bcc" field so the addresses won't show up in
the amyl.
-
Along
the same line, don't post your e-mail address in forums
or on other public pages. Harvesting software collects millions
of addresses from public pages. If you must list an address,
spell it out in words (your name at name of your ISP dot com).
I have read that the longer your e-mail address is, the harder
it is to harvest, but I don't know if that's true. Use a free
web-based e-mail address like Yahoo! or Hotmail when you want
to join a forum that requires your e-mail address. That way,
if the address is harvested, junk will go to that mailbox
rather than your home address. If you must post your address,
spell it out: janedoe at myhost dot com; it works at the present
time, but who knows for how long!
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- Don't
click on an "unsubscribe" link unless it's something
you actually signed up for and want to discontinue receiving.
If you were part of a mass mailing and you respond, the sender
will know your address works. If you are annoyed and ask to be
removed, you are telling the sender that you read the mail he
sends, so he will send more. Try #7 or #8 below and trash unwanted
e-mails without opening them.
- Don't
use your regular e-mail address when signing up for newsletters,
discussion lists, etc. Set up a free mail account at Yahoo or
Netscape. Use your home address for mail you really want from
friends and family, etc. Some sites require a "real"
address; set up an alias address in your ISP account, then make
a mail filter in your mail program with the same name as the alias
address.
Tell your friends to use that address if they e-mail pages to
you.
-
Use
unique screen names
or aliases. Don't put your name (or other personal info) on
the Web. (And just to be safe, if you must buy online, find
the 800 number and call the order in, or keep one credit card
with a very low limit just for Internet purchases.)
-
Use
your ISP's spam-blocking feature, if one is available. It
won't stop everything, but it will stop a lot. If your ISP doesn't
offer a spam filter and you're tired of spam, compare ISPs to
find one that offers everything you want and change your ISP.
-
If you decide to report spam to your ISP,
select "view page source" from the browser menu. A
new page will open displaying the html code. Copy/paste everything
on that page into the body of an e-mail and send that to your
ISP, so they can read the code to find out who the real sender
is. Spammers are sneaky about hiding their address. You
might also want to report
spam to the appropriate gov't agency.
-
Don't
forward chain e-mails or virus warnings. People mean well,
but most of the time it's a hoax. Check it out at one of the
urban legends sites to find out, like Snopes
or Scambusters,
and let the sender know it was a hoax. Some forwarded e-mail
warnings are legitimate, however,
like the one about how telemarketers are getting around the
national "do not call" list. (Details are on the Snopes
site.)
-
Be
proactive. Read the privacy notices before submitting your
e-mail address to Web sites. When you download free software,
uncheck the "send me updates" etc. checkboxes. If
you don't understand something, ask someone about it before
clicking "submit."
This
isn't everything you can do to cut down on spam, but it's a good
start.
If
you visit a Website and you can't see the photos or the page is
blank, you may need to upgrade your browser software. Browsers must
be upgraded regularly, as codes and programming are improved to
make using the Internet easier and more enjoyable. Just go to the
browser's home page (do a search on your browser's name if you don't
know how to get to the home page) and search that site for an upgrade.
This usually solves the problem.
We
hope you enjoy exploring our site and discovering other great quilting
sites on the Worldwide Web!
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From
Marti Michell
P.O.Box
80218, Atlanta, GA 30366-0218 USA
800-558-3568
770-458-6500
Entire contents © 1996–2008 by Martha G. Michell
All of our products and printed materials are made
in the USA.
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