FReeper Canteen ~ Online Shopping 101 ~ November 22, 2005

22-NOV-05 | Gummy News

[GummyIII]

Gummy Style!

Newsflash:  Gummy Hates to Shop November 22, 2005 I hate to shop.  I know. You are thinking, "She's not normal."  Perhaps I should clarify.  I hate to drive to a busy mall or store, get out, fight the crowds, look in umpteen stores for the best bargain, and come home with nothing but achy feet and head.  When Al Gore invented the internet, he did it for me.  Honest. (Psssst....He would have told you that, but he's afraid you wouldn't believe him.) OK,  you've guessed it...I do all my shopping online.  Below are my best tips for online shopping. Oh, there is ONE drawback, gentlemen...you can't wait until Christmas Eve to shop.  It's a good thing I believe in Santa Claus! He brings me my present EVERY year. (Hint:  if the animated background bugs you, hit the "stop" button on your browser.)

We Support Our Troops!!!!  Thank you for your service!!!

Shop Online Safely Use credit cards. The big three credit card issuers, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, have a zero liability policy. You pay nothing for unauthorized transactions if you notify your financial institution. For extra fraud protection, sign up for MasterCard's SecureCode or Visa's Verified by Visa. These are password challenge programs for online shopping. Look for signs that online purchases are secure. At the point that you are providing your payment information, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating the information is being encrypted. Your browser may also signal that the information is secure with a symbol, such as a broken key that becomes whole or a padlock that closes. Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen. When you visit a company's Web site, an unauthorized pop-up screen created by an identity thief could appear with blanks for you to provide your personal information. Legitimate companies don't ask for personal information via pop-up screens.  Keep your computer secure for safe shopping and other online activities. Protect your computer with spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, pop-up blockers and a firewall, and keep them up to date. Go to http://www.staysafeonline.org and http://www.onguardonline.gov to learn more about how to keep your computer secure. Or use El Gran's wonderful site:  Canteen Resource Center. Disclaimer: Not suitable for Grinches or Scrooges. Santa reads this news, too!!

Tips for Saving Money and Sanity Try online coupons. Many online stores provide regular customers with promotional codes. These codes are entered during the online checkout process. They save you money, just like a traditional coupon. Coupon Cabin, Current Codes and Naughty Codes are three websites that list promotional codes for online stores. (Google "promotional code" and the name of the store from which you are purchasing.  Others may show up.) Promotional codes usually offer free shipping or a reduced price. Often, online stores offer multiple codes, but you'll probably have to use one or the other.  Use disposable e-mail. You must register an e-mail address with stores when you purchase online.  The store e-mails a confirmation of your purchase and, often, tracking information. Additionally, it may send you promotional codes. But it may also send you unwanted e-mail.There are a couple ways to handle this. You could create a new e-mail address. A number of sites offer free e-mail, including Hotmail (www.msn.com), Yahoo (mail.yahoo.com), Techemail (www.techemail.com) and Netscape (www.netscape.com). Or, sign up for a disposable e-mail address. Free services such as spamgourmet and Sneakemail allow you to create a temporary e-mail address. They forward mail to your "real" one. Sign up for a temporary address before making a purchase. When you've received your purchases and are satisfied with them, you can eliminate the temporary address. COMING NEXT WEEK:   All I want for Christmas is.......... Gummy News is produced  as a service to our troops.  Volume 1, Number 1.

Comparision Shopping 101 Yahoo, Inc., Shopzilla, Shopping.com,  Google Inc.'s Froogle.com, PriceWatch, PriceGrabber, NexTag and ShopLocal are a few of the top contenders for online comparison shopping.  Take the time to see how each one works.  Most will sort by price, look for items within a price range, and look for specific brand items which you specify.  Many of the above sites have ratings for you to check the product.  Other sites are cnet.com, zdnet.com, consumersearch.com, epinions.com, PCMagazine, BusinessWeekOnline, ConsumerGuide, and many others.  Also, many of the consumer online sites offer customer reviews.  Use those in conjunction with other reviews. For example, Amazon.com and Circuit City's online store are two sites with customer reviews. Best viewed at 1024x768,  medium text size

[stand watie]

YEP. it IS!

Cindy is married to a prominent OB-GYN.

she has the $$$$$$$$$$$$.

free dixie,sw

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

My Christmas Wish List:

#1-Please make everyone be a responsible, moral, and contributing citizen in our society. The End.

[luvie]

Yummy...that sounds really good. Where did you get your recipe for that? I don't think I've ever had turkey cajun style. We need to get ahold of Beth...she'd love that! :o)

We'll be going out to Furr's cafeteria.

Today since it is a beautiful clear day, we are going out to the Sandhills and do a little shooting. Hubby's been collecting cans and now it's time to kill 'em! LOL! It should be fun.

Just ping me when you're here so I don't miss ya! Happy Thanksgiving!

[luvie]

Sounds like she knows how to spend his $$$$$$$$$, too! LOL!

That party sounds like it will be a great time. Do ya have to dress up for it? Is is today?

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

"(Being a DAMNyankee is no better than being a RACIST. DYism is a LEARNED prejudice against dixie.)"

You've got my vote. Keeping the all-famed phrase after the Civil War ended, only gives the South a (not-so?)subtle reminder of what occurred. Not a very smart move.

[mylife]

No recipe, just inject dem bird wit tony chacheres creole injectable marinate!

Im going shooting in a couple hours too.

Cya later Luv, have fun!

[jmpmstr4u2]

Well I am sorry that I signed out so early last night. Look like I missed it. Next time, please let me know when you are going at it again...lol

[stand watie]

NOPE.

Thursday from 5PM till ??????

free dixie,sw

[luvie]

Whoooo, man, dat sounds so good!

Have fun shootin'--we sure will!

Ms.B's gonna be sad that she missed ya again!

(((((hugs))))))

[stand watie]

i LIKE your tagline!

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

THANK YOU, ma'am! (said with groundward sweep of ostrich-plumed, gray slouch hat)

come over on the WBTS threads & check out what a REAL DY is.

start with a search for the posts from "m.eSPINola", "modernman", "x","ditto","mac_truck", et.al.

free dixie,sw

[luvie]

Why thank you! Borrowed it from a great man!

LOVE Dixie!!!

[stand watie]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

free dixie HUGS,sw

[luvie]

;o)

[Horatio Gates]

Prayers sent that this happens. Best wishes too!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Glad you liked it, and that it helped!
(Now if your guests like it, we're all set!)
LOL
Ms.B

[stand watie]

TRUE!

free dixie,sw

[Kathy in Alaska]

TAPS

RIP Keepers of our freedom

[Kathy in Alaska]

wh!!

lauren.....#1150!!
Colonel.....#1200!!
sw.....#1250!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Catching up....

"We are serving in freedom's cause...."

Very nice, GB, very nice.