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

[luvie]

Thanks, EGS. Thanks to Mail Washer I had some "undeliverable" mail that I just washed away without having to deal with opening! ((((((hugs)))))) for that! I thank you in my mind every time I use it and get rid of the spam! :o)

[luvie]

Great! It's pretty bad when you can get a virus from using Google! Sheesh! Nowhere is safe!

[GodBlessUSA]

Well, I'm thinking now, I went into the site that came up on a google image. Yeah, that is pretty bad. Thank goodness for all this software protection from them. How nasty people can be.

[luvie]

Glad you re-booted then. Fast is good! I need to clean my temp files again. Since making dolls I have noticed I have tons of them to clear out every day! LOL!

[Old Sarge]

There's talk of a big feed put on by KBR, and a potluck maybe by the Kids Of The Company later. Along with whatever football we can get off of AFN.

[luvie]

I try to ignore the sites that come up. Some of them are downright nasty or really stupid! I just click on the image and go from there....most of the time....

[Soaring Feather]

*HUGS*

[GodBlessUSA]

I clean temps twice a day. I'm paranoid but you can't blame me after that experience. LOL!

[luvie]

Well, that sounds like the typical American Thanksgiving day! Too much food and too much football, not necessarily in that order! LOL!

Hope all of you have the best day possible...we'll be thinking of you and praying that you stay safe over there taking care of business! Thanks for all that you guys do to keep us safe here at home. We love you more than you could possibly know! (((((((mega-hugs))))))

[luvie]

Hey, SW! Good to see you. I seem to miss you all the time!

LOVE Dixie!!!

[Jack Deth]

Hi, Lady Jag!

I hadn't thought of it.

Thanks very much for for the idea. I may give it a shot next time.

Jack.

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Morning Bentfeather!
I seem to never be on line the same time, as you, lately, to send you a hello. :) How are you?

[luvie]

No, I don't blame you at all. I did that on my old computer because I didn't have enough space on it. But on this one I tend to forget because I'm only using a small fraction of my total space available. I should do it more often!

[Old Sarge]

FEATHERS!!!

Glad to SEE you!!!

[GodBlessUSA]

I have to run. Julia is home and we are going to do some errands. We have to run to the beach and get rocks for a project. It's rainy but we will do it quickly.

I will be back later. What time are you going to lunch? I'll come back when you do.

[Old Sarge]

You're about to make me blush, you know that?

[stand watie]

YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

free dixie SMOOCH,sw

[luvie]

I don't mean to make you blush....but you are my hero and are loved here! ((((hugs)))) I pray every day that you and your brothers and sister soldiers over there come back to us safely after doing the hard work of keeping our country free. My words are inadequate for what I feel for you.

[Soaring Feather]

I been missing you!! How goes it?? Roasting any hot dogs over the BBQ pit yet?? LOL

I think that is so neat --you guys building the fireplace.

How's the muse? Mine is shot for the time being.

Cold and blustery here today, blowing in a big storm, grey skies to boot. Ugh.

Well, what about your prose, making any head way there?? I have found some fabulous graphics to go with some of the last prose you posted. They may inspire me to write a paragraph or two.

[luvie]

Oh, you and BOOBOO have a good time while you're out.

I'll probably go to lunch in about an hour and a half, so I'll watch for you after that! ((((hugs))))