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5/26/02

MailWasher - Another AntiSpam tool, that is VERY easy to use. A couple of the features that I really like about this nifty tool is that it will bounce messages (send a message back to the spammer that says your e-mail address no longer exists) and it highlights suspected viruses in red. This is newer than PureMail and so far I prefer it. Help for MailWasher can be found here. The program is free, but if you make a $20 donation you will receive support, additional documentation and lifetime updates. This program is well worth the $20!

5/20/02

PureMail - An AntiSpam tool that is easy to use and runs in the background with your existing e-mail client.

I have three software programs for you to check out from BlueFive Software. HTML Color allows you to set a background image and then try out different color combinations for link colors and regular font colors. FontPage is a handy little font viewer that allows you to select a font and see what it will look like with various attributes (bold, italic, underline, etc.) applied and in different sizes. It also allows you to view the character map for each font. PCLoupe is a magnifying utility that has a nicer interface than the built-in Windows magnifier.

PowerEdit is an interesting text/code editor. The thing that I found unique in this program is the built in Color Picker. It has a bunch of other programming features that I'm sure some of you would appreciate.

5/10/02

Incredimail - This is the coolest e-mail program I have ever seen. It is truly incredible! Incredimail allows you to create graphical e-mail messages using stationery. Easily add background images, animations, and sounds to your e-mail messages. There is a web gallery of additional stationery formats, animated notifiers, sounds, and animations. You can preview and delete messages on your mail server (premium version) before you download them. Be sure to also download MailCleaner (virus protection designed for Incredimail). About.com has a section devoted to Incredimail secrets. It's too cute for words! If you need instructions on configuring Incredimail with Hotmail, click here. For information on Incredimail and Yahoo (must pay for Yahoo's expanded service to use), click here. Incredimail does not work with AOL mail. If you want to use Incredimail, setup a free account at Hotmail. For additional frequently asked questions about Incredimail, click here.

5/1/02

Zone Alarm - Zone Alarm is a personal firewall (a program to protect your system against hackers, e-mail viruses and worms). There is a free version and the professional version is $39.95. If you decide to install the program, visit ShieldsUp! to test your new firewall. 6/3/02 - I have started testing Sygate's Firewall. I found Zone Alarm slowed my system at boot time. I also had difficulty training it to work with some of the software programs that I use. So far Sygate seems to be meeting my needs. It does not have email protection or cookie blocking, but I have other applications to handle that. I just read an informative article on Protecting Your PC that you may want to read if you're looking for firewall or anti-virus software.

4/25/02

Ad-Aware - A small utility to check your system (hard drive and registry) for spyware programs that are frequently installed when you install freeware programs (Gozilla, free ftp and zip programs, etc.). Spyware programs track your internet usage and report what you do on the Internet to the software vendor. For additional handy little computer utilities, check our the rest of majorgeeks.com.

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