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[C388]Change Computer User Name

by Jerry H. Hall, Jer

According to the Sight and Hearing Association, your eyes aren't really being strained. Instead, it's the muscles that are used for eye movement and focus that grow weary from too much use in adverse conditions.

As a result of increased computer use, computer vision syndrome (CVS) — eye and vision problems linked to extended computer use that can affect adults and children — is an increasingly common affliction. Symptoms include dry, irritated, inflamed or sore eyes; headaches; and blurred vision.

Eye strain is the most common symptom of computer vision syndrome. Other symptoms include headaches, tired or burning eyes, slow focusing, blurred vision at distance, neck pain, and shoulder pain. In fact, recent published studies show that computer eye strain can significantly affect productivity and accuracy in the workplace.

The good news? "CVS makes you feel lousy but it won't cause permanent damage to the eye," says Dr. Paula Gaudet, a Halifax optometrist and past president of the Nova Scotia Association of Optometrists, who estimates that as many as 25 per cent of her patients have CVS.

Eyeglasses, contact lenses and reading glasses don't solve the problem of computer vision syndrome. This is because they are designed for focusing at distance or at near, but not at the intermediate distance where your eyes view your computer screen.

Special computer glasses, which are usually prescribed by your optometrist, cost from $145 to $200 and help your eyes focus on the screen. While they can help grown-ups, children generally don't need them. "Kids' focusing power is so strong that they don't have the same vision problems that adults do in this situation," explains Dr. Gaudet. If your son or daughter complains about sore eyes, an optometrist-recommended eye lubricant should offer relief.

"The best treatment for kids is prevention," she says. "Limit your children's time on the computer so they don't end up with eye strain."

Here are the Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should
Ignore:

1. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. They
often disrupt your computer system or damage your data.
Viruses are usually received by email attachments so be
careful opening anything from a dubious source. They can
affect anyone, for example, the destructive Mydoom worm
affected one out of three small and mid-sized businesses.

2. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computer
to somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sites
you have visited or worse still, transmit personal
information. With today's concerns about identify theft
this is a real worry. For example, CoolWebSearch may hijack
web searches, home page, and other Internet Explorer
settings. Spyware is normally received as part of shareware
or freeware downloaded from the web.

3. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized access
to computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to a
computer with an address indicating that the message is
coming from a trusted host.

4. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer program
that is really intended to disrupt and damage computer
activity by sending information, perhaps even passwords
onto a third party without you knowing. As an example,
recent emails entitled "Osama Bin Laden Captured" attempted
to download the "Trj/Small.B." Trojan if the embedded URL
was clicked. This trojan attempts to hijack the PC.

5. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of a
dubious financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your email
address on websites and internet bulletin boards as they
are harvested by spammers.

6. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These take
many forms including popups, popunders and advertisements
that appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some are
sent using the Windows Messenger service which allows a
spammer to direct an advertisement straight to your
computer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.
Always irritating, they are also often of a pornographic
nature.

7. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems,
dialler programs redirect calls to a very expensive number.
You won't know until you get the bill.

8. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browser
and may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.
They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop you
going to particular sites.

9. Hackers - With so much personal data available online
to anyone with a password you must be sure your password is
secure. If you are using your mother's maiden name, your
cat's name or your birthday then your password is at risk.
Here are two tips for making a secure password. Method One -
pick two random unrelated three letter words and two
digits. Mix them up and what do you have? A secure password
such as "red19cat" or "hotpin73". Method Two - pick a short
sequence of words such as Now Is The Winter Of Our
Discontent Made Glorious' and you have a password of
"nitwoodmg". You could even change the I's and O's to
digits.

10. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliable
sources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wanting
you to verify your account details, they can look very
realistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames and
passwords. Always open a new browser winder and type the
address there, rather than clicking on the link provided.

11. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At best
they take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable can
be victims of fraud. Pass it on!

12. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - do
you know what they actually do when they are online? Are
they working on homework tasks, downloading illegal music
or pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chat
rooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirable
sites and logging their activity with a surveillance tool.
Oh, and don't forget that where children are concerned,
computers should always be kept in a family room and never
in their bedroom.

Three Step Action Plan

There are three essential steps that should be taken to
ensure your PC is kept threat-free.

Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or following
email instructions from apparently reputable sites.

Secondly, make sure you are using the latest service pack
of Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes to
tighten up security.

Finally, there's a range of low cost tools such as
firewalls, antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killers
available. Like everything else they vary in quality and
you tend to get what you pay for so always do your research
first and perhaps try a free trial before getting your
credit card out.

There's a quick reference list to dozens of top sites promoting different aspects of
safe surfing packed with useful information and there's
also a great set of top tips for safe surfing.

Article Source : Pg. 260

About Author

Both Jerry H. Hall & Meenakshi Kaur are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jerry H. Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acupuncture Chiropractor, Hair Care and Computers and The Internet. . Jerry H. Hall's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.

Meenakshi Kaur has sinced written about articles on various topics from . Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to computer tips, do please browse for more information at our websites.. Meenakshi Kaur's top article . to your Favourites.