Subscriber Bob Byrne wrote to say:
Hi Terry!
Thanks for another great newsletter!
In regard to your router recommendation, I have used an Alpha Shield for some years now.
Performance seems to be the same but in a smaller enclosure with the same filtering action. I have tried all the tests I can find to break in but none have gained access so far.
I was shopping for a router when I talked to a hacker who recommended the Alpha Shield,saying he had not been able to get through it and was buying himself one.Best regards
Bob Byrne
Long-time subcriber Ron Spruell wrote about Mailwasher Pro and Gmail:
I have been a MailWasher Pro user for several years. (I paid $20 to Nick Bolton, before MW became Fire Trust.) Generally each version gets a little better, and is free.
It took a while to get a few of the 70+ generic Filters modified for my account. The White List and Black List are easy to maintain.
My question is about Gmail. I would like to have access to my Gmail Spam Mail Box using MailWasher and Thunderbird. I would prefer to double filter the Spam messages using MailWasher.
That way I could use MailWasher to filter everything. I don’t like going to Gmail and having to scan through the Spam. I forget about it and there is always 400 to 600 Spam messages.
I would prefer to do 10 to 20 at a time using MailWasher when I check my other mail boxes. Is there any turn off the Spam filtering at Gmail?
Ron Spruell
Unfortunately, Google does not give us an option to turn off Gmail’s spam filtering. Most people would not be interested in turning it off, but there is a sizable group of users who want to use Gmail to consolidate their emails and then use their own spam filter.
Mailwasher Pro is an anti-spam program that connects, downloads the headers and will (optionally) show the first few lines of an email. It’s main purpose is to allow you to handle spam while it is still at your ISP’s mailserver, without ever allowing the spam onto your computer. You can try fully-functional Mailwasher Pro for free for 30 days. Download Mailwasher Pro here. It works on Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP annd Vista.
Subscriber John Petruska wrote to ask:
Terry I do enjoy your newsletter with all the good info & tips you give & share with us. I need to purchase a new monitor and am leaning towards a 19" Westinghouse on sale this week at Best Buy. Any suggestions and or tips of what to look for in a good 19" LCD monitor..??
I wrote back to say that I’ve been looking at monitors, too — my wife wants a new one. Let me suggest that you check out the monitor reviews at Amazon.com and at Newegg.com (I buy a lot of my computer parts at newegg.com.
I don’t like to comment pro or con regarding specific manufacturers.
If you’re using it for normal use, as opposed to quick-video-response needs of some of the action games, most monitors will suffice. I’d be concerned about brightness, contrast, horizontal viewing angle and vertical viewing angle. The last is extremely important in my opinion, as very few of the monitors have stands that go up and down – most of them are designed to tilt only, especially in the cheaper models.
Remember the old rule on monitor placement — it said that your eye level should be something like 2/3rds of the way up the screen.
But, if you wear bifocals, you may be more comfortable with the tilting screen that’s lower than the old rule — you won’t be craning your neck to see, assuming you will use the bifocal section. On the other hand, if you will be looking OVER the bifocals, you’ll be worse off (bending the neck down) if your monitor is lower and can’t be raised.
Bottom line: there’s a lot of personal choice involved.
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