Surfing Tips

Choose a web browser
There are many different web browsers. Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, Opera, are the most popular ones with millions of users. All of them are free to use. As an open source software, Firefox is becoming more and more popular recently. It's secure, fast and reliable. The upcoming Firefox 3 will have a lot of improvement and very promissing performance. One can download the latest version of Firefox here.

Making bookmarks
If you find a web site that you will want to visit again, make a bookmark. In Internet Explorer, click "Add to Favorate"(or Ctrl+D). In Firefox, click "Bookmark" -> "Bookmark this page" (or Ctrl+D).

Set your Home Page

With Internet Explorer, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options. On the General tab, type the website address of your desired Home Page( for example, http://everypot.com). With FireFox, click the Tools button, and then click Options. On the Main tab, type the website address of your desired Home Page.

Add-ons(Firefox only)

Firefox add-ons are small pieces of software that add new features or functionality to your installation of Firefox. Add-ons can augment Firefox with new search engines, foreign-language dictionaries, or change the visual appearance of Firefox. Through add-ons, you can customize Firefox to meet your needs and tastes. two types of add-ons: extensions and themes.

1) Extensions provide additional functionality to the Firefox application.

2)Themes change the visual appearance of Firefox.

You can acquire new extensions and themes through Firefox itself. For example, to add the weather "ForecastFox"( brings international weather to your browser), click the Tools menu and select Add-ons. In the opened the Add-ons window, you can find new add-ons in the following ways:

1. By default, the page displays the available Firefox extensions. To search for different types of add-ons, click one of the following links in the left navigation bar:

* Themes change the appearance of Firefox. They are discussed below.

* Dictionaries allow you to check your spelling in additional languages.

* Search Plugins allows you to add more search engines to the search bar.

2. A list of recommended add-ons is available to see more click View All

3. To browse a category of extensions, select the category name under the Category Panel on the left side.

4. To search for an add-on by name, enter "ForecastFox" in the search box. Then, click Enter.

To begin installing an add-on, click its name on the page. Detailed information on the add-on is displayed.

* Firefox automatically verifies add-ons compatible with your version. If the button is grayed out, the add-on is not compatible with your version.

To begin installing the add-on, click the green Add to Firefox button.

* You may be required to review and accept the End User License Agreement. To continue with the installation, click Accept and Install.

After the installation is complete, you must restart Firefox to enable the add-on. To restart, click Restart Firefox at the bottom of the Add-ons window.

When Firefox restarts, the installed add-on is displayed with previously installed ones.

Security

Virus protection software(like Norton, McAfee, etc) is worth having, should be updated, but can't protect you from everything.

Be careful when you download something from an unknown source.If you are downloading from a major public source like Apple or Amazon or Microsoft ..., you wouldn't need to worry about it. But when it's an unknown site, don't run the downloaded file before scanning it using an updated modern anti-virus software.

Beware of attachments in email from well meaning friends. If your friends' computer are infected, the virus might spread to your computer via email attachements. Computer viruses are much like real viruses. You can easily catch them from the ones you love.)

We recommend Firefox because of its security and good protection. You can try this Web Browser Test to see if your browser is secure.

URL

The URL is case insensitive. Make sure your entry in the address bar is correct.

If you wind up at a web page and you want to go to its home page to find out about related topics, simply delete the end of its address in the location window, and then press Enter - e.g. - at http://everypot.com/surfing_tips, you can delete surfing_tips to go to the home page of everypot.com.

URLs that specify "https" instead of "http" normally denote a secure web site.

Identity and Personal Informations

1) Don't give your SSN or other ID number to a site unless you know exactly what you are doing.

2)Do not give personal information to strangers - e.g. a phone number can tell anyone your name and address. Check out the reverse phone number search options at AnyWho ..

3) Always create a strong password when you register online on, myspace, ebay,..., for example. The password should be long (>6 letters)and complex( never use "123456' or "password").

Anti-phishing

Phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. PayPal, eBay and online banks are common targets. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used.

For example, if someone send you an email message titled "ebay.com" asking you to update your ebay account profile by clicking the link in the message, it's probably a phishing email. The link may direct you to a website which may looks very much like ebay.com but is actually faked, you should be extremely careful.

Hotkeys

Here are some useful hotkeys:

Ctrl-D (Bookmark current tab)

Ctrl-F (Search Word)

F5 or Ctrl-R (Reload the page)

Alt-D (Select Address Bar)

Ctrl-P(Print)

Ctrl-T (New tab)

Ctrl-S (Save page as)