| OCR Text |
Show How to avoid turning your break into a bomb By Erin Dionne year thousands of students head for sandy shores and warmer climates for spring And every year, some get scammed. Companies appear on campus as early as October touting deals to places like Mexico, the Bahamas or Florida. They offer low rates on brightly colored flyers claiming that $399 will get you to places like Jamaica with airfare, hotel and some meals included, for a stay. Keep these tips in mind when planning Every five-nig- ht Sounds too good to be true? It probably is. We've all heard horror stories from students who were stuck in airports for days, or whose hotel room "water view" was really an algae-fille- d swimming pool. A couple of people know had their rooms robbed, and their cash and cameras stolen, on spring break in Jamaica. But how to know vhat deals are real and which ones are going to turn your dream vacaI tion into a nightmare? The Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov), a governmental organization dedicated to helping consumers avoid being victims of fraud or deception, has created a plan called "Operation Trip Trap" specifically geared d fraud. It's a combined effort between law enforcement and consumer education groups targeting companies that misrepresent vacation packages. You can go to toward travel-relate- ftc.govos19999908statecases.htm for a list of travel companies that the FTC has filed action against. Be sure to check out any company that you're working with before you hand over your cash. If you do get scammed, or want to find out more ways to protect yourself, visit the American Association of Travel Agents web page rights" and "alerts for consumers" sections. WSM Never Jlii timeanddate.com. Choose up to 16 time locations, customize a calendar and use the meeting planner to stay organized. Enter the digits found beneath the barcode of audio books, computers, DVDs, music, software, videos, paperbacks and so on at BarPoint (barpoint.com) and you'll get specs, places where you can buy the products and price comparisons. A free service at pcpitstop.com examines your computer's configuration, performs benchmark tests, and offers tips on solving problems and improving performance. You'll get data on the system, memory, disk, video, Internet, Windows, security and other useful stuff. Needs Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher to work. 6 steamtunnels.net of charter flights. They can their departure times and don't change have to provide an alternate means of transportation to your destination. When paying them, your check should be made out to an escrow account (required by federal law). Contact the Dept. of Transportation (dot.gov) to check if the charter company is legit. Be wary Pay by credit card. You have more consumer protection if things go wrong when you use plastic over cash or checks. A stay away from companies that say they'll send a courier over to pick up your cash or check. Avoid making a quick decision. Some companies try to pressure you into signing on right away "good deals go quickly," etc. Don't fail prey to it. Check out the names of satisfied customers first. If the company can't provide you with any, don't get on board. (astanet.com) and check out the "traveler's Advice for savvy computer users with miss a class or a party own computer clock at your trip: Until your PC has a better way of handling images, WinCrab will help fill the gap. It's a free utility for Win 9598NT2000 (http:w1 .2518. It captures a full screen or active window with the touch of a hotkey, and saves the telia.comu2S1800188wg). image in .jpg, .png, .tif or .bmp format. It also creates index pages with thumbnail images, prints a series of images or multiple photos on one sheet, serves as an image viewer, and more. Munge Those Spammers It's interesting that some dictionaries have not yet picked up the word "munge." One source says it was in use in Scotland in the 1940s and in Yorkshire in the 1950s to denote munching something up in a masticated mass. These days the word has evolved By Jack Teems into altering one's email address as a defense against spam. Give it a try, particularly if you post a lot on newsgroups (Usenet) where your email address can be easily harvested. Simply change the last part of your address so that it becomes worthless to the spam harvesters. For example, if you are JoeJonesmindspring.com, post your mes- sages as JoeJonesNO SPAMjnind spring.com. A bonafide correspondent will note the need to remove NOSPAM from the address; a bot will not. You should take care to munge the portion of the address after the ; otherwise, your service provider will still get the spam. Jack Teems (jteemssteamtunnels.net) publishes Neat Net Tricks from Rapid City, S.D. For more Neat Net Tricks, visit NeatNetTricks.com. |
