If you are new to the Internet and e-mail, this page offers some help, a few tips and some suggestions.

Browsers

There are plenty of alternatives to Microsoft Internet Explorer but for the sake of convenience and cost most people stick with IE. Now there is a serious rival, Avant Browser*, which is actually an upgrade and builds on IE'S good points - compatibility and ease of use — plus a host of new features. And like IE it's free.  
Avant Browser integrates seamlessly with Windows. It will even import all of your Favourites and Links. But it is all the genuinely useful features that make this one different. These include a built-in pop-up stopper; multi-window browsing (tabbed windows), built-in Google search  facility; extra mouse functions (forward and back page step and new window opening when  you click on a link with middle mouse button); safe recovery (it remembers the last web pages viewed if Windows crashes); an option to store and encrypt passwords and customisable appearance using downloadable skins.
There's much more but try it and we suspect you will find it difficult to go back to IE.
(with thanks to the Daily Telegraph)

For more information about the Avant Browser, go here
You can download the Avant Browser for free here

Computer Security

All the time you are connected to the Internet, it is possible for anyone else also connected, anywhere in the world, to access your computer. The majority of us 'surfing the net' have no wish or intention to try to 'hack' into someone else's computer, but a small minority are intent on accessing, or trying to access, other peoples computers. A few are relatively harmless but most are 'up to no good' and, unless you take precautions, can do untold harm to your system and worse.

How make your computer secure

They can track your surfing habits, abuse your Internet connection by sending this data to a third party, profile your shopping preferences, hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission. The security and privacy implications of these exploits should be quite obvious and undesirable on any system or network.

Taking precautions generally means installing a software program, called a 'firewall', that refuses unwanted accesses to your computer whilst allowing those which are OK. There are many such software programs available, varying from freeware (free programs), shareware (try before you buy) to paid for programs.

Firstly, it is wise to check if you have any unwelcome code or components on your computer. The freeware program Ad-aware* is an excellent program for the personal computer. With its ability to comprehensively scan your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known datamining, aggressive advertising, and tracking components, Ad-aware will provide the user with the confidence to surf the Internet knowing that their privacy will remain intact.

For more information about Ad-aware, go here
You can download Ad-aware for free here
For more comprehensive protection, you can upgrade to Ad-aware Plus here

Secondly, it is wise to install a program that constantly protects your computer whilst you are online. For the personal Internet user, the freeware program Zone Alarm does a very good job.
This personal firewall automatically blocks dangerous Internet threats - known and unknown - guarding your PC from hackers and data thieves. ZoneAlarm provides the basic protection individuals need to secure their PC and keep their valuable information private

For more information about ZoneAlarm, go here.
You can download and use ZoneAlarm for free here.
For more comprehensive protection, you can upgrade to ZoneAlarm Pro here

What is Spam?
There is no agreed definition of a spam e-mail, but to most people it is the unsolicited receipt of an e-mail, whose content is either offensive, pornographic, seeking money, advertising, selling and related matters; or to put it another way unsolicited junk email.
E-mail addresses are collected in their hundreds of thousands by computers automatically trawling websites and then, again automatically, sending out messages to these addresses.

Can I Prevent Spam?
There is no 100% method of avoiding spam , but there are many software programs available which will restrict the number you get, to varying degrees. Two of the best are:
MailWasher, a freeware program, works directly with your email server, exactly like your email program does. But there is one important difference: you can tell MailWasher to delete a message at the server, without downloading it - or you can bounce an email back to the sender so that it looks as though your address is not valid.
SpamWeed anti spam filter adopts state-of-the-art statistical filtering technology and refined algorithm. Its built-in filter mechanism blocks spam and quarantines viruses. Self-learning ability ensures that its knowledge base is always up-to-date no matter how spam changes. Repeated lab tests and user experience prove SpamWeed can successfully block over 99% spam with virtually no false positive.

For more information about MailWasher, go here
For more comprehensive protection, you can upgrade to Mailwasher Pro here
For more information about Spamweed, go here

What is a Worm?
Computer Worms are viruses that reside in the active memory of a computer and duplicate themselves. They may send copies of themselves to other computers, such as through e-mail or Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

What is a Trojan Horse?
A Trojan horse program is a malicious program that pretends to be a benign application; a Trojan horse program purposefully does something the user does not expect. Trojans are not viruses since they do not replicate, but Trojan horse programs can be just as destructive. Many people use the term to refer only to non-replicating malicious programs, thus making a distinction between Trojans and viruses.

How can I protect my computer against viruses?
Both ZoneAlarm and Mailwasher offer some protection against computer viruses. However, for the best protection it is advisable to use one of the specialist software programs available as well.
The best known are Norton AntiVirus and Mcafee VirusScan

Cookies

A Cookie is:
A very small text file placed on your hard drive by a Web Page server. It is essentially your identification card, and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. It is uniquely yours and can only be read by the server that gave it to you.

A Cookie's Purpose is:
To tell the server that you returned to that Web page.

How a Cookie Helps You:
It saves you time. If you personalize pages, or register for products or services, a cookie helps that website remember who you are.
Next time you return, they then know to show you the information you requested. Or, when you register for another product or service, all you need to do is type in your e-mail address and a password. We then fill in any questions you've already answered. Of course, if you never register or leave personal information with a website, then the server only knows that someone with your cookie has returned to the Web site. You are in charge of deciding whether we know anything about you.
A typical use of cookies is to store shopping lists of items a user has selected while browsing through a virtual shopping mall.

How a Cookie Helps Websites:
It allows websites to be more efficient. They can learn what information is important to their visitors, and what isn't. They can discard Web pages you don't use, and focus our efforts on information you need. NB The Faversham Website does not use cookies at present

If You Want to Control Which Cookies You Accept:
You can order your browser to accept all cookies or to alert you every time a cookie is offered. Then you can decide whether to accept one or not. With Internet Explorer, choose Tools, then Internet Options and click the Privacy tab.
With Netscape Communicator, on your Task Bar, click Edit, then Preferences, then
click on Advanced; set your options in the box labeled "Cookies".

Internet shopping is easy and convenient by computer, with most of the high street stores having online shops where you can browse their product range, and find that prices and delivery that are normally better than their physical counterparts.
Go here for a list of stores where you can shop online.

Online Banking

Providing you follow some simple rules and use your common sense, online banking is safe and can be very useful.

But beware of emails purporting to come from your bank! The e-mail will invite you to log on to the company's website to verify the details of your account, but the link in the e-mail will send you to a forged website that looks identical to the official one.
If you get an unexpected e-mail from the bank asking you to log on to their site and check your details , do not use the link provided.
Call the bank's support desk and check if it is a valid e-mail. 

The following list is a good guide for how to avoid being defrauded when you are banking online. 

• Change your bank account passwords frequently.
• Never tell anyone your bank account passwords.
• If someone purporting to be from the bank calls you, never give them the password.
• If you get an unexpected e-mail asking you to call the bank support team, do not call using the telephone number in the e-mail - call the bank's general support number first
• If you get an unexpected e-mail from the bank asking you to log on to their site and check your details, do not use the link provided. Call the bank's support desk and check if it is a valid e-mail.
• Use secure passwords — join together two or more words that you will remember, it prevents people using a dictionary search to crack your password.
• If one of the passwords is your mother's maiden name - deliberately misspell it to prevent people from guessing it
• Be aware of identity theft. In a recent television survey over 94pc of people approached by an unidentified stranger posing as a researcher gave away critical personal information.
• Check your account at least once a week for unexpected transactions.
• Stop and restart the Browser software before (and after) using it for your bank account
• Don't access your bank account from public computers.  
• Use your loaf.

(with thanks to the Daily Telegraph)

Broadband

Broadband is the fastest way to access the Internet. Benefits include:

• 'Always on' internet access up to 10 times faster than a normal dial up connection
• The freedom to surf and use the phone at the same time on the same line
• Individual email addresses for family, friends and colleagues plus webspace
• Fast download of large attachments such as digital photos or software files
• Unmetered internet access from just £29.99 a month with no internet call charges
• Easy installation with our Plug & Go packages
• Round the clock support which you can access online or over the phone

If you live in Greatstone you can now access the Internet by BT broadband.
Please go here for more information.