Chapter Nine - Safety from Prying Eyes and Jealous Lovers

Safety From Prying Eyes…and Jealous Lovers
It never hurts to be extra careful regarding internet experience. First, always assume that work reads every email and knows everything you do on the internet. My advice? Don’t do it at work unless you can guarantee a completely “off-the-grid” surf experience. By “off-the-grid” I mean you use your own personal Blackberry (or other PDA device) and you don’t connect through any work network or any service that your work pays for. Enough said about that.

The worst work can do is fire you. But upset a jealous wife or lover and you can destroy your life, end your marriage, disrupt the family, and end up seeing your children whenever your wife’s attorney says you can. Be careful! Even if your wife is not the jealous or prying type all it takes is for one of her girlfriends to plant a doubt in her mind. Did she catch her boyfriend or husband surfing porn or chatting with hot chicks on the internet? No doubt she’ll suggest to your honey that she check up on you too.
The good news is that if you’re smart, there are some relatively simple things you can do to avoid unintentional or even intentional snooping.

Ten suggestions for keeping safe from prying eyes:
1) Create different user accounts on your computer. When you do, make sure your files are not shared with the other user accounts. Even if you don’t typically share the computer, set up a “guest” account for emergencies. Password your account with a password that she won’t guess. i.e., Don’t use the garage door password for your computer account.
2) Learn a bit about your browser. For example in Mozilla Firefox there is a setting in Tools/Options/Privacy that will prompt you to clear private data after each session. Internet Explorer is not as easy but still provides a mechanism in Tools/Internet Options.
3) Set your browser history to 0 days and delete it when you can using Tools/Options/Privacy in Mozilla Firefox and Tools/Internet Options/General in Internet Explorer.
4) If you use any chat programs such as Yahoo Messenger or Windows Messenger, check the settings to make sure incriminating conversations are not kept in a log that’s easily accessible to anyone who uses your computer. Always password these programs and remember to sign off when you leave your computer.
5) Watch your “Favorites” or “Bookmarks” in the pull down menus of your browsers. Some websites will automatically load themselves into this area. Then you’ll be left explaining why “Lactating Asian Babes” is one of your bookmarked sites.
6) If you use programs like Windows Media Player, check to make sure you are not leaving a trail of porn through Tools/Options/Privacy/History
7) I find that a good clean up program is an excellent way of making sure history and cache is clean and files that you want deleted are actually deleted. My choice is “CleanUp” and it’s free. Visit http://cleanup.stevengould.org/ and download this freeware.
8) If you keep any incriminating files on your computer Microsoft is not the most user friendly operating system for hiding them. I have found (and am using when writing this book) that right clicking on a file folder will allow you to send it to a compressed, zipped folder. Then you have the ability to password what is inside that folder. Remember to delete the original folder once you’ve verified that your compressed, zipped, and passworded folder is complete. P.S. – This passwording thing works for shit with large folders full of pictures and/or video. Thanks Bill!
9) A great program for capturing pictures and video off your screen is SnagIt. It’s not free but you can download a free trial of it. I like to use this program when I’m chatting in the babe cam sites. I find it funny (in a sick kind of way I guess) that the girl I’m paying to finger herself on her webcam is being digitally recorded for me to enjoy later. But remember, it works both ways so be careful what you’re doing on your webcam.
10) Always, always have another program open that you can quickly ALT-TAB to if you find someone approaching to look over your shoulder. Ironically, as I wrote this sentence, I had to do just that…no kidding!

The above may sound like a lot of work but in reality, once you’ve changed a few settings and installed a couple of safeguards you won’t have to worry about your casual snooper. Now if you have a paranoid schizophrenic girlfriend/wife who’s a pretty good computer hacker (or knows one), good luck!