There are many four letter words in the English language that we will scold our children for saying but few will drive us to madness as quickly as the four letter word spam. I know that I have had people tell me that the telemarketer that I am rude enough to hang up on is just doing his/her job and trying to make a living but my immediate thought is let him/her call someone else because I am not interested in the least in what he/she has to say. I hate telemarketers and I hate spam. Spam has one thing that telemarketing does not however; it can carry viruses or other nasty things to infect my computer.

There is one clue to spam, never, and I repeat, never respond to spam. This only lets the sender know that it is a real email address and then he or she can add you to other unwanted spam lists. Even if they have the opt out button, do not respond. This is more than likely still a trick and a clever way to get you on a growing list of other spammers.

There are several purchasable programs to block spam from your computer. Some of them get rid of the spam so it never reaches a nose wherever they may be. Some of the purchasable programs make the spam go straight to the “junk folder.” One of the more popular ones is called “SpamNet.” You can download it for free but after the free trial period it does cost four dollars per month. All of the information about the spam received is collected and forwarded to the company. This information is then used to improve the program’s ability to protect you from spam.

If you are someone that does not like to pay for a spam blocker there are things that your ISP furnishes. A major ISP can guard against the same spam as any purchased spam killer can. It can take an ISP a little longer to determine which email is all right to let in and which one to keep out. Certain ISP providers have specific spam killers unique to them such as: EarthLink has SpamBlocker, United Online which is the parent company of Juno, NetZero, and BlueLight uses content filters that scans and recognizes key words in the body as well as the subject line. MSN Premium, MSN Plus, and Hotmail use a Microsoft filtering tool that you train as to what emails to accept. You can have it accept emails based on your address book. SBC Yahoo has an Anti Spam Resource center that personalizes the filter for each individual computer. It also uses a Blackhole List. This detects and stops spam servers and can block any computer on their network that sends out large quantities of emails.

There are several typical spam email types. The emails look official and trustworthy. There is the “foreign country” email where they offer to transfer lots of money into your bank account if you pay the taxes or fees to access their money. They ask for your bank account numbers or other information. Another one is “Phishing.” This one can be an email or a pop up. It claims that your information needs to be updated. It is never a good idea to just click on a link to a site from an email or pop up. It is best to go there on your own, even if it says that your account will be frozen or discontinued. Another popular one is the “Work at Home” offer. Usually these offers have hidden costs and if you pay them and get started working for them they will usually refuse to pay stating that your work is substandard.

The biggest way to ending spam is to ignore them. Also, be careful what web sites you sign up for a free email to be notified of free offers. Always make sure that you read the small print so you know if they are going to respect your privacy.

Billions of dollars worth of products are sold on eBay and other online merchants every year. Where are people getting all these items to sell? Surely, they have emptied their closets and garages by now. Even if they have, finding stuff to sell online is still relatively easy. Several sources are available for those who want to make a little or a lot of cash selling online.

Home Stuff

Not all garages have been cleared of junk. Weekend garage sales are still popular places to find items to sell. Sales in high income areas tend to net more quality items like designer clothes, high end furniture and antiques. However, do not neglect an average Joe garage sale, one never knows what unique items will be unearthed regardless of the neighborhood. Go to these sales toward the end of the day. Home owners will be more inclined to sell you merchandise at rock bottom prices rather than having to pack up unsold items.

Look through your own garage and closets to find items to sell online. You may be harboring old clothes, books, Cds and toys that will bring in a few bucks online. Offer to rid your friends and family of their unwanted junk by selling on consignment. You sell their stuff and keep %25 of the profits. Local retailers may also agree to let you sell their overstocks and returned merchandise on consignment as well.

Buy And Sell Online

Finding products to sell online is as easy as buying it from the same online source. eBay is an excellent place to find everything from antiques to huge lots of merchandise that you can buy and resell at a profit.

Locate other online sources by using search terms such as wholesale liquidators, closeout dealers and drop ship services. These same sources can also be found in print media including the Yellow Pages and classified ads in newspapers, trade magazines and free weeklies.

Auction Action

Unclaimed, slightly damaged and repossessed merchandise can be purchased at freight claims and government auctions. Check the Yellow Pages for contact information and newspaper classified section for upcoming sales.

There are storage unit operation on every corner these days. The storage company auctions off the contents of unpaid rental units. Although the contents are sold on sight, there are probably enough sale worthy items inside to let you break even.

Estate auctions are another great source for finding stuff to sell online. Like garage sales, high income estates yield the greatest funds but gems can be found regardless of the estates net worth. These sales are advertised in the newspaper.

Drop Shipping

Drop shipping is an easy, hands off way to sell online. You send the order to the manufacturer or distributor and they ship the product to the customer. No inventory or shipping hassles to worry about.

Local Events

Bazaars, flea markets and festivals are good sources for everything from unique handmade crafts to valuable collectibles. Like garage sales, stop by near closing time for deep discounted deals.

Check with the local convention and visitors bureau to find out about upcoming trade shows that are open to the public. You wll be able to buy from manufacturers and sale reps selling the latest products on the market.

Offshore Action

Asia is a good source for finding stuff to sell online. However, the red tape and cost of contacting sources, there can be a hassle. Your best bet is to hook up with a manufactures who has overseas connections. There is enough available home grown sources for locating products to sell to make this option necessary.

What do cookies actually do? A cookie is a piece of content that the Web page stores on your hard disk when you visit it. It allows that site to store information and later come back and retrieve that information. It identifies you and when you come back to that site again the Web page knows that you have been there before and can track that. It remembers names and passwords and automatically log you into that web site again.

For example, when you go to a site and order something normally you have to choose a user name and password. Once you do that if you go back there again the web site will likely remember when you go back and automatically fill your information in for you. The web site can only retrieve information that it put on your computer, not information that any other site put there.

Many people have believed that cookies are in the same class as spyware and adware. They feel that they are not harmful to your computer but make surfing the web much easier. They also feel that cookies collect information about visitors to the site. Many people feel that cookies are programs that sit on your computer and gather information about where you go on the Internet and that it can download all that information any time that it wants to. But actually they are not programs and they can only retrieve information that they put on your computer not anything that was put there by anything else.

Mostly the cookies help the Web site determine how many new visitors were on the site versus how many repeat visitors were on the site. It assigns each visitor a unique ID to help keep track of this.

Also, if you have purchased something on a site, the next time that you come to that site, if you were to purchase something again, it will be easier. It will be easier because the information could all be filled in the next time because of the cookies and the information that they can fill out for you all ready. The little padlock that you can see at the bottom of the tool bar when you are at a web site indicates that the site is a secure one.

Just because cookies do not harm your computer per se there are a few problems. If you begin having problems and call for help, the first thing that they will have you do is to erase all your temporary Internet files. Often, this can actually solve a lot of your problems.

When buying something from a company there can be a drawback. The company can sell your information to another company, and that is how junk mail comes about. This also can happen when ordering something through the mail or over the phone as well. There are sites that have different privacy policies though and if you read the fine print you may be able to check a box asking them to not sell your information to anyone else. It is important to be very careful when ordering anything to be sure to read the fine print. You may not want to order from anyone who does not guarantee you that they will not sell your name to others.

If you are a stay at home mom you may be getting the urge to do something more with yourself. You may want to make a bit of money while staying at home with the kids all day. One of the best ways for any stay at home mom to make money is by using eBay. This may sound a bit far fetched but the fact of the matter is that thousands of people have turned eBay into a full time job. And to take this a step further, there are many people who have become millionaires by using eBay to buy and sell items. If you work hard at it, you can be next in line for the profits that are being made on eBay everyday of the week.

At this point you may be wondering how eBay can make you money. This is something that a lot of people have on their mind. Using eBay to make money is quite simple. You will list items for sale and then wait for other people to bid on them or purchase at a predetermined price.

But in order to get started with this you will need to have items that you can place for sale on eBay. There are a few ways that you can go about getting these items.

1. To find items to sell on eBay you may want to become a regular at garage sales and flea markets in your area. At these events you can buy items very cheap and then turn around and sell them for a large profit on eBay. This is one option that a lot of stay at home moms opt for when looking for items that they can sell on eBay

2. Another option to consider is making your own products and then listing them on eBay. For instance, some people make crafts such as candles and then list them for sale. You may not think that there is a large audience for this type of thing but there are many people that make a lot of money doing just that.

3. Stay at home moms can get their start on eBay by selling items that they have laying around the house. Chances are that your garage or attic is full of junk that you no longer use. But just because you think that the items you have are junk does not mean that somebody else will. By just selling items that you have in your home you may be able to get your start on eBay. And with the money that you initially make, you can then in turn buy more items. Pretty soon you will notice that your profits are growing.

Internet business scams are growing more numerous and more sophisticated, and they are very hard to recognize from the few legitimate opportunities that are out there. I know this on a very personal level, because I fell for an Internet business scam while I was on break from college.

I am not a particularly gullible person and I actually thought I was taking all the necessary precautions to be safe on the Internet. But the thing we all have to remember is that scam artists do not stick to the same scam over and over again. They are inventing new and more sophisticated scams everyday, so they can try to get your money, credit, and confidential information.

I wanted to make some extra cash, and working from home seemed like the way to do it. I found a job posting that looked legitimate, which I replied to, asking for more information about the position. I sent in my resume and the company sent a quick response, and described the kind of work I would be doing.

The description sounded vague, and then I was surprised to learn that I needed to send money to the company via Pay-Pal in order to cover the cost of training materials. Honestly, this should have set off a red flag, but I was too excited about making some extra money, and the payment they were asking for was a very small amount.

To my horror and dismay, the “training materials” I received was nothing more than a file detailing how to continue the scam, putting up job postings, making the job offers, and collecting money from naive people like myself!

Needless to say, I demanded my money back, and did a quick investigation via an internet search engine to discover the truth of the matter. Turns out it was a well known internet business scam and I should have known better.

But we always think we will know the scam when we are faced with it. Then when we are made an offer that is really too good to be true, we briefly allow ourselves to think it is a scam, before accepting the offer. Instead of falling for scams I have learned to investigate first and agree to offers only after I am satisfied that the company is legitimate. A real company will have no problem with you calling back to place your order at a later date. Don’t let yourself fall for the job offer scams or any other scam that will make you loose money.

If you ever decide to look into an Internet business opportunity, investigate thoroughly, and do not invest any money into it unless you are absolutely sure that it is legitimate. If they ask you for money up front, chances are it isn’t.