What Does That Acronym Stand For, Anyway?

Confused by all the Internet acronyms you encounter on the web these days? Do terms like AAR8, DBEYR or SWDYT and countless others leave you scratching your head?

You're not alone. The fact is, if you communicate online, whether through chat rooms and message boards, or by e-mail and instant messaging, you're bound to come across one or more of these cryptic acronyms. Thankfully, there is help available in the form of some very useful web sites.

When you're faced with acronyms that make you feel like, it's all geek to me, check out the following sites:

• Internet Acronyms Dictionary
• Acronym & Text Messaging List at Netlingo.com
• Acronym Finder

HTH!

New Feature At The Senior Surfer: Message Boards

Starting today, The Senior Surfer will be offering a message board hosted by WorldCrossing.com. Join The Discussion at The Senior Surfer Forum and you can mingle with and post messages for fellow readers. Feel free to leave feedback, ask web-related questions and offer suggestions on what you want to see covered in The Senior Surfer.

You can access this message forum anytime by clicking on The Senior Surfer Forum link under the Join The Discussion! heading in the sidebar of every page on The Senior Surfer!

Take 'em On A Journey To The Far Reaches Of The Universe

Want to turn an ordinary afternoon with the grandkids into an extraordinary adventure they won't soon forget? Take them on a trip to outer space with a little help from Hubblesite.org. This remarkable site, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute's Office of Public Outreach, brings the wonders of the universe right to your desktop.

Some of the highlights include:

• An extensive image gallery including spectacular photographs of deep space taken by the Hubble Telescope.
• Exciting videos detailing the Hubble's discoveries and the science behind them.
• Facts about the Hubble telescope and fun activities that are as educational as they are entertaining.

Get ready for a thrilling journey to the far reaches of the universe - no space helmet required!

How To Keep Your Guard Up Online

Want reliable information on how to protect yourself from the latest Internet threats? Visit OnGuardOnline.gov, a web site created by the federal government with the help of leaders from the technology industry. The site offers valuable tips and advice on a wide variety of online security issues:

Here's a list of just some of the topics they cover:

• Information regarding Identity Theft including what to do in case you've been victimized.
• How to avoid the pitfalls of Internet Auctions.
• How to prevent Spyware from infecting your computer and monitoring your online activities.
• Advice on avoiding the Spam Scams that online crooks use to try to steal your money.

And much more! You can even sign up for free e-mail alerts and order free Onguard Online Publications! If you're interested in protecting yourself online this is one site you don't want to miss!

Where To Read Senior News On The Web

Want to stay on top of the news stories that are especially important to you as a senior? On the web, you'll want to make SeniorJournal.com your next stop. According to the site they have, "More Senior Citizens News and Information Than Any Other Source." Indeed, if you're looking for the latest news on such topics as Aging, Medicare, Social Security, Reverse Mortgages and the like you'd be hard pressed to find a site that offers more.

Listed below are just some of the headlines that appear on today's front page of SeniorJournal.com, to give you an idea of the type of senior issues they cover. Click on any one of the headlines to read the corresponding article on their site:

• New Company Has New Ideas on Helping Elderly Stay at Home Longer
• Small Ship Vacations Dominate Top 10 List for Older American Travel
• Tax Gifts Keep On Coming If You Sell Stock at Profit and Pay No Capital Gains

In addition to the great senior news articles they provide, SeniorJournal.com also offers a discussion board, and helpful Q & A columns!

Sign Up For Free Courses At Sony 101

In recent years, the number of web sites that offer free online courses has increased substantially. Though not accredited, these courses nonetheless offer a tremendous opportunity to learn new skills. Take Sony 101 for example. This great site brought to you by the Sony corporation offers a variety of free online courses that you can sign up for including:

• Hands-On Digital Scrapbooking Design
• Building Your First Web Site
• Digital Photography Made Simple
• Converting Videotapes to DVD

And many others! The courses are self-paced and include message boards where you can interact with other students and even pose questions to your online instructors.

Swap That Gift Card For Something You Really Want

Here's the scenario: You just got a gift card that you really didn't want and now you don't know what to do with it. In the past, you didn't have too many options - you could either let it collect dust somewhere, use it reluctantly, or just give it away.

Today, however, you have another option - you can sell it or trade it at a gift card swap site like, CardAvenue.com, PlasticJungle.com, or Swapagift.com, among others that have sprung up on the web recently.

Depending on the terms and conditions of the particular gift card swap site you use, you'll have some or all of the following options:

• Get cash for your unwanted gift card - typically a percentage of the card's balance.
• Sell the gift card to other users of the service or swap it for a different one.
• Purchase other gift cards at a discount.

Again, since terms and conditions may vary it's important as always to read the fine print, but these sites just might offer you a solution for the problem of an unwanted gift card!

Play Sudoku Online

Have you been bitten by the Sudoku bug yet? If you can't get enough of this logic game that has become a national obsession, you'll love this:

Starting today you can play Sudoku online right here at The Senior Surfer!

These free games come courtesy of Free-Sudokus.com. You'll find their Sudoku games on the right hand column of The Senior Surfer under the heading, Play Sudoku.

How To Restrict A Search To One Specific Site

You already know, from a previous post, that the site: function can be used to restrict a search engine to all sites ending with a particular suffix like .gov, for example. But, did you know you can also use site: to restrict a search engine to one specific website?

Say you wanted to quickly find all the pages on the website www.usa.gov that contained the word Medicare. Here's how you'd do that from one of the popular search engines like Google or Yahoo!:

Medicare site:www.usa.gov

That's all there is to it! Type the word or search phrase you want to find (in the case above it's Medicare) followed by site: and www.whatever website you want to search.com - in the case above it's usa.gov. Now you have a link to every page on the usa.gov website that references Medicare!

Jazz Up Your E-mails With A Few Simple Keystrokes

Want to add some flair and emphasis to your e-mails? Next time you compose an e-mail include what are known as emoticons or smileys. In plain English that just means combining common symbols on your keyboard so they look like the expressions of a human face. For example, to make a basic smiley face you would type a colon, a hyphen and the right half of a parenthesis, exactly in that order, so it would look like this:

:-)

See...doesn't that look like a smiling human face?

Here's a list of some popular emoticons and what they communicate to your readers when you include them in an e-mail:

:-)

A smile tells them you're happy.

:-(

A frown lets them know you're unhappy.

>:-(

This tells them your not just unhappy, you're downright angry!

:-o

Here, you're letting them know how shocked or surprised you feel.

And there are many, many more! In fact, if you want to dig deeper and get a better idea of just how many of these you can create with your keyboard, try going to any search engine and type in either "list of emoticons" or "list of smileys" and you'll find plenty of sites to satisfy your curiosity :-)