Michigan Blog - Featuring Michigan Shopping, Travel, Business & People

Down here in the Detroit area, the temperature has swung a full 40 degrees in 24 hours and everywhere you go, someone is sniffling and coughing. Keep your dog health with Pet Tab Dog Vitamins.

Yup .. gotta love this time of year in Michigan.

Why doesn't the family dog get sick when everyone in the family is hacking up goop?

The answer can be found in the properties contained in your dog's saliva. Everything that a dog ingests into his system comes through his nose and his mouth. Because of the antibacterial effect that a dog's saliva has on incoming foreign bodies, the flu and cold virus germs are literally wiped away before they can enter into the dog's system. I gotta wonder why good ole' Spot got this gift and us poor humans suffer periodically.

Back before modern medicines rid us of bacteria, dogs did just fine by nursing their injuries to health with their tongue. Research has recently proved that dogs' licking can be good for human wounds and infections as well.

So the bottom line -if you are a bit under the weather or have a couple of boo-boos, let Spot do a bit of licking and don't forget your antioxidants!!

• eVitamin Coupons are one of our favorites and located here in the State of Michigan.

Smile, eat your Chicken Soup and enjoy the time away from the office or school or whereever!

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Labels: Michigan Viruses

Someone is sending email from my email address! How do I stop them?!

Before I get started on my article - I want to apologize for not writing for a couple of weeks. I had a normal flu turn into a nightmare. Enough of that - here goes the start of a new day!

You are minding your own business - keeping your nose clean - and one day you get email from someone you've never heard of and they're asking you to stop spamming them. Worse yet - they are livid.

They may even accuse you of sending them a virus! You don't know them, you've never heard of them, and you KNOW that you have never sent them email.

Welcome to the world of advanced viruses where you can get blamed for someone else's infection.

NOTE: There is always a small possibility that your email account has been
compromised. If that is the case - the solution is simple: change your password.
This should prevent someone who may be using your account for spamming from
continuing, assuming you chose a good password and don't share it.

The MyDoom/Novarg virus currently running rampant is a great example of this problem. The virus infects someone's machine and then looks in the email address contact book on that machine and emails a copy of itself to everyone it finds in the address book. According to FSecure:

Mydoom is a worm that spreads over email and Kazaa p2p network. When
executed, the worm opens up Windows' Notepad with garbage data in it. In emails,
it uses variable subjects, bodies and attachment names. It also performs a
Distributed Denial-of-Service attack on www.sco.com. This attack starts on 1st
of February.
The worm opens up a backdoor to infected computers. This is
done by planting a new SHIMGAPI.DLL file to system32 directory and launching it
as a child process of EXPLORER.EXE.

What it also does is forge or SPOOF the "From:" address for the email that it sends. It uses the addresses in the address book to forge the FROM. So the infected machine will send email to everyone in the address book, looking as if it was sent by other people in that address book even though it was not.

Here is an example:

• Kris's machine gets infected with the MyDoom virus. In her email contact book are entries for friends Todd, and Mary. Todd and Mary have never met, have never exchanged email, and do not know each other - they each just know Kris.
• The virus on Kris's computer will send email with the virus to Todd looking like it came from Mary. Todd may wonder who Mary is and why she's sending him a virus, but she was never involved.
• If you're in Mary's shoes, it is frustrating to be accused of something that you had nothing to do with and have no control over.
• Also, your email address may end up in the address books of people you don't know. There are many reasons - but various email programs may automatically hold on to additional email addresses that were included on emails you received in the past.
• Viruses have also been known to use other sources of email addresses (not only the contact book). So common friends may not even be involved.

Email viruses lie about who sent them.

If someone accuses you of sending a virus-laden email or off-color email, and you did not, then you have very little recourse other than trying to educate them about how viruses work. Point them at this article! An important point is that you are not necessarily infected nor is the person who received the mail. It is usually a third party who is. (And identifying that third party is very hard - this is why virus writers use this technique.)

Most importantly - don't be part of the problem. Be sure that you're not going to get infected yourself: don't open attachments from people you don't know and make sure you have an up-to-date virus checker and virus definitions file on your computer.

McAffee Internet Protection & AntiVirus Scan
Norton Internet Security and Virus Protection
WhiteCanyon Identity Theft Software
Computers & Concepts, Inc.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus Software System
Prisma Firewall - Stealth Internet Protection

Labels: Email Spoofing

Besides the New Year Resolutions in January, we are normally programmed to start worry about the quickly approaching Tax Deadlines - CLICK HERE for a full deadline calendar for Michiganders. Below is a quick recap of January dates that you will want to remember:

Jan. 15, 2008

Individuals - Make the fourth payment of your 2007 estimated tax if you are not paying your income tax for the year through withholding (or will not pay in enough tax that way). Use Form 1040-ES. You won't need to make this payment if you file your 2007 return and pay any tax due by January 31, 2008.

Farmers and fishermen in Michigan.

Make estimated 2007 payments in full using Form 1040-ES. If you do not pay your estimated tax by Jan. 15, you must file your 2007 return and pay any tax due by March 1, 2008, to avoid an estimated tax penalty.

Jan. 31, 2008

Individuals - If you did not pay your last installment of estimated tax by January 15, you may choose (but are not required) to file your income tax return (Form 1040) for 2007 by January 31. Filing your return and paying any tax due by January 31 prevents any penalty for late payment of the last installment. If you cannot file and pay your tax by January 31, file and pay your tax by April 15.
W-2s are due from your employer. Forms 1099 are due from payers of interest, dividends and other specified types of income.

Individual Michigan taxpayers, including first-time filers, Schedule C filers, and military personnel, can take advantage of a wide variety of tax preparation and e-file options. You can file online or download software from the convenience of your home, or you can work with a tax professional.

Schedule D software is offered that can easily export data into leading e-file software. All of these options are available to you! Take a look to find out about these existing opportunities - many are currently offering discounts and coupons to get you started early!

• TurboTax Coupons
• TaxCut Coupons by H&R Block
• Complete Tax Discounts
• TaxHead Coupons
• TaxBrain Coupons
• TaxHawk Coupons
• Easy E-File
• Amended Tax Online Preparation - e1040X
• Tax$imple
  

Depending on the simplicity of your return - you may even qualify for some free options.

Many of the above companies also offer FREE calculators like:

Tax Estimator
How much will you pay in 2007?

Tax Rate Calculator
What's your average tax rate?

Home Loan Tax Saver
How much will your mortgage save you in taxes?

Paycheck Withholding Calculator
How much will you take home after tax withholdings?

Deduction Finder
Are you claiming all the deductions you deserve?

Labels: 2007 eFile Tax Filing Coupons

Everyone has heard the stories: "John" down the street started selling products online - hooked up with a dropshipper and now he retired.

What a life? .. or is it?

This article is written by someone with first hand experience - so listen up. It is not as easy as people may believe - but it is still a viable way to make a living. You need time, though to generate a business that can replace a traditional income.

There are many eCommerce systems - I suggest that if you do not have a custom system - use this eCommerce. It has a number of features that are necessary to succeed - one of them being the ability to load your products into Froogle (which is now called Google Base).

You will need a Dropshipper - try this dropshipper - they are pretty good.

Next, you will need to transact. If your dropshipper does not include a transaction system, you will need to work with a company that transacts credit cards online. Get Multiple Quotes for credit card transaction companies here.

Next, you will have to learn how to market your new store.

People spend all money on a fancy website and storefront and have no idea how to make their site rank high with Google.com -- which is the best source for free traffic on the Internet.
Why would someone search for Frank's Shopping Site to buy something when they know they can go to reputable companies like Yahoo, Overstock, Amazon and many of other popular online retailers to buy the exact same items you're trying to sell?

In other words, how are you going to get your store noticed among all the billions of online stores already out here?

This is an article in itself - but you can start with these:

• Yahoo! Search Marketing
• PR Genie
• eSavvyMarketing Search Engine Optimization
• Google Adwords
• Merchant Circle
• PRWeb
• KeyCompete
• Search 123
• Enhance Interactive
• MIVA

Good Luck!

Labels: Sell Products Online

After making sure that your canine friend is out of the way, swing the Doggie Driver like a standard golf club, with a full and even follow through. The ball will fly out in the desired direction for your pet to retrieve.

Labels: Doggie Driver Dog Toy, Golf Gifts

It's that time of year when we are all trying to stick to our New Year Resolutions. Maybe you decided to go on a diet or go back for your degree.

Here are some online degree program choices:

EQ At Work Emotional Intelligence Programs
Auto Mechanic Schools
Accounting Certification from Penn Foster
Bookkeeping Career Diploma from Penn Foster
Auto Body Repair Technician Penn Foster
Dog Obedience Trainer Career Diploma
Home Inspector Career Diploma Penn Foster
Continuing Education for Engineers - PDH
Private Investigator School - Penn Foster
University of Phoenix Online Degree Programs
Kennedy Western University Online Degrees
American Sentinel University
High School Diplomas at Stratford
Monster Learning
Medical Transcriptionist Diploma
Ellis College

For many, new year resolutions are our attempt at a little personal reflection. We want to grow, evolve and become better people than we were the year before.

By improving your job qualifications through education, the New Year can possibly become more financially satisfactory for you. If you need further education or certification in order to qualify for the job you are seeking, take the necessary steps to get it.

Each year (or semester) you delay keeps you from getting any closer to your goal. Many years ago a lady wrote Ann Landers, questioning whether or not she should go back to school and get her degree. She worried about being 45 years old with a degree. Ann's answer was that she would be a lot better off than being 45 years old without a degree – which is where she would be if she didn't go back to school.

Go Get it~!

Stop procrastinating. Procrastination is the #1 enemy of online and adult students. This year, post a list of the benefits of earning an online degree to remind yourself to stick with it. Then, think of some strategies to keep yourself motivated during the year.

Improve your mind and your standing in society. Get a higher education, read more and get better grades. Start your path to a new career.

Labels: Michigan Colleges, Online Degree Programs