Internet Shopping Safety Tips

Hi Puzzlers,

Yes it’s that time of year again, Holiday Shopping Time that is! I started my online list last week and while ordering what I thought was the best priced dog bed I got a funny feeling about the website. This site looks strange, I thought. Then I remembered some of the tips we talked about last year on our “Internet Shopping Safety Tips” post, I immediately looked for the tiny closed padlock and the "s" after the http, and both were missing. Then I looked into the company and found several customer complaints and bad reviews. Needless to say, I did not place the order with them. We want to keep our puzzlers safe so here are the online shopping safety tips with a few updates.

Trust your instincts - If you have a funny feeling about the site check it out before placing the order. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

Protect your PC - Make sure your personal computer has recent updates installed for Spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spy software, and a secure firewall.

Trusted Websites - Shoppers should know whom they are dealing with. Confirm the online seller’s physical address and phone number. Anyone can set up an online store under any name. Do not respond to the pop-up asking for personal or financial information. Real companies would not ask for this type of information via emails and pop-ups (phising). Check for security seals, such as the tiny padlock icon and the http (URL) has an “s” in it. The https:// stands for secure.

Keep your Web browser updated - “Internet Explorer 7 and 8 provide another layer of protection with Web sites that use Extended Validation (EV) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates. The address bar turns green and has both https and the closed padlock. An EV SSL certificate not only helps ensure that communication with a Web site is secure, but it also includes information about the legitimacy of the Web site, which has been confirmed by the Certification Authority (CA) issuing the SSL Certificate.”

Don’t shop using Wi-Fi - When using Wi-Fi at a coffee shop, hotel, airport, or restaurant, you are making yourself vulnerable to identity theft. Your iPhone, Blackberry, Smartphone and laptop can easily be hacked on a free or paid public Wi-Fi spot.

Pay by credit or charge card - By using a credit or charge card you are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. This law gives you the right to dispute charges and temporarily withhold payment while the credit card company investigates your claims. Never use your debit card, as you have no rights protecting you from fraud or theft. Try to use just one credit card for all your purchases; this will make it easier to spot fraudulent charges.

Insure the safe delivery of your item - If you’re concerned about the safety of your package if there’s no one home to receive it, request it be sent with a signature required. Or, it may be safer to have the package delivered to your office.

Refund Policies and Delivery Dates -Make sure you know if you can return the item for a full refund and who pays the shipping for the return. Is the refund for a store credit or cash refund? Know when you should expect delivery of your item.

Print & Save - Keep documentation of your order. If confirmation was sent by email, keep the email and save any and all correspondence with the retailer.

Happy Puzzling!

Ice Cream

Hi Puzzlers,

Don’t you just love our newest puzzle Ice Cream Candy Swirls? Ice cream has always been my favorite treat. Notice I didn’t say dessert, because I eat it morning, noon and night, for any and every reason. People have been enjoying this scrumptious treat for centuries.

Prior to 1553 most frozen treats were more like today’s slushies or snow cones. Around 400 BC the Persians developed a dessert of frozen batter and rose water flavored with fruit and saffron, while Alexander the Great enjoyed mixing snow with fruit and honey. Roman Emperor Nero (AD 54-86) sent his servants to gather snow and ice so it could be served with fruit and juices.

Legend states it was Catherine de Medici, upon marrying King Henry II of France, who brought the ice cream from Italy to France. The recipe called for the use of cream rather than milk and this is why Italians are credited with being the first to invent ice cream. My Italian husband started dancing around like a crazy mad man when he found this out and the smile is yet to leave his face.

In America most everyone loves their pie a la mode. But be careful with the term in a European country! "In French cuisine, a la mode (literally 'in the fashion') refers to a dish of beef braised with vegetables and served either hot in a rich brown sauce or cold in aspic. In the USA, however, a la mode denotes a dish (such as apple pie) served with ice cream." The American a al mode phrase (served with ice cream) became popular in the late 1890’s.

When doing this puzzle please enjoy a dish of your favorite ice cream for added pleasure.

Happy Puzzling!

Team Building With Jigsaw Puzzles

Hi Puzzlers,

Today Jill was speaking with one of you and was told that our puzzles were going to be used as a team building exercise. WOW, we thought-what a great idea. It turns out that jigsaw puzzles are being used world wide as a team building option.

Puzzling is a low cost, easy to use item that is fun to do. No hanging off a tree line 600 feet in the air required for this team building exercise! It can be done in the comfort of any building with enough space for tables to build the puzzles on and the weather will not ruin this planned event. You can team build with small groups or large, and the possibilities for tweaking the exercises are only limited by your imagination.

Here is how our puzzler planned to use the puzzles for her team building exercise in a business environment for about 80 customer service reps. “We cut up the colored photo of what the puzzle looks like, and then there is a trivia game that teams have to answer (kind of like Family Feud). Whoever answers the questions correctly wins a piece of what the puzzle actually looks like. There are several teams going against each other so not everyone gets a lot of pieces of the picture Then, the team has to work together to put the puzzle together with what they have. It's hard to put a puzzle together without knowing what it looks like.” This sounds like a ton of fun to me!

A good team building exercise will usually require team members to communicate, help each other, negotiate, work together to solve a problem, trust each other and discover how much the team members need each other. You’ll also want to give the team building exercise a long lasting effect by taking plenty of pictures and posting them where everyone can see them. You may even want to give the winning team a custom made puzzle of the team with an inspirational saying, such as, TEAM, Together Everyone Achieves More.

Happy Puzzling!

Election Day

Hi Puzzlers,

Yesterday was Election Day and I am happy to report I did my civic duty and cast my vote. I am one of those people who always drag their kids with them so they can see the election process first hand. On the drive over my daughter started asking all kinds of questions regarding Election Day. Why is it always held in November on a Tuesday? When did women get to vote? Why do I have to be 18 to vote? (Oh no, having a flash back from the “Need to Know Everything” post). So began my search for the answers and here is what I found.

November was the perfect month for young America. During this time American society was mostly agrarian, which meant that by November farmers would have already finished up with the fall harvest and November was early enough to avoid any major winter storms.

Tuesday was chosen because people traveled long distances by horse and buggy to get to the polls. Sunday could not be used as a travel day because it would interfere with church services. The first day of the month could not be used as most businesses did their end of the month work on the first of each month. Also, November 1st is All Saints Day, a Roman Catholic holy day of obligation and Wednesday was when most towns had their farmers’ market.

“In colonial times, New Jersey permitted women to vote but that right was subsequently taken away. In 1869 Wyoming gave women the right to vote. By 1914, all states west of the Rockies, except New Mexico, had adopted full suffrage. Finally in 1920, the 19th Amendment gave all women the right to vote.”

The legal voting age was changed from 21 to 18 in 1971. Young people at this time were being drafted into the Vietnam War and campaigned rigorously to change it: “old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”

WOW! America definitely has some great history!

Happy Puzzling!