Ask Mr. Modem! – June 2007     
www.MrModem.com 

Q.  Last week I signed up for cable Internet service. They asked for my Social Security number to establish my account. I reluctantly provided it, but now I’m wondering if I had to provide that information?

A.   There are tax, medical and other situations when a Social Security number must be provided, but far too many businesses today attempt to use the SSN as a universal identification number. It never was intended to serve that purpose.

There is no law that prevents a business from requesting your Social Security number, though there are few restrictions regarding what it can do with it, so your concern is justified. The Catch-22, of course, is even though you are not required to disclose your SSN, a business does not have to provide service if you refuse to share that information.

Most businesses ask for a Social Security number as a matter of routine and in the case of cable service, they generally want you to provide the last four digits of your Social Security number "for identification purposes" when you call for service or support.

When establishing a new account (other than tax- or medical-related), if my Social Security number is requested, rather than raise a ruckus, I politely explain that due to my concern about identity theft, I'm willing to provide the last four digits. I've never run into a situation where that wasn't acceptable.

I then provide the same four-digit number I've been using for years for this purpose. It's actually the last four digits of a telephone number I had eons ago that has nothing to do with my Social Security number. 

Once I provide the four digits, the business is happy and I'm happy. Since I always use the same four digits, if I need to call for service and I'm asked for the last four digits of my Social Security number, I'm delighted to provide them with the same self-assigned ID numbers. It works like a charm. 


Q.   When I use my word processing software, I can't insert a letter (character) into a word or a sentence without canceling the letter next to it. If I hit the space bar, instead of moving the text ahead of it, it deletes the text, letter by letter. It was working fine last week, so I must have done something to cause this problem. Do you have any suggestions?
 
A. It sounds like you may have inadvertently toggled the INSert key off. With the INSert key off, anything you type will overwrite other letters. With the INSert key on, anything you type will insert itself at the location of your cursor, and unceremoniously shove existing letters to the right.

To toggle it on, press the INS key on your keyboard. Each time you press the key it will turn the INSert feature on or off. When it's on, you should see the small letters INS (for insert) or OVR (for overwrite) in the lower portion of your screen or on one of the displayed toolbars, depending on the program in use at the time.

Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em) Sites of the Month -  June 2007

AbbreviationZ
An A to Z dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations separated into the following categories:  Computing, Internet, Academic & Science, Miscellaneous, Medical, Business, Governmental, Community, Regional, and International. 
www.stands4.com

Click Mazes
This collection of mazes and interactive puzzles is as challenging as it is creative. Wander through intellectual labyrinths such as Full-House puzzles, or my favorite, the Tilt Collection. These 3-D tilt mazes require you to maneuver through three tiers of mazes that tilt and drop while you try to control everything with keyboard keystrokes unique to each game. It’s a-maze-ing. 
www.clickmazes.com

PookMail
This is a free, disposable email address service that enables you to create an address to use for a temporary purpose. For example, you might create radioshack@pookmail.com if you’re making an online purchase at Radio Shack, but don’t want to wind up on their email list. After 24 hours, poof, the address is vaporized, which begs the question: Why didn’t they call it PoofMail?
http://pookmail.com

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