What is Craigslist? According to the Craigslist FAQ, it is a community moderated list of classified ads in a specific city or area. You can find a wide range of items from things to buy, apartments for rent, garage sales and job listings. You can even give stuff away rather than throwing it in the trash.

Here is the local Champaign/Urbana section of Craigslist:

http://chambana.craigslist.org/

While I was posting a small advertisement in the services sections of Craigslist, I noticed numerous posts that were poorly composed. Here are a few tips which hopefully will help improve your Craigslist experience.

1. Use a different email address
While Craigslist autonomizes your email address when you post something, it won’t protect the person emailing the seller. To avoid people getting your personal email, I recommend getting a separate email account just for your Craigslist purposes. That way if a spammer gets your email address, you can close out the account and get a new email address. If you sell a lot of stuff on Craigslist, it might be beneficial to have this extra email account so you can keep these emails separate from your personal emails. You can use various free email services such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.

2. Watch out for scammers
This message goes for any site on the internet, but definitely keep an eye out for strange responses to your posts. One that I’ve seen a lot in the services section is from people asking “if you repair computers in volumes.” I responded (bad idea) to one of them, but never heard anything back. (I’m probably on some spammer list now!) Another one that trips people up is “is your item still available?” Put wording in your post telling your potential buyers that you will remove the ad when the item is sold.

Just be vigilant. If a deal seems to good to be true, pass it up. Some people also post ads as images, so be leery of those. If you see anything suspicious, make sure you report it to the Craigslist moderators so they can remove it.

3. Post real photos
People like to see photos of stuff so they can see what it looks like before they contact the seller. Even if you snap a picture with your cell phone camera, it is better than having no pictures at all. Craigslist allows 4 pictures per post, so shoot various angles of your product. Don’t be lazy and post “email me for photos”. If you have photos, post them! You could grab a photo of the product from the vendor’s website, but showing a real picture of the product you are selling is better. It will help convey the condition and validity of the item.

4. Be descriptive
This one sounds really simple, but I’ve seen some really vague posts recently. Someone posted a computer for sale and all the ad said was “Dell Computer – $50″ with a phone number. There were no pictures, no model numbers, no specs. If you don’t know the specs of something, a quick search online for the model # should give you a starting point. The more info you can provide about an item, the more likely it is to sell. If you’re including accessories that you bought extra, list those as well.

5. Spell check
Another obvious one, but please don’t post your ad without doing a spell check first. If it looks like a 5 year old wrote your ad, you’re probably not going to sell your product. Read over the post a few times and have a friend or family member do the same. Don’t get in a hurry!

6. Research your item for a fair asking price
Just because you paid $1,500 for a computer 3 years ago doesn’t mean it’s worth that today. Search Craigslist, eBay, and other classifieds sites to see what your item is selling for before picking a price. If you’re not sure what price to choose, you can always pick a ballpark figure and then put OBO (or best offer) after it. That will tell the buyer that you are willing to negotiate a bit. If you don’t want to budge, you can write FIRM after your price so they know that is the lowest price you will accept.

7. Meet in a public place
Unless you have a store or are advertising a garage sale, you should always meet in a public place. I don’t want to sound paranoid, but you never know what the other person may be thinking. If you’re advertising something expensive, the buyer may come with a weapon instead of money. It’s better to meet in a neutral public place like a coffee shop or at least a busy parking lot instead of at your home address. It may also be a good idea to bring a friend with you.

Do you have any other tips you find useful when buying and selling on Craigslist? If so, please post them in the comment section below. Thanks!

1. Notification Center
A lot of apps provide alerts such as sports updates or game requests, but they get annoying real quick. In iOS 5, those alerts can be greatly customized. You can keep them the same as before with the alert box that pops up in the middle which requires a touch to remove it. However, my favorite part of the new notification center is the banner option. This pops up a message at the top of the screen that displays the alert, but then goes away after a few seconds. It doesn’t require you to do anything and works in all your apps. So if you’re playing a game, you don’t have to pause it to clear the alert.

Another great feature of the notification center is you can actually see a list of all your recent notifications by swiping your finger down from the top. It even has a weather widget that shows the current temperature and a 5-day forecast.

2. Custom text ringtones
This sounds insignificant, but this is a big feature I’ve been missing since getting an iPhone. I get weather alerts sent to my phone and it’s nice to be able to assign them a special tone so I know what kind of message it is without looking at the display. You can pay for ringtones, but I prefer to find free ones online or create my own.

3. iTunes Wi-Fi sync
Being able to sync wirelessly with iTunes is a wonderful thing. It might not be as fast as using a USB connection, but it’s a lot more convenient.

4. Camera hardware button
One thing I’ve always found clunky on the iPhone is taking pictures. I don’t like having to touch the screen while trying to hold the phone still enough to get a good shot. With iOS 5, that no longer is a problem. Apple has mapped the volume up button to emulate a shutter button. You can even use your headphones with in-line volume control as a shutter release cable.

5. iMessage
If you send a lot of text messages to people who have an iPhone, you will enjoy using the new iMessage feature. It detects when the other person is using an iOS device and uses data instead of your text message pool. It’s also a lot faster and you can see when the other person is typing. (think of it more as an instant messaging client) I also enjoy the blue color of the iMessages vs the SMS green color.

There are a ton (Apple says over 200) of other new features in iOS 5, but these were the ones I thought were the most useful. The upgrade is free and works on the following devices:

• iPhone: 3GS, 4, 4S
• iPad: 1, 2
• iPod Touch: 3rd gen, 4th gen

What features do you find most useful in iOS 5? Please post your thoughts in the comments section.

A certificate chain validation issue existed in the handling of X.509 certificates. An attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS. Other attacks involving X.509 certificate validation may also be possible. This issue is addressed through improved validation of X.509 certificate chains.

As always, you can get the update via iTunes. If you have the Verizon iPhone, you can get iOS 4.2.10 to fix this issue.

A buffer overflow exists in FreeType’s handling of TrueType fonts. Viewing a maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

Further details on this issue can be view on Apple’s support site.

If you have the Verizon iPhone, then you can download the iOS 4.2.9 update to fix this vulnerability. (also available via iTunes)

Before you recycle
No matter what condition your computer is in, you need to make sure you remove all data from the hard drive. There could be sensitive financial data or emails still in there that could be accessed if it dropped into the wrong hands. Removing the data doesn’t mean right clicking on the file and hitting delete. It means reformatting the drive and starting from a blank slate. (even reformatting isn’t enough sometimes) If you’re going to do it yourself, I recommend using a tool like Darik’s Boot and Nuke which has secure methods of wiping the drive. (like Department of Defense quality)

Please note that using this tool will wipe everything off your hard drive, so make sure you know what you’re doing before proceeding. It’s also good if you have the Windows install disk and any driver disks that came with your computer. If you plan on giving the computer to someone else, these items will come in handy. If all that sounds scary or is too much work, contact me and I can do it for you. (shameless plug!)

Ways to recycle

1. Donate it to an organization
If your computer is in working order, your first choice of recycling might be to donate it to a local organization. Check places like schools, churches, nursing homes, or other non-profit organizations. Not only do you get that warm fuzzy feeling for helping someone out, but the donation might even be tax deductible!

2. Give it away
If you can’t find an organization to donate it to, giving your computer away is another choice. There are numerous places online to post free stuff such as: Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or Freecycle. You could also try taking the computer somewhere local like Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

3. Take it to a recycling center
Some recycling centers accept computers and other electronics. Please note that there usually are fees involved for them to recycle your gear. Folks in the Champaign/Urbana, IL area can take their used electronics to Mack’s Recycling in Urbana.

4. Pass it on to the kids
Kids love to tinker with gadgets, especially the younger ones. They won’t care that the computer isn’t running the latest and greatest software. Pick up a few games or educational software at a garage sale and let them go to town.

5. Find a community recycling event
If you’re in the Champaign/Urbana, IL area, there is a free electronics recycling drop off event coming up on August 6, 2011. They accept computers as well as other gadgets like TV’s, VCR’s, and cell phones. For more details, check out the flyer or the Champaign County Regional Planning Committee website.

I hope you found this article useful in finding ways to properly recycle your old computer. Do you have any other suggestions that I did not list? If so, please post them below in the comments area. Thanks!