HELOISE Today's technology creates safety concerns

Dear Readers: We recently printed a letter from a reader who said she uses her surname, first initial and no address for her telephone listing in the telephone book for safety reasons. She didn't want people to see a listing with only a woman's name. We received a couple of comments about this and wanted to pass them along.
UJ.D. of Slingerlands, N.Y., says: "This reader thinks she is safe because her address is not listed in the phone book. Unfortunately, with today's technology, if you simply put a phone number in the search box of your computer's search engine and press 'enter,' it will show you a map with a star on the location of the phone number. You can even click to get driving directions to that location. Very scary. How can we be sure we are safe anymore?"
UBruce, via e-mail, says: "The reader says that she is listed in the phone book only by her surname and initials. I suppose it's true that, without knowing her, one can't tell whether she's male or female. However, I would suspect that the majority of these surname/initial listings are also female. Maybe you should poll your readers about this?"
Bruce, a very interesting thought! It's a different world out there today. The Internet can offer all kinds of valuable information, but it also opens up a world of easy access to personal information, too.
Well, what do you think? If you are a single woman, how does your telephone listing appear? We would like to hear from you. So, send your reply via mail, e-mail (Heloise@Heloise.com) or fax (210-435-6473). We will print as many of your comments as possible. Heloise
Dear Readers: Did you know you might be able to request a special meal when you make airline reservations (if the airline serves meals)? You can often request low-cal, vegetarian, low-salt, diabetic, nondairy, etc. Visit the airline's Web site or ask when making your reservation via phone. Heloise
Dear Heloise: To save very expensive printer-cartridge ink (and paper -- Heloise) when printing from a Web site page, highlight only what you want to print, then click on "File," then "Print." When your printer's menu appears, choose "Print selection" and only the part of the page that you have highlighted (selected) should print. This eliminates all the ads, etc. Cornelia Stone, Houston
Dear Readers: Here's a hint -- an easy way to put on a new dust ruffle: Rather than taking the mattress off to put the dust ruffle on the box spring, lay it on the bed and cut a large square out, starting from the top (leaving the ruffle intact). It is so easy to put on by just lifting up the mattress and sliding the ruffle underneath it. Heloise
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
King Features Syndicate