Well.....
Initially I tried Vidalia, but wasnt sure how to set it up, so then I tried the browser inside the zipped up standalone in 'tor-im-browser-1.1.2_en-US.exe'.
When I first ran it yesterday I got a message that AVG, I'm running AVG free ver.8.0.138, "refused the connection" if I remember correctly; however today I ran it again and the stand alone browser gave me the minimized firefox and german, (I think), entry page right away.
I dont get it.
Sorry for the false alarm. Nice to know I'm on the right channel for getting tor feedback. I wasnt totally sure I would actually get a response by sending an open message in reply to any or all of the tor traffic I've been getting.
Bye and bye... I'm sure that yahoo is hardly a 'safe' place to email from/to, do you recommend any other potentially less compromise worthy mail clients? That is one that I am less likely to be compromised by?
Thanks.
If you're looking for local privacy, gmail's web interface + https works, although I don't know if google snoops what you're sending and receiving.