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Virus Writers Beware! |
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Greetings from Polar's
E-Connections Team
We think
you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to be a valuable
tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however, you'd prefer not to
receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE. |
Virus
Writers Beware! - Sasser Worm
Tipsters To Share $250,000
Although he damaged
thousands of computers, a German teenager has wormed his way out of jail. Sven
Jaschan, 19, was sentenced last month for creating and unleashing the Sasser
computer worm, a type of self-replicating virus that crashed computers
worldwide within minutes of being released over the Internet back in February
2004. The worm attacked holes in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 2000 and Windows XP
operating systems.
Jaschan escaped jail time because he was a minor (age 17) when he committed the
crime. He was found guilty on three counts of computer sabotage and four counts
of data manipulation. Jaschan received a suspended sentence of 21 months and
was ordered to perform 30 hours of community service.
Jaschan's loss was two informants' gain, however. In November 2003, Microsoft
put $5 million into its "Antivirus Reward Program" to pay tipsters
for information leading to the arrest and conviction of virus and worm authors.
Now that Jaschan has been convicted, two unidentified informants will share a
$250,000 bounty.
Microsoft is still offering $250,000 each for information that leads to the
conviction of the authors of three notorious viruses: the Blaster worm (MSBlast.A),
the Sobig virus, and the Mydoom.B worm. So if you have information about the
persons who created these viruses, Microsoft Corp., along with some
heavy-hitting government agencies, would welcome the opportunity to talk to
you. You can learn the procedures for reporting leads at this Microsoft web
page: http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/.
Reminder: Please be sure to install and utilize virus-scanning software,
to update this software on a regular basis, and to scan all incoming
attachments before opening them, even if the attachment shows coming from a
trusted source. The ultimate responsibility of protecting your computer against
worms and viruses lies with you. In addition, many viruses and worms spread not
only via e-mail, but also through the sharing of files when using floppy disks,
zip disks, and networks, as well as when downloading software. Be sure to scan
these files for infections as well.
Polar
Expands High Speed Internet Availability - Nekoma, Edmore, Fairdale, Adams, Edinburg, Gardar And Mountain
Polar's Internet Department
has been implementing their plan to reach almost 100 percent of Polar's
customer base with High Speed Internet Services. Recently.....an additional
Wireless High Speed Internet site became operational near Nekoma, ND. This
tower will give Polar the ability to better serve the rural areas of Nekoma,
Edmore, Fairdale, Adams, Edinburg, Gardar and Mountain.
"We've been testing and providing service from this site with great
success so far," said Karl Blake, Internet Operations
Supervisor. "We are happy and excited to be able to bring this service to
our rural areas."
Polar will soon bring another rural area up to speed with the launch of another
Wireless High Speed Internet tower near Aneta, ND. This area will allow Polar
to better serve rural customers near Aneta, Larimore, Northwood, Finley and Sharon.
If you live in any of these areas and are interested in Polar's High Speed
Internet Services, please contact our office at 1-800-284-7222. Our office is
open Monday-Friday, 7:30AM-6:30PM and Saturdays, 8:00AM-4:30PM.
Ask
The Help Desk - What Is
JPEG?
Question: I hear people talk about JPEG
files. I know they are pictures but what is JPEG?
Answer: JPEG is named after the committee (the Joint Photographic
Experts Group) that created this technology. It's a very commonly used file
format that utilizes compression for saving and viewing images.
Most people who send photos to friends via e-mail attachments first save the
photos as JPEGs so that the recipient can easily open and view the photos. Many
digital cameras save photos directly to JPEG format.
Every commonly used e-mail software program (i.e. Outlook Express, Outlook,
Netscape Messenger, Entourage, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.) has the ability to
display a JPEG image file. (There's no need to download the JPEG software
separately.) Also, if you save JPEG images from your e-mail client or Web
browser and store them on your hard drive, a simple double click will open the
JPEG image with a viewer application. On a Macintosh, the viewer app is called
"Preview" and on Windows XP it's called "Windows Picture and Fax
Viewer." Both are part of the standard operating system installation so
again there's no need to download any type of JPEG software.
Great
Sites To Check Out This Month
Pizza Delivered Fast
When On The Road
http://local.google.com/ -
Here's a handy tool when you are traveling on the road and have access to an
Internet connection. Let's say you are in your hotel room and would like to
have some pizza delivered. Simply go to this site, type in "pizza
delivery," and enter the town and state in which you are lodging. The
resulting page provides a listing of pizza delivery restaurants along with
phone numbers, addresses, and a map showing the pizza restaurant locations
within the local area. Pretty amazing!
Slurpee Celebrates 40 Years Of Brain Freezes
http://slurpee.com/ -
This year marks the 40th anniversary of 7-Eleven's Slurpee drink. Yes, the king
of all brain freeze concoctions was introduced back in 1965 by the 7-Eleven
convenience store chain. Today more than 13 million Slurpee drinks are consumed
each month. Did you know that residents of Manitoba, Canada, consume more
Slurpee beverages than any other city on earth? For more mind boggling
Slurpee-related trivia and to waste hours upon hours of your life playing the
mesmerizing Slurpeedrop Game, head over to this site.
New Animated Disney Film Released This Month
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/valiant/ -
From the producer of Shrek and Shrek 2 comes the new Disney
animated film, Valiant. The movie is loosely based on the true story of
carrier pigeons used by the United Kingdom during World War II to communicate
with the Allied troops and the French Resistance. Valiant, a comically clumsy
pigeon who sneaks his way into the Royal Pigeon Service, is assigned one of the
most important jobs of the war -- carrying essential messages just prior to the
D-Day invasion. See this site for trailer and clips, photos, games, and
downloads.
Hurricane Season Is Back
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml -
Tropical storm season is back once again. The National Hurricane Center's
Tropical Prediction website includes links to the latest satellite imagery, an
archived history of the most destructive hurricanes of yesteryear, links to
your closest National Doppler Radar Site, and the official list of Worldwide
Tropical Cyclone Names. (Some pretty unique names are found here.) Batten down
the hatches!
Livestrong Wristbands Support Cancer Research
http://nike.com/wearyellow/main.html -
Last month Lance Armstrong won a record-breaking seventh Tour de France. What
makes this feat even more amazing is that he did so as a cancer survivor.
Lance's deep resolve has provided inspiration to those affected by cancer
around the world. The Lance Armstrong Foundation's mission is to inspire and
empower people with cancer to live strong. Learn more about the power of yellow
and what you can do to support cancer research awareness.
Short
Tutorial - Attaching
vCards To E-mail Messages
The use of vCards (short
for virtual business cards) is growing in popularity as a signature-line
replacement within e-mail messages, especially for business e-mail. vCards are
essentially digital business cards that can be attached to your e-mail
messages. They usually contain text-based information such as address, phone
and fax numbers, and website addresses. The cards appear as attachments to e-mail
messages with a .vcf file extension name.
To create your own vCard to attach to outgoing e-mail messages, you'll first
need to add your own information as a new contact in your address book. This
step is very similar with most any e-mail software program. When using Outlook
Express via Windows XP, here's how:
- Open your address book by clicking on the "Address
Book" button on your Outlook Express button bar.
- Click on the "New" button and select
"New Contact" from the drop-down menu. Fill out the data fields
with your contact information. Click "OK" when you're finished.
- To save a copy of your record as a vCard, select the
contact profile you just created in the address book and then click on the
"File" menu. Select "Export" from the drop-down menu and
then "Business Card (vCard)..." from the submenu.
- Click the "Save" button to save your vCard to
your documents folder and then close your address book.
The
tutorials below show how to then attach your vCard to an outgoing e-mail
message when using a variety of e-mail software programs and operating systems.
Attaching a vCard in Outlook Express When Using Windows XP:
- Click on "Tools" on your Outlook Express menu
bar and select "Options" from the drop-down menu. The Options
window will open. Click on the "Compose" tab.
- Under the "Business Cards" section, click on
the checkbox next to "Mail." Click on the downward pointing
arrow next to the "Mail" field and select your vCard. If you
leave "Mail" checked, your vCard will be added to each outgoing e-mail.
If not, you can select it from the Insert menu on each of your outgoing
e-mail messages before sending them.
- Compose and send your message.
Attaching
a vCard in Entourage When Using Macintosh OSX:
- Click on the Address Book icon on your Entourage button
bar and click on the contact card you want to send as a vCard.
- Click on the Entourage Contact menu and drop down to
"Forward as vCard." A new e-mail message will be created with
the vCard information that you have selected attached to it.
- Compose and send your message.
Attaching
a vCard in Mail.app When Using Macintosh OSX:
- Create a new message by clicking on the "New"
button on the Mail.app button bar.
- Click on the "Address" button on the Mail.app
button bar. The "Addresses" window will appear. Click on the
entry's name in the "Name" column and drag it to the body of the
message.
- Compose and send your message.
Attaching
a vCard in Mozilla's Thunderbird 1.0 Using Windows XP and Macintosh OS X:
- Click on the Thunderbird "Tools" menu and
drop down to "Account Settings." The "Account
Settings" window will open. Click on your account name and look for
the checkbox next to "Attach my vCard to messages" and click on
it.
- Click on the "Edit Card..." button. Check
your contact information and click "OK."
- If you leave the box next to "Attach my vCard to
messages" checked, your vCard will attach to each outgoing e-mail for
that account. If you uncheck it, you can add it manually as needed.
- Create a new e-mail message by clicking on the
"Write" button. If you left the checkbox unchecked in step #3
above, click on the small arrow next to the "Attach" button on
the message button bar and select "Personal Card (vCard)" from
the drop-down menu.
- Compose and send your message.
Attaching
a vCard in Netscape 7 When Using Windows XP and Macintosh OS X:
- Click on the Netscape Messenger "Edit" menu
and drop down to "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings." The
"Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings" window will open.
- Look for the checkbox next to "Attach my vCard to
messages" and click on it. Click on the "Edit Card" button.
Check your contact information and click "OK."
- If you leave the box next to "Attach my vCard to
messages" checked, your vCard will attach to each outgoing e-mail
message for that account. If you uncheck it, you can add the vCard
manually as needed.
- Create a new e-mail message by clicking on the
"Compose" button. If you left the checkbox in step #3 above
unchecked, click on the arrow on the "Attach" button of the message
button bar and select "Personal Card (vCard)" from the drop-down
menu.
- Compose and send your message.
We hope you found this
newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the
happenings at our shop. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these
bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.
Thanks for your business!
Best regards,
The E-Connections
Team
Polar E-Connections
Polar Communications
110 4th St E
Park River, ND 58270
800-284-7222
(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information
published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all
liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such
errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)
©2005
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are
trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.