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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. |
E-Mail
Scam - Bogus E-cards Not From
Friends, But From Phishers
Have
you received e-mails recently that say you have an e-card waiting for you from
an unnamed schoolmate, family member, or neighbor? They're probably from phishers trying to lure you to websites that deliver a
malicious Trojan horse program to your computer. At first glance, these e-mail
messages may appear to be legitimate, since they claim to come from companies
like Hallmark,
Here's an example of a bogus e-card notification:
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Now compare it to an actual e-card notification from Hallmark:
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To protect yourself, watch for these clues to help
spot a fake:
- There is no personalized greeting that identifies you
as the intended recipient of the e-card, nor is the sender identified by
name.
- The actual web address is different from the one
displayed in the message. If you receive an e-card notification of this
type, DO NOT click on the link. Simply delete it
from your Inbox.
Polar
Upgrades - Anti Spam Feature
Polar Communications is
constantly looking to find ways to improve our service to you and provide you
the best internet service possible. Within the next month or so Polar
Communications will be upgrading our email anti-virus by purchasing a separate
server to take care of scanning for virii and spam.
This will free up space and time on the email server to let it work better for
you.
The upgraded system will be the same anti-spam/virus product you are used to
but with a lot more features you can take advantage of.
Many of you have told us that you miss the spam-box type function that you had
when we were using Postini for anti-spam. We have
listened to you and with the upgrade you will have an individual web page /
control panel to help you manage your spam. No longer will you see *Spam?*
tagged email in your inbox (unless you like it that way). Spam will now be
deposited in a separate place with an easy-to-use web page to manage it.
You will have greater and easier control over what gets (or does not get) to
your inbox.
Another comment we frequently heard is that spam should not count against your
email quota. After the upgrade undeleted spam that is moved to your spambox will no longer count as used space in your mailbox.
This will give you more room for your regular email. You will see fewer of
those dreaded over-quota messages.
Spam reporting (and false-spam reporting) will be much easier. If we can make
it easy for you to tell us about spam that made it to your inbox - and about
innocent mail that was trapped as spam, then we will be able to use those
examples you provide to better tune the spam filters so that they can be more
efficient and you can see less spam.
Our current anti-spam system is doing an excellent job. While you may be
concerned at seeing a few spam messages get through each day the volume of spam
that is stopped is much greater than most of you imagine. The system is
stopping more than 98% of the spam that is attempted to be delivered.
On a typical day over a half a million (500,000) email messages are presented
to the PolarComm email server. Our first level of
spam defense (which is called Mail Hurdle) typically discards over 300,000 of
those by examining whether the email server they come from follows the proper
rules for email. Spammers most often use very cheap stripped down (to be fast)
software so that they can send more spam in a day.
Ask The Help Desk - What
Should I Do When A Web Page Gets "Stuck" While I'm Downloading?
Question: Sometimes when I try to
download a web page, it gets "stuck" and the requested page does not
appear. When this happens to me, I go back to the address bar and type the web
address in again. Is there something else I could do?
Answer: Keep in mind that the Internet is like a huge highway
system with traffic going in a variety of directions all at the same time.
Sometimes traffic gets "held up" at virtual intersections along the
way. This "getting stuck" phenomena is so common that browser makers
have created a button to help out. Next time a web page gets "stuck,"
simply click on the "Stop" button and then the "Refresh"
button on your browser's menu bar. (The "Refresh" button applies to
Internet Explorer; use "Reload" if using Firefox
or Safari.) If the web page still doesn't download, follow these steps:
- Click your browser's "Stop" button.
- Type a question mark at the end of the URL in the
address bar.
- Press the return key. This alternative may force the
page to reload.
Great
Sites To Check Out This Month
Make It Quick
http://mealsmatter.org/RecipesAndMeals/QuickMeals/index.aspx - This time of year tends to be hot and hectic so you
probably won't want to spend much time cooking. Speed up your meal preparation
with a quick trip to this recipe site. It contains lots of ideas for fast and
healthy meals that you can throw together in a flash, without needing to run to
the store. There are plenty of kid-friendly and vegetarian dishes, and even
super-simple recipes with six ingredients or less.
Hit the Books
http://libraryspot.com - Since the school year will soon be beginning, it
might be smart to bookmark this library site for the students in your family.
It pulls together leading reference resources in a single convenient spot,
including Wikipedia, WorldCat,
Library of Congress, and Britannica. You can also ask homework questions, find
science project ideas, and listen to the two-minute Daily Almanac Podcast featuring historical happenings, notable birthdays,
and a word of the day.
Root for the Underdog
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/underdog - There's no need to fear. Underdog is here! The
superhero canine bursts onto screens this month in a new live-action rendition
of the classic cartoon from the '60s and '70s. Comedian Jason Lee is the voice
of Underdog, an ordinary beagle that unexpectedly obtains superpowers
(including the ability to fly and speak) due to a lab accident. While on this
fun Disney site, play the Underdog games Super Fetch and City Sweep, and check
out the funny Underdog bloopers. Rated PG.
Football Fanatic?
http://collegefootballfanatics.com -
Kick off the start of the 2007 College Football season with a visit to this
site, which includes breaking football news, teams & conferences, rankings
& polls, scores & standings, statistics, and recruiting information.
Follow the action of your favorite college teams, get tickets to games, and
look ahead at the schedule for the upcoming bowl season. Can't find exactly the
information you want? No problem. There's also a link to the College Football
Search Engine.
National Golf Month
http://www.playgolfamerica.com -
August is National Golf Month, and if you haven't taken up the sport yet, now
is a great time to take a swing at it. Play Golf
Short
Tutorial - Sending
E-mail Messages To Groups Of People
Do you find yourself
sending messages to the same group of people all of the time? Do you get tired
of going through your address book each time you send a group message to select
the individual e-mail addresses of your recipients?
Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and Macintosh's Mail.app
e-mail software programs each provide a method for putting e-mail addresses
into a "group" to then easily send a message to multiple recipients
at once. This option allows you to simply select the name of a group and then
everyone listed in the group will receive the message without having to type in
each individual e-mail address. It's a very handy shortcut. Here's how to do
it:
Sending Group E-mail Messages Using Outlook Express 6 In
Windows XP Home Edition
- Open Outlook Express.
- Click on the "Addresses" button on the
Outlook Express toolbar or select "Address Book" from the Tools
drop-down menu. The Address Book Window should appear listing your
contacts in the right hand pane of the window.
- Click on the "New" button on the Address
Book toolbar and select "New Group" from the drop-down menu. The
new group's Properties form should appear.
- Type a name for your new group in the Group Name
field. "Work," "Family," or
"Friends" are good examples. Don't use a name like
"Goofy People I Work With" because the name that you use for the
group is the name that will show up in the "To" field of your
message.
- Click your cursor arrow on the "Select
Members" button on the right side of the window. A double paned
Select Group Members window will appear.
- Highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the names
from the listed contacts in the left hand frame and click the
"Select" button at the top between the two panes. This will move
the highlighted contact or contacts into the Members pane. Click
"OK" when you've finished and click "OK" again to
close the new group's Properties window.
- Click the red "X" to close the Address Book
and use the new group name when you create your new e-mail message.
Sending
Group E-mail Messages Using Thunderbird 1.5 on Mac OS X or Windows XP Home
Edition
- Open Thunderbird.
- Click on the "Address Book" button on the
Thunderbird toolbar. The Address Book will open.
- Click on the "New List" button on the
Address Book toolbar. A dialog box will drop down.
- Give the list a name in the "List Name"
field. The other fields are optional. Don't fill in the big field that
says "Type email addresses to add them to the mailing list:"
unless the addresses you are adding are not in your current Address Book.
Click "OK" to close the box.
- The new list that you just named should now appear as
a separate folder in the left side of the Address Book pane under your
Personal Address Book. If you don’t see it, you’ll need to expand your
Personal Address Book file by clicking on the “+” sign next to it.
- Next, highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the
names from the listed contacts and drag them onto the icon for your new
list in the Address Books pane.
- Close your address book and create a new e-mail
message. Click on the "Contacts" icon in your new message's
toolbar. Select your "Personal Address Book" in the Address Book
drop-down menu.
- Click on the name of the new list you created and
click on the "Add To:" button. Compose and send your message.
Sending
Group E-mail Messages Using Mail.app 2, Address Book
4.0.4, and Mac OS X 10.4.9
- To create a group of contacts, you will need to start
by opening your Mac's built in Address Book application.
- Under the "File" menu, drop down to and
select "New Group." A new group will appear in the list in the
Group column.
- Type in a new group name. "Work," "Family," or "Friends" are good examples.
Don't use a name like "Goofy People I Work With" because the
name that you use for the group is the name that will show up in the
"To" field of your message.
- Click on the "All" icon at the top of the
Group column and a list of contacts will appear in the Name column.
- Highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the names
from the listed contacts in the Name column and drag them onto the icon
for the new group in the Group column.
- Close the address book and use the new group name when
you create your new e-mail message.
We hope you found this
newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the
happenings here. 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.)
©2007 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.