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E-Mail Hoax |
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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
Hoax - Tsunami Seafood Virus Is A
Hoax
E-mail can be a great tool
for relaying information to friends, relatives, and business associates.
However, the Internet can also be the source for the proliferation of
misinformation. One recent example is a tsunami-related hoax that has been
rapidly spreading across the globe. It's been referred to as the Zulican Virus
E-mail Hoax.
The message of the Zulican Virus E-mail Hoax warns consumers not to eat fish or
seafood products. The reason — the December 26, 2004 tsunami, which laid waste
to a number of coastal areas in the Indian Ocean region, resulted in dead and
diseased fish. The diseased fish, so the e-mail claims, contain a virus call
Zulican. If consumers eat the fish, they will be exposed to the Zulican Virus.
The Zulican Virus e-mail message is a hoax. There is no known seafood virus
called Zulican. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention located in
Atlanta, Georgia, don't give any credence to this bogus virus.
The next time you receive an e-mail message that you think may be a hoax, do
some quick research before forwarding the message on to family and friends.
There are sites on the Web dedicated to alerting Internet users of Internet
hoaxes. A few hoax information sites to bookmark in the Favorites list of your
browser include:
http://truthorfiction.com/
http://vmyths.com/
http://urbanlegends.about.com/
Each of the above sites includes search tools to research archived hoaxes by
name or subject.
New
& Improved - News Server From
Polar!
Polar has changed
UseNet News Service providers. The UseNet is an immense bulletin-board system
available globally to anyone on the internet who has access to a UseNet server.
The UseNet contains well over 80,000 separate topic discussions with many
millions of articles. Anyone can post an article about anything. Articles may
contain text discussions, programs, binary files such as pictures, music or
video. Anyone with access may read these articles and retrieve the files they
contain.
Our new provider has a much faster connection and an enormous amount of
storage (400 Terabytes) so the completion rates and article retention (30+ days
in binary groups) are much better. With the new service there are no data
transfer limits. There is no authentication if connecting from PolarComm IP's.
If you would like to read the newsgroups while traveling on
foreign (non-PolarComm) IP's, please contact support@polarcomm.com
ffor a temporary access login.
The old newsreader configurations will still work, but the only address you
need to point to is news.polarcomm.com .
UseNet News is a much safer way to gather binary files such as music or video
than the file sharing programs. Using newsgroups does not require that you make
your computer accessible to others on the internet. The new service has a
great completion rate on MP3's so it may be a very viable alternative for
the MP3 collectors to use without needing to install spyware on their systems.
There is a basic newsreader built in to Outlook Express that is very suitable
for reading text news articles and simple binary articles. To do so,
simply set up a news account under Tools/Accounts using the news server
news.polarcomm.com .
For more complicated multipart binary downloads (like MP3's, AVI's etc) it is
better to use a separate newsreader program designed for that task. We
tested using the XNews newsreader. It worked great and was easy to use to
decode binaries. XNews is a freeware program available at http://xnews.newsguy.com/ .
There is a tutorial describing how to install and use XNews at http://abmefaq.net/XNews_Primer.html .
The UseNet is a completely unregulated, unmoderated and uncensored service. As
such the content is completely uncontrolled and it is easy to stumble across
adult or inappropriate information and files. It is a very good idea to monitor
activities of children while they are on the internet.
Ask
The Help Desk - Help
With E-mail/Chat Room Acronyms
Question: I receive e-mail messages from
friends that contain acronyms that I sometimes can't interpret. For instance,
what are the meanings of "IAE," "GMTA," "URW,"
and, "FBOW?"
Answer: Those are acronyms used mainly in chat rooms. Here's a list
of some commonly used e-mail/chat room acronyms and their accompanying
meanings:
AAMOF - as a matter of fact
AFAIK - as far as I know
BTW - by the way
DWL - dying with laughter
FBOW - for better or worse
FOAF - friend of a friend
GFETE - grinning from ear to ear
GMTA - great minds think alike
HAND - have a nice day
HTH - hope this helps
IAE - in any event
IMO - in my opinion
IOW - in other words
JIC - just in case
LMK - let me know
LOL - laughing out loud
LTNT - long time no talk
MTCW - my two cents worth
NAP - not a problem
NRN - no reply necessary
SLFN - so long for now
TAFN - that's all for now
THX - thanks
TTFN - ta-ta for now
TTYL8R - talk to you later
URW - you are welcome
YW - you're welcome
This list is by no means exhaustive and other variations are possible.
Great
Sites To Check Out This Month
Helping Tsunami Victims
http://usafreedomcorp.gov/content/about_usafc/newsroom/announcements_tsunami
.asp#DONATIONS - As the entire world knows, a 9.0 earthquake
unleashed devastating tsunamis on coastal areas throughout Asia on December 26,
2004, killing well over 225,000 people and leaving a million people homeless.
If you'd like to provide financial assistance to victims, this site provides
links to reputable organizations involved in the financial and humanitarian
efforts in this region.
American Idol Returns More Popular Than Ever
http://idolonfox.com/ -
The American Idol television program has returned for its fourth season
and the show is more popular than ever. Back are judges Randy Jackson, Paula
Abdul, and, of course, the irrepressible Simon Cowell. Recent winner of the
People's Choice Award for Best Reality Show, American Idol will once
again allow voters to choose this season's best young musical talent. If you
are looking for show bios, highlights, video clips, photos, and more, head to
this site.
Find Out What Happened In History On Your Birthday
http://historychannel.com/today/ -
Are you curious to know what happened in history on your birthday? Simply head
to this site and select the month and day of your birth. You'll then get a full
listing of interesting things that have occurred on your selected day
throughout history. This would be an interesting website to show your kids or
e-mail to your folks.
It's More Than Just Fun With Crayons
http://crayola.com/ -
Here's a fun site for the kids as well as for the young at heart. The site
includes over 1,000 fun arts and crafts ideas. It also has dozens of fun,
customizable e-cards that you can e-mail to your friends. For parents and
teachers, the site provides lots of helpful lesson plans for a variety of
curriculums, ages, and themes.
Racing On A Snow Shovel
http://angelfireresort.com -
Does flying down a snowy mountain at high speeds while sitting on a snow shovel
sound exciting to you? If you answered "yes" then New Mexico's Angel
Fire Resort is the place for you this month. Each February Angel Fire Resort
hosts the World Shovel Race Championships. Over 200 participants compete in
various classifications over a three-day period. If shovel racing isn't your
thing, you'll enjoy watching the races, viewing the snow shovel sculpture
contests, and listening to the live music each evening.
Short
Tutorial - Back Up
(Export) Your Address Book
Periodically backing up the
contact information located in your e-mail client software's address book can
be a prudent move. You'll be glad you did if you ever have a major problem with
your computer. Also, if you decide to switch to a different e-mail program that
has better features, you can easily import your contacts into the new program.
To back up your Outlook Express address book, follow these steps:
- Start Outlook Express and open your address book by clicking on its icon on the Outlook Express toolbar. Or, from the Outlook Express "Tools" menu, drop down to "Address Book."
- After your address book opens, go to its "File" menu, then to "Export" from the resulting drop-down menu, and select "Other Address Book" from the submenu. The "Address Book Export Tool" window will appear.
- Select "Text File (Comma Separated Values)" as the format and click your cursor arrow on "Export."
- Give your exported address book a name.
- Select the location where you want to export your address book using the "Browse" button. When the "Save As" dialog box appears, choose a location, and click "Save."
- You will come back to the "Address Book Export Tool" window. Click the "Next" button.
- Select the fields you want to include in your copy. If in doubt, select them all.
- Click "Finish" and then "OK."
- Click the "Close" button on the "Address Book Export Tool" window to finish up.
Now you can burn this file onto a CD or copy it over to another computer. Either way, it's great to have the peace of mind that a back up copy of your address book can give you.
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.