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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
Worm - Warning: More Variants Of
Sober E-mail Worm Expected
Apparently, an e-mail
message appearing to be from either the CIA or the FBI is an effective
technique for spreading e-mail worms. In late November 2005, an e-mail from the
"Sober" variant of e-mail worms (specifically referred to as either
W32.Sober.X@mm or W32/Sober@MM!M681) spread like wildfire across the globe.
Hundreds of millions of messages were sent by unsuspecting e-mail recipients
after opening e-mail attachments that appeared to be from the CIA, FBI, or the
German BKA police agency. The attachments contained an e-mail worm which then
sent the same mass-mailing worm to e-mail addresses found within the
compromised computer ó again spoofing the "from" address in many
cases to appear like the message was coming from the CIA, FBI, or BKA. (As with
previous versions of the Sober worm, only Windows-based computers were/are
infected by the Sober worm.)
The November 2005 Sober worm variant was sent with either German or English
text thereby suggesting once again that each of the 30 Sober worm variants
dating back to October 2003 were likely written by a German author or a group
of German authors.
Although the "from" address, the subject line text, and the body text
of this worm vary widely, below are two examples of the W32.Sober.X@mm Worm.
Many security experts are speculating that since November's Sober worm variant
had a built-in expiration date, the author of the worm is probably working on
the creation of improved versions of the worm. In other words, there's more to
come.
If you receive an e-mail like the one described above, delete it immediately
and do NOT open the e-mail message's attachment. We strongly encourage each and
every one of our Internet customers to protect their computers with anti-virus
software. Of course, it is also vitally important to regularly update your
computer's anti-virus software. New viruses and worms are discovered daily. Be
sure to scan all file attachments of incoming e-mail messages, even messages
from people you trust. Many viruses and worms are spread over networks, through
attachments, and by sharing storage media such as diskettes, Zip disks, and
CDs. You have the ultimate responsibility for protecting your computer against
these threats.
LAST
CHANCE!! - Get Free Installation!
Get Free Installation (a value of $125)
until January 9th, 2006. Call Polar at 1-800-284-7222 today to get in on
this limited time offer!
Server Migration News from Polar...
We have migrated over to the new mail server and it is doing great! The new
server has much more memory and disk space. This extra space made it possible
for us to increase your personal allotment to a 20 MegaByte per user quota,
which is twice the previous quota of 10 MegaBytes. This will let you send
larger emails and receive more email than before. In the near future those of
you who are power-email users will be able to purchase even more email space
for a very affordable charge.
The new server performs anti-Spam and anti-virus filtering directly on the
email server. Until now we have been relying on the Postini service, which did
the filtering offsite. Doing the filtering on site gives us and you greater
control, and it more effectively filters email from all addresses, both in
house and external.
We are finishing a much nicer webmail for you. It will have more and better
features, and a more friendly interface. These new features include easy access
to whitelists to allow you to permit email from a user or domain, regardless of
spam filters, and a blacklist to reject all email from an address or domain.
As soon as we have the graphics finished so it looks the way we want it to and
have completely tested the new product there will be an announcement in your
email alerting you and letting you know how to take advantage of this feature
rich program. This is an exciting announcement. The new email is so good and
easy to use that I anticipate many users who do not need an off-line email
reader (those who only read email when connected to the internet) will enjoy
this in place of desktop programs like Outlook Express.
If you have or want your own email domain (like yourfamily.com or
yourbusiness.com) with multiple email addresses, there are even more
improvements available to you. In addition to webmail, spam and virus
protection we will be able to offer your users shared calendar and messaging
features at a nominal cost. With this feature you will be able to manage
employees calendars, task and to-do lists, keep track of shifts, appointments
and vacations, and easily check employees schedules when organizing meetings.
Watch for upcoming notices about this feature, and let us know if you would
like a 30-day trial when the feature becomes available.
Thank you for your patience as we worked through this project to keep improving
our service to you.
Polar Communications Internet Team
Ask
The Help Desk - Can I
Get More Results To Appear On Google Search Page?
Question: I usually go to google.com
when doing a search on the Web. When typing in a word or phrase into Google's
search box, the resulting page gives me only ten listed Web pages to review. Is
there a way to get more than ten listings?
Answer: Yes. On difficult searches it is sometimes necessary to go
deeper than the first ten listings provided on a search results page. Google
allows you to change the preferences on its site to show 10, 20, 30, 50, or
even the top 100 search results all on one page. To adjust your settings, click
on the "Preferences" link to the right of Google's search box. Scroll
down to the "Number of Results" area and choose the number of pages
you'd like displayed on your results page. Next, click "Save
Preferences" located at the bottom right corner of the page and then click
"OK" on the resulting pop-up window.
Great
Sites To Check Out This Month
Get Help With Your
Weight Loss Resolution
http://home.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm -
Have you made your annual resolution to lose those extra pounds? This site
provides great insight on how our bodies work when it comes to consuming and
burning calories. Did you know that a gallon of gasoline contains about 31,000
calories and that if humans could drink gasoline instead of eating pizza and
burgers for calories, we could run more than 300 miles on just one gallon of
gasoline? Our bodies are the ultimate hybrid engines! It's this efficiency that
can sometimes make it difficult to peel off pounds. However, knowledge is
power. To learn more about how our body reacts to calorie intake, diet, and
exercise, head to this site.
Visit The
http://Winter-Carnival.com -
The St. Paul Winter Carnival is like a large state fair, except that it takes
place in the middle of the winter. Held annually since 1886, it is billed as
the largest and oldest winter festival in the
Break A World Record In 2006
http://GuinnessWorldRecords.com -
It's a new year so why not make this the time to do something that'll make you
famous -- well, sort of famous. The world record for balancing on one foot is
76 hours and 40 minutes. You could go for 77 hours. Another person has a record
for balancing 88 pounds of milk cartons on his head for 11.23 seconds. Why not
go for twelve seconds? The longest time for continuously spinning a basketball
on one finger is three hours and 59 minutes. Come on, what's four hours? Before
you start your balancing endeavors, however, head to this site to find out the
official rules and regulations and to register your record attempt. It's the
only way to get the official recognition you'll so richly deserve!
American Idol Returns For Fifth Season
http://IdolOnFox.com -
Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson return this month for their fifth
season as judges on the hit show American Idol. The Fox channel plans to
air approximately 43 hours of Idol competition through this May compared
to 38.5 hours last season. The format will remain the same. The first three
weeks will be local audition episodes followed by two weeks in Hollywood where
semi-finalists are chosen. Voting by viewers starts in late February. Do you
want to relive season four? The site contains links to thousands of photos and
videos from last year's auditions.
The XX Olympic Winter Games Are Coming Soon To Torino
http://torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html -
It's not too late to make your plans and book a trip to Italy for next month's
XX Olympic Winter Games. For information on everything from the opening
ceremonies, to parking information, to accommodations, to ticket information,
this is your source for the latest news. There are also links to lots of great
action photos, stories about many of the athletes who will compete, as well as
updates on the Olympic Torch Relay, which will have visited over 600
communities by the time the games begin on February 10, 2006.
Short
Tutorial - Backing Up
Your Browser's Favorites/Bookmarks
January is a good time to
clean-up your computer and back-up important files. One easy but important item
to back-up periodically is your browser's "Favorites" (when using
Internet Explorer) or "Bookmarks" (when using Firefox, Safari, or
Netscape). Here's how to export and save these files:
Exporting Favorites From Your Internet Explorer 6.0 Browser When Using
Windows XP Home Edition
- With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on
the "File" menu and drop down to "Import and Export."
The Import/Export Wizard will start.
- Click on the "Next" button.
- Choose "Export Favorites" from the list of
actions to perform and click "Next."
- Select the "Favorites" folder for exporting
and click "Next."
- Choose a destination for your exported favorites by
clicking on the "Browse" button. Give the exported favorites
file a name and select a destination for it.
- Click the "Save" button and then click on the
"Next" button.
- Now click on the "Finish" button.
Exporting
Bookmarks From Your Firefox 1.0 Browser When Using Windows XP Home Edition Or
Macintosh OS X
- With Firefox open, click your cursor arrow on the
Bookmarks menu and drop down to "Manage Bookmarks." The
"Bookmarks Manager" window will appear.
- Click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu
and drop down to "Export." The "Export bookmark file:"
dialog box will appear.
- Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
- Click the "Save" button. Close the
"Bookmarks Manager" window.
Exporting
Bookmarks From Your Safari 2.0 Browser When Using Mac OS X
- With Safari open, click your cursor arrow on the
"File" menu and drop down to "Export Bookmarks." The
"Export Bookmarks" dialog box will appear.
- Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
- Click the "Save" button.
Exporting
Favorites From Your Netscape 7.2 Browser When Using Windows XP Home Edition Or
Macintosh OS X
- With Netscape Navigator open, click your cursor arrow
on the "Bookmarks" menu and drop down to "Manage
Bookmarks." The "Bookmark Manager" window will appear.
- Click on the "Tools" menu and drop down to
"Export..." The "Export Bookmark File" dialog box will
appear.
- Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
- Click the "Save" button and then close the
"Bookmark Manager" window.
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.)
©2005
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are
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respective owners.