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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. |
Warning! - Tricky New "Sober Worm" Discovered
There's
an e-mail worm that recently began to circulate around the Internet called the
"W32.Sober.N@mm worm." (The worm only infects Windows-based systems -
not Macintosh, Unix, or Linux systems.) Also known as the W32/Sober.o@MM worm,
this new variant of the Sober worm was first discovered on April 19, 2005, and
includes a tricky Trojan horse feature. The text of the deceptive e-mail
message promises the recipient a benefit if he/she opens the accompanying
attachment but something quite different occurs when the attachment is opened.
Below is the exact text of an actual W32.Sober.N@mm e-mail worm currently
circulating the Web:
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As you can see, the goal of the worm is to trick you into thinking that the
sender has received some of your private e-mail messages and is simply
returning them to you within a zipped attachment. When you open the attachment,
you are infected with the W32.Sober.N@mm worm. Pretty slick!
The W32.Sober.N@mm worm is a mass-mailing e-mail worm. Once the attachment is
opened, it sends itself as an attachment to e-mail addresses found within the
infected machine. Like most worms circulating around the Internet, the
W32.Sober.N@mm worm also has a "spoofing" feature that conceals the
actual sender of the e-mail message by randomly selecting e-mail addresses from
the infected computer's system to disguise the source of the e-mail. So, if a
person receives this e-mail worm from a co-worker or relative, chances are that
the person it shows being sent from was probably not the person who actually
sent it.
Remember, receiving an e-mail attachment from a trusted friend or a reliable
source may not necessarily mean that they were the actual senders of the
message and attachment. Also, the ultimate responsibility of protecting your
computer against worms and viruses lies with you. Many viruses and worms not
only spread via e-mail, but also through the sharing of files when using floppy
disks, zip disks, CDs and networks, as well as when downloading software from
the Internet. We encourage each of our users to install and utilize
virus-scanning software, to update this software on a regular basis, and to
scan all incoming e-mail attachments before opening them, even if the
attachment shows coming from a reliable source.
New
LOWER Web Hosting Fees - From
Polar!
Web Host 50
Polar will provide 50 MB disk space for a customer's web page, Domain Name
Services (DNS) and five (5) E-mail accounts. This does not include the Internet
service or personal E-mail accounts. There is a one-time set-up charge of $35
and a monthly fee of $9.95.
Web Host 100
Polar will provide 100 MB disk space for a customer's web page, Domain Name
Services (DNS) and ten (10) E-mail accounts. This does not include the Internet
service or personal E-mail accounts. There is a one-time set-up charge of $35
and a monthly fee of $19.95. With the Web Host 100 plan, you can also lease
additional web space of 50 MB for $5.00 per month.
Please E-mail us at webmaster@polarcomm.com or call us
at 284-7221 (800-284-7222) for more information regarding web hosting.
Ask
The Help Desk - How Do
I Stop Annoying Animations And Irritating Music On Websites?
Question: Sometimes when I open a web
page that contains information I'm looking for it has ads that flash brightly
or contain silly animations. Other times a site will have annoying music. I
turn down the volume and try to ignore the ads but is there a better way to
deal with pages like this?
Answer: Both the animations found in many banner ads and the
background music played on some websites can truly drive a person batty. The
"Stop" button on browsers used to be the simple fix. When you'd come
to a site that contained irritating animations or unpleasant music, you'd
simply wait for the page to fully load and then click your cursor arrow on the
browser's "Stop" button. The animations and the music would stop but
you'd be able to read the information on the page that you were after — in
peace.
The "Stop" button worked (on Windows when using Internet Explorer)
because most web developers created their animations in gifs and even attached
the sound file (music) to the gifs. The "Stop" button still works on
gifs. Today, however, many animations are developed in a software called Flash.
Clicking on the browser's "Stop" button doesn't kill Flash-based
animations. However, if you right-click on the Flash animation, you'll get a
pop-up window displaying controls that may or may not allow you to stop or pause
the animation. It depends on how the developer set up the Flash file.
On a Macintosh, the Safari browser doesn't have separate buttons for
"Stop" and "Refresh." This makes it impossible to stop
animations after the page loads.
Firefox has separate "Stop" and "Refresh" buttons but, once
the page loads, the "Stop" button isn't functional.
So, in summary, either turn down your volume and grin and bear the animations
or find a more pleasant site to visit.
Great
Sites To Check Out This Month
Photos Of Food Served By
Airlines Around The World
http://AirlineMeals.net/ -
AirlineMeals.net claims to be "the world's first and leading site about
nothing but airline food." This site is filled with over eleven thousand
photos of, you guessed it, food served by airlines. Links include images of
crew meals, airline lounge food, airport restaurant food, and meal of the week
archives. Dozens of airlines are represented including Iceland Air, Aero
Mexico, United Airlines, Qantas, Air Namibia, Croatia Airlines, Air China, and
British Airways. (Check out the fancy food served on the Concorde!) Images are
submitted by regular folks like you and me who fly. So the next time you take a
flight, don't forget your camera!
Star Wars Episode III — Revenge of the Sith
http://starwars.com/ -
This month marks the release date of the highly anticipated premiere of the
last of the three prequels to the Star Wars saga. Star Wars Episode
III — Revenge of the Sith is George Lucas's final Star Wars themed
movie. Production was a three-year endeavor and the special effects promise to
be amazing once again. Check out this site for updated information, movie
trailers, and more.
What Kind Of Dog Would You Be?
http://Gone2theDogs.com/ -
If you were a dog, what kind of a dog would you be? You probably wonder about
this all of the time. Well this site has the answer. The website promotes a
British film to be released this summer called Gone To The Dogs. Click
on either the "Game" link or the "What Dog Are You?" link
and answer ten personality-related questions. The site will then tell you the
breed and traits of the dog you'd be ... if you were to turn into a dog, of
course.
Save Money When Filling Your Car With Fuel
http://www.FuelEconomy.gov/ -
With fuel prices so high right now, we could all use some tips on saving money
at the gas pump. This site provides information on how to calculate your MPG,
how hybrid cars work, how cars are tested for fuel economy ratings, and more. A
section on gas mileage tips will help you get the best gas mileage possible.
It's a pretty handy site to review before you take this summer's road trip
vacation.
USDA Introduces New Interactive Food Guide Pyramid
http://MyPyramid.gov -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced a new Food Guide Pyramid late
last month called MyPyramid. MyPyramid is triangle-shaped like the old pyramid
but now includes six colored vertical stripes representing food categories. The
USDA's interactive site, MyPyramid.gov, allows consumers to enter their own
age, gender, and average daily physical activity for a customized report of
suggested daily amounts and types of foods to consume. Unfortunately, chocolate
was passed over again as one of the main food groups.
Short
Tutorial - Setting Up
AutoComplete On Your Browser
Your browser may have a
button on its toolbar called "AutoComplete." (It's called
"AutoFill" on a Macintosh.) AutoComplete is a useful yet
underutilized feature which is available on most browsers. Its purpose is to
save you time when filling out online forms when placing orders with online merchants.
Rather than filling out an order form each time you make an online purchase,
browsers provide a place to store this information to then use as needed when
placing an order. Here's how to set up AutoComplete on your browser:
Utilizing AutoComplete When Using Internet Explorer Browser
- Open Internet Explorer.
- Click on "Tools" on your browser's menu bar
and select "Internet Options."
- Click on the "Content" tab and select
"AutoComplete."
- Check the box next to "Forms" and click
"OK."
- Click the "My Profile" button.
- If you have placed contact information about yourself
within your Address Book, AutoComplete can use it for your profile. Select
the second option ("Select an existing entry from your Address Book
to represent your profile") and then choose an Address Book entry by
clicking on it. Click "OK" and this will be your profile.
- If you do not have the contact information about
yourself within your Address Book, select the first option ("Create a
new entry in the Address Book to represent your profile"), fill in
the information on the form, and click "OK." The next time you
go to make a purchase online or fill out a form, AutoComplete will take
your profile information and automatically fill out the form for you once
you key in the first few letters.
- To make changes to your profile information, click on
the "My Profile" button under the "Content" tab of the
"Internet Options" window and fill in the blanks in your
profile. You can also simply go to your Address Book in Outlook Express
and make your revisions there.
Utilizing
AutoFill When Using Macintosh's Safari Browser
- Open Safari.
- Click your cursor arrow on "Safari" on your
browser's menu bar and drop down to "Preferences."
- Click on the "AutoFill" icon.
- Make sure there is a check in the box next to
"Using info from my Address Book card."
- Click on the "Edit" button to enter or update
your information.
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.