Protecting Your Email from Virus Attacks

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In this issue:

• Virus Alert - Don't lose your data through email attacks
• Centreline 2000 completely ignores the Microsoft trial
• New UK Phone numbers are in Egypt if you use Outlook
• Uniplex for Linux - very cost effective
• Shortcut tips for Paint Shop Pro
• Shortcut tips for all windows products
• Seen on the Internet - another slice of fun.

VIRUS ALERT - DON'T LOSE YOUR DATA THROUGH EMAIL ATTACKS

 

April 1st saw the FBI issue a real nasty virus warning. The "911 Virus" is really nasty, it wipes hard disks and then dials "911" on your modem. There is the complete FBI Advisory posted at http://www.nipc.gov/nipc/advis00-038.htm We don't normally raise specific virus warnings, but since this came just days after last weeks newsletter on the topic of protecting your email systems by virus checking as mail arrives using our Palladio product we did think this was relevant. Remember Palladio can: 1) Do virus checking as mail arrives 2) Lock out known "hacker" domains 3) Prevent spam mail and bulk mail 4) Prevent mail relay attacks 5) Stop pornographic files and other misuse http://www.c2000.com/uao_pal.htm  

CENTRELINE 2000 COMPLETELY IGNORES MICROSOFT TRIAL

 

OK, So we all knew MS was anti-competitive. But also who cares?

Sega and Sony ship far more playstations and the like the MS ships Windows. The new PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast both have full Internet connections, keyboards etc. That's a lot of home PC usage already covered - and they don't fall over!

Meanwhile, Nokia, Psion, Palm Pilots and all the other handheld PC's and phones are creating a brand new market where Microsoft barely exists (and has little to offer I would venture).

Then of course voice recognition and text to speech is pretty good now, so why do I need any kind of desktop PC at all? Certainly not one which has a confusing user interface and falls over a lot.

So, what happens, Microsoft argues it out in the courts for the next 3 or 4 years, by which time the market has moved on and it all becomes irrelevant.

The sad thing that has been lost in all this argy-bargy is not what happened to Netscape and Sun, but what happened to some of the other, smaller players.

For example, there used to be a number of personal fax software authors, WinFax probably the most famous. But when Microsoft included a very simple and crude fax component in Windows, there went a signficant chunk of that market. In the end WinFax has now become a small time product in the Symantec portfolio with little innovation since there is little return.

There are a whole sweep of these, disk compression, graphics programs, mail packages, mapping in spreadsheets, database tools - the list is ever long. Instances where the Microsoft program is not as good, but still dents the competition enough to take away the profit from them.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see Corel introduce Star Office on Windows for free. Just think, Corel have nothing to lose by it, but Microsoft sure would. The biter bit and all that.

NEW PHONE NUMBERS CONFUSE OUTLOOK Microsoft Outlook thinks 020 means Egypt!

 

Yep, if you want to enter the new London code (020) into the Contacts box you'll find that Microsoft thinks that London is in Egypt! Why, because (020) is the country code for Egypt.

So, if you enter 020 123-567 Microsoft will convert it to +20. But rather than go through the frustrating process of correcting it all in the dialog box, you can just enter the London code in brackets:

(020) 123 4567

which Microsoft will accept happily. Incidentally, if you forget to do that, then just hit the Escape key when Outlook pops up the "correction" dialog and your first number will be accepted anyway.

More Microsoft Tips at http://www.c2000.com/mswindow/  

UNIPLEX FOR LINUX

 

In all the excitement about Linux and showing off Star Office with its fancy graphical front-end people forget that they can also use a character interface office product too.

Not only that, but that Linux box can support a whole lot more users on that one PC, than just the chap with the desktop. Not only that but it is extra-ordinarily cost effective. A Dell Poweredge 2400, costs £1600 (say $2000) and would support 20+ Uniplex users easily.

You can download the Linux version from www.uniplex.com. This is a completely free trial.

More Unix and Uniplex tips at http://www.c2000.com/uniplex  

QUICK TIP FOR TOOL PALETTES IN PAINTSHOP PRO

 

Really fed up with that darn tool palette in the way again! Learn these quick switches for toggling palettes:

TAB             Toggles all palettes on and off
o (Oh)          Tool Palette
l (ell)         Layers Palette
c (cee)         Colour Palette
h (aitch)	Histogram Window

DON'T TOUCH THAT MOUSE! An occasional series of keyboard shortcuts

 

Ever get fed up scrolling through those lists of files or names to get down to the W's?

Well, most lists, whether it is in Explorer, popup boxes, list boxes or combi boxes you can type letters to automatically scan the list.

Press "W" to get to the first W in the list. Type quickly "WA" and you'll get to the Waldens in the list say.

If you pause between the "W" and the "A" then you'll get taken back to the start of the A's.

And while you are in that listbox, usually will select an item in the list. will accept the item.

More MS-Word Shortcut Sheets at http://www.c2000.com/mswindow/wordcut1.htm  

SEEN ON THE INTERNET: Another fascinating slice of Internet life scoured from the newsgroups:

 

Editors Note: We've been asked where this stuff in the "Seen on the Internet" comes from. Well it's just out there. You can't help running over everything from the clever, witty, concise and burningly to the point, to the very odd stuff that makes you wonder just how sheltered your life is....

Anyway, our one conclusion from this weeks snapshot is that some people out to get out more....

Subject: I'm Coming clean with you guys. 
From: Captain Chronic 
Newsgroups: alt.games.starsiege.tribes

Well, the reason I have been away so long is because I have been hard at
work. I have been working with Mars, the company that makes M&M's to
perfect their product. 

I doubt you guys will want to hear all the nitty gritty so I will just
sum it all up in a short story. Whenever I would get a package of plain
M&Ms, I would make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of
the candy as a species.

To this end, I have been holding M&M duels. 

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure,
squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is
the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to
go another round. 

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and
the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that
the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theatre of
competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world. 

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or
pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be
a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra
strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its
environment.

When I would reach the end of the pack, I was left with one M&M, the
strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as
well, I back it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A
Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 USA,along with a 3x5
card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes." 

One week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free
1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I considered this "grant money." I have set
aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, I
will discover the True Champion. 

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