E-Mail Virus Bugbear Virus Shows Big Teeth New Netlink Website November 1st Ask The Help Desk What Is The Difference Between Favorites And Bookmarks? Sites Of The Month Great Sites To Check Out In November! Short Tutorial Finding Old E-mail Messages

Dear Netlink Customer, We celebrate a couple of great holidays this month. Thanksgiving Day reminds us to be thankful for the countless blessings each of us has received over the past year. Veterans Day (November 11), of course, honors those service men and women who have helped to protect the abundant freedoms we now enjoy. Be sure to give a sincere "thanks" to Veterans you see this month for their personal sacrifices and for their dedication to our great country. The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. To meet this goal, each monthly newsletter will usually contain information related to: Warnings on a recent virus or e-mail hoax that may affect you An update regarding any new services we are making available An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question Some fun, seasonal websites to check out A short, step-by-step tutorial on an e-mail or browser related task 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. To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading! - The Netlink Team

E-Mail Virus - Bugbear Virus Shows Big Teeth

Do you have a friend that has recently complained about his or her printer suddenly printing out reams of gibberish? If so, there's a very good chance that your friend's computer has been infected by the recently discovered Bugbear Virus.

The Bugbear Virus continues to be one of the fastest spreading e-mail worms currently making its way across the Internet. The mass mailing computer virus is spread by unsuspecting e-mail recipients who open e-mail attachments they believe to be from their friends. The worm then goes to the recipient's inbox of Outlook or Outlook Express, grabs a file located on the recipient's computer (possibly a confidential one) and randomly e-mails this file along with a copy of the worm (so it actually sends two attachments with each e-mail) to people listed in the recipient's inbox. The worm also disguises the actual source of the e-mail by randomly selecting e-mail addresses from the inbox to be shown as the "sender" of the e-mail. So if a person receives this e-mail worm from a friend or relative, chances are the person it shows being sent from is probably not the person who actually sent it. Additionally, the worm can a) choose randomly from a list of preselected text to insert into the subject line of the message before it is sent, b) create a new message as a reply e-mail, or c) forward an existing e-mail message from the infected computer. All of this makes it pretty difficult for an e-mail recipient to identify an infected e-mail message prior to opening its attachment.

Bugbear also has a backdoor feature which allows the hacker to take control of the computer -- allowing the attacker to remotely perform tasks on the infected computer including the deletion of files, the copying of files and the termination of processes. In addition, the worm attempts to disable processes of firewall and anti-virus software programs.

The Bugbear Worm only infects Windows based operating systems that utilize Outlook or Outlook Express e-mail software. (The worm only infects PCs via an old flaw in unpatched versions of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express.) Macintosh, Unix and Linux operating systems as well as users of Netscape are not affected by this worm.

Note: Although Bugbear may also cause printers to spit out reams of printed code, the printers themselves are not actually infected.

Remember NOT to open an attachment, even from friends and relatives, unless you've first verified that they sent it to you. We also encourage our Internet customers to utilize anti-virus scanning software and to download updates frequently to lessen the possibility of computers being infected by e-mail viruses. As always, simply using caution and some common sense when opening e-mail attachments can be the best recourse in preventing the spread of e-mail worms and viruses.

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New Netlink Website - November 1st

In addition to the many value added services and technology improvements we have implemented to our Netlink Internet Service, we now have a new and improved website. A clean and clear layout so you can find everything you need, right at your fingertips.

Netlink is constantly trying to improve their services. For example in the past two years we have implemented such things as

• E-shield - a service that helps against SPAM and Junk mail on your e-mail account.
• Online Newsletters - to keep you informed on the newest and coolest information about the internet..
• Online Trouble Tickets - so you don't have to call anymore and we can solve the problems faster.
• Access to thousands of Newsgroups
• ....and many more technology improvements!

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Ask The Help Desk - What Is The Difference Between Favorites And Bookmarks?

Question: I've heard the terms "Favorites" and "Bookmarks" when referring to saving links to favorite web pages onto a browser. Is there a difference between Favorites and Bookmarks?

Answer: They are basically the same thing. "Favorites" are Microsoft Internet Explorer's term for what are essentially shortcuts to websites an Internet user can "bookmark" on his or her browser. "Bookmarks" are Netscape's term for these Internet shortcuts.

They both work the same way. So when you are surfing the Internet and you come to a web page that you want to store on your browser so you may easily come back to it at a later date, click the "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" menu (depending on your browser) located at the top of your web browser. You'll find an option to add the page to your "Favorites" / "Bookmarks." Click on that option and the link to this web page will be added to the list of your favorite sites.

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Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Weird Facts About Products We Use
http://wackyuses.com/weird.html -  Did you know that Coppertone® was developed by a Miami, Florida, physician during W.W.II as a sunscreen to protect soldiers stationed in the South Pacific? Did you know that in 1915, William Wrigley, Jr. sent four free sticks of gum to every person listed in a U.S. phone book? Today, Americans chew 190 sticks of gum each year. Did you know that SPAM® luncheon meat was a staple in the rations provided to American, Russian and European troops during W.W.II, fueling the Normandy Invasion? Check out this site to learn weird histories and bizarre facts about common household products.

Treasure Planet Is Disney's Newest Movie Classic
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/treasureplanet/ -  On November 27th, the day before Thanksgiving, Treasure Planet will become the first movie to open both in wide release and in large-format (i.e. IMAX) theaters at the same time. The new Walt Disney Pictures film is a combination of traditional animation with CGI characters and backgrounds. The story is loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island. It's a similar story line only this time it's set in outer space with aliens, robots, etc. Check out the movie's official site for trailers and pictures. The film is rated PG for adventure, action and peril.

Thanksgiving Craft Ideas
http://kidsdomain.com/craft/_Thanks.html -  Are you looking for that perfect Thanksgiving Day decoration for your table's centerpiece? Or how about some fun craft ideas for the kids and/or grandkids for the holidays? This site has great Thanksgiving craft ideas for the whole family. Here are a few examples: turkeys made of Graham Crackers, pilgrim hats for boys and girls, corn collages, pinecone turkeys, holiday place mats and more!

Become A Volcano Expert
http://volcanolive.com -  The study of volcanoes is called volcanology. This site's got everything you'd want to know about volcanoes. It includes live volcano cams, photos of volcanoes, videos of volcanoes, an FAQ section, maps of volcanoes from around the world, a special education section for kids and lots more. Learn the information on this website and your friends will think you are an expert volcanologist.

NFL Site For Kids
http://playfootball.com -  This is the "Official NFL Site For Kids." The site has games, football facts, football tips, an "Ask The Expert" section, as well as stories about popular NFL players. Actually, the Touchdown Trivia Game is a fun one for adults as well. You've got to answer quickly (and correctly) to make the weekly "Top 25 Hall of Fame" list.

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Short Tutorial - Finding Old E-mail Messages

So you got an e-mail from a friend a couple of months ago regarding directions to an upcoming concert, but now the e-mail is buried under a couple of months worth of other e-mail messages. To save you from having to scroll down through lots of previous e-mails looking for the message, modern e-mail client programs provide shortcuts to finding what you are looking for. Each provides "Advanced Find" methods so you can search by subject, by the name or e-mail address of the sender, by folder (i.e. deleted, sent, etc.), or even by date. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find this feature. Here's here's where to go to find previously sent or received e-mail messages using a variety of popular e-mail client software and platform configurations.

Outlook Express 5 - Windows:

• Under "Edit" on the Outlook Express menu bar, drop down to "Find" and select "Message in this Folder" from the resulting submenu.

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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,

Mike Huggenberger
Director
Great Plains Communications Netlink

©2002 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.