E-Mail Virus Hoax U.S. Postal Service Federal Bill 602P E-mail Hoax STOPzilla! Netlink's Answer To Pop-Ups Ask the Help Desk How Do I Make "Bcc:" Appear On My E-mail Window? Sites of the Month Great Sites To Check Out In September! Short Tutorial Clearing The "History" Folder On Your Browser

Dear Netlink Customer, Welcome to the September edition of our eNewsletter. We think you'll find this month's FAQ Section and Tutorial Section especially helpful. There's always something new to learn when it comes to surfing or communicating via the Internet and we want to assist you in this endeavor. 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 Hoax - U.S. Postal Service Federal Bill 602P E-mail Hoax

There's been a recent resurgence in the circulation of an old e-mail hoax...only now it's been updated. For several years, there has been a rumor circulating via e-mail stating that the United States Congress was considering a five cent tax on e-mail. This is an E-MAIL HOAX.

Below is an example of the recent e-mail hoax circulating across the World Wide Web:

Postage went up at the end of June 2002 from 34 cents to 37 cents. This was a 9% to 12% rate increase. But this isn't all. No more free E-mail! We knew this was coming - Bill 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5-cent charge on every delivered E-mail. Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and continue using E-mail. The last few months have revealed an alarming trend in the Government of the United States attempting to quietly push through legislation that will affect our use of the Internet. Under proposed legislation, the US Postal Service will be attempting to bill E-mail users out of "alternative postage fees." Bill 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5-cent surcharge on every e-mail delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at source. The consumer would then be billed in turn by the ISP. Washington DC lawyer Richard Stepp is working without pay to prevent this legislation from becoming law. The US Postal Service is claiming lost revenue, due to the proliferation of E-mail, is costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue per year. You may have noticed their recent ad campaign: "There is nothing like a letter." Since the average person received about 10 pieces of E-mail per day in 1998, the cost of the typical individual would be an additional 50 cents a day or over $180 per year -- above and beyond their regular Internet costs. Note that this would be money paid directly to the US Postal Service for a service they do not even provide. The whole point of the Internet is democracy and noninterference. You are already paying an exorbitant price for snail mail because of bureaucratic inefficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a letter to be delivered from coast to coast. If the US Postal Service is allowed to tinker with E-mail it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in the United States. Congressional representative, Tony Schnell (R) has even suggested a "$20-$40 per month surcharge on all Internet service" above and beyond the government's proposed E-mail charges. Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the story the only exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of E-mail surcharge "a useful concept who's time has come" (March 6th, 1999 Editorial) Do not sit by and watch your freedom erode away! Send this E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends and relatives to write their congressional representative and say "NO" to Bill 602P. It will only take a few moments of your time and could very well be instrumental in killing a bill we do not want. PLEASE FORWARD!

If you receive the above e-mail from a friend, do NOT forward it. It is a HOAX. There is no Congressional bill called "Bill 602P." In fact, House of Representative Bills are prefaced with an "HR" and bills in the Senate are prefaced with an "S." There is no Washington, DC lawyer named Richard Stepp. There is no Congressman named Tony Schnell.

Again, the above is an E-MAIL HOAX. If you receive the above e-mail message, we encourage you NOT to forward it on to your friends.

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STOPzilla! - Netlink's Answer To Pop-Ups

Netlink is now offering a great new feature called STOPzilla, which will block annoying pop-up advertisement windows. It entails a system that will monitor your computer while you surf the web, and destroys pop-ups before they open. Blocking pop-ups isn't the only advantage you will gain from having STOPzilla; it also helps to speed up your computer by keeping pop-ups from appearing.

You are, probably wondering how this new feature works. Well, STOPzilla is designed to block pop-ups through a black list that will automatically add the sites to STOPzilla and prevent future pop-ups from occurring. STOPzilla is completely customized to fit anything you pick or choose. If you are interested in purchasing STOPzilla, it is normally $29.95 however, if you purchase it through Netlink, it is only $19.95. You can subscribe by visiting www.gpcom.net or by calling our Netlink Service Center at 1-800-734-7467.

Netlink will start offering Anti-Spam E-mail Filtering

Netlink is partnering with Postini to provide better security for your e-mail accounts, and it's all FREE and automatic! This new service is known as E-shield.

As of September 3, 2002, all e-mail that you receive will be scanned for viruses before they reach your in-box. This new service adds a layer of protection on top of your own anti-virus software to help keep your PC free from viruses. This service is not intended to replace your anti-virus software on your PC, but to enhance it's effectiveness. Netlink recommends that you purchase and maintain your own anti-virus software to protect your data.

If e-mail is sent to you is determined to contain a virus, the offending e-mail will be quarantined on a server. You still have access to the e-mail and can view its contents for 14 days.

If that isn't Enough, Netlink is also scanning e-mail for Spam. You never lose a Spam message, either. You're given a private, web-based Message Center, sorting and reviewing the quarantined e-mail messages. As you interact with messages in the Message Center, the Junk E-mail Assistant filters will intelligently adapt to your usage patterns. No one is more qualified to filter your email than YOU! This is why the Junk E-mail Assistant lets you customize the filters to meet your needs.

For more information, please check out our website at http://www.gpcom.net/eshield or call 1-800-734-7467.

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Ask The Help Desk - How Do I Make "Bcc:" Appear On My E-mail Window?

Question: I have read that when replying to e-mails I should type each e-mail address in the "Bcc:" (blind carbon copy) field rather than the "Cc:" (carbon copy) field to protect the privacy of the e-mail addresses of my friends. My window does not show a "Bcc:" field. Is there a way to add this to my window? I am using Outlook Express 5.0.

Answer: Yes. This is very good advice to follow. To use Bcc:, click your cursor on "View" in the menu bar located at the top of your screen and select "All Headers." The Bcc: field should appear below the Cc: field. The BCC field should appear each time you create a new message from scratch or by forwarding or responding to a message.

For those of you using Netscape Communicator, open the Messenger part of the program and click on the "New Message" button. The "To" field will have a flashing insertion bar. The "To" label is actually a button. Click on it and you will reveal a drop down menu with several options. Select "BCC" and begin entering e-mail addresses.

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Great Sites to Check Out This Month

Expert Advice On Stain Removal
http://www.butlersguild.com/guests/general/stain_removal.html -  Did you ever wonder what the best way to remove a fingernail polish stain was? This site provides stain removal advice from the International Guild of Professional Butlers. Who would know better, right?

Famous Quotations
http://bartleby.com/100/ -  Do you know who first penned the words, "These are times that try men's souls" ? (It was Thomas Paine, 1737-1809.) This site provides a database of over 52,000 famous quotations. Quotation indexes are provided by author (chronological or alphabetical) and by subject.

Currency Conversion
http://oanda.com/converter/classic -  This is a great resource if you are planning a trip overseas and are curious about the monetary exchange rate. This site provides the conversion rates for over 160 countries. Heading to Barbados? You'll win with about a 2:1 conversion rate. The British Pound, on the other hand, beats the US Dollar on its conversion by about 1.5:1.

What's The Latest At The U.S. Senate?
http://www.senate.gov -  Are you wanting to check the voting records of our state's Senators? This is the site to head to. It contains roll call vote tallies, committee memberships, committee hearing schedules, contact information of all 100 Senators and an interesting "History News" section.

Let's Go Racing!
http://nascar.com -  NASCAR's Winston Cup Series is in full swing with events this month in South Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Delaware and Kansas. If you can't get to the events in person, the next best thing can be found at NASCAR.com. See stats and schedules, talk to drivers in chat rooms, read interviews and more. You can do the same for both the Busch Series and the Craftman Truck Series.

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Short Tutorial - Clearing The "History" Folder On Your Browser

We've had inquiries asking how to clean-up/remove the number of sites listed below users' http (address) bars. These URL addresses appear as a list when Internet users begin to key in a Web address into their browser's address bar.

The addresses in the Address Bar Drop Down Menu are known as "auto-complete entries." The auto-complete feature saves previous entries you've made for web page addresses, forms and passwords. The benefit of this feature is saved time in not having to type the entire web address for previously visited websites. The browser remembers and completes the web address for you.

To delete entries listed within the Address Bar Drop Down Menu, you must clear your "History" folder. You can not clear individual entries from the list.

To clear your "History" Folder when using Internet Explorer, do the following:

1. Click on "Tools" in the menu bar, and select "Internet Options."
2. When the "Internet Options" window opens, click on the General tab.
3. Under "History," click "Clear History."
4. Click "Yes" when asked if you're sure you want to delete your history.
5. Click "OK" to close the Internet Options window.

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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.