INews Newsletter - Nov 19, 1999
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, composed and distributed by
* * * manager@inebraska.com * * *
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Volume 2, Number 23 November 19, 1999
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer newsletter.
This biweekly newsletter communicates service bulletins, announcements and
other useful information to our customers. Please let us know what you think
of it. Archives of INews are located at http://www.inebraska.com/inews
In this issue: Thanksgiving Hours
BubbleBoy
Let HTML Choose for You!
Mr. Internet
*** Thanksgiving Hours ***
The Internet Nebraska helpdesk will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, and
it will be open the Friday after Thanksgiving from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(closing earlier than the usual 10 p.m.). We hope you all have wonderful
holiday, and encourage you to root as loudly for Boston College as for
the Big Red. We have no idea who should win the Florida/FSU game
tomorrow. Quick! Someone express an opinion on this very important
matter!
*** Schaefer's TV & Appliance Center - Advertisement ***
Schaefer's is an independently owned and
operated television, appliance, and home
theater retailer in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Born out of a small corner drugstore four
decades ago, Schaefer's TV & Appliance is a
22,000 square-foot "superstore" today,
specializing in commercial/professional-grade
appliances, whole house sound systems, home
theater and central vacuum systems. The
success of Schaefer's is key to repeat
business. If a customer happens to have a
problem with a product, Schaefer's will bend
over backwards to get it solved. Our service
center is the largest in the city, and has been
voted Lincoln's #1 servicer for 10 years in a
row! A knowledgeable sales staff, express
delivery, easy financing, and our customer
service representatives are just a few of the
ways in which we at Schaefer's distinguish
ourselves from the rest. Stop by our showroom
at 48th and R in Lincoln, or call us at
402-464-8888, and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** BubbleBoy ***
A new virus-like program (it's technically a worm, although the
distinctions are becoming less clear every day) called BubbleBoy has
reared its ugly head on the Internet.
The BubbleBoy worm is the first e-mail-borne computer script that does not
require a user to open an e-mail or e-mail attachment to infect its host.
To date, there have been no reported victims of this worm, but since it is
now available for download and imitation by virus writers, its release
onto the Internet community and the appearance of destructive variants are
highly likely.
While its current variants are relatively harmless, in the past similar
scripts have been quickly modified by virus writers to include destructive
payloads (programs that modify or erase files, for example). BubbleBoy's
potential danger, plus the ease with which it is capable of spreading,
make this potentially dangerous.
This worm requires Internet Explorer 5.0 (IE5) with Windows Scripting Host
installed (standard in MS Windows 98 and 2000) and the use of Microsoft
Outlook or Outlook Express. According to Microsoft, in Outlook a user
must open the e-mail for the worm to spread, while in Outlook Express the
worm is activated even if the user only uses the Preview Panel. The virus
is not activated by any other e-mail clients, nor can it run on any
operating system other than Windows 95, 98 or 2000. Also, if system users
or administrators set IE5 security to high, the current variants of
BubbleBoy cannot be executed.
BubbleBoy appears as an e-mail with "BubbleBoy is Back!" in the subject
line. It is embedded within an HTML formatted e-mail message and so does
not require an e-mail attachment host. Written in Visual Basic Script,
the worm writes the file UPDATE.HTA to the local machine and during the
next Windows startup, the .HTA file is invoked. In its current variations,
the worm changes the system's owner to "BubbleBoy" and the organization to
"Vandelay Industries." It then mails itself to all users in the Outlook
address book. (It also sets the registry key to indicate that the e-mail
distribution has occurred.) It is possible that future variants will have
different characteristics.
The virus takes advantage of a security hole in IE5, discovered in August,
that allows two potentially malicious Active controls (scriptlet.typelib
and Eyedog) to run. Therefore, installing a patch for this hole will
prevent the BubbleBoy virus from propagating.
Users of Internet Explorer can download the IE5 patch at:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/Bulletins/ms99-032.asp
*** Annie's Jellies & Jams - Advertisement ***
Annies Jellies & Jams, a cottage industry, is
operated by Annie and Dave Kime, life-long residents
of the Sandhills of Nebraska. The Kime family has
enjoyed wild fruit jellies for years and it only
seemed natural to provide their wonderful flavors
to others. In 1994, Annies Jellies & Jams began
with 3 flavors and has expanded to over 12 varieties.
The wild fruit jellies are made from native berries
of the Sandhills. Using traditional home recipes,
Annie makes her quality gourmet products the old-
fashioned way, in kettle-stirred batches.
-- http://www.anniesjellies.com/
*** Decision-Making Can Be Fun! ***
Okay, you keep hearing about this election thing coming up in a year or
so. Candidates, issues, scandals -- there are a lot of facts and
opinions, endless hours of boring debates and frankly, it's hard to keep
track of who's who and what's what.
Some of your pointy-headed, newspaper-reading friends claim to already
know the issues and where the candidates stand. Well, maybe they do;
maybe they don't. I can't tell and neither can you. But, here's how you
can zoom past the nerds.
You don't have to waste a lot of time watching talking-head shows on
Sunday morning. Forget about those dull cable news channels. You don't
have to subscribe to the New York Times. You don't even have to learn
anything new.
Just go to http://www.selectsmart.com and click on Presidents. Answer a
few easy questions (multiple choice, of course) and boing! You get a list
of the candidates, conveniently ranked with your favorites on top.
Couldn't be easier! Print it out, tape to the fridge and you're complete
for yet another election cycle. As the losers drop out of the race, just
cross 'em off the list.
Are the kids begging for a dog? Yep, you guessed it: choose the perfect
pooch at selectsmart.com.
Having trouble with the remote? Can't decide what to watch? Don't know
which fast food place to visit tonight? Tired of your hair? Need a
personality overhaul? Looking for a good excuse to get rid of the cat?
All this and much, much more at selectsmart.com.
Remember, if you can't decide, ask the computer -- it's smarter than
you are!
*** The Capital Soccer Association - Advertisement ***
Capital Soccer Association specializes in
teaching soccer. However we recognize that
soccer, or any other youth sport is merely
one tool in the development of a young
child. Teamwork and sportsmanship through
knowledge and proficiency of the game are
our main goals.
-- http://www.capitalsoccer.com/
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: I have a 33.6Kbps modem but frequently I can only connect at 26,400 or
28,800. Why is this?
A: Your connection speed has mostly to deal with the conditions not only
of your phone line, but the path which the signal carrying your call
travels through the telephone network. This pathway is usually dynamic
based on how busy the phone network is at the time as well as any routing
that the telephone company does. It is very possible that your signal can
take a longer pathway from one call to the next, perhaps one that is also
a bit noisier. While you don't notice these minute variations on your
telephone, your modem does. It is important to realize that the
difference between 28.8 and 33.6 amounts to roughly 0.2K which is mostly
insignificant except on longer downloads.
Mr. Internet is a regular feature of the INews, and he welcomes questions
of any kind. Just mail them to mrinternet@inebraska.com, and he'll answer
one or two each issue. Those he doesn't use will not necessarily be
answered, and you should still use 'manager' and 'accounts' for regular
business.
*** Advertise on Our Home Pages ***
What better way to advertise your business than on a Web page that is seen
tens of thousands of time every month? None, if you're paying as little
as we charge for it!
We are now offering banner advertising that rotates on all our pages, and
which is priced based on the number of impressions (viewings) per month.
Your banner can reach thousands of Nebraska residents, and this is a
unique way to advertise your Nebraska business to residents in the area.
Prices for banner advertisement can be found at:
http://www.inebraska.com/ad.html
We will also be selling links from our main page. Please contact
erikw@inebraska.com, or give us a give us a call at our office,
402-434-8680, and ask how you can reserve banner spots on some of the
hottest URL's in the state. The advertisers in this issue did, and we
recommend them highly.