INews Newsletter - Jul 03, 2001
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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 4, Number 5 July 3, 2001
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer
newsletter. This monthly 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: On-Line Computer Hardware Reviews
You, Too, Can be a Winner With EFT
Personal Web Pages and HTML Primer
Cybercrime: What is it? Who is Fighting it on Your Behalf?
The World of Online Comics
Mr. Internet
** Finding Computer Hardware Reviews Online ***
Have you ever wanted an opinion on something you were about to buy for
your computer? If so, you probably already know it's a good idea to look
at hardware reviews before you spend your hard-earned cash. Where can you
find these reviews? It's no surprise that, like so much else, you can
find reviews of just about everything on-line.
One of our favorite places for reviews is:
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1016.html
This site contains CNETs database of reviews for everything from Desktop
computers to MP3 players. All you have to do is click on the category in
which you're interested and start reading. It's simple! You can even get
user opinions from people like you that have purchased the product.
Here are some other sites that you can check out for hardware reviews:
ReviewBooth: http://www.reviewbooth.com/hardware/reviews.htm
This site is very easy to use. You can read hardware reviews from the last
three, six, or twelve months, or you can read all reviews for your
product. The reviews are well organized and easy to read, making this a
great site for your review needs.
AnandTech: http://www.anandtech.com/
A complete source for hardware reviews as well as complete articles on the
latest in cutting-edge hardware, tips, and techniques, and definitions of
the latest computing buzzwords.
Tom's Hardware Guide: http://www.tomshardware.com/
Reviews of all the latest hardware, articles on the coolest gadgets and
hottest tech news, mostly in plain English. It's a winner.
*** EFT: GO SALTDOGS! ***
Every month we give away a free month of service to someone who's recently
signed up to pay via EFT. May and June were no exception, with Judith S.
of Lincoln winning the May drawing and Barbara B. walking away with June's
free month.
In July, in addition to our normal drawing for a free month, new EFT
participants will be entered in a drawing on 7/6/01 for 4 (Yes, 4!)
tickets to the 7/8/01 Lincoln Saltdogs home game against the St. Paul
Saints, and a 7/20/01 drawing for another foursome of tickets to the
7/22/01 Saltdogs home game against the Schaumburg Flyers.
Go Dogs!
*** Using Web Pages with Internet Nebraska Accounts ***
Were you aware that, as an Internet Nebraska subscriber, you have 10 MB of
personal web space that you can use to build your own Web site? You can
put up images on the Web for people to see, or create fascinating Flash
movies for your friends and relatives to enjoy. For instructions on how to
access your Web space, please see
http://www.inebraska.com/help/webpage/guide/
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the language of the web. In this
article, you will learn the HTML code necessary to post an image and create
a hyperlink (or link). A hyperlink is an image or word that, when clicked,
transports you to another web page.
To begin with, you'll need to know how to create a basic HTML document. An
HTML document is a plain-text file that can be created using any text
editor (e.g., Emacs or vi on UNIX machines; SimpleText on a Macintosh;
Notepad on a Windows machine). HTML is composed of tags that indicate how
parts of the document will appear when displayed by the Web browser. HTML
tags are always enclosed in angle-brackets ( < > ). They are typically
used in begin - end pairs in this form:
<tag></tag>
Here we see the necessary tags for a very basic HTML document:
<html>
<head>
<title>This is where you give your page a name</title>
</head>
<body>
This is where all of the stuff goes that gets displayed in the
browser window.
All of the text, graphics, links, and so on.
</body>
</html>
Say you wanted to put up the sentence, "Would you like to go here?" on your
web page, and you wanted to create a hyperlink so that whenever someone
clicked on the word "here", it would take them to the Inebraska home page.
The code that would create this effect looks like this...
Would you like to go <a href="http://www.inebraska.com">here?</a>
...and would be placed in the document between the body tags. This would
then make the word "here" a hyperlink to http://www.inebraska.com .
Hyperlinks, by default, show up in Internet Explorer and Netscape as blue,
underlined text. Note the /a behind the "here". This command tells it
when to close the hyperlink. Don't forget to add this, or you might end up
making your whole page a link!
Images are another fun part of the Web, and putting images up on your Web
page for other people to view is often easier than e-mailing them. First
off, you have to upload your images to your Web space. (Once again,
please see http://www.inebraska.com/help/webpage/guide/ ) The next part
is the code. In this example, the name of the image we are going to post
will be "cool.gif". The code is as follows:
<img src="cool.gif">
This will post the image up on the page once you've uploaded the image and
the HTML file. You can also combine the hyperlink code and the image code
to make a hyperlink out of an image! The code for that would look like
this...
<a href="http://www.inebraska.com"><img src="cool.gif"></a>
This would make it so that when someone clicks on the picture, it would
take them to http://www.inebraska.com .
These two commands are by no means all there is to HTML. There is much,
much more and we encourage you to have fun with your Web space. There are
plenty of materials out there that can help you learn HTML. You can find
books like _Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to HTML, Graphics,
and Beyond_ by Jennifer Niederst, and _HTML 4.0 For Dummies_, or similar
books at your local library. There are also many resources on the Web
itself that you may find useful. One such site is:
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerAll.html
Also, there is a feature built into Internet Explorer and Netscape that you
may find useful. This feature allows you to view the source code of a Web
page. Basically, if you see something that you want to know how to do, you
can just view the source to see the code that creates that effect. All you
have to do is click on the View menu and click on "Source" for Internet
Explorer or "Page Source" for Netscape.
Personal web pages are a free service provided by Internet Nebraska. Due
to the popularity of this service, and our commitment to providing the
best possible Internet connectivity support, we cannot answer questions
about how to write HTML. We hope you understand that this is a commitment
to our level or service to you. Learning HTML is one of the fun things
you can do with the connectivity we provide.
*** 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
and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** Cybercrime: What is it? Who is Fighting it on Your Behalf? ***
The constant invasion of computer viruses sent via e-mail can seem
overwhelming. Companies and individuals seem to be swamped with the latest
virus or bug being sent out on an almost daily basis. These viruses have
the potential to cause millions of dollars of damage but they can be
detected early so the damage can be minimized. The latest problems are
the hacker attacks, credit fraud, and other cybercrimes being committed
against both the government and businesses at all levels. We went
surfing and gathered some interesting information from the wires services
and various e-zines.
The crime fighter of choice for America has normally been the FBI, but the
famous G-Men admit they can do little to stop this outbreak of cybercrime.
"The new technology allows people to commit crimes in the United State
from anywhere else in the world," said John Collingwood, the FBI's
Assistant Director for Public Affairs told Netwire Magazine. Collingwood
continued, "Unfortunately, this is a brand new area for us, and we're not
sure of what the implications will be."
To further add to the defeated attitude, Rich Pethia, director of the
Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University said, "There
is no good way to defend against sophisticated hackers." The reason this
statement can be seen as disturbing is the unit he is in charge of, the
U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) which is supposed to be the
early warning system against cybercriminals. Recently, the unit was
crippled by a denial-of-service attack.
A recent survey of 538 computer security specialists conducted by the FBI
found that computer penetrations and the economic losses associated with
them is growing at an alarming rate. Losses reached $378 million in 2000,
after losses of $266 million were reported in 1999. It seems that losses
for 2001 have already topped those reported in 2000. Pilot Network
Services, a firewall security software maker, reports that in April the
company found 95 million attempted entries into computers using their
protective program. This is an increase of 220% over the detected
attempts in 2000.
The numbers speak for themselves regarding cybercrime. Of the 20,000-plus
complaints filed with the FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center in a six-
month period, 64% were directly related to online auctions. Merchandise
and/or payments not delivered accounted for another 22%. Credit card fraud
amounted to 5% of the total. The average loss for complainants was $200
according to the FBI. One complaint involved losses in excess of
$366,000.
To combat cybercrime the National Information Protection Center, or NIPC,
was created in 1998 by the White House. Unfortunately this new agency has
yet to get it's sea legs. A General Accounting Office review found the
agency was slow to fill key leadership positions. The analysis and warning
section chief was only filled 18 months after the agency was created. The
review was requested by senators, Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Diane Feinstein
(D-California) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The review was requested due
to complaints from both government and private sectors that the NIPC was
slow to respond to electronic security threats. There is a question of how
the e-mail-launched "I Love You" virus was handled last year. The review
found that if the NIPC had been fully staffed, the damages of millions of
dollars to companies could have been lessened or avoided.
Richard Dick, who took over as director of NIPC in March, responded to the
GAO review in a letter. Dick claimed his staff has been working diligently
towards their "oftentimes heroic and anonymous efforts on behalf of all
Americans. Yet, without an increased staff the NIPC simply cannot reach
its full capacity to assess, warn and protect." The unit has yet to fill
half of its current staffing needs.
When the NIPC was formed, it was assigned the job of analyzing threats to
computer security, coordinating the government's response to security
breeches, helping law enforcement and promoting public outreach. What the
NIPC seems to have been doing is helping the FBI investigate crimes. The
GAO review found the NIPC had helped set up small cybercrime squads in all
56 FBI's field offices. The biggest problem according to the review was
the NIPC failed to develop a strategic analysis of threats to computer
systems and identify vulnerable systems.
Richard Clarke, a senior director of the National Security Council,
recently told an information technology symposium that the government hopes
to prepare a national plan to protect cyberspace. This plan would be
written by the government and the private sector with input from the power
utility, banking, and transportation industries, and from Internet users.
The goal is to create a plan based on a consensus of what cyber security
should be and then implement it.
*** 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/
*** The World of Online Comics ***
Ever wish that the comics section in your daily newspaper were a little
larger, or have you ever seen a newspaper from another city which contains
different comics that you enjoy? Before, all you could do was subscribe
to countless newspapers, an impractical solution at best. There wasn't a
way to see all of the comics that you want everyday, but thanks to
everyone's best friend "The Internet", countless comic strips are now
available for viewing on-line.
One of the easiest places to find a list of which comics are on the
Internet is to go to http://www.comics.com. This page has become a sort
of hub for the various syndicated comics. It contains over 90 different
comics including Peanuts, The Wizard of Id, and my personal favorite
Dilbert. Every comic on comics.com not only contains the most recent
comic for each particular strip, but also contains an archive of the
entire previous month. Even if you happen to miss a few days of your
favorite comic, you can always go to comics.com and catch up.
There is even a new feature on comics.com that so far is only for the
Dilbert strip. You can sign up to have the latest Dilbert e-mailed to you
every Monday through Saturday. This is certainly a far cry from making
your daily newspaper obsolete, but it's evidence that the Internet is
becoming more versatile. The vast majority of comics available on
comics.com are those that you could find offline, but it would be
virtually impossible to find them all every single day.
There are some comic strips that have originated online and so far
that is the only way to view them. Online-only comics tend to differ from
their newspaper counterparts. The authors of these comics tend to create
new comics not because they have to, but because they want to. This frees
them from many obligations such as posting new comics daily and in some
cases, adhering to levels of decency that syndicated comics must.
Online-only comics vary far too much to describe them all, but a nice and
fairly lighthearted comic is Mega Tokyo at www.megatokyo.com. Its the
story of Piro and Largo who get into trouble at E3, the Electronic
Entertainment Expo, and find it in their best interests to flee the
country. The basic plot is about two American youths stuck in Japan
without money or even the inclination to work to get home. It has a
continuous story line, but don't worry about not knowing what is occurring.
Every single strip that has ever been posted on Mega Tokyo is archived on
their site and is easily viewable. New comics for Mega Tokyo are posted
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday or in most cases when the author finds
the time and the inspiration to create them. There are plenty of other
comics on the Internet and the only way to know if there is one that is
right for you is to take the time to read through the strips. So sit
back, relax and prepare to laugh.
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: How is it that sometimes I can connect to the Internet and everything
works fine but sometimes I connect but can't go anywhere? I just keep
getting "Page cannot be displayed" or "Server not found". Why is
this?
A: The problem could be in your TCP/IP settings for Dial up Networking. A
DNS (domain name server) is used to resolve names like www.inebraska.com
to IP addresses like 199.184.119.1. In short, it tells your computer how
to get to places you request on the Internet. Normally, when your
computer connects to Internet Nebraska's network it can find the DNS
server automatically and this allows your Internet connection to
work fine. However, sometimes it can't. This is why you should specify
the DNS servers in your TCP/IP settings. This will allow your computer to
always know where to find the DNS servers for Internet Nebraska's domain.
To do this, you will want to:
For PCs:
1. Double click on the My Computer icon.
2. Double click on Dial Up Networking.
3. Right click on your Internet Nebraska icon and go to
Properties.
4. Click on the Server Type or Networking tab at the top of the
dialog box.
5. Click on TCP/IP Settings button.
6. Put the "dot" by Specify name server addresses.
7. For Primary DNS type: 199.184.119.1
8. For Secondary DNS type: 199.2.252.10
9. Click OK and then OK again.
10. Close the Dial Up Networking window.
For Macs:
1. Go to the "Open Apple" menu and select Control Panels.
2. Double click on TCP/IP.
3. In the "Name Server addr:" box type 199.184.119.1
4. Press return and type 199.2.252.10
5. Close the window and save the changes.
6. Close out of the Control Panel.
These steps may be a bit different depending on what version of Windows or
what Mac OS you are running. If you have problems following these
instructions feel free to call our help desk at:
Lincoln: (402) 434-8680
Omaha: (402) 592-1110
Norfolk: (402) 371-6897
North Platte: (308) 532-3595
All others: (888) 293-3426
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
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
manager@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.