Each month guitar picker and Webmaster
Bob Howe brings you the latest Country Music happenings on the
Internet.
Who are all these people sending you E-mail? Some of it is fantastic, but a lot of it is junk, advertising things you couldn't possibly want, or trying to separate you from your hard-earned money. Delete them or, if you get repeated messages from the same source, use the mail filters (sometimes called Message Rules) that you'll find under the TOOLS menu of your E-mail program to direct them directly to your rubbish bin!
Watch out for files attached to E-mails, even if they come from someone you trust. If a (Windows) file ends in .exe (short for executable) or .scr (short for screensaver), it could run itself before you have time to assess any possible threat. Funny little programs are amusing at first, but the novelty value soon wears off when you experience the first one that is really a virus in disguise! Currently, keep an eye out for PrettyPark.exe and the Joke.exe that comes attached to a Snow White fairytale from someone called 'hahaha', and DELETE them on sight. Take no prisoners!
Also, if you pass on a bogus virus alert (and there are many) to all your contacts, you might be clogging up the pipes just as badly as a real virus. First check this Virus Myths page or, who ya gonna call... Hoaxbusters!
From a musical family and with a growing swag of acclamation, a young star in the making - Peta Caswell;
If you want to share the location of an
interesting site you’ve seen or request a topic for discussion in
future columns, why not
E-mail me.
Until
next month, happy surfing.
Make sure you have a reputable Anti-Virus program installed, and that it has an option to update itself over the Internet. Remember to use this update facility to protect yourself against the latest outbreak of nasties. Many E-mail viruses are often disguised as messages from someone you know (e.g. last year's infamous 'I Love You' virus) and the person who sent it is usually an unwitting accomplice, who doesn't even know their own machine is infected.
Another useful tool for Microsoft Outlook Express users, is a free patch (a small program that modifies a larger program) that closes a known security hole - a flaw that enables malicious viruses and worms to get loose when you preview a message without you even fully opening it. With the patch installed, the next time you get a message that hides something like the KaK Worm (sounds nasty doesn't it?), you'll get a warning instead of a headache. Outlook Express users look here or or here and Outlook users
look here.
Web sites to check out:
Don't forget to listen out for Cowboys in Cybersp@ce
each month on the radio waves with Belinda Miller of
Murri Country, 4AAA–FM (98.9 in Brisbane).
Click Here for a FREE download of my TIARA 2001 Awards Finalist track -
She Loves My Banjo.
(Also available to Australian Country Radio and Media on NfS 58).
Visit the rest of our site while you are here...