This Month:

What's New

Warnings

Internet

FYI

Laugh a Little

We are PC correct but not necessarily when it comes to humor.. :-)
 

Any suggestions, recommendations or ideas found on this site are applied at your own risk.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Have problems or ideas you would like to have us address?  Let us know!
Like most sites, this one is designed for an 800x600 screen resolution.
For previous newsletters click here.  (Web Printing Hints)

A Few Reminders...

If you have a new computer: Save your original CDs!
No Operating System Restore CD?  See our July 05 newsletter

• Be sure to activate the antivirus application immediately! 
   
• If your new computer is more than *90 days old, or
  if you have not paid for a subscription within the last year,
  your antivirus application is out-of-date and you are not protected. More details on this issue in the March 02 newsletter.

* Many new computers come with a 90-day free trial version, but after that period you must pay to renew the subscription.  Wonder if your antivirus is up-to-date?  Click here

Looking to buy a new computer: 

Click here for some ideas that may help your decision.

Greatest Play

This Major League Baseball video clip is a must watch even if you are not a professional sports fan...  Save the flag  May require the latest Windows Media Player available here.

Google Earth Enhanced

Certain areas/images now have a higher resolution, take this zoom of Minneapolis for example.  Wow...  http://earth.google.com

Hey Hollywood, so much for reading a license plate at this angle...

VoIP

The Federal Communications Commission has officially welcomed Voice over Internet Protocol phone systems (like Skype) to the real world by adding the "Universal Service Fund" a.k.a. tax.

Windows Vista

The next operating system from Microsoft is now available as a beta download but you may want to wait...   While current articles and tests are indicating Vista's performance is slightly better than XP with SP2, the drain on a laptop battery is higher.  But the biggest issue of course is application compatibility. 

Like the move from 98/ME to XP we are willing to bet many applications will not like the transition.  Symantec for example does not "support" Vista (beta) but they are preparing, as a "Vista version" exists for the Corporate Edition antivirus. 

Information about Vista and the beta download here.  More on Vista in future newsletters...

Jury Duty Scam

Always be a skeptic!  A phone scam the FBI is warning everyone about goes something like this:

Individuals identifying themselves as U.S. court employees have been telephonically contacting citizens and advising them that they have been selected for jury duty. These individuals ask to verify names and Social Security numbers, then ask for credit card numbers. If the request is refused, citizens are then threatened with fines.

This FBI article goes on to state: "The judicial system does not contact people telephonically and ask for personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth or credit card numbers."

No More Support

Microsoft will not fix a security issue in the Windows 98 and ME editions.  Instead they are recommending a firewall or updating to Windows XP SP2. 

Repairing the security hole would take "significant rewriting of the operating system" and now that both 98 and ME are years past their original support life, Microsoft will no longer address this issue.

This is the same risk as a recent patch in Windows XP.  The XP "patch" was actually released twice as the first one caused problems for many people that had HP Share to Web installed.  The article.

Additionally, Microsoft will soon be dropping support for Windows XP SP1 but it is unclear if the service pack will no longer be available or simply not supported.

Likewise and as we have mentioned before, Symantec is also dropping support for older versions of their products as well as older versions of Windows.  Their latest antivirus runs only on Windows 2000 and XP.

Domain Listings

If you own a domain, you have received (or may receive) an "invoice" for domain listings, Yellow page ads and the like.  Look them over carefully as most are junk!

If you receive something from "Listing Corp." it is certainly junk and in fact, the BBB rates that company with an unsatisfactory record.  The BBB link.