RIVER BENDER - March, 2001
I suppose it's because there is a never-ending list of new people getting their first PC that I seem to be getting the same questions over and over. Most of what I have to say in this article has been said in past articles in the RIVER BENDER, all of which can be seen at a link from the NBCUG web page at http://www4.coastalnet.com/nbcug/index.htm.
What are cookies?
Are they bad? No, they're not bad. Cookies are tiny files of data sent to your PC's cookie folder from a web site to identify you the next time you return to their site. They are harmless, however, it was recently discovered that a web site that uses cookies to authenticate users or store private information, such as Amazon.com, HotMail, YahooMail, DoubleClick and NYTimes could have cookies exposed by Internet Explorer and intercepted by a third-party Web site. Microsoft now has a patch available to prevent this from happening at the following web site: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-033.asp
What's a search engine?
It's a web site that allows one to enter search words or phrases after which it scans the web to find a list of sites that have the answers you're looking for. Many people simply use the search capability built into their browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) but there's many more search engines that exist on the web. My favorite is a meta-search engine called http://www.metacrawler.com because it employs several major search engines at the same time and can be made to search the 40,000 plus newsgroups as well as the Web. I created an icon on my desktop to access it quickly.
What's my favorite game?
Microsoft's Freecell that comes with Windows 95 and 98 is my favorite. Find it at Start/Programs/Accessories/Games. I like Freecell because it's similar to Solitaire but more of a challenge. Put an icon on your desktop for Freecell and play it when you're waiting for files that takes a long time to download. Many people don't realize that their PC can do more than one thing at a time. Another activity I enjoy is flying Microsoft's Flight Simulator.
Where can I find the tax valuation for a property?
We're very fortunate that Craven County has a Geographic Information System (GIS) that provides maps and tax assessor information for properties located in the county. See http://gismaps.cravencounty.com/isa/parcels/default.htm.
Where can I access the New Bern /Craven County Regional Library?
Go to http://www4.coastalnet.com/community_orgs/cpclibrary/
What is the danger of putting a broadcast list's address in my e-mail program's address book?
We've warned folks repeatedly not to do this but many still do it. If your PC becomes infected with a virus it could seize your address book and send itself to every address listed. You'll end up spreading a virus to everybody in River Bend or NBCUG, which won't make folks very happy. It happened in the past so please don't put rbmail@cconnect.net or nbcug@always-online.com in your e-mail address book. Write it down somewhere else.
Is your Outlook Express E-mail program inoculated for the KAK virus?
The KAK virus, that comes unseen within a message itself, keeps popping up in New Bern. If you have Outlook Express 5.0 or an older version be sure to download the Microsoft fix so you won't have to worry about getting KAK in the future. Many people that were infected earlier got rid of it by going to the web page at http://getvirushelp.com/Kak/ and running the repair program but then they didn't follow up and download the Microsoft fix available at http://www.mpinet.net/virusinfo/q240308.exe. Once you download and run q240308.exe Outlook Express becomes inoculated and the file can be deleted.
People keep telling me to edit out garbage in the messages that I forward to them but I don't know how?
Each e-mail program works a bit differently but generally the reason that editing doesn't work for you is that you haven't selected "Reply" or "Forward" before attempting to edit. For example, in Outlook Express one must select Message at the top followed by Reply or Forward . Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse though the text to be deleted. Then select Edit followed by Cut or Delete. Another way is to use Select All which highlights all of the text, then select Cut or Delete. In replying to someone's message it's not considered good netiquette to always send their message back with your reply.